#she realized she had accidentally made things awkward and that she actually wasn’t opposed to him touching her at all

[lulu2992]

The first kiss 💕

In the hours that followed the meeting at the 8-Bit Pizza Bar, the news of John being alive reached everyone’s ears in Hope County… including Joseph’s who contacted the Junior Deputy the instant he knew, late in the evening, and requested to see the little brother he thought he had lost. He and Taylor agreed on a truce and that he would visit them the next day. Approximately 24 hours later, she anxiously drove to his compound to pick him up, but his calm demeanor and the fact he apparently trusted her enough to get into her car alone surprised her. When Joseph was finally reunited with John (who had insisted he needed a shirt for the occasion), he hugged him tightly, and Taylor decided to wait outside so they could talk in private in the small bunker she now called home. The Father came out of it moments later, visibly relieved, and told her John would only return to his Family the next morning because there was “no rush” and, that way, they could “sort everything out”.

The Deputy was a bit confused but, as it happened, “sort everything out” they did.

I had 11 “old” drawings to post and this is the 6th one; I’m getting there! My computer says this file is exactly one year old today :)

[hiddennerdworld]

MHA Couples Dynamics with art by @leecheedoodles| two bros chillin in a hot tub 5 ft apart cuz they won’t confess their undying love for one another (Shinsou x Reader)

Masterlist

Warnings: just fluffy stuff; sappy crap that’s so sweet it will rot your teeth; probably rushed ending

A/N: idk how to feel about this. Well I never do lmao, but I love Shinsou and hope I did him justice. Most of my info about him is from tumblr tho so he’s probably OOC. Again, pls check out the amazing artist’s other work if you like the drawing!

You guys have always been destined to be close forever. Whether you met in kindergarten or high school, ever since you’ve entered each other’s lives there’s no leaving them

It’ll be difficult at first bc either both of you or just Shinsou will have a hard time opening up

It mainly lasts bc you guys realize that the other is way more tolerable than other people

You’ll just hang out more and more until you guys aren’t ever apart

Somehow you guys don’t distract each other from becoming heroes, but actually make it easier for one another

Even after high school. Your whole class stays close, but none as close as you and Shinsou. Though you rarely had free time, it would almost always be spent together

People often catch one of you giving heart eyes to the other while they aren’t looking. Or sometimes you guys will cuddle while watching a movie. But nothing more than that bc you guys are just friends right?

You guys even accidentally flirt with each other without even knowing

For the longest time others will think you’re dating, and you’ll have to correct them

It isn’t until you are hanging out with another one of your best friends, Mina, and she has to tell you that you are in love with him

You keep resisting as they give you more and more evidence and then it’ll just hit you

“oh shit, I’m in love with Toshi” you mumble as you stare into space

From then on you start to act weirder when you guys are together and he takes notice

He tells another one of his friends about it and they go through the same talk you did with Mina

“They’ve been acting really weird lately. Like not looking me in the eye and stumbling over their words and shit. Do you think I finally scared them away?”

“No, they like you, dumbass. And you like them back”

After 10 minutes of debate, “fuck I’m in love with my best friend.”

After all that, YOU GUYS STILL DONT TALK ABOUT IT!! Afraid of messing up the relationship, still oblivious to the fact the other person feels the same

You are honestly content just being together so the possibility of messing it all up wasn’t worth it

The only thing that has changed is that every so often one of you will attempt flirting, which makes the other flustered, which makes the flirter flustered too

It’s an awkward train wreck to everyone who witnessed it. Almost painful to watch.

On the other hand you guys are like “yay, progress”. Really are made for each other

Once you have to pair up with Mina for a mission and she has to see you two interact everyday, then she decides to meddle

“LETS PLAY SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN!!!” Mina suggests even though you guys aren’t 16 anymore. You guys are at a kind of reunion with your former classmates that Mina is hosting at her apartment. No one is really opposed to the idea, but they aren’t fond of it either. You and Shinsou just give each other a worried glance.

“Since it was my idea, and this is my place, I choose Shinsou and Y/N to go in!” Mina yells dragging you two into her closet.

“Yea, not sure that’s how that works, Pinky.” Shinsou quipped while trying to get out of this.

“It is how that works because I say so. Time starts now! Have fun!” She slammed the door and started her timer excited to see the results of her master plan. She sat on the couch closest to the closet trying to hear what was going on. It had been at least halfway done and she still heard nothing. At this point the other few partygoers were making conversation, not nearly as invested as Mina. They knew you guys were into each other too, but they hadn’t had the chance to be around you guys much since graduating, and they know how to mind their business.

Mina basically has her ear on the door at this point (she’s not a perv, she just wants to say that she told you so). All of a sudden, her timer went off on her phone. Hearing the ringtone, you and Shinsou exit the closet. And to Mina’s surprise, you both look exactly the same as when you entered. No messy hair, no puffy lips, no embarrassed faces, NOTHING.

“Alright, lovebirds, how was the game?” She said moving her eyebrows.

“Fine, I guess. We just hung out in a closet,” Shinsou shrugged.

“Yea, we did get a quick game of 20 questions in there though.”

“WHAT THE HEEEEECCKKKK?!!!!” Mina whined. “Do you two knuckleheads not know the purpose of the game?! You’re in ‘heaven’! You’re supposed express your feelings for one another. At least kiss the other person! It would be one thing if you two were unfamiliar with one another, that’s fine if you don’t wanna play, BUT you two are unbelievably, obnoxiously into each other. You have been for years! Neither of you thought about making a move while you were in there?!”

You and Shinsou both look over at each other with wide eyes. At the same time you mutter, “…wait what?” Mina just face palms and walks away to get a drink. After her walking away, Shinsou was able to sneak you guys out to the balcony.

“Was what she was saying true? Is it that obvious I’m in love with you? Do you feel the same even?”

“Of course, Toshi. How could I not? You’re my ride or die. I love you even though you’re a stubborn idiot who couldn’t tell I’ve loved you since high school.”

“It’s not like you knew either. Also you didn’t have any plans of telling me anytime soon, now I see why seeing as you’re so great at romance.”

You stepped closer and put your arms on his shoulders, “oh you know I love you though, idiot.”

He wrapped his arms around your waist, rubbing gentle circles on your hip with his thumb, “Yea, you mentioned that.” He chuckles and you playfully hit him on the shoulder. After he’s done laughing he sees your pout and leans closer and closer. “I’ll never get tired of hearing it though. By the way, if you didn’t get the memo, I love you too, Y/N.” You can feel his warm breath on your face contrast with the cool breeze, but before you even notice he closes the gap between you. The kiss is so gentle and loving. Shinsou has wanted this for a while and doesn’t wanna fuck it up. When you start kissing him back though none of that matters. You’re both feel warm inside, yet still get goosebumps on your skin. You’re just happy. Shinsou puts his hand on the small of your back to pull you closer and your hands move up to run through his tousled hair.

There’s no telling how much time had passed, but you eventually let go. Shinsou pressed a few small pecks on your lips and then separated, putting his forehead against yours. You couldn’t keep your smiles off your faces. They stayed on your faces as you walked back inside just to leave again, secretly both heading back to your place. You thought you were being discreet, but a grin grew on Mina’s face as you guys said goodbye. She saw Shinsou’s blushed face and how you couldn’t look anyone in the eyes, so she assumed what had happened. She’ll rub it in your face later on how she right she was. Tonight you guys had a lot of catching up to do.

[naancypants]

maybe this is perfect

Alright here is my finalized repost of the fic I accidentally published yesterday, LOL. If you enjoy, I'd love some support on Ao3 (work link is below)! I wrote this after 2x12 (+ updated to reflect news about 2x13 & 2x15, hehe) as a sort of speculative, "personal ideal" confession scene for the finale episode.

Ao3 | 2,051 words

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"Hey," Nancy says from behind, twisting both hands around the strap of her messenger bag. "Can we talk?"

At the sound of her voice, Ace straightens from in front of his locker. He lets out a close-mouthed sigh as the question sinks into his stomach, and when he turns towards her, the discomfort she's feeling becomes evident in her body language.

"Yeah."

A beat passes where neither makes a move.

Nancy, however, is the first to take a step, drawing in a shuddering breath. "You've been avoiding me... for a while now. Ever since the whole life-and-death thing with Daniel West. And I'm sorry that I was willing to let people die to save you. I thought you would understand, that you would've done the same thing-"

"It's not about the list," Ace cuts in with a shake of his head, "That was a long time ago."

In reality it had only been a few weeks since Nancy and Grant traded a hit list to a professional killer to spare Ace's life, but time seems to move inordinately slow in Horseshoe Bay.

"I know. But that was also the same time I called in for a favor with Celia Hudson..." she allows her sentence to drift off there, urging Ace to connect the unspoken dots.

He hadn't tried to hide his feelings on the whole Celia situation, especially whenever he and Nancy talked one-on-one; yet still, her ability to pinpoint the root of behaviors she already notices in him never fails to surprise.

"I just... wish you would have consulted me before you made a deal with the devil."

Nancy recalls a talk during which she was alone with Ace, where he'd briefly confessed his dismay at her recent dealings with the Hudson matriarch.

A string of monotone words all run together as she attempts to explain, "We already went over this, Ace. I-I-I had to figure out how to save you, there was no time to consider my options."

"Maybe it wasn't worth it."

Within a second, revulsion twists every feature on Nancy's face.

"I'm sorry, what?" she demands.

Ace doesn't elaborate. Instead he lifts his raincoat from its hook and shuts the door to his locker, staring down at the garment in his hands with a shamed expression. It isn't long before Nancy has his elbow in a firm grip.

"Hey," she convinces him to whirl around and face her. "You're worth it to me."

You're always worth it to me. You're worth everything to me. A thousand times over, she wants to say. But she doesn't.

"I guess that's my problem."

"Your problem is that I care about you?"

"I don't want to be the reason you sell your soul to the Hudsons."

Nancy blinks, her ferocity weakening as she pulls away. "Aren't I allowed to make my own choices?"

"Of course. But... that doesn't mean I have to like them."

The way he says it is so casual, so lacking in venom that it makes her stomach wrench. He doesn't realize that the only approval Nancy craves is his; she is willing to stand up against even the closest of people in her life - Nick, George, her own father - but not Ace. His opinion of her serves as a compass whenever Nancy is too tired or worn down to trust her own judgment. His opinion is the one that matters most.

"Then what do you want from me? Tell me what I can do to make it better."

It's the most fragile, the most desperate she thinks she's heard herself. Nancy Drew is independent and decisive and strong. So whose voice is it that wobbles in fear, laying down her pride in the hands of another?

If there's anything Nancy can't stand, it's being clouded over with emotion, but the tightness in her throat only warns of an oncoming flood.

"Honestly, Nancy, I don't know right now. Maybe just... help me understand why before you make these kinds of decisions. I don't want you to get hurt."

