#queen i would add you but these ones live in my head rent free

[lunaescribe]

Luna's characters of all time

tagged by @simbers

make a poll with five of your all time favorite characters and then tag five people to do the same. see which character is everyone’s fave!

@pengychan @bluubearri @lannacai and any other moots I can't remember everyone's urls

[greycaelum]

Hi there!! This has been living rent-free in my mind, but how would the Gojo family react if Satoru was turned into a cat? I saw that one shot for the Chains Series and I suddenly wondered how would the KSeries deal with it. I bet when he's back to normal, Saika will ask for a cat and now Satoru will have to deal with the consequences 🤣

Personal headcanon: As a cat, he would be a Maine coon. Tall, has beautiful hair, and is BIG.

Ok... I'm drowning with the ask that has piled up... Scratching my head how I'll manage to finish this before the next grueling school year starts. Send virtual snacks and iced chocolate!

You look at the big white fluff staring at you with a resting bitch face, licking his paws and purring on the bean bag Satoru loves to doze off... well, technically it is still Satoru.

"What did you do this time, Satoru?" You rubbed your temples as you sighed at the cat Shoko gave you, telling you it was Satoru. You don't know if she's being serious or pulling your leg but the large cat looks exactly like Satoru if he was a cat. White fluffy fur and bright blue eyes, and what's more is that the cat—Satoru has the exact smirk he has as a human. A menace.

Saika was the first one to discover Satoru who didn't waste time hopping off the bean bag and started meowing, rubbing, and purring around Saika's legs. Your daughter just came home from her piano lessons and had to be picked up by the chauffeur because you don't wanna leave Satoru in this bizarre state of his.

"Oh! Hi, pretty kitty! You look just like me!" Your daughter exclaimed and dropped to her knees to hug the cat—Satoru—and called you from the kitchen.

"Mama! Did Papa get me a cat?!" She came running to you carrying the heavy cat—Satoru who meowed at you and let his daughter carry him in his cat form around.

The ladle hit the ground as you asked her to put him down gently on the floor but Satoru didn't seem to share the same idea as he meowed loudly and clung to Saika.

What a drama queen!

"Satoru! Claws off!" You weren't able to stop yourself from calling him out. Satoru in his cat form threw his head back and meowed loudly, vocally expressing himself and his disagreement with you but finally let go of Saika.

"Mama, did you name him like Papa?" Saika looked up to her mother in confusion and back to the kitty. "Papa will be jealous" She adds with a sure face. "We need to name him anothe—"

She wasn't able to finish that as the door was slammed open with a panting Kouki. Your son's eyes zeroed out on the cat—Satoru. Satoru nonchalantly runs in his son's direction and starts meowing as if telling him what you did to him.

All the while Kouki just stared at the cat and as if listening to the litany he was meowing...

"Okay, enough. You're giving me a headache with all the yapping." You shook your head and scooped the hairball fluff into your arms. "Snacks are on the table." You told the kids before going upstairs with cat—Satoru in your arms.

"Meow!"

"Don't start..."

"Meow, meow, meow!"

"..." You stared at the cat, staring back at you with an annoying subtle smirk on his lips.

"You do realize I could have you neutered and you'll never know whether you're keeping those balls or not when you come back to normal, rightttt Hun?" You smiled sweetly to the feline—Satoru, whose non-existent shoulder from his chonky fat body slackened at the word 'neuter'. His blue eyes widened as if accusing you of a heinous crime as he immediately curled up, trying to hide in your arms. Vocalizing a tiny meow to poke your conscience.

Closing the bedroom door, you put him on the bed which he immediately curled in his side, turning his back on you...

"Well... what do you want for dinner? Obviously, I can't feed you normal cat food." You pull him close then place him on your lap, petting his tummy. "I can boil some chicken for you... or some wagyu beef we have on the fridge."

He rolled over your lap, presenting his belly as he gave you a very big yawn.

"Meow meow!"

"Wagyu?" You asked in confirmation.

"Meow..." He licked his nose and patted your hand which stopped petting his belly.

"Mama! Where's Papa?" Saika asked from the other side of the door. "He promised to give me an ice cream tonight." You could hear the pout in your daughter's voice.

Kouki turns the knob slowly and enters with his sister... He's still eyeing the cat who looked at them and meowed in greeting...

"That's Papa right, Mama?" Your son looked at you and back to the cat. "I saw it, he turned into a cat..." they climbed onto the bed and Satoru jumped to rub against Kouki's shoulder and lick Saika's cheek.

Saika's eyes widened... her eyes landed back on Satoru for a long time before they slowly watered and she bursted out crying.

Satoru licks her tears, patting her arm, circling around his daughter trying to console her. He meows at you as if asking for help.

"Papa's a cat?!" She sniffles. "Am I a c-cat too, Mama?" She hiccups with fat tears rolling down her face.

"You're already a cat, Sai..." Kouki adds.

"Wha—No!" You covered your lips to stop the laughter threatening to spill. "It's just a temporary situation, okay? Papa's gonna be fine, it's a curse he got from work but he'll be totally back to his normal self... I just don't know when." You slowly explained to your bawling daughter.

"Meow!"

"It's fine, sweetie... Don't cry, Papa's fine. Okay?" You consoled the girl who hiccuped between her tears. "And Kou, stop playing with your father's fur, your allergy could act up any second, sweetheart." You reminded Kouki who was hugging his father's cat form, burying his nose on the snowy fur and rolling around the bed while Satoru just let his son do whatever with his feline body.

"i'm n-not a c-cat?" Saika sniffles.

"No, sweetie of course not." You consoled her. Wiping away the fat tears on her cheeks, hugging the little treasure's body into your arms and also pulling in Kouki into the cuddle... Satoru in his cat form rubbed against the three of you and plop on your lap.

You left the three of them on the bedroom to cook dinner. Eventually the cuddles continued as you decided to have a movie marathon with the kids and let them sleep with you for tonight. Saika fell asleep first, curled up beside Satoru who is let her hold his floofy tail while she slept. Kouki was curled on to you side, watching the movie with you.

"Papa's gonna be okay..." Kouki says out of nowhere and pets Satoru's head. "Papa's the strongest." Your son beamed at you with a proud look on his face.

"Yes, he is..." You kissed your son's head and ruffled his hair. "Papa's the strongest... troublemaker." You added.

"Meow!"

Kouki giggles. You just smiled. As far as you know, when it comes to cuddles and loving' Kouki turns to you but when it comes to affirmations Kouki always counts on to his Papa. Satoru is his idol and nothing could make him change his mind, much to his father's delight.

You fell asleep together, the movie was on but the three of you were knocked out except for a certain cat...

Purring to himself he carefully treads between the entangled limbs and curls to your chest. Subconsciously your lips found his furry forehead, pressing a light peck before he licked your jaw and curled deeper into you, making some biscuits as he purred and purred. He feels so safe and loved in your presence.

The next day...

"Papa can you turn to a cat?"

"Wha—of course not Sai, yesterday was just a very very special situation."

"Yeah, it was special because I didn't get allergies around your cat fur Papa." Kouki adds.

You woke up to your husband and kids talking... But you decided to keep your eyes shut and just listened.

"Can't everyday be a very very special day so you can turn to a cat, Papa?" You could vividly see Saika's puppy eyes even with your eyes closed.

"No, Cat. How can Papa do this?!"

The loud squeals of both the kids enveloped the room. Satoru tickles them to wheezing until one eventually taps out.

"Papa can't do this if I was a cat, no?"

"I like Papa when he's a cat, coz I don't get allergies when I play with you!" Kouki exclaims.

"if I was a cat then I can't do this too!"

Suddenly your feet were pulled back effectively ending your eavesdropping as you shriek in surprise. Landing on top of your husband's lap with his shit eating grin on his face.

"Miss me Honey? Almost lost my family's crown jewels to your threat yesterday, gonna pay for that, Mrs. Gojo."

"W-Wait!" You didn't have time to escape as your three menaces drown you with tickles and kisses the first thing in the morning.

Well... You wouldn't have it in any other way.

Bonus:

You push several sheets of paper in front of Satoru...

"What's this, Baby?" He was munching on some tuna sandwiches while you and Kouki just came from the hospital. Behind you, Kouki and Saika are looking at him with awfully twinkling eyes.

"This mochi's immunotherapy to his car allergies seemed to have worked." You chuckled.

"Well... That's a good thing! Right?" Satoru looks up confused.

"We can finally get a cat!" Saika cheers.

"I want a Maine Coon, Papa!" Kouki interjects.

"No! I want a Norwegian Forester, Kiku-nii!"

"Papa!" They both chorus and tug at his legs.

Satoru looked up to you for help. You shrugged and went to the kitchen to cook dinner.

"I'm not cleaning litter boxes, just so you three know."

—GreyCaelum

PLAGIARISM IS A CRIME

Check out the Masterlist for more

All rights and credits of the Jujutsu Kaisen character(s) mentioned images(s) and songs(s) used, belongs to their respective owner(s)

General/Kaleidoscope Series Taglist: @ice-icebaby @aeanya @gummy-dummy @tender-rosiey @lexiene @nevermoresworld @loml-riri @pelicanpizza @emichou-chan

[unlikelypandahologram]

Reasons to ship every single version of MegOP

since Very Dumb Discourse™ exists about whether or not certain versions of this ship are valid, this is going to be THE most positive post about all versions of MegOP. refer back to this post for reasons to ship your favorite version of MegOP if anyone gets weird about it with you. now let us begin!!

G1: goofy '80s faction dads fighting each other in a denny's parking lot every week LET'S GOOO, that shit is fun as fuck. orion pax also totally had a celeb crush on megatron before megatron ruined that and shot him and his pals 😔 and there's a lot of angst you can add with megatron becoming galvatron and optimus coming back to life to see how much he's changed!

BW: it's the sheer fucking comedy gold factor of a newly minted college graduate and a terrorist dinosaur IMMEDIATELY singling each other out on a prehistoric rock and deciding to call their daily gang slap-fights the BEAST WARS, what iconic drama queens LMAOOOO. also, megatron made his final body in BM look like optimal optimus SPECIFICALLY to fuck with him, and that's just...incredible

UT: the fact that megatron CANONICALLY acted like a grieving widower over optimus after he died in armada is. amazing. never forget their absolutely insane obsession with each other that they can never EVER give up on played a direct part in unicron nearly ending the world <3

Bayverse: this is the one continuity of all fucking things that gave us the lore about megatron being prime's lord high protector. absolute galaxy brain writing from the tie-in comics. also these two would ABSOLUTELY have the messiest, nastiest, most brutal hate sex imaginable, and that's beautiful. <3

Animated: optimus being a rookie washout underdog and megatron being a super scary much older warlord is a really interesting and underrated fresh take on their dynamic! lots of fun to be had with exploring what their relationship would be like after megatron finally acknowledged him as his archnemesis, lol. also...age AND size difference ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Prime: do i even need to say anything, i'm pretty sure that one flashback still of orion and megatronus being friends is responsible for birthing a million shippers for this pairing alone LMAOOOO. the bitter ex-boyfriends energy was TRULY off the charts in this show, it's a damn shame megatron never appeared in RID15

Cyberverse: same bitter ex-boyfriends energy but this time with dates at maccadams. megatron also dies encouraging optimus to beat the unhinged alternate dimension megs AAHH THE ANGST

IDW1: they're both depressed gay war criminals in this one who CONSTANTLY live in each other's heads rent-free and that's amazing, lmfao. also, megatron becoming an autobot means this is one of the VERY FEW continuities where it's not nigh impossible to figure out a way to give these two a happy ending together in fanon

IDW2: space date space date SPACE DATE. they were falling together and everything. megatron also LITERALLY tells optimus to open himself to him...to give him the matrix...yeah megs my dude i'm sure that's the ONLY thing you wanted from optimus "opening" himself. toootally positive, lol

G1 Marvel: megatron was SUPER fucking pissed and weird as shit about the time optimus died over a video game. it counts

Dreamwave: their first fight had megatron urging optimus to join him AND they disappeared together in a space bridge explosion once which is like, a fanfic-esque setup for them to be alone. also i'm pretty sure this is the continuity where optimus accidentally gave megatron a lobotomy, so...uh...potential for angst is to be had

SG: mirror universe!! evil crazy villain optimus with noble goody-goody hero megatron has so much potential for absolute chaos. bonus if you also bring in the normal versions somehow through multiverse shenanigans <3

KP: the only way this version of prime can redeem himself from the creepy underage human girl bullshit is if he gets a good hard dicking from megatron. next

Prime Wars: huge "ex-husbands go on a road trip with their disgruntled daughter" energy here. megatron also LITERALLY says "oh optimus, if only you could see me now" <3

Earthspark: again...need i say why? they're pals and working together from the get-go, what's not to ship??

Skybound: optimus literally wears megatron's arm. truly beautiful <3

TF One: it's not out yet but give it time. the entire movie is going to be about orion and d-16 being madly in love and tragically breaking up, baby!!

[dancerinthestorm]

Fic Recs: "Didn't see that one coming" edition...

I've been wanting to start collecting my all time favorite stories in ages but never knew where to start, there are just too many talented souls out there. A lazy day of re-reading favorites makes me want to finally give it a try though.

Featuring today: stories that defy my usual hunting patterns but still became all time favourites against all odds. Stories leaving me utterly gobsmacked thinking "That was so, soo awsome... but how on earth did I end up in this fandom / character / trope tag of all places?".

@messy-insomniac-bookgirl Let's be honest: this writer is the spirit animal of this specific selection. Never heard of the fandom? Dislike the protagonist with a passion? Doesn't matter: she writes it, I devour and love it. The reason? Dense and hugely rewarding story-telling, perfect pacing, side characters you want to adopt on the spot, delicious slow burns with sooo much yearning. And, most importantly, the awesome female OCs. I am in love with each and every one of them, regardless who they share a screen with. It's almost impossible to select just one story for this list but let's go for "Keep Calm and Buckle Up" (AO3) for suddenly making me feel things when Steve Rogers entered the stage in "Infinity War". Steve Rogers x OFC, James "Bucky" Barnes x OFC, Steve x Bucky x OFC. Action, slow burn, emotional roller coaster rides. Rated E.

