#oh to have a father who shows interest in your hobbies. or life in general.

[sulkykarris]

I've been watching son and dad (presumably) play wii in the flat across from here. Dad is trying so hard. Son is explaining things. They're laughing and having a good time. And I'm a little teary sitting on the balcony.

[liquidstar]

❤️ for anyone you like with an interesting answer except the main 5, 🍓 for Al, 🐞 for Alkes, ❗️ for Barnard, 🎒 for Juno ^_^

This one ended up being kinda long too so! Under the cut again ^_^

❤️ (heart) - Who is the most important person to your character? To what lengths would they go to protect this person?

Oh I thought of a few examples for this, a few of which fall under “intense devotion” but some are just parental feelings and family bonds-

An example of the latter, Vela has had Ran for about 3 years, and if anything happened to her they would blow everyone in this ocean up. And though these aren’t singular people, Venus would go through any lengths imaginable to protect her grandkids- same applies to Vesta and Pyxis though they don’t show it as intensely. Orion would do the exact same for all the guild kids, not just Capella. And in terms of siblings, Itonda would do whatever it takes to make his little sister happy!!!!

But see, these are all, like, normal. On the extreme devotion side of things… There’s Koe and Percy’s respective relationships with Andy. Both of them idolize her to the extreme. For Koe, she’s an impossibly bright star, a savior, someone she would happily work herself to the bone for. For Percy, she’s his liege- a knight exists to protect, and so Andy is his reason for being. There’s no order he would turn down, if it came from her. But… Andy just wants to be regular friends. 

There’s also Errai, who is soooo incredibly desperate for approval from Pluto that he’d do next to anything. The way he sees it, Pluto rescued him and gave him a home in tartarus (No matter how fucked up of a place it is, it’s a place where Errai can exist), so he owes them everything, and wants desperately to be acknowledged as having been worth saving. He’s kind of like a dark mirror to Al’s feelings on his father (Though this isn’t about the main 5 rn lol)

And Imai… I’m not sure how much I wanna say, because for her it’s mostly backstory stuff but she used to be on a team of three, and there’s one way to very quickly find out who the most important to you is. 

🍓 (strawberry) - Does your oc believe in anything? Are they superstitious? Religious? Atheistic? Has anything in their past made them this way?

This may be different in the modern au (or actor au but that’s pretty much a different character), but in-universe the main spiritual beliefs generally focus around the divine comet. Al doesn’t necessarily strongly believe in it, but he definitely thinks it has to be some sort of greater power that people just can’t quite understand. He’s fine not understanding, he sees it as benevolent at the very least. Really, no one can say they feel any malice after experiencing it- it’s like a familiar kindness.

🐞 (ladybug) - What does a perfect day look like for your oc? What do they do? Who do they see?

See, I joke about Alkes being a little murderboy, but in reality that’s not, like, his actual hobby. Honestly, a perfect day for him would be waking up early, putting together a cute outfit, getting to skip around town in it for a while (Maybe get a sweet breakfast while he’s there), getting some shopping done (more cute clothes), relaxing at home with some nice tea, and perhaps a small break from all the peace+quiet by going into the guildhall and making fun of his guildmates (all his zingers hit. They’re devastated), then a big ol dinner, and then he can go back to his room and read a nice book. He’s actually pretty chill when he’s not maiming. 

❗️(exclamation point) - What was the scariest moment of your character’s life? Does it still affect them? 

I don’t want to give away specifics, because it gets into backstory stuff, but… For a lot of people with OCD, there was a “moment” where it feels like it all started, especially if something really rattled them. In reality it’s not actually as clear-cut (Like, you could be showing signs of OCD before that definitive breaking point) but most people who’ve been through this remember the first time they Really acted out a compulsion, because it would stick with them for a long time. 

🎒 (backpack) - What items does your oc usually carry? Do they have a bag or just keep everything in their pockets? Do they carry a lot or a little?

Juno is the most underprepared guy in the world. He barely leaves the guild and he doesn’t care to, like, own a lot of things. At the most he will have a backpack to fill with books, but that’s mostly just to transport them rather than carry them around all day. He has pockets but they’re usually just filled with lint. Juno walks into every situation ready to leave at any moment so there’s no need to prepare. He will just fucking leave.

[dorothea-jpg]

The Comfort Closet

Characters Used/Mentioned:

Una Autumn (Silver Y Moth Insectoid)

Opal Autumn (Silver Y Moth Insectoid)

Moonie Autumn (Silver Y Moth Insectoid)

Liatris Elmpuff (Pixie)

Giselle Crunch (Blue Morpho Butterfly Insectoid)

Juno Crunch (Monarch Butterfly Insectoid)

Nash Grung (Orc)

Ollie Meine (Blue Slime Humanoid)

Kira Oakenhoof (Centaur)

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

Ah yes, the comfort closet. A place that would be so sacred to someone who prefers to run and hide from their problems, to someone like Una. She didn't name her old, sticker-covered wardrobe 'the comfort closet', it was actually her mother who decided on it. You see, the comfort closet was where Una would hide whenever she got upset, as the name suggests, it was a huge comfort to her to just... hide away in a dark place.

Una was a generally happy person, she felt as though her life was all smooth sailing so there were only a few times she used the comfort closet.

The first time she ran to the comfort closet was when kids at school began seeing differences in Una's family and pointed it out, rather rudely... you know, as kids do. Growing up without a father was nothing to be ashamed of and I highly doubt it was the kids' own opinion that was being spoken but all it took was one overly cruel boy to send Una running. She sat with her face buried in her knees, in the pitch-black for two hours before Opal's homemade cookies convinced her to come out.

The second time was when she lost one of her best friends, Lia Elmpuff. She and Lia were two very different people but always stayed very close until Lia became more popular and made more friends. She basically just kept ditching Una and acting borderline mean to impress her new friends until she just dropped her altogether. Una should've seen it coming but Lia was the person she made future plans with! They were going to live in a pink princess castle and have like five pet unicorns, they were going to live there with each of their princes and live happily ever after! But of course, that didn't happen. Una didn't leave the comfort closet until the next day. Not even to eat.

The third time was when she rejected a boy from her class. Una didn't want to be in a relationship (Especially not when she was ten years old) and told the boy straight. He didn't take it that well. After that embarrassing display, he made it his life's mission to make Una miserable. He would throw random things at her during lessons, he laugh at her whenever she walked by, he spread rumours about her and he would even spill food and drinks on her when he felt like it. This called for the comfort closet and also one day of running away.

The fourth time was when Giselle first overshadowed Una. Una remembered getting really into sewing, she loved being all creative and colourful with it and even though she wasn't very good at it, she adored it. Opal made sure to show her undying support for Una's hobby no matter what and she showed off her daughter's work whenever she got the chance until Giselle became interested too. Giselle was very good at sewing and her mother, Juno, showed off just how proud she was of her daughter. It would make Una's work look like one big joke! It was obvious how much everyone praised Giselle for being so talented at such a young age while all Una got was 'Oh well you did your best!'. It made her feel so bad about herself.

The fifth time was when Una realised she was never going to have her happily ever after. She would never fall in love with her knight in shining armour and she would never have that romance that she had always dreamed of. She was defeated. For such a hopeless romantic as Una was, it was a devastating conclusion to come to. She would never feel that sparkly feeling you're supposed to feel when you fall in love, she would never experience what it would be like to be in a real romantic relationship and that destroyed her. 

The sixth time was when she felt as if her friends were replacing her. Nash spent way more time with his rugby teammates and Ollie became friends with Kira Oakenhoof and subconsciously ditched Una. She thought it would be fine at first, that was until a certain mean girl planted a negative thought into her brain. That was when she began seeing how she was being left behind. Her insecurities overtook her brain and she convinced herself that her friends were bored of her. It was like Lia Elmpuff all over again.

The seventh time was when everyone forgot Una's birthday. It was a real kick in the teeth because she was looking forward to this specific birthday for ages and everyone just... forgot. She didn't want to jump to conclusions like she always did so she waited. She waited for someone to say a simple 'happy birthday' but they never did. It never came. She sat in the comfort closet the entire night just munching on a cupcake she bought in The Sunny Gull for two crystals. She at least got a happy birthday text from Ollie but he wasn't there to celebrate with her. The real twist was that her family forgot because they were too busy celebrating Giselle's acceptance into Granite Lake University.

The eighth time was probably due to the most devastating of them all in Una's opinion. It was at Elk Grove's prom for final-year students. Ollie had asked Una out. He poured his heart and soul out to her and she just burst into tears because she knew she could never feel the same way about him, or anyone for that matter. She was also scared, scared that she was going to lose one of her best friends in the world over stupid feelings. Of course, Ollie was understanding but he asked Una for some time alone.

That's what got her.

She felt so horrible about it she even attempted to force herself to accept Ollie's feelings, thinking he would never want to speak to her again if she rejected him. 

Not even the comfort closet could help her with this one.

[genderkoolaid]

Love your transmasc retelling tag, and wanted to at least offer a concept since I can't get the words out myself, I feel Beauty and the Beast has some serious potential for it.

Oh of COURSE!! The trans potential!!

Also I did in fact rewatch the animated Beauty and the Beast for you, anon. I probably didn’t have to but I sure did. I also spent an unexpected amount of time on this because my brain is broken.

We have a woman, Belle, who's love interests are a very typical patriarchal man (white and cishet) and a being that can barely being considered human, never mind a man. The Beast is clearly masculine, but in an foreign, monstrous way (kind of like Hyde in @transmascrage's interpretation of Jekyll & Hyde). He's hairy and enormous and raging, almost like a parody of masculinity, while not being able to achieve the humanity and social approval of a man like Gaston (who literally has an entire song devoted to just how perfect his masculinity is). He's only capable of going through the general motions of a prince; when he first meet him, he isn’t even wearing proper clothes. He's only pretending to be a prince. The movie asks the question "Who could ever love a Beast?", which can be seen as "Who could ever love such a monstrous creature pretending to be a man?"

Belle, herself, is not a "typical woman"- she's different from all the other women in the town. She has an "unfeminine" hobby, and while not being outright despised, is viewed as extremely odd by the town. Gaston is interested in her for her physical beauty, but she is not interested in him at all. She could be seen as a closeted transmasc person and/or one who is feminine, who is perceived by others as a "strange girl" who's beauty is going to waste because of her lack of interest in a patriarchal, cishet man. She isn't disliked but she isn't "a part of any crowd". She spends all her time dreaming of what she could be, including "a prince in disguise", not interested in the physical world she is stuck in. Belle is desperate not only for a different life, but for someone who can understand her desires and make her feel less alone in society,

And eventually, she comes to a shadowy castle in the woods– a castle that has been abandoned and forgotten by society, so she would have no idea it even existed. 

In it, she meets the Beast, who as I said, shows the extremes of toxic masculinity. Gaston demands Belle be his wife through coercion, but the Beast makes her promise to stay with him forever. However, there is clearly a difference between them. The Beast is putting on his rage more than Gaston; he clearly wants to connect with Belle, but isn’t sure how and, lacking any other way of interacting, chooses anger to hide this fear. He compares himself to Belle; she is beautiful and perfect, and the Beast is… a beast.

When he saves her from the wolves, he shows the first trait of positive masculinity; he is selfless in defending Belle at personal cost to himself. Belle and him have their first real conversation as she helps him recover, and their relationship is able to actually begin. Later, the Beast eagerly shows her the library as a gift, once again showing he is genuinely interested in her and her interests (gift-giving to feminine partners is often seen in butch/femme dynamics). The Beast begins to win her over by letting himself be soft, and kind, and he realizes that someone is willing to treat him softly and kindly and not revile him as a monster. Belle is self-assured in her strangeness and this allows the Beast to become more comfortable in his. This is contrasted with Gaston planning to force Belle into marriage by institutionalizing her father, using ableism/ageism and the patriarchy to “win her over”.

The most important moment that the Beast shows positive masculinity is when he lets Belle go save her father, and gives her the mirror. He does what Gaston would never do; freely lets Belle leave out of love and respect. 

The Beast, as a threat, is at first met with mockery by society. The Beast is viewed as a hilarious joke, not something to be taken seriously. But later, when Belle proves the Beast’s existence, the threat becomes very real – and very centered around the Beast as Gaston’s future wife’s kidnapper. Gaston encourages the villagers to believe that the Beast will steal their children and their wives, and he needs to kill it to protect Belle’s position as his future wife and mother to his children. Fearmongering leads the town to blindly hate the Beast, and lock up Belle and her father for their as delusional traitors. 

Gaston attacks the Beast, who does not resist the attempts to kill him. Gaston mocks him for being “too kind and gentle to fight back”. He ridicules him for daring to love Belle, asking him, “Did you honestly think she’d want you when she had someone like me?” Gaston views the Beast’s affection and his manhood as corrupt and undesirable. When the Beast proves his physical power over Gaston, he chooses not to kill him, once again choosing to embody positive masculinity instead of the toxic masculinity Gaston values. Ironically, Gaston’s decision to stab the Beast results in his death.

The Beast seems almost suicidal at the end, between him not resisting Gaston and first and saying “maybe it’s better this way” as he dies. Ultimately, of course, he is transformed into his human form, his ideal form. No longer a monster pretending to be a man, he is the man he always was internally (named Adam, after the first man). His transition into Adam was achieved by embracing the positive masculinity Belle encouraged and rejecting the toxic masculinity that was fueled by self-loathing.

