#might post on ao3 at some point idk yet

[read-write-thrive]

part 1

“Waiting for the other shoe to drop”, while pessimistic, seemed to be a running theme in Charles Rowland’s life. It wasn’t really a phrase he heard when he was alive, to be fair, but at some point he’d come across it (probably hanging out with too many Americans, but can’t remember for sure) and it felt a little too much accurate. His dad’s come home angry again? Time to wait for the fallout. He’d gotten written up at school for not paying attention? Just a disaster waiting to happen. He goes against his best mate’s advice? There he goes, literally torn from Charles’s arms and back to hell, just as he’d said. Maybe the last one was a little dramatic, but that’s the gist.

The looming anxiety of it all usually slid off of him for the minor stuff, and was otherwise bottled up and shoved far away for the heavier stuff, but regardless he didn’t let it show. Have to keep up appearances and all. He’d only had one real instance of all those emotions blowing up (and he still blames the Night Nurse for all that mess) so he thought he was doing a bang-up job keeping himself together.

That was until his dad died. Yeah, it was rough, and he ended up berating the old man on his death bed, which probably was a shitty thing to do. And yeah, he’d needed a bit of a cry afterwards. So what? Blokes cried sometimes, and he was man enough to admit to his emotions and all that. The girls had done a good job of emphasising that he (and, mostly, Edwin) needed to express their emotions more. That it was healthier to let it out than bottle it all up. Not sure if they still needed healthy habits as ghosts, but it wasn’t hurting anyone. Just a little uncomfortable.

All that to say, it felt like his friends had been treading on eggshells around him ever since his dad died. Which was infuriating, yeah, but also didn’t make sense to him. Especially after he’d already cried—did they expect him to get angry again? To blow up over a dead man? He thought he’d gotten it out of his system just fine, so getting these weird vibes was starting to stress him out more than anything. He’d resolved to bring it up on their next movie night and ask why they were acting funny—didn’t want to mess up a case, after all.

However, he didn’t get the chance before it all came crashing down on his head. Ultimately, Edwin was the messenger.

“Charles, I—“ he took an unnecessary breath, “Have you checked on your mother lately?”

His undead heart went cold, but his default smiley ways were still stuck on, “Not really, why?”

Edwin’s eyes were sad, which was never good. He didn’t emote unless it was serious, “I think you need to visit her. She’s not faring well.”

And so they went. Turns out everyone hadn’t been waiting for Charles to blow up, but rather for his mother to pass and then for him to break down all over again. Edwin had been checking on her daily since his father’s passing, deducing correctly that Charles would be too swept up in the emotions around his dad dying to remember that his mum wasn’t getting any younger.

The girls weren’t free until the evening, but they promised to stay in touch and maybe visit later if they could (particularly if they could figure out how to visit the Hospice without rousing suspicion). And so Edwin and Charles were on their own.

Charles had rushed into the room, as if running at the issue would evade the emotions of it, or as if getting there quickly would reveal it was all a lie—neither of which were true.

Instead, he was face to face with a dying woman with some resemblance to the photo on the mantle in the house he grew up in—his grandmother, or maybe his great grandmother, or some favourite aunt, he couldn’t remember anymore— hair gone fully white, pulled back into a tight bun so as to keep her curls controlled, keeping her gaunt, sleeping face exposed. Unlike that photo, this woman was in a hospital gown, tucked into sterile sheets, with a tube under her nose to help her breathe. Gone were her usually loud and ornate earrings, her bare fingernails stained from years of colour. There was a singular blanket laid across her lap, on top of the sheets, that almost looked more familiar than the woman it covered. It was her, but apparently he hadn’t stopped to just look at her any time recently, if ever. It felt too much like looking at a ghost, as ironic as that felt.

She was awake, but halfway to dozing. There was someone at her side, adjusting the blanket and murmuring reassurances in what was definitely Punjabi. It had been so long since he’d heard it, added to having never properly learned anything besides English under the threat of his father, that he couldn’t make out the words. That realisation left a stinging feeling in his chest.

“A relation of yours?” Edwin asked at a whisper, coming up to stand beside Charles, almost entirely copying his position from that fateful hospital room. It didn’t seem as if either of the room’s living occupants had noticed them.

Charles blindly reached for Edwin’s hand for comfort, not looking away from the scene in front of him and matching his partner’s volume, “No idea. Don’t think I’ve seen them before.”

Edwin hummed, “Perhaps a little too young to have met you. Or someone your mother reconnected with recently—“

“I’m not really in the mood for deductions, love.” Charles said, not unkindly. Everything felt too fragile to be picked apart like that.

“Right. Apologies.” Edwin squeezed his hand and went quiet.

Charles squeezed his hand back in forgiveness, joining in the silence. He kept going back to what the stranger was saying, familiar consonants both soothing and devastating. What kind of a son was he, failing to comfort his dying mother, unable to speak her mother tongue, a stranger to his relatives? His tears were thankfully silent.

It took much longer for his mother to see them than his father. Several days passed, with the mystery relative coming and going more days than not, and the usual nurses and caregivers administering various care. Over time, the boys (the girls couldn’t figure out how to enter the space, but were supportive from their distance) had learned that the stranger’s name was Sangeeta, and she was a niece of his mother’s who’d noticed her steady decline and was the one to take her to hospital and then to hospice care. Charles’s mother had apparently stopped taking care of herself after her husband’s death, and she had refused other care, so at this point all they could do was make her comfortable. Charles spent a whole morning ranting to Edwin about it, how unfair it was that her life was so tied up in his asshole father’s that she wasn’t even trying to live after he was gone. Edwin, the deeply kind person he was, had let Charles rant until he ran out of steam, then gently pointed out that she’d been under the thumb of his father for far longer than Charles was, and that she’d now had to mourn her husband and her only child, which presumably takes a toll. Charles had started crying before Edwin had even finished talking, and Edwin had held him close on the plush sofa for the rest of the day.

It was hard to tell if it was a comfort or not when she finally saw them, but Charles decided that wasn’t important to think about right now, if ever. Right now, his mother could see him for the first time in forty years, and they didn’t know for how much longer. And yet, with all this time to prepare, he still found himself speechless when the time finally came.

“Mere laal,” She beat him to the punch, eyes glazed over but clearly locked on Charles, “I am glad to see you again, beta. It’s been so long.”

Charles let out a shakey breath, “Hi, mum. It’s—well— it’s been longer for you. I’ve visited a few times, over the years.”

She reached out a sinewy hand on a bone-thin arm, and Charles flew to the seat by her side, keeping his focus to make sure his hand stayed solid in her grasp. He vaguely noticed Edwin taking the seat beside him.

“Such a handsome boy. You were so young.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

Charles, all anxious energy and nerves, tears of his own threatening to spill, was quick to respond, “It’s alright, mum, I’m alright. No need to cry over me.”

She huffed, “Nonsense. You were the light of my life. Who else should I cry over?”

They were both crying at this point, tears streaming as they sniffled in turns. Edwin laid a careful hand on Charles’s back in a show of comfort.

However, that seemed to give Charles an idea, “No, really mum, it’s okay! See the bloke next to me? His name’s Edwin, and he’s been by my side all these years! He’s the one who first found me, and we’ve been helping people ever since. It’s been aces. Not sad one bit.”

Edwin stiffened at the mention, then all but froze when her eyes turned to him. He knew he looked night and day from Charles, and if he started talking she was bound to find him as abrasive as everyone always did, so why had Charles pointed him out!? If ghosts could sweat, Edwin would be drowning in his nerves.

Her gaze stayed on him for a long moment before she broke the silence, “He’s been good to you? Not like those other boys.”

Edwin wasn’t sure what to do with that, but thankfully Charles was quick on the uptake, “Not like them at all. He’s— he’s the best, mum. None of those tossers could even compare.”

“Because the boys— the ones who—“

Charles gripped her hand, “I know, I know. He’s a genuinely good person, Edwin. I was bad at picking friends in life, but thankfully I chose well with this one.”

His attempt at joking was overlooked completely by her, “Those boys, how could they do that? I knew their families, John Parish’s mother went to your funeral… Such cruel boys…”

“I’m alright, mum, I’m okay.” Charles kept going, smiling even as the tears continued, “It’s all in the past.”

“I should’ve fought harder for you… kept you close… mere laal, taken from me…” She was sobbing, her whole frame shaking with hiccoughs.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Charles took a steadying breath, “You know I couldn’t have stayed in that house, mum. And no one could’ve known those lads would go that far…”

Her sobs were worse for a moment, then stilled suddenly as she fought for oxygen. She coughed weakly.

At that, Charles’s crying intensified, despite all he did to keep himself together. He could tell. He knew what was coming. It was still devastating to see. Edwin pulled him in for a proper side hug, taking care not to jostle his grip on his mum.

This did not go unnoticed, and the dying woman suddenly smiled, as if the devastation was forgotten with the oxygen. She looked back to her son, “I am glad you have been happy, beta. You deserved happiness.”

“I’m happy, I’ve been so happy mum, I promise,” Charles tried to calm himself down, stuck in his reassuring her.

“Mere laal, light of my life, darling boy,” She breathed with difficulty, smile dropping, “Can you forgive me? I failed you…”

Charles’s frame shook with his vigorous nodding, “I forgive you, mum, you did the best you could, I love you so much—“

Her weak smile returned, glinting in the lamplight of the evening room, “Thank you, beta. You were too good for me, for this world…”

“All because of you, I swear it, all thanks to you—“

“Charles.”

“I love you, I’m sorry I wasn’t a better son, I’m could’ve been better, gotten you out of that house—“

“Charles, darling.”

“You deserved better, I love you, I forgive you—“

“My love, the light—“

Edwin was right, a deep blue light had filled the space, illuminating the still body of his mother. Her face was pulled into a slight smile, eyes closed, as if she was having a pleasant dream, even as the tear tracks dried on her cheeks.

“No, no I’m not ready—“ Charles immediately started to protest, gripping onto her hand like a lifeline.

“Charles—“

“I only just got to see her! She only just got free of him! No, no, I won’t—“

Edwin gently but solidly grabbed under Charles’s arms, “I’m sorry my love but we should go—“

Charles was nothing but hysterics by this point, head thudding onto the sheets for a moment before Edwin fully pulled him away. He said more, but Charles was too overwhelmed to process it properly, buzzing in his ears and headache behind his eyes making him feel alive in all the worst ways. Maybe it was just the first time he had cried this hard in his afterlife, or maybe being this close to an active death did something to their physiology—

Everything was a blur as they returned to the flat, Edwin all but carrying him through the mirror so that he wouldn’t get lost on the way. They collapsed onto the sofa, extra large cushions taken up by their ghostly presences. The girls were already there, and joined into the cuddle pile without another word (or perhaps with a few, Charles still wasn’t all there yet). Edwin jostled them all slightly to better position everyone before settling in again, making sure Charles was properly surrounded.

Charles sobbed for a while longer. He wasn’t quite sure for how long, or what day it was, or if he was bothering his friends by taking up their time and space like this. His devastation had seemed to take over his entire being. But, when he did breathe a little easier, when he was finally able to sit up, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. His mom was dead, yes, but so was he, and dying had granted them both freedom from that man, from that house, from the cruelties of the world. And in his death he was surrounded by people who loved him, people who were there for him when he needed them and would still be there for him tomorrow, and the next, and the next. The other shoe had dropped, and it certainly hurt, but thankfully he had people around him to help him through it. He was truly lucky to have them.

~

hope you enjoyed this impromptu series exploring Charles and his parents and grief and loss and all those lovely things. this was inspired by the complicated emotions I have / had after my grandparents passing, and I heavily encourage you to do something similar if you’re ever struggling with these big emotions—therapists and such will say that journaling is where it’s at, but sometimes it’s easier to project onto fictional characters and that’s ok !!! and, just to drive the point home, I want to reiterate that you are loved, and there are people around you who are there to support you, I promise ❤️

also, just to make it abundantly clear, I’m a v white midwestern american and as such have vvv limited knowledge of cultural aspects of Charles’s mom—I did research and tried my best, but if I screwed anything up PLEASE let me know so I can fix it!!!!! same goes for Britishisms ig but mostly looking for feedback on her Punjabi and her various cultural elements :)

[candyriku]

I unfortunately find myself unable to work on my current Soriku fic today due to my mental state, but I was able to make a bit of a teaser for the next big Soriku fanfiction that will be coming sometime after JTSYS is finished.

You can read it under the cut, but TW for blood, death, and uh, general misery. This has been cathartic for me to write but the whole idea of this fic is that things are impossibly doomed, so be warned - this is not the happy fun zone.

Blood. There was so much blood.

He had smelled it before even seeing it, the metallic scent thick in his nose before he had even rounded the corner. He had tried to convince himself that it was his own bleeding wound that he smelled, or maybe the blood of something else, someone else, but in his heart, he knew the truth. He picked up his pace, sprinting at top speed now, his sneakers splashing through shallow puddles on the wet pavement. 

When his eyes finally came to rest on the crumpled form at the end of the alley, the breath was knocked out of his chest as though someone had taken a baseball bat to his sternum. He knew, of course he knew, but he had hoped-

No. It didn’t matter what he hoped for. Hopes and wishes weren’t for people that walked his path. He had been denied the right to hope for anything ages ago. When he had signed that contract, signed away his soul, he forfeited all the cushy pleasures of a normal life. He had given up his chance of knowing peace.

But it had been worth it. If it was for Sora, anything was worth it.

Standing over Sora’s blood-soaked body, Riku tried to remind himself of that truth, the one thing that he had tethered his heart to all this time. It was worth it. Even if the chance of Sora making it out alive were next to none, there was still a chance. He could still fight.

One of these loops, Riku would get it right. He would figure out how to keep Sora safe, how to protect him from this accursed dimension where everything was designed to end his life. They would break out and live a normal life together, just the way they had always planned. 

There was a happy future waiting somewhere for the two of them. There had to be. Riku had gambled everything on it.

He crouched down, his shaking fingers gently brushing Sora’s tear-stained cheek. He could hardly stand to look at his face, but the sight of his broken, bleeding body was no better. The wounds were precise and lethal, and Riku was far too late.

No matter how many dozens of times he had watched Sora die, it never got easier. It never stopped feeling like his chest was a black hole caving in on itself, his heart squeezed until it was nothing more than dust. 

He couldn’t look. He couldn't look away.

Riku kneeled and placed both of Sora’s hands over his heart. He was about to speak and begin the incantation that would throw them both back to the starting point again, but Sora suddenly stirred, weakly reaching one hand up towards Riku’s face.

“Riku…” his voice was barely more than a whisper. 

“I’m here,” Riku said, the words catching in his throat. “Don’t speak. You can rest now. It’s okay.”

He hated to say it. He wanted to plead with Sora, wanted to beg him to stay. But if Riku had learned anything throughout the loops, it was that nothing came of begging. There was no one to answer his prayers; benevolent forces did not dwell here. At best, all it would accomplish would be making Sora sad in his final moments. At worst, future loops would be impacted by Riku’s words to Sora, twisting the knife further. He had seen it enough to know what to avoid now.

“I don’t want…” There was a weighted pause. “...Don’t want to leave you.” The pool of blood continued to grow. Riku knew - though he wished that he didn’t - that Sora wouldn’t be able to maintain consciousness for much longer at this rate. He could hardly believe Sora was awake even now. 

“We’ll meet again.” he assured Sora softly, trying to keep his voice steady. “Don’t worry. It'll be okay.” 

“You…” This pause was longer, much longer, and Riku was all but sure that Sora would not speak again. Finally, with a wet cough, Sora continued. “You promise?”

“I promise.” Riku lied. He leaned forward and kissed Sora’s forehead, his lips lingering there for several long moments as he took steadying breaths. 

“Mm… ‘kay.” Sora managed. “Love you… so much.” 

“I love you too.” Riku said, clenching his teeth so hard his jaw popped. He wanted to scream. After taking a moment to compose himself, he sat up and offered his best imitation of a smile to Sora. Better for him to see that than to see how broken Riku really was. 