Their eyes linger for what feels like an eternity, distanced by walls that neither of them know how to tear down.

When Ace moves, he turns decisively away.

Panic beginning to swell in her chest, Nancy pushes past all the other emotions running through her mind - fear, guilt, uncertainty - and takes one last step into the room before he has the chance to get away.

"I did it because I love you."

If anything could stop him cold in his tracks, it's that particular confession. His eyes meet the floor in front of him, speechless and calculating, each second ticking by in tense silence. He turns to face her once more.

There in the center of the room she stands, the bold and courageous girl detective herself, looking smaller than ever. Her voice is barely above a whisper now, eyes in danger of spilling over, "Ace... I think I might be in love with you."

Ace stands motionless in awe, save for a swallow and quick shift of his weight.

When Nancy gets nervous she often rambles to relieve some of her tension. "I didn't know how to say it before, and I- have never actually been in love so maybe I didn't even know what I was feeling until recently, but, you were with Amanda Bobbsey and not in love with me and it's all... very confusing..."

Breath leaves her lungs as quickly as words leave her tongue, anxiety shaking her down to the core. She blinks when the self-awareness sets in; lowers her gaze to the floor for a length of awkward silence.

"Nancy."

Eventually she looks back up to find him just a few feet away now, having crossed the room sometime after she finished prattling on about nothing. His raincoat hits the bench.

"There are.. a lot of reasons why I can't do this right now." He indicates himself with a curved hand to his chest.

Though her heart sinks, Nancy's eyelids still flutter. "But you- you would? Hypothetically?"

His mouth flattens into something that's not quite a smile, eyes as earnest as ever. "It's just that... y'know, Amanda's only been gone for a week. And I don't want to lose what we have - what all of us have."

"You won't," Nancy states with a furrowed brow, "Why do you think you would lose us?"

He bobs his head a bit. "Things could get complicated between us. Especially considering... things."

"What do you mean? What kind of things?"

"Well, I'm not trying to point fingers, but... there is your track record. With relationships."

It doesn't escape her attention that he refuses to make eye contact when he says the last part. She tenses up and repeats, "My track record?"

Ace opens his mouth to soften the words, but the look on his face is enough to suffice as an apology. Nancy retreats on her own as three particular guys - Ned Nickerson, Owen Marvin and Gil Bobbsey - flash through her mind's eye. Guys she had used as a distraction, a rebound, and a means of sexual gratification, all of which Ace witnessed firsthand from the sidelines.

"Yeah I deserve that, don't I," she says quietly.

"No, you don't. That part's fine. It's about everything else."

"Everything else being the Hudsons, Amanda, and losing what we have."

He offers only a nod. Draws in a breath. "Nancy, I want to love you too. And I'm not saying that I don't, but..." his voice breaks, just a bit, but enough for Nancy to notice.

"...It's not the right time," she finishes for him with a resigned nod; "yeah," under her breath.

This time it's Nancy who won't meet Ace's eyes. She darts them all across the room in avoidance, lips pursing together. "I'm- I'm sorry. This is.. not really who I am and I probably shouldn't have said anything to begin with, but-"

"No - no, don't apologize," Ace says with the usual gentle firmness and a slight tilt of his head. "I'm glad you said something. Really glad. In fact, um, if you're not opposed... there is something I wouldn't mind trying before you go off to Columbia."

"Ha. Who says I'm getting into Columbia?" she asks sardonically, crossing her arms.

Ace gives a subtle grin of support. "You'll get into Columbia."

She stops to consider his words, but then emits a soft chuckle, smiling gratefully at her best friend as though there were no mistakes, no confession of feelings, no heartbreak to contend with.

Time drags on as his vague statement from before remains unaccounted for, though almost as if pulled by gravity, there's a mutual instinct that draws them closer together.

Along with instinct, however, is hesitation - a slowness in the way they line themselves up, a caution in the way they read each others' eyes. Gradually his hands find their way to her jawline and before she knows it, in stark contrast to their prior pace, her back is up against metal with the most satisfying warmth she's ever known on her lips.

Nancy's entire body lights on fire, so much that it takes a dazed moment before she is able to react. Her eyebrows lift as she takes full advantage of the moment, kissing him back with the fervor of months worth of pent-up feelings all finally coming to surface; hands crawl upwards from his arms, to his shoulders, and eventually land on either side of his neck.

For a few rapturous seconds, they allow themselves to melt entirely into each other with the realization that things won't be like this again for a while; not until they're able to overcome the doubts, the obstacles, the emotional walls that they both know would cause more harm than good if they were to pursue this now.

Maybe this is perfect. Maybe one kiss - one blissful, ravenous taste of just what it is they're missing out on is enough to satiate their appetites for the time being and prepare them for what's to come.

With one last surge forward, hands sliding down his chest, Nancy realizes that kissing Ace never felt this good in her dreams.

Then, sooner rather than later, it's over.

Though their lips disconnect, everything else remains. A breathless minute comes and goes before either have any words to speak.

"Are you- are you sure you don't want to change your mind?" Nancy finally asks through her teeth, eyes drifting down to his mouth more than once.

A smirk tugs at his face as he steps back, hands remaining on Nancy's forearms for perhaps a touch longer than necessary. "Few more of those and I might."

Nancy gives a wistful giggle, using her shoulders to launch herself away from the lockers right when her phone buzzes.

Ace watches with curiosity as she opens her latest text notification, but waits silently to be filled in.

"It's George. She says they're waiting for us at their place," Nancy murmurs with her brow lowered, looking at Ace for a potential answer to her confusion.

Rarely one to disappoint, Ace nods in recognition. "Oh yeah, they took it upon themselves to reschedule game night. I was supposed to tell you."

Nancy raises her eyebrows in good spirit. "Ah. Well, I'm sure glad you told me in plenty of time."

"Come to think of it, Bess pretty much insisted I be the one to tell you. The whole thing must've been a ruse."

Nancy shrugs. "Eh, you know what they say. What's done is done." she waits a beat before thumbing towards the back door over her shoulder. "Join me?"

"Yeah," Ace agrees as he grabs his raincoat and the pair start walking out. "Yeah but I have to warn you, none of what just transpired is going to have any affect on how badly I demolish you in Absurd Code Word."

"Wow, Ace, I think you're underestimating my game night abilities. Have you ever seen me in Absurd Code Word?"

"Don't need to."

"I see. Is it because I'm a girl?"

"C'mon, Nancy. You know me better than that."

The ease with which they're able to shift gears serves as a delicate reminder of how intrinsically they are connected; of the level of comfort and stability within their potential when the time is right.

Whenever that may be.

[little-mad]

“Tiny ears! Remember?!” With Tara and Thomas!

Ok, I really liked writing this one

From this list of prompts here

And for anyone who doesn’t know, more details about these two can be found on my oc masterlist

______________________________________________________

After knowing one another for two months, Tara finally agreed to cross into giant territory for her meetings with Thomas. Admittedly, it was kind of awkward standing on opposite sides of the creek. More importantly, being out in the open like that, they ran the risk of getting seen by somebody. Tara definitely did not want to have to explain why she was hanging out with a giant to her family and friends back home.

The spot she and Thomas had decided on wasn’t far into giant territory, in fact Tara could still catch a glimpse of the border through the trees. Meanwhile, Thomas was about as concealed as his giant form would allow in an area with trees shorter than him.

Of course, Tara never would have agreed to the arrangement had she not been confident Thomas harbored no ill will towards her. The guy had saved her life twice, and after getting to know him better and better over time, she could almost call him a friend.

That being said, Tara had been sure to set up clear ground rules. Most important of the rules was that Thomas had to keep his hands to himself unless given express permission otherwise. The giant had pouted extensively about it. He obviously got a kick out of holding and touching her, which was exactly why Tara had forbidden it. Plus, being around hands that could easily snuff out her life made her more than a little anxious, believe it or not.

In order to avoid physical contact while still managing to remain close to Thomas’s eye level, Tara had positioned herself in a high branch of a tree directly in front of where the giant was sitting. Thomas had been fretting like a mother hen as she climbed up, insisting it was too dangerous for someone “so itty bitty.” The comment only served to make Tara climb quicker. She’d been scaling trees since she was little, she knew exactly what she was doing.

“Wait, but I thought you said you wanted to study at that university?” Tara inquired as she absentmindedly swayed her dangling legs back and forth.

During their last meeting, Thomas had explained to her his desire to attend some fancy school in a giant city a ways away. They had something sort of similar on the human side of the border, but it was incredibly far away and was very selective with who they allowed as students. No one in Tara’s town ever even considered it as a feasible option.

Thomas gave a humorless laugh. “Well of course I want to, both Lane and I have dreamed of going there for years,” he explained. “But it costs an arm and a leg to even be allowed to study there, not to mention room and board, food, supply costs...we’d never be able to afford it.” He let out a resigned sigh.

A frown formed on Tara’s face. She couldn’t necessarily empathize with Thomas’s situation exactly, but the feeling of being trapped by forces out of her own control was familiar enough after encountering giants. “So what are you going to do then?” she asked. The First Hunt had marked Thomas’s transition from child to adult, meaning he could no longer rely on his parents and needed to seek out a way to make a living.

“I’ll probably start helping out at my uncle’s shop, at least for now,” Thomas said with a shrug. He didn’t look especially pleased with the plan, but before Tara could call him out on it, he spoke up again. “What about you? Are you going to keep gathering supplies for your doctor?” he questioned.

Since even before she had finished school, Tara had been assisting the town’s physician by foraging for medicinal supplies that could be found in nature. At first it had mostly been freelance, but within the past month she had begun receiving a regular wage from the doctor. Tara enjoyed the unrestrictive nature of the work, plus the pay wasn’t half bad either. That being said, she couldn’t see herself doing it for the rest of her life.

“Well actually…” Tara started, “I’ve been thinking I might want to join one of the scouting parties.” The job was mentally and physically demanding, but scouts were well paid and well respected. Plus, after almost being eaten on two separate occasions, Tara felt as though non-giant related dangers were pretty manageable.

“Are you crazy?!” Tara winced at the unexpected volume of Thomas’s voice, her hands instinctively going to cover her ears against the thundering noise.

When her ears stopped ringing, she lowered her hands and shot a scowl up at the giant’s face. “Hey!” she shouted, “Tiny ears! Remember?!” Despite his natural enthusiasm, Thomas was usually pretty good at keeping his voice at a volume that was comfortable to Tara. Over time, his accidental loud outbursts had decreased in frequency. Whatever streak he’d had was now soundly broken of course.

Thomas’s eyes went wide as he realized what he’d done. “Sorry, sorry!” he exclaimed in an overly hushed tone. His cheeks became tinged with a slight red color and he wore a regretful expression on his face as he looked down at Tara. “I just--I can’t believe you would actually consider doing something so needlessly risky.” When he finished the sentence he began to take on the appearance of a stern father or something.

