#partially because of the cousins thing

[coffeeviolinist]

As always, AkAm is my number one OTP. It’s one of those ships that works amazingly well with all three of Akai and Rei’s identities, and in a way you can tell an entire story with them. First, you have RyeBourbon, which is full of bitterness, passion, and rivalry with just a hint of genuine affection and trust until it all comes crashing down. Then you have OkiAmu/AkAm, where there are still things left unsaid and trauma that hasn’t been addressed, but at least there’s a chance now that they can be friends if not more. And finally ShuuRei, which is the happily-ever-after where, after everything is said and done, they’ve somehow both survived and found their way back to each other. They made it through hell and back, and now they can heal together because they understand each other in a way no one else can.

GinSherry is a complicated, fucked up, toxic mess for sure, but honestly that’s kind of what makes them so interesting. It’s pretty heavily implied that they were intimate before Gin killed Akemi and drove Shiho away from the BO, and it’s interesting to think about what their relationship was like before all the betrayal and bloodshed. Plus if GinSherry actually had something genuine in the past, that might actually provide some insight as to why Akemi thought he would be okay with letting Shiho go. The whole “if you love something, set it free” and all that.

While I’m an AkAm shipper until I die, I do still love ScotchRye and HiroRei. Also, I firmly believe that if Scotch was alive, the Whiskey Trio would all be in a polyam relationship with Shinichi/Conan as their adopted kid.

Speaking of which, Shinichi, Akai, and Rei will forever be my favorite found family, followed by Shinichi, Haibara, the DB, and Agasa, as well as Rei and his police academy friends.

HagiMatsu were/are soulmates and you cannot change my mind. I mean, they were literally each other’s last thoughts before they died.

If anyone’s read my fics, then you know I love platonic Shinichi and Sera. Also, while I couldn’t fit it onto the chart because it would have made it too messy, Shinichi, Sera, Ran, and Hattori being a dynamic group of teenage crime fighters/vigilantes is my favorite thing ever.

Jodie x Akai is a complicated one for me. While I do think they genuinely loved each other in the past, I’m not a huge fan of Jodie still being hung up on him years after they broke up, especially seeing as Akai never really acknowledges that there used to be anything between them at all. It’s entirely possible that Akai does still love her and is just too hung up on Akemi to move on, but unless we actually get a scene from his perspective that clearly depicts what his feelings for Jodie are currently, that’s just speculation. I like second chance romance, but second chance romance is not equivalent to “I’ll settle for you because the person I want to be with isn’t a viable option anymore”, and unfortunately, unless Gosho actually addresses Akai’s feelings about his past relationship with Jodie, that’s probably exactly what we’re going to get.

That being said, I do enjoy the idea of Jodie, Akai, and Camel being a very close-knit group of friends. O rei ne of my favorite headcanons is that Jodie and Camel like to troll Akai when they think he’s getting a little too serious about work and life in general.

ShuuAke (is that the ship name for Akai x Akemi?) is another complicated one for me. I very much dislike the fact that Gosho made them cousins (imo there was no point in it at all - Mary and Elena being sisters doesn’t add anything meaningful to the Akai family story at all), but the ship itself is so tragic and sweet that it’s impossible to dislike it completely. I love the idea of Akemi falling for Akai and believing there’s some good in him despite knowing that he was using her, as well as the two of them wanting a genuine future together that was always doomed to end in tragedy before it even began. And that’s the thing - they were never going to have a future together. Gin was never going to let Shiho go, and there’s no chance Akemi was going to abandon her sister to go be with Akai in America. Sure, she could have, but I firmly believe that Akemi’s dedication to her little sister was one of the things Akai loved about her, and if she essentially chose him over Shiho, she wouldn’t be the person he fell for.

Shukichi x Yumi is a cute ship and I love how much he adores her, but my god dude, PLEASE just propose to her already. Preferably when you’re both sober. At this rate Masumi is going to end up married before you and she doesn’t even HAVE a canon love interest.

I’ll always have a soft spot for ShinRan, and I do think they’re cute together. That said, CoAi/ShinShi’s bond is incredibly special. I’ve also grown to love KaiShin and HeiShin, as well as Sera x Ran and Ran x Kazuha. And of course I still love HeiZuha even though Hattori’s refusal to confess to Kazuha because he doesn’t want his confession to be “overshadowed” by Shinichi’s confession to Ran is getting VERY frustrating. Honestly, all the teens are very shippable with each other (minus Shiho x Sera because we do not need another Akai sibling dating their first cousin).

I don’t think AmuAzu would work well as a ship, but I do think it would make sense for Azusa to have a one-sided crush on Rei for a while before it eventually fizzles out and they end up just being good friends. I also like the idea of Akai and Azusa forming a weird friendship where they trade embarrassing stories about Rei (Akai does it out of revenge for Jodie and Camel befriending Rei to tell him embarrassing stories about him).

i drew a relationship chart for fun feel free to use it 👍

[cuteniarose]

Each time I think I’ve finally become normal about This Fucking Family my brain comes up with shit like “Hey have you noticed how much Liba looks like young Sunat?” and now I want to throw up

[saltedsolenoid]

realized that two of my ocs had the same last name and this was all i could do about it. most normal family reunion

[thenixkat]

Riding wyverns are primarily used by warmbloods and darkbloods as a source of transportation, communicating long distances, and as hunting partners.

While coldbloods do use them for communicating long distances and as hunting partners they don’t use them for transportation as coldbloods are too heavy to ride hens outside of very young foals. Instead they use breeds of riding wyverns with sturdier builds in the hens to pull carts and wagons as they’re easier to train and better tempered than cattle.

Riding wyverns can also be milked for their venom for use in certain weapons. Their quills can be harvested to grind into medicine that can be mixed with certain herbs into a paste that works as a muscle relaxer.

Due to their vigilant nature and loud alarm calls, riding wyverns see use as herd guardians and livestock protectors. They can be trained to herd cattle and salamanders, even able to fly after spooked cattle that try to fly off to collect them. 

They can also be trained to gently collect foals that get into places where adult centaurs can’t reach like on roof tops or in trees.

[reignpage]

Vice President!Sukuna

Satan: the end and the beginning

Word count: 3.7k Contents: cursing, mature themes, including allusions to drug use, morally dubious characters, angst, with comfort, I was gonna save this for next week, after I've done the updates for the other jjk guys, but I think people need this so here you guys go.

Sukuna’s brought you back to your dorm room with his jacket wrapped tightly around you and using the blanket of the night to avoid flashing anyone, though there wasn't really anyone hanging around by the time you two finished. It’s late and, without exchanging words, he strips down into his boxers and gets inside the covers with you. 

It’s a tight fit and you have to lay partially on top of him, but he cradles you so securely you have no doubts he won’t let you fall. There’s still a lot to be said and you aren’t sure when the right time is but maybe you'll talk in the morning, because right now, your bones are creaking, and your muscles are sore. Not to mention the ache between your legs. 

“You hurting anywhere, prez?” His mouth is pressed to your ear as he mutters the words to you, a hand rubbing your bare back soothingly. 

Shaking your head, you let it rest on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as if it could tell you the secrets of the world. With a satisfied smile, you answer, “No. I'm feeling pretty good, thanks.”

He huffs and then brushes a hair from your forehead, pressing a kiss there. Soft and gentle are two words you’d never thought you’d use for Sukuna and yet they’re the only words that circle the space between and around you. He was soft when he held you as you recounted the past, he was gentle when he carried you to his car and when he buckled your belt, and he’s both as he mutters apologies against your head when he thinks you've fallen asleep.

You’ve never been apologised more times in one night. 

But you don’t need his apologies, not really. You need something more, something only he can give you, and there’s nothing you wouldn’t do to get it. 

For now, you just let him hold you as you drift off to slumber.

When you wake up, he’s out of bed already. You don’t know when he had gotten changed into clean jeans, shirt and a new varsity jacket, but when your eyes fall on the breakfast spread on your desk, you’re quick to surmise that he must have gotten an assistant, or something of the sort, to drop things off. 

Sukuna leans against your desk, occupied with something on his phone as he taps rapidly and when he spots your movements, he glances at you and gives you a quirk of his mouth. It’s not a smile but it’s close enough to one to warm your chest. 

“Morning,” you yawn, covers slipping off your naked body. He grunts back a greeting. 

You push off the bed and head into the bathroom, door open as you brush your teeth and do your morning routine. When you come out, you ask him what’s going on. 

“Family problems,” he rolls his eyes. “My idiot cousin got into trouble and now I gotta bail him out.”

Finding an outfit in your closet, you settle for a plain sweater and leggings, just something to keep you covered whilst you ready yourself for a much-needed conversation. Steeling your spine, you turn and face him. 

“Choso?”

His gaze slowly reaches you, still typing, and with a cock of his head you know he’s questioning how you knew immediately. You shrug, entering his space so you can hold him. With no hesitation, his arms wrap around you, chin resting on your head. Smelling clean and fresh, you realise he must have showered; you hadn’t heard. You must have been completely knocked out after last night, both emotionally and physically. 

