#really enjoying how this new coloring strategy is turning out

[salty-an-disco]

Hero in A1,please?Also I hope you're having a nice day!

thanks! it's been a lower energy day, but otherwise, been pretty nice :]

and here's Hero in his softboi era <3

the pants and socks feel very stuffy and uncomfy on his feathers, but he can't deny how cute those soft colors make him look (will still take those off as soon as he can tho. the sweater can stay, it's loose enough where it doesn't bother him)

[yepthatsacowalright]

"Like everyone else in the modern world, large parts of my life have become increasingly digital, sometimes against my will. The result is a very mixed bag. Some things have improved, and others have definitely degraded. I constantly wrestle with the balance of these changes, and I try to be mindful about them. But this is the hardest to do where it intersects with my work.

I’ll start with streaming. I did not come up on streaming. I’m in my 40s, so by the time I was buying music of my own it was the early 90s and I had cassette tapes. Then came the CD, then mp3 players, then streaming and cell phones. The last change has affected how I interact with music the most. Since streaming became the norm, I listen to music a lot less. I know my age is a factor here, but streaming has killed a lot of my desire to explore. I still love to hear new music, but I’m basically 100% recommendation based at this point. I never browse platforms like Spotify. In theory, having all of recorded music available at once, for a monthly fee that’s less than what a single album cost 30 years ago, would be a feeling of abundance, of infinite possibilities. But the actual result is just being overwhelmed. Sifting through hundreds of thousands of tracks that aren’t quite doing it for me just sounds exhausting. So I don’t use it very much. I can’t remember the last time I actively searched for new music on it. And passive things like algorithmic suggestions and playlists have not filled the gap.

I also work in music, so I’m always suspicious of how much that colors my opinion. But I feel the same way about film these days. I used to really stay on top of movies and shows. Since the streaming model has taken over, I have that same overwhelmed, agitated feeling I get from the music platforms. Scrolling through all those films and shows, with their auto-playing trailers and automated recommendations, just makes me turn the tv off. So I rely entirely on recommendations here, too, and I have no desire to explore.

It’s been strange watching former hobbies and sources of joy turn into chores, or even things I actively avoid. I realize that a lot of people will feel the exact opposite here, though. I don’t think this is unanimous by any means. But this is how it has turned out for me, and it has made what I do for a living feel really strange. Because I no longer enjoy these platforms very much as a user, releasing work has become increasingly dissonant. How do you make things for platforms you don’t personally enjoy? I’ve never had this issue before now. I liked buying albums. I liked going to record stores, where they had curated selections, and hunting for something that I wanted to take home with my very limited funds. So the idea of creating something that would be packaged as an album, that someone else might discover in a shop and decide to take home, was really motivating. It served as a mental model. And while I liked going to shows sometimes, they weren’t what made me want to write songs. I was all about records and the process of finding them. I cherished my tiny little collection, and the idea of being a part of someone else’s was really cool to me.

Watching a number occasionally go up on an app I personally try to avoid isn’t quite the same." - Ben Cooper/Radical Face's blog entry Investment Strategies [x]

[discluded]

ik respect other people's opinions and all of that but people be saying anything about MA on this app fr and i usually just ignore them and move on with my life because im not gonna waste my time on it BUT there's just one thing that rubs me in the wrong way and that i can't just shake it off. you can think that they're lovers, friends or wtv you want idc but saying that THEY'RE FAKE, that they turn on/off their chemistry just to gather new fans for new projects, so it's basically just marketing and that's it kinda hurts. why can't 2 people, regardless of their status is, can have a genuine bond and enjoy each other company w/o it being an act or a strategy? it's really just sad but at the end of the day it's just my problem and i keep ignoring it as i always did , just wanted to share my feelings. anyway, feel free to not answer and/or skip this ask if you like!!

have an amazing day!!!

I must do a good job blocking people with bad opinions on tungle.hell and the bird app because thankfully i never have to see these weirdos or their comments, but I do see people indirect them ha!

So I mentioned to a couple people earlier, I hear about people claiming they're doing fanservice or they're fake or whatever, and you know what I actually think it is?

You know how if you're out with friends or at a party or something, you sometimes will tell a funny story about something that happened to you that is hyperexaggerated for humorous effect but also fundamentally true? An example this is like, recently I bought a beautiful artificial Christmas tree and it didn't fit in my condo because I didn't measure the width of the tree. The bland "true" version of this story is that I bought a tree and it was too big, so I had to return it. But in regaling this story to my friends, I woefully convey my hubris in not measuring because I wanted a grand tree and then tearfully equate my suffering to that of tragic Greek heroes because the freaking tree wouldn't fit and my woeful childhood of being deprived of having a beautiful Christmas tree despite being a Christmas baby. It's not that the second version is fake -- in fact, it's actually much closer to the reality I experienced. And in particular, it's meant to be funny. Am I actually a Greek tragic hero? Well. I'm Chinese. 😏

I think Mile and Apo, separately and together, have a particular type of charm where they're both good at making us, their fans, feel like we're in on the joke when they tell these kinds of stories like we're one of their friends. I know I tease Mile for his Cringe Dad Jokes, but if you actually watch stand up, most of it is comedians both thoughtfully reflecting upon a true situation and conveying the humor in what happened to them. MileApo aren't comedians, but they are charming and funny. And this format of storytelling is the basis of humor.

I would say a majority of the people in fandom, especially these kinds of antis, are of an age group that missed out on a specific type of socialization in the last three years. They just don't have a baseline for that kind of interaction, so they think that the exaggeration or format of the way Mile and Apo talk specifically about each other is "fake" because um... lack of normal socialization.

I mean, they've both told similarly weird stories about themselves. We can't call Apo's story about being gross and sweaty because his car AC was broken or Mile's story about having to pee so bad in while stuck traffic fan service because what the hell kind of fan service is that. 💀 And if those aren't fan service, why would Apo's story about Mile's obsession with green be any more fan service when told with the same level of weird humor?

And the fact he retells the story with such consistency, now to the level of detail as the "what color boxers are you wearing" question it can't be fake. (also: still dead over Apo's lack of filter on that one. oop)

I'm not excusing the people accusing them of fakeness. Like I said, I don't care what you think or believe or have anxiety about 'cause I'm not your therapist; just don't make it my or society's problem.

But I think the answer here is uh, COVID really messed up some people's social skills, and instead of going out and trying to regain some of them, people think being mean on the internet and bullying people is the right answer. It's not. It's also not your job to worry or teach them how to socialize. Block 👍

Have a good day! Make sure to go out and take your mental health walk!!!

[arisenreborn]

∞ Arisen & Pawn Character Introductions

Part 2 (of 3)!!! The long Q&A stuff for Olivia. I get way too long-winded so I'm divvying them up. 😂 (Part 1 || Part 3) [template]

1. What was their life like before becoming Arisen?

Olivia was born to the Tramont family, a noble family who have historically sworn themselves to the knighthood and service of Vermund. While women becoming knights isn't exactly unheard of, Olivia, however, was expected to marry to further secure their households status, and bear sons-who-would-become-knights. Olivia, however, thought this was bullshit. She trained in relative secret from a young age, spying on her older brother or the knights training grounds and mimicking their actions, or reading extensively on technique and strategy. Nevertheless, her defiant inclinations manifested plenty enough elsewhere to make her relationship with most of her family strained. She was vocal against the increasingly useless nature of the nobility, or how they turned a blind eye to the suffering of people beyond the noble quarters. Meanwhile her parents wanted her to dress up and appeal to those very self-serving nobles to better secure their families position; while they'd historically ascended to nobility through valiant deeds, the other part of this had been strategic marriages. Unfortunately for her, she did enjoy dressing up and going to parties, frivolous and hedonistic as any teenage girl might be. When there came to be talks of an arrangement between her and the Regentkin, however, she secretly enlisted with the knights. To avoid scandal, talks of marriage were dropped, and her father could do naught but quietly allow her to continue, but she was all but effectively disowned. On the surface they continued to support her (financially, most crucially), but otherwise all familial ties have been cut.

2. How do they handle being Arisen, and the responsibilities that come with it?

Before she regains her memories it's immensely confusing, though she does get through that (relatively small) period of time well enough on a sort of muscle memory. Despite their estrangement, her family was hard-pressed not to give their full support of a daughter who had become Arisen - though playing their pieces just right against Disa's scheme is crucial. They spared no expense seeking out a means of undoing the curse that stole Olivia's memories, and though it wasn't entirely flawless, it was enough to restore her. Since then, she's taken the title with pride and enthusiasm, seeing it as a sort of 'proof of her worthiness', that she's right to eschew the schemers and self-serving nobility, that the pursuit of her path to help and protect was all but ordained. Alas it is more complicated than she could have ever dreamed, but she's very stubbornly against complaining about the burdens of her duty. Least of all one that 'freed' her from so many of her past shackles. Never mind the shiny new ones.

3. What are their thoughts on Pawns in general?

Admittedly simple and straightforward (hah). She mislikes the mistreatment they often receive, but this isn't significantly different from her dislike of anyone's mistreatment. Initially she sees them akin to the ideal form of uncorrupted soldiers and knights: noble warriors pledged to a grand cause, more or less. So at first she regards them the same way she would knights under her command, in an official capacity, with a sense of authority and responsibility any commanding officer might have. But see: Olivia isn't really that serious. She has an ideal of knighthood and also an understanding of the reality of it, and she falls somewhere outside of both. She aspires to the ideal, is affronted at the oft times corrupt or otherwise unpleasant reality, but is a little too capricious to actually embody an example of the former. So, as she travels with them (and especially deals with Emrys) her true colors balance out; she likes having fun and laughing with them, getting drinks and delighting in their stories. Less a band of knights and more a simple group of friends. Through these interactions her understanding of them and their plight grows, though she isn't really sure what she can do to change things for them...

4. What’s their relationship like with their main Pawn?

Whew, boy. Complicated. Starting out she trusted him implicitly, finding his relaxed and friendly nature comfortable and easy to get along with. This was true for a time, until shortly after her memories were restored. Then she gradually started to notice that some of his remarks seemed less humorous than they seemed at first glance, or that he often shirked responsibilities to other pawns where he could. Which was fine, to an extent, except she couldn't shake a discomforting feeling at times. Among the nobility, being able to tell who regarded you with distaste was a very useful skill in navigating political webs, and her alarms were going off, though she couldn't tell just why. Eventually discovering that most all of it was a lie and that he hated her for almost no other reason than the fact she was Arisen was more hurtful than she would have anticipated. She's dealt with a lot of people disliking or disapproving of her over the years, but she'd really come to rely on and trust him by this point, and it didn't seem like the sort of thing (initially) that they could just 'talk it out'. She loathes that she feels 'weak' and 'helpless' about it. It's not something she can solve with her usual methods, and while often she'd have moved on and not cared what others thought of her, she found herself caring very much about this strange, belligerent pawns opinion and feelings towards her. It took quite some time, and a lot of bumps along the way, but she did come to recognize and understand his feelings for her were far more complicated and not actually about her. She loves and cherishes him dearly, and wishes to stay by his side and help him finally move forward past the long-lingering scars of his past.

5. Do they have any interest in being Sovran? What are their opinions on the politics of the world in general?

Oh, absolutely. Becoming Sovran would mean she could change and fix so many things! Though she knows that's a little naive, she does have a strong belief she could change things for the better with that kind of influence. As she travels she begins to have doubts, or maybe 'cold feet', about just how much work she'd actually have to do, but ultimately it only further strengthens her resolve.

6. Who are their love interest(s) and/or closest friends?

Olivia is polyamorous and very open and honest about her romantic and intimate relationships (because they do vary in terms of how romantic/intimate they are at times). Her and Emrys are partners in every sense of the word -he shares similar inclinations after all- but by the end have come to a basic understanding that 'at the end of the day, they go home together'. Though sometimes they're both in bed with Wilhelmina, when she's in town. She has a... frankly long list of close friends, friends with benefits, lovers, and everything in between, spanning to before her time as the Arisen and into the over-year-long journey as Arisen. But she never pursues anything without everyone being on the same page. This would get way too long if I got into the specifics of every single relationship, because there are a lot of different nuances for each one, but maybe I'll do another write-up on that alone some time. Needless to say she's very friendly and outgoing and people are drawn to her, so she has lots of both. Though one note is that she's on good terms with Sven, they had a ??? bumpy history (mostly from her perspective he was clueless), but outside of their families arrangements she sees him as a dear friend and ally.

7. What drew them to their preferred vocation? Do they have history with it?

Growing up in a family of knights and having an idealized dream vision of knighthood will make you pick up a sword and shield. Later she would dabble in other arts, but above all being in melee is where she thrives.

8. Do they have any hobbies? Any way of relaxing between all that monster-slaying and traveling?

Monster-slaying and traveling IS her way of relaxing. Actually, before becoming Arisen she hadn't traveled a whole lot, and while it was kind of there in the back of her head, it wasn't a super prevalent thing in her aspirations (it would likely be a necessity as part of knighthood, but beyond that, not much consideration). So actually traveling and getting to see the wider world (getting to see it from the back of a griffin) really opened her eyes to how wondrous and amazing an experience it is. Having a super competent traveler like Emrys around certainly helps a lot, too, she might not have enjoyed it so much if not for that. 😅 Otherwise she loves dressing up and indulging in finer things from time-to-time, collecting pretty trinkets and beautiful dresses - and of course going to events requiring such things. Though she's just at home in a dingy tavern drinking men twice her size under the table. (Though she likely won't be walking home in a straight line.) Overall she enjoys socializing and being around other people. Also, ever since she was a child she loved playing in the fields outside of Vernworth, climbing trees or "playing" with the oxen (mostly just watching them, but once or twice she definitely climbed on them resulting in... antics). Nowadays she doesn't pester the livestock so much, but she does enjoy running through the fields and feeling like a kid again.

[whentherewerebicycles]

okay hello! instead of doing all my 2023 priority-setting in one long post, I’m going to divide it up into separate posts to encourage myself to really think through the concrete things I want to prioritize or achieve this year (and the specific habits I’ll need to build to make that happen).