@batsingotham "Written in the stars" (AO3) I don't do Soul Mate AUs. I don't do Robert Pattinson characters. For me the best things about "The Batman" were Andy Serkis' Alfred and 3 hours of Niravana in a loop. But the undisputed goddess queen of slow burn domestic fluff overruled all of that. Bruce Wayne/Reader. Soulmate AU. Dorks in love. Bruce needs a hug and Alfred has the patience of a saint. Rated M.

"Sweet Conversations" by @glassgulls Lord of the Rings has been living in my head rent free ever since I was a teenager but I simply don't do Elves. Period. Yes, Glorfindel is very cool and Lee Pace's Thranduil is an absolute vision (the costumes, the voice and the make up, mind you, don't get me started on any other aspect of the Hobbit movies though...) but otherwise? Thanks but no thanks. Nevertheless: the award for best fictional kiss I’ve come across in ages goes to this gem. Amazing scene setting and character work for something so short. Leaves you weak-kneed and high as a kite on serotonin for the rest of the day. Haldir/Reader. One-shot. Rated M.

„Ownership of Mine“ by @amywritesthings . Okay, lets be honest, peeps: Prison settings for a romance story? Seriously? Who in their right mind would be able to think about romance and seduction when all of your freedom is taken away, you are crammed into a small and dark space with people of questionable character and put under constant surveilance. Well… apparently I can… with this story. Even if that tag is a big red NO GO sign for me otherwise. Amazingly dense story telling and atmosphere building in just 3 short chapters. Kino Loy/Reader. Rated E.

„Directions“ by @zinzinina . Probably a sure sign that I am getting too old for all of this but tags about age gaps, first love or first times usually make me run for the hills. Add a character like Poe Dameron (I mean: come on! Howww…?!) to the mix and there is not enough willing suspension of disbelieve in the world to get me immersed in the plot. Or so I thought. Unwisely. Until this beauty came along. Poe Dameron/Reader. Rated E.

[seasonschange32]

I'm trying to watch Athena P lore videos because god are they entertaining and so funny. But here's some shows/movies I would love a lore deep dive on and why:

Inspector gadget reboot - the 'romance' between penny and Talon was so confusing yet endearing. Also, loving how chief Quimby just Disguises himself just to give gadget a misson

Total drama - not only was it a huge fan of gross out humor and has our overlord chris mclain, it literally introduced me to the ' bad boy x good girl' trope before ripping it out and taking a character ( who was literally perfect with another) and forcing them together due to aesthetics.

Transformers: robots in Disguise ( 2015) or Transformers prime - two shows that have fanbases debating ( seriously), each saying why each respective show is better. But other than that, both are fine for what they are and gave me two crushes that I hold dearly.

Mia and me - a fairy show that's not only animated but live action? With the main character having an ability to talk to unicorns? And with one of her bullies DISCOVERING HER SECRET LIFE??

Ben and hollies little kingdom - super wholesome and I love how the humans coinside with the fairies

Max and ruby - there's a tiktoker who made a whole series on why ruby was annoying. Need I say more?

Trollhunters and the spin off 3below - honestly from what I remember, I loved the stakes of the show and how cool the Armour the main character had. Regarding the spin off, loving how the bully I think was into the alien girl

Max steel ( not the 2000s one. sorry) - Max having to come up with the most unbelievable excuses as to why he has to go is cliche but also kind of funny? And the fact that the company Max's dad works for has lore as well is kind of interesting

Dino squad - I actually remembered this show through a cringe compilation of all things and had to add it. From the theme song, to the plotines, to the fact that I had a crush on Laruzo even though he was obviously queer coded ( his Dino form was cool though)

Jem and the holograms - the I am a giant song from the misfits lives in my head rent free. Also, jem practicing trying to reveal to that one guy only from him to yell at her is funny to me

Lolirock - same with jem as revolution is iconic as well as the villians. Plus, why is was eventually taken off

The tinker bell movies - forgot I was supposed to mention movies as well ( sorry). But I love them and how the fairies each have their own abilities ( as well as different kinds). From pirate fairies to winter fairies, it's really cool.

Barbie: a fashion fairytale - I love all barbie movies equally but this...this just takes the cake. What other movie will you see ken making a child cry, fairies with attitude, rotting dresses, and a roller skating aunt?

Zoom (2015) - the trailer showing a scene of the main character and her character arguing is honestly what made me want to watch it ( I haven't but I'm planning on it)

Super hero squad - kid me was laughing my butt off when falcon married his bird. So...

The little prince movie - I didn't even read the book but when I saw that the old man had died, I was emotionally devastated, especially after listening to all his stories which inspired the main character to go find the prince UGHHH

The book of life - is it cliche? Yes. Is it like coco? Yes. Do I like that in the end, the main boy has to sing a guitar version of creep to calm down a bull? Absolutely yes!

Epic - josh hutcherson, beyonce, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny knoxville, an enemies to lovers storyline, a snail, a royal guard having a love for the queen, the enemies being bugs, and ANDD a nerdy dad. That's it.

Rise of the guardians - I absolutely love it followed jack and his arc of being seen and when he finally is, the kid and him are just so excited! Also, the fact that a lot of people are simping for the Easter bunny is a testament to how many people will call anyone sexy.

Daniel spellbound - wanted to add this because there's an awesome creator ( cough cough @bonkalore) who's made an amazing au out of this show and I wanted to see what you thought of it and your theories

Bonus options ( just random one's I think could fit): the rainbow fairies series, Lego friends, the complicated life of Claudia Christina Cortez, sonic underground, drama or sisters ( but any book by rainia would be great), Junie b Jones, stoked, barney, goddess girls, glitter force ( that's what I remember it as), invisible sister, a monster in Paris, Maya and miguel, and Martha)

If you want anymore, let me know!

[gottaeattolivegottastealtoeat]

OutofBread;

Let me put out this shameless self-promo for other blogs that I actually have running and I hope you guys will all have fun adding them if you please!

Janis - From the Inuyasha video game Secret of the Divine Jewel!

Link - This Link is an amalgamation of a bunch of the different video games, so very heavily Canon Divergent.

Crysta - From Ferngully. Please, please, please give her some attention. I have never actually gotten to utilize this muse and interactions would be so fun! I play her anywhere in the timeline, from before she met Zack in the movie, to after when she's learned how to control her powers.

Fawn - From the newer Tinkerbell movies. Another muse very rarely utilized, if ever. I will love you guys forever if she got some attention!

Kurama - From YuYu Hakusho! One of my strongest muses, and also one of my best. I resonate really well with my foxy ragechild, and he is almost always active. It would be really fun to get some stuff going with him.

Terra - From Kingdom Hearts. Also really resonate with this boyo. He is one of my other favorite and fun characters to play as, but I have also rarely utilized him so some interactions would be fun to say the least!

Lelouch - From Code Geass. LET. HIM. HAVE. THE. WORLD. Not literally, but figuratively. I love Lelouch with every fiber of my being and he is another muse that I absolutely adore and will love you forever for interacting with.

Derek - From the Swan Princess series of movies. This little dummy is a sweetheart, please feel free to go and bug him. I will forever give you cookies. This dumb Himbo lives in my brain rent free.

Mushrambo - From Shinzo! And the list of REALLY OBSCURE MUSES CONTINUES. LIsten, I haven't seen the Shinzo anime/tv series/cartoon whatever it was actually in FOREVER but Mushrambo also lives in my head rent free and I have clips on standby from the show to watch just for characterization purposes because this man is absolutely WORTH IT.

Katerina - AND FINALLY, my OC Katerina!! She has a bio if you follow the link to her page, and I love her to pieces. This is my comfort muse. I will never NOT have muse for this beautiful sweet precious girl. My foxy little fox. Please and thank you forever if you give me interactions with her. I could say twenty-bajillion things about her and it will never be enough so just... y'know. Go check her out!!

Jimmy - Quick edit to add Jimmy Kudo from Case Closed. I love this little gremlin with every fiber of my being and he deserves love and attention. The boy will have fun and love all the attention. Bring it on!!

Kagome - Another quick edit to add the queen. The sweetest girl. My best, brightest, perfect little girl. Kagome Higurashi from Inuyasha. Feel free to follow her for the fun times. We love interactions, and you should all go and give her love. Please?

Diablo - From the anime/manga/novel series How Not To Summon A Demon Lord. He's a lovely little muse, but also, he's a lonely little sonuvabitch who needs friends. So please come and interact with him?

Terry - Terry McGinnis from Batman Beyond. Very smug and smarmy little bat child; he will have fun talking to all of you and enjoying life. Please enjoy him to your heart's content. Villains, please flock to him because we will enjoy having witty banter and kicking your butts~!

Jack - Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians. He's only got your best interests at heart. Come and have some fun! No, really. You need to come and have some fun with him, or else he'll bean you with a snowball to make you have fun with him. So, like, just avoid the snowball to the face. Come play~!

Owen Grady - From Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Jurassic World: Dominion. Open to play in any of the movie timelines, also featuring Canon Divergence for the timelines of the first two movies. Come and enjoy a little bit of fun with the Raptor Dad. Let's have some fun roleplaying in Jurassic Park and Jurassic World stuff!!

Ashitaka Akira Muso - Prince Ashitaka from the Studio Ghibli movie, Princess Mononoke. Open to play in a verse set after Princess Mononoke, wherein he lives in Iron Town with the rest of the inhabitants and has taken over as the ruler of Iron Town from Lady Eboshi. Everyone looks to Ashitaka for answers and guidance as the man who saved all of their lives. Please have fun interacting with him!!

[freewayshark]

I may change my mind this week/next, but “redeeming” the Buckley parents is one of the only things I won’t forgive the show for. Luckily the parents don’t show up enough to ruin my enjoyment of it.

Like it was a half ass attempt and “Love me anyways” lives rent free in my head….and breaks my heart every time.

Also to add this is nothing against the actors…both of the parents did a phenomenal job. Maybe that’s why I dislike the characters so much 🤣.

No I get you, I would love it if Maddie and Buck just yeeted them out of their lives, and if this was any other circumstances I would absolutely be on board for that. It’s just, for me, I don’t want to see Buck deal with his parents being shitheads about his sexuality literally two episodes after he discovers it, y’know? And for all I know it won’t even come up with them and I’m just thinking about it for no reason.

Also you better not have anything against the actors, Dee Wallace is a queen!!!! 😂

[savyir-genesizz-the-wizard]

Saladin and Zavala for the otp meme? ;o

Ok, I wasn't exactly sure what you ment her so if it's

that ship bingo thing then:

I mean... it is student/mentor ship and I typically dislike them (you know what I'm thinking about Caiatl/Ghaul) but I'm willing to give this one a pass because there is no weird power dynamic, which I do normally like

2. And if it's character opinion ask game then:

Saladin (already answered, not much changed, just now I ship Salaxxideet and I would add "Wataha" from Męskie Granie)

Zavala:

Favorite thing about him: He is so sad, so babygirl. For oblivious reasons it's rarely explored but I just love these lore pieces where he's sad. It's probably because I love writing these kind of scenes myself. Destiny can sometimes write such good male characters. Also, you know, Polish dub.

Least favorite thing about him: Before SotHaunted I would probably complain about lack of emotional investment but I'm still living of that season. Well, maybe more Targe lore would be welcomed

Favorite line:

"They are not our salvation. We are theirs." What. Did he mean by this.

Also the entire conversation he had with Ikora in Witch Queen CE booklet when they were playing that game.

BrOTP: With every Titan, ever. Bonus points if that Titan is way taller than him and uses his shoulder as an armrest. Mostly Shaxx and Sloane tho. But also his friendship with Ikora.

OTP: Zaiatl, always

nOTP: Suraya Hawthorne. Just. Just no, no reason really. Ok, well, maybe that she's not a guardian. And also way younger than him.

Random headcannon: He's a firm believer of various knitting superstitions. Watch him never knit a sweater for Caiatl.

Unpopular opinion: HE WON'T DIE. HE WON'T. STOP TELLING THAT HE WILL. I WILL EAT MY SOCKS.

Song I associate with him:

A lot of Mitski songs

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (swap wife and husband's roles and you'll get Zavala and Safiah in SotH)

Vetiver - Last Hurrah

The Mountain Goats - No Children

Purple Disco Machine, Sophie and the Giants - Hypnotized

Hallelujah (ok, well, that one applies to a lot Destiny characters)

This song from Frostpunks's OST

Favorite picture of them:

Lives in my head rent-free. Why is he so pretty. Illegal activity.

Also his black eyeliner is on point. He teaches Crow how to put on make-up.

[lovlorne]

the next attack comes in the form of an envelope slid under her bedroom door.

not the front door. the bedroom door. must've been left there while she slept.

the address on the front reads 我叫陈秀英 in a simple hand.

inside is a photograph. the way the letter is opened the back is facing her. someone wrote on it. it's her handwriting. 'they don't know you.' at the bottom is an arrow pointing to the other side of the photo.

the other side is an empty stage with a pole in the middle. to most people it would just be a strange thing to take a picture of, but the familiarity should hit home shortly when the little details are recognized.

in the bottom margin of the photo it simply reads 'wrong.'

———— 💔┊      IT'S A PIECE OF PAPER.     that's all it is. text. photography. one tear could end it all, yet her fingers tremble, her grip far too shoddy to even manage. funny, she can't see it, either, reality drowned in bubbling tears.

heaving chest ebbs and flows as nervous eyes scan the surroundings. beneath the bed. in the walk-in closet. in the treasure chest. hell, in the bookcase, even under it, as well as under her dresser, which dons a mirror she hobbles to, only to find that her face has been set alight.

her one tell: the constellations that pepper her body. they flicker, they flare, lines connecting them as a chill tickles her tendrils. like cracks on porcelain, they tear into her face, bright baby pink stars ripping through a dreary dark night. though the mirror is mere seconds away from the same fate, she shatters first.

try as she might, she cannot steady her rhythm, her breathing short and rapid. those eyes scan around, as if someone would manifest behind her   ( her agent? lono? jordan? an enemy...? a friend? )   before accepting that there were simply far too many possibilities, and not all of them were foolish enough to accept her disguise, nor her newfound freedom in becoming the queen.

like her skin, iridescent black tentacles nigh crack and shrivel, allowing a peek of their true pale pink. though she cannot see through the sea salting her cheeks, she knows she has been found. she could deflect, she could choose violence, but in the end, they still won. be that as it may, this is not the war. it is one fight.

she intends to win. if not for herself, then for the girls she left behind.