The all-too-familiar faraway look settled on Sora’s face as the last of his breath left his body. Riku collapsed over him, the tears finally coming, the weight hitting him all at once with the force of a tidal wave. Even knowing that he would see Sora alive and well again in mere moments did nothing to comfort him. 

It didn't matter how many times Riku had seen it. It never got any easier to watch Sora die.

[paigemathews]

Throwing around ideas for Billie’s kids for next gen stuff and uhhh thinking thoughts about preteen twin witches with incredible power and the brain cell and a half that thirteen year olds share. (Please note that this is so tentative that I might scrap the entire thing but it amuses me anyway so.)

Introducing the next gen of the Jenkin family: Stephanie and Emily Jenkins, Billie’s preteen twin daughters. Stephanie has telepathy like her aunt, but is a lot more on the good side of things. Emily inherited her mother’s projection, but has the more limited art projection form. They’re both thirteen and absolute losers (but we love them anyways). 

They’re obsessed with superheroes because, again, thirteen. (Is this drawing on my thirteen year old self’s obsessions? Pft, no. It’s on my sister’s.) Steph keeps creating mental links to act as “coms.” Emily accidentally turned everyone into superheroes and is too excited to fix it. (vague concept of Emily getting kidnapped by demons and Stephanie tapping into her power to transform other next gen kids into superheroes except the sisters are arguing over Marvel vs. DC. Ft.

Bianca as Deathstroke - “She isn’t Black Widow! You’re just saying that bc she can do the leg thing. The world’s best assassin with healing abilities and a sword is obviously Slade!” “Okay, fine, you have a point.” (the twins arguing while Bianca can’t decide if she should be offended or not.)

DJ Morris as Iron Man - “Come on, he’s literally a detective! He’s totally Batman!” “Batman doesn’t shoot lasers!” “It’s not lasers!” (DJ “I’m a private investigator actually, but also do not change your mind about this while I’m literally twenty feet off the air in a magic suit of armor please.)

Sebastian Johnson (half-manticore) as Black Canary - “Steph. Steph,-” “Yeah, that one goes without saying.” (Sebastian is a little disappointed that he doesn’t get a fun power upgrade but he looks good in fishnets at least.)

Chris Halliwell as Scarlett Witch - “Mentally damaged witch who manipulated reality one time and moves thing with their mind.” “You’ve got me there.” (Chris “What the fuck, Stephanie- Okay, actually, I’ll let this go because this is badass.” Chris gets to be the powerhouse just this once.)

i’m not doing every next gen kid, bc that feels like it’ll take too long. but uhhh, extra thoughts:

Wyatt as Superman - ideal hero with extraordinary power that everyone’s afraid will go evil

One of the Cupid girls (probably Parker) as either Green Arrow or Hawkeye bc of the arrow thing

One of the girls at Zatanna bc of the magic and poetry thing

Derek (half-manticore dad) as the Hulk

[genshinluvr]

In Loving Memory

Pairings: Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader

Summary: While exploring Inazuma, Watasumi Island, and Stormterror's Lair with the men, you guys run into people with familiar faces.

Note: I need to change my posting schedule because it's no longer being posted on Saturday because of how busy I am with school work 🥹 Ah, idk how to feel about this fic in particular. This idea has been in my orbit for a while, and I think it's time to write a story on it! For those who have been following me for a while on Tumblr, some of you might remember this idea that I talked about on my page a few months prior. Anyway! To all of my new readers and returning readers, I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: None that I know of 🤔 maybe mentions of the death of a dearly beloved friend(s)? Mentions of a wound.

Word Count: 9.2k

The sun is high in the sky, shining on your face, almost blinding you. You held your hand up to your face to shield your eyes from the blinding sunlight. You walked over to the edge of the cliff and sat down with your legs hanging off the edge. Today was another day of your exploration of Inazuma, though you’re not exploring the region on your own. The men are your tour guides, mainly the Inazuman men, when you’re exploring the nations.

“What do you think about Inazuma so far, [Y/N]? Way better than Liyue, I bet!” Itto says, plopping down beside you with a big smile on his face.

Zhongli rubs his temples with an irritated sigh, his eyebrows furrowing. “While Inazuma is a beautiful region, I believe that you can talk highly about another nation without bringing the others down,” Zhongli stated, shooting a glare in Itto’s direction.

You give Zhongli’s hand a light squeeze. You turn to Itto with a smile on your face. “Inazuma is beautiful! I love seeing the difference between the regions we’ve explored!” You said.

“What’s your favorite part about exploring Inazuma?” Gorou asks, plopping down next to you while gazing at you curiously.

“And you can’t mention that you like the food because we all know you love trying food from various regions.” Childe teases you, ruffling your hair as he walks up behind you, standing beside Zhongli.

“Oh man, you got me there.” You grumbled, lightly tapping Childe’s legs as he snorted at your response. “Other than the food, my favorite part about exploring Inazuma is seeing Cyno shock the sakura blooms and being able to see the gorgeous view.” You said, pointing to the view of the sea.

“Don’t other regions have a nice view too?” Heizou asks, popping up from Itto’s side.

You nod your head. “Yes, other regions have a beautiful view as well! That’s what makes every nation unique from one another. These regions have so much to offer, and it’s a shame that I can’t wake up every day to see all of these sceneries at once.” You sigh wistfully. 

“Speaking of food, is anyone here getting a bit famished? The smell of street vendors is making my stomach growl.” Aether says, rubbing his growling stomach.

“We did have breakfast, but that was a few hours ago. I think it’s about to be lunchtime,” You said. “Do any of you want me to buy lunch? I can grab something for us to eat while we have a picnic under the tree shade.” You got up from your spot and dusted your clothes off.

Kazuha walks over to you with a smile on his face. “May I accompany you?” Kazuha asks, looking at you curiously— the way he stares at you with curiosity, his head tilting to the side, reminding you of a confused yet curious puppy.

You smile back at Kazuha. “Of course you can, Kazuha! I’d love to have you keep me company and help me bring back lunch for everyone,” You said.

Before you and Kazuha walk off, Diluc grabs you by your wrist and gently pulls you to him. “Do you need any mora for the food? Buying food for this many people can be expensive,” Diluc says, crossing his arms over his chest.

You shook your head. “No mora needed, Diluc! I bought mora with me!” You said proudly, pulling a bag of mora out from your bag and holding it up to show to Diluc and the others. “See! I’m prepared this time with the moras I’ve earned from working at the Maid cafe.” You smile widely.

“You mean the job you worked at in the past?” Scaramouche asks, looking over at you with his eyebrows raised.

You pursed your lips together and nodded your head slowly. “Yes, Scaramouche. That is correct.” You were about to walk off before it dawned on you. You turned towards the other men and looked at them curiously, pointing at the group. “Is there any specific food you guys want to eat?” You ask.

“I think any food should be good as long as there’s no ingredient that we’re allergic to. And by we, I mean Itto.” Thoma says, pointing his thumb over to the oni.

“Of course! I’ll make sure to order food that doesn’t have any ingredients that any of you could be allergic to,” You said. “Anything else you guys want me to make a note of?” You question, putting the bag of mora into your bag.

“If you’re able to, maybe have the restaurant label some of the food containers so some of us wouldn’t accidentally try something we’re not fond of,” Venti suggested.

Your eyes light up, and you nod your head. “Right! Can’t forget about the labels.” You said.

After gathering information and suggestions from the men, you and Kazuha walk to the biggest restaurant in Inazuma. Entering the restaurant, you and Kazuha noticed that it was quite a full house; therefore, it might take some time to order food to go.

“Do you want to order, or do you want me to order?” Kazuha asks. He glances over at the menu and then looks over at you.

You pressed your lips into a thin line before answering, “Both of us can order something! After all, I wouldn’t know what to pick for the others to eat.” Kazuha nods his head and grabs you by your wrist, and leads you to the front of the restaurant, where the menu hangs.

Both you and Kazuha stood at the front of the restaurant, pondering what you two should order for the other men. Before you made an order, you and Kazuha strictly told the workers not to add any beans to the food that may have it as an ingredient. Once you and Kazuha were able to order food for everyone, you handed the bag of mora over to the cashier.

“It’s a lot of food, but at least everyone will be satisfied with what we ordered for them!” You smiled happily.

Kazuha quickly excuses himself for a moment, saying something about how he’s going to take a restroom break and will be returning momentarily. You nodded your head and watched Kazuha walk to the small room at the corner of the restaurant where the restroom was located. You weaved through a crowd of people, trying to get to the wall to wait for your order. Your foot gets caught in one of the loose boards of the restaurant. 

Just when you were close to hitting the floor, someone reached out and caught you by your waist and your biceps. The person helps you up and pushes through the crowd of customers in the restaurant, muttering something under their breath. You and the stranger stood by the wall, away from the large group of people in the restaurant.

“Are you okay?” The man asks, squatting down in front of you to get a clear look at your face.

You give the man a grateful smile and nod your head. “Thank you for saving me from hitting my head on one of those wooden stools. It would’ve been bad if it did happen.” You reply. 

You feel heat rush to your cheeks when you realize how attractive your savior is. You blinked and came to a realization after getting a much closer look at him. The blond male looks at you curiously before standing back up, towering over you.

“Do you… know Kazuha by any chance?” You whispered.

His eyes light up. “Of course I do! He’s my best friend! Do you know him by any chance?” He asks, tilting his head to the side while leaning on the wall with his right arm propping him up. You smile widely and nod your head at his question. Now, how in the world are you going to tell him that you’re dating him along with twenty other men? Now that you think about it, would it be a good idea to let him know that you’re dating his best friend?

“We’re actually dating!” You said, feeling your cheeks becoming hot.

The man’s eyes widen. “You two are dating?! And he didn’t tell me?!” The blond man gasps dramatically. “That punk, hiding his cute lover from his own best friend.” He clicks his tongue with disapproval, and the corners of his lips quirked up.

“He has talked about you a lot; Kazuha speaks very highly of you.” You said softly, and a tiny smile appeared on your face.

“My name’s Tomo, in case he hasn’t told you my name yet,” Tomo says, holding his hand out for you to shake.

You grab Tomo’s hand and shake it firmly. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Tomo! My name’s [Y/N].” 

“[Y/N], huh? A fitting name for someone as cute as you,” Tomo says. He reaches up and pinches your cheeks lightly with a grin on his face.

You glared at Tomo and lightly slapped his hand away from your face. “Hey, no pinching! That is reserved for my boyfriends only!” You huffed, looking away from Tomo.

Tomo’s eyebrows quirk up at your comment. “BoyfriendS? As in more than one person?” Tomo asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yes.” You muttered under your breath, continuing to look away from Tomo. 

Tomo chuckles. “Listen, I’m not judging you, alright? I can see why so many men want to date you. You’re adorable!” Tomo says, patting the top of your head with an endearing smile on his face.

“Say….” You trailed off when you caught the sight of his electro vision. “What’s it like to have a vision?” You ask, looking over at Tomo curiously.

Tomo raises an eyebrow at you. “Do you not have a vision?” His eyes scan your body for a vision.

You shook your head at his question. “I don’t have a vision, but it’d be pretty cool if I got one!” You said, smiling at Tomo. If you were from Teyvat, that is.

“Hm, well, having a vision is like—”

“[Y/N]!” You turn towards the direction where the voice came from and see Kazuha emerging from the crowd of people. Kazuha’s eyes land on you, and a relieved smile appears on his face.

“There you are! I was worried that you might’ve left.” Kazuha says, stopping in front of you.

You smile and pat Kazuha’s cheek. “No need to worry, Kazuha! I was just talking to—” you turn to face Tomo only to see that he is gone. “Huh. That’s odd. He was just here a second ago.” You muttered.

“Boo.”

You let out a gasp and jolt in your spot. Your head snaps towards the direction where the voice came from, only to see Kazuha and Tomo doubling over each other, their bodies shaking, their hands covering their mouths. You cursed under your breath before lightly hitting both Kazuha and Tomo’s arms, face heating up. 

“That’s not funny! Stop laughing!” You whine, stomping your feet on the ground before turning to look away from the two men with your arms over your chest.

“I didn’t know you were jumpy.” Tomo teases, poking your ribcage lightly. 

You growled and slapped Tomo’s hands away from your ribcage. Tomo snorts, throws his arms around your shoulders, and pulls you to his side while rubbing the top of your head with his knuckles.

“Ow! Ow! Unhand me, you uncivilized fool!” You hissed, thrashing around in his arms. “I don’t care how handsome you are!” You added, jabbing him in the ribs with your index and middle finger.

“Wow, feisty one, aren’t you?” Tomo lets out a burst of boisterous laughter. 

Kazuha stands to the side and watches you and Tomo bicker with a look of amusement on his face. Not once did he imagine you, his significant other, meeting Tomo, his best friend, only to bicker like siblings. After what felt like an hour, Tomo finally releases you from the clutches of his hands and gives you an innocent smile, as if he didn’t mess up your hair and poke you in the ribs moments ago.

“I think our food is ready to go. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get the food.” You huffed, walking away from Kazuha and Tomo, weaving through the crowd of people waiting to be seated or just waiting for their take-out orders.

Once you had successfully pushed through the crowd of patrons, you grabbed the bag that had your and Kazuha’s name on it before walking back to where Kazuha and Tomo stood. The paper bag was heavy; no surprise there. You’re just glad that they labeled the take-out boxes, or else someone is going to be eating something they’re not too fond of.

“Our food is ready! Should we go back to the guys now? I bet they’re starving.” You said, adjusting the paper bags in your hands.

“Here, let me help you with that,” Tomo says. Tomo reaches down and grabs two out of five bags from your grasp and smiles at you. “The bag looks heavy; we wouldn’t want you to drop it because of the weight,” Tomo adds.

You cocked your eyebrow at Tomo. “What? Trying to save face now after what you have done to me?” You huffed, looking away from Tomo, your eyebrows furrowing.

“Oh, come on [Y/N]! Don’t be like that.” He pouts at you while batting his eyelashes. 

You mumble to yourself and hand the other bag to Kazuha, who is stifling his laughter behind his pursed lips. You, Kazuha, and Tomo walk back to where the men were sitting, patiently waiting for you and Kazuha to come back with food to eat. Upon your, Kazuha, and Tomo’s arrival, the men hound the three of you for food.

“Who’s that guy?” Dainsleif asks, gesturing his head toward Tomo’s direction before slurping up the udon noodles.

You hum and wipe your lips on your napkin. “That’s Tomo, Kazuha’s best friend! I met him today while Kazuha and I were ordering food.” You reply, lifting up your chopsticks to grab the imitation crab and munch on it.

Xiao cocks his eyebrows at you. “I thought you hated seafood.” 

“I do, but imitation crab is excused from my hatred towards seafood.” You reply, shoveling glass noodles into your mouth, almost moaning from how delicious the food tasted.

Kaeya rests his head on your shoulders before stealing a piece of your narutomaki. “Is there a reason why you dislike seafood?” He asks, pressing a quick kiss on your cheeks after putting the narutomaki into his mouth.

“My family was obsessed with seafood! They would always have seafood when we celebrate something or when we want to go out and eat somewhere. They always choose seafood buffets, and I got tired of constantly eating seafood,” You reply. Your face scrunches up with distaste before continuing to slurp up your noodles. Your family ate seafood so often when while you were growing up that you developed a distaste for seafood. If you were to eat seafood from time to time, then perhaps you wouldn’t dislike seafood as much as you do now.

“So, what I’m hearing is…. Your family is the problem.” Tighnari says, tapping on his chin with the end of the wooden chopsticks.

You nod your head with a shrug. “You can say that, yes. Plus, I’m not really fond of the fishiness and oceany taste of seafood.” You added.

“As long as you’re not allergic to seafood, then that would be bad,” Albedo says, eyeing the imitation crab between your chopsticks.

Al Haitham raises his eyebrows at Albedo. “Why would it be a bad thing if they’re allergic to seafood?” 

Cyno’s head snaps toward Al Haitham’s direction. “Are you implying that it would be a good thing if they’re allergic to seafood?” 