Priority 1: Become a More Competent & Confident Cook

This year, I want to…

(1) Master the basic principles of cooking. I’d like to be able to confidently and consistently prepare delicious foods using a range of methods (roasting, sauteing, braising, simmering, etc.). I’d also like to be able to more confidently taste and adjust elements as I cook.

(2) Consistently eat balanced, plant-based, mostly vegan meals. I want to focus on eating a wide variety of healthful foods and on adapting meals wherever possible to incorporate more vegetables. Some more specific sub-goals:

I want to prepare 25 new recipes with a focus on recipes from around the world.

I want to try the following vegetables (all of which are either new to me or veggies I’m suspicious of): leeks, fennel, swiss chard, one new type of beans, radish, rhubarb, okra, eggplant, endive.

I want to taste, smell, and research the uses of one new spice in my cabinet per week, adding these notes to my cooking project doc and eventually to my recipe book. (I don’t really have a good sense right now of what different spices taste like or how they influence the flavor of a dish and I’d like to change that!)

(3) Create a photo-illustrated recipe book with at least 25 of my favorite easy-to-prep recipes.

How will I achieve these goals?

Becoming a more confident cook:

First, I’ll read Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat over the month of January. Instead of taking notes, I want to create a list of techniques or things I’d like to try or think about as I cook. My cooking skills are super basic so even super basic techniques will be helpful lol.

I don’t want to try to implement all the new strategies at once or I’ll get overwhelmed. So instead I’ll choose one technique to practice in my cooking each week. The learning cycle might look like this:

Start of the week: Look at the recipes I want to make that week, make my grocery list, and pick a new technique to practice from the list. (I can choose recipes that use that technique or choose a technique based on the recipes I’m planning to make.) Write the new technique + rewrite the older techniques on a dry erase board next to the stove so I’m reminded of them every time I walk into the kitchen. (I can habit-stack this with other household tasks I perform regularly, like cleaning out the fridge and placing a grocery order, as well as with other goal tasks, like spice tasting.)

During the week: Practice the technique(s) while cooking. If I’m struggling with something, watch YouTube videos, do research, or ask a friend till I feel confident I’m doing it correctly. Consider jotting down notes on how the food turned out.

End of week: Evaluate how confident I feel in my ability to perform the technique. In the list document, write down any questions or concerns I have (or any tips for doing it well). Remember that I’ll practice that technique twice more, since the two previous weeks roll over into the next week.

Eating balanced meals & trying new things:

Make it a game! Get excited about the process! Some strategies:

When I’m procrastinating on other things, do food or spice research. Search for different recipes by country or in-season veggie and look at lots of different pictures of the food.

Keep a running wishlist of recipes that look delicious or would be interestingly novel to try. Color-code or tag recipes that use specific techniques I want to practice, spices I want to try, or vegetables I want to learn to enjoy.

Challenge myself to modify recipes when possible, whether by making interesting or healthier substitutions or sneaking in more veggies.

Creating the recipe book:

Take photos of every meal I prepare (and the prep steps too if they’re pretty!) so I can print them later at Walgreens. To keep myself motivated maybe I’ll do a batch print every month or something and display the pictures in the kitchen lol.

Write up recipes for Tumblr at least semi-consistently so I have a record of simplified steps or substitutions I made.

Continue brainstorming & provisionally sorting recipes into categories with Liz. Right now we’ve been experimenting with sorting them by ease of preparation (on a spectrum of fast, simple, low-mess to messier or more complicated with a special section for meals that can be made ahead and/or frozen in bulk). But hmm I wonder if other possible sorting methods will emerge as I amass more recipes. I might also just make a veggie/main ingredient index for the binder where I can look up the vegetable I have in the fridge or picked up at the store and see all the recipes that use that vegetable. We also talked about designing other fun little pages that could help solidify our learning while also serving as future teaching tools with a kid… like charts of average roast/sautée times for different veggies… although I wonder if the goal will eventually be to not have to use timers so much because I’ll have a better sense of what something looks like when it’s done. But yeah these can all be open questions!!

Why is this goal important to me?

Preparing good, healthy food is a way of taking care of myself. When I am under stress or feeling bleh about my life or my body or whatever, I tend to lean more heavily on takeout, processed foods, or intermittent grazing. I have the time to cook thanks to my stupid flexible job, so I want to be sure that I’m using that time well and taking good care of myself even when I feel kinda bleh about certain aspects of my life.

I want to use this window of time to really learn and solidify skills I’ve been picking up piecemeal over the past six-ish years since I started trying to learn how to make food for myself. I also just like the idea of approaching cooking as a learning challenge! In the past I’ve tended to kinda lazily assume that people were either good cooks or they weren’t and it wasn’t worth worrying about it if you were a mediocre cook who could at least prepare a few mediocre things. But I think it’s nice to actually WANT to get better! And I think (surprise, surprise) I’ll really enjoy the process of setting concrete goals, designing learning tasks for myself, and assessing my progress over the course of the year. Plus maybe this will encourage me to invite friends over more often so I can make them try stuff :)

If I have or adopt or foster kids, I want to be able to teach them the basics of cooking good, delicious, healthy food from a very young age. I also want to nurture their curiosity about food and willingness to experiment in the kitchen. I honestly don’t know that my parenting style will differ that much from my own parents’ style, but I do think there are a few core things I want to tweak… and one of the biggest changes is I want to expose my kids to a wide variety of foods early and help them learn how to confidently prepare food that tastes good.

[asaltyrat]

Civilization 7 and the Fleeting Wow Factor

I’ve said this before, I’m a giant fan of strategy games.

Civilization 5 has a couple hundred hours put into it. Civilization 6? It didn’t feel nearly as !FUN! As 5, and I’m entirely unable to put my finger on exactly why Civ6 didn’t cultivate the same sort of excitement and ‘one more turn’ FOMO as some of it’s earlier titles. Granted the graphics were stellar and the game itself ran rather well without many defects. But there was a lack of wow factor I think Sid Meyer’s longest running franchise depends on to make it a truly good game.

 The experience was largely the same, which was pretty much what a lot of Civ players want. A ponderous, thoughtful experience where players can take their time and make the exact right play they want to in order to progress, grow their cities, and enjoy the banter of other players, if they were anything like me sitting in a voice call with six other people. But somehow the experience in six didn’t have the same punch as five did.

 It wasn’t the fully animated, somewhat cartoon-like representations of world leaders. I thought the eccentric displays of some of these notable names were perfectly on par with a alt-history spanning experience like civilization. I’m a particular fan of Teddy Roosevelt and Ghandi, both having extraordinarily expressive faces, broad movements, and some of the crisp multilingual dialogue i’ve heard in a game.

 It wasn’t the gameplay. I rose cities, sent my scouts out, and complained about barbarians. Every note in the game hit the mark perfectly for it to be an outstanding civilization experience. I was particularly impressed with how smooth of a transition it was between games. There were a few notable quality of life improvements with combat animations and interesting changes to the map layout, but it wasn’t anything that held me up for any appreciable amount of time.

 It was something about the whole package. Cities were lovely to look at and interesting to see, but they didn’t feel like they were growing or improving as ages went by. Landmarks seemed to be a little out of place. And of course I don’t mean in the historical sense. No, in fact it wasn’t the great wonder builders of Egypt that built the great leaning tower of Piza next to the Oxford University. That’s just par for the course.

 There was a distinct lack of ‘wonder’ in Civ 6 that made it fall flat, despite the game’s attempts to really drive home that concept with unexplored regions of the map showing up as old sea charts and vague sketchy details. For a 3d game it felt flat and uninteresting. But if you were to look at screenshots of the game, you’d wonder what the hell I was talking about. The game itself is bombastic and vividly colored with the developers making full use of cell shading and bright, complementary colors to make structures and units really pop.

 Now we have Civilization 7 to look forward to. I’ve seen the trailers, the overview of the new game, sat down to watch and dissect the gameplay and I’m starting to get a little impressed. Part of my complaint with Civ 6 is that cities really didn’t look like they were expanding and changing, but with the new experience in 7, we’re looking at tile improvements that expand the borders of the city and overall empire in new and exciting ways, with buildings, roads and facilities rendered in what feels like a more organic urban spraw. The new system Feraxis is calling “Ages” where you can willingly change the empire you represent as time progresses feels less like a major shakeup and more an expansion on the old system we saw in 6, where Civics can be hot-swapped to pivot an empire’s focus to readily fit the gameplan.

 I’ll be keenly watching this for a time longer, as we still have a good while before we see it’s full release in Febuary of 2025 and see what features get expanded, if the graphics are improved or reeled back. With GoT’s Gwendoline Christie narrating our empire-building experience, it will at least sound regal and grandiose. Cross your fingers to see if CIV7 brings back that wow factor I’ve been missing.

Stay Salty~

[lunarsilkscreen]

Digital Card Games

There are two major card games on mobile right now; Magic: The Gathering Arena, and Hearthstone. Sorry to the other games; I'm sure you're very fun to play.

Hearthstone enjoyed the privilege of ensnaring its customer base from WoW, a move that FFXI tried previously by charging extra for its Tetra Master add-on and subsequently discontinued for lack of interest. And because of that fan-base; enjoyed a rapid growth and boost to sales, as well as outpacing every other card game app in the market by a wide margin.

Because of the digital nature of this card game app; Hearthstone was able to employ mechanics {game features; not the profession} that offline card games could not--Such as stealing cards from your opponent for the duration of the game and shuffling randomly generated cards into your deck.

As well as many transformation and morphing capabilities that were intuitive and much easier for a player to understand than Magic was able to do with physically printed cards.

Hearthstone is the current leader of digital cards. However--because of MTG's rabid customer base; Hasbro is likely deciding to also transition to a mostly online format. This is because it is much cheaper to run, and the profits are much higher for cards you don't have to physically print.

Despite this; MTGAs design doesn't really lend itself to a digital front. And this is also despite the many MANY years MTG:Online, MTGs former digital card app having been available on PC for much, much longer. (Yes, they run at least TWO digital store fronts, and Hearthstone still manages to beat them out.)

This is because of the card's and overall game design being based around physical cards and a tabletop. MTGA has started to diverge in mechanics from the tabletop variant however; likely to try to outcompete hearthstone and try to be more user friendly...

Despite that competition; MTGA card boxes have at least a paragraph on every single card you play. Make games slow and difficult to pay attention too.

Even though hearthstone is feeling the bloat itself; especially if you play with randomly generated cards for your entire deck, they seem to be easy to wrap your head around exactly what a card you can't remember what the exact mechanic for does.

And after a couple hundred cards, it's near impossible to memorize every single detail.

The difficulty with hearthstone is trying to handle complex mechanics with it's much shorter timer. But it's much easier to understand all the cards being played, and quicker to form a strategy. And Despite MTGA's much longer timer, new players can expect to hit the limit much easier with just a couple cards.

This is extraordinarily evident in MTGAs newcomer challenges. Spark Mode, and Color Challenge. As many players start running into make poor decision and just not having enough time to read what's essentially the length of a YA[young adult] novel once a turn.

I'm a very fast reader, and much faster on the uptake than most, AND I'm a seasoned MTG player. And despite that; I cannot keep up. It's no surprise if other players have trouble with that as well.

It's not an intelligent thing. It's an issue with accessibility as well. Players requiring a screen reader have no chance without memorizing the extensive library of cards. And new players? Many won't try to play without having been seasoned on the physical format with other players to have helped them in the beginning.

I'm pointing out the extreme negative that MTGA currently displays, but despite this; I bet a lot of hearthstone players are turned off when encountering the extensive reading you might find yourself while at the bottom of silver rank.

As players just starting out have to face being pounded into the dirt while learning how to play the game at the lowest ranks in both games. And waiting for another player to get a bad draw to win a challenge to unlock features isn't very fun while also reading pages upon pages of varying card interactions.

Again; I'm fairly quick at reading and understanding card interactions, and the beginning mode is *not* an easy thing to jump into. I might be older, but I'm not *that* old.

This isn't even a "good ol days" when card effects were rare and special, weenies were white and green had the stompies. That was easy to get into for a new player; but boring to continue playing.

Hearthstone's limitations are it's previous benefits; tight small interface, easy to understand and non-cluttered. But it can't grow without addressing the limitations in its own growth, and being displayed and easy to understand on screen.

MTGAs limitations are as described above, but every single permanent (in play card) is hard to keep track of (not including trying to keep track of your lands that can't stack)

And despite what it knows as a reading experience, MTGA tries to retain its physical format in the digital world, and hide what your card does, by forcing you to tap and hold everything to read it (making reading and comprehension slower) but opting to display the image over the card effects. Discouraging even trying.

Seasoned players would say; "Well yea, but once you know the meta..." And then when you're hit with the off-meta deck, and you're penalized for reading and misunderstanding the off-meta interactions, you blame the opposing player for making you read more as the reason you lost. Right?

Hence why I chose to talk extensively on Hearthstone's RNMeta. This makes it easy to understand where the flaws and weaknesses are in both apps.

MTGA is going to be much hard to organize, and I'm saying this solely because that's the way it is on the table, I would suggest combining auras with the cards they're attached to, and stacking lands that behave similarly together so that you can see your mana base efficiently. (Yes even when they're tapped, thank you.

"Excuse me, how many land do you have?"

"Don't touch my land you jerk!"

[devious-bliss]

A Warrior and Elf Walk into a Bar

Author's Note: This will be a 3-4 part story that will be worked on every so often. This part in particular won't have any tickling cause this sets up the world a little bit. Despite this, I hope you enjoy! <3

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The Tavern: the perfect place to celebrate milestones, gather new party members, or in this case, plan out battle strategies. Damian, an “amateur warrior”, was sitting at a booth lost in his own thoughts as he strategized how he could fight all the different creatures that these rich nobles are dying to be quelled but always fell short by one wrong play or one key attack that couldn't be made anywhere else.

"If only I had someone else to help me out, but those other warriors are too damn self-absorbed, they would never listen to my calls. What about sneaky bandits? They can follow an order if they are paid enough… no, that wouldn’t work: too costly and untrustworthy. Well that leaves us with mages: Stuck up high elves with a damn superiority complex. They’d never dare be humiliated by someone like me. *Sigh* Look at me... what the fuck am I even saying! I HAVE to be the problem here if everyone isn't compatible with me." He slams his fist into the table in frustration which went completely unnoticed with the tavern’s commotion going on.