———— ❤️‍🩹┊      AS CLOCK TICKS,     her breathing steadies, head dipped and eyes closed while fingers furl along the rosewood dresser. only when the rhythm returns does she glare into the mirror, and see herself. no black tendrils. no eyeshadow   ( had she wiped it off amidst cleaning her tears? )   just a little princess trying to be something new. she'd not yet even painted her burst - bombs to keep up the guise, after all, she'd only recently woken up, but the desire to hurl them out her window sure grew.

within enclosed palm are fake nails that threaten to pierce sensitive skin, but she feels naught a lick of it. how can she vent rage to someone she cannot see? well. they clearly see her…

    ❝ you owe me money, ❞  

she mutters amidst the clatter and shatter of her perfume bottles hitting the floor.

    ❝ you lived in my head rent free,        you actin' scummy,       so i'll add it to your BITCH fee. ❞  

objects become part of a hurricane, the eye of the storm being the beast spiraling within. wiping streaks of tears across her face, painting streaks of ink along the way from glass - cut knuckles, queen stands amidst the wreckage.

    ❝ don't be shy, put some more,        you've proved you're rotten to the core.        i'm the bitch you can't ignore,        you bark, i bite, you keepin' score? ❞  

queen has the senses to store the note in her treasure chest after the destructive wreckage. under lock and key, she will come back to it another time. until then, she must question: what is worse? self - destruction? or allowing some vermin to destroy her?

no. she'd sooner fall on the sword herself. peace resides in her empty, glazed gaze.

    ❝ you listening? don't answer, i know you are. i was a damn good dancer. it put me in this position i'm in now. if i wanted to, i could go right the fuck back to it. an' i know i'd still be successful. 'cause my skill's all that matters in the end. hell, gimme the address, i'll put my ass on that pole for you. ❞  

[fuckyourdumbassusername]

I have been listening to music for days looking for that perfect type of song. I want something with bass like dubstep or EDM but vocals like Deathcore. But even then I want a specific TYPE of heavy vocal.

Like Jinjer in Picies during the heavier part. Celldweller adjacent is the best I can describe it as. Also my Discover Weekly and Release Radar are very weighted toward electronic dance or Pop and aren’t helping. Also where’s my Jazz? But like the upbeat swing kind not the “good background for a nap” jazz? Also where is the funk? I know I haven’t been using my Spotify much but it’s depressing that my DJ thinks “well here’s what’s popular on Spotify” is what I want. Like NO. Give me the shit that some small band with 1,000 followers put out so I can get obsessed with the way the guitarist plucks that one chord or the dissonance in the singers voice or the way the drummer switches up the beat or the sudden funky twist in the bass line before the last verse. Give me the weird shit no one has heard. Give me the bedroom DJ and the strange band who only sings about drinking in taverns or being vampires and commit to the bit. Give me the music the normies go “wait what is this?” Give me the music so unique that it stands out from the rest. The world is full of 2-3 minute “I went to the bar and saw a girl” pop songs but how often do you come across a song about the experience of struggling with our mental illness (The Method by Nobodi or more popularly Saddy Daddio by Artimus Wolz). Or the 5 minute song. Just that. Why is all music becoming so short and yet sometimes even 2 minutes is to long for what’s in the song and yet there are 5 minute songs I wish would continue for another 5 minutes? I want to live in the sound for longer and yet it leaves me too soon. Some bands have songs longer than the average live show set and I could listen to it for twice the runtime but other songs I skip as soon as the last verse ends because it has nothing more to give me. Why isn’t there an entire section just for the “this album cover has an anime girl but this shit will slap so hard that is anyone tries to comment on it in a rude way you can just be like but listen to it and watch as this person has to admit it slaps”. Like are you telling me you can listen to Moonlight Sonatra by OBKATIEKAT and not feel like you should have just witnessed some sort of main character becoming the villain scene? Or Hope You Used to Feel by Zetsubou P and Hatsune Miku and not feel like the that 2:13-2:34 playing on repeat at 2 am? Or The Lich’s Nocturne (Froot’s Theme) by RichaadEB and not want to listen to it again? Like you can listen to that epic guitar once and live the rest of your life never listening to it again??? Or Bad Apple by RichaadEB and Cristina Vee and not feel seen by the lyrics? What about Morning Walk by Noah Rosen, Lofitic and Patiotic Records? You can’t feel yourself sitting in a coffee shop listening to this while you watch the rain? It doesn’t just calm you? Follow it with A Surreal World by Noah Rosen, Lofitic and Patiotic Records and I swear you’ll start smelling the imaginary coffee shop. Then there’s (Don’t Fear) The Reaper by Nightshade, Satin Puppets and Lyndsi Austin that lives rent free in my head with the main singer background singer just barely overlapping.

There’s also Ghost Data. Just the whole artist. Queen of Knives with its beat and the understated eee-EEE-eee vocals. Not mentioning the 2:30 build to a slow down to a 2:40 build? Who remains normal after hearing that? Or Magical Girls with its more classic sounding beat and that buzz and then the vocals! The robotic effect on the vocals sell the song for me. Become God returns to the epic beat simple vocals but adds spoken even more robotic lines from time to time that make it a great combination of the other two songs.

Then listen to Lucy by Levi Doron and tell me that beat doesn’t make your heart beat dance or your feet want to move? Or Jenova by Dunderpatrullen and Meganeko and tell me your brain didn’t conjure some Halloween like scenes or some cinematic of your own imagination? What about Tenebrous by Essenger? Can you be normal after hearing the drums in that song and listening to the lyrics?

Arguably this next one doesn’t fit the category but I’m mentioning it anyway Obsolete by DEADLIFE and Scandroid. The lyrics and build of the music make the brain happy but the album art isn’t really an anime girl but more an anime android of sorts.

I spent so long looking for one specific album cover and couldn’t find it but went on an adventure through my music to find as many examples as I could. Strange to see how normie my music taste used to be and how my playlists used to just be whole album after whole album and have some sort of rhyme or reason and now it’s just one 31 hour whiplash list. If there’s anyone who can listen to all the above anime girl art songs I suggested and not click on the next album they see with an anime girl album art just out of curiosity I don’t understand you. I always have to take a look even if I don’t listen to any I just have to see what the album is made up of. My brain won’t let me just scroll by or ignore it. This post started as me looking for a specific type of music and turned into a hyper fixation on a specific type of album art so for anyone who read it I hope I helped you find at least one song to enjoy.

[pterodactylterrace]

So you really don’t understand that hearing it from someone else makes it secondhand. He did not witness it himself. I was explaining to you that hearing it from his spies makes it secondhand as he did not witness it himself.

Love how we go straight to “must be a misogynist”. Is it really that hard to keep it about the fictional story? I’m simply stating facts. There have been 0 records of a woman taking multiple husbands. This is referenced in GOT. I’m not being a misogynist. I’m stating a fact. Saera was ultimately sent to the silent sisters for that very remark.

Why should I have just one husband? The Conqueror had two wives, and Maegor had six or eight.” She had gone too far. Jaehaerys rose to his feet and descended from the Iron Throne, his face a mask of rage. “You would compare yourself to Maegor? Is that who you aspire to be?” His Grace had heard enough. “Take her back to her bedchamber,” he told his guards, “and keep her there until I send for her again.”

So I’m gonna go ahead and say her suggesting to take multiple spouses like Maegor was an overall bad decision, and ultimately never happened.

I gave you a solid example of Daemon not caring about what Jace says. Steamrolled him. Just like he will to get his sons on the throne after him.

When did I say he hated Luke? Canonically it’s spelled with a k, by the way. Would you like the quote? He doesn’t have to hate Luke to want him out of the way. He loves Rhaenyra yes? He fucking choked her. That’s what he does to someone he loves. It’s not a stretch to infer Daemon would have orchestrated some accident. Viserys jokes about this in the show. I don’t recall anyone saying Daemon wouldn’t do it. Just that no one was saying that.

I’ll go ahead and quote the book as far as blood and cheese is concerned.

Though Blood and Cheese had spared her life, Queen Helaena cannot be said to have survived that fateful dusk. Afterward she would not eat, nor bathe, nor leave her chambers, and she could no longer stand to look upon her son Maelor, knowing that she had named him to die.

It is canonical that Helaena only survived in a physical sense. She was left a shell of a woman. Death felt like an improvement to her. I’m not making things up for funsies. I’m telling you how it is described in the book. Why are you saying I’m calling Daemon a dragon dreamer for explaining how it is described in the book? Maybe in GRRM’s mind Daemon was a dragon dreamer, but he didn’t want to Mary sue him, so he didn’t state it outright.

Idk what to tell you. I was too lazy to scroll up and copy and paste; autocorrect got the best of me. I made sure to use copy and paste for every quote this time. Scouts honor! ☺️

So by mentioning blood and cheese I was giving you an act Daemon was too cowardly to do himself. He knew the keep as well as cheese. Enough to know it was possible at least. But he was too cowardly to do it himself, so he had someone else do it? I mean… you just kind of proved my point. Daemon believed Helaena and her children needed to be taken care of. He was too cowardly to do it himself. He sent two thugs to do it while he was at Harrenhal.

Cheeky little tags! I’m living in your head rent free. I’m sorry. That sounds horrible. I honestly forgot you existed until you decided to go read more of my stuff.

Sorry I mentioned things that happened in the show. I thought it was agreed upon that the book is inaccurate history from unreliable sources and that is why the show doesn’t have to follow the book to the letter. They can add things, change things, make things up and it is still cannon because we are watching what actually happened without unreliable narrative. If it’s strictly about the history book, then you probably should have picked up on the direct references. I may not like Daemon, but I’m giving you direct reasons as to why I came to my conclusions. It does say something that you attributed it up to me doing mental gymnastics when it’s just relaying the information from the book and giving my opinion on the given information. Blink twice if you need help.

B&C and Helaena discourse is on a rise and yall know that's my roman empire so i WILL be giving my two cents (for the thousandth time😼)

First off, B&C

I see a lot of people claiming B&C was the Greens fault, but when you take a second to think you will see that nothing the Greens did as a whole caused B&C. It simply would not have happened if Aemond (1 singular green) had not killed Lucerys for taking his eye. (i believe this excuse comes more from a "well you reap what you sow this is what you get for usurping rhaenyra" mindset rather than thinking ALL the greens are directly to blame for B&C but whatevs) People argue it was Aegon's fault, too, because he celebrated Luke's death with a feast, but that's actually a headcanon. F&B states Aegon celebrated Luke's death, but it skips over any offense it caused Rhaenyra and Daemon. It only says that after learning of Luke's DEATH (not the feast) Daemon sends a letter telling Rhaenyra Luke would be avenged. It was not the feast it was the boy's death that led to B&C.

People also have been saying B&C was necessary and it simply wasn't. Jaehaerys was entirely unrelated to any issue regarding Luke, therefore it wasn't even really avenging him. Luke wasn't actually avenged until Aemond (his killer) died. B&C was not necessary to avenge Luke—it was more of an intimidation tactic on Daemon's behalf.

As for Helaena, people are saying she should've taken her kids, flown to Dragonstone, and bent the knee as per Rhaenyra's peace terms.

That's kind of just dumb lol. Rhaenyra's terms were not individual, she wanted ALL of her siblings to go to her and bend the knee, not just one. If Helaena went to Dragonstone by herself, Aegon would still be Rhaenyra's enemy. Helaena and her children, Aegon's heirs, would become high profile hostages.

Also, Helaena is the queen of the Green Faction. She was crowned by Alicent alongside Aegon. Nothing in F&B implies she's NOT in support of Aegon. If anything, she's passive. She councils him against his stupidity, but that doesn't mean she's a secret supporter of Rhaenyra.

The Greens also happen to be her closest family. Her mom and brothers—people she grew up with. If I remember correctly, she used to visit Alicent in the Tower of the Hand with her children every night. She and Aegon shared a bed until her son was killed. She was described as a happy girl, and if she was miserable, she still clearly held love for her family.

Rhaenyra, however, is a stranger to her. Not just a stranger, but also someone that would mock her mother and her siblings at court.

She had no reason to go to Rhaenyra when the war began.

People are also quite weird about the topic of her suicide, but seeing as suicide is a real issue in a way that usurping, sending assassins after a child, and feeding a boy to a dragon are NOT I won't address that. You are weird if you be laughing about suicide tho ngl.

FINAL PSA: A lot of yall like to go "I love Helaena, she so sweet and gentle and innocent and kind and cute and she's the only green I love BUT..." Yall dont like Helaena and yall CAN admit it. She's a fictional character you dont have to pretend to like her just because you have a moral superiority complex.

[angelasscribbles]

Bad Romance Disney Adventure Chapter 1: Stuck in LA

Miniseries: Bad Romance Disney Adventure

Main Series: Bad Romance

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Liam, Liam x Max, Riley x Max, Riley x Drake, Riley x Leo (past)

Rating: MA

Warnings for this chapter: Language, Sex will be mentioned

Word Count: 2,078

A/N: Special shout out to @nestledonthaveone and @queen-arabella-of-cordonia for the asks that inspired/launched this little endeavor.

A/N 2: @dcbbw gave me the idea that they wouldn't stay in a hotel, but would have royal residences around the world, and that they could be in LA for Max's latest movie. I ran with that and just for extra chaos, I made it the house Leo lives in and threw him into the mix. THEN @dcbbw said wouldn't it be funny if Riley and Leo had some kind of a past together? We bounced some ideas around and the lines, "Everyone but you baby" and “Leo, that was a very long time ago. That was…..” Liam counted on his fingers, “At least five lovers and four children ago.” are both hers, I have just used them with impunity as well as her permission.

