#not even sure where this came from but Cat's fun to write sometimes

[motzglorp]

CN: Drug use, recreational drugs, probably completely inaccurate military rules, nsfw, mdni, you know it...

So, even being who they are, all members of the TF 1-4-1 are prohibited from doing drugs (other than alcohol and cigarettes, which is another discussion about why not all rules make sense). Given the nature of their missions they rarely even get drunk, never quite able to fully relax. But you can. You don't go on missions, you only fight with paperwork. Mostly theirs, since they seem to be punctual with everything except reports and forms. You suspect they do it on purpose, just to give you a reason to hunt them down and make them write that stuff.

So you deserve a little smoke on the bench behind your civilian house after a long day, right? You never mentioned it, but you forgot to do the laundry and had to wear the same shirt twice and as you pass Ghost in the corridor. He grabs your wrist, pulling you closer, and takes a deep breath along your collar.

"Since when do you smoke weed?" Voice rough as usual but you notice something in his eyes, curiosity? Disappointed?

"Every now and then. Not illegal for me." You get defensive and he knows he found a wound. But he doesn't want to let it go, an idea already in his head.

"not saying it is, just curious. Didn't seem the type." Testing where your pain comes from. Stereotypes didn't come from nothing and you don't often share about your past. But he has to admit that he likes that earthy sweetness on you.

You are still standing so close, you know he must have picked up your flushed face and quickened breath. He radiates heat like a big cat, even through his glove you can feel it on your wrist. Not uncomfortable.

"What type? Hippie loser who doesn't get shit done and wants to be high all day?" That came out harsher than you expected. You hated how people would treat you differently, as if you were a completely different person, once they knew a tiny bit about your private life.

"Negative. Stressed type. Type who has pain tha' wont go away with aspirin and water."

His answer was honest and raw and you felt your walls crumble. "No, it's not... I don't have trauma, well not like that, I just. It helps me relax. It's fun. A nice little break from my own thoughts. Look, all I do is sit behind my house, smoke a bit and let myself just feel. Maybe I put on my headphones and dance to the music. Then I have a restful night and come back in the morning to make you fill out your mandatory leave, because you too need a break sometimes. And if you don't choose when, then I will decide for all of you. Understood?"

Ghost's eyes crinkle from his smirk and he finally lets you go. "Yes ma'am."

"Good. I'm going to inform Captain Price and expect your papers on my desk tomorrow morning." You turned and continued towards the captain's office, to give him the same speech.

Ghost heads in the opposite direction, looking for Gaz and Soap. His plan needs more charm than he can muster and also some backup when they tell Price. Old man might be a bit more conservative about certain things.

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

Not quite sure where this is going, let me know if you want more.

[fazedlight]

Hiding (Cat Grant musings)

The girl is hiding something.

It had been a frequent refrain in Cat’s mind, ever since Kiera’s interview. What kind of millennial goes around talking about how average and not-special they are? The girl was too smart to act braindead.

Was the girl a war criminal? Faked her death from some mafia and lived life under the radar? I mean, really, all this subterfuge, and for what? The girl didn’t seem to be trying to give an air of mystery, but Cat could smell a story. She was going to get to the bottom of this.

Then the new caped heroine arrived, and Cat kicked herself for not having seen it earlier. It had taken her an entire three days to figure out the identity of the second kryptonian. She supposed it could be forgiven - after all, Kiera was somehow younger than Clark Kent, and he had been an infant when his parents shipped him off to Earth and his planet died. The timeline was confusing, before her interview with Supergirl cleared that up.

The girl is hiding something.

Kiera had practically marched into the office when she declared “I want to be a reporter” with her entire chest. Which, obviously, Cat could spot talent when it was in front of her. But the bumbling superhero assistant had said that with such confidence. Where had that come from?

The girl is hiding something.

And then there had been this Mike, of the interns, that Kiera was dragging along. It was beyond Cat why Kiera thought that relationship was a good fit, from a man who only seemed to cause her aggravation at every turn. God, that trope was so tired and boring, perhaps some sort of indicator of a mental break. Technically Kiera was old enough for a midlife crisis... perhaps Cat could get a referral from her therapist…

“Two people I love are trapped on that ship, and if we destroy it…”

That’s when Cat realized, when the epiphany slammed into her. Yes, yes, Kiera was hiding her caped shenanigans, was hiding Mike’s identity, yadda yadda. But the biggest secret was what Kiera was hiding from herself. Cat wanted to shake the girl. A super and a Luthor? That would be a combination like the world had never seen.

Snapper was dealing with a lovesick puppy. No wonder he was so irritated.

Of course, reporter-hero aside, there were other things going in Cat’s life. Her role in the world felt increasingly narrow, increasingly restrictive, and she needed to see something new. A woman’s life and self-discovery doesn’t end at 30, as much as the media pretends otherwise. Besides, wasn’t there a time in every hero’s life when Gandalf needed to die so Luke could fight the Star War? Or whatever.

She was sure she’d be back. In the meantime, the world could see what Kiera - Kara - would become.

[miifu666]

you've seen me babble about Yan! Wukong... BUT THIS TIME ITS MACAQUE!! i know he has a big dick- I've always wanted to write abt Macaque, just never had the time to but now I do- hihihii thank you for those who asked for him ♡♡

⋆˙⟡ —CW: Yandere, ooc Macaque, noncon drugging, rough Macaque, insecurities mentioned, manipulative, art is oc x canon but drabble is canon x reader.

Yandere! Macaque

Imagining Yan! Macaque who knows which words to strike your insecurities, what sentences can fully make you dissociate in the middle of the day. To let him be the one who guides you while you're busy drowning in your self-doubt. His hands maneuvering itself to gently lay on your back, the other acting like a fence, making sure no one can bump into you. He coos about how unfortunate you are, poor little you. Yet, his smirk came forth as he looks back.

"Ohohoho! Look at how you're dressed, baby~ well … maybe this part is a little tight for you, don't you think?"

Macaque tasted the bitter end of the stick, while Wukong got to gloat about the honeyed drip he tasted. The dark simian makes sure you never see the good side of that sage, he'll inject every single downside of every trait you love about Wukong. Sometimes, he even uses your own words against you. Turning your friends and family against you for having the same traits as that monkey you adore. You think Wukong's empathetic? How does it feel to be fooled and scammed by your own friends? Wukong's ambitious? Oh but it eats you up doesn't it? You'll never be good enough for yourself. Macaque is observant, he lives in the shadow and he knows how to use your own surroundings to make you feel little.

"Well, im glad you've learned your lesson…i know its hard to accept that sometimes good things, aren't always good, sweetheart"

He remembers when Wukong was possessed by LBD, there was a sense of longing whenever he thought back to how he was also under her control. The images of you so pliant, harmless and a soft bundle of drug induced state inspires him to try and concoct his own drug. Maybe even steals one from a pharmaceutical, any drug will do. As long as it keeps you pliant and adorable, no horrible side effects, at least that's what he hoped for.

He'll study how much doses you need to ensure you're all hazy and high as a kite. Can't even reach the door to his dojo without stumbling and holding on. So cute, adorable, ugh what other words can he use? You're all helpless, who would make sure you dont stumble and hit your head now hmm? Don't worry, your dear boyfriend Macaque is here. Albeit seeing you like this strikes a sadistic side of him he didn't know of.

"Hey hey, where you going sweetheart? A drunken little thing like you shouldn't walk around without any help. What if some big bad guy takes advantage of you hmm? Poor thing"

Macaque knows what he's doing is wrong. Punishing you, keeping you hidden, heck he even silently drugged you without your knowledge just so he can fulfill his stupid fantasy. He's not delusional, there's guilt eating him up and the only way a traumatized simian can say sorry is through his actions and services. he's the best at handling things patiently with care, Macaque will take care of you in ways he knows best, and he's really good at it too.

"Ohoho what's this? You missed me this much? Hahaha so cute.. ill have a fun time ravishing you.. just lay down and let me do my thing"

Yan! Macaque who longs for someone to share the lonely nights with him, someone who he can cuddle with and talk about the stars and which stupid cat reactions you are. Its all he ever dreams of, all he longs for. Yan! Macaque understand every single insecurity you're going through, he knows how to handle it. He'll help you through it, He'll make sure you wont have lonely nights to cry yourself to sleep on. Maybe if you close your eyes hard enough, you can forget about the shackle on your leg and the bruising lovebites around your intimate areas.

"I know… its hard, its tough but life happens and.. i know my little sweetheart can pull through.. you always do. Thats what i love about you.. haha even got me a little too obsessed"

Macaque is a good mate whether you admit it or not, his observant eyes and omniscient six ears focused solely on you. The slight sniff from your nose can be a sign of an oncoming sickness, within no time he'll be ready with the blankets, warm tea, tissues and medicine! You might think he's heartless, sure he locks you up whenever he goes out, talks you down every time you feel confident enough to leave him and yeah he might have a need to see you helpless without him But! But! He's not neglectful, maybe there are times where you feel like he's infantilizing you. Yet he swears it's just an instinct, he always makes sure you get your proper meals, he even watches cooking shows just to make sure you eat your flavourful food! Not those salt and pepper tasteless things.