TL;DR,  Beauty and the Beast can be viewed as a t4t love story about not letting yourself be defined by toxic masculinity. And it is surprisingly easy to get me to watch something if I can make it queer analysis, even if that thing is Beauty and the Beast (1991), a movie I have barely ever thought about and have seen maybe once before.

[leviiattacks]

levi and erwin as dads with their s/o headcanons please? 🥺

author note :: anon later came back in another ask and specified they wanted modern levi and erwin so i’ve done that !! i’m working my way through requests and i may not do them all but reminder as always that requests are open ;-) ALSO WOOOH finally time to write erwin.

levi

he finds it hard to figure out how to be a dad at first because he’s never really had a solid father figure that’s consistently been there. he worries occasionally thinking whether or not he’s doing a good or bad job

but what he knows for certain is that his mother was a great parent and he decides that he’ll be like her because she made him happy when she was around

he enjoys dressing the kids up when they’re super young

like really enjoys it. he loves onesies it’s so odd to you because he just comes back home one day with a snowman onesie, a demon onesie, an angel onesie, ALL THE ONESIES IMAGINABLE???

you have to admit it’s cute

very doting, he’s that dad that’ll pack lunches for his kids without being told to do it by you. he does it because it makes him happy to see the lunch boxes return empty at the end of the day

also loves feedback on his lunches

you’d think he’d be the type to toughen the children up and tell them to not cry over cuts and scrapes but he literally carries around cute band-aids with him in case of injury

does NOT tolerate a messy room.

spring cleaning is a thing and he does not care how much the kids whine they have to participate

teaches them how to use the washing machine, iron, fold their duvets, organise their wardrobes from a young age

still very strict. no sleepovers. he does not trust his children in the hands of anybody.

you scold him for it because ??? the kids need to interact with others ??? but he’s adamant he doesn’t like the idea. no means no.

“if you want a sleepover so bad your friends can come over here. that’s the best you’re getting.”

but you know he says that because he cares. levi would never invite outsiders to the house because of his low tolerance for germs but if he’s willing to do it for his kids then it’s obvious he won’t change his mind on the sleepover rule for their own safety

adding onto this he’s protective, anyone who messes with his kids will have a stern word thrown at their parents

“behaviour like this tends to be learnt in the home so if your kid cusses mine out again i’ll be back and you’ll have to put some money in the swear jar. got it? :-)”

will not put the kids in classes for things like swimming he prefers to teach them himself

“why the hell should i do that when i could spend that time with them? i think my breaststroke is pretty good y’know.”

then he looks at you waiting to agree and when you don’t he grumbles saying you’re just jealous that he can swim better than you

will never get angry at the kids, rarely shouts or argues when around them in general. level headed, sure he gets annoyed because they’re children of course they’ll annoy him at some point but he’ll never take it out on them

as long as they’re happy he doesn’t care about the career they choose

like at all, he’s supportive of anything and everything as long as they become good, genuine people

whatever his children like or show an interest in he’ll buy in bulk - you grimace thinking of the time he showed up with a huge cart of oranges and his literal explanation was “the kids said they like them.”

erwin

he’s so excited to become a parent, he’s been looking forward to it for a long time and he knows he’ll love talking to his kids and teaching them what he’s learnt through his lifetime

but really that’s his advantage, he finds it easy to understand how his children feel and he sympathizes well with them

does not like negative reinforcement or making his children go through punishments, instead when they do something good he positively reinforces them to encourage that they keep up the good behaviour

big on bedtime stories, wants them to have a love for reading.

“y/n what do i read to them tonight? i have so many choices but i can’t even pick?”

sports, arts, music, extracurricular activities in general

will encourage his children to participate in a hobby but they’re free to choose what it is he doesn’t mind what

if they’re really good and have events or recitals you can bet for a fact that erwin will be sitting proudly in the front row cheering them on

“YOU GOT THE BALL YEAHHH KEEP GOING YES YES YES!!!!”

he’s very out of character because he gets so loud but his enthusiasm never fails to encourage the children or to make you smile

if his child ever gets in trouble at school he’s going to defend them

“so this is the school’s reaction to bullying? i think my child stood up for what was right.”

only if it’s clear his child is in the right though!!

takes them fishing he thinks it’s important to spend quality time together and what better way to spend time by conversing for hours on his boat? sharing life stories and giving them advice

he’s really really busy but will try to find as much time as he can with his children. when he does get free days most of his time is spent talking to them and asking how school’s going

he’s not good at showing affection but when they’re asleep he’ll sometimes kiss their foreheads before leaving the room

“hey, look at you being soft.” you’d tease from the doorway

“i’ve always been soft i just don’t know if they’d be embarrassed by me doing it in public...” his confession catches you off guard because you know the kids wouldn’t mind it

“oh god, you’re their dad have some confidence, they’d love it!!”

he’s really self conscious after hearing that children don’t like affection in front of their peers because he doesn’t want to embarrass them

but the night he admitted that to you he realizes that the kids rush to kiss his cheek more often or to give him a hug

he has a suspicion that they heard what he said, it allows him to learn it’s okay to inquire and ask them questions about what they like and dislike more often

he learns more and more along the way and it’s one long journey but he’s a great father in the end. endlessly supportive he takes the title of father incredibly seriously.

[everyhowlmarksthedead]

big brother to the rescue.

BEN MILLER

TRIPLE FRONTIER. ┃ USEFUL LINKS.

❝ request by @meteora-fc: hello hello! hope you're doing well :) i was thinking about a ben miller fic where when they're in the bar towards the beginning the reader is there with her friends and the boys push benny to talk to her bc he's getting distracted from conversation by her across the place. thanks a ton 💖

❝ words: about 1.6k.

❝ a / n: if you'd like to read a second part, lemme know! don’t forget to comment and reblog if you liked it, i’d really appreciate it!

“C’mon, little brother. She’s been looking at you the whole night”. Will says palming his back, after catching him distracted for the third time.

“Go, before I do”. Frankie challenges him with a petty smile, knowing it’s going to be enough to force the boxer to take the step.

Taking a deep, deep breath, finding in that gesture the encouragement he needs, Benny goes straight to you, waiting for the bartender to serve you another beer.

At first, you don’t notice his presence, until the unknown guy stops by your side leaning too over the bar. You two cross your gazes, sharing a soft smile that makes your knees tremble. The blonde looks really good, but for some reason, you have the feeling that he could be an idiot, so when he throws at you one of those horrible pickup lines, you can’t help but roll your eyes.

“I’m gonna give you advice. Don’t hit a girl like that”. You just reply with a chuckle, referring to his words.

“I’m more into hitting men”.

For a second, where you were about to leave with your drink, you squint at him having a sip and trying to understand the meaning of his affirmation.

“I box, professionally”.

“Oh…” You nod your chin, puckering your lips, showing him that this fact doesn’t impress him at all. “Congrats. Good luck in your next fight”.

Not giving him the chance to continue the talk, you come back to your table under the attentive looks of your friends, who are laughing at the poor guy and the gesture on his face. His brothers, on the other hand, have slapped their faces whilst shaking their heads disappointed. As soon as Benny joins him, Santi slaps the back of his neck, causing him to choke in his beer.

“There must be something wrong with my eyes, ’cause I can’t take them off you? Really, Benny? Really?”

The guys are laughing when Pope repeats his sentence, as Will puts an arm over his shoulders. “You’re lucky to have me… Big brother to the rescue”.

Anna nudges you, making you turn on your stool to watch a second guy walking towards you, very secure of himself. The only thing you wanted tonight was to have fun with your friends and seems it’s not going to be an option. Crossing a leg over the other and nailing an elbow on the table, resting your chin on your palm, you force a smirk when he offers you a kind smile.

“Good nights, ladies, sorry to interrupt. William, a pleasure”.

The man holds your free hand without asking for it to stretch it. Firmly. Like only a soldier would do —as your father does. He turns for a second to his friends, laying his oceanic and hypnotic eyes on you with a charming and funny grimace on his face.

“Sorry ‘bout my brother, you know... too many punches”. He has captivated your friends, who are gasping for him and the honeyed tone he’s using, covered by a raspy voice. “He has watched you looking at him and he was nervous, but he’s not a bad guy. Just a little asshole. But he’s worth it, believe me”.

“Okay”. You reply slowly, raising an eyebrow earning your attention little by little.

“He has begged me to not come, but I think you’re too smart to not have a date with him”.

“Your brother was right, you didn’t have to come. And you’re wrong, more or less. I’m very smart, but having a date with him doesn’t seem a very intelligent idea”.

“Got it. But he’ll be waiting for you at seven in Kaleo’s, tomorrow night”. A negative it’s not an option to the soldier, showing you his perfect white teeth in a huge smile clapping his hands before leaving. “Good night, ladies. Have a good time”.

Since last night, you've been debating with your friends if you should go to the date just to prove both men were wrong. Lucy would call you crying if you text her in case the guy is another idiot.

The first test is to see if he'd wait for you, arriving thirty minutes later than the hour William told you. Your heart can't help but race a little when you find the blonde boxer sitting on the hood of a black Mustang, in front of the restaurant. Wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans, he has both legs crossed and his hands laced over his lap. Head bowed down and a sigh escaping his lips as he checks the clock on his wrist. Poor guy, he's thinking you are not going to come.

You send a picture of him to the chat group where your friends are asking you if he's still there and, in less than a second, you receive a bunch of heart emojis from all of them. Keeping your phone in a pocket, as you tuck in your hands too, you begin to walk towards him. Step by step. Taking your time with a soft smirk curving your lips as you come closer and closer. Watching him texting someone too, you roll your eyes, imagining it's to some random chick to hang out with, due you have stood him up. Until you're almost leaning above his shoulder and you see he's texting his brother —who is very interested in knowing if you're there or not. You melt as he replies: “amma wait another thirty minutes, maybe there's traffic”.

“You can say to your brother I'm here”. You whisper into his ear, taking him by surprise and causing the boxer to jump off from the hood.

“Oh, fuck. You scared the shit outta m— Where you readin' my phone?”

“Nah, I've some witch in me”. You lie terrible, feeling goosebumps on your arms when his gesture changes suddenly.

A grin like a Cheshire cat decorates his face, offering you his phone as he pressed the small microphone in the bottom right corner.

“Hey, big brother, I came. I hope you weren't wrong”.

“I'm Ben, by the way”. He introduces himself as keeping his phone in a pocket, to offer you his right hand.

“(Y/N)”. You stretch it then, feeling a little nervous at his touch.

“So, this is the plan. We have a beer, and if you think I'm a freak, you can run away before dinner. No questions, no explanations. You just… leave”.

God, that's really sweet. He's nervous too and you can see in his blue eyes how scared he is if you really decide to disappear.

“Deal”. You accept, tilting your head to the restaurant.

A couple of minutes later Ben is sitting in front of you and the first thing that captivates your attention is the fact that he doesn't put his phone on the table. Living in the technology era, everybody keeps an eye on their devices. Constantly. But he's not like everybody. He wants to talk. Know about you. What you do in your free time, what you do for a living, what unveils you at night… And you talk for hours.

Ben tells you what pushed him to be in the army, why he decided to dedicate his life to boxing and he also jokes about how you could fix him up after his fighting. Something like a plan of the future. Together. As friends —as he points out to not make you feel uncomfortable, thinking that he is forcing you to have a relationship. You also discover that your taste in music and movies are very similar, just like your hobbies. And that makes you think about the fact that William will tell you “I wasn't wrong”.

The boxer gladly takes you home, not stopping your chat even when one of the two of you doesn't know what to say, Benny has shown you in some way he enjoys too much the sound of your voice though —how it goes a little higher when you're excited about something, how your throat vibrates when you laugh. And he's falling in love with the disgusted tic that wrinkles your nose when you don't like something, in a funny gesture.

You would die for staying together a little more, but you have obligations to attend tomorrow and your friends haven't ceased sending your texts asking you how it's going. As Ben stops his car next to your house, you sigh not knowing what to do —if just say bye, thank you, ask for his number, kiss him? Yes, you'd like to kiss him right now, but what does it say about you? Should you wait until the second date?

“Got a fight tomorrow night if you're free”. His proposition pushes you back to reality, turning at him on your seat while resting a shoulder against it. “You can invite your friends, mine will be there”.

“Your brother too?” You ask giggling, noticing the change on his grimace to somewhat underwhelmed because of your interest.

“Yeah, he will come”. Ben mumbles pressing his lips after nodding briefly.

“Ugh… Is he the kind of person who has fun saying I told you?”

Ben's gesture suddenly changes again. The shine in his blue deep eyes reappears and you provoke him a strong laugh when you furrow your nose like he literally adores.

“You've had a good night then?”

“Yes”. You don't hesitate to respond, leaning towards him to press your lips on his cheek with a loud kiss.

“See? He told you”. Ben can't help but make fun of you, earning a soft punch to his shoulder that makes him laugh one more time. “It's in the Holou gym, at seven”.

“Okay, I'll not forget it”. You reply, taking your phone and setting an alarm an hour before starting to have time to get ready. “Good night, Ben”.

“Good night, (Y/N)”.

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TRIPLE FRONTIER: @phoenixhalliwell @goldielocks2004 @pedritomando @spideysimpossiblegirl @im-an-adult-ish @chibsytelford

[monocytogenes]

and QUISRA: 9, 25, 26!

To clarify since I'm not really going in order here--this is for the OTP asks (and yes thank you just. Themst)

9. What are their thoughts on having children?

Haha, oh man.