“It must have something to do with him being Cursed Womb, no?" Sukuna tenses, and then his grip on you tightens almost imperceptibly. “Of course, I knew. I hang around late on campus practically every night — you didn’t think I’d notice him creeping around with a duffel bag of clinking paint cans?”

“How long have you known?”

You kiss his chest, right over his heart and then look up at him with as innocent of a smile as you can muster. “Are we dating?”

His gaze narrows and you hear him put his phone down on the desk, focus solely on you now. Perhaps you’re coming on too strong, perhaps you hadn’t calculated right, but it’s too late now — you can’t wait any longer to see things unravel, to see him on his knees. 

“We are what we are.”

“I want us to be dating.”

Without missing a beat, he snaps his teeth at you playfully and growls, “Then we’re dating.”

“Perfect!” You peck his lips and then push off from him, choosing to sit on your bed, and when he makes a move to follow you hold out a hand to stop him. “You’re going to the Dean to fix things, yes?”

The narrowing of his eyes again is all the answer you need. 

“Good. And whilst you’re there with your cousin, you’re going to ask for my title back, yes?” He doesn’t nod, but he doesn’t shake his head. “Things will return to the way they were…except, this time, even better.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

He had held you tightly last night, when you told him, and all he could do was kiss your neck and rub your stomach. You knew you had driven him speechless, that he doesn’t recall anything that happened, and when his eyes searched yours, you also knew he couldn’t fathom ever having hurt you. But he did. And you were. And no matter how good of a fuck he is, those things will never change. 

“Sukuna, listen closely, okay?” You cross your legs. “I got your cousin caught. Express my apologies to him, please. But I needed the whole of the Ryomen family’s backing to intimidate the Dean; you alone wouldn’t have been enough. I'm sure your family's fed up with your bullshit, but the two of you? Well, they'd have to get involved then. Sure, with your threats he would have given me my position back easily. But that’s not nearly enough. I need his unquestioning, undying support.”

“You brought my cousin into this?” His voice is dangerously low, and you can see him eyeing the space, eyeing you, as his brain tries to catch up. 

With no shame, you nod. “I told you; I needed to. Did it not occur to you that your well-experienced vandal of a cousin should have known better than to get caught? That he should know the guard’s schedule and rotation by now? And of course he did. He was careful. Good for him. But he was arrogant. Like all men tend to be. He didn’t think anyone would know and he didn’t think anyone would use that against him. I waited for the right time to utilise my knowledge, waited even when the trustees were on my ass for letting him get away with his disorder and rebellion and whatever else those dinosaurs thought. And I suppose I was hoping to bank it in much later but then the Dean pulled his shit, and well, here we are.”

He’s tasting your words, can see him mulling everything you’ve said. Despite the rising insult at your audacity to wield his family as a trump card, you know he’s impressed. But not enough to hold him back from picking up his phone, already bored with the conversation. So, you continue. 

“Make sure to tell the Dean that I want his full support. The other faculty heads need to know I can’t be bullied or undermined again. If I want a charity event, I no longer need to write a ten-page document detailing its benefits. And if I want a student suspended, it’ll happen, no questions asked, yes?”

Sukuna scoffs. “Anything else, prez?”

He’s mocking you but you ignore it. “Yeah, actually. I want you to never sabotage me again.”

“I wasn’t going to,” he bites back but you cut him off. 

Waving your hand dismissively, you counter, “Oh, but I need your word, Sukuna. I need to know that if we ever have a ‘lover’s spat’, you won’t devolve into your petty self and sabotage me. Because, let me make myself clear, if you ever do that again, even just once, even just something as minor as a single misplaced comma on a presentation or a speech, you will never talk to me again. You will never touch me again, and so help me God, you might just never see me again.”

He throws his phone back on the desk with too much force and you know you’ve struck a nerve. His body is even more tense than before and when he stalks over to you, chest rising and falling with every barely restrained breath of anger, you know you can’t back out now. 

“I fuck you once and suddenly you think I’m, what, pussy-whipped?”

Standing over you, casting a shadow across your face, you’re forced to look up at him, his damp pink hair falling slightly over his forehead. You don’t answer him, not with words, anyways. Instead, you leave a faint trail with your fingers against his stomach, his abs tensing with your touch. 

Then, with a glint in your eyes, you’re sure, you smile. 

“Aren’t you?” You cup his hardening length and squeeze. His hand flies to your head. “Because you sure do feel like it.”

Sukuna doesn’t like that look in your eyes, the smug look of someone who thinks they’ve won. He pulls your head back with a sharp tug your hair, ensuring your eyes are on him when he snaps, “I own you.”

“No. You don’t.” Your eyes flutter shut at the next rough pull. Then they fly open and you’re cutting him down with a stone-cold glare. “I own you. I have from the very beginning, since you fucked me over.”

He releases you, hands clenching like he’s been burned. It's clear he's conflicted -- offended by the arrogance in your demeanour, but oddly turned on by that newfound confidence. “You’re never going to forgive me, are you?”

“No, Sukuna," you say slowly. "I never have and I likely never will. Not even every time we fuck, or we kiss or even when we hold hands and skip along to the sunset. Because you haven’t apologised. Not the way I want you to, anyway. No, the kind of apology I want lasts a lifetime, maybe not even then. Maybe even in hell, I’ll want you to repent. Maybe in every new life, I’ll want you to find me and beg for forgiveness.”

“So confident I will?”

You stand now, and you’re actually surprised he lets you place a hand on his chest and shove him back to the desk where you pull up a chair and he sits in it without needing instruction. When you whisper in his ear, his jaw ticks.

“You will. Because you owe me. Because I deserve it,” you feel the weight of every word sink in, to both of you, and then with a slight tremble in your voice, you add, “Because you love me.”

It was a gamble to throw that back in his face, a small ball of anxiety deep in your stomach growing as you prepared to use that card in case he had a better one. But he doesn't. Rounding him, you place your hands on his shoulders, standing behind, keeping him still before you press a kiss to the crown of his head. He doesn’t deny any of your words, doesn’t even open his mouth to argue back, and you know, God, you know, you’ve done it.

“Open the left drawer and take out the book inside,” you order. He does and he clutches the bright pink, fluffy book with the shiny gold lettering like it was the most repulsive thing in the world. He’s pieced that part together without you even needing to say anything more. But still, you need the satisfaction. “Recognise it, baby? I’m sure you do. That book is my diary.”

He waves it in the air with a scoff. “If the golden capital letters weren’t enough to scream that, I don’t know what would be. It’s tacky as shit, by the way.”

You laugh and wrap an arm around his chest, he holds your hand against his heart, thumb stroking your knuckles absentmindedly.

“I had to make sure it’d catch your eye, and it sure did, didn’t it?”

Sukuna throws it back on the desk, leaning his head back to rest between your breasts, eyes closed as he inhales deeply. One would think he’s bored again, that he’s catching up on sleep, completely indifferent. But you know him better by now. You can tell by the tapping of his fingers against the armchair, the squeezing of your hand to remind him you’re real, and the clenching of his jaw, that he’s pissed. That he knows exactly what’s happened. What you've done.

“You saw it when you tucked me in bed last time, right? The night of Gojo’s stupid party? I knew you wouldn’t be able to help yourself. You’d want a peek inside my brain — no, my soul.”

“So, you knew I’d read the ripped off, crumped up paper ‘hastily’ shoved at the back?” There’s finality there. He’s so smart. You kiss his head again and when you pull away, he wraps a big hand around the back of your neck and pulls you in to kiss him on his lips. He bites and draws blood which he just sucks on before he releases you, eyes closing again. “You knew I’d read and internalise that fucking entry about ‘your deepest, darkest desire which you absolutely cannot ever tell a single soul about’.”

You nod. “Aw, you memorised it, baby? You’re such a good boy.”

He scoffs. The tips of his ears are red. 

“You thought you were doing me a favour? By giving me the opportunity to live out my fantasy in the woods? No, Sukuna. I gave you the opportunity to give me the opportunity. What? Did you think you were a genius for figuring out that I would be in the Lawn, gardening right at the forest’s edge on a Thursday afternoon? Sweetheart, I literally told you I joined the Green Thumb Society, which is a stupid society, by the way. They use up so much paper to advertise their events you’d think they’re singlehandedly killing all the trees.”

“We’ll force them to disband,” is all he says, thumb still brushing over your knuckles, feeling the scratches from the rough night. 

You hum. “And you were so sweet, Kuna. You gave me so many opportunities to stop. You tried to pull me to the car park, but I insisted we didn’t, remember? I directed you to the forest. And I thought you’d take me against a tree as soon as we were out of view, but you didn’t. You actually wanted to talk. You actually wanted to know what happened. Because you care, you sweet thing.”

A muscle in his jaw ticks. 