"I made you something~ ...what? It tastes funny? Hmmm must be the new recipe im trying, im sure you're just not used to it, hun"

[ariadne-mouse]

For the "I wish you would write a fic where…" I don't know if this counts because it's not a new fic, but:

"Was? Essek? I thought you were out of town?"

Caleb wakes up with obsidian flakes of a'a in his hair and and no memory of the last few years. His very-new boyfriend has adopted his cat, there's a court case for his attemped murder, and he might have been a ghost?

A followup to The Fire Kept Closest, from Caleb's POV, filling in the timejump to the epilogue.

Thank you for the ask! It took me a minute to get to this ask game, but here we are. I am not writing exactly to the prompt, but I hope you like this 830-word slice of post-fic Volcaleb nonetheless!

-

"I would like to go, I think."

Essek paused where he had just gathered a scoop of cat kibble. The awaiting dish lay on the floor, empty. "Are you sure?"

"Ja," Caleb answered. He folded the local newspaper he had been reading in half, the headline visible: Corporate Clash: Cerberus takes the stand. "I know it's best my situation stays out of the spotlight, at least for now, but I want him to see me. To see my face, and know that I know." His expression darkened. "I want him to sweat."

At Essek's feet, Frumpkin yowled his impatience, unaware of corporations, or bureaucracy, or indeed the significance of newspapers beyond the fact that they were sometimes fun to sit on.

"Calm down, calm down," Essek tutted, and gave the beast his meal. He smoothed a hand down Frumpkin's back, thinking. "I'll go with you, if you really want to go."

Caleb smiled grimly. "Danke. I would like that. But I have an idea, also - you can help."

-

Vence Nuthaleus cleaned up well in a suit, and he knew it. It was unfortunate that the volcano on Rumblecusp had popped its top as soon as it had, but he was still safely ensconced in respectability - and more importantly, plausible deniability. Research was only as good as records available, and his land use recommendation report had been scientifically sound with the data from the island's active seismometer network.

It didn't even alarm him that he was playing a kind of mutually assured destruction game with Cerberus. They wanted to publicly shed him as a "bad actor", especially convenient given his contractor status - but if they did, he'd reveal they had been the ones to disconnect the last seismometer. He had enough leverage in writing to make the accusation compelling, and they knew it. The thing they might most want to pin on him... well, they didn't have any evidence of that. All told, it was in Cerberus's best interest to protect him. And so he wore his most approachable suit, and a polite smile, and answered questions as earnestly as he could when he was on the stand. Mardoon Estate only wanted money, after all, and Cerberus certainly had plenty of that. Vence didn't need to be scapegoat for it all to work out eventually.

The courtroom around him was full for the spectacle. The door creaked open every so often as the gawkers and media came and went, like bees buzzing on a hive. He sometimes saw familiar faces from the island: Dr. Vilya, Beauregard, Thelyss. Today the last of these was sitting in one of the back rows by himself, glaring at Vence like he always did when he was there. Too bad; being a stuck-up trust fund baby wouldn't help Thelyss here.

It was some minutes before Vence's attention was drawn by a spot in the standing room in the back that had not moved at all for some time. Even as his mouth answered the current question on autopilot, his eyes were drawn to look at the vacuum of stillness.

A dead man was looking back at him.

Vence's words curdled in his throat, choking his breath.

He was there. Caleb Widogast was there, standing among the throng.

"Mr. Nuthaleus?" prompted the examiner.

"I... I..."

The ghost - it could only be a ghost - stared at him with those eerie blue eyes, unblinking. He was dressed like he had been, for a hike on the mountain. There was even a lightweight heatsuit half-zipped and tied around his waist.

He looked exactly like he had when he had died. When--

Vence couldn't pull his gaze away. "Could- could you repeat the question?"

The examiner repeated it, and again Vence did not hear.

Nearby, Thelyss was standing up. He favored Vence with a last look of contempt before making for the double doors. The crowd parted to let him pass, but Widogast did not move. And Thelyss... walked right past him, like he wasn't there.

A chill rolled down Vence's spine and his breathing came faster. He could hear a ringing noise, his vision was narrowing.

With effort, he turned a smile to the judge. "I'm sorry, I think I need a moment."

When he turned back, Caleb Widogast was gone.

-

Outside in the hallway, Essek leaned on the wall next to Caleb, who sat heavily on a bench. The heat suit was stuffed back into a bag.

"Feel any better?"

A muscle in Caleb's face twitched, and his hand balled in a fist. "A little. I don't know. Seeing him-" His breath left him in a gust. "It was harder than I expected."

Essek touched his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.  "Come, then. Let's go. We can learn what happened later. Frumpkin is waiting for you at home."

This last tactic was always a surefire way to bring a little smile back to Caleb's face, and it proved to be so now.

“Ja,” Caleb agreed, straightening up.  “Let’s go home.”

[maxlarens]

oscar and 31?

31) doing a pinky swear

random but i listened to this and this dj set while writing this

It’s difficult to resist the lure of the music, the dance floor that churns and pulses at your back. The DJ cycles through euro-pop, 2000s anthems and countless club classics that make you itch to get up and dance, something tugging in your gut when you don't.

Max and Lando have already gone into the thick of it, leaving you and Oscar at the booth. And you've decided that you're not leaving Oscar. If he's not getting on the dance floor then you aren't either. Even if your leg is about to fall off from how much you've been tapping it to the beat and you keep tipping your head back to say oh, dude, I love this song.

He'd made some offhand comment the other day, when you and Lando first made these plans, something about how he was boring, of all things. How he wouldn't be any fun at a club. It's been eating at you since. The way he'd said it, not like it was something he came to on his own, but rather, like it was something someone had told him.

The absolute last thing Oscar Piastri is is boring.

You hate that he thinks he is, you hate that he thinks he needs to be a certain way to make you happy. To make anyone happy. And you certainly don't care if he doesn't want to dance at a club— no one's going to die if he doesn't, and you'll survive a few hours in the booth until Max tires of Lando and his boundless energy.

Across from you, Oscar's taking sips of his vodka pineapple. His pale cheeks have been steadily turning more red the more alcohol that he drinks, it's cute. You're turning your drink in circles, watching it leave condensation rings on the linoleum table. The DJ is playing a remix of Murder on the Dancefloor and you're about to tip your head back and groan oh my god I love this song,

but Oscar is laughing before the words can even leave your mouth.

"You love this song too?", he raises his very nice eyebrows at you, smiling that closed mouth polite cat smile everyone likes so much.

You sigh, laugh, then roll your eyes at yourself, "Yeah. Love it."

He smiles into his drink, it turns into something a little bittersweet after a moment of you watching him. You think of the sad way he'd twitched his nose the other day, while he was telling you he was boring. Without thinking, spurred on by the alcohol, you lean across the table and swat his hand with yours. But you don't move after, you just slip your fingers into the grooves of his knuckles.

"What are you thinking?"

He bites the inside of his bottom lip, shrugs, "Nothing important."

You're not convinced.

"Is this about you thinking you're boring, Oscar?" —he raises an eyebrow at you, one that says maybe, one that says go on— "Because you are not fucking boring, Piastri."

He laughs, but its critical, disbelieving. More of a scoff than a laugh, but he doesn't want you to catch on. He's trying to act like it's all fine. That's how he is— it's fine it's fine he says and he doesn't let anyone see that things hurt him. He's so good, so nice, so unwilling to make anyone else feel bad.

Positive, optimistic to a fault.

"You're not," you insist, pressing your fingertips into his knuckles.

He shrugs again, "I'm keeping you here. I know you want to go dance. You should go.”

You’re shaking your head before he can finish, “Oscar. Please, I will live. Anyway, sometimes I want to spend time with you without Lando hanging around, y’know.”

Oscar snorts, sincerely this time, “Yeah, he’s—”

“Annoying,” you supply.

“I was going to say a pain.”

“Same thing.”

“Mm,” Oscar snickers, “S’pose so.”

Then,

“Are you sure you want to stay here with me?”

You slide your fingers down to his wrist, gently turning his arm around so it faces upward. His skin is smooth where you trace the lines in his palm. You're both quiet, looking down at your hands where they're intertwined. If you're honest, you've kind of forgotten why you did that— your thoughts feel loose, a bit disconnected. Oscar is warm and sweet and here. You just wanted to touch his hand you think. You trace a line up his ring finger without thinking.

"I'm sure," you say, a little breathless for no good reason.

"Promise."

"Huh?", you drift your gaze up to his.

Polite cat smile, he repeats, "Promise?", it's more of a question now.

You nod seriously, curling your fingers into a fist and sticking your pinky finger out, "I pinky promise, Oscar."

He does the same, lifting his hand up in offering. Your pinkies lock together, he squeezes tightly and you pull against him, like the tighter the promise is the more that you mean it.

[soundlessdreamss]

PLEASE PLEASE ALASTOR X scaramouche FEM READER PLEASE ROMANTIC

Hihihihi! Welcome to my blog and of course I can write this. I am familiar with his character so I’ll do the best of my abilities to make sure it fits him! Also request are open!