So Malavai "Infant Contingency Report" Quinn definitely wants children. This desire has a lot to do with the culture he's in: Imperial society has a strong interest in family legacies and "genetic purity", to the point that if you're what's seen as genetically fit (human or sith with little to no alien ancestry, especially if you're force sensitive on top of that) it's considered your duty to reproduce. Growing up in an upper class human family, he had always expected to marry and have kids, and it was really only the tanking of his career--and his associated self-loathing--that kept him from doing so prior to meeting Isra. He's quite enamored with the idea of being able to contribute to her lineage--it's a notion rather wrapped up in his whole fixation with serving her--and aside from that, I think he'd just really enjoy being a dad. I see his relationship with his own father as having been one of those stern-yet-loving situations where he looked up to him intensely, and the idea of being that kind of role model (and expressing that sort of love) to kids of his own is one he savors.

And then you have Isra, lol.

Isra hadn't planned to have kids, much less to get married, given that she's a female alien in a society that's patriarchal and speciesist. Her career and independence are important to her; she warmed to the idea of marrying Quinn in large part because he explicitly didn't want to be the dominant one in the relationship (to the point that in my canon he actually winds up taking her surname.) I imagine she's undergone some (reversible) method of surgical birth control because the hormonal implants most Imperials use weren't tested on aliens and tend not to work so well for them; she's pretty damned serious about not wanting her ambitions sidelined.

I think she isn't entirely opposed to the idea on the whole; she's just very 'absolutely not right now' and would prefer not to have to deal with the pregnancy part of it out of concerns that it'd damage her body. She'd probably be open to using a surrogate sometime in the future; I can see her deliberately selecting someone who's also a zabrak and paying them exceedingly well, lol.

25. Do they have any hobbies they share?

Yes! Here's some--

I picture them as both being into ballroom dancing. Quinn grew up going to such events, so he's really good at it, and Isra found that there's a bunch of skill transfer from her hand-to-hand combat training and general athleticism. She actually got him to finally break down and confess his lust for her after they first danced together (I am weak for that trope, okay) and they attend a lot of fancy social events to have an excuse to partake in that activity, as well as to generally network with the Imperial upper crust.

I also see them having a shared interest in opera/musical theater--I headcanon that theater in the Empire is one of the few venues where socially subversive and emotionally buckwild stuff can be depicted, since there's a rich tradition of sensational storytelling that emerged out of old sith culture. You see stuff in opera like snarky enslaved aliens who talk smack to their enslavers, dissolute soldiers who sell out to the enemy, and intimidating femme fatales (which, uh, Quinn might have been a little too into in his youth.) Isra loves tales of crazy interpersonal drama and empowerment of people like her, Quinn's kind of an art nerd in general who likes getting worked up into strong feelings by that sort of thing, so they often see shows together or watch them on holos.

Also, hear me out on this: sex is totally one of their hobbies. I say that because they're kinky as fuck and their sex life generally consists of Quinn voicing elaborate fantasies and Isra working with him to make scenes out of them. Their bedroom in their nice Kaas City apartment winds up full of associated implements on account of them imagining and researching and being all "I bet we could do something fun with that!", haha.

26. What are their vices?

In the context of the relationship--

Quinn's someone who spent years centering his sense of worth around his job, and he's thus a workaholic who can have a tough time disengaging from that (Isra has to deal with this at times by being all 'we're not going to talk about this stuff in the evenings, and I need you to literally block off our personal time in your schedule, okay?') I think he also can be a pain to live with because he's kind of neurotic about cleanliness--like, for the most part Isra's cool with it because she prefers not doing chores, but when he starts reorganizing her stuff/putting things in places she doesn't expect she's like DUDE COULD YOU NOT. He's also spent years repressing a lot of his negative feelings when he sees them as inconvenient to others, so his communication skills aren't always the best when he's upset about something (though he's pretty aware of this and is working on it.)

As for Isra, the most prominent thing that comes to mind is that she's something of a compulsive flirt; she kiiiinda gets off on Quinn's jealousy, while from his standpoint that's not part of the spectrum of kinks he's into (he does, on the other hand, find it hot when someone tries to flirt with him and she gets a tad possessive.) Quinn also has an aversion to being publicly affectionate in most contexts or airing the particulars of their sexy activities that she doesn't always respect, lol. Some of her pushing at his boundaries is probably good for him on the whole, but she can definitely cross the line out of impatience and hurt his feelings in the process.

[kingbrct]

( alexa demie , twenty-three , ciswoman , she/her , regular ) welcome  to  oakmore  VALERIA COSMAS  back  again  for  your  JUNIOR  year ,  i see .  well ,  what  are  you  waiting  for  unpack  your  bags  in  your  room  at   DORTMUND HOUSE  &  get  settled .  oh ,  don't  listen  to  the  rumours  VALERIA .  i  don't  think  that  you're  UNPREDICTABLE ,   actually  i  think  that  you're  quite  HEADSTRONG  -  you  know ,  you  actually  remind  me  of  VILLANELLE .  okay ,  well  see  ya  round . 

HELLO EVERYONE AND I HOPE YOU’RE ALL READY FOR VAL “I AM FUCKING CRAZY... BUT I AM FREE” COSMAS, LET’S DO THIS WAHU

FULL NAME: VALERIA COSMAS NICKNAMES: VAL . COSMO AGE: TWENTY-THREE BIG THREE: ARIES SUN, SCORPIO MOON, PISCES RISING

FAMILY

val’s dad left her and her mother before she was born (alexa, play daddy issues), and while that left her mother in a bit of a mess, they made do. they were incredibly close and kind of relied on each other to make it through. that all changed when val was about to celebrate her thirteenth birthday, when her mother met a man at work. turns out this man is one of the wealthiest bachelors (elderly bachelors) in socal and he was absolutely smitten with her, so they married and val suddenly found herself surrounded by all the money she could’ve asked for, and while most may have been severely mentally affected by their mother, the only person they have, now showing little to no interest in her life, val wasn’t phased. she understood that their lives had shifted, and dynamics were different. at least on the outside. that being said, even her air of nonchalance couldn’t keep the rotting going on inside her every time her mother missed one of her birthdays because she had to attend a fundraiser organised by one of her new step-father’s many friends.

so obviously val had an incredibly hard time adjusting to her new life— think cheesy teen movie that involves someone with a rough background attending a prestigious school. still, the girl held her own, and her edge was exactly what people liked about her. it also didn’t hurt that she was pretty. like porcelain doll pretty. soon, she was bathing in balenciaga and had a group of friends who enjoyed her callousness.

PERSONALITY

as i mentioned earlier, val kind of allowed her attitude to consume her identity. she found that most people enjoyed it, and the people who didn’t usually weren’t the kind of people she wanted to be spending her time with either (she’s an aries if that explains any of her behaviour). she can be a handful, but as she’s gotten older she understands when she should and shouldn’t hold her ground. she loves a bit of fun and her favourite thing in the world is an overnight adventure. and i don’t mean a weekend in the caribbean, i mean a literal all nighter doing anything at all. she’s fascinated with death and ghost stories. while other kids might’ve been going to the movies, when she was dirt poor, a stable source of entertainment for her was to hunt down the most haunted or generally creepy spots she could find — so this hobby sort of stuck for val. she can be plenty compassionate when the situation asks for it, but most of the time she’s numb to the emotions of those who don’t mean anything to her.

ROMANCE

our sweet valeria is a lover, but a fleeting one. her favourite relationships are those with people who don’t mind that she can’t give them all of her, though if she really likes someone, she’s quite the hypocrite when they turn around and also date other people. she’s only here for a bit of fun, which is also why when she truly appreciates someone as a friend, she’ll never cross the line, because she knows there’ll be no turning back. she has no boundaries really when it comes to who she’s boning. gender, marital status, thoughts, opinions, these are all irrelevant. if she’s attracted to them, she’ll chase so hard whoever it is will probably believe that they’re the apple of her eye. then when they become invested, she’ll lose interest. HER NICKNAME AMONGST HER FRIENDS IS ‘COSMO’ BECAUSE ALL SHE DOES IS ASK FOR SPACE. none of her romantic links have been able to change that about her, but hey, if you want to have a go, give me a shout!

ANYWAY THAT’S ALL I’VE GOT FOR VAL RIGHT NOW PLS LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT SPICY PLOTS OR REGULAR PLOTS WHATEVER SUITS YOUR STOMACH

[dontcallmecarrie]

Downward Descending

the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and every villain is the hero of his own story. 

Justin Hammer didn’t consider himself a good man. 

Kind? Yes. But not good.

aka thanks, commenter, I blame the plot twist my brain came up with on you because I had zero inspiration for this AU up until I saw your comment

probably won’t make sense if you didn’t read part one to this mess and heads up, the protagonist becomes a villain here. Under the cut because it ran away on me, again.

.

Above all things, Justin Hammer was a realist. 

Kind of hard not to be, considering; between their [fading] memories of another world, and the life they’d been stuck with this round as the heir of Hammer Industries, they’d never really had a chance to get their head in the clouds.

Other people could dream of a better future, and he really did wish them all the best— but in the meantime, he had work to do.

.

Justin didn’t understand these people. 

Sometimes, he wondered if he ever would.

.

Justin didn’t think much of his family: oh, sure, they were loaded, but...well, for obvious reasons, he didn’t think very highly of some— okay, most— of their parenting choices.

Look, some people just aren’t meant to be parents, okay? But at least they try and give a damn.

These guys didn’t even bother.

Not when their heir turned out to be a normal kid instead of a once-in-a-generation child prodigy and genius [no hard feelings, though, Stark]. 

Eh. Whatever. 

Might’ve been for the best, actually; at least it was him and not some other poor kid who got stuck with dealing with all the crushing expectations and comparisons to a frankly impossible ideal, and at least they didn’t try to pull any of that shit with his little sister because if they had then...he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done, but it would not have been pretty.

[they were an older sibling twice over. some things were etched into their soul.]

.

It wasn’t like Justin had set out to quasi-adopt just about everyone remotely his age, okay? It just sort of...happened. 

Okay, look, it’s not his fault everyone his generation looks like a kid to him, they’re all brats and for some reason, all their parents came in different flavors of shitty because their IQs were sky-high but their collective emotional intelligence wouldn’t have filled a teaspoon so looks like it was up to him to step up.

Look, it made perfect sense at the time!

.

Sometimes, it’s funny how Justin is the most mature person in the room. Other times, it’s just pathetic.

Especially when it’s two grown men half a second from duking it out while in public, like they weren’t supposed to be setting an example for their kids.

Justin couldn’t help his dark look at the spectacle, even as he ushered Stark and Pym to the buffet tables on the other side of the room, all the while trying to keep the conversation light. He didn’t really have the time for hobbies, not with all the private tutors his parents kept foisting on him, but it was still nice to hear what other people his age got up to. 

...unless said kid was Stark, in which case they all got regaled with an overenthusiastic spiel on something that went way over Justin’s head but hey, he’d had plenty of practice nodding along to Steph’s chatter so this was nothing.

.

Looking back, it’s kind of sad how something as simple as giving half a damn was enough for Stark to consider them lifelong friends.

Even sadder, because Justin hadn’t even realized it at the time; he’s just been his usual self.

But apparently, that was enough for some people, was significant enough to be remembered even decades later— long after Justin himself had forgotten all about the encounter.

.

There weren’t a lot of things Justin put actual effort in. 

Emotionally, that is; he was not afraid from hard work, never had been, but there was a world of difference between brushing up on engineering terms and being there for someone. 

Not like his mother, who’d apparently thought giving birth to him and his sister was enough involvement in his life, and proceeded to spend all her time in the Bahamas whenever she had the chance. Not for his father, who constantly tried to make him into something he was not, and finding him wanting [when he wasn’t being a sexist piece of shit who regularly cheated on his wife, anyway, but that was a whole other mess entirely].

But maybe that’s why he tried to be kind, why he tried to be there for the people around him.

...oh, and apparently he’d been known for giving good advice in boarding school to anyone who asked. Which was weird, but whatever. At least he’d helped?

.

Justin tried to be a good older sibling. Really, he did, trying to be as supportive as he could be of Steph as he could.

Sometimes, though, that landed him in some...interesting situations.

Such as her infamous ‘fashion design’ phase, which lasted for five very memorable months, during which he wore even her most dubious of creations without complaint even though he really, really couldn’t pull off that particular shade of orange. 

There were probably pictures still floating around, actually, but he was in no particular hurry to dig them up.

Not that he was ashamed, because he’d like to think he pulled off some of those combinations remarkably well, but... well, if it were anyone other than his sister asking, he probably wouldn’t have done it.

Goodness knew how long it’d taken for some of the other guys at boarding school to look him in the eye afterwards. 

.

Several decades in, and Justin Hammer had yet to express interest in anyone.

Oh, he was perfectly polite and charming to everyone; courteous and charismatic, but...well.

'Gentleman’, some called him; ‘in the closet’, dismissed others with a scoff.

The truth was somewhere in between: Justin couldn’t help but see everyone his age or younger as kids, and between that, his natural older sibling instincts, and his own personal issues with his body that came and went, well...

At least Stark was always a good distraction, nobody paid attention to him when the guy was around. 

.

Justin worked at his company long before he became its CEO. 

It was a bit awkward at first, because everyone seemed to be uncomfortable with the idea of the boss’ kid looking over their shoulders, but once they saw he did good work and pulled his weight [and didn’t regularly make tasteless jokes about kitchens or whatever bullshit his old man was up to these days], things picked up the pace.