Tara pressed her lips together. She wasn’t really sure why Thomas seemed so worked up over the idea of her joining a scouting party. In the past, she had described what the scouts did and why they were so important to the wellbeing of her town. She’d mentioned the fact that, aside from ensuring no giants ever crossed into human territory, scouts were also responsible for fending off vicious wild animals, as well as occasionally dealing with bandits that sometimes hung around the woods surrounding the town. Sure, it was probably one of the more dangerous jobs Tara could do, but it wasn’t as if it were a death sentence. It was rare that a scout was ever killed in the line of duty.

“It’s not ‘needlessly risky’, Thomas,” she insisted. “Scouts are vital to the safety of my town. Plus, it’s not as dangerous as you seem to be imagining it to be.”

“The world is a dangerous place, and you’re so small--” Thomas started, but Tara was quick to interrupt him with a raised hand.

“Okay--just because I’m small to you, doesn’t mean I can’t handle myself just fine.”

“But why risk it when you don’t have to?”

Tara rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to live my life in a bubble.” It was becoming increasingly clear to her that while Thomas may view her as a person in some respects, he still thought of her as some kind of weak creature in need of protection. Considering he’d had to save her life on multiple occasions, Tara supposed she couldn’t entirely blame him. But that had been when she’d been in giant territory. Things were different on her side of the border.

At first, Thomas opened his mouth as if he were about to shoot back a retort. However, after a moment’s pause, his expression softened slightly. “I’m--I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he admitted.

Tara sighed. It was hard to stay too mad at the guy when he sounded so genuine. He seemed to really care about her wellbeing, even if he was being a bit overbearing about it. She allowed her tensed shoulders to relax. “I appreciate your concern,” she began, making sure to choose her words carefully. “But I promise, I’ll be fine.” Tara offered Thomas her most sincere smile. “Besides, I don’t even know for sure if I am actually going to join a scouting party. It’s just a possibility.”

With slow, controlled movements, Thomas leant forward so that his face was hanging about a foot above where Tara sat. She stiffened when one of his hands gently settled down beside her on the branch, close but not quite making contact with her body. “You don’t know how much I wish I could touch you right now,” he stated, a petulant look on his face.

With her cheeks flushing pink, Tara attempted to disguise it by fixing an unperturbed expression on her face. “You--you can keep your hands to yourself, Mr. Grabby,” she declared stubbornly.

Even if she trusted Thomas not to hurt her, willingly allowing a giant to touch her felt like crossing some line. Of course, she’d already crossed all kinds of lines just by agreeing to meet with him in the first place. Maybe Tara wasn’t completely opposed to letting him touch her--but only for practical purposes! Allowing him to fiddle with her now was certainly not practical.

Thomas gave Tara a pouty face, but when she remained resolute, he released a dramatic sigh before pulling away. “You’re killing me here.”

Tara snorted as she shook her head. “You are such a drama queen.”

[blocksandbloops]

May I interest you in some fem!hermit!Tommy fluff for you in this trying time?

This is set in an alternative version of @redorich 's hermit!Tommy AU. Diverging from the Dream SMP's raid on Hermitcraft. All you need to know is that family trees are convoluted, Tommy's name is Clementine. She's trans, we love her, she has wings and has adopted Grian as her weird almost twin brother.

After the whole "Dreamon" and "invasion" mess the Dream SMP folk didn't expect to hear much from the hermits besides the ones who attended MCC. They thought that the two servers would just continue to exist, independent of one another. Just drifting through the void mere inches apart but never really touching.

Oh how wrong they were.

The hermits were friendly but they had absolutely underestimated just how friendly.

Apparently, the moment Clementine so much as breathed a word about how much she missed her biological family, Scar -ever the kind and helpful mayor that he was- decided to throw a beach party!

Since Clemmy's extended family was pretty large and they didn't want anyone to feel left out, it was an open invitation to everyone on the Dream SMP as long as they behaved.

That point was driven home when a few people, like Antfrost and his unhealed, dog bitten asscheek, mentioned how upsetting the Hermits was definitely not a good idea.

(Deep down they knew that the reason they were really doing this was because the hermits were worried about them. The Dream SMP was just a bunch of traumatized children according to them. They weren't wrong in that assumption but no one wanted to admit that.)

So, when the day of the beach party finally dawned, they all put on their least threatening outfits and packed up their supplies, (where Tubbo got the surf board nobody wanted to question) and entered the portal just like they had done a few months prior.

A few things were different though, the sun was bright and beaming in the sky, soft puffy white clouds rolled by, only promising gentle shade instead of the dreary air of yesteryear.

The shopping district had been rebuilt from it's smoky ruins and they finally all had time to appreciate the lovingly built shops and roads. It looked so beautiful and vibrant, you could practically feel the fact that summer was in full swing.

The smell of nectar and sea salt drifted through the air, sweetening even the sourest of moods. This is what peace was to the hermits. This was their everyday. They were so lucky and they didn't even realize it.

Some people were taking notes of all the different building styles with bright eyes, hoping to replicate some of it when they got home, others were suddenly hit with a feeling of bitter inadequacy of it compared to their homes. Is this what a world without war could look like?

But, no matter the gloomy musings of the few, they were all here to let go for a day! To celebrate the good times and to kick back for seemingly the first time in forever.

Their welcome party this time simply consisted of one person.

It was a strange sight, seeing the Hermits' admin Xisuma without a mask on, wearing a god awful hawaiian shirt that Keralis had thrown at him with glee the moment he mentioned that he didn't have something to wear, and again, were those, gods forbid crocks?

"'Ello everyone! Wow this is quite the turn up. Scar wished he could be here to greet you all personally, but he's still too busy helping the others preparing for the barbecue, so you're stuck with me for the time being.

Now, if you'll kindly follow me, we set everything up pretty close to here, so we'll be there in a minute."

The walk over to the beach was short, but just as scenic as the rest of the server.

Warm, golden sand, gently lapping waves and lush plant life. The sound of the hermits' laughter and soft music filled the air as the smell of the previously mentioned barbecue proved a welcome distraction from whatever the hell was happening on the far right side of the beach (the ZIT trio built a karaoke machine. It was Zedaph's idea. It was also a horrible idea but they didn't seem to realize that yet.)

As they began to debate a plan of attack, no wait. ... fun? enjoyment? eh whatever.

A tall man jogged up to the group. Some people recognized him as Mumbo Jumbo, that one british guy with the mustache. Others, however, as that semi-scary redstone wizard who managed to create extremely powerful potion launchers during the invasion.

He was dressed just as down to earth as the others, holding a tall glass of lemonade in his hand and wearing a (quite goofy) sunhat he borrowed from Ren.

He was explaining something to X in hushed tones (something or other about a minor fire at the barbecue table?) When he looked past the gathering of guests and out towards the path that they had come from, and screeched.

"GRIAN PLEASE I'M HOLDING LEMONADE DON'T!" X reached over and grabbed the glass from his hands just in time for a cackling, feathered ball of something to crash into Mumbo, knocking him into the water with an audible "oof".

There was wild thrashing as the two tried to orient themselves, Grian somehow climbing onto Mumbo's back.

"CLEMMY! COME HELP ME DROWN MUMBO!" Grian waved towards a cluster of trees to their left, underneath which a small gathering of hermits was enjoying a bit of a reprieve from the sun.

"NOT YOU TOO!" came the mustachioed man's scream of distress.

Clementine, the whole terrifying six feet and three inches of a woman that she was, took off running to the water at full tilt towards the struggling brits.

Mumbo, having already formed a strategy in his head, did a perfect T-pose and feel backwards into the water, bringing down a screaming Grian with him. Clementine did a graceful swan dive into the water (how she executed that shall be left for viewer interpretation) and happily joined the fray, even the distressed calls of Stress behind her because "Gods damn it Clemmy! I spent an hour on your hair! And now it's ruined!" couldn't persuade her to give up on her mission to cause as much friendly chaos as possible.

She climbed out of the water a few minutes later, her hair a mess and a bright smile on her face.

"Techie! Wilby! Tubbo! Thank you guys so much for coming! I'm really glad that you could make it." She hugged them each close, enjoying the comfort of having them all together again.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Techno relaxed his posture, trying not to fidget too much. He was getting better with crowds but it was still a lot.

"You may think he's joking but he literally dragged Quackity all the way to the portal because he was too busy doing his eyeliner and would've made us late." Wilbur snickered when she leaned in to hug him, earnings him one of her patented ear-splitting laughs.

"I got a recording of it!" Tubbo proudly announced, pulling out his video camera

while still holding an arm around her.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! LET ME HAVE SOME DIGNITY MAN!" The aforementioned Mr. Fattest Ass in the cabinet screamed indignantly as soon as he got within hearing range.

"Quackity you never had any dignity. It's too late for that." Techno flicked the duck shapeshifter on the head, earning him even more annoyed rambling which he just chose to ignore.

"Well, I'm glad that that's settled, now, I have some people I'd like for you to meet."

She directed them towards the group sitting in the shade, which consisted of False, (a now soaking wet) Grian, Stess, Mumbo (who also looked like a disgruntled cat that was just given a bath), Iskall and Ren.

Meanwhile Doc and Cleo had a little cornered off area they'd nicknamed the "cool kids club" (it was because around this time the sun got strong enough to actually burn her and Doc just felt slightly iffy about the water, since he was, ya know, half robot.)

Clemmy threw herself down on a blanket in front of a grumbling Stress who set about actually making her hair look presentable.

Niki sat down next to them and began discussing the merits of different styles to put Clemmy's hair into.

Ranboo sheepishly sat down next to Cleo's lawn chair folding all of his gangly limbs under himself.

Wilbur happily plopped himself down next to Ren on a blanket and began to hum along to the other's guitar.

Techno lay dow his cape, deciding that a nap was the best course of action in that moment.

Fundy hesitated for a second before going down to the shore to relax and just put his feet in the water for now.

Philza, the awkward dad that he was, chose to sit down close enough to the girls that he'd be able to hear what they were talking about without intruding.

Tubbo placed his stuff down by Clemmy's feet and ran out to the shore with his surf board in hand.

Going through so many conflicts in such a short amount of time really tires a person out, especially ones as young as the ones from the SMP so getting this afternoon of rest truly helped ease some of the stress given to them by recent events.

(Beach episode pog?)

Of course, this little get together wasn't without it's faults. About two hours in Doc accidentally trampled False's sand castle, who in retaliation teamed up with Cleo to dump water on him while he was relaxing.

This little conflict evolved into a battle to see who could build the biggest and grandest sand castle between "Team Himbo" and "Team Women" (one of those was coined by Clemmy). Puffy and Stress set up a good system of transporting sand from point A to point B, allowing them to move faster. False got placed on detailing duty while Niki brought refreshments for the rest of the team. Alyssa was mostly helping out wherever she could, as Cleo worked her armour stand magic to make their castle feel even more alive.