ALASTOR X FEM SCARAMOUCHE!READER

( Ignore the cat, I had no idea what else to put lol :3 )

you were wandering around without any real intentions. You already lost the three most important people you trust, no you didn’t lose them. They betrayed you after you gave them YOUR trust.

as you were in your own mind thinking about all that’s happened a poster flies into your face and you decide to take it off and see what it even is. The poster read “want to be redeemed for a chance to live in heaven! Well come and visit the hasbin hotel!!” It had a photo of the hotel and a smiley face on it. You were bored out of your mind especially with all these dumb sinners, you decided why not go there then? It’s not like anyone remembered who you were before anyways.

after you flew to the hotel with your elemental skill…

It didn’t take you too long to get to the hotel, it was quite easy to see as it was big and bright. And also out in the open. You prepared yourself as you went to knock on the door but paused. What if they broke your trust like how your old friends broke it? What if you make a bad impression? What if you manage to screw everything up once you actually become friends with them?

you couldn’t let that stop you though, you made sure no one old remembers you after you completely changed your identity for the better. Sometimes it’s best to let go of the past. You knocked on the door and waited for someone.

as you waited suddenly the door burst open and a blonde haired girl appeared with a greyish/white haired girl behind her. The blonde one quickly introduced herself as Charlie and the one behind her introduced herself as Vaggie. Charlie seemed overjoyed that someone actually came to the hotel.

once you entered you noticed there was also a spider looking person, a literal human sized snake, a cat, and a small maid the size of a child. But one of the people you saw there caught your eye, he was wearing a red suit and his hair kinda looked like it had ears. You found out from Charlie that his name was Alastor.

He walked over to you and inspected your look. He found you quite intriguing compared to the other females he met in his life, and his hell life. Like the gentleman he is he grabbed your hand and gave a small kiss to it. He politely introduced himself even though Charlie already did but you didn’t mind. You decided to also introduce yourself to him.

as you were walking to your hotel room, Alastor decided to accompany you on the way there even though it wasn’t a long walk. He just wanted to help you get settled in. You guys both realized you had way more in common than you thought, not being able to trust people enough, mother issues, (😭) and also loving to give people a taste of their own medicine.

as you got to your room he offered to get you some food or tea if you’d like. You decided that tea wouldn’t be that bad as it was quite nice to drink tea during the afternoon. He made both of you guys a tea and walked you to the balcony where he opened the door for you to enter first, pulled the chair out for you, and poured you some tea. It was really kind of him even though you barley knew eachother yet.

the afternoon went by so fast as the two of you chatted about your own interests and what you liked. Before you knew it, the night had already settled in and you got a bit sleepy. You both decided that it would be time to rest and you both said your goodbyes. Maybe it would be just fine at this hotel with him around.

two months later…

you and alastor became inseparable after two months together. Like two peas in a pod, you guys were so alike and did so much fun things together! There was a secret you were hiding from him though, the fact that you were starting to grow a crush on him. (Not to worry as he was also growing a crush and attachment to you.)

it got so obvious to the other staff members of the hotel that you guys liked eachother that they started making bets on who would confess first. But they also realized how you were mainly comfortable around Alastor and trusted him the most. Which was rare for you because you didn’t wanna trust anyone anymore but he made it so hard not to trust him.

Alastor decided to be the one to make the first move because if he didn’t then you guys would’ve just stayed quiet about your feelings. You were afraid of him rejecting you and then being left alone. Again.

he offered to take you out to dinner tonight and you happily accepted. You decided to wear a dark blue dress with a sliver necklace. It felt really pretty on you. Alastor decided to just teleport you to the restaurant he made a reservation at and you guys both made your way to the table.

he of course, pulled the chair out for you to sit on before he even sat down. “sooo, what would you like to order dear?” The sudden pet name caught you off guard but he kinda spoke like that to every female so you kept your cool. “I think I’ll just have [whatever your favorite food is reader!].”

Alastor nodded and he placed your orders. In the mean time you both chatted and he started becoming a bit more touchy than usual, like if you put your arm on the table he would slowly brush his hand against it. You know the usual trying to hit on a girl movements.

after a couple minutes both of you're food came and you decided to eat. It was silent as you guys were both eating but after you were done you guys decided to stay there for a bit before leaving. Alastor grabbed your hand as you guys left and pulled you close.

“listen I know this place that I think you’ll love, just close your eyes and trust me alright? He spoke out, this got you all curious now but you just nodded as he covered your eyes and led you there.

after a couple minutes of walking he then took his hands off your eyes and you didn’t realize how close he was. But also the scenery of where he took you was beautiful for hell, it felt like it has romantic vibes in the air. He then took both of your hands and looked you deep in your eyes.

“I have been dying to tell you something dear. Please let me speak for just a couple of minutes because I simply cannot wait anymore.”

you felt your heart racing and you nodded as you waited for him to speak.

“I never thought I could find love in any way shape or form, but when you appeared you suddenly made me feel something. Like a spark was ignited in my heart. I don’t know why you make me feel this way but it’s an amazing feeling. Please dear, tell me if you feel the same.”

was he implying that he loved you? Yeah he was, he just didn’t know how to explain it because this was the first time he genuinely felt it in his heart. It took you a couple of seconds to process what he said and your face turned red from you blushing. (Very logical for your face to turn red when you blush, yes.)

you wanted to give him a kiss right then and there but you’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time and you wanted to make it special.

“Alastor I feel the same way. I felt as if everyone left me and broke my trust so many times, but you never did. I know we only met a while ago but you set a spark in my heart that I didn’t know I still had.”

you and him were overjoyed that you both felt the same way about eachother. He then moved his hands so they cupped your face and brought you into a kiss. It didn’t last long but it felt good. Suddenly you heard rustling in the bushes behind you guys. And you saw six heads pop out. Charlie, Vaggie, Angel dust, Husk, Sir pentious, and Nifty.

“I TOLD YOU ALASTOR WOULD BE THE ONE TO MAKE THE FIRST MOVE!” Angel dust shouted and then the other five took out money and handed it over to him. They were seriously spying and betting on you two. It made you feel heavily embarrassed though. But in the end you got what you wanted so you ignored the embarrassment and just focused on the spark your heart felt right now.

Note: hiiiii again! Thanks for reading all of this if you made it this far. I tried my best with the Scaramouche reader but it was lowkey hard. I hope you enjoyed though!

[zzoomacroom]

Hey guys, soooo I have never written fanfiction in my life, but this just fell out of my brain for some reason. I don't know what came over me, but here's a little crackfic drabble for ya. Just a thousand words of Matthew being a complete idiot. Enjoy! (Yes, I know this premise has been done to death, but I'm having fun so shhhh)

Edit: now on ao3!

.......

So there Matthew was, just minding his own business, catching up with Merv in the gardens outside the palace, when a goddamned nuclear bomb went off.

"JEEZUS FUCK!" Mervyn bellowed, his cigarette dropping from his open mouth and into the pile of leaves he'd been raking. Matthew squawked and catapulted himself ungracefully to the top of the nearest tree.

Oh, so not a bomb then, thought Matthew as he watched the stunning display of fireworks that had erupted above the palace, gold and crimson embers now drifting lazily towards the ground. Still, what the hell was that all about? He would have to ask the boss--if there was some kind of celebration happening in the Dreaming, he wanted to join the party! Hopefully he'd be off his feathery tits on dream champagne before the day was over.

Matthew launched himself from the tree branch, ears still ringing as he made his way up to the palace. He soared through an open window to the throne room. Hmm, empty. So where was the party? He made his way to the library--Lucienne would know what was up.

"Heya, Loosh," he called as he circled down to the table where Lucienne was occupied with cleaning up a puddle of ink that was spilled all over the yellowed scroll she had been writing on. "What was up with the fireworks?"

"Hmm?" she glanced over to him, preoccupied. "Ah. That sometimes happens when...actually, it's probably better if you don't know. For your own sake," she adds pointedly, peering over her glasses at him.

Uh, wow. Ouch. "What? Aw, come on, don't leave me out of the loop. Ravens aren't invited to the party? Wait, why aren't you at the party?"

Lucienne stared at the raven, confusion and irritation mingling on her face. "What party? Lord Morpheus is in his private chambers, there is no--"

But Matthew was already hopping off the table and flying towards the nearest window. So it was a private, VIP kinda thing, then. He was a little hurt that he wasn't invited, but no matter. He would slip in and infiltrate the event, just in case the boss needed protecting from a disgruntled fae or something. And if he managed to dip his beak into some unattended booze, he felt he was sneaky enough that no one would be the wiser.

"You really don't want to know!" Lucienne called out exasperatedly as he flitted away, not looking up from her work. "Don’t say I didn't warn you!"

Yeah, yeah, he'd been to parties full of snooty elites before. Whatever weird shit they were into couldn't be any worse than what he'd seen during his recent trip to Hell. He circled upwards towards the highest tower and perched on the balcony outside the boss's private chamber. There was definitely something happening in there, judging by the noises coming from inside. It sounded like things were getting crazy--a shout, glass breaking, a thud like a body hitting the ground, a screech that may or may not have been human. Shit, the boss man might be in trouble! Good thing Matthew was here to...well, he wasn't really sure how he could help, but he'd figure something out. And he just really, really wanted to know what was going on! Curiosity may kill the cat, but the raven should be fine, right?