Al Haitham rolls his eyes. “I’m not implying anything, you idiot.”

Cyno narrows his eyes at Al Haitham before zapping Al Haitham’s tempura off his plate. “Guess you didn’t sea that coming.” Cyno snorted. Al Haitham glares at Cyno before picking up the tempura and places it on the pile of napkins.

Baizhu chuckles and shakes his head. “They always bicker with each other, and Cyno is always the one to come up with a joke in the end,” Baizhu murmurs, eating his sushi roll beside Ayato.

Ayato sighs. “It’s something we’ll have to get used to from now on. I have to say; their bickering is quite entertaining.” Ayato mutters to Baizhu, who nods his head in agreement.

Tomo walks up to you and sits beside you, his shoulders brushing against yours. “How do you deal with these men? Just being around them and seeing how they interact with each other is….” Tomo trails off, unsure of what he should say next.

“Overwhelming? Headache inducing?” You ask, the corners of your lips quirking up.

Tomo laughs and shakes his head. “It’s entertaining. Being able to see people from different regions bond and bicker with one another while having one common interest.” Tomo says, brushing his bangs away from his eyes.

“Uh, having visions? Being attractive?” You list, stroking your chin. 

“No, being with you,” Tomo says, bumping shoulders with you. “They all care about you, and it’s sweet! I may have met you not too long ago, but I can see why they care about you so much.” Tomo smiles at you.

“Well, I hope you can see that I care about them too. Each and every single one of them.” You look over at the men with a small smile on your face. 

Tomo leans close to you. “If you want another person in your growing harem, would you want me to be part of it?” His warm breath was fanning your face, sending chills down your spine and goosebumps appearing on your arms. Shit. Would you want Tomo to be in your harem? You’re about to answer Tomo’s pressing question, only to be cut off by a loud whine. 

“Snookums!!! Are there forks somewhere? You know I can’t use chopsticks! My chopsticks skills are lacking, and I still need practice!” Childe wails, shoving his way between you and Tomo before nuzzling up against you like a puppy demanding attention.

“Aw man, I think they forgot to give us some forks.” You muttered, reaching over to the paper bag and searching through it. “Oh, yep. They forgot to give us some forks.” You sigh. Childe shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly before throwing his arms over your shoulders, burying his face into your neck before peppering kisses all over your neck. You pat Childe’s head lightly before looking over at Tomo, who is staring at Childe with an amused look on his face.

“My, quite affectionate, aren’t you?” Tomo asks. Tomo crosses his arms over his chest, gazing at Childe with the corner of his lips quirking up. “Anyway, what is your answer?” Tomo turns his head to you.

“My answer?” You squeaked.

Tomo nods his head. “I believe that I would make an amazing lover of yours. After all, I know how to get under that cute skin of yours.” Tomo grabs your right hand and lifts it to his lips before planting a kiss on your knuckles. You look at Tomo with wide eyes; the two of you make eye contact before he gives you a wink.

Childe glowers and yanks your hand out of Tomo’s grasp. Childe suddenly stands up, grabs Tomo firmly by the back of his collar, and drags him over to where Kazuha is standing with Gorou and Itto while eating his dry-braised salted fish. Childe pushes Tomo over to Kazuha and crosses his arms over his chest with a glare.

“You should learn not to touch other men’s significant other, or else it’ll get you into trouble,” Childe growls, glaring at Tomo.

Tomo’s shoulders shake, covering his mouth behind his hand. “You sure are possessive, aren’t you? A bit ironic since you do share [Y/N] with twenty-three other men.” Tomo raises his eyebrows at Childe.

You gripped Childe by the biceps, your nails digging into the sleeve of his jacket. “Childe, please don’t start any trouble.” You whisper, tugging onto his arms. “He’s just trying to rile you up.” You whisper.

Childe’s shoulders sag, sighing in defeat. Childe looks over at Tomo from the corner of his eyes with a sharp glare turning to walk away. Childe throws his arms over your shoulders and drags you over to where the others stand while Tomo watches the two of you walk away.

Itto places his hand on Tomo’s shoulders. “Tomo, you’re a good guy and everything, but I wouldn’t mess with Childe if I were you.” 

“Yeah! He’s a Fatui Harbinger! The man is dangerous all around! You don’t want to be picking fights with a man who is always bloodthirsty.” Gorou frowns, slowly slurping up his ramen nervously.

Tomo chuckles. “I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s not like he can attack me if he wants to. [Y/N] has him on a tight leash.” Tomo smiles, his electro-vision glimmering under the sunlight.

Zhongli glares at Childe when you and Childe walk up to him. “You need to control your temperament more, Childe. Lashing out at another person in public is inappropriate.” 

Ayato chuckles, approaching the three of you with Thoma in tow. “Childe lashing out at Tomo for being touchy with [Y/N] is no surprise.”

“I think out of all of us, Childe isn’t afraid to show his possessive side,” Thoma commented, taking a bite out of his tri-colored Dango.

“He’s also clingy.” You snorted. Childe pouts and hugs you to his chest tightly, resting his chin on top of your head. “And a big baby.” You said, reaching up to pat his cheeks.

“Is anyone done eating their food? We should head back to the abode once everyone is done eating their food.” Diluc says before tossing his trash into the garbage bin.

Your eyes widen before you rip Childe’s arms off your body. “I’m not done eating my noodles!” You exclaimed, running over to your now cold noodles. You grumble to yourself and scoop the noodles and shovel them into your mouth. Oh, yeah. The noodles are cold.

“Let me guess. Your noodles are cold now, and the noodles sucked up the majority of the broth.” Heizou says, resting his arm on top of your head.

You begin to sulk and nod your head at Heizou’s observation. “You’re correct.” You sniffle, resting your head on his hips while sorrowfully chewing on your cold glass noodles.

Once everyone finishes eating their food, you all decide to sit under the sakura tree in Inazuma to digest your food. Your head is resting on Scaramouche’s lap while your leg is tossed over Kazuha’s lap. You’re fast asleep. When you finished eating your noodles, you told the men that you wanted to rest under the sakura tree to digest your food before returning to the abode. And now you’re asleep on Kazuha and Scaramouche’s lap, with Scaramouche playing with your hair, his head resting against the tree trunk.

“I can see why you all like [Y/N],” Tomo murmurs to Kazuha, taking a peek at your unconscious body. 

Kazuha smiles and rubs his thumb over your thighs. Kazuha’s gaze slowly lingers over your sleeping face; you look at peace. A sakura petal lands on your face, tickling your nose. You scrunch your face up and swat it off while remaining unconscious.

“How can we not? They’re special, and they mean the world to us.” Scaramouche speaks up, continuing to play with your hair before running his slim fingers through your hair.

Tomo hums, leaning back with both of his arms propping him up. “It’s rare to see this kind of relationship in Teyvat. Maybe it was normal a long time ago, but this is my first time seeing a relationship like this. A polyamorous relationship.”

“Just to let you know, we’re only interested in [Y/N], not each other,” Tighnari says, plucking a sakura blossom off the ground before letting it get carried away by the wind.

Tomo snorts. “Yeah, I can see that very clearly. You all look at [Y/N] like a bunch of lovesick puppies when they’re not looking.” Tomo says.

“They appear in our world because perhaps a Celestial god wants to give us someone that knows us all very well and…” Aether trails off, rubbing the back of his neck. How in the world is he going to come up with a backstory without giving away that you’re not from this universe?

“Where are we going to explore next? I was thinking somewhere in Sumeru after this.” Kaeya changes the subject, closing his eyes when a gentle breeze fans his face.

Xiao crosses his arms over his chest and looks out to the ocean. “I heard that General Gorou wants us all to go to Watasumi Island to explore. After all, we’ve never visited Watasumi Island before,” Xiao answers, not taking his eyes away from the ocean view.

“That is true. While we stay in the abode and would visit the cities often, we have yet to explore other parts of the four nations.” Albedo says, putting his pencil and sketchpad down on the grass.

“Maybe we should visit Stormterror’s Lair when we stop by Mondstadt! We’ve visited Windrise plenty of times already, and I think a change of scenery would be nice.” Venti says casually, his lyre materializing in his hands before he lays down on the ground.

Dainsleif sighs. “If we are going to visit Stormterror’s Lair, we better make sure that [Y/N] doesn’t roam off on their own. We wouldn’t want them to get injured or run into danger while alone,” Dainsleif says, looking over where you slept.

“I’ll be bringing a first aid kit with us when we visit Stormterror’s Lair.” Baizhu smiles. 

You toss and turn in your sleep, mumbling incoherent words to yourself, making the others around you chuckle. Itto pulls out his kamera and snaps a picture of you, almost wincing when the flight flashes and the kamera clicks loudly. You crack your eyes open at the sound and rub your eyes sleepily. 

“Oh shit, I fell asleep, didn’t I?” You mumble, sitting up.

Pantalone chuckles. “You did, but that’s okay. You do need rest after pulling many all-nighters for school.” He rubs your head affectionately.

“Shall we all head back to the abode now? It seems like [Y/N] still needs their nap,” Dottore says. He gestures over to you, resting your head on Scaramouche’s shoulder, eyelids threatening to close.

“We shall.” Capitano nods his head, getting up from where he previously sat.

Pierro nudges you with his foot. “Wake up, little one. Say goodbye to the samurai’s friend before we go back to the abode.” 

You rub your eyes, slowly getting up from the ground. “Bye, Tomo! It was nice meeting you!” You yawn.

Tomo smiles and wraps his arms around your shoulders. “It was nice meeting you too, [Y/N]. I hope we get to meet each other again one day.” He pats the top of your head.

“Me too!” You smile at Tomo before being dragged away by Childe.

A few days later, you and the men returned to Inazuma, but it was to Watasumi Island this time. Gorou is the tour guide for this next area, and since Kazuha is also familiar with Watasumi island, he also pointed out the unique and beautiful things about the region. You know that Watasumi Island is a beautiful region, but seeing it in person is even better than you thought.

“Do you think we can meet up with Kokomi if she’s not busy?” You ask, walking beside Gorou.

Gorou hums. “Her Excellency is currently having a meeting with Kujou Sara about strengthening the allyship between the Shogunate and the Resistance.” 

“Aw, bummer. I wanted to meet Kokomi.” You sigh. “Maybe next time! It’d be nice to meet Kokomi and maybe Kujou Sara.” You said, turning around to take in the scenery around you.

“Pfft! Why would you want to meet Kujou Tengu? Her presence alone makes anyone want to scurry off in fear!” Itto says, rolling his eyes dramatically with his arms over his chest.

You snort at Itto’s comment and rub his back lightly. “I wouldn’t mind meeting anyone in Teyvat. Especially if that person is Shenhe herself.” You said, casually walking ahead of the others.

“Shenhe? Out of all people, why would you want to meet Shenhe?” Xiao asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

You let out an audible gasp. “Have you seen Shenhe? She’s perfect!” You gushed, covering both of your cheeks while holding back a squeal.

All of the men stop in their tracks and stare at you, collectively crossing their arms over their chests. Some are giving you the look of betrayal, while others are gazing at you curiously, almost with skepticism. You continue to walk backward, smiling at them sheepishly.

“Listen, I believe that I should be able to meet the women in Teyvat too, you know? I need friends!” You exclaim, throwing your hands in the air with a dramatic sigh.

Ayato lets out an amused huff. “Why need friends when you have us instead?” Ayato jokes.

You point an accusing finger at Ayato. “Don’t give me that look that would make me go all soft and mushy! I should be…. Upset!” You exclaimed, feeling your face becoming hot under his gaze. You know the men wouldn’t mind letting you have friends outside of the abode. But ever since your first friend incident, they’ve been a little bit more cautious about making friends with people in Teyvat. And you don’t blame them for being so cautious about the idea of you making new friends in Teyvat!

“But what if you end up liking them more than you like us?” Aether asks, popping up from behind you before resting his chin on your shoulders.

You pat Aether’s cheeks lightly. “Oh, Aether! All of you are my boyfriends! There’s nothing to worry about!” You smile, turning to press a kiss on his cheek. “But really, though, when can I be friends with these women? I think I’ll be great friends with Shenhe, Lumine, and Yelan!” You said, propping your hands on your hips with a big smile on your face.

Zhongli hums, resting his chin on his hand. “I’m sure you will be great friends with everyone. You’re a loveable person, so I don’t see why not.” 

“But before you do become their friend, please let us do background checks on them,” Heizou says dramatically, draping himself over your shoulders, almost smacking Aether in the face.

You chuckle and pat Heizou’s head. “Alright, you all can do background checks on the people I might befriend,” You said. “Now! Let’s continue our little tour now, shall we?” You ask, taking Aether and Heizou’s arms off your shoulders while walking backward.

“Maybe you shouldn’t walk backward! You’re going to bump into something or someone.” Tighnari warns you.

Baizhu sighs and holds up the small white box. “It’s a good thing I brought the first aid kit.” 

“Oh, relax! I’m not going to run into someone or something! I got this!” You chuckle. “But to ease your worries, I will turn around and walk normally.” You sigh dramatically.

You twirl around dramatically, only to bump into someone’s chest. The person grabs your arm to steady you before you can stumble back from the impact. “Oh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—” Your eyes widen.

“No need to worry! I can see that you’re occupied. I should’ve moved out of the way to prevent this from happening.” The black-haired male laughs shyly, rubbing the back of his neck as blood rushes to the apples of his cheeks.

“Oh! Teppei! It’s good to see you!” Aether smiles widely, waving at the black-haired male named Teppei. 

Teppei smiles widely. “It’s good to see you too, Aether! Care to introduce me to your twenty-four other friends?” Teppei waves at everyone in front of him with a sweet smile on his face.

“Oh, this is going to take a while,” Thoma murmurs to Diluc, who nods his head in agreement.

After Aether has introduced each person to Teppei, Aether pauses for a moment when he gets to you. You smile at Aether and pat his head at his uncertainty. It wasn’t because Aether didn’t want to introduce you to Teppei; it was because Aether didn’t know how else to introduce you. After all, everyone he has presented comes from a specific region in Teyvat. Minus Dainsleif. 

“Teppei, meet [Y/N]! They mean the world to me, and they make me really happy.” Aether says, wrapping his arms around your waist with a shy smile on his face.

“They also mean the world to us too, but I guess since you’re introducing them, it would make sense,” Cyno mutters, looking off into the distance.

Teppei looks at you all curiously. “It’s nice to see friends that care about each other a lot!” Teppei smiles at everyone.

Scaramouche stares at Teppei blankly. “Right, friends. That is something that we all are.” The corners of his lips tilt up, but he presses his lips together to hide the smile that was creeping up his face. 

“So, [Y/N]! If you don’t mind me asking, what region of Teyvat are you from?” Teppei asks.

You stare at Teppei blankly, unsure of what to say. You slowly turn to look at the other men, making a face that says, “what do I do?” The men make a face back in return, shrugging their shoulders. While you and the men are mentally communicating, Teppei stands to the side awkwardly, waiting for your response.

Venti lets out a nervous laugh. “[Y/N] is from a mysterious place! Somewhere we’re all not familiar with!” He rubs the back of his neck.

Teppei raises his eyebrows at everyone. “A mysterious place? Could it be Enkanomiya?” 

Kaeya chuckles. “They’re not from Enkanomiya. Though, that would be interesting if they were to be from Enkanomiya.” Kaeya strokes his chin and looks over at you.

You let out a nervous laugh. “My place of origin isn’t important right now, Teppei! What’s important is exploring Watasumi Island! I’ve never explored this beautiful island, so I would like to explore as much as I can before heading home,” You said.

“I agree; the region is not only beautiful, but the environment is intriguing.” Albedo murmurs from beside you.

“Oh! Well, if that’s the case, then I’ll gladly be everyone’s tour guide alongside General Gorou and Aether!” Teppei smiles at everyone before leading the way with Aether and Gorou walking beside him.