Clemmy just shouted encouragements and bullied the opposing team.

(The member list of Team Himbo has been redacted to avoid any drama about who might qualify as a himbo in the given circumstances)

Somehow the guys managed to convince Techno to join them, which immediately stacked odds in their favor to which Eret and Iskall, being the non-binary legends they are, decided to side with Team Women, now renamed to "Team Prettier Than You".

Their building contest laated for another hour before X decided to try to stop them (it wasn't because of the time. It was because TFC and Grian started shouting things about structural integrity and adding stone parts to the walls and the contestants actually listened when he decided that it was getting out of hand.)

Then it was time to actually enjoy the barbecue. Techno surprised everyone with how delicious his baked potatoes ended up. Beef also got to flex his skills a little with, as you guessed it, beef.

Tubbo and Tango sadly had to eat further away then everyone because the moment they got within ten feet of the fire something mysteriously combusted.

After that, the ZIT trio busted out the karaoke machine and the night went from good to great.

The old Team Star was dared to sing a rendition of Hermit Gang and everyone younger than 25 felt physical distress during some parts.

The sleepy bois (+Tubbo) sang a cover of "Your new boyfriend" (Techno got surprisingly into it) and then Wilbur swiped Ren's guitar to sing some Taylor Swift songs (accompanied by Tubbo on a synth he seemingly pulled out of nowhere) in that one weird accent he can do which had most people wheezing on the floor from laughter after the first song.

Niki threw down a german cover of Say So by Doja Cat. Grian, Phil and Tommy were unconsciously doing the parrot dancing thing. It was great.

Quackity sang something in spanish and Karl and Sapnap made over exaggerated swooning noises.

Skeppy and Bad did a duet. It was as adorable as it sounds.

Some other people also came on stage, belting out songs in such horridly broken voices that I'll spare you the details. Let's just say, nails scratching chalkboards would sound better.

And that was most of the festivities over with.

The last thing on the agenda? A meteor shower. How did they set it up? Clemmy's weird star child thing. The aforementioned girl was huddled close together with her family as they watched the comets streak across the clear sky (all electronics and artificial lights were shut off for the night) and Melohi played from a jukebox in the corner.

Fundy was laying his head in Dream's lap, the other boy was softly threading his fingers through his almost fiance's orange hair while leaning heavily on George and trying not to let sleep claim him as it had the fox (no one knew how this happened, all they were aware of is that the three had disappeared sometime during the sand castle contest only to reemerge having finally talked things through and come to an agreement that they all seemed happy with).

Ranboo, Niki, Puffy and Eret were collapsed in a happy pile just vibing.

The sleepy bois, who were for once actually sleepy, all wore matching flower crowns braided together by Stress's experienced fingers (and Wilbur's rather clumsy ones). Phil and her had managed to come to an agreement of unofficial joint custody after he witnessed Techno embarrassedly lean down to let her place a crown of golden flowers upon his head and saw his internal beam of pride when she called him "handsome".

The boys never really had a mother he mused, maybe she could teach them kindness where he couldn't.

Another surprise addition to the family was the owner of the third pair of wings in the cuddle pile. Phil didn't expect to end up with any more children at this point in his life, but Grain and Clemmy were practically attached at the hip and it felt wrong to even think about separating them.

He only hoped that those two wouldn't cause too much chaos especially when teamed up with Tubbo.

In the end, everyone drifted off to sleep, one by one they closed their eyes on their most perfect day. Praying for whatever might be out there, that they'll have many more moments just like this.

Well,

almost everyone.

Callahan chuckled as he walked back up to his spot with Alyssa farther away from the others. shutting off his camera after cycling through the pictures he took of everyone looking goofy while sleeping (His favorite is the one where Clemmy was very visibly munching on Techno's hair). He may not use those as blackmail but he sure ass hell was going to tease them about it later. He fell asleep there on that hill, drifting off to comforting rest like the others.

After that? Life moved on.

It was chaotic sure, and not perfect.

But it was theirs. They grew up slowly, learning to be kind to one another, how to grow with one another.

Life wasn't always perfect but hey, they had each other. And in the end? That's all that mattered.

[spooky-ghost-boi]

Damn shawty, you definitely thicc.

A ReddNook weight gain fic.

Words: 2306

Description: Tom gets injured and has to sit on his ass for a couple months and work from home and Redd is making sure Tom doesn’t “Starve”

Warnings: people with climacophobia/traumatophobia this is definitely not your jam, mentions of a blowjob (I’m too unsure to actually write it out, I’m sorry), weight gain (duh), Tom Nook vs Ladder, prOfAniTieS, Redd AND Isabelle enjoy groping Tom’s fat don’t @ me on that.

A/N: depending on how well this does, I might write a part two. Also I had help brainstorming!

Ps: Imagine how good my grades would be if I wrote my assignments this quick and handed them in before the deadline.

_

Tom had rushed out of the door, realizing he was about to be too late if he didn’t hurry up to the Resident Services. His large breakfast still sat rather heavy in his stomach which made his stomach hurt slightly as he speed walked but he had a lot to get done today.

He was a little surprised to see that Isabelle hadn’t arrived yet, in the meantime he walked to the backroom so he could brew himself some coffee. He heard a dripping noise, thanks to his enhanced hearing. Looking up he noticed a hole in one of the pipes and sighed to himself.

Tom still felt rather tired and his movements were rather slow and sluggish as he made his way to the basement to get a ladder. He put the ladder against the wall and climbed it up, surprised by how.. Exhausting it seemed now.

Meanwhile Isabelle came in and smiled softly to herself when she saw Tom’s stuff already on his desk.

Crash!

A slight groan in both pain and annoyance.

Her smile faded immediately and she rushed into the backroom, she noticed the chunky Tanuki lying on the floor under a leaking pipe and a broken ladder.

“Tom! Are you alright?!” Isabelle asked in shock.

“I’m doing splendid! It’s not like my leg is twisted at an unnatural angle, hm?.. Couldn’t be me! Yes, yes.” Tom said in slight annoyance.

_._._.

After a couple nights in the hospital Tom was back home, his leg was broken.. Which obviously wasn’t ideal. He had to work from home and either Redd, Timmy or Tommy had to deliver his paperwork to Isabelle every evening.

He’d been spending roughly a week at home and it had been rather peaceful to his surprise, Redd was distracting him sometimes for.. Other things or he was making Tom food. Good food, a lot of food and of course Tom lacked self-restraint so he often just ended up accidentally stuffing himself when he was working. Sometimes to the point he had to unbutton his progressively tighter pants.

“Hey, Nookie~ I got you your favorite coffee and doughnuts, they’re still warm.” Redd said to his quite chunky boyfriend.

“I told you to not call me that! But, thank you, hm.” He said, as he filed papers. Eyeing the mess on the desk.

“Enjoy your doughnuts, I’ll be in the kitchen making lunch for you.” Redd said, smirking to himself before leaving the room. His plan was working.

After a couple of minutes of diligently working, Tom grabbed a donut and ate it. He moaned as the incredible flavor hit him. He had a huge sweet tooth, especially when it came to pastries.

Therefore he devoured those 6 doughnuts within 30 minutes, feeling quite stuffed. His pants were uncomfortable and he just unbuttoned them. The coffee gave him a boost of energy which is something he desperately needed as the huge snack he just had seemed to make him tired. He groaned and rubbed his stomach.

He took a breather. Then returned to filing papers and making the occasional call.

He wasn’t even hungry before Redd barged in with a nice and full plate of pasta and tomato sauce.. With loads of cheese on it.

“Redd.. I’m actually still quite stuffed.” Tom said as he shifted his weight in his chair, it creaked slightly and he didn’t actually pay attention to it.

“Awe, come on Tom. You wouldn’t want to eat cold pasta now, do you? You don’t have to eat all of it, just eat as much as you can! ” Redd told him.

“Fine! Just put it on the table.. I’ll eat it. Thank you, yes, yes.” Tom said and continued with his work. He somehow felt hungry again.. Or did he just feel the need to eat? Or was it boredom.

Redd smiled at the Tanuki, “I’ll pick up Timmy and Tommy later, but I’ll tell you before I leave. “ Redd said.

“That’s splendid..” Tom said as he grabbed the plate of pasta and began to eat. He was eating out of stress and boredom more than anything else. He failed to notice how much his belly was pushing out, making the fact evident he unbuttoned his pants.

“You need some bigger pants, Nookie~?” Redd said in a slightly teasing tone.

“No.. I’m just bloated. I guess it’s the lack of movement, hm?” Tom said, he ACTUALLY was convinced that was the reason and Redd found it cute.

“I see.. You don’t have that much to do right now, do you?” Redd asked and winked slightly at his boyfriend.

“That depends on what you mean.. Hm.?” Tom asked as he put a few papers aside. He totally understood what Redd meant but he wanted him to be more direct. For his entertainment of course.

“I could suck your dick.” Redd said, not really embarrassed because he’s.. Well, Redd.

“Why don’t you just say so?” Tom asked as he somehow managed to pull down his pants.

_._._

After giving Tom a decent blowjob, Redd had gotten him another snack.

“Have this while I’m gone, so you don’t waste away.” Redd chuckled as he said that to Tom, which just earned him a scoff.

“-And don’t miss me too much.” Redd promptly added before walking away.

“Trust me, I most definitely won’t!” Tom yelled after him.

Tom finished off all calls and paperwork he had to do for the day and leaned back in his chair, rather satisfied with himself as he ate the big slice of cheesecake and coffee Redd had gotten him.

He sighed softly and put a paw on his already pretty chubby belly, he felt bloated and honestly a little heavier than he was used to but he didn’t mind. It was probably the lack of movement as he didn’t walk to work or play with the boys. He had to rely on Redd to help him around the house, which seemed awkward since Redd was such a twink and he himself was probably almost twice as heavy as the Kitsune.

He actually hated being dependent on Redd, however he couldn’t do much.

After a little while Redd came back with the boys who rushed to the kitchen to eat dinner and Redd walked to Tom’s office.

“Hiya, Nookie! You wanna eat dinner on the kitchen? Need help to get there?” Redd asked.

“I would..” Tom said as he leaned onto the table for some support to get up, then leaned onto Redd. They both managed to make it to the kitchen and Tom plopped onto a chair opposing Timmy.

“How was work for you two?” Tom asked softly. Tom usually disliked showing vulnerability to other people, even Redd at times but that was slightly different with the boys, he wanted to be the best father figure for them, despite them being his employees. Afterall they were still kids and needed guidance in their life.

“Good! We’ve had lots of customers.. Customers.” They both said in unison.

“I’m glad.” Tom said as he ate his dinner, trying his best to ignore the Kitsune.

“You two want to watch a movie later?” Tom asked his boys. He felt guilty for being unable to play with them so he hoped watching a movie would make both of them and himself happier.

“Sure!” They replied.