He darted into the darkened room and blinked as his eyes adjusted. Oh. No party, then. The boss was standing in the middle of the room, looking even more like he'd just sucked on a lemon than usual. His robe flicked around him and drooped off one shoulder, like he'd just hastily pulled it on (was that...a tentacle peeking out from under the hem?). And was he sweating? He didn't normally sweat, did he? And hold on--did he have cat ears?? Matthew stared, and just as he noticed the ears they receded down into his disheveled mop of hair and disappeared.

"What is it, Matthew?" the Dreamlord demanded icily.

"Uh...sorry to interrupt whatever...this...is, but I thought maybe you were in trouble. And I was just wondering what was up with the fireworks. Scared the bejeesus outta me and Merv," Matthew explained.

The boss looked confused for a moment before answering. "Ah. My apologies for the disruption," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm even as Matthew failed to get the hint. "The matter has been handled. You need not come to my defense."

At that, a poorly-stifled chuckle sounded from behind a marble pillar. "Sorry," the pillar mumbled sheepishly. The boss shot a withering glare at it and the pillar instantly dissolved into a pile of sand, revealing...

Ohhhh. "Um...hi, Hob," Matthew said with an awkward wave of his wing, wishing very much that he could dissolve into sand right about now. Hell, that may very well be his fate soon enough, based on the way the boss was glaring at him.

"Hey Matt," Hob replied with a bashful smirk. He was mostly naked except for an Elizabethan ruff, white knee-high stockings and a pair of 18th century shoes with little bows on them. And he was wearing the boss's helm. But not on his head (cool, cool, not like Matthew had followed the boss to Hell to get it back or anything). Oh, and he also had cat ears. Wonderful.

"Ya know, I better get going, I think Merv may need some help with--oh, yep, he set the garden on fire." Matthew peered out the window down to where Mervyn was currently shouting at no one and flailing around a steadily growing conflagration. "So I should go deal with that. Just wanted to check in, glad everything's good here. Uhhh nice to see you Hob, Boss. Not that I, uh, saw anything. Okay bye!" Matthew zoomed out the window before either of them could say anything else. God, he really needed a drink now.

.......

Morpheus continued to glare at the spot where Matthew had been perched as Hob came up and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Right. So where were we?" asked Hob, apparently unphased by the whole incident.

"I think we should take this to the Waking if we wish to avoid any further interruptions," Dream replied through gritted teeth.

Hob chuckled and started to massage the knots out of his lover's shoulders. "Yeah, probably. Kids, right?" he sighed.

Morpheus raised an eyebrow at him. "Matthew is not my child."

"Isn't he, though?" Hob replied with a grin, peering over Dream's shoulder to watch Matthew and Mervyn frantically darting around the flaming pile of leaves, making no progress whatsoever in putting out the blaze. Morpheus merely sighed in exasperation.

[m0nsterqzzz]

is it possible for a Carol Danvers x reader where Reader is a new caretaker of the baby flerkens/kittens and sometimes asks Carol tips since she looks after Goose while this is happening Kamala ships it and asks Kate to help her ship set sail and the two of them tries to be like spies like the Black Widow siblings but fails and in the end Carol has the guts to asks reader out but Kamala and Kate has to do training about stealth as punishment?

this is so cuteeee ahhh

love the flerkens with all my heart so i'm so excited to write this <3

it'll actually be the first carol oneshot i've posted!! (despite writing hundreds and hating all of them lol) so thank you for requesting bestie <3333

sorry it took so long but here you go :)

pairing: Carol Danvers x gn reader

summary: taking care of baby flerkens is scary. That's for sure. But would such a positive outcome of getting a date with a pretty superhero be enough to make you stay?

a/n: love the ask, hate my writing. just like always.

carol is wifey tho so we chill.

You wouldn’t exactly say your job is superhero important, but taking care of thirty kittens who can open up their mouths and swallow you whole at any second has its own set of risks.

It started with you going to visit the vet place you used to work at as a doctor before leaving to pursue other interests. You’re still close friends with the rest of the vet’s there, so you go and visit when you have time. While you were there, your friend Maggie had been telling you about some girl that came in with thirty cats, which surprisingly, has been seen before. That wasn't why this lady was remembered in the office so well. It was because the kittens kept eating workers, just to spit them back up perfectly fine- well maybe a little bit covered in saliva- about an hour later.

When Maggie described the woman, an older blonde woman that had manners, was accompanied by two young girls that wouldn't stop getting on her nerves, and had fists that glowed when one of the girls accidentally ate a dog treat that was shaped like a cupcake. The woman's name was Carol Danvers- a superhero you and millions of other people were familiar with- and her friends, Kamala Khan and Kate Bishop.

Fun day for the office, and you could only say you wish you’d been there to see it. The smirk on your friend's face was one you see quite often, one she only has when she’s planning something.

So that day, you left the vet building with a piece of paper in hand, one that had a messily scribbled out phone number. Carol’s number. She’s looking for someone to take care of the flerken kittens while she's at work, and she was so happy to hear back from someone that she hired you without even asking to see your credentials.

That's how you find yourself here, chasing around one of the kittens with a treat in hand. Kamala, the sweetest angel, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now she’s in the wrong place. I.E, one of the kittens' stomachs. As Carol explained it, whatever goes in their mouths aren't technically in their stomachs, just in a pocket of time and space that starts in their stomachs. At least, that's what you thought she said. You were too busy watching the way her arm muscles flexed in the tank top she was wearing while she was hammering a nail to connect parts of the giant bed she’s building for the kittens.

Suddenly, as you get into the kitchen with the cat still several feet in front of you, somebody chuckles and leans down to catch the meowing animal before it can escape again. It’s Carol, dressed in her usual attire of slightly baggy jeans, an old band t-shirt and converse. 

She holds the cat up but it’s armpits, facing him away from her and in the opposite direction of you before she says, “give her back.” That’s all it takes, and then the kitten opens it’s mouth and spits out Kamala.

You’re barely paying attention to the girl gasping for air on the floor though, instead you’re watching Carol's cute smile as she nuzzles the cat and then sets him back on the ground. “How’ you do that?” You start, trying to get your breathing back to normal. “I’ve been trying to catch him for like an hour.”

“Yeah, that was a really long time!” Kamala chimes in, but neither you nor Carol are listening.

“I learned from Goose that if you show disappointment in your voice, they’ll let ‘em go. Weird, but effective.” The blonde says before she goes back to cooking. “I’m making lunch. You want some, honey?

You find yourself turning crimson at the nickname, about to say no thank you before suddenly Carol is speaking again, panic in her voice. “I mean do you want honey! In the tea! That I haven’t made yet. Not you honey! This honey!” She holds up a honey container shaped like a bear to prove her point.

Kamala smirks, awkwardly winking at Carol and mouthing the word, “Smooth!” before the superhero finally just shoves her out of the room.

You sigh, nodding your head before grabbing the baby flerken and making your way out of the room. It’s obvious she doesn’t feel the same way and you shouldn’t be surprised. Why would a superhero like her fall for…you?

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Carol Danvers is madly in love with you.

You don’t know that, of course. But she is.

It’s why she’s here, panicking in the kitchen after accidentally calling you a nickname. Someone snickers behind her, and without missing a beat, she throws a rag towards Kamala’s head. “Shut up. That sucked! What is wrong with me? The blonde pleads, and Kamala’s eyes soften even though her tone is still teasing as she says in a sing-songy voice, “You like them.”

“No shit sherlock. Of course I like them. Have you seen their smile? And the little laugh they do whenever one of the flerkens eat something? Or-”

She’s cut off by Kate barling into the kitchen, Goose in her arms and training suit on. “What’s going on?”

“Carol’s telling us about her crush on the flerkins caretaker.”

“Ooooo! Are you gonna ask them out?”

“Can you two shut up?”

“No. I totally ship you guys!”

“Fine. How about this, if you don’t shut up and let me handle this, I’ll make you do 48 extra hours of training over the course of the next two weeks. That's almost two extra hours a day.”

They shut up.

It’s not like she doesn’t want to go out with you. That would be amazing. But she hasn’t had a relationship in years. Well, there was that little situationship with Valkyrie but we don’t talk about that!

Point is, she doesn’t know all the proper dating etiquette nowadays. Should she take you to dinner and a movie? Ask your kin if it’s okay? Recite poetry?

The two younger girls notice her spiral as she leaves the kitchen, making them feel sorry for their friend. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Kate asks with a smile.

Kamala is silent for a minute before she says, “We should go to the store and get Goose to steal ice cream sandwiches for us because we’re poor?”

“Later. Right now, I think we need to help Carol get a date.”

“I don’t know about this Kate. It’s clear she doesn’t want our help.”

“Wow. Since when did Kamala Khan not want to meddle? It’s like your favorite activity.”

The young girl sighs, petting Goose before she says, “You’re right. Carol needs our help and it’s going to take serious meddling.”

So, with that idea in mind, they come up with a plan. As superheroes, their main job is keeping people out of danger. It’s what Carol also does on a daily basis. If they can put you in a dangerous situation, Carol can swoop in and save you.