Disclaimer: I know I won't be the first person to ever put Leo and Riley together in some capacity. Most notably @queenrileyrose. Truly, if you haven't read her stuff, go read it because it's amazing! This is my little Bad Romance twist on Leo and Riley and I hope I've done them justice. As always, any similarities to anyone else's work in purely unintentional and coincidental.

My other stuff: Master List.

“This fucking sucks!” Drake sent his water bottle flying across the room to crash into the wall three feet from Max’s head.

Max flinched, “Geez, yeah, I know you’re upset but-“

“Shut the fuck up, Beaumont, this your fucking fault!” Drake pointed a finger at him.

“It’s not Max’s fault, Drake! Stop taking it out on him.” Riley chastised.

“The fuck it isn’t! He’s the whole reason we’re in California to start with!”

“Cuddle bear, listen.” Riley struggled to walk across the room to him, one arm resting on her very pregnant belly, the other pushing into the small of her back. When she reached him, she took his face between her hands, “I was the one that wanted to come with him. He was going to come by himself, remember?”

Drake sighed and nodded. “But-“

“No buts, babe. I insisted on coming and then you insisted on coming with me-“

“I’m the head of your security, I go where you go, you know that!” He said petulantly.

“I know that, Drake. My point is that I was the one that chose to come, and I was the one that chose to stay.”

“Stop trying to handle me, Riley and sit back down. You need to stay off your feet.” His anger whooshed out of him as he shifted into protector mode.

“Great news!” Liam chirped out as he sailed into the room, “Dr. Russo can be here by tomorrow! She’s on her way to our private airstrip now. The backup jet is on standby.”

“They have doctors in LA, Liam.” Riley told him.

“They don’t have your doctor. She’s been monitoring you the entire pregnancy and you need her. She’s coming.”

The door opened again, interrupting their conversation, “What are you fuckers still doing in my house? I thought you were leaving.”

“First of all, it’s not your house, Leo.” Liam pinched the bridge of his nose, “It belongs to the crown, I just let you live here, rent free I might add so-“

“Riley can’t travel, she’s passed the 36 week of pregnancy mark and they won’t let her fly.” Max blurted out.

Leo turned to Riley in astonishment, “How the hell could you not know how far along you are?”

“Well-“

Liam and Drake spoke at the exact same time.

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Leo!” Liam said.

“Swear to God, Rys, I’ll knock you the fuck out!”

Leo crossed his arms over his chest, “That would be treason.”

“Fuck it would.” Drake scoffed, “You aren’t prince, king or really shit anymore and we’re on American soil.”

“I’d pardon you anyway.” Liam told him.

“Thanks.”

“Well, this is very touching.” Leo rolled his eyes, “But I still don’t understand how the hell this happened.”

Riley couldn’t resist the urge to be sarcastic, “Well, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-“

“Ha ha ha. I mean, seriously, how did you not plan better?”

“We were supposed to leave three days ago, and that would have been under the wire.” Max explained, “But there were some last minute adjustments to the script that required my input.”

“Right. This is the Royal Romance three? Four?”

“Four.” Max replied with a grin. “The Royal Romance 4: Lost in New York.”

“Based on the summer you guys spent in New York when Riley went back to settle her grandmother’s estate?”

“A fictionalized account of it.” Liam emphasized. The whole thing made him look completely clueless about how to navigate life outside the palace. Honestly, Max had just run out of good material after the second or third book.

“Mostly fictionalized.” Drake smirked at him. Liam had been pretty clueless that summer.

“Yeah, watching you try to figure out how to work a washing machine was fucking hilarious!” Max chortled.

Liam gave him a withering look, “Like you did any better.”

“Ok, ok, don’t start arguing. The point is, I didn’t want to go back without Max and the extra day turned into two, which turned into three and now here we are, stuck.” Riley finished.

“So, you’ll be here for, what, another month?” Leo asked.

Liam shook his head, “I mean…we’re not flying with a newborn so more like two months. I’ll fly back and forth for business if absolutely necessary, but Riley, Drake and Max will be here for the duration.”

“Fuck.” Leo muttered under his breath. This was seriously going to put a crimp in his whoring around.

“Leo, I’m hurt. It sounds like you don’t want to hang out and bond with us.” Max pouted.

“No offense Beaumont, but you guys aren’t exactly fun.”

“Afraid we’re going to cramp your style?” Drake snorted.

“Yes, actually.” Leo answered before turning to Riley with a wink, “Everyone but you baby.”

Riley gave him a little smile as she bit into her lip and rocked her body from side to side.

“What the hell?” Drake looked between Leo and Riley in confusion. “What’s happening?”

“Leo, that was a very long time ago. That was…..” Liam counted on his fingers, “At least five lovers and four children ago.”

“More than five.” Riley smirked, “Hell, that was before Nick.”

“Wait. What?!” Drake exploded.

“Oh. My. God!” Leo’s face lit up in delight, “You didn’t know?”

“I…that….” Drake felt like he was going to hyperventilate.

“It’s ok, it’s ok buddy.” Max soothed in the voice he used when one of the children was having a meltdown, as he rubbed Drake’s shoulders.

“Stop it, Max. I am not a child.”

“I mean…you do act like one sometimes though, don’t you? It’s why we don’t tell you things.” Max replied.

Drake blinked then turned to Riley, “So everyone knew about this but me?”

She nodded. “I had no idea who Leo was at the time. So, it was quite a shock when I saw him at the coronation ball and figured out he was Liam’s brother!”

Riley spotted Liam across the ballroom and made her way over to him. Her eyes were locked on him as she approached so she didn’t notice who he was talking to.

“Riley?! What are you doing here?” A voice from the past pulled her attention.

“Leo? What are you doing here?”

“You two know each other?” Liam’s head swiveled between them.

“Know her? This is the woman I was telling you about! The one from New York that just fucking disappeared on me!”

“Oh no….”

“Oh no, what?” Leo looked back and forth between Liam and Riley.

Liam cleared this throat, “Riley is about to be my fiancé, I’m going to marry her.”

“What? How?” Leo demanded.

“Let’s go have a talk, privately.” Liam suggested.

Drake stared at her in consternation, “Where was I when this revelation occurred?”

“Outside at the bar where I left you, pouting.”

“I wasn’t pouting! I don’t-“

“Dude, you were a wreck that night. Sorry, but it’s true.” Max held his hands up in front of him. “I was having my own struggles with the situation, but even I could tell you were in your fucking feelings.”

“Fine. Whatever. I’m just surprised Liam didn’t tell me at the time.”

“Well, all hell broke loose later that night if you’ll remember, so I had other things on my mind at the time.” Liam told him acridly.

“Right. But still, I’d think that someone would have mentioned it at some point in all the years since. I mean, Beaumont knows!” Drake gestured at Max.

Max shrugged, “She’s always told me everything and we did spend three weeks together immediately after the coronation with nothing else to do but talk and fu-“

“Ok, we get the idea Max!” Leo slapped him in the chest, “If I’d known she was at Ramsford instead of on a plane back to New York, things would have ended differently.”

“No, they wouldn’t have.” Riley rolled her eyes.

“You told Max, but not me.” Drake said accusingly.

“Yeah!” She cried in exasperation.

“Why?”

Riley shrugged expansively, “We knew it would just upset you.”

“Yeah, Walker. She knew you couldn’t handle knowing she’d been with a real man!” Leo gloated.

“Leo, I swear to God, if you don’t shut your fucking cakehole-“

“See?” Riley shot him an I told you so look.

“But baby,” He pulled her into his arms as he made a conscious decision to ignore Leo, “I’ve gotten better.”

“Ah, snuggle bug, you have.” She crooned as she caressed his face and he leaned into it, “I guess it just hasn’t come up. I don’t really think about it much. It was a long time ago and it wasn’t a big deal.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t a big deal?” Leo exclaimed, “That was one of the most amazing weekends of my life!”

“Weekend?” Drake’s jaw clenched tightly.

“Yes, weekend. I met her in New York, just after I’d abdicated. We met at the BRIC festival, she was wearing this tiny little halter top that you would not-“

“I swear to God, Leo, shut your fucking mouth!” Drake looked down at Riley, “Sorry babe.”

Riley pulled out of Drake’s embrace and walked over to Leo, “Stop trying to provoke him, ok?”

Drake turned to Liam, lowering his voice so only Liam could hear him, “How the hell do you not punch him in his smug fucking face every time he brings this up?”

Liam smiled indulgently, “I don’t have to. He does it to himself, every time. Wait for it.”

Drake’s eyes went back across the room where Leo held his hands up in the air, “All I’m saying is that it was an amazing weekend, and we shared a real connection, right baby?”

“Eh,” Riley shrugged, “I mean, we had some fun.”

“Ok, first of all, it seemed like more than that to me. I mean, we had fun,” he quirked his fingers in the air to form imaginary quotation marks around the word fun, “seven times that weekend. Second of all, you’ve still never explained why you left without even telling me goodbye.”

“What?” Drake barked out a laugh.

Leo’s eyes flicked up to Drake, “She just completely ghosted me! I went out for coffee and bagels and when I came back, she was just gone! No note, nothing!”

“And….there it is!” Liam stifled the satisfied giggle that burbled up in his throat, “He’s still salty about it! He couldn’t keep her attention for more than a few days and I married her!”

“I’m sorry, Leo.” She placed her hand on his arm, “You’re just not really my type, that’s all. But I’m sure you’ll make some woman very happy someday.”

“Not your type?” Leo stared at her in disbelief, “Seven times, Riley, seven times!”

“I said it was fun.” She waved him off dismissively, “I’m sure you replaced me by the next night.”

“That’s hardly the point!”

“I think that is the point.” Liam told him, “You just want what you can’t have, that’s all.”

“No, I-“

“Ok, I’m tired of this conversation.” Riley dropped herself onto the couch, “What the hell are we going to do for fun until the baby gets here?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you the best part!” Liam turned back to Riley, “I know everyone is bummed about being stuck here for the next two months so….we’re going to Disneyland!”

“What?!” Maxwell bounded across the room and threw himself into Liam’s arms with a squeal, “This is the greatest idea you’ve ever had!”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Drake asked in concern. “Riley is eight months pregnant!”

“Oh, it’s fine.” Riley assured him, “I still have a month to go. And the kids will absolutely love it!”

“I don’t know,” Drake mused, as he took a seat on the couch next to her. “Jax is only two, he won’t even remember-“

“We’ll take plenty of pictures!” Riley waved him off, “Ellie and Xander will remember.” At eight and five, the older children would be getting an experience of a lifetime.

“Fine.” Drake sighed, his brain already spinning with the logistical nightmare of protecting everyone while they were there.

“Would you like to join us, Leo?” Liam invited, just to be polite.

Leo opened his mouth to decline, but then his eyes went to Drake sitting next to Riley on his couch, arm wrapped around her protectively as his eyes shot daggers at Leo.

Leo returned Drake’s glower with a bright smile, as he told Liam, “Why thank you, little bro, I’d love to!”

[fanfic-scribbles]

Crash Pad

Fandom: MCU Captain America/Avengers

Summary: You’re just minding your own business when the Winter Soldier crashes into your life. Literally.

Quick facts: Romance – established past Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes leading into Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes/Reader – Nondescript Reader

Warnings: Fluff, slight mention of blood

Words: 7801

A/N: I started writing this a few months ago and almost finished when my life got fairly shook up. Still, I’m quite proud of being able to eke out an ending. For anybody who only cares about this story, feel free to skip this note, but for anybody following my other stuff: writing is going to be slow for the time being. My mom died and things are pretty topsy-turvy right now. Writing is still a comfort, but head to hands isn’t working the same right now. Thanks for your patience; I hope this is a pleasant read for you in the mean time <3

  ~

 You’re getting ready for bed and have just turned off the living room light when you hear a clatter on the fire escape. You haven’t gotten over to shut the window yet and you wince at the thought of maybe coming face to face with a giant rat, or a raccoon, although you haven’t yet seen a raccoon and you’re pretty sure they don’t live in the city but it would probably be better than a rat the size of a raccoon–

What you get is much, much worse as a fully grown man falls through the curtains, knocks over a side table and potted plant, and crashes onto your living room floor with a wheezed (but emphatic), “God damn it!”

You freeze, unsure of whether to run or yell or maybe both. However the man flounders on the floor, unable to otherwise move much as he holds his side and– is that blood on your floor?

“Are you okay?” you ask despite everything.

He yanks his head back to look at you and grimaces. “Fuck, I–” He tries to get up, slips in what you are almost positive is blood, and slumps over with a little sigh and a handful of muttered curses that might be in another language. “I am really sorry about this,” he says lowly, like he's embarrassed to be bleeding out in a stranger’s living room. Then he shifts a little more and moonlight gleams on his arm. His very…shiny…completely metal arm, and you find a whole new way to be concerned.

You should have known the reasonable rent was a goddamn trap.

You take a few steps back, barely avoid hitting the counter, and flick the light back on without taking your eyes away from the man on your floor. He squints at the brightness and shows you a face that is, both fortunately and unfortunately, familiar. Fortunately because Captain America and the Avengers somehow got him pardoned for potential war crimes and treason even without him being present for any of that circus of a trial. Unfortunately because…war crimes. And treason. And that is definitely blood.

“I’m sorry,” he blurts out and looks a little woozy. “There were sheets– I thought the building was empty.”

“The sheeting is for the building right next to us,” you say and sigh. “I’m going to guess you are not in favor of me calling an ambulance?”

He just blinks at you a few times. Maybe he is secretly a raccoon.

“Please don’t,” he says, some life returning to his eyes, and he looks you up and down. The rubber duck pajamas must put him at ease because, while he is still tensely holding his midsection, his shoulders relax a little. “I’m so–”

“Sorry, yes, I know.” You point at the bathroom. “I’m going to get the first aid kit and hopefully I won’t have to explain to the coroner’s office why Captain America’s boo bled out on my floor.”

You’re just opening up the cupboard that hopefully contains at least some band-aids when he calls out, “What the hell is a ‘boo?’”