“And even when I was screaming at you, hitting and punching, you didn’t shut me up with your dick in my mouth. No, ‘cause you’re such a gentleman.” You giggle. “So, you made me slap you. Yes, that was entirely your fault, you stubborn man.”

“Shit didn’t hurt, by the way. I’ll need to teach you how to lay a solid punch,” he lifts your hand to bite it, and you slap his shoulder with a laugh. “You’re gonna need to fight me off better next time, yeah?”

Sure, you didn’t expect him to be pissed, but he’s being so well-behaved. He’s taking this all in so much better than you expect, maybe you can actually reveal everything. It might be good to start off your relationship on a clean slate, or as clean of a slate as one can manage with your history. With a fresh resolve, you come round to sit on his lap sideways, and he accepts your weight, hands on your thighs and hip to keep you steady. You lay your head on his shoulder, face tucked into his neck.

“You’re not mad at me?”

Sukuna rubs your leg through your leggings and then picks up a strawberry from the fruit salad on your desk. He pops it into your mouth, sucking the juice from his thumb before throwing the leaf back onto the plate. 

With a shrug, he replies, “Dunno yet. Why don’t you tell me the full story and I’ll decide.”

Always so perceptive. But never perceptive enough. 

Conspiratorially, you whisper against his skin, “I rigged the election.”

“I know.”

You sit up. “You knew?”

He fixes you a deadpan look like it should be obvious to you. “I’m Sukuna fucking Ryomen. One of the richest, most popular guys on campus. Who the hell would vote for a nobody over me? No offence, babe.”

Laughing, you lean back on him, tracing some patterns on his chest again. You accept another strawberry from him. Mouth still full, you garble out, “I needed to win, so I fixed the ballots. I’m not gonna say sorry.”

“Don’t. I’ll live. Plus, you did me a favour. Being president was exhausting as shit. Everyone complains like you’re the root of all their problems. Ungrateful fuckers.”

You nod. “They are very ungrateful, aren’t they? But we’ll take care of them, won’t we?”

Sukuna kisses your forehead and reassures you, “Don’t gotta worry about them no more.”

There’s something burning in your chest, an urge to scream being quietened. It’s a deep satisfaction coursing through your veins, pumped by your heart, and you can only hum a tune again, letting him feed you and sitting in silence. Alien and odd, you never would have thought this would be happening, that you’d be in his lap being hand-fed and soothed with pecks and warm hands, but it feels right. 

You’re sat on your throne, his lips as your crown and his hands as your swords. Emanating from him is all you’ve ever wanted since that fateful night and all that you couldn’t get on your own, but you feel it crackling at your fingertips. The potential for order and destruction, the possibility for greater influence, and the ability to smooth out the path ahead. Everything you could ever need and everything you've ever deserved is right there, willing his boner to calm down.

“There’s one more thing I want,” you whisper, voice devoid of emotion. 

His words are firm and unrelenting when he says, “Anything.”

“I want revenge, Sukuna. I want to make her pay.”

The words are shameful, you know it. They're words of a petty, vindictive, shameless woman who never forgave, never moved on, never grew up. But you don't care. You had spent years following her around, hanging on every word and doing whatever she pleased because you thought that was what friends did. You defended her against bullies who called her a 'whore' or a 'slut', and you let her cry in your arms when her mother remarried, and you even let her use your library card to straighten out white powder on your desk at 17.

All those times you waited outside her window so she could sneak one, those times you wrote her essays for her so she wouldn't get marked up again, lied to her mother about where she was, and let her steal every guy you could have begun to like. Even the one you did.

But humiliating you, looking down on you? When she was one who never earned a single thing in her life?

That's just not fair.

“What’s that beautiful brain cooking up?”

Pulling away so you can open another drawer, you fish out a USB flash drive. It’s been sitting there, gathering dust for years now. And it’s finally seeing the light of day. This won’t go to waste. You can’t let it. With careful words, you explain, “In here is a bunch of pictures and videos I’ve taken over the last couple years of my friendship with her. It’s pictures of her underage drinking, snorting cocaine like it’s air and lying to older men about her age. She’s a thrill junkie and a literal one, which you knew very well, didn’t you?”

He opens his mouth to say something, but you don’t let him. You just peck his cheek. 

“Don’t worry about it. She can be very persuasive when she wants to be. I figured that’s why you didn’t remember me, why you forgot that night. But I have to be very clear, Sukuna. You are not to touch that filth again. Not if you want to be with me, okay?’

Sukuna smashes his mouth against you, sucking your bottom lip and groaning at the sweet taste of strawberries before he shoves his tongue inside, searching for your taste and you meet him in the middle, offering whatever he wants. It’s more tender than the one you shared with him last night but it’s just as disastrous. The flash drive falls onto the desk as you cling onto him, holding him close. When he pulls away to lick the wetness trailing down your cheeks, you realise you’ve been crying. 

The things you haven't been able to say, not even to yourself, come out in hiccups.

“I-I couldn’t release it on my own, not w-when her family would find out it’s me. Somehow, they’ll know. They’ll take away my scholarship o-or blacklist me from every law firm in the country. And I can’t fight them, not by myself. I need you, Sukuna. I need you to do it for me. They can’t do anything against you, against your name.”

There’s no hesitation in his voice as he dries your face with his thumbs, swallows your sobs with his mouth and says, “I’ll do it. Whatever you want, I’ll do it.”

“For how long, Sukuna? For how long can I use you? How long will you let me?” You whisper against his lips, a real tremor to your hands as you press it against his chest, desperate to feel his heartbeat and know it matches yours. Though he never said it, he loves you. Or whatever closest thing to it. And truthfully, you don’t care. You just need his attention and his loyalty and that’s enough. Because that’s just as much as you can give him anyways. 

That's as much are you're capable of now.

“I don’t know,” he answers honestly, still tasting the salt on his lips. “I can’t say what'll happen in the future, but I have a lot to make up for, and if it takes my entire lifetime, then so be it. In fact, I have a gift for you. Consider it an expression of trust or whatever.”

He shows you his phone and some coding and files and files of audio and you're very confused. Your tears stop streaming and you're just staring at him like he's lost his mind. But then you see the file name and a grin is pulling at your lips, matching his.

This is enough. For now.

So, when he lifts you up to seat you on your desk and pulls down your leggings to bury his face between your legs, you don’t say anything else. You just let the pressure take you over and you lose yourself in all the power he gives you, the power he wills into your core. 

This is all you've ever wanted.

And you've never been happier.

[quarterlifekitty]

net meet cute

aka: how they start cyberstalking you. Some of these are more on the innocent side, some are slightly more intense.

Gaz sees you pop up in the people you may know section. He most certainly doesn't know you, but you are his type. As it turns out, you have some ridiculously distant relation of people that leads to his circle of connections (you're like his sister's college roommate's wedding photographer's cousin or something). But that one little tether is enough to make him feel tugged.

Soap started following you for your artwork. He follows anyone who even remotely interests him, and he liked what you made. You become a name he looks forward to on his feed-- he feels a bit parasocial about it, he knows your body of work so well now. And one day, he sees you share a post you were tagged in: It's a photo of you with another artist, both holding up the pieces you'd made to trade each other at a convention. He'd known you were talented, he didn't realize you were gorgeous as well.

Ghost sees you in the background of a video Soap shows him. Some disgusting display where people are trying to identify liquids they're drinking. When it's your turn, your face twists and you stick out your tongue, a little patch dyed umber from the soy sauce you'd sipped. He does a little detective work, finds you have a tiny little channel of your own. Nothing with a consistent schedule, clearly just a hobby, but there are a few videos of you restoring old toys, repainting dolls faces and things like that-- usually just showing your hands, but he finds your voice so soothing and you work with such delicate precision. Pretty soon he's obsessed with you, and fantasizing about ending up on your work table.

Price has very few reasons to surf online, but he does have a guilty pleasure: r/AITA. He loves a bit of tabloid level gossip now and again, and its the perfect place for it. He can see the world's most delusional people hard at work. His favorite ones are when both sides are clearly deranged and meant for each other. But then he sees you, posting about your shitty boyfriend, and all too willing to take the blame for the sorry state of things. And he finds himself rather keen on showing you how girls like you ought to be treated, as well as kicking your current man in the teeth.

I've mentioned this before, but I think König meets you in an online game. At first, you never speak on the microphone, and he doesn't either, but you're quite good, and your playstyle compliments his rather well. So he sends you a friend request on a whim, you accept it, playing a few rounds before turning on the party-only voice chat. And once he can hear you when you thank him for tanking damage, or targeting a player who'd been flanking, or pinging a pick-up for you, he's cooked. Looking you up on every social, trying desperately to find pictures of you, because he's sure you'll be as pretty as you sound.