_

After a couple of months he finally could walk again and go back to work, he wasn’t supposed to lift up heavy things still.

He took a shower the day prior and was getting ready for work, feeling good about himself again.

Redd watched his chonky boyfriend put on his khaki shorts, he noticed Tom struggle getting them over his hips. Oh shit, there was no way Tom was gonna get them buttoned.

“.. Redd? They don’t fit.” Tom said, deciding that maybe He’d have more luck with his work shirt.

He managed to get the two upper buttons buttoned but not the rest.

He looked a little panicked at Redd, who didn’t know what to do either. “.. What if you wore a sweater? It’s not that warm yet-“ Redd suggested.

“I guess that could work..” Tom said as he looked through his closet to get a sweater with the Nook Inc logo on it.

Redd despised the logo at this point, really.

The sweater fit, but it was really tight and giving Tom a muffin top along with the pants he was wearing. He didn’t have much time to worry about that right now as he had to head to work. Pretty ironic that this happened to the man making people wear their work uniforms because “clothes are a big part of business.”

In the mean time Redd headed to the Sable Sisters to make sure to get Tom some bigger clothes.

Tom was a little out of breath when he walked to the Residential Services, he opened the door and just sighed. He pulled down his sweater and walked into the backroom where Isabelle was waiting for him.

“Good morning, Tom!” She said as she handed him his coffee.

“Good morning and thanks for the coffee! Yes, yes.” Tom said, his stomach growled again and it also hurt.

“Seems like somebody is hungry! I made you some “welcome back ”cookies!” Isabelle said as she handed him a plate.

“That’s splendid, thank you.” Tom replied, before blushing a little. “Do you know whether we still have.. Err, bigger sized work uniforms?” Tom asked.

“For what?” Isabelle asked, pretending to be oblivious. She of course noticed how much bigger the Tanuki looked, he was so chunky and it surprised her.

“I put on a few and this.. Isn’t exactly the most comfortable outfit.” Tom said as he tried to pull his sweater down again.

“See for yourself! I’m pretty sure there is something at least.” Isabelle said and smiled at Tom.

Tom sighed as he went to the work uniform shelf and looked through various shirts, to his luck he found the exact same shirt he owned just a couple sizes bigger. He immediately slipped it on along with a pair of khaki shorts he had found.

To his surprise the shirt was a little loose on him.

Isabelle was already at the desk, working.

He walked to his own desk and plopped on the chair, which creaked under all the new weight. While doing his usual work he ate the cookies Isabelle had made for him and downed several cups of coffee. Occasionally He’d get snacks from the vending machine but he was still so oddly hungry.

He felt a little exhausted at the end of the day and especially after his walk home. Getting pampered by like everyone really affected his already in first place wide waistline, but now he was getting lazier too.

“Good evening, Nookie!” Redd said as Tom came home, he obviously noticed the change in attire and how bloated Tom looked. Despite being so bloated, Tom’s stomach growled.

“You sure you want dinner? You look like you just feasted. My, my, Nookie~” Redd teased, he just really wanted to unbutton Tom’s shirt and feel how much Tom let himself go.

“Busy and stressing day at work to be honest.. Isabelle made a lot of cookies for me as welcome back gift or something. I’m actually quite hungry though.” Tom said as he patted his belly.

“I’m not surprised.” Redd said as he practically shoved Tom into the kitchen. “It’s still a bit until dinner but I made you some cake.” He told him.

Tom lazily sat on a chair, “thanks, hmm.” He said as he ate a slice and then another.

“Do you want some coffee?” Redd asked.

“Sure.” Tom said and leaned back into his chair.

Redd put the coffee onto the table and smiled at his boyfriend. “There you go, Nookie~” He said.

Tom grumbled but drank his coffee.

What he didn’t know was that Redd had put some melted butter along with the milk and sugar in there, so he’d have a bigger boyfriend much faster.

Eventually the kids arrived and they all ate dinner together. After that they played with Tom and Redd, it made Tom happy that he could be there for the kids again.

Tom had brought them to bed at around 21 pm and then made his way to Redd’s and his bedroom. Tom’s stomach growled and he sighed softly as he sat on the bed, which creaked slightly under his weight.

“I got you doughnuts~” Redd mused, as he handed Tom the box.

“Thank you, yes.. Ye-“ Tom yawned and began eating a couple of doughnuts.

“Can’t stop eating lately, am I right, Nookie?” Redd teased as he unbuttoned Tom’s shorts and shirt and began rubbing his belly.

“I told you to stop calling me that since months now.. “ Tom complained and he would’ve pushed Redd away if he weren’t so godforsaken tired.

“Too tired to properly move?” Redd teased.

“Just.. Shut up for once, hm.” Tom huffed, as he closed the empty doughnut box. He then also drifted off to sleep, with Redd rubbing his belly gently.

After a couple months the Tanuki had to size up. . Again. It seemed that both Isabelle and Redd loved to pamper him.

His gut was well hanging over his waistband and he was way lazier and more easily exhausted.

Isabelle was closing off the shop and then walked over to Tom, playing with his hefty and bloated belly. Earning several moans in pleasure from him, he was so stuffed that it felt good to have somebody with his belly.

“It’s softer than I expected!” Isabelle said, smiling at the Tanuki.

“Yeah.. Everyone says that, hm.” He just replied, making no effort to fight her as it felt good.

Isabelle chuckled and patted the Tanuki’s soft tummy.

[falcon-eye]

So I’ve been writing on my phone and this one almost made me lose my shit because when initially hitting “copy” I accidentally hit “paste” and deleted the entire fucking thing. Thank GOD gmail keeps a copy of your notes. Holy shit.

Again made for @inexplicifics Accidental Warlord AU

Veko and Eloise’s domestic adventures continue! I’m so happy people actually like them! I’ve grown so close to them both. This will be part of their bigger story, because since I’ve been writing on my phone they’ve been really small and when I expound on them I want to add more details before all this, like about Veko and Hamra and all that. So consider these teasers I guess? That’s why the endings feel so abrupt. Or that’s the excuse I keep telling myself. I don’t know. But when I finally post everything it will be on AO3, and I may put these little ficlets on AO3 as a fic as well.

Anyway hope you enjoy this one! Veko and Eloise return!

——————

The next time Veko saw Eloise was just as bizarre as the first. Except this time, she ended up helping him as opposed to him saving her father again. It was, somehow, even more awkward.

It was a few weeks of a full year later. What was supposed to just be one kikimora turned into a while nest, and despite this, the alderman barely wanted to pay him what he said he would for the one kill, let alone a whole cluster of them. He wouldn’t even let Veko inside. Luckily it had almost literally just stopped raining. But it was getting to the point where Veko was having to take a few calming breaths between the arguing; the alderman was a miserable prick, but Veko didn’t want to snap on the guy.

“You take what I give ye an’ be done with it!” the alderman shouted, reaching for the dagger at his belt. “Or you’ll get no coin and—“

“Husband!” a woman’s voice rang out. Veko and the alderman jumped; fucking rain and yelling, making Veko’s senses dull. A small force practically ran into him from the side and wrapped a hand around his elbow. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Uh—“

“Eloise!” the alderman exclaimed. Oh shit, that’s where Veko knew her from! “Nothing t’ worry about, this Witcher was jus’ leaving.”

Eloise turned to Veko, pressing closer. “You were?” she asked, faking concern to apparently Veko’s ears only. “But darling, you just got here!”

Veko’s mind went totally blank. “Hello?” he said dumbly.

The alderman’s eyes narrowed. “What?” he hissed. “Eloise, this man—“

“Is my beloved,” Eloise cut in. The alderman’s mouth shut with an audible click. “Last year, don’t you remember? The Witcher that saved my father from those drowners!”

Veko continued to stare at her.

“But—“ the alderman stammered.

“Now what’s with all this shouting over here?” Eloise barreled on.

“I sent this Witcher here to kill the kikimora roamin’ about,” the alderman said.

Eloise gave Veko’s arm a little shake to snap him back into the conversation. “I, uh,” he stammered. “It wasn’t just one. There was a whole nest.”

Eloise clapped a hand over her mouth and gasped dramatically. “A whole nest!” she exclaimed, drawing the attention of the townspeople nearby. “My goodness! I’m so glad it’s been taken care of! Oh, Lennart, I don’t know what we would have done had a whole nest of those beasts descended upon the town!”

People were starting to whisper. The alderman—Lennart’s heart rate sped up. “Oh, well yes, I, eh, was good indeed.” He looked like he was trying to both glare at Veko and keep the shock of Eloise’s outburst off his face at the same time—and failing.

Eloise finally let go of Veko and took the alderman’s hands. “Do you need help with the coin?” she asked innocently. “For the additional kikimora? I know things have been difficult since Nora left—“

“I can handle it!” Lennart exclaimed, eyes darting around at the growing mass of people who’d come to hear about the monsters. The alderman patted Eloise’s hands and laughed nervously. “I mean, that’s alright dear! I-I’ve plenty of coin for the Witcher here! Let me—I’ll go get it.”

Lennart raced back into his house and the crowd of people began to disperse, clearly boring of the now dwindling conversation. Veko was still not sure what the fuck just happened. But before he could ask, the alderman burst back outside and practically threw a pretty hefty sack of coin into Veko’s hands.

“Splendid!” Eloise exclaimed, and then turned to Veko one more. “Shall we go, darling?”

Veko nodded, letting himself be led away, once again, by this bizarre woman. But just before Lennart went back inside, Veko turned to him, held up the bag of coin, and winked. Lennart turned an ugly red and slammed the door behind him.

“Fucking weaselly prick,” Eloise hissed. Veko guffawed.

“Holy shit,” he said. “Where did you even come from? How did you find me? What—what the hell was that?!”

Eloise held up a hand and ticked answers off her fingers. “I was in town putting an order for paints in, saw your horse tied to a tree near the edge of town, and Lennart is a right prick but easy to exploit because of it. His wife Nora left a few weeks ago with some adventurer who came through town. She knew he’d been trying to bed any girl in sight and rightfully left.”

Veko pocketed the bag of coin. “Well I’m not going to complain,” he said.

Eloise tucked her hand into the crook of his arm again. “Are you planning on staying?” she asked. “Papa says it’s supposed to rain; he can feel it in his knees, he says.”

Veko started itching at his burns. “I, uh—“

“Right, coming with me then.”

Veko laughed again and Eloise guide the way.

——————————————————

For having apparently acquired Eloise and her home, this was the first time Veko had actually been inside. It was cozy, the walls painted a pale pink and yellow. The kitchen was warm and smelled amazing, Eloise having apparently left something cooking while she’d been out.

Peering into the next room, the apparent main room of the house, Veko found bottles of paints and an assortment of brushes set up at an easel against the far window (splattered in paint); blank canvases were piled behind it. But actually giving the room a look-around, his attention was immediately drawn to the walls lined floor to ceiling with the most beautiful paintings Veko had ever seen.