It’s why they went to the store and got 2 pounds of butter, melting it over the stove before dumping it all over the living room floor.

Just because they’re superheroes doesn’t mean they’re smart.

Then, they hide behind the kitchen counter, heads peeking over the side that makes it obvious it’s them.

You open the front door, back from your lunch as you call out for the baby flerkens. You stop in your tracks when you see the butter, eyes darting around the house as you call out, “Carol?”

She comes running in, successfully slipping in the butter before you can catch her. Kamala and Kate gasp from their hiding spot, hiding their heads again when Carol narrows her eyes towards them.

“Are you okay? Do you need help?” You say, but she just shakes her head with a grimace. “No. I’m fine. Go on. The kittens are in my room.” With a hesitant nod, you walk around the pool of butter with your crush smack dab in the middle of it, then into the hallway and towards her room.

Carol takes a deep breath while closing her eyes, deciding to lay in shame and butter. Kamala and Kate quietly get up from their hiding spot, taking her moment of silence to escape this situation. “Three hours of extra stealth training tomorrow. A punishment for this and because I don’t know how the hell you two become superheroes. And please….for the love of god….clean up the fucking butter.” The blonde mumbles with her eyes closed, the younger girls grabbing each other's arms as they hold in a groan and continue trying to sneak out despite the fact they’ve already been caught.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

After a quick trip to the grocery store for ice cream, Kamala and Kate spend all night watching movies, eating, and coming up with a new plan to make their ship sail.

Carols a good cook, having had to learn how when she got tired of eating packaged space food on her ship. You don't get home cooked meals a lot, so maybe they can invite you over for a dinner so that you and Carol can have more time to talk about things that aren't work related.

You easily accept their invitation with the idea that Carol knows you'll be there, so its a bit upsetting when you show up and she frowns in confusion. "Hey. Did you forget something?" Carol questions when she opens the front door to see you.

"Um....no. Kamala and Kate invited me for dinner? I figured you knew." You say with a frown of confusion, and she lets out an annoyed sigh that for a second your kinda scared is pointed towards you until she yells, "Kate! Kamala!

They jump up from behind the couch, the nervousness clear in their eyes. "Oh hey Carol. We were just hanging out."

"Behind the couch?"

"Yup. This is our....meeting spot. How'd you not know that?"

The blonde stares at them for a minute before she snickers. "That's another hour of stealth training. Leave the spy stuff to Yelena and Nat from now on girls." You’re still confused about what's happening, but in the end just decide to leave it be and come inside with the dessert you brought.

Carol follows you into the kitchen, thanking you for the treats with a bright smile. “I already ate, and I have to do some repairs on my ship, but I’ll see you tomorrow alright?” With that, she leaves, once again squashing any hope you ever had of starting a relationship with her.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The next day, you show up at the house to take care of the flerkens like usual though something feels off. The air is more tense, and there’s not laughing going on from some dumb joke Kamala told like there would usually be. It’s always been such a fun, energetic home. Right now though, you feel like you’re in a library and have to stay quiet so a 100 year old librarian doesn’t come and tell you to shut up.

After a awkward run in with Carol in the hallway while you’re on your way to the flerkens room and she’s on her way to make breakfast before leaving packing her bags for the week long job she has to go on in space, she walks into the kitchen were Kamala and Kate are sitting at opposite ends of the table. They’re on their phones, both texting someone.

They’re texting each other about a new plan, but Carol doesn’t need to know that.

“What’s this?” They finally look up from their phones when the blonde speaks, her tone bitter and confused as she holds up a takeaway coffee cup with someone's phone number scribbled messily on it. It’s not her phone number, and it’s not one of the girl’s ethier.

“I don’t know. It’s something your little crush brought in. Said something about the girl behind the counter at the coffee place hitting on them.” Kamala chuckles, fighting the urge to roll her eyes when Kate begins to hit her arm repeatedly.

The archer takes a moment to compose herself before she says in the most casual voice she can muster, “Seems like you missed your chance.”

Carol’s eyes finally move away from the cup to look at her younger friend with wide eyes. “You really think so?” Kamala smiles knowingly and hums. “Yup. I do.”

You come into the kitchen with a flerken in your arms right at that moment, not exactly reading the room as you grab the cup from Carol’s hand and smile. “Thanks captain. I was looking for that.”

You begin to make your way out of the room, but she gently grabs ahold of your wrist before you can so you turn around to face her. She’s nervous, you can tell that by the way her hand absentmindedly draws stars on the counter and she uses her other hand to tap the beat of the Star Wars theme song against her thigh.

“You okay Carol?” You ask with a small chuckle, reaching over to put your hand over the one drawing stars which only seems to make her more nervous.

Kate coughs then whispers, “Chicken.” Carol narrows her eyes at the giggling pair at the table, point towards the entryway to the kitchen. “Out.”

They grumble something about her being a big baby as they leave, but you have a feeling they don’t get very far.

“So I was thinking.” She starts.

You snicker before saying, “That’s never good.” 

She groans, playfully shoving you away. The joking helps to ease her nerves a little, and she can finally look you in the eyes as she speaks. “I was thinking….that if you’re free, and you want to, we can maybe….go out to dinner together? Like more than friends? Only if you want to though! I totally understand if you don’t want to and I guess this might have been a little too-” Your laughter cuts her off, but it doesn't help her nerves.

“What's so funny?” She tries to awkwardly giggle as well.

One look at her face is all you need to go silent.

“You’re not kidding?” The question comes out as more of a whisper. Her stomach churns as she shrugs. “Not really.”

You think about it for a minute before asking, “You like me?”

“I really, really like you. But it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. I totally understand.”

She watches as a small smile forms on your face, then changes to a cheshire cat grin. “I….I would love to go out to dinner with you Carol. Because I really, really, really like you too.” With that, you pull her into one of the tightest hugs she's ever gotten, her arms hesitantly wrapping around your waist to bring you even closer. 

You guys stand there in silence for a few seconds, just enjoying each other's embrace before she suddenly calls out and is followed by loud groans and your laughter, “Girls, I know you’re in the hallway. That’s five hours of stealth training. Really, how have you guys saved cities?" 

bonus: 

Carol: And me? Oh, I'm 60 years old.

Kate and kamala: damn!

Carol: ……

Kate and kamala: ……we’re sorry.

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

So I saw this really cute NND fanart by @etincelleart, which inspired me to write this fic where Ruby and Penny go for boba in Vacuo.

honestly it's the closest I've engaged with canon in my writing in a long while and it was really fun

don't ask where the atla joke reference came from bc I'm still not entirely sure how it found its way in

.

Taste Buds

Since her transformation Penny’s life has been full of new experiences. Most of them, good (hugs, the warmth of the sun on her skin, meeting and petting that stray cat, hugs), but she still has just a little bit of apprehension about trying new things. Flipping too quickly through the pages of a book she couldn’t automatically download into her mind (due to her excitement over that being an experience she can have now) leading to her First Ever Paper Cut had taught her that it was perhaps best to take some things slowly.

There’s still no one else quite like her. Ambrosius hadn’t made her a new body. They’d been very careful with their wording there. She just sort of has one now? The person she’d always been manifested as she envisioned herself? Penny is most definitely real, so it checks out. It’s just…the part of her that still finds comfort in hard data and scientific fact struggles with the whole thing, sometimes, when it’s quiet, and she has nothing else really to focus on.

Food has been a particularly exciting (if also a little worrying) topic. Hunger is not something Penny enjoys. Being able to taste definitely is. Even if she hasn’t had the chance to try out too many flavors yet, Penny loves all of them, especially sweets. Though that may be due to it being Ruby (and Ruby’s own giant sweet tooth) that introduced her to many of the foods she’s tried so far, leading to something of a bias in the data sample.

The worrying part about food is the eating. According to the medical doctor she’d gone to with Ruby, Penny is a perfectly healthy, normal girl. The doctor had also reassured Penny her lack of medical records was okay, expected even, it was a common situation amongst a lot of the Atlesian refugees. Informing her that Penny’s organic body was a relatively new development had led to a bit of awkwardness, but they’d moved passed it.

The point being, all the necessary parts for a digestive system (and also every other functionality a person has) are there. How exactly they got there may be a mystery Penny will live with for the rest of her life, but they’re still there, and they all do their jobs properly.

Penny had been nervous at first, to eat. Before, she’d always had to be incredibly careful because a crumb or droplet of liquid in the wrong place could lead to system-wide errors and glitching for days. But, eating was part of her life now. Normal now. Expected even.

And honestly, once she got past that initial, momentary hesitation, the excitement had taken over. It’s a whole new—

“Eep!”

Ruby tugs Penny into a flurry of rose petals. Penny reflexively relaxes into the sensation. They land, breathlessly, on the opposite side of the street from the (cabbage? Penny is fairly sure those are cabbages, but, without instant access to databases, she’s still learning to differentiate vegetables on her own, and all the green ones are particularly difficult) vendor, whose cart Ruby almost knocked over.

The probably-cabbage vendor shakes his fist at them, but doesn’t chase them across the street. He picks up the handles of his cart and, grumbling, goes on his way.

Ruby looks to Penny. Penny looks back. Ruby’s laugh fills her cheeks before bursting out of her. Penny can’t help but join in.