Nikolai find you on a movie review website. He watches movies by the dozen when he gets some time off, but he's admittedly a little bereft of discussion partners, so review suit him fine. He typically disagrees with most of them, partially because he's naturally a contrarian, partially because the majority of online reviews are made by casual watchers and not lifelong cinephiles. And he comes across you, having written one of the only full, multiple-paragraph reviews for the obscure little number he'd just watched. And it straight up made him smile. Your review was punchy, funny, addressed multiple areas including the score, cinematography, casting, and costuming, and he agreed with a surprising portion of it. What he didn't agree with, he was intrigued by. He looks at your page to see what else you've written. You've seen and shared thoughts on many of his favorites, but quite a few things he's never seen, as well. He ends up watching them all, and feels a certain perverse excitement when it comes time to read another review, like he's a teenager taking you on a third date. Before long he's wondering where you are, if you go to the cinema. If they have non-hostile airspace.

Nikto finds you on the staff of some insanely obscure wiki/ID forum. Like, you help run a website/blog that's devoted exclusively to soviet era stuffed animals produced in Sergiev Posad (formerly known as Zagorsk). You help people identify them from pictures, from vague descriptions sent in to you of something from their childhood. He doesn't know why, but he ends up searching up images from others, often from unpopular and defunct listings on marketplace/bidding sites just to send to you. Just to read what you have to say about the stitch markings and stylistic eyes and the little tab of fabric on the leg seam from where the tag was cut. Maybe he'll take it further, maybe he won't. Maybe he'll find out where you are, just to make sure you're safe. Maybe he'll have to keep you safe. People with hearts like yours don't last in this world.

[chaotic-minds-think-alike]

Finally finishing all these guys we’ve got charts and headcanons! (Long post)

(Height)

(Wingspan)

(Body length & basic shapes I used) (it might be odd but ignore any detail on the back, the shapes are for general body shape)

Headcanons:

Seawings: - Colors range from red and purple to yellow - Aquatic is based off areas of bioluminescence rather than singular scales (because no one wants to draw all of those) - Although they average small compared to the other tribes, gigantism is more common - Wing bioluminescence gene is always present but for some doesn't show, thus aquatic doesn't utilize the wings

Rainwings: - Can change the texture of their scales alongside color - Weakest bite due to their fangs, probably why they're vegetarian - Mimic interesting behaviors - Have forked tongues

Mudwings: - Colors range from olive green to purple-ish red - Very resilient - Able to breathe fire regardless of body temperature, the heat of the flame depends on body temp - Their horns constantly grow and sometimes have to be cut due to dangerous growing patterns - Love gnawing on things, tough foods like jerky is popular - The horn covers of fallen siblings are harvested and turned into instruments to remember them by

Leafwings: - Colors range from gold to teal (and pink to olive green during cold seasons) - Can appear to have false eyes - Bug-like just like the other Pantalan residents (because they're just some weird outlier like what is going on here) - Leafspeak doesn't actually allow them to hear voices from plants but rather increase the sensitivity of their antennae which pick up on the changes in plants - In colder seasons, regions that have deciduous trees influence leafwings in that their scales change into warm tones similar to fallen leaves for camouflage but this also negatively impacts one's leafspeak ability; this doesn't apply to evergreen leafwings however

Hivewings: - Colors range from hot pink to olive green - Can appear to have false eyes - Have elbowed antennae just like their "cousins", Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants) - Tend to disregard personal space/get close out of habit, being close means better temp regulation and better communication - All hivewings have stingers, wrist stingers, and a venomous bite but it largely depends on preference of which they choose and like muscles, they can be exercised to become deadly weapons - They're not capable of "emitting a horrible stench"

Icewings: - Colors range from white to pale indigo - Melanism is still very rare but more likely in icewings - Can be iridescent in any color, especially visible in lighter scaled individuals - The scales on their face is very fine and is flushed with blood which darkens the area and allows them to see in the snow by absorbing light, otherwise the glare from the sun reflecting off would be a hinderance - Their wings are thin and thus have visible veins most of the time - Idk how to describe their scales other than its kinda like basalt formations - From the side they appear large but are actually thin and flexible - They can freeze to death if they've gone without cold for a long time and then reintroduced too quickly - In hybridization, they have dominant genes, partially because the animus gene - The extra mane of horns can appear randomly on the body in singular spikes, they also make a clink sound when they collide as if they're made of ice, making a pretty scary rattle when disturbed

Nightwings: - Colors range from orange to purple - Albinism is still very rare but more likely in nightwings - Dwarfism is more common - Teardrop scales are always present, highlighted when the dragon has powers regardless of type - Pitbull ready to bite kids - They CAN hang upside down as the books suggest but not for long - By taking dust baths, they dull their scales to reflect less light and blend in better in the dark - Have white fire but cant breathe for long due to how hot it is (this is mainly to add onto the mysterious factor of em and I always liked the idea) - Due to eye sensitivity, they hate sudden bright lights and will close their eyes as they breathe fire

Silkwings: - Can have black or dark accents but never as a whole body color unless they've hybridized - Wing shapes vary widely - Can appear to have false eyes - Flamesilk is rarer than one might think - Very flexible and have strong tails used as a sort of 5th limb in climbing - Albino or melanistic dragons still keep their iridescence - Silk is emitted through a spinneret on the chin rather than the wrists - Prefer to travel in pairs (instinct)

Sandwings: - Colors range from red to olive green - Dark patters often mimic a snake's - Horse-like in complexion - Alongside their snake-like appearance, they have pit organs - Tend to move like birds - Poor eyesight but good hearing - Their horns angle upwards sort of like a bull

Skywings: - Colors range from red to yellow (and green because skywings are meant to be your typical fire breathing dragon which is most often depicted to be red but can also be green) - Tend to move like birds - Weaker than they appear - Green skywings are incapable of being or having flamescales - Their horns constantly grow and have to be filed down - A flamescale cant melt rock or metal by touch alone, only via fire is it possible - It's not that they don't want flamescales that they kill them, it's more of a mercy killing because of how lonely their life can be

[mintmatcha]

I am so soft for father figure Shinsou, thank you for giving me something I didn’t know I needed. Just doing everyday things with him and him being soft towards you child is giving me life.

Casual. That's the word you used to describe what the meeting should be. Casual.

"He's a good boy, for the most part." Your bag is already stuffed full of toys and towels and other miscellaneous things that Shinso can't imagine you'll need. "His dad spoils him, so he might be a little bratty at first- we're working on it. Well, I'm working on it. His dad is--"

You kneel down and start rummaging through your things.

"Uh, don't let him guilt you into buying him snacks, please. He's got a severe nut and seed allergy and it's just easier if I take care of it all. There's snacks in here, along with two epipens. There's two more in the red cabinet in the kitchen, just in case we ever need them. "

Somehow, you manage to wiggle out the sunscreen for your bag without collapsing the whole pile. You dollop a bit on your fingers.

"Once they get here, we'll go straight to the park and hang out there for just a little bit. The book says the first meeting should be short and we should give him other things to focus out so he doesn't stress out." Your shoulders are bunched by your ears. "It'll be super casual. Easy. No stress."

Shinso kneels down next to you and dips a finger in the sunscreen.

"No stress," Shinso repeats back, dotting the sunscreen on your nose. It's enough to urge a smile out of you.

"Sorry, I know I'm--" You toss your hands in the air, frazzled, but with a smile. "This is a big deal."

"I know it is."

"We've only been dating for eight months," you say/ "What if we're jumping the gun? I don't want to put him through this if-"

"I'm not planning on breaking up with you." Ever. Shinso wouldn't have agreed to this if he wasn't completely sure that you were the one for him. It's not that he doesn't like children, it's that he's never spent time with any. Only child, no cousins: he doesn't know anything about kids other than the fact he used to be one.

You reach other and dot Shinso's nose with sunscreen. Now, you're matching.

"You might break up with me after you see what I'm dealing with."

Shinso takes your hand. "I'm not going to leave because you have a kid."

"I was talking about his father," you heave out a sigh. "They'll probably be late, by the way."

-

They are late.

Significantly.

It's six hours past the allotted time, filled with weak excuses from you. The television has rolled into the second season of some trashy show, but neither of you are really watching.

"He always loses track of time," you repeat for the twentieth time, trying to hide the disappointment in your voice. Shinso is long past disappointed, well into the area of 'pissed'. Mostly at your ex, partially at you, for letting it happen.

"He's still not calling you back?"

"No," you say, just like you've said before. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have let him know about you, he's just-- I dunno. Playing games with me again."

It contextualizes a lot of your behaviors, actually. The anxiety about getting home, the days you go radio silent, the dates where you suddenly have to run off and collect your child: he imagines there's a lot of bullshit games that happen between you two.

"You let him treat you like this?"

"He's my baby's father. I can't just..."