~

Two old t-shirts, one and a half rolls of dusty gauze, and his own homemade stitch kit later, the man is finally all patched up. “How are you not passing out from blood loss?” you ask, eyeing the mess on the nice hardwood that has definitely just lost you your deposit. But there’s no corpse to deal with, so at least things aren’t as bad as they could be.

“I’m built pretty hardy.” He sits up a little more and groans. Before you can beg him not to split his side again, he extends his hand. “James Barnes. But you can call me Bucky.”

You shake his hand (gently) and tell him your name. “Do you let everybody call you Bucky, or just the people whose floor you bleed all over?” Something moving catches your eye and you sigh at the sight of your inexpensive (but still nice) curtains blowing slightly, showing off their new stains. “Floor and drapes…”

“I’ll clean it,” he says. “I can get blood out of anything.” He winces. “I…that sounds worse than it is.”

“I imagine getting blood out of anything is a good skill for an international spy-assassin to have,” you say.

Bucky scowls. And, you think, blushes a little, though how he has enough blood to do that you don’t know. You look at the spot again. It looks big to you but maybe you’re making a fuss over nothing. No, wait, there’s still dried blood on your floor. You’re allowed a fuss. “So you know who I am.”

“Your boy made it hard to miss,” you say.

He grumbles to himself, then says, “He’s always such a drama queen. I didn’t need to be pardoned.”

“Really,” you say and look at the bloodied handkerchief wrapped around a bullet he dug out of himself. “Looks like at least one other person disagrees with you.”

“This was Steve’s fight, not mine.” He huffs. “Story of my goddamn lif–”

He suddenly falls back and you reach out instinctively to catch him. He recovers quickly, wild-eyed and stiff and you scoot back just in case. He takes a few deep breaths and seems to force himself calm. It doesn’t look very effective and you’re honestly starting to worry. “You really–”

“I did not faint,” he snaps and maybe he has more blood than you thought, or maybe absolutely all of it has come to collect in his face.

“I was going to say you really need a hospital,” you say. “But yeah, you did.”

He grumbles under his breath and then, as if predicting your protests, stands up quickly enough to waver. Serves him right, you think, but when he scowls at you, you wonder if maybe he’s psychic too. “Try not to pass out on your way home,” you say, because if he wants to leave there’s really nothing you can do to stop him.

“Funny,” he says. He clears his throat and adds, much more sincerely, “Thanks.”

For the t-shirts, for the first aid kit, for not calling the cops, for not calling the Avengers so Captain America can hone in on him like a cartoon hound, for not bitching about the floor too much– the list is many and varied and so you give him a simple nod and hope you can get even a little bit of sleep tonight because work tomorrow is going to be hell without it.

He goes back to the window and before you can point out you have a perfectly good door, Bucky slips out onto the fire escape again. You shrug to yourself and go over to firmly flip the lock. You’ve done your part– in the event he slips and hits his head, someone else can be the good Samaritan. You’re going to bed and tomorrow this is going to feel like a weird dream, if there is even a single good deity in existence.

~

You’re not sure if it’s proof of or a mark against the existence of said single good deity when Bucky shows back up in your fire escape the next evening and taps politely against your open window before he lets himself back in, scooting your new plant just an inch out of the way.

“I have a door,” is the first thing that comes out of your mouth.

“Your hallway’s too well lit,” he says, much more hale and hearty and obviously not suffering major blood loss. His hair even looks like he just got out of the shower, all soft and shiny and bouncing a bit as he twists his upper body to start pulling stuff out of a backpack hanging off one shoulder. “I got stuff to clean the floor, and a replacement first aid kit. You outta keep it better stocked, so I got you one of the good ones.”

“O…kay,” you say, for lack of anything better. There’s a hysterical laugh building up in the back of your throat as the Winter Soldier brings out some rags and a cleaning solution for your bloodstained hardwood floor, but you cough it out and say, “Thanks,” when the formerly-feared international assassin looks at you like you’re crazy before he gets on his hands and knees and starts scrubbing.

It’s not fair no one would believe you. You’re not quite sure this isn’t an elaborate daydream, but then, you like to think you’d imagine something more fun than this. You clear your throat. “Would you like something to drink?”

“No thanks,” he grunts, glaring at the floor and rubbing at the stain like it has offended him personally. It’s a little worrisome when he goes at it hard enough to maybe rub a hole right through the floor– you’d rather deal with the stain– but there’s a hard edge to his eyes that make you think maybe it’s a good idea for him to work it out in a productive, non-violent way. And if it turns violent, hopefully he has some home repair skills to make up for it.

You busy yourself with making tea, using the nice pot and the nice cups you never get to break out, and by the time it’s almost done steeping Bucky isn’t rubbing quite so hard and, in fact, seems to have made the stain do a disappearing act.

“Nice,” you say. “You want some tea? I made plenty.”

He lifts his head and tilts it as he squints at you, like he’s still not sure of you. But he shrugs, says, “Sure,” and stands up, rolling his shoulders. He looks down at the floor and nods appreciatively before coming to sit on the other side of the counter. “It’s almost gone; just a little bit more and it’ll be like I was never here.”

That last part could have been a decent joke, but he said it so seriously you just clear your throat. “Thanks,” you say and start pouring. “My landlord is going to have to find some other excuse to try and keep my security deposit.”

Bucky snorts but otherwise makes no noise. At first it’s nice, if a bit awkward, as you don’t really feel the need to fill the silence, but it becomes clear by the way Bucky glares at the plant sitting in front of him on the counter that something is eating at him. You’re not sure whether or not to pry, but it seems polite to at least ask, “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he grunts and leans even lower to the surface of the counter.

You stare at him. “I appreciate what you did, but you didn’t have to come back,” you say gently, because a pissed-off former-assassin isn’t really a problem you want to have on your hands. “I’m not awful enough to actually expect you to clean up your own blood the day after you nearly bled to death.”

“What?” He blinks and then scowls and shakes his head. “No, it’s not that; it’s…” He picks up his cup and downs all of it, despite the fact that it was still steaming. Tentatively you pour him another cup, to which he says, “thanks,” before loading it with sugar again. “It’s good,” he says and this time he sips it.

“It’s one of my favorites. Very soothing,” you say. “Normally.”

Bucky rolls his eyes. “I wish anything was soothing. You know Steve almost ran into a goddamn minefield today?”

You didn’t know that, you don’t think anything the Avengers do is any of your business, really, and where does one even find a minefield in New York City– you don’t say any of that, but you apparently don’t need to, because Bucky is off like a shot saying more words than you’d have thought possible for him. All of it is ranting about what a reckless dumbass Captain America is, and a Brooklyn accent increasingly comes through, egged into existence by sheer aggravation. You sit and listen, transfixed not so much by the details (they’re too fleeting and sparse) but by how annoyed Bucky is with Captain Amer- with “Steve goddamn pain in the ass Rogers” and you’re never going to be able to see him again without snickering.

Bucky sighs heavily and rests his chin on the table. He looks very tired, all of a sudden. Maybe a relaxing tea and enthusiastic rant wasn’t the best combination. Then again, he also looks less tense, so perhaps it’s fine. “Why don’t you stop for the night and go get some sleep,” you say and take away his cup. “You can finish up tomorrow.”

He squints at you, squints back at the floor (that you honestly can’t tell is any different from the rest), and looks back at you. “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all,” you say and stack the cups. “When you come back refreshed you can tell me why Steve Rogers can never walk past that animal shelter without ducking his head in shame.”

Bucky’s smile is lopsided and he shakes his head. “Maybe,” he admits and hops off the chair. “I’ll just…leave the stuff here then, if that’s okay?”

You nod and he quickly picks up and puts the supplies in the empty bottom space of your side table. He goes for the window.

“I have a-!”

And he’s gone. You roll your eyes. If Steve Rogers really is as much of an asshole as Bucky says he is, then those two deserve each other.

~

For all that the Captain America mythos has been debunked for you, you’re still brought up short when you suddenly encounter Steve Rogers the next night.

On your fire escape.

He knocks his head against the railing in his scramble to simultaneously get up and face you, curses, and lifts his hands defensively. “I can explain.”

You rub your face with both hands. They definitely deserve each other. “I doubt that,” you mutter and sigh heavily. Thank goodness there haven’t been any actual fires; you don’t know how you’d get out with all these buff superheroes hanging around outside your window. “Have you lost something?”

Captain America looks at the ground for a moment, and then flashes you a smile. “…Yes?”

God, he is a smartass. “Do you want to come inside or do you want to risk some Nosy Nancy from the building across the street seeing a big shadow and calling the cops?”

That would never happen, but he slips inside almost immediately and then there he is, in all his uniformed, shield-holding glory. It’s too weird to think about, and you step back to give him (and you) space while you close the curtains. “Thank you,” he says politely and looks around. “Your apartment is lovely; it’s very…green.”

You’re not sure why he hesitates, until you see him looking at your yellowing majesty palm. “He’s coming back,” you say and go to adjust the plant for lack of anything else your nervous hands can do. “Would you like something to drink?”

“No thank you,” he says and stands with his feet shoulder wide and his hands clasped down in front of him. It is perhaps the least comforting thing he can do and for one ridiculous moment you wish Bucky was here to be in between you. You wish the Winter Soldier was here. To protect you. From Captain America.

You clear your throat. “So,” you say and grab yourself something. “Do you lurk outside everyone’s apartment at some point, or am I just special?”

For all his military posturing, Captain America squirms like a schoolboy. “I swear I wasn’t– okay, I guess I was but not intentionally? I was…looking. For something.”

“Something you dropped?” you ask him.

“A person,” he says, staring elsewhere. For a moment you have a paranoid thought he’s staring at the space where Bucky had fallen in that night, but no, he’s just looking at the window. At least you remembered to change the curtains.

“Pretty sure you can see one of those without squinting into the grates,” you say.

“He might have passed through on his way somewhere else,” Captain America says. “Have you seen a man outside?”

“Other than you?” you ask. He blushes even harder than Bucky does– and think of the devil, you have a moment where you’re not sure what you should say, but quickly come to realize that whatever is going on between the two of them, you do not want to get stuck in the middle.

You’re prepared to lie your ass off, but he apparently takes your response as a rebuke. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to make you feel unsafe.”

“It’s fine,” you say. Despite his previous answer, you lean into the fridge to get him a bottle of water. “I’m pretty sure Captain America isn’t going to murder me. And if you decided you wanted to, well, there’s nothing I could really do about it.”

He chokes on the drink he’s just taken. You instinctively lean in so you can slam his back but after a couple of hits he covers his mouth and waves you off. “Sorry, sorry,” he says and grabs a nearby dishcloth to wipe up what he just spit on the counter. “That was just…really dark.”

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m not the one lurking on fire escapes,” you say.

He rolls his eyes. The nerve. You laugh and he actually grins. Asshole. His smile softens though and he says, “I’m really–”

“Sorry,” you finish for him.

“Am I that predictable already?”

You shrug. You want to tell him it’s because he and Bucky seem very much alike in that respect. You want to but…you don’t. Whatever Bucky’s problem is, he seems to want to deal with it himself, and it’s not your place to get in between them and start snitching. “You seem the type. Don’t worry about it so much. You…look pretty worried. I’m not going to hold it against you.”

“Thank you.” His lips turn into a sad sort-of smile and he takes a slower drink. “I guess I am pretty worried. This man I’m looking for, he’s…important to me, and he’s been through a lot, and I just want to know he’s okay.”

You stare at him. He looks down. And looks down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to babble like that,” he says and glances at you with a strained smile. “I don’t normally do that.”

“Hm.” You stare at him for several seconds and notice he is blinking an awful lot. “You look exhausted.”

“I’m a little tired,” he says, quietly, and some of the posturing seeps out of him and he lets himself slump a little more. He suddenly shakes his head and sits up straight again. “Thanks again for…” He looks around and settles for shaking his water bottle.

You hold back a laugh. “Sure. I uh…do you need me to call you a cab?”

He shakes his head firmly and, to his credit, he’s pretty excellent at pretending to be okay. You almost believe him. “I can get home all right.”

“Well, please make sure you do. I can think of a lot of people who’d be sad to think of you collapsing on the way home because you wore yourself down to the bone,” you say. “And from how you seem to worry about your friend, I bet you can think of at least one.”

He blinks, like he’s surprised, but a smile curls onto his face, warm and true. “Good night,” he says, and because you’re so nice, you don’t stop him when he goes back out the window. At this point, it’s beginning to feel like a lost cause.

~

“What did you say to him?”

“I know you don’t like the door,” you say, not even turning away from the plant you’re watering. Any time you put down the canister you forget where you left off and you are not going to kill these plants by overwatering. Not again. “But maybe you could at least tap on the window when you decide you’re going to enter my apartment.”

“Why do you leave your window open?” Bucky huffs. You can hear him sit at the counter behind you. “You know what kind of creeps can take advantage of that?”

You finish watering the last plant and turn to stare at him. “I’m starting to get an idea.”

Bucky scowls. “I’m not a creep,” he mutters.

“Polite society encourages doorways instead of windows,” you say. “It’s okay. Captain America, apparently, is also a creep.”

Bucky sits up straighter. “What did he say?”

“Not much,” you say. “He was squatting on the fire escape like he could make you spontaneously materialize. I invited him in for an explanation and after a little while he went on his way.”

“After a little while,” Bucky repeats and squints at you suspiciously.

You shrug. “He likes to vent to complete strangers, apparently. But I didn’t tell him anything about you, it doesn’t seem fair to tell you anything about him. If you want to know, I get the feeling you can go ask him.”

Bucky rolls his eyes but he stands up and stretches. “You said I bled on the drapes?”

“I already scrubbed that out, if you can finish the floor,” you say and go for the tea pot. “Do you like green tea?”

“As long as you do it right,” he says and starts scrubbing again. “I hate it all bitter.”

You go for the good matcha and start preparing it while he works out his frustrations on your floor. You glance at him a couple of times but he seems fully focused on his task, until you finish the tea and call him back to the bar.

“Steve Rogers is a pain in the ass and don’t let anyone tell you different,” he grumbles, but it’s soft and there’s a troubled look on his face as he takes his cup.

“Do you miss him?” you ask and blow gently across your drink.