////////

The air was brisk and sent chills through a mysterious figure, cloaked in a hood and robe as they further wrapped themselves trying to find somewhere to stay the night. All hope feels kind of lost as lines of houses loomed in darkness for as far as the eye can see err… can’t see. Minutes feel like hours as this figure looks up to the sky, gazing at the stars that are brimming with light, and before they know it, they have stumbled upon the riotous tavern.

"Maybe someone can help me here..." They thought to themselves as they walked into the tavern. The change from a chilly, tranquil environment to a warm and raucous one was almost overwhelming but they didn't want to go back outside in that cold so there's no turning back. They struggle to navigate themselves through the seas of people. As they approached the bar, the bartender caught their eye and catered to them like everyone else.

"What can I get for ya?"

"Just water, please." The bartender briefly looked at them questionably for a moment before shaking it off and walking to the dispenser. Upon his return, the bartender handed over the water.

"Okay... Here ya go." They grabbed the tankard as they took out their coin purse and handed over what few coins they had left. A brief sigh of hopelessness was let out before exploring the rest of the tavern. It seemed filled with only rowdy and rambunctious drunkards at first glance, but upon further inspection, they spotted Damian alone contemplating. He gave off this odd kind of aura that they couldn’t quite put their finger on. After a deep breath, they gathered the courage to walk up to him.

"U-uhm, E-Excuse me" Their voice came out weakly, hesitant, and quite... feminine. He didn't notice them at first and instead was just zoning out. After a few moments, they tried again by tapping on his shoulder, startling him.

"Ah!" He jumped a little as he was brought back to reality, causing the hooded individual to jump back in response.

"Oh, sorry about that. Just wasn't expecting someone. I'm Damian, who're you?" He put on a slightly embarrassed smile, extending his hand out to them.

Before they said anything, they grabbed their hood revealing a rather interesting sight: a rather charming, female elf. Her skin was very pale, almost like snow with long, silver hair that shines warmly from the light of the room with small and pointy ears peeking through. She had very soft facial features which complemented her small figure, but what really caught his attention were her eyes: a color similar to that of a vibrant cyan.

"I-I'm Silavetta... May I join you?"

"Sure thing." With that, she sat down across from him, unsure of how to present her issue to him. So instead, she just studies what he is doing. It appears to be a piece of paper that has a list of what she could only assume were bounties as well as a bunch of basic symbols in some strange configurations.

“So uh… Silave-”

“S-Silvie!...You can call me Silvie.” A sudden outburst was quite a surprise from what he saw just moments ago.

“O–kay then Silvie, what brings you here to this tavern? You don’t seem to be the drinking type considering your… water haha.” He chuckled as he could see her face start to redden as she averted her gaze from him. There is so much information that her brain was processing: his perception, her unattentiveness, his… aura, and how to ask to join him… at least for a little while… and hopefully nothing… tragic… happens.

“Um… that’s what I was gonna talk to you about. You see… I was kinda wondering if I… could… join…you…” She tried to keep going, but doubt followed every word that came out. She could only see his eyes closed in thought until she looked away again. Strange aura or not, I think this was a mistake.

Now it was Damian’s turn to think: The perfect opportunity presenting itself right in front of him.

“Well, luckily for you… I am looking for a companion as a matter of fact, but I was starting to think that I’ve run out of luck…”

“W-Well you see… I find myself as an average archer…and… I’ve dabbled with a little bit of healing magic.” She looked away as she spoke, seemingly not very confident in herself.

“Well then… I’m not very sure if you will help me in my travels judging by your own self assessment. However, that only means you’ll have to prove yourself tomorrow morning then.”

“R-Really!? Thank you so so much Damian!” She perked her head, absolutely ecstatic.

“Don’t worry about it, shall we go then?”

“Go? Go where?”

“Back to my residence of course! I’ve got a spare bedroom that you could use for the night!”

“R-Really!? I would’ve thought you’d be staying in one of the bedrooms here?”

“That’s… shall we say not my thing. If you haven’t noticed already, some of the other patrons of this place like to live loud which has persisted till mornings on many occasions.” A weak look of pain was strewn across his face.

“O-Oh, I see…” Her face started to flush upon realizing her statement.

“Anyways, let’s head out then, shall we?”

“O-Okay then!” Damian rolls up his paper while Silvie puts her cloak back on and braces for the cold.

The second he opened the door, a chilling brisk of air bit their skin.

“Brrr… It sure is cold out here.”

“This has actually been the warmest it’s been recently.”

“Really!? I think I’d freeze if it were colder.”

“Well don’t worry, it won’t take long to get back to my place. Speaking of which, follow me.” He takes a turn right into an alley behind the tavern. Hesitantly, she follows behind him.

Why is he bringing me here? This can’t be good.

She looks down the alley to find Damian staring straight at a blank wall.

Now I’m having second thoughts on this guy…

Her negative thoughts were quickly brushed away as he waved at the wall and a source of bright, white light manifested itself, creating a portal.

“W-Wait! You know magic!?”

“Me? Well, not really… it’s just a basic waypoint spell. Something that you learn in the ar- I mean… pick it up after traveling long enough. I’ve traveled around… half of the continent by now. It’s hard to tell, but to be honest, it’s a big place.” She still felt a little skeptical about the whole situation, and his words didn’t instill any confidence either.

Regardless, Damian started to walk through the portal and shortly followed Silvie walking behind him. Soon after the portal closed and they left without a trace.

[carpenteractivist]

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[hawks-supremacy]

Golden Swirls

summary: when Sakusa's sister told him how people found their soulmates, he was disgusted. or at least until he found his.

pairing: sakusa x reader

genre: fluff and angst

word count: 3.2k

a/n: i finished this a week ago but didn't like it so i completely redid it. i also tried to write in 3rd pov which i don't think i'll do again, i'll probably just stick to 2nd pov but i wanted to try something new! anyway i hope you enjoy!

Sakusa Kiyoomi didn’t consider himself a germaphobe. Even though his cousin, Komori Motoya, liked to say he was, he still wouldn’t consider himself one. Although he said it in a joking manner it still made him think, do other people see him like that? He didn’t mind sitting or laying on the floor to do his stretches before practice, and dirt outside didn’t bother him much either. It was just other people and their germs that he didn’t care for. He doesn’t know where people have been or who could potentially be in the beginning stages of a cold and not know it. He was cautious around people, and bigger crowds made him nervous.

So when Sakusa learned about soulmates and how people found theirs at the age of 8 he was a little grossed out. What he remembers from the story his older sister told him was that everyone in the world has a soulmate, and the way you find yours was that when you made contact with your soulmate, the area you touched each other would light up in a sort of golden color. She told stories about how people would go around and try to touch everyone they thought could be their soulmate.

That’s what Sakusa thought was gross, trying to touch every single person on the off chance that they're your soulmate. Maybe it’s because he was always sick as a kid and that’s why he didn’t like the idea of other people’s germs. So as he grew up and saw people leaving gentle touches on the arms of everyone they met he couldn’t help but curl his lip in disgust. It wasn’t like Sakusa never wanted to find his soulmate, but he didn’t like the idea of people invading his personal space to find out.

High School for Sakusa was difficult, even though Motoya constantly told him he was a bit brash and abrasive that didn’t stop people from wanting to see if they were his soulmate. He managed to dodge nearly everyone who tried but occasionally there’d be a few who snuck in there with disappointed stares as their touch didn’t cause the warm golden glow signalling that they were soulmates.

Now Sakusa was a professional volleyball player for the MSBY Black Jackals and dodging the fleeting touches of fans only seemed to get harder the longer he was in the spotlight. He watched from a distance as his teammates shook hands and hugged every fan that approached them, watched as the shoulders of fans slumped at the lack of gold in their touch. Watched as fans jealously stared when his captain Meian Shugo found his soulmate in the crowded court after a game.

He had just left the locker rooms and glanced in the gym to see another crowd of fans desperately trying to see if they were one of the team member’s soulmates, another crowd of fans disappointed when the outcome they were hoping for didn’t happen. “You’re not soulmate searching in the crowd of fans?” He glanced over, startled at the sudden voice next to him. He wasn’t used to the new presence quite yet.

L/n Y/n was the new manager of the Black Jackals, having started less than a month ago. They had already begun to learn everyone’s mannerisms and habits, knowing that Sakusa was one to avoid the crowds and interviews after games, opting to keep to himself. They knew that everyone else on the team had no issues meeting the fans and finding out if their soulmates were in the crowd much like Meian’s was.

Sakusa didn’t know a lot about Y/n, but they knew quite a bit about him just from observing their practices and games. Sakusa wasn’t sure if their views on soulmates matched his, if they also thought that the act of having to touch every person in hopes of finding “the one” was odd and not appealing. He wasn’t sure if they had simply just found their soulmate already and didn’t need to bother with everyone else. What he did know was that they kept their distance at practices.

Y/n always greeted everyone from a distance when they entered the gym for practices or before their games had started. When they brought their water bottles they set them on the bench rather than handing them to everyone on the team. When the team was gathering to talk about play strategies they would be sat at the bench, close enough to listen, always jotting things down on their clipboard. To Sakusa Kiyoomi, L/n Y/n was an enigma.

They were someone who kept to themselves, never getting too close to anyone else. On the occasion that they went out for dinner after games that the team had won and felt proud of, they always sat at the end of the table, never saying many words. They were quiet and soft spoken when they did speak. Giving gentle reminders or suggestions to the team. Even though they were quiet and kept to themself they still managed to become friends with almost everyone on the team.

They exchanged excited words with Bokuto as they exchanged stories from when they were in their high school years. They gave friendly but stern scoldings to Atsumu as he did something he knew he shouldn’t have, like swinging from the bars in the gym just because Hinata made a bet that he couldn’t. They gave silent smiles as they listened to Hinata enthusiastically shout sound effects as he described his favorite volleyball plays. They gave Sakusa words of encouragement while still keeping their distance because they knew that people he didn’t really know made him uncomfortable. But Sakusa didn’t know much about Y/n.

So as he looked down at them sitting on the floor across from the back entrance to the gym, waiting for him to answer their question, he wasn’t sure how to approach the conversation. “Or have you already found your soulmate?” They asked after Sakusa still hadn’t responded to their first question. “Uh no I haven’t found mine, have you?” He finally responded as he lowered himself to the ground, still a good distance away from them. They shook their head as they kept their eyes closed and their head leaning against the cold tile wall of the hallway. “Why are you sitting on the floor?” Sakusa asked after a few seconds of silence from both parties.

“I have a headache but Bokuto is my ride home, so I have to wait for him to finish greeting every fan and then he showers. So I’d say I still have a good hour to wait.” They replied, opening their eyes and tilting their head to look at Sakusa, “Why are you sitting on the floor?” He wasn’t sure how to respond, he didn’t have a reason for why he sat on the floor, he just sat there because they were also sitting on the floor.

“I can give you a ride home if you want Y/n.” He offered, changing the topic at hand. He wasn’t quite sure what compelled him to offer them a ride home, he just felt like it was right. “You don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly content sitting here and waiting for Bokuto.” They said, closing their eyes again and turning their head towards the ceiling. “You have a headache Y/n, let me give you a ride home so you aren’t sitting here for an hour.” Sakusa said as he got up and looked at them expectantly. As they opened their eyes they sighed and got up, “Let me text Bokuto to let him know that I don’t need a ride and then we can leave.” They reluctantly agreed as they pulled out their phone to send Bokuto a text. He wouldn’t get it until he got to the locker room but at least then he would know. “Okay let’s go.” Y/n said as they started walking towards the exit with Sakusa still standing in the hallway, only beginning to follow them after they were halfway towards the exit.

As they drove home Sakusa learned a little bit more about Y/n. He learned that they had met Bokuto through Akaashi who was a distant cousin of theirs, so they were closer to Bokuto out of everyone on the team. He also learned that they lived in the same apartment building as Bokuto so they carpooled every morning, which is why they always showed up at the same time. He didn’t learn much about before they joined the team as the manager any time he asked they waved it off or changed the subject.

As Sakusa entered his home, a familiar ringtone started to chime from his coat pocket. Taking his phone out of his pocket he pressed the answer button seeing it was Motoya calling. “Hey Motoya, what’s up?” He held the phone between his shoulder and ear as he slipped off his shoes before correcting his grip on the small device. “Was just calling to let you know we have a game against each other coming up next month. Did you just get home from your game? I thought I heard the door close.”

“Yeah I got home late because I drove the new manager home. They were waiting for Bokuto, but they had a headache and he was going to be a while.” Sakusa explained as he walked over to his kitchen to find something to eat. “Oh you guys got a new manager? Who is it?” Motoya asked curiously. “Their name is L/n Y/n. They just started a few weeks ago, so I don’t really know much about them.” He said as he got out ingredients from the fridge and went to wash his hands.

“You mean L/n Y/n from Itachiyama?” As Motoya asked what he thought was an innocent question, Sakusa felt himself freeze, “Who was that again?” He asked hesitantly. “You don’t remember Y/n? You hated them, or at least it sure seemed like you did.I mean you were cold and distant to everyone but it seemed like it was worse with them.” As Motoya continued to explain to Sakusa who Y/n was he suddenly felt very terrible. From what he remembers Y/n wasn’t always shy and soft spoken. They used to be bubbly and friendly, always trying to include everyone, including him.

It wasn’t that he was mean to them by any means. He didn’t go out of his way to bully them, but one day he had enough of their bubbly and outgoing personality and just snapped. He wasn’t having the best day and hearing them just kind of set him off, and now he felt terrible, because Sakusa knew that sometimes all it took was one person to yell at someone who was outgoing and suddenly they weren’t as outgoing anymore as before. He doesn’t quite remember what he said but he remembers that after he yelled at Y/n, they were more quiet.

“Motoya, I didn’t even recognize them. They’re so different from when we were in high school, they’re so quiet now.” Sakusa said as he leaned on the counter with his head resting in the hand that wasn’t holding the phone. “Yeah they started being quiet after you yelled at them. Didn’t talk as much.” Motoya’s voice got softer the more he talked about it. “I don’t even remember what I said, Motoya.” Sakusa sighed. “Well first of all you told them that no one cared what they had to say, and then you said something along the lines of how you feel bad for whoever their soulmate is if they're going to be that loud all the time. It was pretty bad, Kiyoomi.” Motoya changed the subject and they talked about something else for a bit before Sakusa had to eat something and then shower if he wanted to go to bed at a decent time.