[just-my-latest-hyperfixation]

A shower of bastards

Written for the @steddiemicrofic challenge, September 2024 edition

Prompt: shower, 399 words

Rated: T

Tags: Meet ugly; Bridal showers; Weddings; Stripper Steve; Partial nudity; Horny disaster Eddie Munson; Platonic Hellcheer

"I don't believe this," Eddie seethes, hammering on the locked bathroom door. "Goddamn strippers at a fucking bridal shower. Hey! I know you're in there! Come out or-”

The door opens. Eddie’s fist hits a very naked, very muscled, very oiled chest.

"Can I help you?"

Eddie’s gaze wanders past sun-bleached chest hair, a throat dotted in moles, a chiseled jawline, up to a smug smile adorning a pair of glossy lips, and holy shit, he’s gay.

“Hi, Gay,” say the lips. “I’m Steve.”

Fuck, he said that out loud.

“Hilarious,” Eddie barks, pushing past The Chest. Steve watches how he kicks the door shut. He’s dressed from the waist down, but the tight denim leaves little to the imagination. “I’m the- … Eddie.”

Steve’s perfect eyebrows disappear under his fringe. “The Eddie?”

Eddie tugs on his own hair. "That's my name, dumbass! Technically, I’m the maid of honor, except I’m a guy-”

“I believe the term is man of honor,” Steve provides. Eddie trails off. Damn, that makes a lot of sense. “You booked me, then? Y'know, it’s universally considered poor taste for a bridal shower. I usually-”

“I didn’t,” Eddie blurts, thinking that he’d book twenty Steves just for himself, if he could. “My best friend's day is ruined because one of her asshole fiancé’s asshole cousins thought this was a funny idea, and I swear if I find out which one of them it was, I’ll-”

“Okay,” Steve says, putting his hands on his hips. His stupidly tight shorts ride down. “Sounds like a lovely family.”

Eddie sighs dejectedly, slumping against the washbasin. “You have no fucking idea, man.”

Steve eyes him while he fumbles for his cigarettes, expression weirdly sympathetic.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

When Eddie blinks at him, he averts his gaze, oddly shy all of a sudden.

“I mean, I’ve been paid for the night, and I have a lot of second-hand experience with wedding drama, so …”

And Eddie has no idea what's gotten into him, but he's exhausted and helpless and angry, and this random guy is willing to listen. The way his chest glistens under the bathroom lights as he accepts one of Eddie’s cigarettes doesn't help, but it doesn't exactly hurt either.

And if he goes home with Steve's card tucked into his wallet? Well, he got one good thing out of this whole mess, at least.

[corvid-jay]

I guess I'll tag @dagensgod and @genderfrogee for this (although my other mutuals/followers feel free to add on :3)

Tagged by @dichromaticdyke for a picrew and uquiz :]

Tagging: @blueprintblue @deathmetalyaoi and viewers like you

[sugudoe]

➥ ──── MOMMY MILKERS ‼️ BITCH. ღ

gojo satoru is the greatest mind behind MIB, also know as MU IOTA BETA, although is a inside joke the name Mommy mIlkers Bitch, because he thinks there is a large amount of members with huge breasts. Satoru is filthy rich and spoiled, he was a rainbow baby and an only child for some time, everything he wants he can have. his parents only asked him to go to college for business administration, so one day, gojo’s enterprise can be in his good hands. he doesn’t mind, had no plan of life instead of just enjoying it, but he hopes he can still have a lot of vacations all around the world. that’s actually his favorite thing to do, just get up from the bed and travel. gojo and the MIB were pretty popular on campus, but what took their social medias sky rocketing was the brilliant idea to create a tik tok account for their fraternity, showing their parties and random funny moments. of course, what everyone really wants to see, is their fucking beauty. he is the older adoptive brother of megumi, who is too young for fraternities, but gojo thinks he can bend the rules if megumi wants to get inside (gojo can’t & he doesn’t).

geto suguru is studying graphic designer by his choice, although his parents disagree, they can’t say no to him — after all, they are scared for their son and want him to be happy. truth is, geto and gojo had been best friends since high school, and it’s no secret that suguru tries to hide about his long battle with depression. things are getting better as of lately, specially now that his two younger sisters, mimiko and nanako, are allowed to have a cellphone and had been calling him daily. geto can be found in three different places, besides the MIB’s house — the art room of college, choso’s tattoo parlor and in the garage with sukuna, although for only a few minutes before he himself leave with his bike, that he calls his love. he is the vice-president, and helped gojo with the ideas to create the house, he also is the reason why nanami got inside because suguru knew they would need someone that knows how to be an adult, he got surprised with nanami’s true personality later, but hey, he is doing a good job, no complains. his favorite companions outside of the members are the pets and shoko, he adores her very much, she is also a best friend from high school that cared for him in his most vulnerable depressive episodes.

zen’in toji comes from the respected family zen’in, but unlike his relatives, toji does not give a fuck about reputations and traditions. that has casted him aside, something he is no longer sad about, he actually loves that he can do as he pleases. he study physical education, has always had a talent for fights and training, and likes the idea to be able to teach others some day. his first students was his two little cousins, maki and mai. he used to work as a partial time private trainer, but after tik tok found out, it was getting too uncomfortable with those new clients, so he started to train his friend sukuna and his little brother, yuji, the payment is extraordinary. he has a pitbull puppy named kitana and she is one of the pets at the house, and his pride and joy. he got inside MIB because gojo wanted to have him, toji refused at first, until satoru showed him the private gym of the house and toji was sold right away. he gets weirdly along with megumi whenever the boy comes visit, they bond over their dogs and strangely looking resemblance.

nanami kento is not the MIB’s president, but he stills acts like it, and gojo is more than happy to let him have that unofficial position. gojo makes the parties and pick the box with candidates names, nanami takes care of the expenses and pick the best to get into, to avoid fame seekers and people with bad reputation — some thinks he started that after gojo put sukuna inside the house. nanami takes care of the formal parts, that’s mostly influenced by his finance majoring, he spends most of time inside his room studying or bakery hopping to experiment new pastries. don’t let this take you away from the truth, this man is not a calm, educated and study inclined person, he is half-french and therefore gojo has to be careful, or nanami will start a revolution and put satoru out of the house. he easily gets distracted by his interests and his anger, and since MIB becoming a hit on the internet, he is extremely mad. nanami cares a lot about his private life, he blocked gojo on twitter after satoru quoted kento’s account and he gained a lot of weird followers — he blocked most and went private. nanami is very found of ino, and as the initiation process of complying to the older members’s request, he had to shave his head (suguru demanded as a revenge for cutting his waist long hair to his shoulder) ino was quite sad, but did it, nanami did as well to support the youngest. surprising everyone, because nanami loves his long blonde hair as well. everyone was touched, so gojo cut his as well, kinji dyed on ino’s choosing color (purple) and even sukuna did as well, but red — all was done by kinji’s partner, kirara.

kamo choso is the middle brother of sukuna and itadori, through their shared mother. he is studying computer science, but everyone knows he is doing just to get the degree, give to his mom and go do his own thing — tattoos! ever since high school, he started to work in tattoo shops as receptionists, then he started a course and now he owns his own mini parlor near campus, named garu’s tattoo, because he is often compared with the character (it has absolutely nothing do to with the fact he used to let his younger brother do his hair the same way, everyday for high school). choso doesn’t trust anyone but himself to make his own tattoos, but he folds easily when yuji asks to try, so he has a mini spider-man doing peace signs on his calf. it’s his favorite tattoo. he got into MIB because he started to be friends with his favorite client, geto, and suguru invited him. choso’s mom separated sukuna’s father and got with choso’s dad, then she left and met itadori jin, he accepted all her sons as his, and choso secretly hopes one day jin will adopt him. he likes that MIB went viral because now he has more clients, what he doesn’t like is how everyone views him as a bad boy, when he is clearly a sweetheart.

shiu kong is a transfer student from south korea, and just like nanami, he is majoring in finance, following his dad’s and grandad’s steps. his family is very rich and stoic, but shiu came to the world in a completely different way. he likes to crack jokes, smoke a cigarette every hour, and to make his family hair get white earlier. the last post he has on instagram is a video of him doing hearts, but purposely he posted because it looked like a middle finger. shiu is best friends with everyone, but mostly sukuna and toji, and outside of it he’s friends with shoko and uraume. he thinks it was bound to happen to be a hit on the internet, because of his funny and chaotic way! his twitter is where he shows his true self, actually, the header is his own picture from the day after fucking a neighbor before moving out of the apartment to MIB’s house. it’s been a month and a half and he’s feeling the effects of not getting laid in some time, not because he doesn’t have options, gojo says he wants someone to match his freak while doing a dance — he slapped gojo after that. the reason for he to be in MIB is because he thought it would be funny to piss off his dad, it worked.