Landscapes of what Veko recognized as the local stream and the goat paddock out back, faces he didn’t recognize but could have started up a conversation with him with how real they looked, random assortments of everyday items put together to make some interesting structure—there was art everywhere.

Veko didn’t realize he was gaping until he heard Eloise chuckle. “Like what you see?” she asked.

“They’re amazing,” Veko replied, reaching towards a painting of a young boy.

“Don’t touch!” Eloise snapped; Veko jumped. “Sorry, sorry, they’re just—when they dry the colors fade of you touch them.”

“Sorry,” Veko said, shoving his hand into his pocket.

Eloise shook her head. “It’s always been a dream of mine to be a famous painter. Sometimes I get commissions or sell some in Oxenfurt. There’s a man who comes by to take them to market every now and then. Anyway, apparently my father went to bed early,” she said. “Stew?” Eloise chuckled. “I can paint a delicious meal but actually cooking it, eh...”

Now it was Veko’s turn to laugh. “I’d love some, whatever it tastes like,” he said. “And—thank you, for that shit with the alderman.”

Eloise waved him off. “Honestly? Bringing you up has been doing wonders around here,” she said.

As Veko sat down at the table, he remembered: “Did you call me husband?”

“How long ago was that and you’re just realizing that now?”

“In my defense, you came out of nowhere!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be this great warrior with heightened senses?”

Instead of answering, Veko leaned forward and smirked. “You think I’m great?”

Eloise stared at him for a moment before scoffing and shoveling a spoonful of soup into her mouth. “A great pain in my arse,” she said, “and you’ve only been here five minutes.”

“Might I remind you that you’re the one who dragged me here.”

“Yeah, because you looked like a bloody kicked puppy when I asked!”

“Kitten.”

Eloise blinked. “What?”

Veko tapped his medallion. “I’m from the School of the Cat, so I’d be a kitten.”

There was a moment of silence before Eloise let out a ‘PFFFT!’ and burst out laughing. “Did you really just—“

“I can leave right now!” Veko exclaimed, but there was no heat behind it. Eloise’s laugh was loud and hoarse, hardly ladylike or cute, but for some reason Veko liked hearing it. He wanted to hear it again.

Eloise wiped tears from her eyes. “Just eat your stew, Witcher,” she said.

“Veko,” Veko said. “My name is Veko.”

“Veko,” Eloise repeated, like she was getting used to how it sounded. “Nice to officially meet you, husband.”

Veko started scratching his burns. “Oh gods.”

Eloise smacked his hand like she’d done last year. “Stop doing that,” she snapped. “You’re going to make it worse.”

“I’ve had it for fifteen years; I don’t think it’s going to get worse.”

Eloise was quiet. “How—? Never mind.”

“No, it’s ok,” Veko reassured her. “My brother and I got into a fight. Or something. I can’t remember. But it was an accident, either way.”

“Is your brother also a Witcher?”

Veko nodded, having just stuffed his face with stew again. “Yah,” he said, his mouth full. He swallowed. “Identical twins, actually. Though my hair’s longer and he’s a bit bulkier than I am. His name’s Hamra.”

“Veko and Hamra,” Eloise said, “twin Cat Witchers, huh?”

“Yes ma’am,” Veko replied. Over the course of the meal, Veko explained the basics about the Cats and their caravan, how they worked and why they occasionally split up. Eloise, for her part, only asking questions when he’d finished a story and let him talk most of the conversation. Normally, talking is what Veko was used to, but both times he’d been with this woman she’d shocked him into silence. It was nice to be comfortable again.

Night settled quickly and when they finished their respective meals, Eloise took both their bowls to wash. “I’m going to set a cot up for you,” she said over her shoulder.

“What, no bed?” Veko teased.

“Other than my father's bed, there’s only one other and it’s mine,” Eloise replied.

“Not enough room for husband and wife?”

Eloise suddenly turned serious. Without even turning to him she said, “I’ll not bed you, Witcher.”

Veko held his hands up in surrender, even though her back was still turned. “Ok,” he said softly. “Just messing around, sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you, truly.”

Eloise sighed deeply and finally turned to him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just. I don’t want that. From anyone, ever. It’s—it’s hard to explain. Just thinking about... that... makes me... extremely uncomfortable.”

Veko nodded. “I understand,” he said. “I mean, I don’t, but I respect that.”

Eloise smiled. “Thank you,” she said.

“Is that why me being your husband is useful?” Veko asked; Eloise’s heart rate sped up. “I don’t have a problem with that!” he quickly assured her. “It’s just, last year you said something to that effect.”

Eloise looked him in the eye for a moment, maybe trying to assess if he was telling the truth? And then nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, that’s no problem here,” Veko said. “Gods know I only really come through this area once a year. I could swing by to keep up appearances.”

“And I could help you bleed Lennart dry of all his coin.”

Veko smirked. “I like the way you think.”

Eloise smirked back. “I think this is going to be a very successful partnership.”

[adventuresloane]

"I told you you'd get sick", because it is such prime fluff starting material..

((So I made this way longer than originally intended and followed the prompt in the most tangential of ways. No one should be shocked at this point.))

As was her wont, Lup knocked on the front door, didn't wait for a response, and phased into the house through the two inches of wood. "Alright, I'm here to make chicken soup and accidentally scorch your petunias," she said, "and I've already...well, sorry about that."

Rather than remarking that he had planted those all of four days ago, Kravitz skipped over her greeting altogether. "You know, Lup, this is going to be your home in a few months anyway." Not to mention that she dropped by just about daily regardless. "You don't have to knock every time."

She shrugged, causing the flames that rose from her shoulders to shiver upwards before falling again. "Still gotta wait until I get my body back before I enjoy that bedroom you got picked out for me. How's Taako?" This was usually one of the first things she asked, although it was a particularly relevant question today. "That doofus had better be sleeping."

"He's trying, I think. It's hard for him, though. He says he hasn't slept in the past decade. I'm sure he's out of practice if all he does is Trance."

"Right, right," she said, then turned her black, featureless face inside her red hood back towards him. In the same tone that she'd had when she'd floated in, she continued, "Well, he's lucky he's capable of lying in a bed at all."

"Yes," Kravitz said, right before he said nothing. For a few moments that felt too long and slightly sweaty to him, he stared at Lup, and presumably she stared back, in spite of the fact that he couldn't tell where her eyes were. Her spectral form bobbed slightly up and down in the air, and flames with dark red centers licked off the char-black bones of her hands, and suddenly he was rather glad she always knocked rather than, say, floating up through the floor unannounced when she felt like it. And now the silence was decidedly awkward. He pushed aside one of several unopened cardboard boxes with his foot. "Um, it's his own fault, really. Taako's been spending all his time trying to unpack and organize the house at the same time he's getting things organized to start his school. It's no wonder he's fallen ill--"

"Language." He turned to face her when she piped up. "Just say 'got sick.' No one says 'fall ill' anymore."

He huffed.

"Hey, you were the one who asked me to correct you when you talked like an old geezer."

This was true. It was also true, he was sure, that she enjoyed chastising him for a change, when normally he was the one telling her what to do during reaper training. He moved on. "So I did what you said. The chicken's been slow-cooking for several hours now."

"And you put all the seasonings he likes under the skin like I said? You got the rosemary in there?"

"Yes."

"And the parsley?"

"Two teaspoons of dried."

"And the oregano?"

Kravitz balked and gawked at her. She only kept waiting expectantly. There was no way. He had double- and triple-checked the list she had given him in the knowledge that this had to be made perfectly. How could he have concentratedpassed over something like--?

She laughed. "I'm fucking with you. Lighten up, dude." She attempted to pat him on the shoulder as she floated past him into the kitchen. Her hand passed right through him a couple times, but eventually she  hard enough to make contact. Sometimes she spent a lot of time trying to touch corporeal things. Maybe that was how she'd burned the flowers. "Anyway, who's gonna use oregano when you've already got a buttload of rosemary in there? Come on."

But that was what he was here for today, to be her hands. According to her, there was precious little room for error when making this soup if they wanted to do it The Right Way, no leeway for her to accidentally drop in too much celery or pepper. There was precious little room for error, Kravitz reminded himself as he followed her instructions to strip the chicken meat from the bones.

"I bought a few different kinds of noodles, since I wasn't sure what was best," he said. "There's those twisty egg noodles, thin pasta, the flat ones--"

"Flat," Lup answered rather like a patient schoolteacher, "and don't break them up when you put them in the soup. He'll slurp them up one-by-one when no one's watching, but he'll never admit that. That comes later, though. The noodles cook separately, and it doesn't take long."

"Oh. Sure," he responded quietly.

"We used to make the noodles from scratch back on the ship and save them for rainy days, but store-bought's gonna have to do. Hey, do you have a pepper mill?"

"A what?"

"You know, for grinding up fresh-cracked pepper. Taako likes a lot of it."

"Oh, right. I think we do, but it might be in storage." Kravitz clumsily tried to get his nails under the papery skin of a garlic bulb, trying to peel it off. "Did he tell you he likes it fresh-ground better?"

Lup cocked her head a little. "I don't think he told me, per se. He just...well, he always used to like it that way, at least."

He nodded, stiffly. Then he continued nodding through a litany of other questions and corrections from her, about how much water he's already added and how much he needs to reduce the broth later and how to extract the flavor from the bones and how much salt was needed. There was a temptation to remark that he could, in fact, operate a stove. But he would say this for her: for someone who came across as so impulsive sometimes, she was surprisingly fastidious when it came to cooking. She knew everything about this dish. About what Taako liked about it. Given that he didn't feel hunger and as such hadn't done much in the way of cooking for hundreds of years, he had little choice but to listen to her. Although it would be nice if she could stop instructing him long enough for him to try to absorb what he was doing, so that he could remember all these details himself, for the next time Taako got sick.

He was so busy trying to keep up with her that he barely registered it when she abruptly switched to praise. "You're not half-bad, Skele-friend."

"Huh?" he responded, all dignity. "Oh, well, I'm just doing what you tell me. Or trying to."

"Yeah, well, you're doing a good job of it. Especially since you haven't taken orders from anyone less than a goddess for, what, a few centuries?"

"And you haven't made this recipe in quite some time. It's incredible how well you remember it."

She paused. "Taako's the one who always used to make it, actually," she murmured. "I'd be the helper. Unless I was the one who was sick. Then he'd do it himself. I feel like it's about time I returned the favor."

Kravitz couldn't keep from grinning at the thought. "I had a feeling he'd be a caring older brother."

"He's not my older brother. We're twins."

"Who's older, though?"

"Neither, we were born at the same time!"

"So you're the younger one."

She attempted to give him a playful shove. "Of course you'd take his side," she said in an exaggerated grumble. "I suppose you've had siblings?"