It was the next morning and Sakusa was heading over to Y/n’s house to try and apologize. He wouldn’t see them today since they usually have the day after a game off so that the team can rest. He was suddenly very nervous as he knocked on the door to their apartment. “Bokuto, you have to learn how to cook something at some point, I can’t feed you all the time!” He heard their voice get closer to the door as they walked towards it, and soon the door was pulled open, “Oh you’re not Bokuto. Sorry, he usually comes over around this time every day on our days off. Uh come in?”

As they moved out of the way and opened the door more Sakusa noticed that they wore an Itachiyama sweater and suddenly felt stupid that he didn’t realize sooner. As he stepped in and slipped off his shoes he took note that the apartment was pretty clean other than a few things here and there. “Sorry it’s a mess, I was going to clean today and then well you showed up.” Y/n said as they went through and picked up a few things, “Are you hungry? It’s about noon, have you eaten? I was in the middle of making lunch, but I made enough for like four people because I don’t understand that I can cut the recipe down.” He watched as they rambled and walked around the kitchen to finish cooking the lunch they had started before he arrived.

“Yeah I’ll eat if you don’t mind. I didn’t eat anything before I came over.” He said sitting down on one of the stools by the counter. Even as he was around them for just a few minutes he couldn’t comprehend why he would yell at them like he did. Their presence was so warm and inviting, they were so caring and observant of everyone around them. Now he felt like even more of an ass before he came over to their apartment.

“Not that I don’t want to hang out with you or anything, but why exactly did you come over to my apartment today?” They asked setting down two plates of food on the counter and taking a seat across from Sakusa. Sakusa moved the food around his plate for a bit while he nervously thought about how to start the conversation. “I’m sorry.” He said and looked up, “About what happened when we were at Itachiyama.” Y/n paused, their food halfway to their mouth, and set down their utensils. “Oh, so you do remember that.” They said fidgeting with their hands, “I had honestly thought you forgot. It’s okay though Sakusa, it’s been what? Five years since that’s happened? I’ve moved past it, we’re different people than we were back then. I kinda get it though, I was a little much huh?” They asked, beginning to eat again.

“It wasn’t okay though, I shouldn’t have talked to you like that just because I was having a bad day Y/n. People care about you and what you have to say, and I guarantee your soulmate will love how bubbly and excited you always are.” Sakusa apologized again, he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to apologize enough to them. “Honestly Sakusa it’s fine, I’ve gotten over it, besides I might never find my soulmate anyway.” Y/n said as they finished their food and put their plate in the sink. “I know you got more quiet because of what I said. You’re not as outgoing or bubbly anymore, you’re more shy and reserved than before and I feel awful for that. I didn’t realize that what I said could have that big of an impact on you-”

“Well it did.” Y/n interrupted him, “It impacted me so much Sakusa. I was just trying to include you so you didn’t feel left out during group projects or activities. I was just trying to be nice to you Sakusa, you know it’s really stupid I even had a little crush on you. I know that’s dumb because the chances of us being soulmates is basically zero, but you were nice to me. You talked to me, helped me on the homework, and somewhere along the way I developed a crush. Then you yelled at me.” Y/n took a deep breath and laughed pathetically, “You yelled at me, which is really stupid, because people told me all the time that I was “too much” and needed to calm down. But it was different coming from you, coming from someone who I had thought had become a friend of mine.”

“Y/n I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” Sakusa said as he made his way toward them. “I know you didn’t, Sakusa. I told you I’m over it. I guess I just wanted to yell back at you for it, even if it is five years later. Honestly I forgave you two years after it happened. I’m still bubbly and outgoing, it’s just that I wasn’t sure if you would’ve hated that at practice so I toned it down. Ask Bokuto, he’ll tell you.” Sakusa had felt a little better after hearing that from Y/n. He wasn’t sure he’d ever forgive himself if they had never gone back to their excitable personality.

“Here let me help with the dishes.” Sakusa said as he reached for the plate in their hand. They were about to protest when they felt a warm go on the tip of their index finger where his hand brushed theirs. Sakusa watched in awe as golden swirls danced around both of your finger tips, somehow in sync like a dance that wasn’t quite complete without its partner to help hold the rhythm of the number. The warmth of his hand was nothing like his sister had described to him. It felt like the first rays of sun in the morning on a warm autumn day with more of a comforting warmth than a hot one.

Neither of the two said anything as they watched the golden swirls fade away, but still felt the warmth of them underneath the skin still. “I know I said I had a crush on you earlier and I should be ecstatic that this is happening but a part of me can’t help but find this really ironic.” Y/n said laughing, still staring at their hands. “What do you mean?” Sakusa asked with a confused stare as he looked at Y/n. “You don’t think this is ironic? You literally told me my soulmate would find me annoying and now you’re my soulmate. It’s kind of funny.” Y/n explained, finally looking up at Sakusa.

Sakusa thought for a minute with furrowed eyebrows before realizing what they meant. “Would you be quiet about that?” He asked now laughing at the situation as well, “We just found out we’re soulmates and you’re making jokes? I’m glad you’re back to your old self but come on Y/n.” He gave a gentle shove to their shoulder as they laughed more at the situation and Y/n continued to make jokes and lightly shoved him back.

Outside the apartment Bokuto lowered his ready to knock fist with a smile, deciding to come back at a later time as he heard laughing coming from the inside of the usually quiet apartment.

[lebenspurpur]

showering with the slashers

|Michael| (SFW)

You will need months to convince him to shower with you. He is surprisingly insecure and shy when it comes to nudity and especially taking off his mask. In the beginning he will even leave it on until he realizes that the steam plus the hot water are making it impossible to keep it on.

After he decides to join you he will ask for one every day. I mean he won't ask verbally he'll just stand in the bathroom when you shower until you invite him in.

Most of the time he will just place himself underneath the stream of water like a statue and let you shampoo his hair. If he's feeling generous, he will do the same for you and give you a little head massage. Michael will always use your soap since it smells like you but obviously this idiot won't ever admit that.

His favorite are showers in the evening because he adores laying in bed after a long, hot shower. Those are also one of the rare times where he actually allows cuddling.

|Vincent Sinclair| (SFW)

Vincent prefers bathing over showering. Though he won't say no to a shower.

It will definitely take him a while to gain the confidence to join you. In the beginning he'll turn his back towards you so you won't see his face. Show him love and appreciation and he might open up a little.

Vincent loves dealing with your hair. Obviously he has like 15 different hair products even though he rarely uses them. Now he can use them on you.

If you shampoo his hair he is in heaven. Imagine him underneath a stream of water lovingly gazing into your eyes while you softly trace his scalp with your fingertips. I love him, what can I say.

He will dry your hair himself and then gladly put lotion on your body. Such a sweetheart. Afterwards he likes cuddling while watching something together.

|Bo Sinclair| (NSFW)

You won't even notice when Bo enters the bathroom. He just suddenly stands behind you, arms wrapping around your upper body and his lips attached to your neck.

After a passionate make-out session he might wash your body. He likes to use his soap since that's a sign that you're his. As if the marks he leaves weren't enough.

Normally the shower is one of the rare places where he expresses his real emotions because nobody except for you will see them there. So expect lots of praising while his soapy, calloused hands trace your hips with such tenderness, you don't even recognize him.

Afterwards he'll either make you dirty again ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) or he'll lay on your chest, relaxing after a long day.

|Lester Sinclair| (SFW)

Yes Y/N, he'll gladly shower with you! He will take good care of you and that's a promise.

You'll always be glad when he showers with you since, let's be honest, he smells like rotten road kill. If your soft hands go over his scarred and exhausted body he cant' help but stare at you fondly.

I feel like Lester would try to make bubbles with soap in his hand. Or make a beard out of foam. He always tries to make you let out that adorable laugh of yours, what'd you expect?

After showering he'll wrap you up in his arms and tell you about his day. Whenever he chuckles about a funny memory a deep rumble can be felt in his chest. It never fails to make your heart grow warmer. As soon as you fall asleep he presses a soft kiss to your forehead and tucks you under the covers.

|Baby Firefly| (SFW)

Baby will always invite herself in the bathroom as soon as you're comfortable with that. Her soft hands will softly massage your shoulders and back and you can feel the knots and tight spots slowly relaxing.

But don't be foolish, she expects a massage as well. Baby values fairness so every action of her has a price. Not that you mind.

Baby's soap smells like cotton candy and fits her aesthetic wonderfully. Sometimes you'll steal a little bit for yourself.

I also believe that Baby likes to sing in the shower. According to my personal opinion one of Baby's big passions is music. Her sweet voice will be loud and clear and if you look at her she'll wink at you and smile.

After you're done she'll gladly let you brush her hair. Since the mane of hers often doesn't do what she wants it to do she gladly accepts help. If you put a hair product in her hair while softly clearing the knots she'll close her eyes while humming faintly.

|Otis Driftwood| (NSFW)

Otis is very similar to Bo when it comes to showering. Though he is also surprisingly shy. Not because of his body, more because of your feelings. Do you really want him in the shower?

After he gets over those thoughts he'll slip behind you every now and then, his big hands caressing your ass, scaring the shit out of you. If you shriek or jump he'll just chuckle and continue raking his hands over your naked form.

Even though he pretends like he doesn't like it, he loves if you wash his hair. Come on have you seen that mane? It needs some serious care and especially good conditioner. It's also dyed (I refuse to believe that his natural hair color is white.) so a good wash is long overdue.

Afterwards he'll gladly lay in bed with you while reading or discussing things. I believe that Otis also enjoys reading stories to his partner. After all you can discuss them with him later.

|Billy Loomis| (NSFW)

Are you kidding? Of course he'll shower with you!

His eyes plus hands will never leave your naked body, prepare for him just being horny. Yes Y/N, he'd love to put soap on your body. What do you mean not just on your chest and ass?

Eventually he'll grow tired of just looking at you. His hands will be all over your body soon, his lips attached to your chest leaving little marks.

If he's tired he'll oblige to your charm and wash your body without being naughty. Afterwards he'll just silently hold you close while the hot water engulfs both of you. I mean mostly him but his body will keep you warm.

|Stu Macher| (SFW)

Stu enjoys every activity he can do with you on his side.

He'll gladly massage your back, pressing little kisses to your shoulder plate. His hands will be so soft when they rub soap all over your wet form.

He loves when you try to wash him but fail because you're too small. He'll steal a kiss or two when you try and reach him by standing on your tip toes.

After all the cleaning is finished he will wrap his strong arms around you and press his chest against your back, humming fondly. He'll close his eyes and softly let the water flow over your connected bodies.

|Brahms Heelshire| (NSFW)

Brahms hates cleaning. No matter how. You will have to coax him into the shower by showering with him. It's really the only time when he ever showers.

Don't expect him to actually wash himself. You can do that Y/N. Such a malicious little gremlin. As soon as your hands touch him he'll put his head on your shoulder and start whispering very naughty things. Y/N you're torturing him, what is he supposed to do?

Okay so there might not be a lot of cleaning. If you really want him to be clean you will have to use a punishment or coax kind of strategy. No good night kiss for Brahms if he doesn't clean himself I guess. God he will be so whiny. Brahms is going to pout for days after this.

Afterwards he still wants your attention. Y/N wasn't he a good boy? He deserves a reward doesn't he?

|Josef| from the creep series (SFW)

Shower? With him? You really want that? Eh.. okay.

He'll be a bit insecure, Josef isn't used to receiving adoration. As soon as you start putting soap on his body he visibly relaxes and sighs softly. He loves being touched, yet he never asks for it.

Afterwards he'll always want to shower with you. Please just touch him some more.

Josef will happily return the favor. His touches will be very soft and tender, he doesn't want you to feel any kind of uncomfortable or scared.

After showering he will rub lotion on your warm skin, he wants it to be healthy Y/N!

Josef will also prepare a healthy meal. Food is important Y/N and god he loves cooking for you. His body in new clothes, smelling like aftershave, wet hair in a bun, singing quietly while he makes roasted vegetables. Please wrap your arms around his torso. He will nearly faint.

|Thomas Hewitt| (SFW)

It will take him a while, mainly because of the mask. However coaxing works quite good so he might give in after you bribe him a little.

Tommy is going to wash your hair very precisely, not wanting to cause knots. He knows how hot in can get in Texas as well which leads him to move away from the refreshing water, leaving you more space. He's just very considerate, compared to other slashers (ehem, Bo.).

Please wash his hair, he'd feel so special. Especially if it's your own shampoo.

After showering he'll wrap you in his strong arms and nuzzle his face in your neck, mask off. Do whatever you want Y/N, he's just glad he can lay next to you right now.

[dapandapod]

Connecting dots

You have heard of truth spells. Now get ready for a lying curse!

Here on Ao3, where I think Im hiralious.

As per usual, things got way longer than I intended, please enjoy of the 2981 words of this stupid, in my opinion very funny and a lil antsy thing.

(repost because bot army found me and invaded and i got tired of blocking ten a day)

Geralt has seen a great deal of curses before.

Heck, he’seven been cursed before. Usually it is a truthteller one, a true classic, and no one thinks twice about it. Normally it’s easily solved after some awkward as fuck questions of some very intense teasing.

But this time there is something else going on.

Nothing he says is true.

Nothing.

Not the grass is green or the sky is blue. Not that his name is Geralt or that his favorite animals are bards.

(Bards are feral and therefore counts as animals. Not telling anyone they are his favorites though.)

It is one of those times where Geralt travels alone. Of course he does. So there is not anyone to notice, not really.

When they ask obvious things, of course he gets strange looks. It makes his life hella difficult when they ask him how much he wants to get paid, which usually end up giving him nothing. Or if they ask him if he is a witcher, and he ends up saying no.

Or on a memorable occasion, someone asks him if he eats children.

Which, of course he doesn’t.

So the curse makes him say yes. And he is chased out of the village with torches and pitchforks of doom.

On the bright side, the curse doesn’t stop him from asking questions to others. All of this could be funny. Some of it is, when people thinks he is being rude, sarcastic or joking. It could be, except Gealt prefers very much not to lie when he can.