hiromi higuruma is the most normal person in the house, which is something to worry about. his free time used to be spend traveling to rural areas of japan, now he stays in the sofa with achilles, his cat. he used his money to make a game room in the house with lots of pool tables and videogame consoles. he likes to bet with everyone, and he keeps winning. talking about that, everyone avoids to argue with him, at first he cared too much and would own all the discussions, specially when he would bring out the projector and show evidence of how he was right — don’t fucking argue with a lawyer. nowadays he is much chill, that’s obviously because he is in exam season and keeps inside the house or library, he left the group chat to focus on his projects and the court hearings he now attends. nanami is the one to send him all the messages he needs to see and to lend his phone in case hiro wants to add something to the chat. hiro was obliged to be part of MIB by his best friend, nanami. oh, the classmate in his twitter’s bio is utahime iori, she doesn’t now his twitter and he doesn’t know hers.

ino takuma is a lucky motherfucker. he is the youngest at the house and the newest member, out of many candidates, nanami chose him, and for that he is eternally grateful for his senior. majoring in history and having a talent for photography, ino likes to be outside all of the time, he takes pictures of every bright thing that seems to copy his happy aura, everyone finds him adorable. nanami tried really hard to keep him away from gojo, but it happened eventually, satoru is the one that matches his freak and they both kept adding fire to the other crazy ideas. they are the ones doing weird challenges and pranks on the tik tok account, and nanami keeps grounding them for it. besides hiro, achilles adores ino and is often on his lap. takuma introduced the movie “house bunny” to the boys once and now gojo wants to have the “sacrifice a virgin” party, after he found out ino is a virgin. he is embarrassed, but still thinks i’ll be awesome to slide down a fake volcano and kiss a pretty girl. . . maybe more.

ryomen sukuna is. . . something. everyone knows that one of the reasons MIB’s tik tok became a hit is thanks to his quick appearance, after all he was already know on social media before, ryomen is a professional boxer, as a way to let his anger issues dissipate and avoid hurting his brothers or friends, he punches sand bags with toji and later, willingly strangers. he is know as “one punch man” because one time he was seriously pissed with his dad, went to the ring and with just one punch, won the fight — he hated it, he needed more punches throw. ryomen is majoring in forensic science, when asked why he says is because he wants to know how to get away with a murder properly, of course he is joking but the stoic face sure scares everyone. adding to his curriculum, he also likes to repair cars, MIB’s garage is filled with everyone’s cars and there is space for sukuna’s three vintage babies, he always finds some problem in them whenever he needs to clear his mind. sukuna’s best friends are uraume, shoko and shiu, because they all don’t give a fuck about his anger issues and treat him normally. he is adored by kinji’s partner, kirara, and he actually adores them as well, but he avoids them because he can’t say no to kira, and they try to make ryomen a model. sukuna is, with choso, the target of people with the “i can change him” mentality, he adores it because it’s fucking funny the desperation. he would rather eat glass than admit, but he’s only in MIB because choso was scared to go alone, and he wants for yuji to come as well when he gets of age, he thinks his younger brother will like it. he is a good brother, he just doesn’t say much, good thing choso and yuji understand him and love him either way.

kinji hakari is the only member who is in a serious relationship, if anything, he is the only one getting any action. he never had any plans of being in college, only following his partner and luckily discovering a talent in fashion school, that was what got gojo satoru’s attention, and he begged for hakari to be part of the MIB. he almost declined, but thought it would be cool, and with his baby’s permission, he accepted. kinji brings more chaos to MIB, he likes to be the cause of his friends headache in the group chat, and also to get blackout drunk in the parties and make out with kirara on every surface. he got a lot of attention on his social media as well, but he does not give a fuck, because he thinks everyone is trying to get into his pants and he is a loyal dog man, so he says no no interactions with anyone besides his friends and love.

✶ 𝐚. 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: all the appearances, are just for reference, there is no fancast just pics with the characters vibes. you can imagine them as you please. but i did edited sukuna’s hair so applause. i know nanami is half danish, but i want the revolutionary gene of france on him. TOJI’s AND GOJO’s ig has miD instead of miB, pretend you didn’t see it, pls.

✶ 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: please comment if you would like to be tagged. all the chapters will be linked in this post and with the first tag @minzxec @d3jecteddoll @shuuji71 @emilyywhyy @ducky1232 @mfcherry

[hurtwithallthecomfort]

Caretaker had never been interested in having kids. At every family reunion, people would eventually come round to ask, “so, when do you think you’ll start having children?”

The answer would always be the same. Never. They’re a lot of hassle, and considering caretaker’s line of work, it probably wouldn’t be a safe environment for a kid. Then, eventually, the disgruntled aunts and nagging uncles would quieten down and go back to obnoxiously chewing on their food, occasionally making a snide remark about a cousin or nephew.

It was 2:43 in the morning, or so the glaring alarm clock said. Caretaker groaned slightly as they turned, half asleep still. Normally, they slept through the night with ease, routinely going to bed at a reasonably mature time, and waking up to the beeping of the morning alarm like clockwork.

But, this time, it was loud in the house. Quiet murmurs and tentative footsteps had woken caretaker up, purely from the fact that they simply weren’t used to it. Caretaker was happily single and childless, as well as not owning any pets or really being of an age where sleepovers were considered anything but childish. On any other night, the house was silent through and through, but tonight was different.

A knock on the bedroom door brought Caretaker out of their thoughts. A grunted ‘come in’ was all Caretaker could respond with, and as soon as the words left their lips, the door creaked open, and faint light poured in. It was Whumpee. Caretaker wasn’t particularly shocked - who else would it be? Still, up until noe Whumpee had been adamant that they were completely fine. When the team had found them, they didn’t whimper or sob or plead. They had to be grappled down in order for Medic to be able to examine them, and when they were told of the severity of their injuries, they simply denied ever even feeling bad.

Ever since Whumpee had been found, they insisted on leaving, and going ‘home’, though nobody was particularly sure where ‘home’ was, because when asked about family and friends, Whumpee had no answer. But, the team couldn’t just let the kid go, partially because they were far too young to be fending for themselves, and partially because this was the closest to Whumper they had ever gotten. Could they really risk losing their only clue?

Sleeping in the HQ wasn’t an option for Whumpee, they were tense back there, snappy and hostile. Staying overnight wouldn’t have done any good. Most of the team had to set off on an emergency mission that was far too dangerous for someone as fragile as Whumpee. Medic and Caretaker were the only ones who remained, and the former already had kids of their own waiting at home. So, Caretaker it was. They packed up Whumpee’s things, drove them for three hours to get home, and fought to get them settled in the usually abandoned guest room.

And now, they were standing in Caretaker’s doorway. Hesitant. Akin to a child standing at the foot of their parent’s mattress, shaky and looking for comfort after a harrowing nightmare.

“… couldn’t sleep..” Whumpee muttered, looking away bashfully, as though they were embarrassed that they were hurting to the point of having to reach out. Like it was the worst thing they could have done.

Caretaker didn’t react. Perhaps it was the tiredness. Instead, they shuffled and shifted in their bed so that they were upright, and patted down the other half of the bed. An invitation. Whumpee tread closer to the bed in the same way that a stray cat might stagger towards the scent of a stranger. Assessing risks.

It took them a minute to crawl into the bed, but when they did, they were quick to pull up the duvet, clutching at the blanket for warmth. Caretaker hadn’t seen the room Whumpee was being kept in, but based on the look on Leader’s face after they had found them (somewhere between horrified and distressed), they could assume that Whumper had never concerned themselves with Whumpee’s temperature concerns.

Caretaker hadn’t expected Whumpee to relax this much in their room. Sure, Whumpee had taken to them much faster than they had taken to anyone else, and sure everyone on the team had jokingly started calling them the team mother, but those were all jokes. Caretaker wasn’t a parent, and they had made peace with that. Their life wasn’t safe for a child.

Caretaker moved from their sitting position, now lying on their side under the mauve covers. Here, they faced Whumpee, whose eyes were tight shut, and their frail arms tightly shut around the firm, cream pillow. They looked so young; while nobody could find any documents regarding Whumpee’s real identity, it was easy to tell looking at them that they couldn’t be older than late teens.

Hesitantly, Caretaker pushed their hand out and brushed Whumpee’s hair out of their face, fingers gently skimming their forehead. It was hot to touch, like they were a flu-ridden child in the middle of a summertime heatwave. Caretaker couldn’t even fathom what Whumpee had been through to get here. But, if their meagre little townhouse in the middle if nowhere could provide some solace for them, then so be it. Whumpee could sleep wherever they wanted.