You held onto Al Haitham’s arms tightly as everyone crossed the bridge. You completely forgot how high up things are on Watasumi Island. The sound of waterfalls and the Nobushis sitting in different locations, minding their business while on edge for any potential targets, was making you feel a little bit anxious. 

“Are you alright?” Al Haitham asks, placing his hand on the small of your back.

You laugh nervously and bury your face into Al Haitham’s arms. “I’ll be okay as long as I’m with you guys. I completely forgot that Watasumi Island is high up.” You clear your throat, tightening your grip around his arms.

Teppei pauses in his steps and turns around, making eye contact with you. “We can take a break from the tour around Watasumi Island if you like! I’m not sure if all of you had anything to eat today yet, but we can stop by a camp and cook something for everyone to eat.” 

Diluc nods his head. “I agree. We should all take a short break and have something to eat before continuing the tour of Watasumi Island.”

“I’m sure [Y/N] is starting to get hungry,” Dainsleif commented.

You were about to protest when you felt your stomach growl. You pucker your lips and slowly nod your head. “Dainsleif’s correct. I’m starting to get hungry.” You said, rubbing your growling stomach.

“Alright, then, let’s head to the nearest camp and cook some food for us to eat!” Teppei says happily, leading everyone to the closest camp— which is about fifty meters from where you’re all currently located.

When everyone arrived at the campsite, you offered to help the men cook food. Since they wanted you to rest and enjoy the scenery of Watasumi Island, you find yourself sitting about ten feet from the campsite, sitting with your legs crossed while leaning back on your arms. It has been a while since you’ve been able to relax like this. Well, it has been a while because you’re now an Akademiya student who barely has enough time to sit back and relax ever since the quarter has begun. You close your eyes and let the cool breeze fan your face; you breathe in the scent of the food wafting in the air. 

“May I keep you company?” 

You crack your eyes open and look up at where the voice is coming from. Teppei was smiling down at you shyly, the pink color tinting the apples of his pale cheeks.

You smile widely and nod your head. “Of course, Teppei! I wouldn’t mind you keeping me company while we wait for the food to be finished cooking.” You said, tapping the spot beside you.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how come the others don’t want you to cook something to eat?” Teppei asks, looking over at you curiously.

“Oh, it’s because I’m an awful cook and almost burned the estate down one time.” You reply nonchalantly. Teppei looks at you in horror and concern. You snorted and shook your head. “I’m kidding, Teppei!” You lightly nudged him with your elbows.

“Is there a real reason why?” Teppei tilts his head to the side.

You shook your head. “Not really. Thoma is usually the one that cooks for everyone; he’s an amazing cook! I do cook sometimes, but ever since I started going to school, I didn’t have time to cook food. I have to focus on my studies and wasn’t home as much on the weekdays.” You explain.

“That’s understandable! I was worried that you almost burnt the entire house down with your cooking.” Teppei laughs awkwardly.

You shake your head. “Oh, no, no! If I was a horrible cook, I wouldn’t step foot in the kitchen or near the stove!” 

Silence fell between you and Teppei; both of you admired the beautiful sight of Watasumi Island. In the background, you can hear the men bicker with each other over what food to cook and how much should be cooked, while Zhongli and Dainsleif scold them for almost spilling the ingredients.

“I’m curious. What is your relationship with these men?” Teppei’s question catches you off guard. “I was under the impression that you’re all close friends who are roommates with each other, but the more I spend time with all of you, I couldn’t help but notice that there is something more than just being friends and roommates,” Teppei says. Teppei starts to mess with his shirt, glancing at you from the corner of his eyes.

“Oh! A-And what would that be?” You laugh nervously. You know Teppei isn’t the kind of guy that would judge a relationship, but you didn’t want Teppei to feel uncomfortable about the topic of one person dating over twenty people.

Teppei hums and leans back on his hands. “I saw the way they stare at you when you’re admiring the view of Watasumi Island. Not to mention when you tripped and almost fell off the cliff, they hounded you like rifthounds to make sure you’re okay and safe.” 

You sigh in defeat and nod your head. “Alright, I admit it. We’re not just roommates and friends, but we’re also lovers.”

“How does that work?” Teppei asks, squinting his eyes as he tries to imagine how a relationship with over twenty people works.

You blink at Teppei. “How does what work? The relationship?” Teppei nods his head before motioning over to where the other men stood, particularly Childe, Zhongli, Dainsleif, Al Haitham, Xiao, Cyno, Scaramouche, and the four Harbingers stood.

“Those groups of people look like they’re possessive. Specifically, those four scary ones that are wearing masks and are wearing fancy clothing.” You snort at Teppei’s observation of the men in your growing harem of men.

“You’d be surprised! While they seem like they’re possessive, they’re actually okay with sharing me with the others,” You said slowly. “With an exception, of course.” You quickly added.

“Exception?” Teppei raises an eyebrow at you.

You shake your head. “You don’t want to know, trust me. What Tomo received is lighter compared to what others have gotten.” 

Teppei opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by Thoma walking up to you with a plate of food in his hands. You smile at Thoma gratefully and grab the plate from his hands before digging into your food as he sits down beside you.

“I never got to ask you this, but how were your studies?” Thoma asks. He pulls your hair back and brushes the stray hairs from your face.

You sigh dramatically and chew your food. You hold up your index finger and swallow the food. “It’s even more stressful than the university in my world.” You said without even realizing it.

Thoma’s eyes widen, and he looks over at Teppei, who is giving you a questioning look. You slowly look up, your eyes wide after it dawns on you that you kind of exposed your origin. 

“Shit.” You muttered.

“Your world? What do you mean by your world?” Teppei questions, crossing his arms over his chest.

You laugh nervously. “Oh! Would you look at that? It looks like someone’s calling for me!” You squeak, getting up from your seat before rushing over to where the others stand, with Thoma following after you. Teppei watches you and Thoma with a quizzical look before slowly getting up from where he sat.

After everyone has finished eating, you all continue your tour around the Island. From time to time, the men couldn’t help but notice that Teppei was sneaking glances over in your direction. The look on Teppei’s face is hard to decipher. On your last stop at Watasumi Island (it was the Sangonomiya Shrine), everyone crowds on the bridge to admire the architecture of the building. You stand in front of the pillar, leaning up against it while admiring your boyfriends from afar with a small smile on your face. The way they look at the shrine in awe is adorable, and you wish you have a kamera on you to capture that moment.

You feel someone tap on your shoulders. You turn your head and see Teppei standing there, giving you a shy smile before gesturing you to follow him. You and Teppei walk down the steps of the Sangonomiya Shrine and sit at the edge of the seashell.

“Today is our last meeting, isn’t it?” Teppei asks sadly.

You blink at Teppei. “What do you mean by last meeting? The guys and I can always come back to the Sangonomiya Shrine to visit! Plus, I would love to meet Kokomi too, if she’s not busy.” You said.

Teppei places a hesitant hand over yours, interlocking his fingers with yours. “What I meant is that our meeting is a cruel fate.” 

You furrow your eyebrows. “A cruel fate?” You whisper. Teppei smiles sadly and nods his head, squeezing your hand lightly. You look down at your and Teppei’s interlocked fingers in confusion. What did he mean by that?

“Can you please elaborate on that? I may be an Akademiya student, but that doesn’t make me a mind reader or good at riddles.” You joke lightly.

Teppei gives you a pained smile. “It’s too early for you to go. You still have a lot of places to explore.”

You open your mouth to respond.

“Yo, [Y/N]! It’s time to go! Venti over here wants to go to Stormterror’s Lair right now!” Itto hollers from the other side of the Sangonomiya Shrine.

Your eyes widen. “Huh? Already? I thought we were going to visit Stormterror’s Lair tomorrow!” You exclaimed, pulling your hand out of Teppei’s grasp and getting up from the ground while dusting your clothes off.

“Yes, but since it’s almost nightfall, the Stormterror’s Lair will be lit up, and it’s going to be a breathtaking sight! I want you to be able to see it before this phenomenon is gone.” Venti exclaims, skipping over to where you stand.

You hum and stroke your chin for a second. “A phenomenon, you say? Well, then, that means we can’t miss out on it! We should take pictures while we’re there!” You chimed.

Heizou smiles and points his thumb over in Itto’s direction. “It’s a good thing that Itto brought his kamera with him! I’m sure you’ll be able to take as many photos as you like!” Heizou reaches up and caresses your face in his hands.

“Hey, Baizhu. You have the first aid kit with you, right?” Tighnari asks, turning over to the green-haired male.

Baizhu smiles and nods his head. “I do. I brought it with me just in case something goes down south while we explore Watasumi Island.” Baizhu holds up the white first aid kit.

“Guys, come on. I’m not that clumsy. You don’t see me falling all over the place everywhere I go,” You said.

“I don’t know. You did fall for all of us.” Cyno strokes his chin while gazing at you skeptically.

Al Haitham looks over at Cyno, unamused with the play on words. Al Haitham shakes his head with an eye roll. 

Al Haitham grabs your hands and pulls you forward. “We should head off soon, or else we’ll miss this phenomenon Venti spoke about.” 

You and the men bid Teppei goodbyes before walking to the closest waypoint near the Sangonomiya Shrine. Teppei watched the distance grow wider and wider as you and the men walked to the waypoint. Teppei’s chest begins to throb in his chest, swallowing a lump in his throat.

When you and the men arrived at the Stormterror’s Lair, night had fallen, and the twenty-five of you approached the lair. The night air sent chills down your spine, causing you to shudder at the breeze. Diluc took notice and took his coat off, draping it over your shoulders. You give Diluc a grateful smile and snuggle into his jacket, sighing in contentment when warmth engulfs your body.

Everyone crosses over the bridge and comes to a halt halfway. “Whoa! That’s so cool!” You gasp in awe, staring at the glowing building in front of you. Venti wasn’t wrong when he said that the phenomenon is a breathtaking sight. You wonder why the Stormterror’s Lair emits this beautiful yet ominous glow from it. Either way, you’re not complaining at all! If you’re able to witness this phenomenon with the loves of your life, then you’re not complaining one bit. As long as you’re with them, seeing this beautiful sight live, you’re not going to question it.

“I have to say; this phenomenon is beautiful,” Ayato says, his blue eyes taking in sight in front of him with his mouth agape. 

“I agree! It’s a rare sight to see; it’s one of my favorite things about Old Mondstadt.” An unfamiliar voice chimes in.

Everyone turns around and sees a male almost identical to Venti, only his braids aren’t blue at the tips, nor does he wear the same clothing as the anemo archon. You look at Venti, then over at the black-haired male standing beside Venti; they’re the same height. The male has a soft smile on his face, a lyre in his hands, and the breeze blowing in his black hair. 

“Nameless Bard?” You whisper.

The Nameless Bard looks over at you, his eyes meeting yours. A smile appears on his face; he walks towards you before stopping in front of you. Nameless Bard looks down at you with his stormy gray eyes. You feel your face heat up under his gaze.

“So, you’re this special person that Venti couldn’t stop talking about.” Nameless Bard commented. You feel your face heat up even more at his comment before looking over at Venti.

“Hey! You promised me that you wouldn’t tell Windblume!” Venti whines, jumping onto Nameless Bard’s back.

Nameless Bard laughs and lightly bats at Venti, pushing Venti off of him. “Oh, come on, Barbatos! I’m sure that everyone knows about your love for Windblume. After all, you’ve written lots of ballads about them.” The Nameless Bard pokes Venti in the ribs, making Venti sputter and laugh nervously.

“Shall we start the tour of the Stormterror’s Lair? The phenomenon is much more beautiful when you’re close to it.” said the Nameless Bard, flashing his pearly whites at you all.

“Well, lead the way!” Scaramouche gestures for the Nameless Bard to the ruins that were once Old Mondstadt. 

Nameless Bard smiles widely and walks through the crowd before catching onto your wrist, bringing you along with him. You turn to look back at the other men with wide eyes, unsure of what to say, but you go along with it. Something tells you that Nameless Bard knew that you’re not exactly from Teyvat— maybe Venti told Nameless Bard that you’re not from Teyvat unless Nameless Bard knew the minute his eyes landed on you.

The closer you all got to the Stormterror’s Lair, the brighter the light became. You stopped in your tracks and shielded your eyes from the brightness before turning around, your back facing the building. You blink away the black dots in your vision, the men standing around you, doing the same thing as you.

“Is it just me, or did the light suddenly get brighter the closer we approached it?” Gorou asks, covering his eyes with both of his hands.

“It’s not just you. It’s strange that the light got brighter all of a sudden.” Diluc mutters, his eyes glued to the ground.

Xiao looks over at Venti and the Nameless Bard. “Is that supposed to happen if people approach closer to the building?”

“I don’t think it’s supposed to happen, but I notice something strange the closer we get to the building.” Nameless Bard taps on his chin. Everyone looks at the Nameless Bard curiously, waiting for him to explain what he has noticed.

“And what would that be?” Zhongli asks, raising an eyebrow at the black-haired male standing beside you.

“Dainsleif, would you mind stepping close to the barrier?” Nameless Bard asks.

Dainsleif raises his eyebrows at the Nameless Bard, internally asking himself as to how the black-haired male knew his name when everyone hadn’t introduced themselves to him. Without questioning the Nameless Bard, Dainsleif walks over to the barrier before turning to look at everyone else.

“Alright, now, [Y/N], you take a step towards the barrier.” Nameless Bard lightly nudges you toward the barrier.

You hesitated for a moment before slowly walking to the barrier. With each step you take, the light emitting from the building grows brighter and brighter, thus blinding everyone in its presence. You stop in front of the barrier, your hands covering your eyes from the overwhelming brightness that was coming from behind the anemo wall.

“That is strange,” Kaeya mutters, squinting at the sight in front of him and the others.

“Is there a meaning why the light gets brighter the closer [Y/N] is to the barrier?” Albedo asks, looking over at the Nameless Bard.

Childe takes in a deep breath before motioning for you to come back. You walk away from the barrier and stand next to Childe; Childe immediately grabs your hands and squeezes them. You give Childe a smile and squeeze his hands back.

“All [Y/N] has to do is not to walk into the light.” Nameless Bard says.

“What?” You ask, your eyebrows furrowing.

Nameless Bard steps in front of you and places his hand on your shoulders. “Don’t walk to the light. Stay as far from it as possible, you hear me? You still have many places to explore.” Nameless Bard gives you a rueful smile.

“Teppei said that to me.” You whisper.

“[Y/N].” You look around in confusion.

“Come on, wake up!” Wake up? Were you asleep this entire time throughout your and the men’s exploration around Inazuma, Watasumi Island, and the Stormterror’s Lair? Speaking of Stormterror’s Lair, you barely explored the area. What was going on?

“They’re losing too much blood! How did this happen!?” You hear Dainsleif demand; his voice sounds much closer. You turn to look at the men around you, only to find yourself alone, standing in front of the Nameless Bard, who smiles at you sadly.

“Your time isn’t up yet. Go back. You’ll be okay.” He squeezes your shoulders gently.

You close your eyes. The frantic voices around you soon grew louder and louder. You feel someone shake you and lightly pat your cheeks. Something wet fell onto your cheeks, the warm liquid slowly trailing down your cheeks.

“Please, wake up. You can’t leave us like this.” Childe cries, continuing to pat your cheeks.

Pierro shakes his head. “You were all being too wreckless, and now look what happened.” Pierro pinches the bridge of his nose with a sharp exhale.

Al Haitham pushes Childe away from you and watches Baizhu scoop you up into his arms and press a cloth over the gaping wound on your back. You wince and crack your eyes open, looking around with bleary eyes.

“It hurts.” You whisper, tears blurring your vision.

“We know, sweetheart. We’re going to clean and patch up your wound before we take you to the infirmary.” Baizhu says.

You whimper. “What happened? I thought we were exploring the regions with Tomo, Teppei, and the Nameless Bard.” You mumble, gripping Baizhu’s shirt tightly.

“Who?” Itto asks.

“A friend of mine, Kazuha, Gorou, and Venti,” Aether says, pressing his lips in a thin line.

“The friends that are no longer with us in this world,” Thoma whispers to Itto, whose eyes widen.