He seeks help from a mage, but when he asks if he needs help Geralt ends up saying no. And the mage slams the door in his face.

Then his path crosses with Jaskier.

Which is both a relief and a fucking pain in the ass. Jaskier talks nonstop, he asks rhetorical questions all the time, and Geralt is trying his hardest to keep his mouth shut.

“I have heard that wyverns are not real dragons, Geralt. Is that really true?”

“No.” Geralt grits out. Fuck.

“I knew it! Because I read this poem you see and-”

Ugh.

“And then there was this old professor back in oxenfurt. I swear he has never seen a real drowner in his life. I have seen a great deal of them, no thanks to you my friend. I just don’t remember what color they have when they are young, would you fill me in here Geralt? I really would like to shut that old wheezer up.”

“Pink.”

Geralt is so frustrated. His frown is deeper set that ever before.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Huh! The more you know I suppose.” Jaskier muses, tapping a finger on his chin. “You are the expert after all.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes Geralt, this is not the time to be humble.”

“Yes it is.” Maybe, if he lies enough Jaskier will pick up on it.

But alas, Jaskier does what everyone else does.

“Geralt are you alright?”

Fuck.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?” and oh Geralt wishes he would ask it another way.

“Yes.” He lies again. Jaskier studies him, sees his deep set frown, and lets it go.

Geralt would appreciate it any other night, but by now this is rather troublesome.

“Jaskier. I don’t need your help.” Fuck this is so frustrating.

“No, I get it Geralt. It’s alright, I will leave you be. I know I annoy you sometimes.”

“Yes you do.”

Fuck. FUCK.

The bard looks hurt and turns away. Geralt puts his head in his hands and groans. This is such a disaster.

They spend another few days awkwardly side by side.

It takes some time, but Geralt finally figures out a new strategy.

“Jaskier. I don’t want to ask you this.”

“…Alright?”

“If there was something… different with me, would you notice?” Geralt has been looking for a way to phrase this.

“I suppose? Oh no, is that why you were annoyed with me? Did you change your hair?”

“Yes. Fuck!” This is so fucking annoying. He wishes he could straight out say it, but no, why would any curse work like that?!

“You are joking right? You haven’t changed your hair in the last few decades I’ve been with you.”

Wait. Has it really been that long? Huh.

“I have.”

He really hasn’t. Maybe he should.

Is that the cost to make someone notice? Geralt sighs and looks up at the sky.

The clouds are hanging low and preparing for a real downpour. Maybe he can use that.

“Looks like the sun is coming out.” Geralt comments, looking intensely at Jaskier, hoping he will pick up on it.

“Really? Looks like rain to me.”

“Nah, I’m thinking snow tonight. It seems cold enough.”

It sure as hell doesn’t. It is in the middle of summer, and Jaskier sure is dumb if he isn’t picking up on this.

Jaskier is picking up on something, luckily.

He shifts and get right up in Geralt’s face. The bard smells nice, his intense stare is doing something to him.

“Do you want me to notice something Geralt?” Jaskier asks, studying him closely.

“No.” Geralt lies softly, heat rising to his cheeks.

It is interesting, because that is half lie, half truth. There are things he would rather Jaskier didn’t notice. Like the blush he is wearing right now for instance. Among other, similar things.

They stare at each other for a few seconds. Geralt is trying to ignore how close the bard is, focusing on how to phrase himself.

“Don’t come closer.” Geralt all but whispers, hoping the bard doesn’t hear. It slips out, and he finds it hard to understand the rules of the curse.

Jaskiers eyebrow twitch and he leans back just a little.

How does he say this the easiest way?

“Roach is a goat.” Geralt begins. Swallows. Hoping Jaskier forgets his first statement. “Bunnies can fly. The sky is green.”

“Geralt? What?” Jaskier tilts his head in confusion.

“Ask me something.” Geralt says, he is starting to feel desperate. He must look like it too, because Jaskier is looking a bit worried.

“Alright? Uh… How many fingers am I holding up?” Jaskier holds up both hands.

“Two.” Geralt lies, and finally something clicks in Jaskiers head.

He hopes.

Or that was his neck doing something unholy when he straightened up. It didn’t sound good anyhow.

“Why are you lying Geralt?”

“I am telling the truth.”

“No you are not. What is my name?”

“Sandra.” Alright that is funny. Geralt smirks a little, finding himself hilarious. Jaskier lifts an eyebrow.

“I am guessing you asked me that for a reason, Geralt, please take this seriously. Is something the matter?”

“I don’t know.” Geralt says, and oh? That is interesting.

He does know, but at the same time, he guesses it depends on what the specific matter is. There is nothing wrong with him, more than the lying. There are things that trouble him, sure, but nothing ails him really.

“Alright. I really think it is going to rain, so lets find shelter for tonight, and then lets figure this out.” Jaskier says, and sure, that sounds very reasonable.

They find a small hut, probably just a place for a shepherd to sleep from time to time, but it suits them just fine.

They settle in, feeding Roach outside and brushing her down.

Geralt makes himself comfortable on the floor, partially because Jaskier becomes a right terror if he sleeps poorly and partially because there is no way he is going to share that small space with someone that smells that good.

The only reason Geralt is alive today is thanks to his self preservation.

(Also not true, most of the time it was Vesemir or Triss….)

Jaskier comes inside and settles opposite of Geralt on the bedroll, legs crossed and eyes lazerfocused.

“So.” Jaskier begins.

“So.” Geralt echoes with a soft smile.

Hopefully they will get this sorted out and Jaskier can do the speaking with the next mage or sorceress they come across.

“Let’s try to sort this out, this thing you won’t tell me. I don’t really understand what’s going on, but it seems important to you.”

Geralt shakes his head, even his body betraying him.

“What is it that you don’t want me to notice?”

Stupid fucking question Jaskier.

“My extra toes.” Geralt says sarcastically.

“You don’t have extra toes?” Jaskier asks with a frown. He has seen Geralts toes, but probably never counted them. Which makes sense, supposedly, that is a weird thing to do out of the blue.

“I do.” Geralt says, rolling his eyes.

“Alright, we are letting that go.”

Good boy, Geralt thinks. And then flushes, because that brings other scenarios to his mind.

“Why are you blushing?” Jaskier asks, tilting his head again.

Gosh, why does he keep doing that? Doesn’t he know how endearing that is?

“Because I’m warm.” Geralt lies, and thank fuck for lying and not truthing in this instance.

But it doesn’t help Jaskier figure things out at all, so…

“I want to cut my hair.” Geralt blurts, and only the thought of it stings. He cringes, despite the curse.

It really came down to the hair, huh?

“Are you sure?” Jaskier asks, lifting one perfect eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Like, right now? You want me to cut your hair?”

“No.” Oh shit. Oh fuck. Wait, he does? This is not… what he thought was going to happen here. He did not realize that himself.

“Make up your mind, stupid.” Jaskier says, shaking his head with a smile. “Why can’t you just tell me what you want me to figure out?”

Oh that is the real question right there. What will come out this time?

“Because I enjoy hiding things from you.”

“Oh. Geralt, that didn’t sound true at all.”

Geralt pointedly raises his eyebrows and hopes Jaskier will connect the dots.

Jaskier raises his eyebrows right back.

Idiot.

“Becaaauusseee?” Geralt asks, trying to make him think.

“Oh. Wait.” Geralt waits. “WAIT!”

Finally.

“Are you actually hiding something from me? Geralt. You hate lying. Why do you keep lying?”

“I tell you everything.” Geralt says and hmmm. “Hmmm.”

He does not like that reply.

“Was that a lie too? Geralt, are you compelled to lie? And if you are, we are circling back to that fucking statement later.”

“It wasn’t a lie.” Geralt is both relieved and scared out of his mind.

There are some questions he really doesn’t want Jaskier to ask when he figured it out.

“I guess you wouldn’t tell me if that’s so, thinking about it.”

Clever bard.

“Alright, so I am going to try to ask you a few things. Is that alright?”

Geralt is not sure how to respond to that, because of his previous thoughts. Humming and grunting seems to work, so he does that and let’s Jaskier make his own conclusions.

Which, to be fair, is actually often a bad idea.

“It should be things I know to be true. Alright, tell me this.”

Jaskier lifts his left hand.

“Which hand am I holding up?”

“Your right.”

“Hm. How many rings are on my fingers?”

“Four hundred.” Close enough. Jaskier has so many rings. Jaskier squints.

“How’s. My. Singing.” Jaskier asks, leaning forward.

Geralt isn’t scard of Jaskier. Not at all. But remember that thing about bards being feral?

Yeah, be very fucking careful.  And of course this is what he would ask.

“Like ordering a pie and finding out it has no filling.” Geralt lies.

It was a lie back then too.

Jaskiers mouth opens and closes.

“I fucking knew it!!” Jaskier looks smug as fuck and Geralt is both emberassed and relieved. He have been wanting to clear that up for a while, but he is not sure how nor if he would be believed.

“Sweet vindication!!”

Geralt gives Jaskier exactly three seconds to bask in it and then he flicks Jaskiers forehead.

“You done?”

“Almost. Alright yes, I’m done. Geralt, is this a curse?”

“No.”

“Huh. Do you know how to break it?”

“No.”

“Oh, that’s convenient. I’m guessing you won’t be able to tell me, but curse breaking sounds magical. Do we need to visit a magician?”

“No.” Geralt smirks, happy to finally be getting somewhere.

“Alright! I guess we know where we are headed tomorrow!”

Jaskier rises up and stretches. His tunic strains across his chest and Geralt gulps.

“Are you really alright with sleeping on the floor?” Jaskier asks, and fuck.

“Yes.” Geralt grits out and Jaskiers eyebrows rise up, slow down.

“Oh. Geralt my dear, you are allowed to tell me these things.”

Geralt looks away, embarrassed where he sits. Jaskier steps up to him, catches his chin and makes him look up and meet those blue eyes.

“Why haven’t you said something? Wait. That is not an easy question to reply to.”

Geralt does anyway.

“Because I don’t want to share it with you.”

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Geralt flinches back, Jaskiers mouth opens in surprise.

Time to flee. Time to fucking go.

Embarrassment and shame course through him, he rises up and storms out the door.

To Roach. To his safe place.

She startles when the door bangs open, trots a few steps away before she realizes it’s him. Then she stops and allows him close.

She is so wonderful.

One of the best Roaches he has ever had. He pets her fondly, trying to calm his racing head and heart. The first raindrop hits his skin, but both he and Roach ignore it.

“Geralt.” comes softly from the door behind him. “I won’t ask any more questions. Please come inside.”

Geralt breathes in the cool, humid air. Rain has a very nice smell.

Roach tires of him and walks away towards the trees to take shelter. Clever girl. Fine.

Geralt turns, his inside like a stirred ants nest, and looks at Jaskier across the distance.

“Come on.” Jaskier urges. “We need to get to sleep if we are going to travel all day tomorrow.”

Alright, fair. Geralt breathes in through his nose slowly and breathes out from his mouths.

Bards do not scare him.

He is fine.

He steps inside again. Jaskier stands by the wall waiting for him.

“Get on the bed. It’s not like we haven’t shared before. And it is much more comfortable than the floor.” Jaskier says with a careful smile. He seems nervous too.

They strip down to more sleep appropriate clothes. Geralt lets Jaskier climb in first, so that he can place himself between Jaskier and the door.

Just to be safe.

They lie down, back to back. It is quiet. The rain pattering on the roof above, the occasional dripping from where the roof is leaking.

Thankfully not above the bed though.

“Can I as you something?” Jaskier asks quietly behind him. Damnit. “I will respect it if you don’t want me to.”

“No.”

Yes. Fuck it all. He can barely lie to himself anymore.

“Thank you. Why do you keep pushing me away?”

That… is a very complicated question.

“That’s easy.” Geralt lies. “You stink.”

Wait. Did his brain just go with the literal reason? Not the emotional one? Handy. But also very unhandy.

Jaskier snorts in the darkness.

“You think I smell good?”

“No.”

Jaskier chuckles, and then Geralt can feel him shifting behind him.

“Really, it’s so typical for you. It takes getting cursed to talk about the important things, without talking about them.”

A hand presses against his back, sliding over his shoulder blade and across his side.

“Tell me if I’m overstepping.” Jaskier whispers, shuffling closer still and wraps his arms around him in a hug.

Geralt shivers, full body shivers. Jaskier is warm behind him, his forehead pressed against the back of Geralt’s head. Every puff of breath hits Geralt’s skin, and his nerves are tingling and he wants to run.

“For the record. I think you smell nice too. Good night Geralt.”

“Good morning.” Geralt murmurs, and Jaskier chuckles.

The mage they find laughs.

Long and loud.

“Would you kindly stop laughing and fix this?!” Jaskier hisses, and Geralt stands quietly behind him. The mage wipes tears from their eyes and tries to catch their breath.

“That is the best thing I have heard all day. Lying curse! I need to do that too.”

“The fuck you will.” Jaskier growls.

Feral.

Geralt smirks where he stands behind his bard.

Well. Not really his bard. He would like him to be. It took him lying to everyone to stop lying to himself, it would seem. Interesting concept.

“You will lift this curse right this instant, or so help you I will shove my entire lute up your ass.” Jaskier growls.

The mage seems to realize the threat, finally, and takes a step back.

“Fine, fine, take it down a notch, bardling.” They say and roll their eyes. “Witcher, go sit in that bathtub while I fix the herbs. Yes, keep that stupid ab armor on. It is cursed as well.”

Geralt walks out of the mages house dripping wet, but a free man.

Jaskier waits for him with Roach on the outside, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Now that you don’t feel compelled to lie, would you mind us having a talk?” Jaskier asks him. “Don’t think I don’t remember you saying you are keeping things from me.”

Ah, shit. He had hoped Jaskier would forget about that one.

“Fine. But you have things you need to tell me too.” Geralt grumbles, trying to scare Jaskier away from it, squeezing out herbal water from his hair.

Jaskier walks real close to Geralt, right up in his face and winks.

“Oh, my sweet witcher. There are a great deal of things I would like to tell you too.”

Geralt gulps, blushes, and those ants in his chest are making a quick return.