Bucky shifts uncomfortably. Just as you're about to apologize for overstepping, though, he speaks. “It’s hard to go back when you’ve done the shit I have, you know?”

No. You have absolutely no idea what it’s like to live as a free man after decades of literal objectification and being used as a murder weapon for fascists. But it doesn’t seem very helpful to say that, so instead you say, gently, “I can’t even imagine.”

Bucky bobs his head and takes another sip of his drink. You’re delighted he seems to be drinking it fairly quickly, but also a little dismayed because a good matcha latte takes a decent amount of work and it’ll take a little time if he wants another cup. “I want to go back but I can’t yet. I wish he wouldn’t be so goddamn stubborn about it is all. Just because he thinks I didn’t do anything wrong doesn’t make it true.”

You nod, like any of this makes any goddamn sense to you. But maybe– maybe it doesn’t have to. Maybe Bucky’s saying all this because you’re an outside entity with no personal stake in, or knowledge of, what counts as treason, or what’s needed to lack culpability, or what it means to be an absent friend.

He rambles, a little bit, and though about half the words are proper nouns you don’t recognize, you nod along, and when he finishes his latte you make him another one, and when he leaves, you don’t mention the door. Even though you want to.

~

You’ve actually forgotten how nice it is to have someone come through the door. Case in point–

“Um, I hope this is all right,” Steve Rogers, dressed in casual civilian fare and holding a small pot of flowers, says as you can do nothing but stare at him. “I just wanted to stop by and thank you again for being so understanding. May I…come in?”

That snaps you out of your funk and you quickly stand aside. “Of course; sorry, I just…wasn’t expecting you.”

“I was just going to leave the plant with a note if you weren't here, but I’m glad you were,” Captain Rogers says and walks in, and sets the pot down on the counter.

You walk over to the fridge. “Would you like something to–” As you turn to finish the question you see him glance furtively at the window. Ah, of course. He looks down guiltily and you can’t help but roll your eyes and laugh. Well, he did come through the correct entrance and brought some pretty flowers. “All right, you did knock on the door this time; go sniff around the fire escape all you want.”

“I’m just checking something I forgot,” he says quickly and goes to the window. He’s only outside long enough for you to brew some tea and he comes back in just as you’re pouring his cup. It isn’t until he’s about to take a sip, however, that he says, “Oh– I know it looks bad, but Bucky– sorry, James Barnes– I swear he isn’t dangerous.”

“I know. I saw some of the trial stuff,” you lie. Well, you did see some of it, but it wasn’t until you heard Bucky mutter “Martha Stewart was right,” while fussing at some of the blood on his shirt that you felt safer. Strange as it is to think.

Steve relaxes his shoulders like some of the weight is off of them. “You have no idea how good that is to hear. You wouldn’t believe some of the things people say to me. I can’t really punch people anymore because I’m so much stronger now but it’s so tempting sometimes. At least when it’s online I can mime punching them.”

His annoyed tone allows you to laugh a little. “Maybe imagine the block button is a punch in the face?” you suggest.

He grins. “My friend Clint suggested printing out the most irritating comments and taping them to a punching bag. It didn’t really work but the thought was nice. The block button as a punch to the face though…”

The guy doesn’t really need more violence in his life, but he genuinely seems pleased with the idea, so you let it be. And when he starts ranting in detail about some of the comments he gets about Bucky, you make a new pot of tea– chamomile. For the both of you.

~

You don’t know how the flowers are dead already– it seems like Steve just brought them and they were so pretty you immediately looked up care instructions and followed them to the letter. Or so you thought. But now, only days later, you have a pot of dirt and withered petals.

And Bucky sulking at your counter.

“I told him I was fine,” he says petulantly.

You sigh and bring the pot over to the sink and think about what to do. “Did you tell him in person?”

“In a letter. He knew it was from me.”

The soil looks nice, so you’ll dig out the remains and try to plant some replacement seeds. Maybe that was the problem– maybe the flowers were sick or something. “Well reading and seeing are two different things.”

“He knows I cover him in fights.”

You slowly look at Bucky. His oh-so intelligent response is to bristle like a cat and go, “What?”

You roll your eyes. “He’s desperate to see you, knows you’re near when he’s fighting, and you wonder why he’s “so goddamn reckless?’”

Bucky just glares. Yeah, these two morons absolutely deserve each other.

You hope Bucky figures it out sooner rather than later.

~

He doesn’t, but he keeps coming by, as does Steve, and you resign yourself to hosting two pining idiots who keep dancing around each other.

Bucky drinks anything you give him without complaint. However he drinks the lattes and almost anything green tea a little quicker, though he tries to hide his cup from you when he does. Whether he’s ashamed of going through them so fast or embarrassed you don’t know, but you start to give him bigger cups, and that seems to help.

The first time you give Steve a cup of apple pie spice, he gives you a severe glare– which he then completely undermines by liking the blend immensely.

“I swore the next person who offered me apple pie would get popped,” Steve says, an amusing mixture of half-bluster and half-shame as he sips from the classic teacup you hope not to regret handing him.

“Lucky for me it’s not actually apple pie,” you say. “Do people really make that joke?”

The eyeroll Steve gives that is 200% sass. “You have no idea,” he says, deadly serious, “–how funny people think they are.”

~

This becomes…oddly normal. Listening to Steve talk about anything that’s on his mind, giving Bucky new tea blends just to see how he reacts to them; your apartment is no longer just you and a bunch of greenery that seems to wilt more often than not. Everything seems warmer, and better– even your plants seem healthier. (For that, though, you suspect Bucky is giving them a special mixture of something after you catch a glance of him messing with one of the pots. You want to ask him what he’s doing, but you don’t want to admit that he’s better at taking care of them than you are.)

It’s so normal, that you feel the silence only after the first few nights without a visit. They don’t visit every night, but they visit often enough that you know they’re off somewhere even without them telling you. For a couple of weeks you try to pretend the quiet doesn’t bother you, but you check the fire escape twice every night, and then once more before you go to bed.

~

The next time you see Bucky is during one of these checks. There was no tapping, no noise to otherwise alert you, he’s just suddenly back, sitting next to the window, hunched over in black clothes nearly blending into the darkness and staring out at nothing in the night.

“What’s wrong?��� you ask and crawl out to kneel next to him. “Are you hurt again?”

“No,” he mutters and continues to glare at some imaginary point in the distance. “Steve was, though.”

It’s a little harder to swallow. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” Bucky mumbles and buries his mouth further against his arms. “He’s fine, strutting around the hospital like a- like a- …” He huffs and sits back to wave his arms before he curls back in on himself. “But it was close, and he’s an asshole.”

“Mm,” you say. “Chamomile mint?”

He sighs heavily but he gets to his feet and starts to enter, only to stop and hold open the curtains for you.

“Thank you sir,” you say with only a hint of sarcasm and go on ahead to get the tea started. Bucky snorts but doesn’t say anything and you use the time the water needs to heat up to take care of some of your plants.

“Stop it.”

The snap comes so fast from Bucky you immediately stop what you’re doing. He doesn’t look as angry as he sounded, but he’s frowning pretty hard. “You're overwatering that one; jade plants are succulents. You don’t need to drown it.”

You look at the plant and set the watering can down. “Oh.” You knew that. You think. You’re just nervous. “Did you see him? In the hospital?”

“Briefly. I didn’t talk to him; just made sure he was all right,” Bucky says. “And he is. I wouldn’t leave him if he wasn’t.”

That does assuage some of your concerns. Steve is nice. You want him to be okay. And Bucky is– also nice, but god, they’re both so fucking frustrating. “You couldn’t have just–”

“Don’t start with–”

“I’m just saying–”

“And I’m telling you not to say–”

“I pay the rent for all that you sublet my fire escape; I’ll say what I want,” you manage to finish to Bucky’s consternation. You lift your head proudly and he frowns to one side. And then he…smirks. You’re not sure you like that.

“Crappiest space in the city,” he says and sits up. “You could at least get a chair.”

You roll your eyes and dole out the tea, fixing it the way Bucky likes. No sugar for this one, but plenty of honey. “If I ever have to leave for an actual fire, I’ll be in enough trouble trying to get around you.”

“Nah. I’d carry you out,” Bucky says and lifts his cup in a silent ‘cheers.’ He takes a sip and the sigh sounds content, so you assume you did it right. For a few moments a comfortable silence settles between the two of you as you sip warm drinks surrounded by greenery (that is mostly green) and life goes on in faint sounds outside the confines of your home.

Bucky sets his empty cup down with a sigh. “Do you think, if I show up to throttle him, that he’ll actually start watching his own fucking back?”

You give that some serious thought. “Will you give him time to moon at you first?”

Bucky sighs with disgust and flumps back onto the counter. “This is stupid. This all feels so stupid.”

You open your mouth because you do have a lot of opinions about honest communication and using innocent civilian apartments to dance around each other, but Bucky shoots you a glare to let you know that a, he knows, and b, he doesn’t appreciate it. You roll your eyes and go back to drinking your tea. It is a very good blend, and you’re not going to let it go unappreciated because two early 20th century boys can’t get their shit together.

Not that you’re complaining, really– you’re starting to feel like less of a disaster by comparison. Or maybe letting two strange men into your apartment makes you just as bad by default. You rub the bridge of your nose. Yeah, no one is getting out of this looking sane. You feel like that should bother you more than it does, but it’s just a fleeting thought before you go back to worrying about Steve and pouring Bucky’s cup back to full.

~

The next night when someone knocks on your door, you’re only mildly surprised to see Steve on the other side. And most of that surprise is because you can see fading bruises on his face, and also because he is holding a fairly big potted plant with tall green and yellow-edged leaves.

“Hi,” he says and lifts the pot slightly. “I got you a present.”

“Uh, wow; thanks?” you say and quickly step back to let him in, momentarily forgetting he can probably carry it around with ease. Steve places the plant on the floor near the end of your couch, where it actually looks fairly nice. He gestures at it proudly. “It’s a snake plant. The man at the nursery said it’s very hard to kill.”

“You’re not funny,” you say but you look at it appreciatively. It is nice, and you could do with ‘hard to kill’. Speaking of– “Should you be up? You look like you should be in a hospital.”

He shrugs and his face goes neutral. “I’m healing well enough that there’s nothing a hospital could do for me. And I felt so…restless.”

You nod. “Want some tea?”

“Please. I really like what you make,” he says and immediately takes a seat at the counter. Oddly enough, it’s not the one Bucky always takes. You don’t realize you squint at the space for too long until Steve looks curious and asks, “Is everything okay?”

You squint at the countertop. “Yeah, just…trying to figure out if that’s a stain or a spot.”

Thankfully there is a spot of spilled something and you quickly grab a towel and wipe it away. You think it’s a pretty good save, but Steve looks at you with a raised brow, like he’s figured something out. You freeze. “What?” What are you going to say? How is he going to react? What will you–

“Was that a coffee ring?”

You blink a few times, and then roll your eyes as your chest practically deflates. He smiles and winks. “I can’t believe you.”

“I am a layered human being who can drink many things,” you say defensively. “And if you want coffee you’ll have to ask another time. I’m not giving you anything with caffeine in it when you look like you got hit by a truck.”

“Train,” he corrects absently. “It barely clipped me.”

You sigh and go for the sleepy blend. One of you is going to have to bow out of this conversation due to exhaustion and at this point you don’t care if it’s you. However it might truly come in handy as Steve keeps looking out the window and shaking his foot. You set the cup in front of him and before you can ask what’s wrong, he takes the cup in both hands and blurts out, “I think I saw him.”

You look at the window and squint. “Seriously?”

“Not here.” Steve rolls his eyes. Like you’re the crazy one. He blows gently across the surface of the liquid and says, “Though it’s strange you’d think I saw Bucky out of your window.”

“Isn't that why you started showing up here in the first place? I distinctly remember someone with a big red, white, and blue shield lurking on my fire escape.”

“Oh, right,” he admits sheepishly, hunched over his cup. His eyes glimmer with mischief as he looks up at you through long lashes and asks, “Did I ever apologize to you for that?”

You’re brought up short by the amount of boyish charm this giant walking wall of muscle manages to pack into that look and you have to find your tongue to say, “I– y-yeah…”

Steve chuckles to himself and you give yourself a mental slap on the face. “Troll,” you mutter and sip from your mug. The liquid is piping hot and burns your tongue, giving you an excuse to grimace when Steve flashes you a beautiful smile.

~

You’re in trouble.

Not physically, not immediately, and perhaps someone on the outside might say you’re being dramatic about it, but they wouldn’t know shit about the situation. They wouldn’t know about how your hands felt as they slid over Steve’s when he handed you a new small pot of flowers; they wouldn’t know about the feeling of serenity that settled over you when Bucky abandoned some of his oh so careful control and rested his head on your shoulder for four long seconds; they wouldn’t know how it feels like you’re missing something until someone shows up at your door or taps at your window.

You’re falling in love with two people who have always been, and still are, desperately in love with each other.

Isn’t that just your luck.

~

In the end, Bucky takes your advice more to heart than you ever expected he would– you and Steve are quietly enjoying each others’ company, with you standing in the kitchen and Steve sitting at the counter as per usual, when the curtains move dramatically for Bucky to slip in, which makes Steve whirl around, and your hands jerk so hard from all the sudden surprise that your cup slips out and crashes to the floor.

“Shi-” You forget to watch your step and immediately catch a jagged shard that embeds itself right under the ball of your foot. “Ow, fuck!”

Your name is said in different voices but very similar tones of alarm and you suddenly find yourself gathered into Bucky’s arms, bridal style, and he carries you over to the couch. “Wh-” You swallow at the close proximity to Bucky’s chest and the way he holds you so effortlessly but so securely. “I’m fine; it’s just a little–”

Bucky sits down on the couch and doesn’t move you, which means you are basically sitting cross-wise in his lap. This is not something you need after your recent revelation, and it doesn’t get any easier when Steve comes back with the heavy duty first aid kit Bucky got you and gingerly takes your foot to examine the injury. His sympathetic look towards you gives you the warning you need to brace yourself before he pulls the shard out. It doesn’t hurt too terribly and he’s almost tender as he cleans your foot.