"Yes," he said quietly. He returned to stirring and said nothing else. Mercifully, she got the hint. After a moment, she materialized a white wand of sharpened bone into her hand (one of Barry's ulna's that he'd gifted to her, she'd told Kravitz once, which...said something about their relationship, alright). He watched her point it into the broth.

His side-eye must have been more obvious than he'd suspected, because she huffed when she could sight of him staring. For someone whose face was little more than a black void with an ember-like glow of red at the center, she could give quite the eye-roll. "Relax, Mr. Death Cop. It's healing magic." She stopped for a moment, apparently to judge whether she could push her luck. "Though, you know, necromancy is hardly different from the stuff clerics do every day."

"I'm no arcanologist, Lup. I just take down cultists. And you know that whether or not clerics do it doesn't matter to the Raven Queen. Whether it's Vampiric Touch or Revivify, it's still a corruption of fate."

"Alright, spare me the speech, please. I'm just saying," she said with another shrug. "I am an arcanologist, and I can tell you that it's the same kind of magical energy to heal or hurt, just flowing in different directions."

There had been an eon when he had felt that as opposed to simply knowing it, back before he'd had a scythe or a home in the Astral Plane. When he could ease his mother's headaches with a song.

"Shit," she shouted out of nowhere, as the blue flames from the gas burners shot up suddenly. Kravitz scrambled for the heat dials. "Shit, wait, doesn't everything he eat taste like Gogurt now? What if he can't even taste the soup?"

"It's okay, Lup," he responded before she could go on. "I've asked him about that. He said soup doesn't count for the curse. He'll be able to taste it."

"Oh." She sounded as though she'd let out a sigh of relief, though she lacked lungs. "Okay, I just wasn't sure. Magnus had to tell me that, you know. I wouldn't have even known Taako was cursed otherwise."

Kravitz glanced her way. "Does that bother you?"

"It's not like he has to tell me," she said quickly. Everything else came out much less enthusiastically. "It's just weird that I...don't already know, I guess. I've just--you'll want a chef's knife for that."

"Which one is--?"

"Curved blade. And it's easier if you don't move the knife back and forth. Just pass the carrot under the blade while you chop." She sighed. "Anyway, I just missed things. A lot."

Kravitz bit his lip. "Well...you still know him like no one else. You realize that, don't you? I feel like I'm playing catch-up with all the rest of you. You all had a hundred years to figure him out. And you in particular had quite a few more."

"You're not doing too bad on that front already, bud." He could have sworn he saw a smile peek out from under the hood. He didn't recall her ever calling him "bud" before. "Not from what Taako's told me, anyway."

He stopped stirring the wooden spoon through the golden fluid for awhile. "I guess it's good you'll be moving in with us before too long, huh? We can bring each other up to speed."

"Listen, this shit's gonna be done before long. Why don't you take it up to him yourself?"

Kravitz looked her way. "You sure? It's your soup. You don't want to come up with me?"

"I'll see him plenty later. I'm sure I will."

Minutes later, he was knocking on the door of Taako's bedroom--their shared bedroom, now, with a new king-sized bed and mattress. There were a few instances of throat-clearing before Kravitz heard a croak of "Come in."

He pushed through the door, steaming bowl in both hands. "Hey, darling, have you slept at all?"

"Can't sleep at the best of times, babe." Taako followed up the answer with a snort. "This cold's some bullshit."

He chuckled. "I told you you'd get sick if you kept working like you've been."

"Can it, Bone-Hands McGee." He sat up and struggled to sniff some air through his stuffed nose. "Hey, is that--?"

"Lup helped." He lifted his shoulders in a way that he hoped would come across as self-effacing, as if the soup in his hands didn't smell like absolute heaven.

"That so?" He wiped his nose with a tissue, though not before Kravitz saw the blush creep into his warm cheeks. He saw that blush a lot, and just at the moment that the two of them met eyes. Each time was a gift just for him, whether Taako meant to give it to him or not. "Let's give it a whirl then."

Kravitz sat next to him on the bed and watched the whole while as Taako held the bowl under his nose, let the steam waft up into his sinuses, tipped his head back to show his smooth neck and closed his eyes and drank the broth slowly. Then he licked his lips abruptly and said, "Not bad for someone who considers fancy wine to be an entire meal. Hey, get out of my bed of contagion. You're the one who's gonna get sick next."

He chuckled and ran a hand through Taako's already pillow-ruffled hair. "That's the nice thing about being dead already, sweetheart. I can't really get sick." To prove the point, he kissed his cheek.

He kept doing it, in fact, as he and Taako sat together and as the soup was slowly consumed. He hummed softly, then sung more so. And a few times, when he touched his lips to his boyfriend's skin, he tried to dredge up the kind of magic that he hadn't hadn't used for centuries, for the majority of his life. Not since he'd been alive. It felt far different from the kind he used to electrocute or grapple a necromantic cultist, and at first it felt like trying to run water through a pipe that hadn't seen a drop in decades. But he felt the warmth of the magic like he felt the vibration of his vocal chords, energy coming from deep inside of him, from nothing. Taako seemed to breath more easily as the Healing Word took effect.

It was after the bowl had been sitting empty for awhile that Kravitz felt Taako's breathing slow next to him and take on the rhythm not of meditation, but of sleep.

[pocket-clown]

A Mutual Confession | Arthur Fleck x reader // pure fluff

// original request: Hi!!! I have request that Arthur and Reader met before when he was younger and they fall in love but don’t say that to each other and she needs to move from Gotham. When she came back, they met again for accident and they say everything to theirself!!! This will be pleasure to read! Thank you!!! 😇🥰

Thank you, @pomozmi-zamknacoczy​ for the request! and I cannot stress it enough how appreciative I am of your patience. This took me much longer than it should’ve to get done, and I cannot thank everyone enough for being patient with me. I’m sorry for the recent lack of content.

Summary: Regardless of how long you spent thinking it wouldn’t happen, a move back to Gotham was inevitable. An onslaught of new employees at your place of work led to hours being cut and positions lost, and so you needed to take a transfer back to Gotham save your only means of income, and had it not been for the meager hope that Arthur was still somewhere in the city, you would’ve lacked much drive at all to return. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they’ve always said - so when you manage to accidentally run into him on the street one day, within the following days you waste no time in making your feelings known.

Words: 5,458

Eight days had passed since you ran into Arthur, and each day that passed without him felt excruciating.

You were only a week into the third month of your move back to Gotham, and readjusting was hard. What was once the city that you used to consider something akin to home had changed so much that you couldn’t help but bemusedly wonder if you should consider yourself a total newcomer to it, as opposed to someone who was returning after some time away. Sections of the city had been so affected by the economic unrest that they were left almost unrecognizable because of it; with the ongoing garbage strike that resulted in piles of trash littering the streets, how many of the shops and markets you used to frequent had closed down, and the frequency at which you were awoken almost nightly by a cacophony of gunshots, shouting, and sirens, it was almost as if you were in an entirely different environment than the one you had grown up in.

Your move from Gotham all those years ago was majorly due to this impending decline; opportunity had risen elsewhere, and your family had been so desperate to escape Gotham’s downward spiral that they seized it the second it reared its head, and you were given less than a week to prepare for the move. Said week was spent packing your belongings and tying up any loose ends with school and work, but the inconveniences of that paled in comparison to how much it hurt having to say goodbye to Arthur. It was a hasty and melancholic goodbye, and since your last words spoken to him had you sworn to yourself that you’d return to Gotham someday - though the more you heard about how poorly it was doing and then actually experiencing it yourself, the more you almost began to doubt that decision. 

Soon, though, did you realize that had it not been for making the very decision you were beginning to regret, then you would’ve missed the opportunity at reconnecting with Arthur. 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they’ve always said - and in your time away from the city did you grow to miss him and his presence more and more, and the hollow they once filled now had an ache that grew as time went on and you were left without any sort of contact with him. He’d been your only legitimate friend all those years ago, and dare you say that you had developed a crush on the older man. The slight age gap meant very little to you as he’d never been anything but kind to you in all the time that you’d known him, and the warmth of his presence alone had made you feel safe and at home in a city that was, more often than not, the exact opposite. He made you feel like you had a place - and that feeling was hard to come by in the world, especially in a city such as Gotham. 

A portion of your younger years with him had been spent sharing your hopes, dreams, fears, and desires for the future with each other; both of you working on figuring out just where your respective places in the world were, and Arthur had let you in on his belief that he was destined for a life outside of Gotham, far away in sunny California. While whatever it was in California that Arthur longed for you were unsure of, you knew that it had to be better than what even the best of Gotham had to offer, and so you had encouraged him to chase his faraway dreams - but deep down, then and now, you knew it wasn’t really realistic. Money had always, always been tight for him and his mother (and, really, everyone in Gotham), and so you knew that the probability of him still being in the city was much higher than it was for anything else.

- And, as guilty as it made you feel to admit, part of you hoped that he never left. Had it not been for the meager hope that you may run into him one day, you might’ve just rolled up into a ball and died by the second week of being back.

Initially, your return to Gotham was greeted with nothing but the cold apathy that the city was infamous for, and very quickly did what little liveliness you had left in you get beaten into the ground. Not only were you fed up with how rude people were, but as time went on, your mind became far too preoccupied with matters regarding work and other responsibilities to have room for much else, and in that did Arthur go from dominating the majority of your attention to dwindling to only fleeting thoughts that came late at night when trying to fall asleep, or when something reminded you of him in one way or another. It was a reality that you hated to accept given the fact that the thought of his name alone brought so much comfort to you - but you knew that the chances of ever running into him were one in a literal ten million. 

In a way, you felt pathetic because of how much you hoped - how much you almost expected - to just coincidentally run into him one day, and by the beginning of the third month that hope began to falter, and soon you began trying to forget about the whole thing.

Or, you tried to forget about it until it actually happened one evening while you were on your way home from an appointment.

You had been so preoccupied with fiddling with the zipper of your jacket that you failed to realize how quickly you were approaching a crosswalk, and had it not been for a stranger literally sticking their arm out in front of you to stop you, you would’ve walked right into the oncoming traffic.

It was an action that initially scared you, and at first you thought that someone was trying to get handsy with you or mug you - but when you heard the blaring of a car horn and your eyes looked up to meet those of the angry driver as they sped off did you realize what had happened, and immediately you felt the heat of shame fill you, embarrassed of how oblivious you had been. 

Though it took you a moment to regain yourself, once you turned your attention to the stranger to thank them did you realize that they weren’t actually a stranger; the beige hoodie that hung from him, the way his dark eyebrows were knit with concern, and how he uneasy he seemed under your gaze - it hit you like that taxi would’ve, had it not been for him.

“Wait - Arthur?”

Rather than give any sort of answer or confirm your inquiry, he instead opted to stare at you; his eyes unblinking as you could almost see the gears turning in his head as he tried to decipher what exactly it was that was going on, evidently confused by how someone on the street knew his name. 