It takes a few minutes for their giggles to subside.

“Okay, okay.” Ruby takes a breath to settle herself. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

They continue weaving their way through the streets of Vacuo, though not going quite as fast as the almost jog Ruby had led Penny on to begin with. Soon they reach the shop with the large sign reading, Bubba Bubba Boba, above it.

The boba shop is slowly becoming something of a favorite of their group. It is, first and foremost, Ruby and Yang’s spot, a cherished reminder of their pre-Beacon life. One they’re slowly sharing with everyone. There’d been talk of visiting as a whole group, but differing assignment schedules made that difficult. So far, to Penny’s knowledge, only Yang has taken Blake there, at the end of their first Official Date As A Couple, where they’d meandered through the shopping district together.

Until, that is, less than an hour ago, when Ruby rushed into Penny and her father’s small quarters and declared Penny absolutely has to go there with her.

Penny isn’t exactly sure of the timeline between Yang surprising Ruby with boba to Yang and Blake’s date ending with them getting boba to now, but she is a little concerned about Weiss’s absence from the series of events. Wouldn’t it have made sense for Team RWBY to go together first?

(Unbeknownst to her, there had been an intermediary moment where Ruby, after hearing about Yang and Blake’s date, got her idea to take Penny for boba, and talked to Weiss about it. Weiss had encouraged (to put it in the most mild terms possible) Ruby to just ask Penny out already, which Ruby had, of course, interpreted as ‘taking my friend Penny, who is my friend and totally not anything else, out for boba’.

(Semi-relatedly, there is an entire chapter of the memoir living rent free in Weiss’s head titled; My Teammates And Their Obliviousness To Their Own Romances: How To Deal With The Unending Frustration.)

Penny and Ruby walk into the boba shop. It’s sparsely decorated, most of what’s there an eclectic assortment of basic furniture easily found. Packing up, leaving in a hurry, and restarting a business in a new kingdom hadn’t been easy for the shop owners, but they seem to be doing their best.

Penny trails after Ruby to the counter. She looks up at the colorful options cheerfully displayed on the menu. There’s a lot of them. Some flavors she recognizes, like strawberry or mango. Others she doesn’t. Staring at the words ‘matcha’ and ‘taro’ doesn’t suddenly reveal anything about what they are to Penny.

“Hey, Penny?” Ruby is looking back at her, mild concern written across her face. “You good?”

“Yes, I…” Penny bites her lower lip. “I don’t know what to choose.” Any of the options could be good. They probably all are. But this will be her first boba. Her first boba with Ruby.

It suddenly feels just a bit daunting.

“Well, let’s see.” Ruby comes to stand beside her. She automatically reaches for Penny’s hand, and Penny doesn’t hesitate in allowing her to take hold of it. With her other, free hand, Ruby taps her finger against her lips. “You’ve had a bunch of types of fruit before, right? Maybe we could go with one of those flavors, since they’re already kind of familiar?”

“I suppose.” Penny glances again at the flavors on the menu she doesn’t know. It would probably be most logical to not travel too far away from the known on her first taste, no matter how much her curiosity is telling her otherwise.

Ruby catches sight of Penny’s expression. She frowns. Then her eyes light up with an idea. “Or, we could get one of each, something you’re familiar with and something you’re not, and share!”

Penny can’t help but grin. “I like that idea much better.”

At the counter, Ruby orders one strawberry and one matcha. Then, with drinks in hand, she leads Penny to one of the shop’s outdoor tables. They sit.

“Here.” Ruby passes the strawberry over to Penny first. Their fingers accidentally brush against each other.

Penny’s heart skips a beat. She tells it, not for the first time, it really must stop doing that when these sorts of minor accidents happen when she’s around Ruby. They’re very comfortable with physical contact with each other. Why should the unintended ones be any different?

“Try it! Try it!” Seemingly unaware of where Penny’s mind is at, Ruby eagerly gestures at the boba cup in front of Penny.

Putting such thoughts aside for later, Penny picks up the strawberry one, and guides the straw to her lips. Then nearly jumps as the first boba makes it to her mouth. She was not expecting that specific texture! Penny rolls the boba around with her tongue, adjusting to how it feels, and tastes.

“Soooo?” Ruby leans forward over the table. “How is it?”

Penny doesn’t have to think about her answer.

“Perfectly sensational!”

“Yay!” Ruby swings back in her chair. Too far. It leans back. Its front two legs leave the ground. The chair tips and unceremoniously drops Ruby. She instinctively calls upon her semblance to catch herself, but flies too far, going into the street.

A second later Ruby finds herself in an amongst the fallen cabbages of the cart she crashed into.

The vendor, the same one from earlier, has his hands on his head.

“MY CABBAGES!”

Over his shoulder, Ruby meets Penny’s gaze. Penny grabs their bobas. They go running.

(Later, they’ll go back and make things right with the cabbage vendor.)

For now, Ruby and Penny hide out in an alley and swap boba flavors.

[evelhak]

Final travel log

There's no story behind this picture, I just thought it was an interesting piece of art.

The panel (Writer's Choice: Lingua Franca Vs. Mother Tongue) on my last morning at the con was really good. At least I was surprisingly comfortable and had fun, two hours just flew by. And it was such a check list for first times.

✔️ being the moderator

✔️ main stage

✔️ longer than 45 minutes

✔️ in English

✔️ with a famous person

Is there anything that could still scare me about these panels after this? I don't think so!

We had such a good conversation and I thought our perspectives were just diverse enough and overlapping enough to be interesting for the audience too. Also I confessed to having written 1,5 million words of fanfiction (as it related to how I became confident enough to write original fiction in English) and after that Emmi Itäranta said she had never admitted this before but she also wrote fanfiction at one point, and thought it was a great way to learn a language. ✨✨

She also said she wanted to buy my book (*panic*) but I don't know if she did, because I had to leave for my ship pretty much after the panel.

I didn't get many good pictures of the surroundings.

On the ship I read Ursula Le Guin's writing manual, which I didn't pick because of the constant ship analogies but that was a funny coincidence. Despite the theme it's a VERY grounding writing book, highly recommended.

Also hey, learning the master has the same flaws as me is always encouraging.

I stayed with another friend when I got back on the mainland.

And slept for 13 hours.

My bed head was refreshingly cartoonish.

We went to a flea market and I'm always spotting clothes that my characters (or not-my-characters) would wear, and I have this character in my fantasy series, called Lilea, who has the most horrendous fashion sense and when I saw this dress, I immediately thought of her. Like that's what she would wear to school in a modern AU.

I made my friend watch Wicked with me, and I couldn't really help but keep singing the songs afterwards, so I was singing Glinda's first phrases from No One Mourns The Wicked as I came out of the shower at night, to which my friend sighed and said "It should be illegal to be that good at singing". Which was surprising to me because I'm the worst singer in my family. (Or maybe my dad is? I'm not sure.) But then, I am from a music family, and both of my younger siblings have degrees in music, and my mother has won and come second in national singing contest, so maybe by normie standards I'm still a good singer. I guess I just hadn't heard any compliments since leaving music schools behind, and I can hear how I don't sing clean anymore so. Sometimes I still wonder if I could become good if I trained a lot. Oh well whatever. Then she was like "People only come out of the shower singing, in movies!" Which... Also, like everyone does that in my world?? Haha...

I stayed at my friend's place for another night, because she was borrowing a great camera and suggested we could take new author photos for me (as if I even had old ones, haha...) and I was too tired to look presentable the first day. But then when I woke up in the morning the lower half of my eye was completely bright red, not pink, like not just some little vein had burst, but many, and they were still bleeding... (My best guess is I got makeup remover in my eye, or cat hair, I'm a bit allergic despite having a cat myself, and my friend has two and her bed where we both slept was completely covered in cat hair...)

Also her cat scratched my new jacket. 🥲 So. That was a nice start for the day. We still ended up taking pictures by the lake close to her place, but it meant I had to show my worse side to the camera so my eye would be hidden. Lol. Perhaps there's still something useful, maybe one of the pictures where I'm looking down. I also took pictures of my friend and I hope there's something passable, because I don't think I had used a real camera like that in... eight years? It was fun though.

I finally took a bus home at night.

You can't tell me there were no dragons in the sky!

14 hours of sleep.

I think I'm kind of very done using Tumblr as a diary for now.

[alienaiver]

Behind the scenes

the lovely @dira333 tagged me in this and its sooo fun!! the questions are so amazing and id like to give it my best with some in depth answers, since learning these facts about one of my favorite writers here was so fun !!!!! behind the scenes of writing is so good to share!!

Started writing: i think ive always been writing. i remember when we used to have one computer for the entire family in the early 00's and had little screentime, i set alarms to 4-5am (with no concept of what that Would Do To Me emotionally without sleep LMAO) JUST to get some time to write in peace. my first fanfictions i published was on a homemade forum page with a friend when i was 11!

Started blogging: ive had my tumblr since 2009-ish where ive been a rp'er over multiple times and published d gray man and no. 6 fanfictions in 2011-12ish. i was also active on livejournal before i found fanfiction.net !! but this specific blog was made in may 2021!!! the reader inserts came then :3

Followers: i actually JUST hit 300 two days ago!!! which is very exciting. i dont always look at the number, since it doesnt necessarily correlate with engangement, but its fun to see the uptick!!