“Look at us, matching blood and all,” Bucky says lightly.

“It’s my floor I’ll bleed on it if I want,” you grumble, but you’re too distracted by how focused Steve is on fixing you up. “You…seem to be taking this well.”

“I knew he had been here since the first time I came,” Steve admits as he rolls the gauze around your foot. “There was a bloodstain on your floor still.”

“Seriously?” You had thought Bucky was being overdramatic about the supposed stain and humored him, but it…makes sense. Why else would he come back the next night. Why else would Steve continue to come by. And because Steve had kept coming, Bucky had kept coming, and…they won’t need to come back anymore, will they? They now have what they’ve wanted. Each other.

Someone says your name and you force yourself back to neutral as much as you possibly can. Steve looks curious though and Bucky says, “What’s with that look?”

“There’s no look,” you say. “And if there is, it’s only because you two have devised the weirdest meet-cute ever– decades after you actually met.”

“Hm.” Bucky continues to stare at you, but doesn’t say anything else.

~

They come back. And they both use the door.

You don’t know what you’re more shocked by– that Bucky and Steve, having come back to each other, are still coming around to you, or that Bucky is actually walking through the designated threshold. You don’t have a lot of time to think about it though because the place is…a mess.

“What happened here?” Steve asks as Bucky’s shoulders go up to his ears and he looks around the place like he’s going to find something unpleasant.

“It’s not that bad,” you say and glance around. You’ve cleaned out a few of the pots already and stacked them away in the closet, but some of the plants are still…slightly alive, for a little while. A couple are even doing fairly well– one of which being the snake plant Steve got you.

“What happened to the jungle?” Bucky asks, looking around shrewdly. You don’t like the sound of that. It feels so…probing, and raises your hackles. Why should he care?

“I wasn’t keeping them alive for very long.” You flick a yellowing leaf and keep your tone light. “I just got tired of it. What are…what are you doing here?”

You don’t look at Steve, but he clears his throat and his tone is similar to Bucky’s when he asks, “Is now a bad time?”

“For what?” You square your shoulders and face them. Like an adult. Like an adult who had two other adults just sort of crash into their life one day and start sharing space until such time as the two window-crashers decided they…didn’t need to come around anymore. “I’m happy you both found each other. You didn’t have to come back.”

Steve looks…well, he looks hurt. You don’t know any other way to describe it; it doesn’t show in his face so much as in his eyes, in the feeling you get watching the line of his shoulders lower. But before he can say anything, before you can explain yourself, Bucky speaks up.

“It isn’t like that,” he says.

You look down. It’s easier than looking at a man who feels rejected, and a man who has you completely pegged.

“What?” Steve asks.

“It’s okay,” you say, in perhaps the biggest bald-faced lie you’ve ever told.

“That’s not– no,” Bucky insists and lifts your chin. His fingers are warm and gentle and linger too long.

You pull back from his touch before you can embarrass yourself further. “You guys were literally circling each other.”

“Please.” Bucky rolls his eyes. “I don’t need to keep coming back here to be near Steve. I know where he lives.”

“And I leave my window unlocked,” Steve says. He aims a cheeky grin at Bucky and adds, “Guess I should have left it open though.”

“Shut up,” Bucky tells him but looks at you and says, “Point is: we weren't using you.”

Steve blinks. “Oh– no, of course not!”

“It’s all right,” you say, trying as hard as you can to assuage their discomfort even though you can’t put much into it. Even though you did very much want this meeting to happen, somehow you don’t feel very ‘all right.’

“No,” Bucky says and takes your hand in his. The flesh hand, which he runs up to the middle of your forearm. His touch is gentle and light, even when he grips. You can break away, but you don’t– you let him pull you in, close and closer, until there’s barely any room between you.

Steve crowds from the side and puts one arm behind Bucky, and one arm behind you. “If you only think we’re here because of each other, then it’s not all right,” he says softly.

“I know it isn’t– I know you weren't ‘using’ m–” You swallow hard. “And I know it’s not–”

They both swoop in for a kiss– for a kiss with you. Somehow they avoid bumping heads and the lip-lip-lip contact is barely there, with Steve at the corner and Bucky barely catching one side of your upper lip, but they're both there for a glorious moment that leaves you stunned.

“Oh…” you say, dumbly. You try to fight it, but a smile pulls at your lips. “Oh.”

“That good already, huh?” Steve asks quietly, slowly forming a small smile of his own.

You let out a little sigh that is immediately undermined by an uncontrollable laugh that swells from a bubble of relief at the base of your throat. “Bucky’s right, you are insufferable,” you say but you reach out to sweep your fingers in a gentle touch down Steve’s cheek and under his chin.

“You get used to it,” Bucky says.

You think about that. Even with how you’ve been, entertaining these two rotating planets over the last however many weeks or months, this would be an entirely new normal.

You think you can’t wait to get used to it.

[clementinesjourney]

Record Shop Funk - Pt. 1 Like real people do

A.N. : Hey guys, so i had this idea yesterday, and i really hope you'll like it. <3

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.

Words: 1,9k

Pairing: camboy!Steve x Reader, roommate!Bucky x reader, Stucky x reader (as the story goes)

Warnings: nothing yet :)

Summary: Who knew that having a secret crush, then a hearbreak will end in such a sweet thing..

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

You and Bucky shared an apartment above the recordshop you both worked in. Your aunt was the owner of both, so it was a fairly good payment, and a fairly good apartment for a cheap price. It was a bright and big apartment with two bedrooms, so your decided to rent it out, all while searching for a helper to the shop downstairs. When Bucky came in applying for the job, you asked out of joke if he needs a place to live since you had seen around 5 people already and none of them felt right. His eyes lit up as he said he is in fact looking for a place. Since he was fitting for a job, and looked like a decent guy, you congratulated him on his new job, and asked if he wants to see the place today. You still had one and a half hour to close, but after it you would gladly show him the apartment.

He had nothing better to do, so he agreed to it, feeling happy about having a job he might actually like and a coworker he might actually will get along with.

-Do you drink coffee? I was thinking of getting one in the meantime. My friend works close by, and they make the best coffee in town. - He asked.

-I could go for one thank you - you smiled at him - iced cold-brew, no sugar, i'm sweet enough.. - you said with a smile.

He couldn't help but smile back at the joke. When he arrived at the café, he saw his friend Steve flirting with a girl whom he could visibly see trembling just cause he talked to her. Steve always had his way with girls, ever since the serum of course. After he broke up with Peggy, it was mostly just hookups, never finding a girl worth keeping around. Not as if they werent kind, pretty or good to him, it just never felt right. Bucky smiled at his friend, Steve immediately shifted his gaze from the girl, to a very happy Bucky.

-Did you get the job?

-Better.. I got the job, and she has a room for rent which i'll see tonight.

-Wow Bucky, i didn't know you were even better then i am.. sooo how does she look? - asked Steve with a slight wiggle of his eyebrows. He wanted Bucky to get a girl since ages and hearing this, his mind immediately ventured there.

-5'7, ginger, green eyes, freckles, curvy just the right places. why?

-Nothing Buck.. nothing.. - Steve said smirking at his friend.. Bucky never realized when he liked a girl, so he never really acted on it. He last had a woman back in the 40's.

-Sooo i know you didn't come to have chat with me, one black coffee and.. ?

-ah, iced cold-brew, no sugar..

After paying for the coffee, he hurried back to the shop, hoping to get to know his coworker a little bit better.

You thanked him for the coffee, and when you tried to pay, he refused.

-Next round's mine then. - You smiled at him with your 1000 watt smile, which again he couldn't help but smile back at.

-So tell me about you Bucky, what do you do in your freetime?

-Nothing really, just reading, spending time with my friends, kind of thats it.. I have a boring life really. What about you?

-Well, i work here, then i go home and listen to music, cook, god i love to cook, thats a big pro for the apartment.. just saying. - you said with a playful wink. - besides that nothing much. Sometimes i go to a nearby bar with my friends maybe concerts and thats it.

-I like washing dishes if that helps with the application for the room. - he said with a shy laugh which made your heart skip a beat.

- It sure does.. Do you leave your stuff around?

-No i'm a tidy person.. thank you very much. - he said cockily (just for the sake of being funny really).

-Okay okay, if you like it you can have the room, just promise to tell if you bring up a girl so i can leave. The walls are kind of thin.

-It's okay, i don't really...

-Oh um i'm sorry, i didn't meant to intrude, it just something i would really like everyone to add to their rental contracts. - you chuckled embarassed.

-Noo no, it's okay, i'm not embarassed by it. I guess i don't want hook ups, if one day there's someone i'll tell in advance.

-yea me too, i promise. If you end up renting it anyway haha. on that note it's time to close so i can show the room in a min.

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

When you opened the door to the apartment Buckyquietly took in it all. It was really bright, white walls with paintings all over the walls, plants in every corner or shelf you can put one on, a comfy looking mustard couch, aztec-y rug under the coffeetable, and a wall fully shelved, filled with books and little trinkets, it looked like a home he never had a chance to have. The livingroom had an american kitchen on the side, island in the middle of the kitchen area, it was white, and blue which reminded him of greece, down the hallway you showed him the bathroom which of course had a lot of plants that liked the atmosphere of a bathroom, a shower in the corner and a bathtub under the window. You then showed the empty room he could rent out. It only had a shelf and a wardrobe, and a queen sized bed. No decorations, no signs of anybody ever living there. You then pointed to the room the opposit of what could possibly be Bucky's in the future, saying that is yours. You didn't show your room, he wasn't gonna go in there anyway, and showing your most private space on the first day didn't seem like a good idea either. You then invited him out to the balcony, watching the setting sun, smoking a cigarette.

-So thats about it, what do you think?

-I really like it, and i mean.. my workplace is pretty close so thats a plus, also you said something about cooking all the time.. sooo if it's alright with you i would love to rent it out.

-It's settled then roomie. I'll give you the keys, you can move in whenever you want to. Tomorrow we are closed, so maybe that would be ideal.

-Yea, then tomorrow it is then. I'll ask my friend to help, then we can maybe hang a bit if you're free.

-Sure, i have nothing planned, and it's good to know who i'll be living with. - you said with a smile.

Before closing the door, you said your goodbyes, and you realized what did you just do, after he wished you good night with a killer halfsmile that almost had your knees buckle. You just agreed to living together with possibly the most handsome man you've ever seen who is also your new coworker, so you will basically spend most of your time with him.. Guess we'll see how this goes you thought to yourself.

Morning came soon enough, you were sitting out on the balcony when you saw Bucky arrive with a very tall, just as handsome man, carrying boxes of books, and bags of clothing. Bucky looked up at the balcony, waving towards you, you waved back, then moved to open the front door before going back out to the balcony, resuming your coffee and smoke.

When they finished bringing all Bucky's stuff in, it was already midday, so you decided you'd order pizza for all of you, as in like a welcome present.

-Hey guys, i'm thinking of ordering pizza, what kind would you like?

-Oh (y/n) you don't have to. - said Bucky, earning a smirk from Steve as he looked back and forth between you two.

- Noo i insist, today won't be the day i'll start to slowly kill you with my cooking. - you said giggling a bit.

- Whatever's fine peach. - said Steve with a wink, that you decided was just out of friendlyness. You didn't veen knew his name, and he seemed like a lady's man anyways. Not really your type no matter how handsome and muscular he is.

- Steve, by the way, nice to meet you.

-(Y/n), likewise. - you shook his hand.

When the pizzas arrived you called them to the kitchen, listening to all their shared stories from their early years. They seemed like really close friends, and genuinely good people. You had a really great time. It was nearly 9 pm when Steve left, for saving a dame from dying cause of boredom he said. You and Bucky chuckled, then he let him out, closing the door, locking it for the night.

-I guess i have some packing to do, so.. good night (y/n).

-Good night Bucky, if you need anything just knock. - you said with a smile, and he couldn't help but smile back. He felt at peace. He had Steve, now he had a job, and a room to make a home of, and you as a new addition. You were so kind, so eager to help if he needed anything, he loved how the scent of raspberries and flowers lingered in the apartment mixed with coffee and cigarette smoke. It seemed to have a calming effect on him.

You heard a soft knock half an hour later. WHen you opened the door you saw a smiling Bucky, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

- Hey, um.. sorry. I forgot i didn't bring a blanket, could i borrow one until i get my own?

-Yea sure, i'll get one in a min. - You said, leaving the door open, letting him see a bit of "you" while you were searching for your spare blanket in your wardrobe. The room really was you. White, with mustardy curtains on the window, plants everywhere, books piled up here and there, a really comfy looking bed, pictures of you and your friends on the walls. And damn, your room smelled even more like you. If he wouldn't pay attention your scent would lure him into your room and never let him leave he thought.

-There you go. - you handed him the blanket smiling.

-Thank you very much.

Then he stood there for a moment drinking in the sight of you in front of him. You were wearing an oversized tshirt, that ended just around the middle of your thighs, hair in a messy bun, no makeup. He could swear he thought you were pretty before, but seeing you as you were made him fancy you even more.

With a small smile you told him goodnight again, then closed the door in his face.

You could hear his little laugh on the other side of the door, then his door closing. For the first time in months he didn't wake up in the middle of the night, and he didn't had a nightmare either. He was afraid he would, and then he would wake you up with his screaming, but looks like the blanket which smelled just like you calmed him enough.

After waking up because the rays of sunshine on his face, he smiled to himself guess i'll wait with getting my own blanket then...

[oakskull]

genshin as wof dragons designs I drew by @wings-of-impact ! plus all my brain thoughts about it under the cut

Links to Mod Anemone's posts: Childe Albedo Ganyu Zhongli Klee

Let's start with Childe! Its the most resent design released by mod Anenome which I Did alter a tiny bit for my brain thoughts. I based the colors off of their drawing but obv it wasn't perfect. I tried to make the tail get lighter in color but I'm not sure if you can really see it all that well lmao. But!! headcannon time!! for Childe as a hybrid I think he's got cold scales like ice wings but like only barely, but it fucks up with his fire, so instead of being able to make flames the closest he can get is like smoke. So mostly it's an intimidation thing, but even if the smoke is Pretty Hot it doesn't do nearly as much damage as fire. Also! about his gauntlet; it was supposed to be black but I forgot to paint part of it and I had already cleaned my desk and put all my stuff away so I just used a silver colored pencil. It is shiny tho!