He bounced between departments a bit because he wanted to get a better feel for the company, and it was during his brief foray in the marketing department that he came across something that gave him pause.

Now, he knew Hammer Industries followed federal guidelines on who they did and didn’t sell to, officially, but...there were a few grey areas sometimes. 

Normally, it wasn’t something he’d have blinked at, but he recognized the names on this particular proposal.

“Von Doom? Latveria? Geez, Victor, what’ve you been up to?”

.

Once upon a time, there had been a boy who appreciated silence when studying during a time when most children his age were anything but.

So when another brat showed up, he hadn’t exactly been happy about it at first. 

But they were quiet, and seemed to prefer to keep their nose in their book, and so they’d come to a wordless agreement to share the space. 

For over three years, they studied together and shared exasperated looks when the other brats got loud, and so it was that a friendship was born.

It wasn’t until they stopped showing up one day that Justin learned that there was turmoil in that student’s country that’d forced them to go back, and only then that he learned his silent studymate’s name.

.

An unusual childhood friendship wasn’t much to go off of.

But it was something.

And knowing what he did about Victor, and the pull his country had in the international sphere... it was a risky gamble, but he was fairly certain he could pull it off.

So Justin quietly but firmly took that particular proposal from the ‘reject’ pile, and took it to his father to look over.

He was still fairly new at this, but he knew how to play the game. It was a risky gamble, but if this panned out, they’d have a significantly stronger foothold in places their rivals couldn’t even dream.

Worst comes to worse, well... everyone was so focused on what was going down in Yugoslavia, it wasn’t like they’d particularly care if a few shipments went missing, now, would they?

It wasn’t pretty, but then, Justin wouldn’t get anywhere in the world if he was afraid of getting his hands dirty.

.

Latveria’s reputation as an unstable country ended when the scion of one of their most eminent families went and united its people, kicking out all of the outside factions vying for territory as he did.

Then he promptly turned around and revitalized its economy, infrastructure, and gods knows what else because seemingly overnight, Latveria turned into one of the richest countries on the planet. 

Sitting back in his chair, Justin smiled as he put down the newspaper.

“Huh. Sounds like someone’s been busy.”

.

He got a very slick cell phone via courier, not long after that. 

That, and a slip of paper with a simple ‘Thanks’ in Victor’s signature scrawl.

.

Years passed.

Years passed, and shit went down, but no matter what hurdles life threw his way, Justin powered through them nonetheless.

Like when his little sister had a kid and their parents freaked out because she wasn’t married, and then freaked out even more when little Timmy turned out to be on the spectrum and Justin wasn’t remotely surprised when she cut all contact with them after that.

Goodness knew he’d have done the same long ago, after all the shit they’d pulled over the years.

He was just happy she chose to keep him in her life, and that Timmy seemed to really like him as an uncle. 

.

Stark was a bona fide hero, was talking about privatizing world peace. 

Justin wished him the best of luck.

But...well, he hadn’t been the one to propose their rivalry, but if Stark wasn’t in the industry to compete against, then... oh, bother.

Looks like he’d have to change up his plans.

.

Stark was acting weird. Well, weirder, he’d never really been able to understand him in the first place.

“What’s wrong?” Justin asked as he pulled him to the side. Sure, it was probably rude to ignore the gala’s host, but he did not like the look in Stark’s eyes, no matter how bright his smile was.

“Hey, Justin! How’ve you been? Long time no see, but—”

“You’re not okay.” He said, making sure his tone brooked no argument because he knew Stark, had known him since they were kids and he was not okay.

It was like a switch flipped: Stark’s smile vanished, and he reached out towards him for a moment before he sighed and were those tears in his eyes? “Yeah, you could say that.”

.

The government wanted to take Stark’s super-fancy suit, and...this, he could work with. Somehow.

Damn it, he’d need to tweak some of his plans even more...

.

For a few seconds, Stark looked very betrayed when he caught sight of him in the courtroom. 

Then his face went blank in the way Justin had long known to be his ‘I am screaming internally but I refuse to let the cameras see’ look, and he felt bad for him even as he submitted his own findings to their audience.

To be honest, they were a long ways off from developing anything close to what Stark already had in hand, but it never hurt to be prepared for the future. If one man could do it, what was to stop another?

They were all lucky Stark was a good man who didn’t abuse his power.

Justin was no hero, but if lightning were to strike twice...better him than a potential threat.

Besides— Stark needed competition if he didn’t want to stagnate. Who knows? Hopefully, they’d be able to push each other to greater heights.

.

Ivan Vanko was a dangerous man. Just as brilliant as Stark, but with an edge that could only have been gained from a hard life.

Dealing with him would be like playing with fire, Justin just knew it.

[Like knew like, after all.]

But he knew people, knew how to work them, and considering that little display at the race track?

He could work with this.

.

It takes a handful of phone calls to put out all the fires from the past few days. 

Perk of being a well-known and respected figure in the defense industry, Justin supposed; Stark’d once mentioned his contact list was classified six ways to Sunday, so really, having a few senators on speed-dial was nothing. 

He had to do some extra sweet-talking to calm down some of the generals, and may or may not have made mention to some of his older contracts to get Stern to ease up, but whatever.

.

Why he was invited to Stark’s birthday celebration, he didn’t know. 

But he brought a bottle of apple cider and champagne anyway, because why the hell not.

.

This party was really, really not his style.

So when he was pulled aside by the man of the hour, he raised an eyebrow when he noticed he was out of his suit and— wait.

Justin whipped back to where the piece of equipment that had been the source of all this mess was dancing on the table, while Tony was in a rumpled suit not three feet from him.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

.

Stark looked like shit. 

...and was apparently dying, because he’d passed up Justin’s offer at a toast, even though it had been an inside joke for almost as long as they could remember.

Also, he’d looked stricken when Justin had tried to joke about it, that was another pretty big clue.

They weren’t normally one for hugs, but this time they didn’t hesitate to offer— and so felt very very awkward when the closest thing they had to a childhood frenemy proceeded to break down in their arms.

Justin’s older sibling instincts flared to life and they tried to murmur reassurances the best they could, but.

Wasn’t like there was much they could say, now, could they?

Stark was dying, and there was nothing they could do about it. 

Something inside Justin was screaming, and the part of him that wasn’t trying to be there for someone absently wondered why...then he noticed what he was saying, and kicked himself for not paying attention earlier.

“—ever give up, I’m here, know you are not alone—”

Geez. Talk about sappy, normally they only got like this around their sister or nephew.

But whatever it was they’d said, it apparently helped. 

Or something, because Stark was honest-to-goodness crying but after a few minutes, started to calm down and pull himself together.

“I’m so, so sorry about this—” Stark started, and Justin cut in.

“Don’t be, looks like you needed it.” And he clearly had; already he looked a lot better than before.

“I...should get back to the party, shouldn’t I?” Ah, looks like Justin wasn’t the only one feeling awkward now.

“It’s gone on for a while, and you look pretty tired. You sure you don’t want to wrap it up instead?”

“...yeah, that’s... probably a good idea. See you around, Justin. Hopefully.”

“See you later, Stark.” 

.

Stark apparently invented a new element in his basement. 

He knew this, because Stark called him up to say he wasn’t dying anymore. 

Once he hung up, he felt torn between immense relief, and exasperation that he’d need to rewrite his plans again.

.

...aaand kinda ran out of steam again. Long story short, yes, this is the AU where Justin Hammer maybe sort of becomes the Lex Luthor of the universe and may or may not end up accidentally creating a League of Evil of sorts because he’s frenemies with Tony and Victor von Doom ends up having a similar dynamic with some grad student and Ivan has some really good ideas and loves sticking it to the man. 

Said club only grows when the Avengers Initiative forms, and Loki escapes custody and joins for the sole purpose of pranking Thor and giving Fury a headache and Justin may or may not end up getting a crush somewhere along the way.

No, I’m not sure how we got here either.

[abzulios]

Man.. it’s been forever.

So in my own little weird corner of the internet, I finally have a spot, I think. I finally moved, got out of the hell I was living in, stuff finally got better, but now.. I’m away from everyone I ever knew. God this is gonna be a long one, but I feel the need to scream into the endless void of the internet.  So, I know we aren’t exactly popular, this isn’t gonna reach that many people, or anything like that, and frankly, we don’t expect it to. I just hope some of the right people out there see it, and I hope it stays, just.. as a piece of me. I always liked reading other people’s words, even after they were long gone, so.. let me add to the pile.  We have been abused our whole life, by parents and adoptive parental figures alike. We have been abused and neglected by friends, family, everyone we could ever have reached out to. We’re finally out of it all, and we couldn’t be more happy. Even though we’re away from it all, we still feel it’s here, dragging us down.. the more and more we get back up, it’s like another brick’s been tossed on the pile. Oh well.. right? Get back up, keep walking. Being an adult is fun, being an adult is an utter living hell. Having to sort through every little legal issue is taxing, and it’s getting harder and harder to explain to the new people we have in our lives what it all means, or how we are. Hell, it’s getting harder and harder to meet these new people. We have to find people to care for and about us, we have to find partners.. friends.. new family even, being as the one we spawned with ditched us when the match started. Hell, we only have one friend still.. he’s the most amazing bro on the planet.. if ya ever meet him, give him a hug for us.. he needs one. Little tiny tea errors I suppose.. all the little problems just keep building up, sorting through them is hell, they’re all different from what we’re used to. Just a little mistake.. here and there.. adding up.. slowly we’re drowning in them.. Sure now we have internet that works, a decent PC, a lovely setup, some goddamned privacy.. but that’s.. all we have. It’s the little things that matter, magical internet. Remember that. Could save your life one day. Don’t ask me how, I don’t know.. but it could. The chance is never zero.  Onto some positives.. we finally feel like we belong somewhere! With the aforementioned privacy, we’ve been able to get things we needed to done rather easily, the internet access has made everything else easier, the music hasn’t killed us yet.. the partners we did have are still hanging around somewhere.. games are still fun.. writing has become a hobby again, instead of a labor-inducing chore. Reading is a hobby again.. model building is no longer a required coping mechanism.. music making too.. we only have to deal with the needed adult things.. we have free time that isn’t occupied by screaming fucktards.. it’s nice.  Maybe come get to know us a bit? I dunno.. we’re a bunch of unique fools stuck together... interesting taste in hobbies and music.. generally chill.. I personally get called a father figure a lot by my online friends.. I don’t know if this is a call for help and support.. or a rant into the void anymore.. and frankly I don’t think I need to care. No one’s ever going to see this, let alone read this far. If you did, I’m sorry I wasted your time.  I might post some of what I write on here.. Dev might as well.. maybe some art.. Who knows? Only you will! Nah.. I won’t be funny here.. this is kinda serious.  Show me how.. Show me how to breathe..  (For the record, we are a system, DID to be specific, if you’re curious as to why we’re using “we/we’re” pronouns.) 

[out-there-so-it-isnt-just-me]

Hey guys...I have an idea if you aren't sad enough yet. I was struck by a painful comparison sort of crossover idea. It would never be canon, but  I'm mourning the end of Campaign Two, and I want to be sad and over-dramatic. Essek, but as Eliza from Hamilton in “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story.” But, it’s for the entire Mighty Nien. Some of the lyrics are so on point for a poor Essek who will probably outlive all of his friends (Elves still generally live longer than Firbolgs by a good 200 years). Anyway, enjoy.

MN

Every other founding father's story gets told

It occurs to Essek, during one of the many periods without one of the Mighty Nein (the time that he dwells on them the most), how unfair their whole situation is. They saved all of Exandria, and no one knows. They are amazing, and odd, and frustrating, and no one knows. They will die loved deeply, but not widely. He knows they prefer it that way, all things considered. But, everyone else who saves all of Exandria becomes legends, while the people he loves best will be forgotten, remembered only by him.

And that. That sounds unbearable. 

So, in-between the times he sees the Mighty Nein, he begins to gather accounts. He writes down stories from those they helped, or simply left an impression on.  The people who have met the Mighty Nein have an air about them that he gets good at detecting. They attracted the oddballs and the outcasts. And if they're entirely normal (whatever that means), then they usually get a certain twitch if you ask for stories about interesting strangers. About half the time, a certain blue tiefling pops up in them. He almost has a heart attack when he hears  “go fuck yourself,” in Jester’s cheerful voice, when he knows Jester isn’t anywhere near there. He ends up getting the kenku’s story, and the voices of his friends are weaved into it. Essek thinks the Mighty Nein are the best people in the world, in their own rambunctious way. Part of him wants the world to love them as he does, or at least have the option to. Everyone should have a chance to get to know them, even if it's just through tales. The world would be a better place for it.

...And when you're gone, who remembers your name?

Who keeps your flame? 

Who tells your story?

Who tells your story?

Who tells your story?

Once there is only him and Caduceus left, this becomes a more prominent part of how he spends his time. After...after a long, long period of mourning. He has so much life left to live without most of the people who made it worth living.

I put myself back in the narrative

I stop wasting time on tears

I live another 50(0) years

He stops hiding his past and bears his sins and his story to the world. Essek tells his story so their story can be appreciated to the fullest; his part in their story emphasizes the depth of their compassion and chaos. He tells his story, but not as himself. Essek continues to drift from town to town under a vast number of aliases. Everywhere he goes, he spreads his stories of his friends, some serious, most silly. He disguises himself so he can stay alive to do a little more good, tell a few more stories, to truly live the life his friends wanted for him.