[mvltisstuff]

mirrorball - c.f

summary: you’ve tried anything and everything to get conrad to notice you. it’s until you start losing yourself that you finally speak up.

conrad fisher x reader

a/n: y/n is lowkey giving me in this, leave some conrad requests ;)

it started off with the way she wore her hair. it was naturally down, cascading down her head with nothing new to it. she always noticed how conrad would eye girls with luxurious hair, always looking perfect even when it looked normal.

it progressed to daily trips to the gym. she bought a membership and began going every day. she saw all the other girls in the gym with their friends, boyfriends. they looked amazing, having the ideal body for a girl and the ideal bodies that conrad and his friends look at. conrad goes to the gym, too. maybe he’d notice a theme with her.

then it was the clothes. she’d change into tighter clothes. crop tops, shorts, jewelry, anything uncomfortable for one glance from conrad.

she’d loved him for years. ever since her first summer at cousins and staying next door to the fishers and conklins. conrad had been so nice all the time. he was strikingly handsome, and she just wanted him to look at her. she hated to say she was desperate, but she was. she was changing herself to be more like conrad, and less and less like herself. anything that happened to her, she pushed away because conrad was on her mind. she put herself on a pedestal for him. she observed his every move, and every person he darted his eyes at.

her makeup, her interests, her personality had become a whole new person that she couldn’t even recognize. somehow, she was still proud of herself. everyone knew something was off. belly tried to talk to her and see if something was going on. however, it was partially her.

she saw the way conrad glanced at her with affection. she saw the way he saw nicole. she saw the way he noticed girls at the bonfires. she wanted it to be her turn, but every time was shut down by someone better and new.

she ‘fixed’ herself until there was literally nothing left to fix. her entire closet had been changed along with the makeup in her bag. her daily activities had changed and she watched herself to make sure anything she was doing wasn’t contradicting conrad. the only place she was herself, was her room. and she couldn’t even accept herself anymore.

when she looked in the mirror, she picked at things on herself that she never used to. every part of her face and every part of her body had become an inconvenience. things other girls might not have. she wanted to recognize herself but the old, happy version was just a ghost at this point. as much as she wanted the old y/n, she couldn’t stop herself from preventing her from coming back.

she watched her mood deteriorate every day. it wasn’t just conrad, it had grown into something bigger. hating her reflection and just wishing she was someone else. someone he looked at, someone that everyone wanted. she tries to show off a confident front, but it all disintegrates when she disappears in front of a bathroom mirror. it’s not even alarming at this point that she doesn’t know who she is or what she wants.

her bank account had been drained of money from products and clothes that would make her more like someone else. things that were never her.

it started out as a slight obsession with a boy, and it progressed into self hatred. she wanted so badly to be enough for conrad, but she wanted to be enough for herself. she felt like that would never come. she can’t win this battle with herself.

she resorted to drinks with her friends all the time to try and forget some of the pity she had for herself. smoking pot and doing anything that takes her mind off of herself and conrad. every time she came over, she thought maybe this is it. maybe he’ll look at me and realize that i’m great. maybe he can find the old self in me.

the debutante ball was coming up shortly. she had been practicing her dances with a boy she barely knew, one her mother set her up with. this boy had nothing for her, but she had nothing for him. she still wanted him to want her because it was just more approval that came her way. she’d picked out an bewitching dress, one that transformed her into a queen. she picked one out in hopes that conrad would like it, but also so it covered all the things she can’t fix. it snatched her waist, it brought in her ribs, it made her boobs look good, it made everything better than natural. that’s exactly what y/n wanted.

even watching y/n pick out the dresses, suzannah and laurel noticed the switch in her behavior. she dodged every single dress that fit her perfectly, and ran toward every one that sucked her in perfectly. y/n would usually go for the simple, casually-fitting dresses, but now she wanted ones that turned her into a barbie doll.

she was thrilled with her choice, getting it fitted and getting her makeup done exactly how everyone else would like it. her body looked exactly how everyone else would like it. her hair looked exactly how everyone else would like it.

she looked pleased with herself, but she still saw someone else in the mirror. nonetheless, she walked out on the stage, linking arms with the boy at her side. she put on a fake smile, one that people would find enchanting to see. she tried not to look at conrad, but failed in the end.

on the other hand, conrad had to pretend that he wasn’t completely staring at her. her beauty was poisoning the whole room. he had to pretend like everything was fine when he didn’t have her. she was the only one who truly had his eye for the longest time. even conrad was slightly disappointed in seeing the change, oblivious to the fact that it all started for him. however, he wasn’t able to peel his eyes off of her with a small grin.

y/n’s heart raced in ecstasy when she saw his eyes on her. his smile was for her. she swore she could run off the floor and into his arms, but she tried to keep her cool as she was in front of almost the entire town. she pranced around in her white dress, looking happier than ever because conrad finally noticed her. all the changing must have paid off, or at least she thought so. it wasn’t until she saw him dancing with belly in the corner of her eye.

all of her positive thoughts about herself quickly vanished. she thought she finally had him, but she was so clearly wrong. all of her optimism from earlier had left her with watery eyes. she could not cry here, her makeup would be ruined in front of everyone and she couldn’t look bad in front of anyone, not even herself. again, she forced another fake smile on her face until the dance was over, and she scurried out of the room.

she stood outside, right by the entrance with a small bottle of alcohol in her hand. she’d snuck it in her purse, being able to bring it outside. she took a massive gulp of it, not being able to face her own thoughts. she wanted to give up, but it was too late. the damage to herself was already done and it would be a burnout to have to reverse it. she was a failure. she failed conrad, her family, and herself. even in the reflection of the stupid fucking glass bottle she saw a complete disaster of a girl.

she was picking at her freshly done nails when the footsteps came echoing behind her. she didn’t give a shit about who it was. no one could change her mind about anything, and there was no comforting to do. she swipes the tears off her cheeks before conrad steps into her peripherals vision.

“i thought i’d find you here,” he says.

“i just needed some air, conrad. go back inside.”

“i’d believe you if you didn’t have that bottle in your hand,” she looks down at the liquid in her hands, tempted to take another gulp of it. “what is going on with you? i’ve known you for so long and i just don’t remember this side of you, so who is she?”

“conrad, don’t start.”

“no, y/n,” he argues. “i have to know you’re ok, i barely know the y/n i love anymore.”

“well, i wish i could answer that for you, but i don’t know who she is!”

“what?” he asks sadly. she begins to laugh, almost bending over in hysterics.

“i literally changed myself so much for you,” she replies. “and you just proved that i made it even worse. i don’t recognize myself anymore, got it? i flipped myself inside out for you to just look at me.”

her words are slurred together and she’s speaking with her hands, which worried conrad even more.

“i’ve had my eye on you for years, y/n. why would you do that to yourself?”

“i ask myself that question in the mirror every. fucking. day. i just want my old self back and i barely remember who she is!”

conrad realizes the severity of her emotions. he debated whether to step closer, and he acts on it when he sees even more violent tears running down her face. “i’m not even myself anymore, i’m everyone else.”

“shh, it’s ok,” he says, pulling her into an embrace and running a hand across her back. “it’s gonna be ok. i remember you every single day. i could never forget.”

“you don’t have to-“

“no, listen to me. you were the sweetest person ever, and i was ashamed of my excitement whenever you walked into a room. i didn’t wanna freak you out or anything. you were brave, you never once gave into other peoples shit. and you still are all these things. and i’ll spend every day proving it to you.”

she cries harder into his shoulder. the last thing she expected was the boy she loved comforting her outside of the building.

“i miss not giving a shit,” she peeps out, making conrad’s heart shred a bit.

“let’s stop giving one,” he looks her, cupping her face in his hands. “you and me, we’ll do it together, yeah?”

y/n creeps out a small smile at him, a genuine one for the first time in months. “you and i.”

[papenathys]

Hey Mimi do you have any recommendations for books set in Latin America (any genre) ?

So I am going to assume that you are not asking for picks like Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabel Allende. Most of the Latinx authors I read are unfortunately fantasy or genre fiction set in the USA (I'm trying to remember if Tehlor Kay Mejia or Anna-Marie McLemore wrote a book that is explicitly set in a Latin American country.)

Here are a couple of books I enjoyed, or at least feel confident recommending based on what I remember:

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (adult, urban fantasy, horror): Described by the author as a "violent neo-noir", this story is set in an alternate, gritty Mexico City, and follows a Tlāhuihpochtli vampire who strikes a bond with an impoverished street kid, while fleeing from narco-vampire clans, criminal gangs, and other dangers lurking in the dark underbelly of the city.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (adult, historical fiction, fantasy): In 1920s Mexico, a young woman accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan God of Death, and embarks on a cross-country mission with him: from the dazzling Jazz Age opulence of Mexico City, into the darkness of the Mayan underworld– where she must face great dangers to reinstate the God on his rightful throne.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia** (adult, historical fiction, horror): A glamorous, fun-loving socialite in 1950s Mexico receives a disturbing letter from her married cousin, prompting her to travel down to their ancestral mansion, where the in-laws' live. There, on that ancient, colonial estate, she begins to be haunted by an equally ancient evil, and soon realises something is terribly wrong about the family her cousin has married into.

Tender is The Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica** (adult, dystopia, horror): In a near-dystopian future, an infectious virus turns all animal meat poisonous and unfit for consumption, forcing governments to legalize the factory-farming, breeding and eating of human meat. At one such processing plant, a worker is faced with a moral dilemma when he is gifted a "live" specimen.