[fairyofthestar]

holiday party

word count: 2.6k

genre: college!beomgyu, fluff, friends to lovers

requested by: anon

(this sucked ass im sorry)

i'll stop the clock turn off your phone like a playground, nowhere to be found let's throw our own exciting party

"hey, are you even listening?" beomgyu's loud whine snapped huening kai out of his daze. he groaned out loud. his hyung just ruined the new strategy that he was curating in his mind about a game he had been trying to beat all week.

beomgyu looked rather satisfied at the disturbance he caused and scooted closer towards him on the wooden picnic table they were sitting on outside of the campus. he grabbed both of kai's shoulders, his eyes sparkled in a way that indicated that he had a brilliant idea and no one would be able to stop him.

"huening kai, we're done with our final exams for this semester," he declared. kai looked at him weird for stating the obvious and nodded slowly, urging him to go on. "so, we should throw a party to celebrate! our classmates would appreciate it a lot."

kai rolled his eyes. “hyung, don’t you remember the last time you threw a party? you almost broke your bones for crying out loud! who even thinks it’s a great idea to jump from the second floor of your house to a small pile of pillows?”

“hey, if you didn’t drag me downstairs, i would have made it. it was possible.”

"yeah, possible for you to end up killing yourself."

beomgyu abruptly let go of kai's shoulders and pulled at his hair in frustration. he let go after a few seconds when he realized that he was acting way too drastically for this conversation and took a deep breath with his eyes closed to will himself back to calmness.

"i won't do something stupid like that again, i promise. besides, it's just going to be a small get together with our classmates which of course includes you, taehyun, yeonjun, soobin, (y/n)—"

"you're planning on inviting (y/n)?" kai interrupted, a knowing smile on his face that made beomgyu roll his eyes while trying to suppress a smile.

he shrugged nonchalantly. "yeah, why not?"

"well, they're not our classmate. you said this was a party for our class, right?" kai teased, the smile on his face growing bigger. "is this another way for you to impress them?"

beomgyu glared at the younger and shoved his shoulder. "shut up, i just think it'd be right to invite them since we're all close friends. besides, you know how they can be during exam weeks. they need this."

kai giggled and nodded in fake understanding. "so this is another way to impress them. duly noted."

"huening kai kamal, i'm gonna give you five minutes to run if you want to be alive for said party."

i'll send out the cards who wants to prepare? but promise, let no one know without a colorful cake, no way

it really did turn out to be a small get-together within their class. not a lot of people were able to go to the party for they already had plans to go back to their families' homes after exams had ended. beomgyu would have liked it if there were more people, but he was glad nonetheless because the people who were able to go were people he and the rest of their group were cool with.

he set down the last tray of nachos he had prepared and looked around. his shoulders raised with a bit of pride as he looked at every meticulously placed streamer, balloon, and tinfoil curtain—the disco lights that he set up surrounded the whole first floor of his house with a burst of color that would surely make your dopamine levels go up as soon as you go through the front door.

the moment I've been dreaming of all week, the chance to enjoy a secret party

since the number of his guests were under twenty people, he thought it would be nice to have a theme for this get-together and everyone agreed.

the whole place and the looks that each person should be in shall create a fun and youthful atmosphere that would allow them to let loose and have fun after the academic burden that was set on their shoulders. it was definitely far from a stereotypical college party, and beomgyu thought that there was something really nice about that.

his gaze went from the room decoration to his refrigerator, where he prepared a cake for the party.

in all honesty, for you.

maybe kai was right when he deduced that this party was also just another way to impress the person he had been pining over for months, but he would never admit that out loud. he really did want the rest of his peers to have fun, but he also had an ulterior motive to finally win your heart.

he had been trying so hard but for some reason, it seemed like you never caught on to his flirting nor the way that he so obviously treated you way different than anyone else in your circle of friends. he almost gave up, but the lingering gazes that the boys would tell beomgyu about made him hold on to the small glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, you also liked him back.

realizing that he had been in deep thought for a while, he tore his gaze away from his refrigerator and looked at his phone to check the time. "people will be arriving soon," he mumbled to himself.

he made his way to the nearest bathroom. he took one last look at his outfit that consisted of a black turtleneck, a black shirt on top of it, and white jeans. he took a deep breath and nodded to himself, hoping that what he looked like was enough to make your heart flutter as much as you made his flutter on a daily basis.

holiday come on, gather around, pit-a-pat fluttering hearts, trembling hearts, party game play all you want through the night until the morning

laughter echoed throughout the room as everyone watched soobin shyly dance to girl's day's 'something' because of a dare. everyone's eyes were watching soobin in amusement, but beomgyu's eyes were stuck on you as he watched you laugh until you had tears forming in your eyes.

if anyone looked away from the small performance for a few seconds, they would be met with the sight of beomgyu practically melting you with his gaze that was full of yearning and affection. he looked like a lovesick puppy who couldn't do anything but to stare at you in hopes that you would look back and prolonged eye contact with him.

"that's all im going to do!" soobin exclaimed in embarrassment as soon as he finished dancing the chorus to the famous girl group song. the room immediately erupted with cheers and wolf whistles at his performance and soobin sat back down, his face flushed red from both the alcohol and the dare.

beomgyu ripped his gaze away from you as soon as soobin spoke and he joined in on the cheering, even though he really didn't see how soobin did while dancing.

"alright, who's next?" soobin sing-songed. he reached out towards the glass bottle that was set in the middle of the circle and spun it.

"beomgyu! truth or dare?"

beomgyu felt like his heart stopped for a minute. he had a gut feeling of where this was going to go, and he didn't like it one bit. everything around him started spinning as his head immediately started a war inside of it. he was in trouble no matter what choice he made. all he could do was pick something that would create less damage than the other. he gulped before letting out an answer.

"truth," a few noises of disapproval could be heard, but that wasn't a problem for soobin. beomgyu was fucked either way, especially with the information that soobin was ready to use.

"have you had a suggestive dream about someone in this room?"

ooh's could be heard from around the circle and everyone's attention was intently on beomgyu, especially (y/n), who looked amused. it was as if everyone was holding their breath while waiting for the answer, but beomgyu already felt like the wind was knocked out of him as soon as he saw the neck of the bottle slow down and point directly at him.

he couldn't lie. soobin knew way too much, and he knew him way too well to know that he would drag this on until the inevitable truth would be revealed—maybe something even worse than a simple 'yes' or 'no'.

beomgyu was itching to leave. it was all in good fun, but he expected anything except that to come out of soobin who had a smirk plastered on his face. the rest of the boys' also had a similar smirk, some of them snickering quietly.

he glanced at you for a minute. anxiety suddenly crept up on him as he realized that you might judge him if you told the truth. sure, you were all adults in college, but it's a different thing to admit something like that which involves your friends.

beomgyu sighed in defeat. "you got me on that one, soob," he chuckled weakly. "yes, i have."

everyone hollered at the answer—this was probably the loudest that everyone had reacted to an answer or even a dare from tonight, and he didn't know if he was happy to receive this much attention or if he wanted to cut open the ground and bury himself under it.

"i didn't know you were like that," beomgyu heard the teasing tone of your voice. he tensed up at your voice and ended up laughing weakly while scratching the back of his neck.

'you have no idea,' he thought to himself.

holiday play like a holiday, pit-a-pat show me a cheeky dance, party game play all you want through the night until the morning

"you alright?" your concerned voice cut through beomgyu's daze, snapping him out of it. he looked at you with a startle, nodding hurriedly while showing a small smile.

you weren't convinced. you knew him well enough to know that something was going on and frankly, it was weird to see the known party animal sitting on the couch in deep thought while the party is still going.

beomgyu felt his palms grow sweaty as he watched you sit down beside him, a few inches of distance between both of your thighs. your eyes had a certain look in them that he didn't like at that moment. it was one of those looks where one would have no choice but to speak their mind and beomgyu didn't need that right now.

"was it about that question?" you tried again, but beomgyu just shook his head. "no, i don't care about that. it happens to everyone." technically, what beomgyu said was true, but it was also a lie. it was still bothering him, but something else was bothering him more than a mere truth or dare question.

you placed your hand on top of beomgyu's larger one that was settled on the couch and beomgyu's breath hitched.

he didn't know what came over him, but it was like a switch was suddenly flipped in his brain and he remembered what he wanted to come out of this night.

beomgyu stared at your hand on top of his and he removed his hand momentarily, intertwining it with yours instead. he looked at you and saw how flustered you were at the action, your eyes fixated on how his hand engulfed yours so easily.

"you know," beomgyu started, looking at your friends dancing a few feet away from the couch. your eyes trailed from your intertwined hands to his side profile and you stared in awe of how the dark lights did not dim his captivating presence one bit. he looked unreal with how his hair was perfectly curled, highlighting his features more than his usual boba-looking hair.

"sometimes i wonder if my messages aren't being sent out as clearly as i thought they were," a nervous chuckle left his pretty mouth. you furrowed your brows in confusion. "what messages?"

he grew silent for a bit, internally battling with himself if he was ready to finally admit his pining on his living room couch while everyone else was dancing the night away.

he wished that the moment could be better, but then thought that the intimateness of doing this in a space that was familiar to him—filled with his friends who seemed like they didn't care about anything else happening outside of their bubble the same way as the two people on the brown leather couch were—seemed like a good enough moment for beomgyu.

"that i like you," he finally said.

the world stopped for a moment. you were stunned at the confession, your jaw visibly dropping a little. hearts have started racing from both sides of the conversation—anxiety and anticipation were the only emotions that could describe the whole moment.

the song from his playlist that had been playing all night changed from a dance track to a slow R&B song. it was a perfect coincidence. every passing second had beomgyu holding his breath as he waited for your response, and a part of him was already preparing for the possible rejection.

but it never came.

beomgyu felt weight on his shoulder and he jumped a bit at the sudden contact. he slowly turned his head and saw your head lying comfortably on his already tense body. you squeezed his hand, a smile on your face and you hoped that he couldn't see it.

hope and relief bloomed in beomgyu's chest at the sight of you not running away from him after his confession and he felt his body relax, adjusting his body lower so that you wouldn't feel too uncomfortable considering your height difference.

"i like you too, gyubear." you responded, the smile evident in your voice.

the familiar nickname, paired with the confession that he had been dreaming of for so long, made beomgyu grin wider than ever. all of a sudden, fireworks started going off in beomgyu's chest and he was able to breathe normally again. you on the other hand, wished that there was something to calm the butterflies in your stomach down. one more move and they might escape your body that felt like it was on fire, and land on the flower you were leaning on.

comfortable silence surrounded you both—the slow melody of the song was acting like the perfect background music for this scene that was straight out of a movie.

the song changed again and it was back to an upbeat song.

"do you want to dance?" beomgyu leaned in a bit so that you could hear him. you lifted your head up to meet his expectant gaze and smiled at him, nodding. he stood up first, willing you to stand up with the hand that was already holding yours.

you both approached the crowd of your friends with wide smiles on your faces. you danced along to the preppy beat of the song, eyes never leaving each other. your closest friends quickly noticed the change that other people in the room might not see, but they knew—and huening kai ended up winning the secret bet that was set on whether beomgyu would have the balls to confess tonight or not.

☆ taglist: @belovedgyus @ifwtyun

☆ if you want to be in my taglist, please tell me in my asks or message me !!

[cdroloisms]

I really love when people write about c!wilbur manipulating c!dream so I was wondering if you could write on about the smp realizing that c!wilbur manipulated c!dream into being a lap dog for him but a hell lot of trouble for then and if you could add c!wilbur taking advantage of the fact that dream is a god during a fight that would make my day. Hope you have a great day.thank you. Love your work.

ooh yeah - c!wilbur is back and GGG-ing as good as ever, , which Really makes you think abt what it’s gonna be like when he interacts with c!dream again. this ended up being a little more c!sapnap centric than i intended, hope that’s alright haha. (and thank you so much for the kind words!) 

tw: implied abuse, torture, drowning, dismemberment, manipulation, unhealthy relationships, emotional distress, dark content, prison arc/pandora’s vault, c!sapnap critical? not really?, dark portrayal of c!wilbur (typical MAD duo shenanigans)

Sapnap isn’t expecting to find anyone when he storms out in the middle of the night - he’s tense, they all are after the fiasco at the prison, but really his thoughts are filled with Karl once again going inexplicably radio silent for days on end and Quackity ignoring all of his questions with a simple “i’m busy” that he’d failed to follow up even twelve hours later, so Dream and Wilbur and whatever the hell happened that left Pandora’s Vault - obsidian, indestructible, tall and dark and proud - half-crumbled and sunken into the sea are just about the last things on his mind.  

Even so, he’s not an idiot, so he had enough foresight to pack a few potions and gather his armor and weapons before stepping into the summer night - it’s cool under the moonlight, a soft breeze cutting through the otherwise stifling weight of the humid air, and the comfortable night is enough to make his anger die down, just a little. Kinoko Kingdom glows soft and warm from the lanterns Foolish had scattered all over the place, thick with the earthy smell of fungus and flowers, and he takes a deep breath before walking to the city outskirts to hopefully clear his mind.

He’s no stranger to late-night walks; his temper had always been fiery, even as a child, and he’d figured out pretty early on that the easiest way to deal with it was to walk or run until his brain was too tired to think anymore. Walking at night also meant he could take out some of his frustration on mobs as well as the satisfaction of setting a random patch of forest on fire without worrying about burning down someone else’s property, and once he got good enough with a sword and shield to come and go relatively unscathed, Bad had stopped his worrying enough to let him do whatever as long as he came back in time in the morning. Sapnap frowns as he hacks at a random branch in his way with an axe, watching as it falls in a spray of leaves and crashes to the ground; he hasn’t seen Bad in a while, not since he became obsessed with the whole Egg thing. Quackity had mentioned some cryptic things, and Karl was adamant that they avoid the Egg as much as possible, but he probably should’ve at least visited, or something. Bad always knew what to say when it came to messy things like this.

Though - Sapnap laughs wryly - it’d never been this bad, before. Karl distant and absent, Q somehow even more so with a new glint to his gaze that sent a shiver down his spine. George, usually asleep, never around, expression perpetually foggy like he doesn’t know where he was. Dream- evil, insane, awful, somehow so familiar it hurt and too much of a stranger to recognize. He wonders when it all got this bad. He wonders what it says about himself, that he didn’t notice until it was far too late.