...I try to make sense of your thousands of pages of writings

You really do write like you're running out of time.

Eventually, he gets his hands on some of Beau’s journals, Jester’s diaries, and Caleb’s research. Well, he always had the research, but he gets to the point where he can share it with the world. He slowly begins to share and explain their thoughts and personalities with excerpts from those. Maybe he also has letters that he shares parts of (though most of those, those words specifically for him, he keeps to himself, for himself). He wonders if they'd be angry at him for spilling their private thoughts. But neither Beau nor Jester filtered their thoughts very much in the first place, and he keeps anything truly painful out of the public eye. Caleb, well, Caleb was always about sharing his knowledge and research, provided it wasn't dangerous. And they were all dead anyway.  One of the last things they told him was to be happy. And talking about his friends, learning more about his friends even after they were long dead, that made him the happiest he'd been in a while. So he hoped they wouldn’t begrudge him this small joy he’d managed to grasp and forgive him, should it be necessary.

I rely on Angelica

While she's alive, we tell your story

She is buried in Trinity Church near you

When I needed her most, she was right on time

Caduceus isn’t particularly interested in being well known or famous, but he never shies away from telling a story about any of his friends. Plus, he thinks it’s a good project for Essek. It's a way to continue to show his love for them and keep them alive in the only way they can be now. When Caduceus eventually passes away, he joins the eight other graves (Veth refused to be buried apart from Yeza) that lay in a tucked-away corner of the Blooming Grove. There is one space left, nestled between where Caleb and Jester lay, but it will be empty for a long time yet.

And I'm still not through

I ask myself, what would you do if you had more time...

...You could have done so much more if you only had time

And when my time is up, have I done enough?

Will they tell your story?

He keeps adding to his tale; he stretches it longer and longer with every shred he can remember. But, even his memory, as long as it is, runs out eventually. And their story finally ends, but he doesn't. He throws himself into activities that remind him of them. He does a lot of gardening ( mostly tea, poisonous plants, and flowers). He teaches children some rudimentary dunamancy in his spare time, for Caleb. He messes around with alchemy a little. Eventually, he publishes the last of the research that he and Caleb worked on together; ones that took him decades to solve by himself. He even finds himself drawing a surprising amount of dicks on random surfaces near the very end.

Oh, can I show you what I'm proudest of?

...I help to raise hundreds of children

I get to see them growing up

The time that doesn’t go towards his now worrying amount of hobbies, he spends doing what he has done since the beginning: caring for the Mighty Nien’s true legacy. He looks after and visits their children. He takes care of descendants of Luc, of Jester and Fjord, of the random teenager that Beau and Yasha seemed to adopt completely on accident, of TJ, of the Clays, and of a lovechild of Kingsley’s that found out who his father was and then somehow found Essek himself to learn about him. In an embarrassing show of sentimentality, Essek always keeps at least one offspring of Caleb's very first cat. There is a very funny story about Caleb thinking the animal was spayed when it was, in fact, not. He visits the different generations every couple of years or so (he has a schedule). The drow makes sure they know the stories of their ancestors, the adventures of the Mighty Nien; he tells them it's all real. He gives them ways to contact him if they’re in danger, or need any kind of help really ( he has funds to spare at this point). Every once in a while, a few of them will get it in their heads to write him yearly updates. It’s nice.

In their eyes, I see you, Alexander

I see you every time

And when my time is up

Have I done enough?

Will they tell your story?

It is strange and painful to see the attitude and mannerisms of the Nein in the descendants who have never met them. It is wonderful too. His stories of the Mighty Nein have become well-known tales that no one can decide how much is truth and how much is fiction (it’s true, it’s all somehow, hilariously true). He preserved them in his own way, in the right way (time travel is something he thinks of with a growing hunger the more years pass between when he last laid eyes on his friends). But in these men, these women, these children, they are truly alive.

One little half-orc girl has Jester’s mischievous eyes and infectious joy. Another halfling man squints just like Veth when she's trying to figure out if someone is bullshitting her. There’s a boy who charmingly bumbles his way through most social encounters, as Fjord did. A firbolg woman who has Caduceus gentle smile. A tiefling girl with all the audacious bravado of Kingsley. A man with eyes just as piercing as Beau’s, and a tongue just as sharp. Even Yasha’s kind and gentle demeanor somehow shines through in one small boy, despite her having no direct descendants. He gets to see these flashes of his friends in those who survive them, and it thrills him as much as it cuts him. (Sometimes, when the current cat has ruined some item of his, the pleased look it wears resembles the quiet glee Caleb exuded after he pulled a successful prank, but he’s pretty sure that’s just fanciful thinking.)

One of the last things Essek does before he dies is fully publish, in print, the entire tale of the Mighty Nein. How they came together, every person they helped along the way. The love, the loss, the kindness, the chaos, every moment he could recall or record was put into this one account (necessarily stretched out into several separate books). There is only one set, and he hands it over to the Library of the Cobalt Soul in Rexxentrum. Then he goes on his lonely way.

Oh, I can't wait to see you again

It's only a matter of time

There are now ten graves, each one as unique as its owner, nestled in a small corner of the Blooming Grove. One grave has the dirt still fresh around it. And somewhere, beyond the Divine Gate, there are cheers and laughs and cries of joy as the Mighty Nien become the Mighty Nine once more.

fin.

MN

It’s my head-canon that by the time Essek dies he’s practically a mythical figure among the select families he looks after. It's  to the point that in certain locations ( that have a lot of Nein remnants) he becomes a local legend, the guardian angel of nien (no spelling specified and with no real distinction of what that means), with skin like the night sky who drifts (literally) through towns and helps those who meet a certain requirement, unknown to the general populus. There are rumors that certain people have bestowed upon them a token they could use to call upon the angel’s aid. Of course, the people who have the tokens (sending stones or something similar. IDK how he would get that many wondrous items, but I focus on satisfying narrative not, like, plausibility) know Essek and know that he has died and that the tokens no longer work, but for a while they keep them as heirlooms, to show the love of one drow wizard for the friends he had long, long ago. Eventually, one of Veth’s descendants sells off their set because sending stones are worth A LOT, and the money seemed more practical. They have their stories; those are enough. 

And before anyone complains about the Kingsley bit, I felt compelled to add a smidgen of Kingsley content because Essek loves Jester and Jester’s with Fjord and Kingsley is with both of them for years. I’m sure they get to know each other well enough that seeing traits of Kingsley is vaguely nostalgic and warming, even if it lacks the depth and love he feels for everyone else. Also, there’s no convincing me that Molly/Kingsley doesn’t have at least one illegitimate child running around from various trysts, he was basically the Scanlan of this campaign. It goes with the hedonistic vibe he gives off.

Also, is it normal that I completely designed the Nein’s burial site in my head because I did? Like I imagine they’re all spaced out in a circle. It’s almost like a stone gazebo but there’s not really a roof; it’s just a group of nine pillars that support a stone circle. The entrance is the Traveler’s door with dicks around the edge, and each of the nine pillars/supports is designed to look the knowing mistresses staff. The stone circle is covered in carvings of storm clouds and lightning. Wires are strung across the center of the stone circle to form the symbol of the Cobalt Soul. Not that you can see the wires, because vines have been grown all around them. Once you step through the Traveler’s gate, you’ll find yourself on some kind of rough mosaic floor, with depictions of a peacock, a pyramid, a snake, a sun, a moon, and (oddly) a pirate ship. The mosaic is made up of buttons of various materials and shapes. In the center is a saltwater pool/spring (depending on how magical we can get idk) and floating above it is an eternal flame encased in some sort of dunamancy magic that doesn’t  actually exist that keeps it floating and eternal. Look I'm running out of ideas.

I can’t imagine what everyone’s grave marker would be, but I’m pretty sure Yasha’s is a simple stone that says "YASHA NYDOORIN: wife of Zuella and Beauregard Lionette," and the place where’s she’s buried is just covered in wildflowers that spread outside of the gazebo to encircle the structure entirely up to the gate. Also, everyone has a stone tarot card by their grave with the picture and designation that Molly gave them. Beyond that grows a weirdly dense thicket of trees and bushes that make finding the Nein's resting place rather hard. It’s said only the descendants of the Nein’s family or those favored by the Wildmother (or Traveler, Or Ioun, or Storm Lord) can find their way to them. And one tree, directly behind Yasha, is dead, struck by lightning who knows how long ago. 

And they’re buried in this order: Yeza/Veth, Caleb, Essek, Jester, Ford, Kingsley, Yasha, Beau, Cad. I know there’s a good chance that a) Kingsley would just eff off and die somewhere unknown and b) Cad would probably want to be buried with the rest of his family, but shhh let me dream.

[purplerose244]

My thoughts on Seabound!!! 🌊🌊🌊 (3/4)

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Yep yep yep, I'm liking this season a lot! 😍 Although I hope we'll get into a more frantic situation now, like with more battles and more bonding moments (Nya and Maya hopefully, but with Bentho too 🦈🦈🦈)! We got half a season to go, I'M READY!! 😎😎

Alright, here we go!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

I do like the season a lot, maybe MoM was a little more cohesive? Idk but it's not a big complain, I still love it so far 😍

Also maybe I would've liked more interactions between Nya and Maya about how they've been apart for so long, they had a chit chat but I would've loved even more. Maybe with Nya saying that it was fine and she grew up only to realize she is still hurt by that, even though it wasn't Maya's fault. I still like how they did it, I wished there was more that's it 🤷‍♀️

While I do make sense to Maya's behavior, that while it seems a little different from Hands of Time it had its logic in my opinion, maybe Ray feels a little weird? He seems less courageous than before, and it was established that he is a hothead like his son so that came off as unusual 🤔🤔

But I do love the fact that he's here and he's bonding with his son, for real, I've been waiting for this for so long so I'm happy nonetheless 🤩

Maybe I'm just easy to please and I take all I can get idk 😅

THE STORM AMULET

Oh, are we gonna address the wind element? It feels like we haven't really seen a Morro reference since Hands of Time, that would be cool! 😍 I mean, why even mentioning the wind then 😅😅

Well what do you know, they tracked them, who saw that coming?... me, I saw that coming... we all did probably 🤷‍♀️

Jay took upon himself making a quick recap on how Ninjago will be destroyed this time, thanks Bluebell 👌

Yep nyeheh electricity makes Nya go crazy for sure ❤💙 ... wait it wasn't a Jaya pun?

Jay wear your seatbelt please, you risk you life enough 😅😅 Pff lol "are we there yet" and they are actually there, biggest plot twist I've ever heard of 😂

LEGO HUG 💜💜💜

And with someone who might as well join the League of Jay apparently 💙

I liked The Island yet it was not as exciting as I hoped for, but now understand the meaning of it. The ninja helped the keepers and they are all allies. Without The Island the moment where Mammatus gives Nya the amulet wouldn't be as meaningful

Is it just me or Nya looked even more gorgeous during that moment?... just me huh? Okay then 😂💕

Wait that's a fake? Wait... UNCLE POWERS?!? OMG THAT I ACTUALLY DIDN'T SEE COMING 🤯

Here I thought he was just messing around, he always makes things harder 😅 Or maybe better? I mean, they kinda missed a bullet on this one...

BENTHO IS SO SWEET AND COOL OMG HE IS ALREADY OUR FRIEND 💙🦈💙🦈

Jay somehow had his own TV show in the past and yet he's got that horrible acting skills wth 😂😂😂

Kalmaar is a very cool villain, like, deeply evil. Not only he's calculated and merciless, he stops at nothing to get what he wants. And the people that get in the way? He wants them to suffer because they had dared to confront him 😳

And yes the voice does help a lot, I'm sorry I'll keep saying it until the season is over 😂 (or even beyond? Please cast Giles again LEGO 🥺🥺🥺)

Awww Nya no my poor girl 😢 Jay wanted to hug her to comfort her he is so sweet my SHIP ❤💙❤💙

MOM PEP TALK MOM PEP TALK!!! 🤩🤩🤩 How cool was it?

Like, this isn't even Maya asking Nya to believe in herself, this is her saying that she KNOWS her daughter can do anything when she puts her mind into it. FINALLY SHE SEES HOW AMAZING WATER GODDESS IS 💜💜💜

MORE LEGO TEARS OMG THIS SEASON IS FILLED WITH TEARS 😱 Which... kinda makes sense considering it's a water based season 😂

Nice one, and now? NOW WE GO BACK TO KAI COLE AND RAY YAS!!! ❤🖤❤🖤

RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX

That is... surprisingly Egypt theme like? It feels like a title coming from the Fire Chapter of season 11... well we got two fire elementals so 😍😍

SPARRING KAI AND RAY

I REPEAT SPARRING KAI AND RAY!!! SPARRING KAI AND RAY!!! ❤❤❤ Lol Ray got old, but how can someone blame him? He did touch death while aging in Hands of Time, I'm just happy he is alive 😂

Yep, master prankster Wu, that's what I love 👌👌 I always thought Wu had become a father figure for Kai at the beginning, so seeing Ray and Wu in the same picture feels very wholesome to me 😚

Ah, uncle Powers, I both love you and hate you so freaking much 😌😌 But you make cool slides nonetheless 😂

ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME WITH BEAUTIFUL SMITH INTERACTIONS??