You bury your face into Baizhu’s neck, gripping his shirt so tightly that you can feel your nails digging into the palm of your hands through the fabric of Baizhu’s shirt.

“You’ll be okay. Just keep your eyes open for us, alright?” Tighnari says, brushing your hair away from your damp forehead.

You nod your head weakly, letting Baizhu carry you to the infirmary at the abode with the men following closely behind. While Baizhu takes you to the infirmary, you can’t help but wonder what had happened before meeting Tomo at the restaurant in Inazuma. You have no recollection whatsoever, and maybe that’s why Teppei and the Nameless Bard were telling you that it wasn’t time for you to go yet and that you have more places to explore in Teyvat. 

You later realize that you almost died, and the light that grew brighter the closer you got to it was the afterlife, and Nameless Bard was trying to stop you from going there. You almost died. Tomo, Teppei, and Nameless Bard were trying to find a way to get you to wake up this entire time, and you didn’t realize it at all. 

Note: Man, I really need to update my navigation post and my posting schedule because I'm no longer able to post on a Saturday before Sunday 🥹 I hope I can maybe update everything once I'm on my two-day Thanksgiving break in November 💀 Anyway, I hope you all like this story because it features three special guests! It's now 2 AM, and I need to go to sleep now. I'll try to post a new form for taglists because it needs to be updated. I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Taglist for "Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader" and my overall taglist: @xxkatsusjinsux, @huboi, @plumpkie, @crazyrichdaughter, @sucker-for-angst-and-fluff, @patata52, @honeybedo, @thedivinepriestress, @pencil-of-ashes, @samarill, @bakuhve, @yukima, @chaosinanutshell, @emperatris-rinaka, @neilify, @ksjjkthpjm, @jaisithebird, @mouchie, @emerald-smile, @jixlem, @the-blob-fish, @jiminscarmex, @bananazzzen, @thelost-in-time, @kryloxen, @ayolk, @tomansimp, @lordbugs, @c-camellias, @chihawari, @lilliansstuff, @zhongloml, @sweethcnvy, @wolf-chan2134, @simp4-fictional-men, @dai-tsukki-desu, @trash-queen-af, @tamayakii, @stellaris999, @hispasian-otaku, @stygianoir (if you have not been tagged, it’s because you have your settings turned off for people to tag you in posts, or you changed your username)

Read more of my works on my Masterlist | Maybe support me by tipping me on Ko-Fi or by reblogging my fanfics! ^^ I will also be posting exclusive fanfics on Ko-Fi as well very soon!

[freddie-77-ao3]

sup yall we're vibing here

anyway. hey, my name's freddie, and i'm finally trying to write an actual intro/master post which... we'll see how this goes.

important stuff is highlighted in orange.

so, basic stuff:

as I said, my name's freddie. he/him pronouns. i'm a college student (majoring in accounting, might add a psych minor). not gonna say which college but i'm currently in california.

i've been on tumblr since 2019 i think? not under this account, this started as a fandom account and then spiralled out of control... really fast. um, my regular tumblr which i've not actually opened in ages is @chronicchthonic14 so. yeah.

not particularly relevant to this blog, but i might mention it at some point so, i have autism and adhd. and some other things but. like. that list is very long and those are the two most relevant because i promise if i come off wrong/mean, i didn't mean to, i just forget to make my words normal. but. those are the two most referenced. if for whatever reason someone wants to know more or has questions you can send an ask ig?

i'm scottish, born there. moved to US when I was four. finishing uni and moving back.

some quick warnings

this blog definitely contains cursing/vulgar language, whatever you want to call it, so if you're not comfortable with that, probably not the blog for you, as i don't tag cursing or anything for you to filter out.

if, for whatever reason, if i ever reblog something that contains a slur (against racial minorities, queer people, anything) i will ABSOLUTELY tag that though.

also if anyone has any trigger warnings they think any content needs, please let me know-- asks, dms, comments, reblogs

the cursing thing also applies for sort of dirty jokes? think that only applies to like. two posts and very not explicit. those aren't currently tagged but if they get any more explicit they certainly will be.

queer identity because the explicit reminded me, i'm asexual, and probably straight. maybe bi? dunno, don't particularly care. and i'm trans. ftm. this isn't the blog i talk about that on usually though, unless it relates to a specific ask or a fandom thing.

which, getting into what this blog is for because i can't think of anything else i need to add here (guys let me know if i forgot important stuff, please, i'm an idiot!!! i will forget the important stuff and write random shit instead!! i've already deleted three tangents from this!!)

sooooo

fandoms!! ones i write and/or post about or will potentially post about

percy jackson extending to hoo, toa, tkc (definitely post way less about this), mcga (again, way less). haven't read TSATS or COTG yet, but spoilers are fine. i post way more about minor characters. write fanfiction for and have some posted (both on here and ao3) and a bunch of snippets.

dcu-- films, comics, animated shows, all of it. personally, my favorites are young justice (the comics, not show version), new teen titans, and batman inc (batgirls, nightwing, and red robin esp). late 90s yj run is my favorite, and i loved the DCeased event. favorite batman comic is definitely court of owls run. no fanfics posted, but some on docs.

mcu-- way less so, but have a stucky oneshot. slowly making my way through in timeline order.

throne of glass. i'm an aedion and chaol apologizer because they do a bunch of dumb shit but then WHO DOESN'T in this series. fanfics in doc, not posted.

this would go on for ages if i listed everything so instead, here's an ask i answered on my fandoms/genres and everything. feel free to send me asks about anyone. if you send me something about radium girls i may cry though (tears of joy) so there's your advanced warning.

main things you'll see on my blog are incorrect quotes, snippets, and the occasional fic

this^^

my... idk, contact policy? seriously what do i word this

asks are always open, anon is on.

if you send hate... whatever. i'll probably delete it.

unless i find it funny. then I'll post it. there's really little you could say to me that would hurt.

when i say asks are always open, you can drop anything you want.

literally anything

you need to vent? want advice? want to request headcanons? request a fic? give me a prompt? ask random things about me? something else I've forgotten? go right ahead

if you want to ask me to update my fics? go right ahead. sometimes i forget i didn't post something.

send as many asks as you want, i don't care if it might be spam

i can't promise i'll respond to asks in a timely manner, sometimes i open my inbox and forget they exist for months, i'm sorry. if it's something you really want answered you can send another one

dm's are alright? if you want to be friends or something, go right ahead.

anyone can reblog any of my posts/comment/heart, i don't care. you want to heart 50 things in a row? i adore you. if i had kids, you would get my firstborn

if we're mutuals you can ask for my insta/give me yours.

now, other accounts:

anyway, i think that's it?

[desceros]

might I request a brief summary of the blurple villain au?

of course you can [clears throat and turns on the powerpoint presentation] sorry did you say the word 'brief'? i'm afraid i don't know what that word means

so the overall genesis of the au came from this text post discussing the allure of a wolf/lamb/herding dog trio.

and i was like. hm. what if there was an au where leo got separated from the others while splinter was getting mutated into a rat, so he had to grow up alone on the streets. this would obviously harden him, and since he didn't have his family to act as an anchor, he'd turn into this super smart, super conniving little monster who could outsmart anyone to get whatever he wanted. he grows up into a kind of nasty dickhead who's smug and calculating, not trusting anyone, working sketchy mercenary jobs in the hidden city and living in the seedy part of town

meanwhile there's you, the lamb in the scenario. you live at the lair for, uh, reasons i haven't explored yet. probably something like you wandered into the sewers as a little street rat and splinter took you in idk. but you've grown up with them, and donnie has kind of... latched onto you, marking himself as your protector. (he is the herding/sheep dog in the scenario.) at some point while you were kids, you did the whole when we grow up let's get married thing, and he's just taken that to just be the fact of his life. he's in love with you, you're his; and you're also in love with him, though you don't quite... recognize it yet? but you do know that you're his.

but donnie is, ofc, a bit overbearing in his protectiveness. so eventually, you start to wander out of your corral like the curious little sheep you are. and one day, you wander into the territory of a particularly hungry wolf, who goes to eat you—except you see in him echoes of someone you trust with your life. because what is a wolf but a slightly wilder dog? and you know a dog, and you love a dog, so surely a wolf can't be so scary. this guy reminds you of donnie, so you don't react the way you probably should, and that intrigues him.

eventually leo decides that you're his. and he takes things he wants. the only problem is that you're not exactly, uh. free for the taking. so though you're on board, donnie, your sheep dog, is very much not.

thus begins the complicated relationship where you're dating leo, then you realize that you're also in love with donnie, and you start dating him, and the two of them have to learn how to share if they want a piece of you, in the process learning that really they're not so different.

edit since this gets asked sometimes. no it is not tcest. it's a poly relationship where you're dating the two. they aren't dating each other. c'mon people. let's have a little tiny bit of reading comprehension. as a treat.

so yeah. it's the blurble villain au bc you're dating leo and donnie, and leo's a dick and donnie wants to beat him up a lot. here's the tag of stuff if you wanna get caught up. i've got one proper fic on ao3 for it and a few floating around here, plus some short fragment type things. also i should say that while i started it, this has turned into something i consider @gbao3's au as well since they've put just as much into it with me. so you can go talk to them, too!

[cactusringed]

Etho and Bdubs' meeting | Political Intrigue AU

Putting it in a tumblr post because idk if I can commit to a full fic that'll be posted on ao3 yet so I'll share this way

Word Count: 3,715

Content Warnings: Depictions of a staged suicide

The blood moon illuminates the night sky, painting the surrounding clouds crimson. Looking up through the glass roof of the observatory tower, Bdubs knows that today is to be the day he dies. 

Even before his vision, he’d known, somehow, that the blood moon would signify his end. He was always attracted to it like a moth to a flame. Except moths aren’t aware — Bdubs doesn’t think — of the fate awaiting them once their delicate wings brush against the harbinger destined to extinguish their life. Bdubs is. He is, he believes, the most painfully aware one could be about their demise. The blood moon calls to him the way a jailer would a prisoner on death row, marching him through that last corridor towards his end. 

“No, wait, I think a siren would be a more accurate metaphor,” Bdubs muses out loud, rubbing at his scruffy stubble. He should’ve shaved. Perhaps he still can. No. He’s meant to look this way, he knows. Images of his destiny flash in his mind and Bdubs screws his eyes shut in hopes to chase them away. 

It doesn’t work. He takes one shaky breath, then another. His lungs ache. When he opens his eyes again, his vision blurs with tears that he quickly blinks away. 

After spending over a year aware of the grisly details of his own death, one would expect Bdubs to have come to peace with it. He certainly thought he did. Yet here he is, staring up at the moonlit sky for what he knows is the very last time. Fighting back not only tears but primal fear that screams at him to rattle the bars of the cage fate has sealed him in. His heart gallops in his chest with such force he swears he feels its echoes against his ribcage, all the way up to his throat. His Adam's apple bobs as he forces his gaze downwards, to the workshop he’s built in the main observatory room. To his very last painting:

A landscape - that of the country of Oblivion. He’d hoped to finish it before his death, but he supposes the least he can do is bring it to an acceptable state. He wonders how much his work will sell for. He wonders if he can ask his murderer to burn it all before they leave. 

Bdubs picks up his brushes and palette, the oil paints still wet from his last session, and works at the landscape. He paints a tree — thin, spindly, and grey — only to cover it almost immediately. He refines the cliff-face, as he’s done dozens of times, overworking the surface into a mush of dull colors and clashing textures before he throws his equipment to the ground in frustration. 

His mind’s eye always had trouble focusing on the picture he wanted to bring to life, the shapes blurring together even after spending hours studying references of Obliviate scenery — but now, with the promise of death hanging over his head, he finds it downright impossible to not only focus but also keep his every muscle from shaking. Come on, he wants to tell himself, it’s not like you’re going up on stage to give a speech. It’s just the day of your own murder. Relax.

Bdubs worries he might puke. Or cry. That would be worse. 

Another couple of breaths in and out. Shakier than before. He’s restless, to the point he knows he won’t be able to sleep no matter how late it gets, but also won’t be able to get anything useful done. What is there to do that would be useful mere hours, or potentially minutes, before his death? He could draft a will. He doesn’t know how to write one. Maybe he should’ve learned before he had to go and die, but to be entirely fair to him… no, he did know it was going to happen tonight for some time now. Ever since he knew of the blood moon. It just didn’t feel real enough to warrant any preparation, somehow. 

Bdubs looks at the unfinished landscape. The sculk that snakes through every crack of the cliff-face. It’s too flat, despite how hard he’s worked at it. It resembles the sketches and croquis he’s studied in tomes, but not the feeling they elicit in him. That infinite darkness that threatens to suck him in. He reaches for his paints, but pauses. Gazes up, instead. Up and around himself, searching for that blackness, for that feeling.

It must be here. They must be here. Whoever Oblivion sent to end him. Bdubs isn’t stupid — he knows they’ve been following him for a while. Studying his every move, habits, his entourage. Yet he’s never been able to feel the weight of their presence. Not a shadow has ever been out of place. No matter how hard Bdubs has looked, how much he tossed his room upside down. How much he’s raised his voice.

But he’s got to keep trying.

“Assassin,” Bdubs speaks in the Obliviate tongue, struggling with the soft and flat tones it forces upon him. “Show yourself. I know you’re here. You have to be. You’re here to kill me, are you not? So, show yourself. Let me see my own murderer before I die.”

Bdubs waits. He waits for what feels like a full minute, only to be met with complete, suffocating silence. His lip twitches downwards, but he keeps his chin high, and continues to speak in a register he knows to be far more proper than he prefers to speak in his native Celesti tongue. He should’ve worked harder on his lessons. 

“I’m unarmed. I don’t deal in violence. I just… wish to see your face. Then you can kill me,” Bdubs walks slowly, carefully, to the oak desk covered in loose paper and canvas pressed against one of the walls. His fingers trace over his sketchbook. He lets out a soft laugh, peering back up at the ceiling, looking out for any movement overhead. “I bet it’s not often you get to speak with your victim. I can offer you some critique. Because I have to say, the method you have planned for me… Well, it’s a bit too quiet. It’s like….” he frowns, unable to think of the right Obliviate word. “It’s boring,” he settles on the Celesti equivalent, before he switches back to the assassin’s tongue. “It will make my retainers suspect foul.”

Still nothing but silence, no matter how long Bdubs waits. A long sigh, as he lets go of held breath. He takes his sketchbook, worn at the spine, and holds it to his chest. He turns, raises a foot, intends to take a step — only to let out a roar of terror as he’s suddenly faced with a tall figure come out of nowhere. 

Bdubs stumbles back, and as quickly as he began screaming he slaps both hands over his mouth to silence himself, letting the sketchbook fall open by his feet. His back hits the edge of his desk, and he waits as the figure stands still as a statue. One, two — his eyes dart to the door, listening for guards, servants, anyone who might have heard the commotion. Only when he’s certain no one intends to ruin his moment does he drop his hands down, letting out a high pitched giggle. 

“You scared the life outta me!” he exclaims in Celesti. “I mean,” he corrects himself in quiet Obliviate: “You sca—”

The figure holds up a hand, and Bdubs stills, before letting out another, softer chuckle.

“Right. You understand Celesti. There’s no need to translate,” He insists on continuing in Obliviate, but it does save him some time.

Another stretch of silence. The figure lets their hand drop. They remain still, and though it fills the air with an awkwardness that would normally make Bdubs want to keep yapping — he instead finds himself transfixed by their presence. 

Slowly, as to ensure they don’t take it as an offensive move, Bdubs leans down to pick up his sketchbook. He opens it towards the end, and meets with a sketch of himself laid in bed, arms stretched out at his sides, small rivulets of blood dripping down. The blood moon shining in the window. He’s transfixed by it for just a moment, his throat closing up.

He flips the page. More angles of his dead body. A few sketches of gloved hands taking hold of his wrist. The fingers are slender, long — one might call them delicate, even as they hold a blade to Bdubs’ wrist. 