Communication: i genuinely love love LOVE the social part of social media, and communications so important to me. theres nothing better than reblogs with comments you can bounce off of, asks, dm's and all that! sadly, my disability makes it so hard for me to have continuous contact and im 90% of the time the one to drop the ball when it comes to replying :(( thats why its extra important to me/special with the mutuals who keeps reaching out and dont have the same social expectations about replying. even if im unable to reply the day that i receive the message, it still brings great joy seeing the notif!

Likes: i dont mind them! generally its not that important to me whether or not my followers interact a lot. a like still means the world to me. of course a reblog is much better and engages so much more (+ boosts me!!), but theyre good for my soul, too!

Requests: i get very few requests :( i think i like them, but i havent gotten enough to actually get a feel on whether or not it kills my writing spirit? generally i get very excited to be able to deliver something and it gets me up from the bed to write, but i sometimes fear im not providing what they wanted! its anxiety-inducing in some ways, but i love a good little writing challenge !!

Writing: i loove love love love writing for hours at a time, hyperfixating on it. sadly, my cat snøfle is Very Jealous of both my laptop and pc. giving him a substitution sadly doesnt help</3 so my writing is often limited to specific times of day, and when he gets tired of my keyboard clack-clack-clacking, its time to put on some one piece while he naps on me! i wish i could write more works or just scenes on my phone, but it hurts my hands So Much, so i only write small one shots when im heavily inspired but snøfles in A Mood!!

genre wise im a fluffy type. maybe some hurt/comfort but always leaning towards comfort. id like to write more disability fics to spread both awareness and visibility, but i sometimes struggle with putting in my own disabilities and not make them too personal or too detailed for others to not relate. its an overthinking problem, so i often procrastinate writing them., bcos i fear itll be too niche! but i always get positive feedback (excpet for that one time with inked coffee lmao) so im not sure whats holding me back!!!

i always listen to music when i write, and it differs a lot. when i wrote the star and the earth i listened to a lot of medieval-inspired music, and made a specific playlist for that. but when i write on my modern au's or canon compliant bnha/haikyuu, anything goes!

i love putting in 'boring' every day stuff into my fics, or small scenes that dont necessarily advance the plot but just gives a feel of the characters.

speaking of snøfle ^ i am no longer allowed to write for the evening.... so ill start some apothecary diaries and enjoy a cold soda on this hot and humid evening !!! mwuah mwuah if u read this far thank you, and i love you. i love all of you <3333

no pressure tags as always but would love to hear the answers and get to know u all! @cup-of-fluff @true-deru @mirandabarma @illuminiscentboba @tetsuskei @threadbaresweater @krystalgaia @petriquors @ktsumu @moonbeamwritings @ohtokki

[dandeliondocx]

trying a new thing where i write my ideas down and kind of journal about the writing process (spoilers for hate to see your heart break i guess lol)

ok actually i'm trying a lot of new things recently

sleeping without my phone in the room LOL i have to stop scrolling before i sleep

writing my ideas down on an actual notebook instead of letting them float around in my head

writing more than 1-2 scenes in a fic (it's been like… 6 months since i last did that or wrote something long enough LOL)

not pressuring myself to finish writing a fic in 1 sitting lol

i like to outline for longer fics, and when i type them out, they tend to be… loooooong. like i can write line per line of dialogue in the outline and i just fill in the introspection and movements but use the dialogue as a guide posts in the journey (which would have been helpful for all the monologues in this LOL but i digress…)

buuut because i was writing them down (usually before bed to tire myself out for sleep lol), it's more concise than usual:

i always love looking back at my outlines and realizing how much i deviated from it lol usually for the better… plans are nice but sometimes the beats just go an entirely different direction and i gotta respect the course the story wants to take. or sometimes i try sooo hard to stick to the outline but it gets me stuck for hoursss so i pivot and hope that it works out better.

OH MAN the central point of this fic was supposed to be the "can I kiss you?" line :( like the key part was the buildup of ange having to admit to herself that she wanted to cross that line and really see at him as a romantic partner :( :( that she was willing to fundamentally change how they interact with each other because the moment they kiss, she can't just write this off as a friend hangout or whatever :( :( :(

but i struggled so much even getting them to where they were at that point and after the monologue about his past relationships, it just flowed naturally to her realizing that she wanted to show him something better was possible for him— the same way he did for her and ahhhh idk…… the story took its own path and i must respect her autonomy 🙂‍↕️

also there are so many details that i didn't even end up adding to the actual fic lol… this happens all the time it's ~ world building ~ i guess

fave parts:

the hook/summary of the fic was lowkey a lightbulb moment, i started the outline AFTER i wrote the first scene bc i knew it was going to be a long one

writing changela banter is sooo much fun, the s/hitting on line still makes me giggle

freyja being fed w a spoon is based on my actual lazy princess cat 😭 she's not even old she's just soooo spoiled

most difficult to write:

uhhhh from the kitchen to the first kiss and ESPECIALLY how to end the fic 😭 i wrote and rewrote that part so many times before settling on the text. i'm really happy with how it ends though!

song inspirations:

Paramore - Hate to See Your Heart Break → randomly came up on shuffle and the lyrics just got to me… i read the genius description and awww it can definitely be interpreted as a platonic kind of comfort, but for this fic i wanted it to be about them seeing each other struggle and thinking they could do better for each other. but not knowing for sure, ykwim? it's the line between friends and lovers that's always the most difficult to cross

Carly Rae Jepsen - All That → vibes are immaculateeee carly rae my mother my muse my love youve given me so much …… mostly for the actual date, dim lights, just the two of them, so so intimate but not overtly sexual yk

Sugarfree - Ikaw Pala → this is a filipino song for true friends to lovers enjoyers… would loosely translate the story of the song as like. "you were there all along / it was you i've been looking for this whole time" vibes. GAWDDDD #realyearners will know

———

anyway this (the actual writing and the talking about writing) was really fun for me! it's been ages since i was writing as regularly as i am now. also don't have a lot of time so i'm really just trying to enjoy the process! may or may not do this for future fics heh

[randomthefox]

I have many gripes with Flynn, but I think he's great at coming up with interesting premises. But when he has to turn a premise into a full character or story, that's when everything goes to shit.

The idea of Eggman creating an infection that turns people into mindless drones/monsters COULD be made into something amazing. Unfortunately, the concept was doomed to be used by a guy who squanders every idea he thinks of.

The idea of Eggman getting a fruity lab assistant could lead to a very entertaining dynamic between Eggman and another villain. But the writer decided to try and prove things that we already knew.

Sonic and Tails teaming up to fight emo punk versions of themselves could have been super fun but we all know how that went.

Sonic and friends exploring the multiverse could've made for something interesting but instead we just get annoying versions of the same five characters in different outfits (To be fair I'm not sure if Sonic Prime's main concept came FROM Flynn or if he was just giving pointers in the writing room)

That's the worst aspect of Flynn. Aside from his awful podcast. He teases audiences with what could be the greatest thing ever and then gives them the lamest trash imaginable.

I actually agree. I think Flynn is a great "idea guy." And you know how they say everyone has an idea what matters is making something - I've learned that's actually not true and a lot of people SUCK at coming up with ideas.

It's sort of like, the difference between turning a slab of marble into a beautiful statues, and actually mining the marble materials in the first place. They're two different skills. And the artisans who chisel the marble statues simply are not capable of mining marble material into a slab themselves. And mining for marble is a special skill in its own right.

Artists know HOW to draw, but not every artist knows WHAT to draw. Sometimes you need an idea guy. And bouncing that ball back and forth and refining the idea to generate something together is all part of that creative process. I think Flynn admits to this himself in that original Game Informer interview he gave about IDW.

I'm remembering another interview but I'm having trouble finding it where he said something to the effect of "SEGA will come back with a suggestion, and that suggestion turns out to be way better" or along those lines.

I think to a degree he knows what he isn't particularly good at when it comes to his writing, and he tries to avoid those things that are a struggle for him. Even if those aren't the terms he's thinking of it in. I think he is very good when it comes to a strong premise for a story. The idea of making a trio of characters who are based on infamous sprite glitches in the Genesis Sonic games is an interesting premise to create characters out of. The idea of Fang the Sniper being on the hunt for an 8th Chaos Emerald is a cute and fun premise for a story.

Ian Flynn is really good at coming up with an idea for a story that sounds good when you write it down on a restaurant napkin.

He's just an absolutely abysmal writer.

The thing is you can actually make a career out of napkin ideas. It's called an Elevator Pitch. Summarizing your story into something that could be explained to an executive during an elevator ride. It's where pithy little movie poster slogans like "Jaws in Space" or "Die Hard but on a Plane" come from. People genuinely and sincerely have entire careers based on selling an idea for a movie or TV show to fat cat executives by giving them an elevator pitch, and then just handing off that premise to a team of actual creatives to start chiseling away the marble slab and turn it into a beautiful statue.

But instead he wants to keep trying to write. When he sucks at writing. And inevitably all his ideas get turned into shit, because he's the one writing them.