BECAUSE I LIKE IT KEEP GOING 🤩

Oh no you guys are stranded on an island whatever are you going to do?? It's not like you had already before and managed to survive (Skybound) or you got stranded on a rock in a sea of sand filled with giant monsters (Fire Chapter) or you were on a freaking COMET in SPACE (Rebooted). Yeee, this is the worst yet 🙂

I'm starting to think these ninja are just a bunch of drama queens so no matter what happens, it's always hopeless 😂😂 I feel like I'm kinda right on this one honestly 😛

Whoa whoa WHOA WHO IS NYAD THIS SOUNDS VERY COOL???

Aww I like that, while Ray told his kids stories about dragons and how they traveled through the Underworld, Maya told them about Nya the first water master that could summon whales 💙❤💙❤

Pff imagine if it turned out Nya was the master of fire, carrying a very water based name? Lol

Maya: I would know if it was possible!

Nya: Yeah, like she knows that I can control a bit of ice because it's frozen water

Maya:...

Maya: YOU WHAT

I find both interesting and very annoying that this explorers club thinks so highly of themselves, to the point the deny to aid even the FREAKING SAVIORS OF THEIR FREAKING LAND 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Misako got good reflexes after all, Kai was probably ready to melt this guy's face 😅

Oh, so a trial by Sphinx is a challenge? A mental one? A cultural one? A physical one? Idk but Misako is actually taking charge and that is cool I guess 🤷‍♀️

Okay this is kind of weird, how is Ray so afraid? Is it because there's fire?... did he... did he grow afraid of fire for some reason? Because it feels a bit off for now, but if there is a deeper meaning that could be interesting 🤔

Wait is that the riddle from Decoded? That's fire right?

IT IS FIRE 🔥🔥🔥

Lol at least in this one Kai wasn't completely ignored 😂 I know my flame babe isn't the most rational person, but I do like that it was an answer connected to his element where he used his head!

Ah Clutch, you really got no backbone 😅 And apparently you're the only explorer who doesn't, dang look at the others go! I'm having a bit more respect for them now 😚

LOOK AT SENSEI GO FINALLY!!! 😍😍 FIGHTING SCENES HECK YES!!!

Kalmaar: I'm your conquerer

Wu: so after skeletons, the serpentine, nindroids, the Stone Army, Chen's army, ghosts, oni, more snakes but on fire and people from a game, that makes you the tenth. Have a free cookie

Kalmaar:...

Wu: you're not special

Is this a little throwback to Possession too? Nya seems to always control better water when she doesn't actually think about it. When her feelings are free, so are her powers 🌊🌊🌊

Also this opens up more possibilities! Creatures connected with other elements might get summoned too! I would love something like that 😍😍

This was NEAT, or maybe I just missed Kai that much ❤ What's next??

PAPERGIRL

ANTONIAAAAAAAA!!!! MY GIRL IS BACK!!! All my girls are back in this season, I'm so happy 😍😍😍 And if she is here, sweet little Nelson has to be around and I cannot wait! Bring in the purple ninja! 💜

Owww Antonia's last day as a papergirl? Nooo why??

She's got a job at the... DAIRY DRAGON??? OMG OMG OMG IT'S THE ICE CREAM PLACE BRAGI TOLD US ABOUT ON TWITTER!!! 🤩🤩🤩 I remember the post, he was asking about names for the place and ice cream flavors. Now I can't wait to see what did he choose 🍦🍦🍦

UNAGAMI BABY HI HONEY!!! 🙋‍♀️ I hope he's doing great 😘😘

This is so cool honestly, Antonia got her own character arc going on! Living in a chaotic city like Ninjago City must be pretty dang exhausting 😅

Was... was that Dareth in the garbage can? Am I wrong? Poor brown ninja 😅🤎😅

SPINJITZU SWIRL, BANANAKHAN, ORANGE SERPENTINE, I'M DYING 😂😂😂

Their friendship is so wholesome, I'm so happy they are still together no matter what happens 💕

I thought Kalmaar wasn't much of a fighter but DANG he's got skills! Also the fact that he uses tentacles makes the fight very cool to watch! 😚😚

RAY RUNNING IN AFTER KAI GOT HURT HECK YES ❤❤❤

Well at least you tried Ray 😅

Ah, little cameo of the original Weekend Whip, always nice to hear it again... AND DO THE WEEKEND WHIP!!! 🌪🌪🌪

EVEN NELSON GOT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT I'M SO PROUD 💜

I don't even know what is cooler, the kids being mad lads on their bikes, Kalmaar driving a TRUCK or Kai going full parkour on the buildings to follow them 🤯

I'm sorry... am I the only one that during the Kai and Kalmaar talk kinda thought of Jestro and Clay? I miss my boys from NK, they're even more at odds now 😭😭

KAI YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE OR EVEN TRY TO DIE GET BACK HERE AT ONCE 😱😱

Kalmaar just loves to make everyone feel inferior, gotta be his hobby 😶

Oh good Kai is back

OH NOT GOOD KAI IS NOT BREATHING?!? FLAME BABE I TOLD YOU YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE 😱😱😱

Antonia, Nelson, you guys are now my heroes. You saved my fave, I'll be forever in dept with you ❤❤❤ Am I being overdramatic? Most likely, but Kai is one of the few that didn't almost die or did die in a dramatic situation and he is also my absolute favorite character so that... kinda keeps my sanity in check in this show 🥴

I wonder... does he still not know how to swim? He saved Lloyd in Possession but I wonder if he was only trying to float on the surface... THAT'S TERRIFYING

This episode was so adorable, I love Antonia and Nelson so much 💜💕💜💕 It's nice to see what the other people of Ninjago do while everything goes mad 🤣

Wait hang on my Ninjajan is a little rusty

"Ninjago City. City that never sleeps" well if that ain't the truth 😂

MASTER OF THE SEA

Like Master of the Mountain? Wait are we going back to Shintaro?? VANYA?? ANOTHER BEST GIRL RETURNS??? 💛

Hey hey hey, we got a full Nyad backstory! I really like when they do these little drawn shots, they feel more like legends! And... the ending sounds terrifying? Like, they wouldn't let Nya sacrifice herself and die... again... right? 😱

Bentho: and the world was in balance, until now because of my brother

Lloyd: and the Overlord before of course

Bentho: the what now?

Lloyd: the evil one my grandpa the first Spinjitzu Master fought?

Bentho: YOUR WHAT NOW

Why do I like this offscreen "hiiiyaaa" that sensei Wu does before actually going into the scene? 😂😂

No matter if they come from the underground or the sea, these are all snake-like creature with the same intellect 😅 Kalmaar and Garmadon would have a lot to talk about, sea king dealing with his minions does remind me of Lord Garmadon in season 2 a lot 😂😂

KAI AND RAY FIGHTING TOGETHER KAI AND RAY FIGHTING TOGETHER ❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥❤🔥❤

OMG Kalmaar is such a brat and petty villain I love him so much 😂😂😂 Yes I didn't even mention his amazing voice!... AH DANG IT 😳😳

*Misako kicks Kalmaar and is actually useful* 🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️

*Misako gets taken as hostage immediately after* 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

KAI LITERALLY JUST GOT SAVED FROM DROWNING WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO HIM!!!... and Ray and Cole and Wu of course, I care okay 😅

OMG that face 🤣🤣🤣

That some meme material right there

Whoa Vincent that voice just got super up when the Unsinkable showed up, it kinda sounded like Jay's lol

NO NOT BENTHO!!! 😢😢😢

Kai: Nya talks to whales now? (I snorted so hard at this 😂😂)

HECK YES NYA GOT THE AMULET!! 😍😍😍 ... we got, like, four more episodes to go so something needs to happen in between... do I need to be scared? I feel like I need to be scared 😅

Jay starting a fire then blaming Kai?... this is so in character I got chills 😂😂

SHARK BOY IS STAYING TO THE MONASTERY THIS IS SO PRECIOUS!!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 I want all the shenanigans and we need to write fanfictions about more shenanigans and AAAAHHHHH 🦈🦈🦈

Bless these two fire idiots

They own my heart ❤🔥❤🔥 Also Vincent, this is supposed to be a fun little gag moment, your amazing voice acting is kinda distracting me 😭😭😭

ANOTHER LEGO HUG

YOU GUYS ARE SPOILING ME OVER HERE HECK YES 💙🌊💙🌊

Maya learned that her daughter is capable of everything, I love that. Nya simply understood that she doesn't have to give up when something gets difficult. She is AMAZING and can do anything she puts her mind into. She simply has to hold on until the end 💪💪💪

Omg Benthomaar playing billiard with the guys I already love this 😍😍

YES IT IS SHINTARO!!! THE UPPLY ARE HERE OMG!!! HI VANYA YOU LOOK AMAZING GIRL MISS YOU I HOPE YOU'RE DOING OKAY!!! 💛💛💛 ... I just really like Master of the Mountain okay 😅

I love how Vanya doesn't even question it. It comes from Cole and he said it needs to be protected? Done and done 👌

Wait what, did something fall?

IS THAT THE FAKE?!?!? WHAT HOW WHEN??? UNCLE POWERS??? OR KALMAAR DID SOMETHING??? SOMEONE??? I'M LEGIT CONFUSED AND EXCITED??? 🤯🤯🤯

Well dang, I didn't see that coming, now what Seabound? What do you have for me?

[omgkalyppso]

🍒🍊🧡🍐💤 for fae for the ask thing? :D

Thank you for the ask! (♡˘︶˘♡)

🍒 What kind of things do they expect from their relationships? Does this differ between platonic relationships and romantic ones? Is your OC “demanding” or a door mat? What kinds of things do people expect from them in a relationship?

Fae needs compassion. I wouldn't say they're a door mat, but they will usually have an easier time doing things for others than for themselves, and they need the people they're closest to to be respectful and understanding — if not outright sympathetic, when they need to say that they can't do something because of being overburdened mentally or emotionally or for whatever other reason. They expect to be treated with respect, and that includes finding passion and patience for conflicting interests and hobbies. In romantic relationships, that includes understanding of emotional and physical limits in intimate moments, as well as desire for touch (like held hands, or bumped elbows) and support in public settings.

🍊 What is your OC’s favourite meal? Snack? Dessert? Drink? Any reasons behind this besides liking how it tastes?

What is your OC’s most hated food? Stuff they can’t stand to eat or drink?

I probably answered an ask like this before about them, but I scrolled and only found that Fae has sensory issues with some meat so building on that, their most hated food is any cut of beef where someone can tell them about how the fat is supposed to be like that because it absorbs the juices of the meat, etc. asjdfgajkshd OH! But I'll pick a canon meal: Pickled Rabbit Skewers.

Their favorite meal from canon is going to be Onion Gratin Soup: Onions stewed with white trout and baked with a layer of cheese on top. Will warm you up from the inside out.

Their favorite snacks are sour fruit. I wrote them munching on a forkful of kiwi slices in the soulmate au.

Their favorite desserts are things that are light, like berries and whipped cream or sponge cake.

Their favorite teas all stem from preferences of their partners and family, remembering someone in a sip. Their favorite coffees are flavored with nuts or chocolate, for their own comfort in flavor.

🧡 Who is your OC’s favourite person? Why is this person the top of their list and have they actually met them (an idol or rolemodel or celeb can be someone’s favourite after all!).

Who does your OC absolutely hate, the one person who they’d sell to Satan for one corn chip? Why do they loathe this person so?

As a parent to seven and partner to three, selecting a favorite person is going to be an impossibility. Up to his death, it would have been their father.

I can't answer the second question either, but for different reasons. Sometimes one and sometimes the other.

🍐 What is your OC’s mentality? Are they overall positive? Negative? A bit of both? Describe their thought patterns and reasoning behind their choice making!

Fae tries to remain positive, but their inner monologue still tells them of dangers both real and impossible, and they take action and make decisions based on the idea that they need to be hopeful and trusting for the sake of putting out into the world what they hope to receive.

💤 What was your OC like as a baby, a child and as a teen? (if your OC is a teen or a child, what will they be like as an adult?). How have they changed since then? What lessons have they learned and what things about their youth do they miss the most? Do they have any general regrets?

Fae as a baby. I want to say I've literally never thought about this, but that isn't true. I once rambled to a friend about Fae as a younger sibling to Beres (femme Byleth) and Bereto (masc Byleth) inspired by this art: HERE.

i'm thinking about Sitri trying to calm down fussing Fae and asking Geralt if he can get a damp cloth (or whatever. some object) for the baby, and three year old Bereto having a tantrum "i'm the baby!" so that Beres is like, no you're "Bebe" (which i interpret as being pronounced like the first syllable of his name. bay-bay) and like pointing "that's the baybee" as if this might help, and maybe it kind of does, so that he's angrily repeating "i'm Bebe" instead, until Geralt has to parent while Sitri brings their smallest to another room

asjdhfga Anyway. Uh. In a more traditional setting (meaning without Sitri and the Byleth twins), Fae would still be the silent babe that unsettled Geralt (He's Jeralt when he's Byleth's dad. He's Geralt when he's Fae's dad (pronounced the same).), and they would have been one of those babies that explores the world by chewing on it: sword hilts, dad's hand, the butter dish, the cool vials of healing potions, etc.

As a child, I think they played with Sothis. They were curious and kind, but they saw the challenges of the world through a mercenary's experience, with trying to find work, and to be paid, and to stay alive in conflict, and so they were quiet and skeptical.