A study of how the blood flows. It pearls at the edge of the cut at first. There’s a few attempts at getting it quite right. The amount of blood that begins to trickle, then pour out. The way it soaks Bdubs’ sheets. 

Then, finally, the main object of interest: The assassin. His sketches become more abundant, but less clear, as he focuses on them. Looking up at the figure standing in front of him, then down at his sketches, he’s happy to note he got their build right: Tall, slender, but not too much. Loose clothes that likely hide solid muscles. That’s another thing he realises he portrayed perfectly: Their outfit. The long, dark cloak hiding the near entirety of their figure. The large hood obscuring their head alongside a scarf wrapped around the bottom half of their face. The only part that remains uncovered is their eyes and a few strands of silver hair — easy enough to remember and portray, one would think. Yet it always remained blank both in Bdubs’ memory and sketches.

The surface of some of the pages have been rubbed raw from his eraser. Some have frustrated scribbles all over the assassin’s face. Others have just been left blank. It’s endlessly frustrating, and if he doesn’t get to do anything else before he dies, he hopes to at least fix this. 

“Can I…?” Bdubs reaches for the assassin’s scarf — only for them to suddenly jerk back before his fingers can even brush against the fabric. 

It’s the first movement he’s seen from them, a proof they’re not just a hallucination. It makes him jump, and he tenses in expectation of a blow that never comes. The assassin just adjusts their scarf securely on their face before peering down at Bdubs’ sketchbook. They point. A silent question hangs in the air.

Bdubs frowns. “Can you use your words?”

“No.”

Their voice is deep, surprisingly so. It’s also rough around the edges — the way one’s voice sounds after waking up in the morning. And a bit muffled by the scarf. 

“Very clever,” Bdubs grins, reaching to shove playfully at the assassin. They move away. “It does mean you can speak though, so— Oh, how do you say in Obliviate… you know, like… gotcha? Do you guys have a word for gotcha?”

Bdubs swears he hears a quiet, near inaudible snicker from the other. 

“You can switch to Celesti. I’d rather you did, actually,” they say in perfect Celesti. Not a trace of an accent. Not even an intonation amiss, despite how much more melodic Celesti is compared to the flatness of Obliviate. Bdubs could mistake him for a native if he didn’t know better, and if it wasn’t for the paleness of his face. 

“Right, yeah, I was tryna impress you, but turns out I’m real rusty. But hey, I was doing well enough, yeah? Since you came down from your little hidey hole?”

Silence. They’re still pointing. 

“...So, uh, what’d you want my sketchbook for?”

The silence stretches, until the assassin seemingly remembers it’s their turn to speak. “I want to see.”

Bdubs raises a brow. “Not the most eloquent sort, are ya?”

They blink.

“Just gimme a second, okay?” 

Bdubs reaches for one of his charcoal pencils, and holds the book open against his chest. He peeks up at the assassin, then down at the page, lightly finishing up one of his attempts at a portrait. He sticks out his tongue as he adds the outline of lips he can barely see through the scarf, refines the shape of their face, and draws the long, white eyelashes caressing scarred skin. The hint of sculk Bdubs can barely see, pulsing like veins burrowing deep within the assassin’s skin. He goes at it for a moment, before he finally gives up with a dissatisfied huff. 

“It’s not as pretty as you are in real life,” he holds the sketchbook out to the assassin. “But have a looksie, if you want. It’s kind of… Ah, well, you can keep it as a souvenir after you’ve killed me! I’m sure in a few decades you’ll be able to resell it for some pretty money. I mean, can you imagine?” Bdubs gestures when the assassin takes hold of the book. “‘The prophet prince’s last drawings.’ People will fight for it!”

The assassin doesn’t seem to find it quite as funny as Bdubs does. They stare at him blankly, jaw slack, before seemingly remembering to look down at the pages, ignoring Bdubs’ grin as they do. He doesn’t let it get him down. Instead he watches their piercing grey eyes dance across the pages. He doesn’t think he did them justice. He wishes he had more time. They genuinely are beautiful.

Their fingers run over the sketches. As they study the depictions of themselves knocking Bdubs unconscious and slitting his wrist, Bdubs can’t help but hyperfocus on their hands. They’re like a pianist’s. He wonders if they play instruments. Are Obliviate assassins allowed to partake in hobbies? Arts? 

“I wasn’t sent by anyone,” their voice force Bdubs out of his imaginings. They stop on a page depicting them hopping out of Bdubs’ bedroom through the window and disappearing into the darkness of the night. It was a bit of a challenging pose to figure out. Bdubs is proud of that sketch. He doesn’t think it’s what they’re admiring. “My actions were planned by myself, in opposition to my orders. You are dangerous, but no one seems to see that.”

Bdubs swallows heavily. A strange calm had settled over him, ever since the assassin revealed themselves — but their saying that turns his blood to ice. He’s suddenly aware of every inch of his body, and the way they scream at him to run, or hide, or fight — something. Instead, he stays frozen as the assassin circles him, takes in the room as if they hadn’t been spying on him for stars know how long. 

“You showing me this,” they tap their fingers on the pages. “It made me realise something I hadn’t considered before.”

Bdubs opens his mouth to speak, but the assassin continues before he gets even a sound out:

“If I choose not to kill you tonight. What happens with your vision?”

“I…” Bdubs looks down at his dead body laid on the pages. It’s hard to speak. He should stop staring. He can’t. “I don’t… know. Every single thing I’ve predicted has come true, no matter how hard I’ve worked to stop them. I don’t know what happens if… if they don’t. I think it would just push away the inevitable. If you don’t kill me today, then you’ll do it on the next blood moon. Or the one after. It’s not the first blood moon I’ve seen since the vision, after all. I could just be wrong on the exact date. Both of us could be.”

The assassin shakes their head. “Even if the date isn’t right, I won’t do it like this,” they gesture at the book. “So it still wouldn’t be true. Besides, you knew this blood moon was to be the one. I’ve been watching you for a long time. You’ve never called out to me the way you have tonight. You knew it was today.”

“I just… felt it, somehow. I tend to, with my visions. Even if nothing indicates a specific date within the vision itself, I just… feel it, when it’s about to happen,” he shrugs. “With normal prophecies — you know, the one they do all those fancy rituals for? With those, it’s kind of a fifty-fifty as to whether they’ll actually happen. But mine have always, always come true, no matter what. I’m just too good at this divination thing!” He laughs. It comes out wrong. Stilted. Tearful. 

The assassin watches Bdubs pace. 

Bdubs’ eyes find the image of the assassin’s bloodied blade, placed in his limp hand. 

“...I don’t wanna die,” he finally admits, quietly. A few tears roll their ways down his cheeks. “I just know — well, I don’t know… what’s meant to, to happen. If you stop it, I mean. I don’t know what happens if you don’t kill me. If I— If I wake up, tomorrow. I don’t know what… what would happen. I’m not meant to. It— It won’t. It won’t happen. You know?” he looks up, his lips trembling uncontrollably. 

He feels like a damn child. 

The assassin is obviously uncomfortable. Their previously relaxed posture grows suddenly tense. Their shoulders are almost all the way to where Bdubs assumes their ears would be. They reach into their coat and Bdubs gasps, sharply. His eyes squeeze shut. He expects the stab of a knife. For all of it to have been a ruse. A way to finally end their conversation and get to the very reason they came here. 

But nothing comes.

Bdubs takes one, two — up to three shaky, hiccuping breaths, before he opens his eyes again and looks up. What he sees is not a knife, but instead a handkerchief. It’s held in front of him awkwardly, the assassin staring at him unblinking. Bdubs hesitates, before he takes it and wipes the tears off his face. Except the very act of compassion coming from what should be his assassin makes his tears double, and Bdubs sobs embarrassingly against the cloth. 

“We’ll find out what happens when a vision of yours does not come to fruition, then. Because I won’t kill you. You won’t die by my hand, prince Bdubs.” 

Their voice is so gentle, now. Bdubs nearly chokes on air as he tries to calm himself. As he tries to listen. Take it in.  

“I was only sent here because we found out about your vision. Before you worry — none within your court knows. We’ve only inferred it through our surveillance. I will report back, explain what happened. They’ll send another spy to continue monitoring your safety. Oblivion never wanted you dead, so you won’t have to be afraid of them. And it means… you’ll know: There’s a way to stop your visions.”

Before Bdubs can say anything, before he can thank them, they turn away. They take a step to leave. Bdubs’ tears stop in an instant, and he reaches for them. For their cloak. He pulls them back towards him, and wraps his arms around them in a tight embrace, feels the air escape from their lungs as he squeezes.

“Thank you,” he says, voice only shaking a little as he clings to the assassin’s clothes. “I don’t know how I could ever repay you. I don’t even know your name, I—”

“My— My name’s not important.” The assassin’s voice is strained, as if in pain. They pat Bdubs’ hand in what he assumes is a gentle attempt to pry him off. He doesn’t let go quite yet. “We won’t meet again. Just… try to find a way to stop your visions. If anything, for your own sake.”

Bdubs shakes his head. “I won’t let you leave,” he declares. “Not after you saved my life. Not after you did… did this. You were sent to protect me, right? So you must be pretty good! Then, I want you to stay. I can write to Oblivion, get them to keep you here. Then you can help me stop the visions from coming true again. Yeah?”

He finally pulls away so he can walk around the assassin and face them, sniffing as he watches them shake their head.

“I’m not a protector. I’m an assassin. The only reason I was sent here was to neutralise your murderer. Since I technically have, there’s no reason for me to stay. Especially now that I’ve revealed myself to you. It… goes against almost every tenets of the code,” they sigh, reaching to pinch the bridge of their nose. “It just can’t happen. I’m sorry.”

“... Will they hurt you? For… you know,” Bdubs gestures. Could the price of his life be his would-be assassin’s death? Does he want to know? “...If not your full name, can you give me… I dunno, a nickname, the first letter —  anything? I don’t wanna forget the person who broke my curse. Please? Then I’ll let you leave. And I’ll promise not to speak a word of this. To anyone.”

The other furrows their brow, and studies Bdubs’ face. They shake their head again, and brush Bdubs’ hands off themselves. “Slab,” they finally offer. Bdubs recognises it: A clan name. A… very prominent one. “And what happens to me isn’t something for you to worry about. I’m… uh… Sorry. For causing you stress.”

There’s an awkward pause, then, before they take a step back. Bdubs lets them. He watches them as they climb back up to the rafters, open a window, and leave without a trace. 

“...Slab…” Bdubs looks down at his sketchbook, hugs it to his chest. Clouds creep closer to the blood moon, obscuring its glow. The observatory is plunged in darkness, illuminated only by the flickering candles on Bdubs’ desk. 

He’s alive. His vision has come and gone. 

He sits at his desk. Opens his sketchbook, picks up a pen, and begins sketching. 

He draws until the sun rises. A feverish attempt to burn the Slab assassin’s image in his head. Draws until one of his retainers knocks on the door and scolds him for not showing up at breakfast. Until they drag him out of the observatory, force him to breathe the fresh air outside. 

He’s free of the burn in his lungs as he’s smothered into unconsciousness, of the blade splitting his arms open. 

He’s alive.

[boolger]

auction sounds super interesting, can we hear about that one? 😁

Hii❤️ and yessss!!

Technically it’s a Macgyver(2016) dark fic, that I posted on AO3 a while ago, called Canine affairs. While it’s technically marked done on there, i still consider it a WIP - esp bc I’m also working on a Call of Duty version in the same document bc I’m lazy lol.

It’s basically set in an AU where hybrids are collected as pets and a lot of people get their pets from different auctions.

The summary of the Macgyver one is like this;

Mac is a pet owned by the wealthy businessman Murdoc; since Mac is very loved by Murdoc, he has grown used to being spoiled, fucked and genereally being the center of attention for his Master, going with Murdoc wherever he goes. That changes when Murdoc has to go on several work trips and has to leave Mac behind. Murdoc feels bad and fears that his spoiled pup might be getting bored - so despite Mac’s many protests, they go to an auction to buy another pet to be his playmate. When Murdoc spots the hybrid Jack, a former Military pet, he decides on the spot that he must be the right one to keep Mac entertained - and hopefully help with Mac’s mood swings and misbehaving. The thing is however, that Mac doesn’t particularly like the angry, untrained Jack and it’s the same the other way around, Jack doesn’t like the spoiled Mac.

Currently in the Macgyver version, I’ve reached the point where Mac and Jack get along to a certain point, often fucking violently and finally getting caught doing this by Murdoc, who is quite pleased.

My thoughts about the COD version, kinda set in the same universe, are kinda similar but at the same time I’m not quite sure about it.

A part of me wants Price to have a pup, or some kind of hybrid, who is spoiled and needy and he is too busy, so he gets her one or several playmates - one of the rest of the team 141. However I’ve also considered changing it to something where Price - or another character outside 141 - moves to the country side and starts a farm, much disliked by the pampered reader who doesn’t like doing any chores outside and regularly throws tantrums. So farmer goes to an auction and buys 141, since they’re former military pets and therefore working animals — much to the hatred of reader, who considers them dirty brutes.

Whether it will be a sweet kinda fic or a dark noncon one, idk yet tbh 👀

Anyways thank you for asking, I will stop my yapping now🥰

[cuephrase]

20 questions for writers

tysm for the tag @crows-murder!!

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

seven, but two of those are site skins

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

51,455, which is. so little. omg

3. what fandoms do you write for?

rn, exclusively batfam. i've also posted fic for bnha, and while i do think there's a solid chance i'll post more my hero fic in the future, idk when. i've also written for tmnt, voltron, and spn, but most of those never left my notebooks lmao

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

penance - ghost!robins au where tim dies + meets ghost!jason, and metric tons of emotional devastation ensue. MCD tagged bc yk. tim wakes up dead.

adds up to less - my sole bnha fic, platonic bakudeku that spans from childhood to after their fight post-all might vs. afo, centered around the fact that izuku knows katsuki's mom is abusive

despite all his efforts - whumptober fill for solitary confinement, dami and dick!bats and pain

bile is sweeter - whumptober fill for safety net, dick & tim where tim gets seriously injured on patrol. ambiguous ending as a standalone, but also ended up becoming the prelude to penance.

i know (do you know?) - whumptober fill for delirium, jason & dick, jason & bruce, bruce & dick sick!fic where jason is sick and bruce and dick are at odds but trying not to be.

5. do you respond to comments?

yes!! i love responding to comments. i am really behind atm, bc 1) penance got way more attention than i expected and 2) the comments are so frickin kind and like i short-circuit.

planning on responding to some more tonight, i want to try and wrestle my inbox away from hitting a like critical mass point

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hmmm. i think it depends, especially on how you interpret the end of 'bile is sweeter', but my gut instinct is 'despite all of his efforts'.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

mmmm. none of them? jk jk, kind of. i think they're all bittersweet is the thing. maybe 'penance'? or ik(dyk)? actually no, it's def 'penance'. neither of them end super fluffy, (or fluffy at all? fuzzy at best), but like i personally think, as hard won as it is, 'penance' has a happy ending.

8. do you get hate on fics?

i have not yet!! shockingly.

9. do you write smut? If so, what kind?

cuephrase on ao3 does not have any smut posted

10. do you write crossovers?

no, at least not yet. i don't think i will?

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of 🤞

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope!! i don't think i've written anything popular enough to warrant a translation haha

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

not yet!! i think it would be super fun tho

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

uh. hmm. i don't know if i have one?? ships rank pretty low on my overall interest, relationships that stick with me forever and a day are siblings lmao. but okay.

overall, like regardless of fandom it's probs a tie between kyo/tohru from fruits basket and kabakura/koyanagi from wotakoi.

rn my top ship is timkon, no contest. love those two very much. platonic or romantic i am sat.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

any of them? all of them? i have one fic with like actual words written, everything else is percolating in my mind. i have a decent track record of finishing stuff i start...but starting is difficult. i'm trying to work on that tho!! i really love writing and every time i sweet talk myself into it i'm like omg why don't we do this more often. baby cue would be horrified at how little i write.