[milekael]

TEEHEE tagged by @rizaposting to do this >:3c

are you named after anyone?

I named myself 😎 The name Miles came from Miles Edgeworth LOL Me and an (ex)friend really liked Ace Attorney and the joke is that I was Miles and they were Franziska, and because at that point I was looking for a name it worked nicely!

However with time I really didn't want my name super directly attached to anyone, thats when I figured Mikael out as like "A longer version of Miles" and to be my name name SDFGHJ

I still use Miles a lot and like Ace Attorney btw! if anything, lately I been using Miles online more than my name for the sake of not putting my full name on the interwebs lol

when was the last time you cried?

Help 0 idea. I used to cry a lot as a kid and now for some reason is really hard for me to do it dfghj not even as some kind of psychological hang-up or anything I just can't really do it.

do you have kids?

Noup

do you use sarcasm a lot?

Kinda? Normally just with people I am close to because if its with anyone else I worry it might be misunderstood.

what sports do you play?

I don't play sports but I do really like doing physical work! I used to do a lot of construction work like building frames when I was at college.

what’s the first thing you notice about people?

A weird way to say it but I like to see people's "character design" LOL as in... I do perceive people very based on "If they were a character, what does their design tell me about their personality" kind of deal dfghj

what’s your eye color?

Grey-ish blue. Dark blue?

scary movies or happy endings?

help I am very VERY selective with the kinds of horrors I vibe with so really happy endings pretty much 97% of the time (Fear & Hunger is the 3% lol)

any special talents?

Huuh I know how to take machines apart! And how to build many many things out of trash. Also by taking machines apart sometimes you learn how to fix them, but I wouldn't trust myself to fix anything super important lol

where were you born?

Caracas, Venezuela! And I moved to the U.S (Sadly) in 2017.

what are your hobbies?

Help what do you do when your hobby is your job. I do a lot of the "ough I been drawing this thing for too long, I better take a break and draw this other thing" LOL but huuuh when I feel like doing something else I play videogames. Also I have gotten into online roleplaying again and I been starting to write fics, different from the things I usually have to write for work reasons so I count them.

do you have any pets?

The creachure The Beast Maki Roll. She is a cat.

how tall are you?

UUUH 5'3" or 5'4" I can't remember lol

favorite subject in school?

Saying art feels like a cope-out uuuh In Venezuelan highschool I really liked Literature and Biology was fun! And if we talk about college I didn't expect Sculpture to be my favorite but it was! And ofc I really liked Oil Painting (My concentration lol) and Illustration!

dream job?

OUGH I really want to work as an art curator in a museum :') or in general in a museum, put me to make an archive of historical stuff and I'll have a blast.

Another thing I would really like is working on set design! again I like physical work and traditional art so I would really enjoy it sdfgh Also also sdfgh my main goal is to make comics of my OCs lol but I don't... exactly want to work under an specific company (Maybe have a contract for publishing but my story wouldn't fully belong to them U know) so really my dream scenario is me working for some of the other stuff I want and also make comics on the side dfghj

SDFGH TAGGING HUUH @bolitamurcielago @seastawright @todd-machine and huuh @pixiunera sure why not!! (BTW don't feel preasured to do it I just threw you because friends beloveds <3 )

[eternalwritess]

Hello!! I'm here to request an mha matchup (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)!

Pronouns: she/any

Sexuality: asexual lesbian

Height: 5'11 (180cm)

Visual info: I'm a pale white girl with blondish brown hair with blue and platinum blond streaks and grey eyes. I have a flat chest and like dressing feminine, my body is very stick like as I am tall and lanky. I have some acne and I usually don't wear makeup as I'm not a huge fan of the feeling. I do wear a lot of jewelry such as rings and bracelets tho. I have a scar on my back from scoliosis surgery.

Personality: intp-t. I'm very awkward around New people, having somewhat dry and Npc like responses and not much to say unless I'm passionate about something. I sometimes use a lot of brainrot and make dad jokes, I tend to fidget a lot when I'm nervous or feeling awkward. When im comfortable around someone I tend to be more teasing towards them as an affectionate gesture.

Likes: music like the smiths and good kid and the color green. I adore reading, it's one of my favorite hobbies and I love getting lost in fantasy worlds. I love playing guitar, even if I'm still in the learning phase. Editing is something I really enjoy. And I love cats.

Dislikes: people not taking me seriously because of my disability, bullies, people who shove their noses where they don't belong and insert their opinions into things that don't concern them, lasagna, and people that judge others for having fun.

Hobbies: editing, reading my favorite books are fantasies such as pjo as I enjoy adventure stories and Greek mythology a lot, writing, I watch anime, I play a lot of games, I play some softball, guitar.

My type: I prefer people who are smarter and won't judge me as I get embarrassed easily when it comes to my interests

Thank you for taking the time to read this! I hope I provided enough information!

i match you with... 𝓙𝓲𝓻𝓸𝓾 𝓚𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓴𝓪 ██ 20% _ ████ 60% _ █████ 80% _ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 100% ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ!

♬ You most likely met at UA and are in the same friend group! Aka the bakugosquad. She approached you mostly because she thought that your style was cool... she also probably asked a little about your jewelry and stuff like that :)

♬ You being awkward at first was something that she didn't mind at all. Actually in a way she understood it, instead she kept talking to you though not minding your dryer responses as it was somewhat refreshing compared to everyone elses' over the top ones

♬ The minute she mentioned music I'm sure that two of you got talking right away and she ended up even playing the guitar for you and singing at one point (although you had to really ask for that one). When the UA festival came around you're the one who helped her out the most with it!

♬ That was actually when she realized that she liked you. Up on the stage and playing in front of everyone, she realized how grateful she was for you being her friend and she was actually in love with you. Something that she was really nervous about

♬ No one convinced her to confess to you. She did it herself after a while of arguing with herself in the mirror she walked over to your dorm and explained that she liked you

(*ﾉ・ω・)ﾉ♫

♬ You both play guitar together and learn duets together. She'll actually even teach you a thing or two since you're kinda new to it. She'll also give you cool but easy pieces to play, things around your range

♬ She lets you talk about all of the books that you read and ever now and then take recommendations about what to read next from you and she's liked every one of them

♬ She laughs at your brainrot terms most of the time. Every now and then she'll roll her eyes but don't worry, she still loves you all the same <3

♬ She doesn't judge you at all because you didn't judge her, especially when it came to her love and passion for music. She doesn't care what you look like, whatever scars you have, or things that you're into. She finds it all cool and unique, something to be loved

♬ As you grow more loving with her she does the same with you. She'll tease you more (most likely in private-) and will sometimes knock shoulders with you as a small sign of love and appreciation

[puff-mmd]

6/30/24 - Some rambles i had today

--

I want to write a short blurb about kaisei inviting ciro onto some of his streams for fun (clean streams mind you)

Like he sets it up so they can play a game together (looking at secret sleepover society as my inspo for that idea)

Or a stream where ciro teaches him (and the audience) how to think when designing something, and kaisei makes sure to include the audience by asking them to talk about what they drew. Maybe even a follow up stream where they go through some of the designs their audience submits and give genuine critiques.

Just some ways ciro involves himself in kaisei's hobbies.

I would imagine kaisei is capable of learning to sew with ciro too, though his early attempts are atrocious and he mostly helps with things that won't be visible during crunch times.

Hobby wise though? Ciro loves scary movies, so kaisei indulges in watching them with him, even though he's a pretty big scardey cat.

I want to come up with more of ciro's hobbies, though he does knit outside of his job and enjoys scary movies like i said. Hmm....

--

Yakumo thoughts

-he didnt always have the ability to spawn spiders. When he was young though, spiders were attracted to him.

-the spiders he gets tattooed on himself can come to life. He didnt always know that either. Cue the first time he gets tattoos with spiders and wakes up to a few of them crawling around on him. He only realizes they came from him when he notices the tattoos he just got the day before have disappeared, and when he was shocked, the spiders melded back into his skin. He was probably a little freaked out by that lol

-at some point he gets a tarantula tattoo. Sometimes he lets it live in a little nest its built in his plants.

(Did i mention here that yakumo keeps houseplants? Now i am. It's a narrative device for him, i'll probably explain that later)

-in fact, idk if he even knew he was a spider spirit as a child? I feel like his parents kept that from him. Another layer of identity that was stripped from him.

Some oni abilities bc i need to develop those too

-oni's have a high stamina level. This is how ciro, kaisei, and yoai can function so efficiently, but the flip side is that they do have to eat a lot. Hence why yoai is always pestering ciro to eat when he neglects to, and why kaisei put forth effort into learning to cook (also thanks to his mother too)

As such, ciro and yoai have their communal snack bin which they both contribute to and keep well-stocked. If it starts to get low but neither notice, sometimes kaisei does and will sneak some snacks in there for them.

Low stamina levels also affect oni's more drastically than other beings. Ciro's normal irritation becomes rage when he isn't taking care of himself, and kaisei's low moods can become quite depressive. With things being stressful at work for ciri before the sketchbook incident, and kaisei probably having gigs of his own going on + being worried about ciro, it becomes another factor in their perfect storm of an argument.