A teen silently afraid of death and yet fighting alongside their father, curiosity quelled in place of a desire to keep their little expression of family (a mercenary company) alive. I think going to the monastery showed them that not every interaction is a struggle, and that not all struggles are life and death, and that even when they are — there's more at risk than survival. The situation with Lonato eliminated any doubt in their father's warning against Rhea.

[cotncandyboifics]

1989 [High School AU]: Chapter 8

AO3 Link

Masterpost

Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 7 ~ Chapter 9 ~

Pairings: slight Logince, eventual Prinxiety & Logicality

Word count: 2,407

Story summary: Roman Prince is your stereotypical Jock, with everyone swooning after him. Every day a crowd of people follow him around, only to disperse at his personal whim. In reality, he's lucky to have such good acting skills that help him cover up the disdain he has for his life. He only wishes he could use his skills properly.

Patton Whitelock's always there to lend a helping hand, no matter who you are. If you need a favor or just need someone to talk to, go to him. In reality, he's been taught from a young age that kindness should be held above all else. No one suspects that he took it the wrong way.

Logan Montgomery is the smartest boy in the Senior class. He's stern, and most people are too intimidated to speak to him. In reality, he despises most all of his fellow students. He sticks to his studies and doesn't stray, for fear of being stuck in his father's shadow his whole life.

Virgil Black is the most emo kid in school, let alone 12th grade; everyone knows to leave him be. In reality, he's very fortunate. He has two parents who love him dearly. But everything beyond his life, everything within his mind, is utter chaos and turmoil.

what will happen when they're assigned a biology project together?

General CW: food, swearing, implied s-lf h-rm, non-graphic descriptions of s-lf h-rm scars, graphic and non-graphic descriptions of anxiety attacks and panic attacks, drug abuse, minor character intoxicated on heroin, non-graphic drug overdose description, sickness/description of sickness, blood, non-graphic descriptions of needles, (will be added to as I write more)

Chapter CW: food, (let me know if i missed anything please!)

Author notes: alternate title: Virgil's very subtle epiphany. also Patton has a gay panic moment lol

...

Slam.

Monday morning. Mr. Berry was slapping a small poster on each student's desk like a stamp, one-by-one and painfully slowly.

"This," he began, "Is the official welcome to the schoolyear; audition posters for the Fall Talent Show." His bloated belly hardly fit between the desk rows, and students made futile attempts to scoot away from him before they were bombarded by his tyrannical tummy. "As a retired thespian and a life long supporter of theatre and the arts," he continued, bringing his pile of posters to his chest in his passion, "I highly recommend you at least consider looking into auditions. Everyone has a passion, or at least a hobby, and the talent show is a perfect freelance opportunity to show off your skills."

Roman rolled his eyes too dramatically. This was upsetting him more than he thought it would, and his eyes shot daggers up at his large superior as he slammed the next poster onto Roman's desk.

"Auditions will be held next week, on the specified dates. The show itself will be two weeks later, I believe on Friday night. Be there, and I will award you some extra credit points. All you must do is present me with your ticket, which must have your name on it," he eyed a few mischievous students in the room, "With a stamp on it from the Talent Show admissions booth, on the following Monday." As soon as Mr. Berry had given a poster to Virgil and moved on, Virgil quietly crumpled it and shoved it into a random part of his backpack, proceeding to fold his arms on his desk and put his head down. This caught Roman's attention, and his subconscious latched onto formulating a teasing remark for after class as a distraction from his own feelings about the Talent Show.

After class, the usual place where Roman and Virgil were shortly alone and had a short interaction - most often consisting of some insufferable tease from Roman or occasionally a debate spurred by Virgil making a witty side comment - the two met once again. After their first class of the day was usually the only time they were both at their lockers at the same time, as it happened, and Virgil was always thankful that it was the only time. Since their assignment to the Biology project, however, Roman had taken to walking with Virgil from their English class to their lockers and beginning his bouts of banter prematurely.

"Not a fan of the infamous talent show, are we?" Roman paced quickly over to Virgil, who had just made it outside the classroom door as they'd been dismissed. Virgil huffed in defeat as his attempt to escape before Roman could catch him had been fruitless.

"It's ridiculous," Virgil didn't slow his pace for Roman, and began essentially speedwalking down the hall. Roman was slightly taller than him and was able to keep up, but still got a little out of breath doing it. "Hey everyone, come and show everyone in the school something you really enjoy so they can all collectively judge you and make you self conscious about your interests and - oh no! you don't wanna do it anymore because you feel horribly inadequate? shoooot. Sorry man, no one could have seen that coming. Oh well, better luck next year when you'll just ruin a different passion for yourself!" Virgil flailed his hands at the end of his mini-rant.

"How can you stay that sarcastic for that long consecutively? I'm honestly impressed," Roman said, huffing as they arrived at their lockers. Virgil's permanent frown seemed to somehow deepen. "Though, I guess I really can't argue, Count Woe-laf. I see your point. The pressures of an impromptu performance are... undeniable." Roman focused his attention on the padlock hanging from the latch of his locker, while Virgil looked to him with widened eyes.

"Really?" He didn't look away from Roman until he would look back.

"What?" Roman defended.

"It's just..." Virgil focused on his own padlock now, "You never agree with what I say. It always becomes a debate," he pulled his locker open lazily, pulling his backpack off his shoulders and putting it on backwards so that he could more easily exchange things. When Roman didn't reply, he continued, "like... I don't know. Why is it any different now?"

Roman was exchanging things as well, and didn't have an immediate answer. Well, he knew the answer (or in this case, answers), but it wasn't one he was even ready to admit to himself, let alone anyone else, and especially let alone Virgil. He just eventually shrugged.

This reaction only further alarmed Virgil. He opened his mouth to continue his flabbergasted interrogation, but the bell rang right at that moment. Roman slammed his locker shut suddenly.

"Well, that's our queue I suppose. See you tonight, Incredible Sulk." Roman elbowed Virgil in the shoulder a bit awkwardly and began skipping down the hall to his next class. That left a dumbfounded and nearly-panicking Virgil standing in front of his open locker in an almost completely empty hall.

He wished Roman would stop leaving him like that.

...

Roman had texted the Biology Project group chat that weekend, saying he had an important football practice on Monday that went until 5. they'd have to have their meet-up at Roman's a bit later in the evening. Logan simply waited it out by heading to the school library to get his other homework done, while Patton and Virgil shot the breeze, walking down random hallways of the school.

The two of them were grabbing a snack from a vending machine when Virgil checked his phone. It was 4:50. They got their respective snacks - Patton got a strawberry Pop tart and Virgil got a Sunny D - and made their way to the designated meeting place. It was a concrete bench at the front of the school. They expected to find Logan there, but he wasn't. The two of them simply sat on the cold bench and exchanged bits of each other's snacks, and continued talking until Virgil noticed someone approaching.

He figured it would be Logan, but this person was shorter and more filled out than Logan. He trained his eyes better and realized that it was Roman. Roman, who happened to have a towel around his neck and sopping-wet crimson curly hair unabashedly on display. A drip of water rolled down his cheek and along his jawline, and Virgil realized he was staring. Roman finally got within conversation distance.

"Like what you see, Charlie Frown?" He teased. Patton looked to Virgil, noticing his awe, and giggled.

"Hah, in your dreams, Meta Knight," Virgil deflected half-heartedly, still finding it hard to pull his eyes away from Roman's unfortunate perfection. It was only worse that Roman knew just how attractive he was.

"Why's your hair all wet, silly?" Patton asked, standing energetically to greet him.

"We rinse off after practice. I considered leaving my shirt off so i could just get a clean one when i got home, but i knew that might be a bit too much to handle for some of us," Roman elbow-nudged Patton, who just giggled again and pushed his glasses up. Virgil knew that was extremely forced, especially after their conversation on Friday.

"Well," Roman checked his wristwatch, "Where would my nerdy Wolverine happen to be? It's ten past, and if there's anything Logan certainly is, it's punctual."

"Quite right you are," a stern voice came from behind them, to reveal Logan's lengthy form approaching casually. "My apologies for my tardiness. I got quite engaged in a particular Physics problem." Roman turned to him smiling, and pecked him on the cheek. Virgil didn't need to look at Patton to feel his friend's heart sink through the floor.

"Shall we then?" Roman turned to lead the way on the five-block journey to his house.

...

"hmm, that reminds me," Roman said from his sprawled position on his bed, "what are all your sexualities?"

That sure caught everyone's attention. The clock beside Roman's bed read 6:28 PM. Logan was studying their plants and taking notes, Patton had been cooing quietly to Roman's pet turtle, and Virgil was sitting in Roman's spinning desk chair scrolling on his phone. They all looked at Roman at once, and then at each other.

"Heh," Roman sat up, "My apologies for blurting such an intrusive question, I was just looking up at my-" he gestured toward his ceiling- "glorious flag, and it made me wonder. No man must answer that which he does not desire to." Roman was blatantly referring to the Bisexual flag that was pinned to the ceiling above his bed. They all looked at it, and back at him. "I suppose it's obvious now, but yes, I am undeniably bisexual," He faux bowed.

The silence wasn't doing anyone good, so Patton broke it before it got too much more awkward. "I, I'm gay," he said sheepishly, continuing to observe the turtle. Virgil gave him a soft smile, and decided to offer himself up next.

"I'm pan," he seemed to recoil further into his hoodie, if that were even possible. Logan turned to the other three, adjusting his necktie.

"I'm not usually one to admit this to many people, but since you have all been so transparent and calm about such personal information," He started, "I am comfortable telling you that I am Asexual."

No one regarded this with much surprise, except for Roman. "Oh really?" He said, seemingly surprised and embarrassed. Virgil scoff-laughed at him.

"What, upset you can't make your sexual fantasies a reality?" Virgil teased. Roman gasped, bringing a hand to his chest in an offended gesture.

"Excuse me!" He exclaimed, a look of disgust contorting his face.

Before a classic Roman-Virgil debate could ensue, Patton decided to share his thoughts.

"Well, I, I mean, I'm not ace but I, I guess sex isn't really so important to me," he was fiddling with his ring yet again.

"W-well, it should never be the centerpiece of any relationship!" Roman declared. They all looked at him skeptically. "what? I mean, personally, I prefer grand gestures." As he spoke, he stood and walked to Logan. "In my opinion," he produced a pristine bouquet of deep red roses that none of the others had noticed anywhere in the room before, "they are the key to any person's heart."

Logan seemed tame, Patton thought. As if he were performing. If he were being his normal self, he would have been very confused by where Roman had hidden the bouquet, and how it looked so perfect after being concealed. Instead, he just took it with a very gentle sweet smile, and thanked him quietly. Instead of Logan, Patton was now the one confused.

Virgil's face was red, and his neck a blotchy pink; thankfully he was mostly hidden under his purple bangs and hood. He huffed and excused himself to use the restroom. Patton noticed this time, and grabbed his arm before he made it out of the room.

"You okay?" he whispered gently to Virgil. Virgil just looked at him, mustered a small smile and a nod. Patton knew exactly what that meant. Virgil was okay, he just needed a moment. He returned the smile, and released his gentle paternal grip on Virgil's arm, allowing him to leave.

There was the sound of someone calling Roman's name from another part of the house, and Roman excused himself, rushing off to find its source.

Logan slipped his phone into the pocket of his navy slacks. "Well, I must be going now," He began. Instead of reaching to gather his things, he trained his acute attention directly on Patton, who was startled by the sudden focus on him. "Patton, do you have a ride home today?"

"I, uh, well," He tried blurting out an excuse but none came to his mind. "No, not exactly..."

Logan was slowly approaching, and Patton tried to back up but hit the terrarium containing Roman's turtle after just one small step. "Would you like a ride? My parents would be more than happy to assist in your safe transport home."

"Well, well I really don't want to intrude, or-" He stopped dead when Logan placed a slender hand gently on his shoulder.

"I insist. It's no intrusion or burden to them. They appreciate being able to help others when they can, especially people whose company I enjoy." Logan didn't feel as though he was figuratively lying through his teeth, but he knew that his parents didn't exactly feel that way. The nature of the situation was more that they took kindly to those that Logan worked well with on academically related subjects, such as people from his study group or the like.

Patton caught himself before letting the thought "you enjoy my company?" escape his lips. He just smiled. He knew there was no way he could get himself to deny Logan's offer when his heart was taking the reins.

"I would.. really appreciate, a ride home, yeah," He said quietly. Logan was just looking into his eyes with a tenderness Patton hadn't seen before. He pushed away any thoughts that Logan may have looked at Roman the exact same way during their date. He hoped he hadn't, and cursed himself for hoping it.

"Wonderful," Logan pulled himself out of their shared momentary trance. "I will let them know. I'm sure they will find it a pleasure to become acquainted with you. They should be here in less than five minutes, so I suggest gathering your belongings." Logan's thumbs padded across is illuminated phone screen as he spoke, until he once again slid it into his pocket and began collecting his things along with Patton.

Virgil entered once again, hood off and face slightly red and wet. it was clear that he hadn't been crying due to the sporadic nature of the droplets of water across his face; it looked more like he'd just haphazardly washed his face in the sink and hadn't bothered to wipe the remnants away. Patton smiled at him brightly.

"Ah, Virgil," Logan addressed as he slung his bag over his shoulder, "It was pleasant to see you again. We are on our way out now. Are you ready, Patton?" He looked to Patton, who also slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Yep! Logan's giving me a ride," Patton blatantly could barely contain his excitement in his ever-growing grin, so Virgil only returned it with a small thumbs up.