16. What are your writing strengths?

making people cry. at the ripe-old age of 7 i decided the best writing was the kind that elicited a physical reaction, which to me was either tears or laughter and i don't think i'm funny. so bringing the pain it was.

and dialogue. i'm super picky about my dialogue and i act out convos + read exchanges out loud. i worry sometimes that i like have too many "blah blah bla-" type lines, but like when people are arguing, nobody is getting out full sentences lmao. there's a balance to it, for sure tho

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

setting/description. i have the worst White Room Syndrome ever i fear. like, okay, so writing for me typically feels like i'm watching something play out and just recording what i see, and uh what i see is usually characters interacting. sometimes they're interacting with their environment but ehhhhh. so i have to make a conscious effort to have my writing not be talking heads interspersed with chekhov's guns

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i don't do it. too paranoid about it being wrong. i don't mind it when someone else does it, but if i was going to do it foreign language dialogue would probably be written like "<This is not English>." with a note at the beginning that dialogue in <> is X language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

i was going to say tmnt, but then i remembered i wrote warrior cats fic way before i knew what fic was omg. stopppppp. i was like eight, i think? but like. consciously knew that i was writing fanfic? tmnt.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

hmmmm. this is probs a tie between 'penance' and 'ik(dyk)' rn, the former was just so much fun to write and the latter features robin!jason and dick bonding which i'm particularly fond of rn hehe this was sm fun!! no pressure tagging @androxys @librarylexicon @tevyaa, @coyote-nebula, @motleyfam and anyone else who sees this and wants to play!!

[bunnypeew]

the air in my lungs - Angel!Lucifer x Human!Modern!Doctor!Alastor part 1

CW: blood, hospital, unknown disease

okay so this prompt literally came to me via a dream,, I DREAMED THE WHOLE THING. I THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY GOOD,,, yeah this is gonna be a multiple parts thing. I'm gonna post it on ao3 as well so as a summary,, all I remember is the fact that Luci has this unknown disease that makes him unable to breathe on his own and also cough up blood no matter what, Yes he is an angel here, its because the world here is populated by angels all the time + sometimes they have diseases that Heaven can not control so they send them down,not as fallen but more as to not contaminate Heaven more idk how to explain it haha, so basically he didn't cause the garden of eden apple thing, but evil still found its way into Earth, only that God has no idea ooooh anyway enjoy reading!!!

Chapter 1 - Lucifer and Alastor

Waking up was painful, it wasn't unusual for him at all. He slowly got up in a sitting position on his hospital bed, he was wearing a sweater and some sweatpants, and his breathing tube was all tangled around his wrist so he made a motion to untie it he then tried to take a deep breath resulting in him coughing out blood on his hands. He was prepared of course he had a tissue box right next to his bed, cleaning his hands he then got up from his bed completely.

It was cold. After all, it was winter there on Earth, it was also 6am, making everything outside and inside the hospital dark. No one was around until 7am, so Lucifer took his oxygen tank and fluid with him and walked.

Everything was quiet, he loved that. in Heaven, there wasn't a single moment of chill since they didn't sleep usually so it was a constant ''you got work to do''. For him, it was awful because he never had time to do what he wanted and now that he got this disease he really had no time to do anything at all. It sucked, sure, but he liked the calm.

He arrived at the big window he usually looked out of, it was dark outside, save for the big lights hanging around, it was also snowing a whole bunch which made him smile. He had seen snow, of course, well the creation of it back in Eden, that's when he first got sick. The angels think that it is a disease contracted by staying in contact with humans since he went down to Eden a whole bunch of times to see both Lilith and Adam, something must have gone wrong by some animal or plant or something but for him, it definitely wasn't because of the Humans.

The funny thing is Humans had no diseases, so they couldn't really give them to someone else just like that! Especially not angels. Angels were pure entities with no possible way of getting sick, but yet they did, not very often but they did.

As he looked out the window as someone was walking up to the hospital he noticed that person had wings, which meant it was an angel. Gabriel.

He quickly took his tank and fluid and started running towards the main door of the hospital he saw him trying to get in but Lucifer gestured for him to stop, coughing really violently from the fact he ran. Gabriel stopped at the second door and looked at him in concern

"Are you okay Luci?,,

Gabriel says softly through the glass, putting his hands on the glass to support himself

Lucifer at that point had stopped coughing but he covered his sleeve with blood, he looked at it with a saddened expression, then looked up at Gabriel and smiled softly

"I'm okay Gabri, don't worry, just don't come in here you know the rules, you might get it,,

he said with a pained face then gestured for Gabriel to leave, turning around and going back to his room. As soon as he got there he bumped into someone, almost making him fall down, he looked to see who it was but had to look up since this person was very tall. It was a man with dark curls, big brown eyes and glasses hanging on his nose. It was a doctor, they did say he was getting a new doctor but he didn't imagine him to look this handsome

''hello??,,

Lucifer said softly, making the doctor look down at him, a big smile on his face which made Lucifer a little bit uneasy

''hello dear, you must be the angel Lucifer! I'm your new doctor, Alastor! It is a pleasure to be meeting you, quite a pleasure!,,

he said taking his hand and shaking it profusely noticing too late that it was stained with blood, Alastor looked at his own hand still smiling then licked it out of nowhere! Lucifer flinched at the action with a slightly disgusted look on his face. What was wrong with this guy??

"okayyyy,, can you maybe let me get in my room tho?''

Lucifer says softly then tries to squish himself past the lanky man only for Alastor to let him go through right after. Luci went towards his bed and sat on it with a little bit of struggle, putting his tank next to it and the fluid back in its place, the bed was tall and he couldn't touch the floor so he let his slipper slip away from his feet and hit the floor, he then tucked himself back into bed and watched Alastor approach him, he had a clipboard in his hands, probably with his last exams and the symptoms he was having.

''so, this is some sort of angelic disease is it?,,

Alastor said looking down at the clipboard, scribbling whatever he was scribbling on the margin of the page

''It's kind of an immune system thing, something wrong with my lungs and stomach I don't know,,

Lucifer said making the bed mattress come up so he could sit with his back on it, to get more comfortable.

''Angelic diseases are odd on their own don't you think my dear? such an oddity...,,

Alastor said mumbling the last part to himself, Lucifer heard him anyway but decided to ignore him. He knew it was odd, angels were creatures of pure light, and they were never supposed to die or get sick, that's how God designed them after all, but obviously, something went wrong. The angels were saying that evil made its way from Earth to Heaven because some angels were hanging out with humans and all that stuff

when Alastor noticed he did not reply he averted his attention from the clipboard to the tiny angel, smile still on his face, now walking towards said angel

"what's wrong my dear, well other than your disease that is,,

he said, even giggling a little at his last sentence, he seemed like such a weirdo, laughing at the most unconventional moments. Lucifer scoffed and crossed his arms, not really knowing what to say. There wasn’t anything wrong with him he just didn’t want to reply to him that is all, so that’s what he did he didn’t reply, again. This made Alastor eye twitch slightly, still keeping his composure tho.

“you’re not going to reply, I see. Well one day you will,,

that sounded like a threat, Lucifer looked at him with a raised eyebrow and sighed.

this was gonna be a long therapy program.

OK SO WOOOW,,, it took me so long to write this,,, literally a month cuz i kept losing interest but now here we have it,,,,,,, its not something amazing and i’m not even sure i’m going to continue it,,, but if it gets a nice feedback i might! thank you for reading :3

[erosathelstan]

WARNING: Spoilers for Act 3

I don't really have much BG3 friends irl and I have a lot of thoughts that I cannot put into proper writing yet so I'll just post it here:

As much as I love the idea of giving Astarion an item that allows him to walk in the sun (my durge also does that, bcs in my headcanon the "Sunwalker's Gift" is the perfect item to do just that) I just want to talk about one other thing that Astarion mentions about being a vampire that I don't see a lot of people posting about: the aspect of hunger.

In one of his conversations with a Dark Urge PC, he mentions being unable to speak and think clearly when he wasn't able to feed for a long time because the hunger deprives him of reason. During one of the post-Cazador dialogues, too (if you kill Cazador without him, regardless if you're DU or Tav) he talks about being condemned to an eternity of hunger without being able to make a choice about it. Freedom to choose and consent is a major theme in Astarion's story, and with Cazador gone, that hunger then becomes the primary contender for his ability to choose for himself, because that hunger can literally rob him of reason when left unchecked.

Yes, he's also a murder hobo and wouldn't even blink twice if he had to kill someone, especially if it's for the sake of keeping himself safe and well-fed. At the moment, considering that our Tav/Durge is also a willing Personal Juicebox™ for his twink ass, then the guy is pretty much food secure. However, I don't think that later on in their relationship, he'd be comfortable with continuing that arrangement with their partner - whether it's due to old age/sickness on Tav's part, or some sort of self-realization that we can all only headcanon about. Him hunting down criminals/vagrants/random strangers also inadvertently puts Tav and whatever home they've made in danger, as someone at some point will want to hunt the vampire that killed their friend/family/workmate/what-have-you. Idk maybe some mofo with a strong sense of justice will also eventually go after his ass because he's a total menace to society.

Fighting is not a problem, or at least at first. Tav can fight. Tav literally led the group into fucking up an Elder Brain ffs, so what's a couple of vampire hunters and/or vengeful band of misfits, amiryt? But again, it will be kinda tiring to have to always be on guard, because someone might just kill you and the love of your life because you fed on someone else's. Also, again, he can fight for as long as he needs to, but what about Tav? Esp if our Tavs are not from long-lived races.

Part of getting Astarion's life back has to not only include making him able to stand in the sun again, but also ridding him of that hunger. Vampiric hunger can be an all-consuming thing that could put both him and his lover in significant danger. Whether he as a character would want to address this is a matter of our personal interpretations as fans/writers/artists, but I personally want to see more of this aspect of his vampirism being explored in fan works.

Anyway, I have said too many words. Maybe I need to finally give in and go hunting in Ao3 for this type of content. But for now, I slep 🙃

[a-smol-cosplayer]

Okay here is my master list of Wyler fic recs cause literally two people asked and I cannot control myself.

Psa I have probably read at least 70% of the fics on this tag in ao3 however these are my bestest/favourite ones. most of them are ongoing bc this fandom is hella new but still :) pls check ratings and tags before u read obvi. Also none of these fics are out to hurt u (as far as I’m aware) some of the longer ones might have angst but I’m here for relationship, plot and fluff rather than angst and pain (we go enough of that in the show). Some of the ongoing ones have updates every two/three days? Some haven’t updated since I have read them but most of them are under a week and a half old so I still have hope. There are ordered in shortest to longest in each category 

alright enough chitter chatter, buckle ur seatbelts people here we go!!

Finished 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43546942

Ocean Blue Eyes, Looking In Mine (I Feel Like I Might, Sink And Drown And Die) - cute Wyler one shot where they are dating at nevermore, after season 1, {1,876 words}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43494253#main

Grocery shopping in c minor - alternate au grocery store, Tyler works there, love the fact that he’s still super sweet but slightly unhinged, characterisation on point, {3,759 words}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43386558/chapters/109065348

A Half Life - Tylers pov of the first ep or so, kinda angsty bc its Tyler and he’s struggling, but still nice, not sure if its technically Wyler but its got the vibes {4 chaters but only 4,272 words}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43332840 

Yeah, all you did was smile (‘cause I’m a mastermind) - canon divergent but still similar story line, Tylers pov, love how they have chemistry, no hyde Tyler but still really good, {8,536 words}

In progress - y’all don’t understand, I religiously check these for updates every single day

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43333995/chapters/108929727

What if… you helped me change? Basically what could have happened after the kiss in ep 7, minor kidnapping but we forgive him bc he was freaking out, no real ‘hyde Tyler’ more like ‘idk how this happened but I want to make it better Tyler’ {3 chapters, 3,592 words so far}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43353318/chapters/108979656

I never fell again - only really the set up so far, Wednesday comes back to school and finds that Tyler has come back and is enrolled in nevermore, she hates (misses) him so much, na they love each other {4 chapters 5,505 words so far}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43278591/chapters/108783186#workskin

On Wednesdays we dance - wednesday buys a laptop and enters a horror writing group, and yet, one prompt is about a date, and Tyler offers so that he can have real life experience, another wednesday style date which is so cute, I really love this fic its super fluffy and nice {2/3 chapters 5,733 words so far}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43470636/chapters/109282542#workskin

Perfect Match - READ THE TAGS (is rated T but really should be M/E) not much plot just wyler smut, and unholy use of the gates mansion, set after season 1 ends, also slightly off topic, but I like the hc that wednesday eats dried strawberries, idk why but I love it, anyways, read at ur own warning, {3/4 chapters finished 7,387 words so far}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43286737/chapters/108804511

Frump Family Curse - from ep 8 into post season 1, we get some obsessed wyler at the start, and then, build on each of the characters for upcoming chapters, shaping up to be a really good fic. Also surprise Gomez and Donovan friendship over there cute murder children, 100% support {4 chapters 9,111 words so far}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43354401/chapters/108982119

Woe to do with two soulmates - Wednesday has 2 soulmate marks (writing of their first words to her, I think we know where this is going👀) and doesn’t know which one she wants yet, deals with Wednesday and feelings and well and our adorable barista, some angst cause ew laurel but still really good, sort of plot twist?/something I didn’t expect but I’m glad it happened in chap 8 {9 chapters and 11,498 words and counting}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43284108/chapters/108797994

My unconquerable soul - wyler, mostly after season 1 in the break, tags!! And ratings!! Please!! They are psycho but psycho for each other, some light kidnapping, the hyde side of Tyler appears a little, some angst but mostly dark fluff {10 chapters, 12,749 words so far}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43482336/chapters/109313109

A Girl and her Monster Of Woe - post season 1, wednesday realising that she actually liked and missed him, in her own dark way obvi, setting up for them to meet again, sort of adresses how Tyler can stay and not be charged, yet again pls read rating and tags {7 chapters, 13,266 words so far}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43424209/chapters/109164106

Woeful - wednesday comes in wondering about Hydes and the cute barista seems to know an awful lot about them👀 basically, Tyler knows he’s a hyde, but!! He isn’t the one murdering people, developing some alternate plot line which seems really good so far, plus wednesday and Tyler being cute in the weathervane {7 chapters, 13,906 words so far}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43328175/chapters/108913881 

She’s mine - I know I keep telling y’all to check ratings but I don’t want any ‘I didn’t realise’ complains, basically Tyler realised that he fucked up and wednesday is actually his mate (I dislike that word but oh well) and basically fixes his mistakes in ep 8 ect ect, goes slightly further, loving the surprise Tyler/ajax friendship that comes with dating enid/wednesday, also good Adams adopting Tyler vibes {10 chapters 20,203 words and counting}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43466823/chapters/109273329 

Just the Two (Three) of Us - wednesday if she’s known about the hyde from the beginning, I really love this fic, lots of wyler connection and chemistry and stuff, trust me, its good, the characterisation and writing is excellent {7 chapters 22,728 words so far}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43329579/chapters/108917643

You can occupy my every sigh - wyler!! Literally my fav fic rn, Tyler already goes to nevermore, has its own plot line sorta, pls check the tags and rating before reading, Wednesdays characterisation is so good, got some Tyler/enid friend vibes as well, soulmates? Bonded? Something? idk its really good and super long - {11 chapters, 123,607 words and counting}

okay thats it!! let me know what u think in the comments, also if u have good fics that I haven't put on here I'm always open to more recs :)

[adriancatrin]

Best Zukka fic recs and/or Azula centric fics (bonus points for both!) I'm desperate for more content.