Next up! Albedo! He was actually the one i drew last, and it was kind of hard to figure out what little bobble from his og clothes to add. (like how childe has the shoulder cauldron and earring) His main visual characteristics (not lore) to me are his hair, his big boots, and his big Ole coat. None of which dragons really Wear. In the end I gave him his little drawing clipboard and the throat diamond. Also, I think we was probably made with animus magic, and studies it. What happened to his tail? I have no idea, but it probably has something to do with never wanting to hide his imperfections. For the bracelet from Klee, I couldn't decide whether it would be a peice of scrap metal she shaped for him, or a some fireproof fabric, but in the end I never had to decide because you can't see it LMAO. pick your favorite ;)

Now Ganyu! Her little blurb is going to be a bit short, mostly bc she was pretty straight forward to draw and I don't know her well enough to have any headcannons haha. Because I didn't color my sketch of her I couldn't do any horn details to make it look more like Ganyu. I had a similar problem to albedos design, because her notable design thing is just her horns. The bell and the rope on her vision were easy to add as accessories but I'm not sure if they really scream Ganyu.

Zhongli is next! I wanted to give him a nightwing scale pattern but a mudwing body shape to look majestic while giving him little glowing bits thst glow amber. I gave him the shiny scale by the eye to imitate his eyeshadow, and I think he has the power of mind reading but is like, sick of it. So the black part of his earing is the rock that blocks nightwing powers (I can't remember if it has an official name lol) I'm unsure about Anenome's world building for their designs but my thoughts on Archons are either that they are animus for each kingdom and they get their powers how Qibli did from enchanted artifacts (the nosis, the spell would be "whoever holds this gets animus powers" or something) or archons are just leaders, where its no longer a queen only world (or zhongli and venti are just queens, i think they can do it) If the archons are just leaders than animus dragons could be in Khaenri'ah, where they're are killed or cursed by the other dragons for their hubris. OR Celestia is the animus dragons. and how do the Pantala dragons fit in? I have no idea. I'm rambling. this au lives in my head rent free.

Okay last but not least Klee! I added her hat first because she needs it. then I wanted to do her backpack but I hit my first dilemma: dragons don't really wear things on their backs. It inhibits their ability to fly properly. But Klee's comically large backpack is a huge part of her charm for me, so I wanted to add it. I decided on big ole saddle bag type things on her haunches. Okay so, elephant in the room, if you've seen the wings-of-impact post about Kler then you know, she has fire scales! So how can she wear clothes? Well I actually just forgot, but I've decided that Tevat! Pyrrhia is actually cooler and sexier and has fireproof stuff for our resident arsonist. For headcannons, I think she has an unhealthy obsession with those cactus bombs and has to constantly be reminded that she Cannot touch them. She's been trying to make her own bombs with limited success, on account of melting the ingredients and not being allowed near gunpowder.

[miraculouscontent]

All the thoughts:

First off, the plan.

I don’t get Shadow Moth’s plan or Optigami in general. Like, it was already weird that we had the phone that picked up on a kwami’s voice (I’ll hold my tongue on that one until we have all the episodes that take place before this, though my hopes aren’t high), but both Optigami and the phone happening in the same episode when it’s been resaid in this season that kwami can’t be seen/heard by technology is just silly. I get that Optigami is a sentimonster so it’s “magic technology,” but I dunno, something feels weird about it.

The reason I bring it up is because what’s shown contradicts what happens later in the episode. The footage shown by Optigami shows Carapace de-transforming and Wayzz popping out of the miraculous right afterwards, but when Senti!Carapace and Rena Rouge detransform at the end of the episode, the kwami don’t pop out. The former is also consistent with most detransformations; the kwami usually pops out (for the easiest reference, the beginning of “Miraculer” does this with both Alya and Nino, and Alya detransforming in “Gang of Secrets” also does this).

I presume this was done to force Ladybug to use her Lucky Charm in order to figure out that Senti!Nino was Shadow Moth’s sentimonster, because otherwise I just imagine Wayzz popping out to complain that there’s something in his miraculous and how it isn’t even paying rent.

Gabriel also non-subtly invites “everyone” to the event, yet “everyone” apparently only means conveniently the people who Shadow Moth knows as heroes, plus Marinette for no explained reason whatsoever. Chat Noir could’ve even noted after the fact that everyone invited were past heroes (because he knows Multimouse and probably wouldn’t think “wait, that doesn’t make sense--”), or the characters themselves could’ve noticed it, but that would’ve meant the show pointing out the blatant plothole that Marinette is lobbed in there. This could’ve also been a chance for the characters to all establish, “hey, we were heroes!” and have a cool camaraderie between them (presuming they know that they were outed), but instead they serve no purpose beyond being essentially background characters for Style Queen to tick off like a checklist. They had the perfect moment to do something to give everyone more character and they wasted it to do an unneeded scene of Alya trying to shove Marinette towards Adrien (I’ll get there).

It also puzzles me that Gabriel’s plan was to cause an akuma that would force Ladybug to bring another miraculous when...

Style Queen didn’t cause her to do that?? Now, if one isn’t really thinking (like it seems the writers didn’t) and/or only vaguely remembers the episode (i.e: that Chloe got a miraculous and Queen Bee/Wasp is the immediate follow-up), then they’ll recall that Ladybug did indeed go to Master Fu’s to get a miraculous, but only did she not need it in the end, the reason the Lucky Charm sent her there in the first place was to get Plagg, i.e: the cat.

And yes, Shadow Moth does have Style Queen glitter the building so that no one can get in, which ends up blocking Chat Noir off, but that only works if he knows that Ladybug is in the building but not Chat.

Speaking of Ladybug, and this one is more of a nitpick, but she delays using Miraculous Ladybug and I feel like it could’ve been done better, like if she went to use it but stopped herself because something didn’t feel right, but instead she points out the weirdness of not using her Lucky Charm while not thinking further on it until she sees the handshake. Regardless of the comments she makes towards the Lucky Charm, the episode leaves a weird feeling of, “Why haven’t you used Miraculous Ladybug yet? The akuma is gone.” Marinette even saw the sentimonster, which clearly isn’t Style Queen, yet the episode forgets about it because--oh wait, it was just there to build up to an attempted identity reveal that went nowhere.

So, yeah--the elevator...

Say it with me: it’s stupid, it’s pointless, it makes no sense, it serves no meaning to the plot, its only roles in the episode is for love square fuel and to embarrass Marinette.

And on that last note, I know I said I’d keep quiet on the phone, but I swear, if it’s not explained in any form why the kwami can communicate with her, then it was literally just invented so that it could startle/embarrass her.

Also, to the surprise of no one, the kwami who live with her still don’t understand how to deal with her. :|

Not only does the scene draaaaag and the chances of Adrien and Marinette not only thinking of the same hiding place (an elevator, something that both makes no sense because Style Queen can easily pop up if she hears the elevator, but also that they rarely ever choose as a transforming spot; in fact, I can’t think of a time they’ve chosen an elevator??), but also happening to pick the same elevator.

As for it making no sense, the identity reveal was completely unnecessary. Either of them telling the other their identity would’ve done nothing, and even if they planned to tell the other to block the eyes watching them so they could transform, it wouldn’t matter, because that just makes it obvious what they’re doing. Plus, if the concern was needing to tell the other so they could get out of the elevator somehow, then there would’ve been no reason not to tell them after the eyes were gone. Marinette could’ve texted Alya at any time when they were being quiet.

And as if the setup wasn’t already contrived enough, Nathalie takes far too long to leave Adrien and Marinette alone. Optigami goes into the elevator on Nathalie’s orders (which is the whole thing that makes the two go quiet and consider doing a reveal in the first place), and it takes fourty seconds before Nathalie finally notes that it’s just Adrien and Marinette. Like, unless she got up to make a sandwich before she analyzed the footage, I just--???

Anyway, the last thing to really talk about is Alya and oh my gosh, the sheer amount of double standards here...

Like, just starting with the scene where Alya physically shoves Marinette towards the elevator, despite Marinette’s protests, it just makes me shake my head all the more, especially after “Mr. Pigeon 72.” I already knew the show wasn’t going to follow up on the whole “when you’re ready” stuff in “Gang of Secrets,” and “Mr. Pigeon 72″ just forwarded that with Alya immediately pressing for Adrien, but I didn’t expect Alya to try and force things this hard.

Just gonna add as well that both Luka and Kagami saw Alya do this, which would’ve been a great opportunity for it to trigger alarm bells for both of them (Luka going, “oh, it’s no wonder Marinette struggles with Adrien when--” and Kagami like, “hey this is familiar, almost like Marinette thought it was okay because it happens to her all the time and maybe I should step in to say something”; by the way, for those who want another fix-it, yeah, that’d what it’d be), because Marinette was literally totally fine until Alya tried to force the matter.

But again, blatant show of “fine if it’s for the love square, not fine if it’s not.”

And after “Mr. Pigeon 72″ and now this, do the writers really think that I wasn’t going to notice the fact that Marinette is only getting the “damsel in distress” role now that the kwami and Alya are conveniently there to save her? It’s like they knew the backlash that would happen from Marinette telling Alya her identity (the rightfully deserved backlash, not even because of the identity thing - I understand narratively that Marinette was at her breaking point, though the timing is awful - but because Alya was like--one of the worst choices), so they decided to justify it by having Marinette be put into peril multiple times this season to the degree where Alya would have to swoop in and save her. Essentially, they’re nerfing their protagonist and forcing her into these situations to lift Alya up and make Alya look like a better/more intelligent friend.

Marinette didn’t need a confidant because she was constantly one step away from danger, she needed one emotionally, yet now the show has been continuously letting Alya figure out important guardian matters and saving Marinette’s backside because apparently, “Marinette is more emotionally stable now that she has someone who knows her secret,” wasn’t enough. Handing Alya the win on Lila and either ignoring or excusing all of her past actions to make her look good wasn’t enough.

Trying to make everything about Adrien instead of Marinette wasn’t enough. Now they’re throwing in Alya and giving her stuff to do while Marinette sits idly and just waits to be saved. Yes, Marinette ultimately does the most in the end and Alya screws up, but what happens?

Alya gets rewarded for it. She gets to have the fox miraculous given to her permanently, which the narrative lowkey chided Marinette for not doing (with Trixx’s snippy comments and Alya pulling a “Gang of Secrets” where she’s suddenly 100% “on Marinette’s side” so that it makes it feel like she deserves whatever she’s going to be given). The show is both setting Marinette up to fail so they can continue having their drama (regardless of how well permanent Rena Rouge goes, they wanted to leave the episode on a cliffhanger) and getting on her case for breathing while rewarding other characters after they’ve failed.

Which, spoiler alert for the next episode, ends up working out, thus making it the “”“right”““ decision. Apparently Marinette is meant to suffer and be given all these consequences/embarrassment when she screws up, but people like Adrien Alya get rewarded and given a free pass to do whatever they want with no consequences (Marinette doesn’t even remotely get on Alya’s case or be upset that Alya made decisions without her; even Fu gave Marinette, Tikki, and Plagg a look in “Sandboy” and made them explain/apologize; but of course, that’s because Marinette was involved, I guess).

And... look, it’d be one thing for Marinette to want an understudy, or to want someone to have a permanent miraculous as a form of protection in case she needs it, but Alya wasn’t even suspicious when Senti!Nino didn’t give her their usual high-five. Alya claims to be this great reporter and tries to imply in “Gang of Secrets” that she suddenly knows all things about Marinette, yet doesn’t change her expression at all when the person she thinks is her boyfriend gives her a regular high-five instead of the one they made up? I guess the show wanted to give Ladybug something more after Alya and Kaalki did a chunk of the work, but if they wanted to present Alya as a worthy guardian, then that should’ve set off red flags, especially after the whole Ladybug reveal and Alya realizing that Lila’s full of it (which I know still hasn’t been shown but if she’s gonna be Ladybug’s confidant then she has to step up her suspicion game).

Like, I don’t know if they’re just trying to have Alya work off any bad things that the fandom might have on her, but with this episode and the next episode, it just feels like they want Alya to stay in the role that she had with Marinette: the “Alya knows best, is presented as a supportive friend, and has a leg up on Marinette in terms of mental/power dynamic.”

Because, despite knowing that she’s Ladybug now, Alya’s relationship with Marinette really hasn’t changed. She’s still forcing Marinette into situations with Adrien, she’s still got the doubtful eyebrow raise whenever Marinette does “Marinette things,” and Alya still has the, “I got you, girl!” attitude about everything, even if she really doesn’t have Marinette’s back in the right way. Heck, even the kwami (or at least Trixx) seems to go to Alya over Marinette, the kwami themselves just whining and behaving like children around Marinette herself.

At this point, why not just hand Alya the ladybug earrings and call it a day? If Alya’s not only an understudy for being guardian but is also apparently going to keep saving Marinette, she’s clearly “better,” and that moment with Senti!Nino ended up getting her rewarded, why not just let Marinette hand over the metaphorical mantle and be officially stress-free? Then Paris would have a “““non-clumsy, less emotional, less anxious”““ Ladybug.

Well, because that would mean lessening Marinette’s suffering and the show would be over without that. *sigh*

I don’t know, it’s just upsetting. It’s the "Malediktator”/”Gang of Secrets” thing where Marinette tries to follow something she’s been taught by other characters (who are presented as wiser than her) and it ends up blowing up in her face. “No permanent miraculouses” wasn’t her rule - it was Fu’s - and then the show immediately chides her for it.

Basically, Marinette tries to make her own decisions and it blows up in her face. Marinette tries to follow her own rules and it blows up in her face. It’s the love square all over again: she can’t confess to Adrien, but she can’t move on either.

That’s why “Optigami” is so insulting. It puts its double standards on display for the world to see and sets things up to go exactly the way it wants with no regard to making sense or working to an interesting story.