"Alright, ill see you guys in class tomorrow," He hugged Patton tightly, and half-heartedly saluted to Logan without making eye contact. Logan simply nodded to him, and the two left shortly, leaving Virgil alone in Roman's room.

[moved-19871997]

Well, you said you'd love to hear my thoughts in the tags and I like talking about this, hello, I was the one talking about Dan Sloss, and I'll do my best to make it coherent and shorter than the initial plan, it isnt much but ill still try

Also, the name was Jigsaw aparently, not Puzzle, cool

So, for starters, I wanna point out that Daniel's specials usually use the principle of the Chekhov's gun narrative and a method explained in Hannah Gadsby's comedy special (not sure if its in Nanette or Douglas) about tension used for comedy. I'm not any of those people and I will not elaborate, I'm sorry, you should look it up tho, really interesting

"Oh my god, did she just reference another stand-up?", yes, I get upset very easily, comedy makes it better

Something else worth mentioning is that he is the type of person that got to talk long enough to sound like a genius, he's stupid yall, dont get fooled, anyway...

Spoiling the show, Daniel learned from his dad, as a child, that family, hobbies, friends and everything is part of a jigsaw, in which the picture is your life, the center would be the goal, and our goal is love, I can't explain it properly, its a full hour of content

He's a bad person, he's relatable, he's got extreme views, and he got dumped, so he doesn't believe in love, haha loser, there's a lot we should unpack but no time, moving on

Do we remember that whole thing? Do we remember thinking he wanted to kill his ex so he didnt have to deal the awkwardness of calling it quits just to deal with what felt like our heart broke with his? Good, lets go

What kid Daniel learned from his father was that love is supposed to be the final and most important part of a jigsaw, that your soulmate would just fit and that would make you happy, but we all learned that love is perfect and if it isn't perfect its our fault, so we developed a tendency to make bad relationships work no matter what, but they dont.

Well hello there Dream, you said soulmates are... people that match perfectly with you and your personality? Interesting.

What we see here is Dream matching the logic that Daniel is skeptical of. I could make parallels or talk about how Dream's pov could be the very thing to deteriorate his relationships with his friends, but I won't. Let me tell you how adorable it is that Dream was the one to call his platonic soulmates pieces of his puzzle

The goal of a puzzle is to solve it, if people are puzzles its not anyone's job to solve/fix someone else, you are the only one who should define who you are and whats a part of you, but some puzzles, some full defined pictures, could be placed next to another one and create a wider landscape, they don't depend on each other to be fulfilled, but it just looks nice and cool

Dream calling his friends pieces of his puzzle could be read as them being so important that even if they parted ways they'd still be a part of him, but also like independent and not at all connected puzzles/people that match so well and are so easy to love and care, that they choose to be together.

Dark Humor will be just my love letter for Twitter, and the general analysis of Daniel's specials is essay-worthy but not relevant rn, so I'll stop here

So... that's my thought, I have spent a little too long thinking about it. I personally don't really like overthinking irl relationships as idk anything about them, but this one makes me happy, so who cares?

I will not read it again, so I'm sorry for any typos and I understand if you also dont read it lmao

Hope you're drinking water :)

OK HI YEAH i do rmr watching it a while back and the puzzle metaphore puts so much into perspective and just in general its such a good special and ifl a lot of what he says come from experience that a lot of people dont have yet and this acceptance that he's not the best person ever n yeah

[geeks-universe]

Veritas Vos Liberabit II

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Tag List: @the-british-koala @ilearnedthatfromethepizzaman

If Sherlock was being honest, the free minutes of thought between the few rapidfire cases in the past week had all turned to you.

You were a walking contradiction. Everything you said- did, even- pointed to a million and one different options of who you were. He was trying his damndest to figure you out, like he had for everyone else, but he just couldn’t.

John and Mrs. Hudson had taken to you quickly, like you were a saint there to bless their lives, but Sherlock couldn’t shake his suspicions. You seemed innocent enough. The way you talked about people, like you actually cared.

There was something he was missing though.

And he was far too cautious to think that you were sincere.

Thus, while John was more than happy to accept the dinner invitation you extended to them exactly seven days after you officially moved in, Sherlock saw it as an opportunity to learn more.

Sherlock sniffed the air, taking note of a new fragrance. He furrowed his brows, watching as John brushed invisible dirt from the shoulders of his freshly pressed shirt.

“Is that a new cologne?” He asked, not waiting for John’s confirmation.

The man in question stuck close behind Sherlock as he made his way out of the door. Mrs. Hudson was waiting at the bottom of the stairs looking particularly pleased with herself. She, too, was dressed a fair bit nicer than normal, and sporting a bolder shade of lipstick than she normally did.

“A new shade?” He muttered, “What is wrong with you two?”

“Oh Sherlock,” Mrs. Hudson waved him off with an eye roll, “She’s a nice young woman, we’re just trying to make a good impression.”

John nodded a little too enthusiastically for Sherlock’s liking. If you were trying to wrap the occupants of 221B Baker Street around your finger, you were going to have to do a lot more.

“Right,” he cleared his throat, “On we go then.”

Mrs. Hudson and John were far too eager to scurry towards your door, reeling in their excitement to knock a few times. He really didn’t understand it. As far as he knew, you had only interacted with Mrs. Hudson and John three and four times, respectively. They were never exceedingly long interactions, and besides your ‘friendly’ attitude, it wasn’t like you’d been particularly serviceable.

So why did they like you so much?

As if on queue, you opened the door to your freshly furnished flat. The sudden exposure to a million different deductions filled his mind.

You were dressed nice, not over the top though. Despite the outfit not being too flashy, it still spoke of money. Considering the newspapers and many tabs open on your laptop, which were all messily placed on your coffee table behind you, you were still looking for a job.

Odd, that. He couldn’t quite pinpoint what kind of job you were looking for, or what your qualifications were.

The light smattering of makeup on your face and the relative neatness of your hair suggested a certain amount of effort being put into your appearance, though the flyaways and minimal smudging showed it had been done hours ago.

The furniture you decorated your flat with displayed an evident love of history and antiques, however the various books aligning the shelves of your living room didn’t really confirm the initial deduction. The necklace you seemed to be overly attached to might, as it was either a family heirloom or something particularly sentimental between you and your father. You kept it out of sight though, and the intelligent spark behind your eyes told him you’d more than caught on to his line of thinking.

“Mrs. Hudson, Mr. Holmes, Dr. Watson,” you greeted them with a wide smile, opening the door even further in greeting.

“Just John is fine,” he assured you, then nudged Sherlock, “and he prefers Sherlock, otherwise people will start mistaking him for his brother.”

Sherlock shuddered at that particular thought, sneaking in behind his friends to get a better view of the place. It was organized and clean, far different from his own space, though a few particular areas seemed to be assembled in a hurry. More than likely, you were a clean person without a good sense of time. 

“It smells delicious, dear,” Mrs. Hudson gushed, quick to find her seat at the table.

You had cooked a big dinner, far more than just the four of you could eat, but he felt as if that was intended. There was a wide spread of food, from pasta dishes to a full glazed ham. Cooking may have been a hobby, but the state of your kitchen paired with the frazzled expression as you did a once over to ensure it all looked good made him second guess that. Perhaps you were just trying to learn?

Curious, it seemed you were doing that with practically everything.

“Have you been cooking all day?” John laughed, looking at the dishes before him like he hadn’t been fed in a month.

To be fair, he either cooked- which he wasn’t even close to good at- or ordered takeout. Home cooked meals were a rarity at 221B Baker Street. 

“Basically, yeah,” you smiled, gesturing so that the three of them began to help themselves.

Sherlock was quick to take the seat opposite you, and while he certainly didn’t turn down the opportunity to have some of the food you so graciously provided, he was more focused on you.

“I love the decorating you’ve done,” Mrs. Hudson commented, cutting Sherlock off before he had a chance to begin his interrogation.

He scowled momentarily as you thanked her, still all smiles and twinkling eyes. He didn’t understand how you could look so happy and positive, especially when he knew you were hiding something.

“Lucifer Morningstar,” Sherlock finally said, narrowing his eyes as he waited for your reaction.

You didn’t look particularly put out by it. In fact, the corner of your lips turned up even more, and he saw a hint of affection on your face.

“That’s my dad, yeah,” you nodded, taking a bite of your meal. “You’ve been doing some research.”

John flicked his gaze between you and then Sherlock, trying to interrupt before the latter began, but failing miserably as he took control of the silence.

“Colorful moniker, that.”

“Unfortunately, it’s his god-given name.” There was a certain amusement about you, clearly a joke he was missing.

“Poor man,” Mrs. Hudson commented regretfully, almost imagining as if she spent her life with the name of the Devil.

“Family’s not particularly religious,” Sherlock noted quietly, though you clearly heard him. He ignored the swift kick John sent his way under the table.

“Actually, they’re more religious than most,” you corrected.

Again, you seemed entirely genuine. Sherlock nearly growled. How did you not follow the normal patterns? Every human followed the normal patterns.

“And I thought Sherlock’s parents came up with funny names,” John joked, hoping to pull the conversation back to safe territory. 

You went to reply, but stopped short when Sherlock was quick to speak up.

“Why Lucifer then?”

There was a twinkle in your gaze, and he found it absolutely frustrating, but entirely fascinating that he just couldn’t read you.

“Maybe the Devil is more than we think,” you countered, shrugging. 

John let the silence permeate for less than a moment before he picked up the conversation, ever eager to retain a particular amount of sensibility and cordiality. 

“What about your mother?” He inquired, though it wasn’t in the same regard as Sherlock. He asked more out of an interest to know more about your life, and not like you were a puzzle to solve.

“Oh,” you weren’t really grabbing anything with your fork, more like using it as a way to keep your hands occupied. “Well, Lucifer Morningstar,” you shot a quick smirk to Sherlock, “isn’t my actual father. He sort of adopted me.”

Adoption hadn’t crossed Sherlock’s mind, but now that you’d brought it up he was beginning to make a few more deductions. Still, none seemed quite fitting for you. A brief flick of his glance in the general direction of both Mrs. Hudson and John confirmed that it was just you, and not his own mind beginning to malfunction.

“I’m glad he did so,” Mrs. Hudson proclaimed, a wide smile on her lips as she took a large sip of one of the many wines you’d left out for your guests.

“Didn’t have much of a choice, I suppose,” you laughed softly, a sound Sherlock found most peculiar. It sounded so gentle and melodic, like you were expressing exactly what you felt- nothing more, nothing less. “He’s my older brother, actually.”

“Christmas dinner must get complicated,” John teased goodnaturedly.

Sherlock could see that his two companions were very much indeed falling for your charms and grace. They wanted your attention, and actively seeked out your smile. It’s like you had pulled them to your side so quickly. 

“We don’t really celebrate Christmas,” you admitted, a sheepish smile.

Sherlock, finally at a point he could no longer hold in his frustration, let it be known to the entire table.

“You don’t make any sense.”

It was a simple enough exclamation, one that he uttered in a voice that was tinged with a seething anger. His eyes were narrowed and pinning you to the spot.

“Oh dear,” Mrs. Hudson murmured apologetically.

You paused, furrowing your brow like you couldn’t quite work out where his frustration was coming from. There was a hint of hurt, and it spurred his anger on even more.

“You’re hiding something.”

Once more, Sherlock pushed. He needed to know what it was he was missing. It was just out of reach, and if he could just dig a little further, the mystery could be solved.

“Sherlock,” John hissed, dropping his fork with a loud clang.

“Oh come off it,” Sherlock argued, pushing his chair back and resting his hands on his chin. “It’s obvious you’re running from your old life because you were unhappy, hm? Were they abusive? Or maybe you’ve just grown bored of the easy, spoiled lifestyle? So you come here, of all places, and just happen to move right next door to me? I don’t believe-”

“Sherlock, enough,” John had moved from his seat at some point during his monologue, and had grabbed a hold of Sherlock’s arm. He was pulling him up with more force than normal.

Being the more reasonable of the two, John was profusely apologizing for his friend’s behavior. Mrs. Hudson was thanking you for your hospitality, as well as the meal, as she led the small group out of your apartment, hoping to spare you the torment of Sherlock’s unwavering gaze.

By the time he’d been pulled to the door, Sherlock had managed to brush John off, sending one more glare in your direction.

“Who are you?”

You had barely moved from your spot, taken by complete surprise by the turn of events. Whatever you’d been expecting, it hadn’t been what was happening. Seeming to shake yourself out of the momentary confusion, you turned to the three you had hoped to begin a friendship with.

“I’m trying to figure that out myself,” you admitted quietly, almost to yourself.

Sherlock hadn’t expected that.

Nor had he expected the sad, faraway look in your eyes.

You looked so small then, and fragile, like the world was a big, scary place and you had no idea how to navigate it all alone.

Regret filled the air as John uttered one last goodbye before closing the door in an attempt to stop Sherlock from doing anymore damage. It wasn’t necessary though, as the consulting detective realized, though far too late, that his interrogation wasn’t needed.

You were a mystery, yes, but not because you were some massive threat placed precariously there to strike when Sherlock least expected. Rather, you were someone who genuinely didn’t know exactly who you were yet.

John’s angry rant went ignored.

Mrs. Hudson’s sad exclamations weren’t even given a proper listen.

Sherlock went directly to his room, and upon trying to sleep, found all he could see was your eyes and the sadness that permeated so deep it was like a root in your soul.