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro (adult, psychological thriller): Set in Argentina, this is a claustrophobic, uneasy novella about a mother's journey to uncover the truth behind the hushed-up murder of her dead daughter; the investigative mission, however, is made difficult by her advanced locomotive disability and age, as well as by this slowly unfurling realization: that she may not have known her daughter as truly as she thought.

And a couple I have not read/read and did not enjoy at all, but would recommend because my opinion seems to be in the minority:

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda** (adult, horror, thriller, LGBTQ): A group of wealthy teenage girls attending an elite academy in Ecuador begin to convene regularly in an abandoned building, after school hours– but what started out as a place to exchange ghost stories, soon devolves into a site of dangerous thrill-seeking and dark, bloody rituals. (Note: I absolutely despised it, but you may enjoy; it's sapphic dark academia with cosmic horror and yellowjackets vibes).

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez (adult, horror, historical fiction, fantasy): Set partially during the years of Argentina's brutal military dictatorship, this novel follows a father and son on a road trip, trying to escape a death cult, who have committed unspeakable atrocities. I have not read this gigantic tome, but I really want to, I am a sucker for horror rooted in political/historical allegories.

Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis (adult, historical fiction, LGBTQ): In 1977 Uruguay, a time when oppressive militia rule criminalized homosexuality as a dangerous transgression, five queer women discover an uninhabited cape, and claim the coastal sanctuary for themselves. Over years, it becomes their one safe haven, to be their true selves. Not read this, but it sounds strikingly similar to Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, one of my favourite queer stories of all time.

[ Note: All the stories are adult and given my inclination towards horror and psychological fiction, they are likely to be dealing with sensitive issues, but for the stories marked ** I very highly recommend checking trigger warnings ]

[serpentface]

do the qilik see themselves as a kind of bird? (and do the other races see them that way?) how does it affect how they interact with birds, and are any of their closer relatives still alive, the same way monkeys/apes are to us?

This comes down entirely to cultural variation, but qilik cultures squarely conceptualizing themselves As Birds is relatively rare (at least partially in the sense that peoples often imagine themselves as separate from other animals in general). At most (with some exceptions) it tends to involve dividing the world into different Types of creatures and placing themselves into a very broad 'feathered' category, but not in a way where it's like "I am the same kind of Thing as a sparrow". Most qilik would take the question of 'are you some kind of bird' in the same way the average human would take 'are you some kind of giant rabbit' (acknowledging 'there's some things in common I guess, but no' at best, being intensely insulted at worst).

This is intensified by the fact that qilik are very obviously distant from most other birds in the setting (and are materially evolutionary distant). There's two surviving 'bird' groups here, class Aves (all irl birds) and a different paravian class that qilik belong to (the clade is fictional). Qilik-like birds are MUCH rarer, having been largely outcompeted by aves birds over the course of history and only remaining where they have securely kept their cousins out of occupying their flightless niches. The majority are found in old and isolated island environments, and many of these have gone extinct with pressures from dispersal/settlement of various sophonts and the animals they brought with them. Some do occur in mainland areas, but few of these have a wide spread (many were actually driven to extinction in ecological competition with early qilik, they tend to be found in places where qilik never spread en-masse).

Those that DO live in proximity to other qilik-like birds will generally at least note the resemblance. This does not necessarily lend towards them considering themselves the Same Thing (for comparison, humans living in close proximity to other primates don't tend to conceptualize themselves As primates. The reverse is more common if anything (imagining other apes as a sort of wildman)). It also doesn't tend to have the same degree of uncanny factor that tends to develop around Our closest relatives, because no qilik relative alive today resembles them to that same degree. It's more like a human looking at a tamarin or a spider monkey, you can see that their faces look a good bit like ours and their hands are almost identical, but it's not like the 'I am looking at a thing that is shaped almost exactly like a human but Not' factor that chimps have.

Where a qilik culture considers themselves distinct from/above other animals, they tend to treat these qilik-like birds as 'its like if a qilik was a bird lol'. Where a qilik culture conceptualizes all animals as being their own peoples, these qilik-like birds tend to be conceptualized as 'little cousins' or the like.

There are at least Some tendencies for above-baseline focus on birds in qilik cultures. Stories that attempt to explain why qilik have wings but cannot fly are VERY common. Cultural origin stories involving descent from an animal (usually an animal being transformed, or an animal mating with a qilik) frequently involve this animal being a bird (these stories almost always describe the origin of a singular ethnic group as a means of differentiating themselves from neighbors, rather than the entire species). Dances that mimic the movements/courtship behavior of birds are very common across qilik cultures (whether it be for beauty, an act of veneration, an act that attempts to summon wild game, a display of masculinity, etc), as is vocal mimicry of birds having notable significance. The motif of qilik with bird wings as deities, spirits, monsters, demons, etc, is EXTREMELY common across cultures.

None of these things Aren't true of other animals though. If you did an exhaustive compendium of all animal cultural elements in all qilik societies, you'd actually find INSECTS having slightly more prominence than birds.

The only qilik groups I've established that self label As Birds are those in structurally (rather than incidentally) interspecies societies with caelin/delkhin. This is partly a matter of explaining/justifying their commonalities by placing themselves on a sort of bird spectrum (caelin have beaks and can fly, like most birds, but have 'fur' (pycnofibers) instead of (overt) feathers. Delkhin have 'fur' + can't fly, but have beaks like most birds. Qilik cannot fly but have feathers like most birds). This classification system is usually supplementary to origin stories that Explain this connection, often placing the three groups as the first birds to be created, or superior/lords among all birds.

(There are probably some groups that self-label as birds without this factor at play, I just haven't established them and this probably isn't that common).

EXONYMS for qilik by non-qilik groups tend to describe them as birds. The most common exonyms for qilik as a species tend to be things like 'bird people' 'birdfolk' 'talking birds' etc. It's also fairly common that some dehumanizing (for lack of a better word) rhetoric used By qilik for other qilik revolves around comparisons to certain kinds of birds (this tends to be more specific than just birds in General, usually species culturally viewed as vicious, lowly, stupid, etc).

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Dialogue: Happy Expressions

to describe your characters

Happy as a clam - Cute as they are, clams are not the most emotive creatures in the animal kingdom, so why do we say happy as a clam? Some have speculated it’s because a partially opened clam shell resembles a smile. But the expression is a shortening of the longer happy as a clam in mud at high tide or happy as a clam at high water, both of which were in usage by the mid-1800s and serve to mean “happy as a critter that’s safe from being dug up and eaten.” The longer expressions evoke a sense of relief more than the shorter happy as a clam, which is widely used to mean “extremely happy.”

Happy camper - A person who is cheerful and satisfied, although the expression is frequently used in negative constructions, as in “I’m not a happy camper.” The word camper was widely used to refer to a soldier or military man when it entered English in the 1600s. It took on a more generic sense of one who camps recreationally in the mid-1800s, paving the way for the expression happy camper to emerge in the 1930s. Interestingly, use of the phrase happy camper skyrocketed in the 1980s.

Happy-go-lucky - The word happy comes from the Old Norse happ meaning “chance” or “luck.” The wildcard nature of chance is reflected in the wide range of words that share this root. While the adjective happy-go-lucky, meaning “trusting cheerfully to luck” or “happily unconcerned or worried,” is widely used in positive contexts, its etymological cousin haphazard, carries a more negative connotation. The expression happy-be-lucky entered English slightly earlier than happy-go-lucky, but fell out of use in the mid-1800s.

Happy hour - People were using the word happy to mean “intoxicated” as early as the mid-1600s, alluding to the merrymaking effect of alcohol. But the phrase happy hour didn’t catch on until the early 1900s. This expression originally referred to a time on board a ship allotted for recreation and entertainment for a ship’s crew. Nowadays the expression refers to cocktail hour at a bar, when drinks are served at reduced prices. This definition caught on around the era depicted in the well-lubricated offices of TV’s Mad Men.

Happy medium - The phrase happy medium refers to a satisfactory compromise between two opposed things, or a course of action that is between two extremes. The notion of the happy medium is descended from an ancient mathematical concept called the golden section, or golden mean, in which the ratios of the different parts of a divided line are the same. This term dates from the 1600s, though it is still widely used today.

Slaphappy - Around the time of World War II, the word happy began appearing in words to convey temporary overexcitement. Slaphappy is one of these constructions, suggesting a dazed or “happy” state from repeated blows or slaps, literal or figurative. Slaphappy can mean “severely befuddled” or “agreeably giddy or foolish” or “cheerfully irresponsible.”

Trigger-happy - The happy in trigger-happy indicates a kind of temporary mental overstimulation. But in this construction, happy means “behaving in an irresponsible or obsessive manner.” The term trigger-happy entered English in the 1940s with the definition “ready to fire a gun at the least provocation.” Over time, it has taken on figurative senses including “eager to point out the mistakes or shortcomings of others” and “heedless and foolhardy in matters of great importance.”

Source ⚜ More: Notes ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs ⚜ Some Personality Idioms