“Fancy seeing you out here.”

Sapnap whirls around, sword drawn; the figure staring back at him doesn’t even flinch. His eyes narrow at the sight, stance widening, shoulders tense.

“Wilbur?” He keeps his voice wary, guarded, trying his best to keep surprise from coloring his tone. Wilbur grins at him, tight-lipped, the planes of his face faintly lit by the moon shining over them, facial features only barely visible in the dim light. Without really meaning to, Sapnap cranes his head to look around at the surrounding forest, but nothing moves or makes itself known outside of the figure still staring at him, smirking. “What- what are you doing here?”

And where’s Dream?

Because Sapnap might not know much about what went down at the prison and what Dream’s plans are and the whole mess that he’d been so desperate to put behind him and utterly failed at doing so, but what he does know is that the two of them - Dream and Wilbur, Wilbur and Dream - had been all but inseparable, strangely attached to each other in a way that spelled out nothing but trouble for the rest of them. The rest of the server had been compiling sightings of the two in the hopes of being able to stop whatever it was that they had planned, but Sapnap knows his former friend, brother, and even if he doesn’t know Wilbur, his reputation more than precedes him: the two of them are smart, not to mention paranoid as fuck, and the rest of them have a better shot shooting targets in the dark than figuring out whatever the hell was going on in their heads with the two of them working together. Either way, he knows that they’d never been sighted apart - it was always Wilbur standing on a hill with Dream sitting next to him, or Dream hacking through mobs as Wilbur followed, or the two of them stepping into a fortress and leaving minutes after - until now.

“Could ask the same of you,” Wilbur laughs, just a shade to the left of friendly, and the moonlight scatters through the leaves and glints off his glasses. “Don’t be so tense, man! I’m just going on a walk, thought I’d enjoy the night. Didn’t see anything like this in Limbo, you know.”

Sapnap winces at the reminder, that Wilbur is here and alive in defiance of law and reason and the universe itself, but Wilbur barrels on, seeming unaware of his unease.

“Anyway - how are you doing, man? Haven’t seen you around in a while.” He leans back, hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets, stance loose, relaxed. “I’d ask Dream, but he’s been in prison for a bit, you know? Most of what he knows is pretty - ah, outdated, not that I tell him that.”

“What are you planning?” Sapnap snaps, grip tightening around the handle of his sword. “You and Dream. What do you want?”

“Who’s to say we want anything?” Wilbur seems to grin wider, and the expression on his face is unsettling, makes something cold slither up his spine. He shakes his head to rid himself of the feeling, half-wishing it was brighter so he could better see the other’s eyes.

“I mean-” he stutters. Because Dream always wants, he almost says, bitter and angry, that all-too-familar swell of betrayal rising in his chest at Dream, forever insatiated, forever wanting, forever looking for more more more. Because if he were to escape, and if he were to want nothing, then what did that mean for the rest of them? Because if he didn’t want, if he wasn’t left wanting, then did Sapnap ever mean anything at all? The thoughts stick to his skull like tar, words clinging to the roof of his mouth as it goes dry. Wilbur seems to stare at him, unimpressed, and he feels his face go hot.

“He’s not- he’s dangerous, you know,” Sapnap says instead of answering, because untangling the awful, knotted feelings that make up his remaining ties with Dream, half-frayed and neglected and forgotten, is more work than he can handle and more emotions than he has the energy to bear. It doesn’t matter, in the end, because Dream is still dangerous; he knows that, resolutely, and maybe it’s lucky, that he found Wilbur without Dream whispering plans and manipulations and meaningless words by his side. It’ll give him a chance to warn Wilbur, bring him back to their side instead of risking his life (again) in the company of his friend-turned-tyrant. Dream is dangerous, whether he wants or not, because Dream is Dream and he’s been in too many manhunts to face him with anything less than one hundred percent confidence. “You don’t want to be with him, Wilbur. He’s hurt- so many people.”

Wilbur’s expression doesn’t change, seeming as indifferent to the words as ever; if anything, he looks a little amused. “Really,” he hums, almost to himself. “Dangerous, you say?”

“He’s Dream,” Sapnap insists, because it’s the truth, and it’s the simplicity of it, really. It’s Dream, and Dream is dangerous whether he’s on your side or not, forever ruthless and unheeding as long as he gets what he wants. He’d been in Wilbur’s place, once, convinced that Dream’s strategies and planning and infallible logic had meant they had no way of losing. He knows better, now. “You’ve fought him before! He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about anything.”

And if the words are a little more bitter than they should be when he says that, who but he is going to notice?

Wilbur’s eyes stay on his, completely silent, expression unreadable. The quiet gets awkward quickly, Wilbur’s expression seeming unchanging, nothing but the faint rustling of the leaves around them to break the stillness of the air, and Sapnap feels his gut roll uncomfortably as he looks off to the ground, waiting for Wilbur to react in some way, any way. It’s hard, he knows, to realize that someone you thought was on your side had been using you the entire time, he’s been there before and he gets it, but- it’s still strange, how still Wilbur has become. How he still hasn’t reacted - is his expression going to change?

And suddenly, starting quiet and then swelling in volume, Wilbur begins to laugh.

“Goodness,” Wilbur drawls through his chuckles, voice low and dark and sending chills down his back. “I thought he was exaggerating, man - you really do hate him, don’t you?”

“What- what’s so funny?”

Wilbur smiles, teeth flashing white as the faint light from the moon bounces off of them, “I have to give you my thanks, truly. I’d thought that Quackity did the most of it, or Sam, but you- I really couldn’t have guessed.”

Sapnap’s head is spinning. Wilbur’s expression is positively gleeful, eyes dancing, smile wide and brilliant, bouncing from one name to another with little explanation to how any of them tie together. Sam? Quackity? Nothing is making sense. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh Sapnap,” Wilbur croons. “You really don’t know, do you?”

He twists his hand in a flippant gesture, eyes directed into the forest surrounding them.

“Let’s just say that his, ah- stay, in Pandora, wasn’t exactly what I’d call a five-star experience. But you know that, don’t you?” Wilbur directs a flat smile his way, and Sapnap swallows, throat dry. Briefly, images flash behind his eyes - walls, dripping with crying obsidian, the lava’s heat hard to bear at his back, even for him, mining fatigue pulling at his limbs and making them heavy. How startlingly bare the cell had been, even through the haze of his anger, Dream, slumped in a corner of the cell, barely moving, barely even breathing as it seemed sometimes, sunken-in cheeks and sagging shoulders speaking of nothing but a bone-deep exhaustion. “Apparently, being psychologically and physically tortured for months on end has an interesting effect on the human psyche. Even more so when, say, your best friend comes once in the entire time to tell you that he’ll kill you if you ever try to escape.”

“How-” he trips on his own words, lungs seizing, “how do you know that?”

“He tells me things. A lot of things, really. Did you know it takes one and a half regen potions to reattach an arm after it’s been cut off? It takes three and a half for a leg, he thinks, but the blood loss made it rather hard to remember.” Wilbur steps forward. “Did you know that scars created by healing potions tend to be much thicker and more prominent than those made by regens? Or that he can hold his breath for a little more than two minutes before passing out?” Wilbur smirks, jagged, threatening. “Did you know that I can tell him just about everything, and he’ll believe me because there’s no one else to tell him otherwise?”

“Wh- what?”

“I’ll be sure to tell him what you said; I’m sure he’ll love to hear how his brother is doing.” Wilbur waves. “And when you see Quackity, be sure to give him my thanks, will you?”

“Wilbur, what- come back-”

And with a flash of purple particles, Wilbur disappears, leaving Sapnap alone in the middle of the forest. Stasis chamber. His heart pounds in his ears, breathing all-too-loud, and he stares desperately at the empty space where Wilbur had stood like it’ll bring him back again.

Fuck, he swipes his hand across his face, startled when it comes back wet. What does he do now?

[girls4keigo]

A Bird Whisperer’s Guide to Fighting Villains and Falling in Love | Hawks x Hero!Reader

Summary: Hawks needs help to defeat an upcoming hero attack in Tokyo. What better hero to ask than the one he’s been crushing on for months

Warnings: F!Reader, Hero!Reader, Fluff, Cursing

Reader plays hard to get. Reader has a nature quirk and can control natural elements and talk to animals. Reader is a popular hero

a/n: hi! this is my first post i hope you all enjoy! :)

————

You sighed, trying to keep your composure while talking to a bunch of big name heroes. The fundraiser events that your agency made you go to were unbearable. Standing around for hours listening to the most mundane heroes try to impress you with their line of work. But hey, if it helps boost approval ratings I guess it’s not that bad.

For the past year you’ve slowly been climbing the ranks of the hero world. With a powerful quirk and unique fighting styles it was hard to go unnoticed. By now you were familiar with how the industry treated female heroes. It seemed as if the general public cared about anything but your hero duties.

It was all love, relationships, “Who are you dating?”, “What’s your skincare routine?”

You honestly didn’t expect any different but geez, it sure did piss you off. And now that you were in the top 3, you weren’t expecting any of it to die down. Might as well just get used to it.

You continued to chat when suddenly your ear twitched as you sensed a certain birdie approaching.

Oh God.

“Hey. Mind if I steal ya away for a little?” Hawks’ signature smirk appeared on his face as he approached you.

Hawks seemed to really be latching onto you for quite some time, well since the new hero rankings were announced. You were on your way to surpassing the number 2 hero and had gained a lot of notoriety in the past couple of months. 

He was clingy for sure, always play flirting, inviting you to lunch, showing up at your agency unannounced. It was obvious that he was just trying to get a reaction out of you. You’d be surprised if he admitted to actually having feelings for you. Well, not that you cared anyways. Your job was to save civilians, defeat villains, and do things that any other normal hero would. Love was simply not on your agenda.

Holding back a heavy sigh, you complied and stepped off to the side with Hawks.

He seemed delighted by your decision, using his feathers to fetch you a glass of champagne off of one of the caterer’s trays as you two walked over to the bar area.

“So your agency makes you come to these lame things too, huh?”

You didn’t answer, not very interested in the direction that the conversation was going in.

“You look nice.” He bit his lower lip, dragging his eyes vertically across your figure.

“Thank you.” You replied, taking a sip of your champagne.

After you both had made your way over to the bar he instructed his order to the bartender, asking you if you wanted anything and keeping the same dumb smirk on his face when you denied.

“Rarely ever see you in a color other than green. I mean, I guess it’s your entire thing but I really dig this red look you’ve got goin’ on” He mused, as he watched the bartender carefully make his drink.

He wasn’t lying. He’s been eyeing you since you walked in, you look good.

“What do you want, Hawks?” You asked, visibly annoyed.

“Damn.” He chuckled, “Small talk isn’t your thing, noted.”

You side-eyed him, getting impatient with his overly relaxed demeanor.

Catching the hint, he got straight to the point. “There’s some trouble going on in Tokyo.”

Now you were intrigued. You took another sip of your champagne, “Petty villain attacks like always, isn’t it?”

You turned towards him, he got a good look at your face before he answered.

Fucking pretty, he thought to himself.

“That’s what I thought at first but it’s getting harder to believe that as I do more digging.” He looks around before inching closer to you, trying to keep his volume to a minimum. “The League is planning something big next week. The ‘Rain of Terror’, they’re callin’ it. They’re trying to ease the amount of big attacks in the city to let our gaurds down. And frankly, I think it’s working.”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “How do you know all of this?”

“I’ve got connections,” Was all he said, with a shrug.

Ok, whatever. You’ll confront him about that later. “And this ‘Rain of Terror…’ what does it entail?”

“Bombs.”

“Shit,” You muttered.

“Big ones. Huge ones, actually. I don’t know how the fuckers did it but they found a way to make these huge, bioengineered clouds that ‘rain’ bombs.”

You grew uneasy. Raining bombs? Over the entirety of Tokyo? The amount of destruction it would do to the earth, to civilians, made you panic. Hawks sensed your uneasiness but continued anyways, “I want us to team up. Your quirk would be useful with the entire controlling nature n’ weather thing.”

He loosened up from his serious expression, talking a bit louder and showing a teethy smile, “Plus I think we’d make a pretty good team. I’ve already got a plan so we’ll meet up at yours tomorrow.”

“As in my house? Why not anywhere else?” You questioned.

“Well,” He grabbed his drink and used his free hand to rub the back of his heck, “This isn’t really the typa thing we can talk about in public. Mass hysteria, panic, that type of thing. And my living situation is pretty…complicated right now.”

You felt a small tap on your shoulder, followed by the voice of your high school aged sidekick. You turned to the younger hero. “Uh..Y/N? It’s time to go. I gotta be back by 11.”

You sighed before turning back to Hawks.

“Kids and their curfews, right?” He commented.

“Fine. I’ll have my agency send you my address. Don’t come during the day.” That was the last thing you said before finishing your drink all in one quick sip and making your way to the exit. You could feel his eyes on your backside until you left the venue. And the singular scarlet feather rushing in front of you to open the car door for you was really the cherry on top.

You rolled your eyes.

“Woah.” Your sidekick mused, “He seems to really like you. You should give him a chance, he’s hot.”

You giggled at her comment, “He doesn’t really like me, y’know? He flirts with every female hero.”

—

You heard a slight tap on the window leading up to your balcony. You already sensed him flying towards you when he was about a mile away, but your bedroom? Reluctantly you walked over and opened the sliding door.

“Never heard of a front door?”

“Well that’s no fun, is it?” He said, displaying his signature smirk. You looked cute out of your hero clothes. Hair tied up and messy, and in big comfy clothes.

Adorable, he thought to himself. He walked in as if it was his own befroom, slipping off his shoes, gloves and jacket and placing them in the corner of your room.

“Make yourself comfortable I guess.” You deadpanned at him, “And we’re still going downstairs anyways.” He shrugged.

He couldn’t help but be taken aback by the layout of your room. There were plants in almost every corner, on every shelf. Vines growing on your walls, half read books strewn across your bedside table and dresser, your pet birds of all different shaped and sizes flew freely around your room, chirping every once in a while. “So you’re a bird whisperer, huh?” He said, looking around.

“I’m an animal whisperer.” You said, “That’s kind of like my entire thing.”