(digging thru my bookmarks) hoo boy ok let's see

i'm gonna put a cut because this might be long!! idk what all of the zukka 'classics' you've read so i just included 'em if they're my faves. list is in no particular order, pls heed warnings/tags on AO3 as some include potentially triggering content ~

like the sun inside of you by ofherlionheart: Zuko is sixteen years old when he’s handed a crown, a throne, and a hundred-year ancestral legacy of colonial imperialism. He’s not scared of the work; he’s scared of being consumed by the responsibilities and burdens he’s claimed. What Zuko doesn’t quite realize, yet, is that he’s not alone in this. Still in progress, one chapter left to go. Very slow-burn Zukka, and some great Azula stuff

To Cleave These Roots We've Made by Erisenyo: Sokka and Zuko have been roommates and best friends through college and graduation, through first jobs and new jobs and promotions, through friends getting married and sisters being pregnant and everything in between. But that all ends in four days. Four days to pack up an apartment. Four days before Zuko goes to law school and Sokka stays behind. Four days to untangle two lives that Sokka and Zuko have spent ten years weaving together. Can you call it a divorce, if you were never actually together in the first place? I don't remember Azula's involvement in this, but gosh darn it's a good one

i won't stumble as i follow down this path (cause words that are spoken are just other things to have) by jublis: It takes Zuko one year to visit his sister again. Featuring birthday weeks, struggling with your own goodness, and a future. Pretty sure this is a Zukki, ft. Azula very heavily

Destiny in the details by salytierra: Sokka heard that story before. Of course he did, the turning point of Zuko's destiny, the single bravest and most noble (or stupid) thing he's ever done. He retold the thoughts that went through his head back then, the repercussions... but he left out a single detail. And it's that detail that changes everything.  I need to see his soulmark. Sokka thinks, heart hammering in his chest. Fantastic post-canon soulmate AU. Azula's not in it, though

Divine Intervention by AggressiveStress: Sokka has had a lot of dates but they never stick around and he doesn’t know why. Literally everyone else knows why. Honestly I don't remember much about this one I just know I really liked it hahaha

Maybe I Don't Want Heaven by inkfingers_mcgee: Zuko does not realize that he wants to break up with Mai until she says, “We need to talk about us,” with an unmistakable finality, and the candles around his meditation mat don’t even flicker. // Five years after ascending the throne, Zuko reaches yet another crossroads of self. Sokka helps him through it. Mai incites national legislative reform. Azula is listed as a character in this one but I don't remember her role. The fic is great though. slow burn in case u haven't caught onto the trend of my fave fics yet haha

Of Tea and Turtle Ducks (and the Turtle Duck Guy) by Erisenyo: Sokka is nothing if not enthusiastic about his interests--Learning. Campus traditions. The campus turtle ducks. The guy who's watching the ducks so intently this year.  Zuko is nothing if not intense about duck watching. (It's not really about the ducks.) (Is it ever?) No Azula again but gosh darn it this fic is so cute. (expect more erisenyo on this list whoops)

this ultraviolet morning light by GallifreyanFairytale: sokka and zuko break up, make up, go undercover, thwart a rebellion, watch the sunrise, and change the course of fire nation history. not necessarily in that order. I don't remember the level of Azula's involvement in this fic, but I do remember she's in recovery and Zuko thinks about her a fair amount.

Empty Bodies, Empty Smiles by attackfish: Zuko sorts through the wreckage of his childhood and comes across a doll given to his sister. Not a shipping fic, just a character study of sorts of Azula as a child. It's... very sad, but incredibly nuanced in its understanding of her as a very unhappy and unfortunately disturbed child

Will We Last the Night by CSHfic/VSfic: Chief Arnook never assigns Sokka to protect Princess Yue, so he goes to fight the Fire Nation with the other men. When the moon dies, and the ocean spirit takes its revenge, Sokka is caught standing on the deck of a Fire Nation ship. Sokka should have drowned… and he would have drowned, if not for a certain Fire Nation raft fleeing the North Pole. An enemies-to-lovers season 2 rewrite, where Sokka is separated from the gaang during the Siege of the North, and travels the Earth Kingdom with Zuko instead Azula is just S2 Azula w/o redemption I believe, but my goodness the Zukka is just so. SO sweet

Burning Bright by Erisenyo: On a particularly hopeless night, Zuko sends out a messenger hawk to nowhere. He didn’t realize that his messenger hawk is deeply committed to completing the job. And that Sokka happens to be traveling straight through nowhere, at the time. I'm currently rereading this series for the umpteenth time, it's amazing, highly recommend, Azula is hyper intriguing in it too w/ a very complicated relationship with Zuko

All's Fair by Lovely_Elbow_Leech: Book one ends with two major diffrences: 1. Sokka went on the mission with Hahn (it did not go well) 2. Zhao survives the North Pole and that proves unfortunate for everybody (except Zhao, obviously)  Imprisoned on Zhao’s war ship, Sokka and Zuko have to work together to survive. They are not very enthusiastic about this prospect.  And they argue. A lot. Another of my top faves. Book 2 is in progress

Real Slow by surveycorpsjean: “I see.” Zuko closes the scroll. “Is the Water Tribe sending a replacement?" “Uh yeah,” Sokka gestures to himself dramatically. “You’re looking at him.” No Azula I believe but heckin' slow burn

this is a gift (it comes with a price) by WitchofEndor: There is a ghost on the Wani. But the crew have grown used to - even fond of - Prince Zuko. And no matter how many times General Iroh tries to gently explain the boy’s predicament, tries to suggest that he might attempt to move on, Prince Zuko can always be found watching the sea. There is a prisoner in the palace. Not Zukka, but the relationships in it are fantastic, including Azula and Zuko.

 While Mighty Oaks Do Fall by WitchofEndor: The newly-crowned Fire Lord Ozai offers his firstborn son to service in the temple. This turns out to be a catastrophic mistake. Wacky crazy fic. There's something funky fresh happening with Azula, but it's an in-progress fic so. who knows where it'll go

I probably don't need to include The Art of Burning but it's in my fave bookmarks so. Same for Blue

Also in retrospect I have a lot of issues with this fic, but here's my post-canon Zukka w/ Azula redemption fic: New Heights

[phantomram-b00]

Imma use my hottake post to explain it since I felt I should give more context with this take to explain myself why I have this opinion on the topic of this.

For those who don’t know or don’t wanna look back with the link, it basically that my hottake is that I don’t like the theory of what Crowley’s angel name was/could’ve been. I know this might be a bit controversial since I think everyone in this fandom (not to assume ofc), and whilst I get the curiously since Crowley almost never talk about his time over at heaven, mostly for valid reason that I’ll get to. Before I get into this, I know it been month but I wanna still give that this haunted blog/post does contain heavy spoilers so if your planning to watch good omens or haven’t seen season two yet go watch it and come back here, or you can still read— what can I say, I’m only a phantom that have lot to say about good omens and making it everyone else’s problem. But still spoiler warning ahead! So without further or do,

let get into it and talk about our favorite snake demon and a good old fashion lover boy/girl/enby—

So, okay, seeing Angel Crowley, that’s cool and honestly wholesome— despite the poor trauma he’s going to endure and will sauntered vaguely downward for. I remember hearing the theory about how his name could be Raphael, seen some AO3 tags of Crowley used to be Raphael or just people buzzing what his name could’ve been (even some saying it could be Castiel or Cassiel). And while the curiously of it all is cool, for a while I couldn’t really pin it at first as to why I personally didn’t like it. And Idk if that make be boring or a bitch for not wanting to know, it just to me, I felt why does it matter if Crowley himself don’t even want to remember about his time at heaven?

Sure season 2 when he didn’t even say it might have been what spiked it, but i think the whole point about him is the fact that he clearly moved on from it. Does he still hold resentment? Of course, why wouldn’t he be? And from unfair circumstances too:

But, as we’ve seen from most of the flashback, he moved on from it. He using hell as long as he can (lonely? Yep, which is a perfect parallel to how Aziraphale following heaven—), he doesn’t want to remember the angel he is before, he even said it to Aziraphale when he tried to stop him from killing Job’s kids. But I think of how he’s dealt with is how his trauma grew seeing how he doesn’t want to be considered nice or kind; I feel it goes deeper than just because he’s a demon now, I believe (and this is just my observation), he rather not remember the kinder side he was once before because of how the “light” casted him away and how heaven runs things. So why would he want to be associated with those word when it remind him of his time, he rather not remember it (or in a case run away from heaven as much as he can), he rather associate himself from being mean or remember himself as a demon now rather than an angel he once was. (Even though, he is very kind and I wish to hug him. Don’t start-).

Plus, he more comfortable with his new name now, that’s why he even changed it back at the flashback of the crucifixion of Jesus as his named used to be Crawly (which honestly real.) and changed it to Crowley (now technically he changed it again to Anthony J Crowley, but we hardly heart anyone even Aziraphale say it outside from the blitz flashback, so I kinda wanna count it but I’mma not just incase, but I like the name tho-), and since then, he’ve wore that name proudly and never look back, and Aziraphale an ally he is suppose him and call him by his prefer name. That is him saying “I’m not whoever I was before, so I’m going to change my name to move on from my past”, and honestly I stand, I love the fact he want to move on from his time as an angel/move away from his deadname to be the person he is today, proud of the wily serpent ^v^

“But phantom, that still doesn’t explain why you dislike it?”

You’re right, it still doesn’t so imma explain it a bit more, I just feel it shouldn’t matter what his name was, it really up to his (or Neil’s but this is Crowley we’re talking about) own terms, it him that should be able to say his deadname. And if it never reveal, I wouldn’t care since Good Omens from both season shown, Crowley moved on from his angelic past even if he have the grudges he have now after 6000 years he rather accepts his life now and hopefully with the Angel that have supported him and stood by him. And I know the finally is making it seem like Azirapahel want to change him, but like I said here that I don’t think that the case, I don’t think he would ever want him to revert back to the person he was once before, he could never ask Crowley to do such a thing knowing the progress he made. Like I said and will say again, I think this was Azirapahle (in a poor way given the situation and that their communication is the equivalent of a ghost (invisible as fuck)) to give Crowley a change to fix the broken and toxic system heaven been running on since the dawn of time, to give Crowley the chance to fix what need to be fixed with Aziraphale, and Crowley said no, and I think rightly so in his point of view, heaven did treated everyone especially Crowley poorly and is the main source of his trauma, so I’m happy he said no, it not his place to fix the one thing that in his eyes was broken and have always been. So good jobs Crowley for standing your grounds.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, my point is that, Crowley have moved on and it shouldn’t matter what his deadname was, I think we should all respect that when it come to not just his but everyone’s deadname. Crowley clearly doesn’t have to remember his time on heaven, and I gotta respect that. Because if I was in his shoes, I wouldn’t neither if I was a bit braver than he was.

“But phantom what if it was revealed anyway?”

Again I wouldn’t care, like the commenter said (I don’t know how they feel about tagging so I won’t just to be respectful) and I do agree, if it had to be revealed it should be on his own terms. And I do agree, it is up to Crowley, he should be able to say it as it could garner the impactful moment, especially if he does say like “I’m not *this name* anymore” or whatever he’ll say in season 3, (which please let it be greenlit, I’m begging atp).

And honestly, I don’t doubt it really, it seem it might be revealed, which, fine, this is Neil’s work so gotta respect. Just I hope it on his term, and that no one else say it, I don’t even want aziraphale to say it. Just him. He deserve it.

But that’s my take on it. That’s my spew on this. Might be boring or lame to not be curious, but honestly like I said, he’ve going down a path away from heaven and accepted what happen to him. May not be in a healthiest way but regardless I love this demon and I am happy he moved on and I can’t wait to see him again in season 3, David Tennant a perfect Crowley and I wouldn’t have it any other way ^v^

But I hope you enjoy my yet another insane ramble of this show, frankly this show is becoming my life atp and I don’t hate it. I love this show, it my comfort, I’m happy to have this show; if you want to ask me any other questions you can in the AMA box or comments, but also tell me what do you guys think of this theory? Do you love it? Have qualms with it? Or anything? Tell me in the comments or reblog. As always this is phantom, imma go haunt somewhere else.

[unhingedlesbear]

Okay fuck it yeah I'm making the post idc abt backlash. First of all the hidden agenda fandom doesn't exist anymore so whos even gonna have an issue. But if you do feel called out um. Maybe thats ur problem idk bc I'm not aiming at anyone in particular here.

Anyway long ass ramble abt the tiny dead Hidden Agenda fandom below the cut

This is mainly something I noticed looking through the very limited amount of Hidden Agenda fics on ao3, but it's VERY obvious on there. The vast majority of fics on there are centered on Adam and Finn, which I can understand more since they have an interesting backstory and are well written characters, sure. But then you look at the others and the other characters that are centered are... Riggs and Calvary?

In the actual game ofc Becky and Felicity are the main characters. Both of them not only are pretty objectively interesting characters on their own, and even more so together. On top of this they have the most shipping potential of any two characters in that game, it's literally basically canon, it's not even subtext atp it's literally just text. NO other two characters have that amount of chemistry in the game, and yet there is a noticeable lack of gravey fics in that tag. And I'll stress again bc I know how defensive people got last time I made this kind of observation, I'm not pointing fingers or calling anyone misogynistic/racist/homophobic BUT. but. When the two mcs are women, one of which is poc, and they're implied to be lesbians, and they get sidelined by the fandom despite being the focuses of the game... it's kinda hard not to assume there's some kind of bias there.

And on another point, it's similar when it comes to supporting characters too. In a way I'm disappointed but absolutely not surprised that Adam/Finn is prioritized in fan works over Becky/Felicity, but when characters like Riggs and Calvary are also given more attention than them it becomes way more suspicious to me. Riggs is a fine character, I like him enough and I can see why others might like him more, but wbk he doesn't really have all that much relevance. Calvary is even more confusing bc he basically JUST exists to be a creepy misogynistic asshole and as unlikeable as possible. Thankfully I haven't seen him getting a lot of attention but the fact that I've seen him getting any that isn't entirely negative is... hm...

Now there ARE in fact male characters that can be both relevant and likeable: Tom and Karl. (I talk shit abt Karl bc it's a joke I started with friends, I'm gonna drop that for this post obv bc we're being fr here) these two are pretty obviously more relevant than Riggs or Calvary, they're literally Becky's partners (Tom can even replace Riggs' entire role lmao, and if he's replaced himself it's by Karl) and I'd say they're also both likeable characters on their own too. And yet I'm pretty sure I found maybe one??? fic with them in it? Probably should have mentioned this earlier but yeah, they're both poc.

So like... I feel like it all comes down to what Becky/Felicity/Tom/Karl have in common and then what Adam/Finn/Riggs/Calvary have in common. It strikes me as questionable. But like maybe I'm just an annoying snowflake though idk🤷‍♀️ /s

This turned into more of a ramble than anything and I'm aware i'm also yelling into a void bc I'm posting entirely for a dead fandom that barely existed to begin with, but tbh this stuff applies to most if not all larger fandoms as well, i'm just looking at it from what I've seen in the remnants of the HA fandom. Again I am not attacking anyone here, I am making observations. If you're like mad or something I'm just gonna assume you didn't even read the whole post. Yes ur allowed to like characters, but I am also allowed to address what I've noticed about what characters seem to be more liked than others.

[twosdays-trash]

There are 2 fics that i cannot find for the life of me and would like some help 😓

Both fics are on ao3

The first one is a rosqez fic where marc and vale switch bodies overnight. I remember that vale was on his ranch and marc was at his house. I also am pretty sure that its post arm surgery so vale (im marcs body) realizes how much pain marc is in daily? Not sure if its that plot point or if there was a different point about his arm/scar. They also hate each other lowkey highkey, but whats new. There definitely was some sort of reconciliation but it hadnt happened yet i guess? Its not tagged with reconciliation (i checked the tag). Idk the author, or title name. I remember it being incomplete when i read it too, but idk if thats relevant anymore. Im pretty sure the rating was teen, but again it might have changed in time.

The second fic is a f1 family found fic where hulk and magnussen are friends, and they start befriending drivers on the grid who are considered "outcasts" or arent as accepted by the other drivers. I think that it was nyck de vries, logan, and one other. I think their group was called loser club or smth like that. And towards the end they have movie nights and eat pizza and popcorn. It was a completed work. Again idk title or author. Rating was gen.

Ive tried looking for both of these and i, for some reason, cannot find them for the life of me. If anyone knows either of these plz help me out 🙏🙏🙏