He let out a hearty laugh before making his way out of your room.

“Tea?” You asked, heading towards the kitchen as the winged hero made himself comfortable on your couch.

“Sure.” He picked up your remote with one his feathers, flicking through the channels.

He turned his attention to you a couple moments later as you took a seat across from him at your coffee table, setting down two mugs of green tea.

He explained his plan carefully, paying close attention to all details and pausing for any questions you might have. You had to admit, as much as an annoying asshole this guy could be, he knew what he was doing. You could tell he plans his strategies very carefully, as much as he likes to come off as lazy and laid back to the general public. He was a damn good hero. And you hated admitting it but he was right, utlizing his speed and your ability to control weather, it wouldn’t be all that hard to stop villain attacks.

Hawks also couldn’t help but admire you. You seemed attentive, always paying close attention to detail and asking a lot of questions. I mean he already knew you were good at your job, watching some of the viral videos of your fights with villains.

—

When the day finally came, it went as smoothly as planned, of course with a little bumps along the way. Still, the few civilians that were hurt only had minor injuries, and you and hawks made it so only a couple bombs hit the ground.

You, Hawks, and some other minor heroes who had joined mid-battle regrouped to talk about how to resolve the collateral damage.

“It’s not too much to be honest, I’ll have it all repaired by midni-“

“Wow! What an incredible display of courage from Hawks and Mother Nature, currently sitting at number 2 and number 3 of Japan’s Hero BillBoard Chart!” A loud reporter exclaimed, accompanied by a camera crew.

Of course.

You tried your best to ignore and keep talking to fellow heroes until a microphone was shoved in your face. The face of the reporter gleamed as she talked to you. “Tell me Mother Nature, how does it feel working with number 2 hero Hawks?” You winced at the question, but answered nevertheless.

“Hawks is a  diligent hero with a lot of experience under his belt despite being so young. It was great working with him.” You answered, forcing a smile on your face.

“There’s speculation that you two planned this together..is this true? How were you able to predict this attack? More importantly, are you two dating?” Those questions hit you like a truck.

“Um..no comment.” Was all you could answer with.

Nevertheless, the reporter persisted, “Well there has to be something going on. It’s just my opinion but you two seem perfect for each other.” She giggled at the camera, “Please! The public is dying to know!”

Before you could even muster up an answer to the reporter’s overwhelming question, a giant scarlet wing came between you and the reporter, blinding both her and the camera from your view.

“Hey. She said she doesn’t wanna talk about it. Let’s respect personal boundaries, yeah?” Hawks said in a nice but slightly defensive tone.

You blushed, looking up at him. As nice we he was trying to sound, he looked angry. And damn right he was. How dare they talk to you like you’re no more than just some D-list celebrity? You’re a fucking hero, who cares about dating speculation when you just saved Japan’s largest city? And how dare they ask questions about him when you were the one doing most of the work. He was enraged, and it was his natural instinct to protect the thing he cared for.

Before you knew it, he latched his arms around your waist, pushing you into his chest.

You were flustered. “What are you-“

“Let’s go.” Was all he said before flapping his wings, sending you guys soaring through the air.

You held on to him for dear life, damn was he fast.

Hawks smirked to himself, feeling your rapid heartbeat against his chest. You were trying your best to hide your blushing by burying your face in his neck, granted that probably made it worse because he could already tell by how hot your face was.

God, she’s adorable

As soon as you two landed on top of a building, you pushed him away as quickly as possible.

He chuckled, putting both of his hands up in defense, “You’re the one making this awkward y’know? Plus you owe me for saving your ass.”

You were angry. Was it because of the downright rude questions that the reporter asked you not too long ago, was it because you knew tabloids would be posting all about you and Hawks for the next couple of days, was it because you were..warming up to that damned bird?

And then you started. “Just so you know, this..us..is not a thing. It will never be a thing. I wish you’d just stop flirting with me all the damn time. Just move on to the next female hero. I actually don’t care what you do. Just leave me alone. I don’t understand why you have to be so clingy, it’s annoying.”

Hawks did nothing but smile, listening to you ramble.

“You know…I-“ He interjected, only to be interrupted by you.

“And geez, you’re so goddamn entitled. I owe you? I don’t owe you anything. I didn’t even need your help. You’re no different from any other guy, you’re fucking insuffer-“

Hawks shut you up with a gentle kiss on your lips.

Oh.

“You talk too much.” He said in a low whisper, before pulling on your chin to kiss you again. You kissed him back, resting your hands on his chest, completely indulging in the moment.

Fuck. Your knees were weak. As much as you wanted to keep going you pulled away, blushing furiously and refusing to make eye contact with him.

“Oh? So now you’re shy?” He chuckled, pulling you closer to him. He tried to catch your gaze but you just moved your head away from him each time.

“Someone might see us. This is bad,” You were able to muster out.

“You’re so fucking cute.” He said, making you blush even more. He continued, “I don’t flirt with you for no reason, y’know? Sure, sometimes it’s just to tease..but I think you’re amazing.”

You felt like you were melting in his arms. Unable to find the right words, you panicked. You were gone in seconds, manipulating the wind so it could carry you back home, the same stupid blush unable to leave your face.

“Call me!” He yelled.

That damn bird.

[justagirlinafandomworld]

A Hopeful Tale

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1,756

Summary: He remembered the urgency with which he had first warned Steve against the idea. No one hired a woman blacksmith. A widowed one at that. The second, untold love story from A Knight’s Tale. | Medieval AU.

Warnings: poor memory of events in the movie. Other than that – none.

A/N: Written for @firefly-in-darkness​​ ‘s Movie Challenge. This follows events in the movie, with a focus on something I wished had been explored. Bucky ended up being confused for a lot of this and I’m not even sorry. 😆 Thank you for hosting this challenge Daisy, and I’m really sorry this ended up being late. Happy reading!

Dividers provided by @firefly-graphics​

I can't read your mind though I'm trying all the time There's something I don't know, I can see it in your eyes As the night descends, oh it's always slow again But I am left in awe of the woman I adore

-Woman by Mumford & Sons

Bucky didn’t know what Steve said for you to change your mind. By all accounts, you should have said no.

As a matter of fact, he was witness to the very moment when you had.

Emphatically.

With many a colorful word that made Bucky snort back laughter when Steve turned to him with a flustered and reddening face. It wasn’t long after that Bucky had joined Sam in the tavern, ready to talk strategy for the next tournament, having already dropped the hope of you joining their motley group altogether.

But not even an hour later, Steve was leaning over the table with the most accomplished of airs, declaring the next round to be on his tab. When Bucky dared to ask, Steve looked at him with barely contained gaiety.  

“She said yes,” he said. “She’s repairing the armor as we speak.”

Clint and Sam cheered for the accomplishment, then pushed Steve to go get their drinks. Bucky watched him step towards the bar, his utter amazement at the feat swallowed up by the revelry of the crowd.

Four days later, you hadn’t simply repaired Steve’s armor, you created something completely new. An armor that was lightweight but durable to take a colossal hit without damage.

Steve was breathless, gasping on the ground after receiving a blow straight to the chest. Sam and Bucky rushed forward, leaving Clint to chase after the runaway horse.

Sam helped Steve to sit up, asking him how he fared while Bucky removed the helmet from Steve’s head.

Once it occurred to them that everything was intact, that Steve was relatively unharmed, the three of them looked up at you in stunned silence.

Head tilting, you eyed the armor in carefully contained satisfaction.

Clint returned with the horse and Bucky had to ask.

He had to know what you were doing spending your talents and time with them when they could barely afford to eat.

The sunlight danced in your eyes when you looked at him, the trees danced in the summer breeze behind you and a teasing smirk tugged at your mouth.

Steve called out to him then, saying they needed to go through the practice course again. Even without the interruption, though, something told Bucky you were not going to answer his question.

Over time, he stopped questioning your presence, and started enjoying it. Steve was knocking through the tournaments like a beast unchained. With every reward, your designed armor became more intricate. Your craft flourishing at each event.

Celebrating in the tavern the nights of victory became his favorite past time. Clint flirted shamelessly with the barmaids and Sam sang with the lutists that were always there. And you laughed with abandon.

He remembered the urgency with which he had first warned Steve against the idea. No one hired a woman blacksmith. A widowed one at that.

But looking at you now, at how far everyone had come with coin in their pockets and some joy in lives that had been backbreaking and miserable – this could not have happened without you. And he could no longer fathom wanting it any other way.

“Don’t do it,” Bucky urged, hand resting on Steve’s arm to keep him from passing.

But his friend only looked confused at the resistance.

You were the obvious go-to, Bucky knew that. Still, something pushed at him that Steve should look for this kind of help elsewhere. This nameless thing insisted with an uncomfortable intensity.

“It will be okay, Buck,” Steve assured with a smile.

And Bucky had nothing left in his arsenal.

Steve crossed into your workshop and asked for your help in teaching him how to dance.

You had rolled your eyes at the request but ultimately consented to Steve’s request. And you even appeared to enjoy doing it; using Sam and Clint as back up dancers to explain how group routines worked.

And Bucky could not make it make sense.

Hair absolutely a mess from the many times he ran his hands back through it, he finally had to ask you why.

“He is taken with this girl,” you answered simply. “Why wouldn’t I help him?”

Bucky stared.

Jaw dropped; brows quirked – stared.

“But you,” he cut himself off. He knew he shouldn’t finish that sentence.

You, however, sensing his caution, dropped the red-hot metal into the cold water and punched your fists into your hips.

“I what?”

He shrugged, but like a man terrified for his life, he could not look away from your eyes…or come up with a decent lie.

“L-love him?”

You breathed in, chest puffing so that for a crazy moment, he imagined you were going to incinerate him like the fabled dragons in all those knight tales.

But you did nothing.

Said nothing.

And then Bucky realized you didn’t look like you wanted to murder him. He realized, with the clarity of a man whose foot was already knee deep in his mouth, that you looked hurt.

He hadn’t thought you could avoid him. The two of you rarely spent any time together, so it wasn’t like there would be much to miss if you did.

He was wrong.

When Rumlow discovered the truth about Steve, there was no stopping what happened next.

The rising hero of the royal tournaments was smacked down, shackled and disgraced for the whole of the kingdom to see. Sam and Bucky were on the scene first, Bucky quickly losing his temper the moment rotten vegetables started to be thrown.

Sam grabbed his arm and yanked him back to stand by Steve, facing the vegetable throwers, the cursors and spitters himself. They wilted under his stare, but continued to grumble amongst themselves.

You and Clint clambered onto the lifted stocks, standing on either side of Bucky to help shield Steve. Your eyes met Bucky’s briefly. And when he saw the iron hammer and stoker held tightly in either of your hands, he nodded in approval.

You returned the nod and the tension between the two of you eased. You were back on the same side. Together, you turned nasty stares back out at the rising mob.

And just when it looked like the madness was about to overtake you all, four red-hooded men appeared in the cobbled street. Three of them imposed upon the clamoring folk, making room for the fourth to step to very front of the stocks. Then, the person dramatically tossed back their hood for all to see the man beneath.

Who would have thought that the crowned Prince Tony Stark would come to the rescue?

Freshly knighted, showered and renewed, Steve went into the final championship tournament with his friends by his side.

Bucky hefted the lance up to Steve and placed a hand upon his knee to get his attention.

“No matter what happens,” Bucky said. “You, my friend, have already won. Your stars are changed. From here on out, your life will be better.”

Steve’s smile was tired, but true.

“Maybe so,” he said, eyes lifting to the stands where the lady Sharon watched. “You still have work to do to change yours.”

At Bucky’s quiet confusion, Steve shook his head and dropped down the face shield. Bucky stepped back as the horse galloped to the starting position. Sam, Clint and you ran up to stand around Bucky, all eagerly watching Steve.

Bucky slowly turned to look at you. The way the sunlight danced around you, the sweat that made your skin glisten, the streaks of ash across your cheeks and down your neck. The way smoke still clung to your hair. And when you looked back at him, instinct made him look away before you could see anything.

The flag waved and the horses took off. The crowd silent for those few seconds when tufts of dirt flew from under pounding hooves, both knights gripping the reins tight, their lances lifted, ready to strike.

The crack of contact.

Splintered wood flying and the crowd erupting into cheer.

“He won!” Sam cried out.

“Oh my god,” you breathed.

“That son of a bitch!” Clint cheered.

The four of you ran to catch up to Steve. Still high upon his horse, he whipped off his helmet to look over to the other knight.

Rumlow was sprawled on his back, gasping for air and out for the count. The stands emptied as everyone ran out into the field to celebrate the new champion.

Steve won the tournament.

He saved his life and the lives of his friends.

And when he jumped off of his horse, the first thing he did was hug them tight.

When Bucky found you amidst all the celebration, the musicians and the dancers, the drinkers and the singers, you were standing underneath an awning, watching the revelry.

He needed to ask you, just once more.

“What made you say yes to Steve?”

Clutching your drink close to your chest, you stared into Bucky’s face as if calculating a risk.

“Hope,” you finally said.

“Hope,” he repeated, obviously not following. “Not because you’re in love with Steve? That’s a joke,” he quickly added when your expression dimmed.

You shook your head and couldn’t help but chuckle when he held up his hands in surrender. He quietly took up the spot next to you, standing shoulder to shoulder with you to watch everyone else.

“I am sorry for that night,” he said, voice low and meant only for you to hear.

You were quiet a moment and when you looked over at him again, his apologetic stare was intense. So much so, that you had to look back out at the crowd before completely melting before it.

“Steve said all of you were trying to change your lives,” you revealed. “He said that any one of you could have left at any moment, turned your back and continued to live a lonely miserable life. That all of you chose to work together, to take the risk for something better. Something happier.”

“To change our stars,” Bucky murmured. “Yeah, that sounds like Steve.”

“I figured that I had spent enough time being miserable and alone. I could go for a bit of happiness. No matter how short lived it could end up being.”

Bucky looked over at you and it was like seeing you with new eyes. Something about the way you stared back, had him believing you felt the same way.

“Would you like to dance, milady?”

You smiled, and it was the most beautiful, damned thing Bucky swore he had ever seen.

“I would love to.”

Thanks for reading! 😘

Everything tags: @xbuchananbarnes​ Marvel tags: @princessmisery666​