“It’s me - Y/N. You know, from…?” You gestured vaguely as you spoke, hoping you’d be able to prompt any sort of recollection that may help him remember. You also hoped that you weren’t making a fool out of yourself by talking to a complete stranger and assuming that they knew who you were, based solely on the fact they just so happened to look exactly like an aged version of your friend from long ago.

Though it took a moment for what you said to sink in, like a light bulb switching on did you see his eyes brighten, the smile that slowly spread across his face lighting up his fatigued features. “Yeah - Yes! It’s been -”

“Way too long - like seven years, I think?” 

The conversation began to flow so easily from there that It felt as if you had never even left in the first place. As you walked with him, with what time you had before your eventual split up did you catch each other up on any and all happenings in your lives that were worth mentioning; you learned that he still lived with his mother (something he admitted quite sheepishly, though you were quick to assure him that if anything, it was sweet that he made that sacrifice to take care of her), and you told him about how the entire reason you were even back in Gotham was because of a mess at your old job, needing to take a transfer or else you’d risk losing your only means of income - choosing to omit the part about how half of why you came back was based on the hope that you’d find him again.

Each time he spoke your name, each time your arm accidentally brushed against his, each and every little action from him - the more the two of you spoke, the more did those feelings that had been lying dormant for all those years wake up; how happy even just hearing his voice made you, the way his occasional, brief glances at you made it feel as if someone set fireworks off inside of you, how your heart skipped a beat each and every time he said your name, how good it felt to hear him laugh - you’d forgotten how at peace he made you feel.

Not only that, but you’d forgotten how much you loved him.

The realization of your feelings was one that flustered you enough that you almost tripped over a bump in the sidewalk, though luckily you were able to catch yourself and brush off Arthur’s concern with an awkward laugh of “Oh, looks like I almost fell for you, haha!”, a statement you immediately regret due to how unintentionally bold it was. Fortunately though, his concern regarding your stumble seemed to keep him distracted from how flirtatious your statement was, and the incident was forgotten within a matter of seconds, after he asked you once more if you were sure you were okay. 

It wasn’t until you were about halfway to your apartment that Arthur pulled out a pack of cigarettes, signaling that your chat would be coming to an end soon as the two of you needed to go your separate ways. You used to always chastise him - playfully, of course - for his habit of smoking, and the fact that even all these years later he remembered your dislike of it and so waited until you wouldn’t be near to smoke made your heart melt. He’d always been one of the most considerate people you’d ever known, always putting the comfort of you or his mother over that of his own and while it was a fact that while broke your heart, it warmed the broken pieces nonetheless. 

You had to insist about four times that it wasn’t necessary for him to walk you all the way back to your apartment (an offer that hurt to refuse, given that you wanted nothing more to spend every second possible with him), and as the two of you were about to say your goodbyes did you remember that you had stuffed a scrap of receipt in your pocket days ago. With what was most likely all of the luck that you’d be allowed for the rest of the month did you also find a pen shoved in the opposite pocket, and so by hitching your leg up just enough so you could use your thigh as a solid surface, you scribbled your phone number down onto the receipt - triple checking that you got it right, lest you accidentally manage to give him the wrong number and then never hear from him.

“Hey, Art,” You said, the nickname you’d given him all those years ago catching his full attention. “I work every day this week, but I’m always home by 6 - would you maybe want to give me a call sometime? -”

Arthur practically snatched the note from you, his shout of “YES!” earning some sharp glares from those around you, but his eagerness was endearing enough that neither of you minded, and you found yourself actually laughing at how he so happily accepted your invitation. It was evident, at least now, that the excitement of the reunion was shared, and while the relief it left you with was calming, you couldn’t help but feel a bit uncertain - how were things going to progress between the two of you? Would you be able to be friends just like you had been all those years ago, or now that you were adults with separate lives and responsibilities would you be limited to only brief, occasional meetups? Of course the latter was better than nothing at all, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t disappointing.

“You’re sure you don’t need me to walk you home…?” He asked as he tucked your number away into the pocket of his trousers, his eyes not leaving yours. “I wouldn’t mind - just so you get back safely.” 

“I promise, cross my heart, that I’ll be alright, okay? And besides, the morning news said it was going to rain tonight, and you’d have to walk all the way back to your apartment in it.” Though you could tell that your reassurance really didn’t do much, Arthur seemed to accept it with a solemn nod. “I promise I’ll be alright - and please, use my number whenever! I’ll see you around, okay?” 

And with a wave you were off, and had it not been for you looking both ways before crossing the intersection would you have seen how intently Arthur watched you as you left, before he turned and went off in his direction, his posture a bit straighter, a smile on his face.

And so, a routine started. 

Each day, after work, you would forgo any and all other plans you may have had in favor of making sure you were home by 6 the latest so there was no risk of missing a call from Arthur. Your days were practically planned around the anticipated phone call, and you found yourself unable to keep your mind off of it nor him regardless of how swamped you were at work. It was very much like the expectancy you had prior in regards to meeting him again, and it was exciting. 

… But days passed, and a call never came. 

It had been over a week since you’d run into him - eight days exactly - and while you told yourself that he was probably just busy with work, with his mother, with errands, with whatever it was that Arthur Fleck had going on in his life - the doubt always managed to creep in, and you were left wondering if maybe he forgot to call - or if he even had the intention of following through at all. You felt guilty for worrying about such a thing, and so you’d try to keep yourself preoccupied; tidying up your small apartment, doing the dishes, watching television, reading, anything at all to keep your mind off of how much time was passing by without your phone ringing. 

But the longer it went without doing so, the more did the question of whether you’d ever hear from him grow, and a nagging voice in the back of your mind spoke up, saying that maybe he did forget, or maybe he just didn’t want to talk to you, or he might not want to be friends anymore -

And you flew off the couch the second you heard your phone ring at about 6:43pm one Tuesday evening. You barely managed to keep yourself from tripping over the frayed edge of your carpet as you rushed to the kitchenette, trying to steady your breathing as you picked up the receiver. 

“Hello?”

…

Silence. 

Nothing. 

No speaking, not even any breathing could be heard on the other end - nothing but a complete, deafening silence. 

Go figure. Telemarketer? Prank call, maybe?

“Hello?” Now you were annoyed, and after a few seconds without a response you were about to slam the phone back down, but then you heard it.

“H-Hey..” A timid, quiet response.

“Arthur? I could barely hear you!” With a sigh of relief did it feel as if a weight lifted off of your shoulders, and you couldn’t help but smile at your own so silly stupidness for getting so worked up over not getting a call from him immediately. You knew that in time, at his own pace, would he call, and that you just needed to be patient. “How’ve you been? I was wondering when you’d call.”

Arthur, apparently, was having a hard time getting over the fact that not only did you two run into each other for the first time in almost a decade, but that you wanted to talk and gave him your number, and as a result of his disbelief he became far too shy to call you immediately. It made sense now, given how you knew what Arthur was like, just like you knew a good deal about what he’s been through; his need for reassurance was just a part of him, and if insisting that yes, you did, in fact, mean to give him your number and that yes, you did, in fact, want to talk to him was needed to calm him down, then you had absolutely no problem with giving it to him as much as he needed, so important was his comfort to you.

It became increasingly difficult for you to contain your nerves and bite your tongue to keep yourself from accidentally outing yourself and your feelings as the conversation went on; each time he laughed, each time he expressed any sort of interest in what you were doing, wanted to know how you were, caught you up on any matters pertaining to his life that he felt comfortable with sharing - even just the cadence of his voice as he spoke and how softly he hummed your name made your heart flutter and your stomach fill with the restless frenzy of butterflies as those feelings that had been lying dormant for so long awoke. You could listen to him speak for hours - he could read a phone book aloud to you, and it would capture your attention for however long it took for him to finish. 

He’d asked you about your job as a bank teller as you’d told him a bit about it during your walk, and despite your joking remark about how glamorous it was, he listened to intently as you spoke about the ups and downs of it; asking you to elaborate on odd aspects of it and expressing sympathy when you went into how you almost lost it due to an onslaught of new employees and had to transfer back to Gotham. The topic involving employment piqued your curiosity regarding Arthur, and so you asked him about it - smiling to yourself as he went on about how he was actually a party clown, who one day most definitely would make it as a stand up comedian. Arthur had always, always expressed a desire to make others happy, to spread joy and laughter to a world that so needed it, so just hearing that he was still pursuing at least one of his dreams filled you with such giddiness that the smile that grew on your face made your cheeks ache. 

The more he went on though, through his tone and the way he spoke about certain things was enough to clue you in that he was still struggling with finding his footing, finding his place in the world. He’d always felt, always had been, somewhat out of step with the rest of the world, and you knew that he so desperately sought connection with others, but rarely ever found it - at least, nothing positive. You knew that more than anything, Arthur needed someone there for him, and you had a feeling that he really didn’t have many resources at his disposal. Funding was being cut all across the city, and so many people had begun to lose their only means of help, and while he had his mother, she had never actually been there for him, never really physically, nor mentally. You saw it every now and then when you were younger, and just judging by how he still lived with her because she was too unwell to live on her own told you that he probably never had been able to escape and pursue any of what he really wanted to. 

More than anything, regardless of what relationship the two of you would end up having, did you want to be there for him in any way that you possibly could, and the longer the conversation went on the more melancholic and regretful for not keeping contact with him for all those years did you become.

It wasn’t until it was nearly 8pm that you realized how tired you had become, and with a lull in the conversation did you find yourself feeling a bit more bold than you had previously, your fatigue causing you to let your walls down ever so slightly.

“Hey, Arthur?” 

He must’ve been tired as well, his fatigue given away by the languid “Hm?” he hummed in response, and before you could stop yourself, you blurt out a question - one asking him not if he missed you, but rather how much he had. 

It was something you felt silly and almost a bit selfish for asking - part of you even felt stupid for assuming that he had at all - but then again, hadn’t he already said that he did? Surely there was no harm in asking, and you could only assume that he had missed you given how eager he was to accept your invitation for a call, but it was your turn for needing some of that reassurance that you had given him prior.

“How… much did you miss me?” You tried to play your question off nonchalantly as if it were just a teasing, playful musing, but seconds after asking it did you find yourself worrying your bottom lip as you waited for his response. You knew it was a dumb question that was foolish to ask, but the part of you that so longed to feel needed by the same man you spent so long missing completely overrode the part of you that told you to stay hushed about it.

The other line went dead silent in response to your question, and mentally did you berate yourself for asking such a fucking stupid thing. How was he even supposed to answer that? You put him on the spot without any warning, and you knew that he wasn’t good with that sort of thing -

“A lot…” Arthur said after a moment, his voice so hushed that for a second you thought that in your hope for your feelings to be mutual that you imagined it. “A lot - and when I saw you on the street, I honestly didn’t think you were even real,” He laughed dryly at this, though it was void of any humor. “Why did you move back to such an awful city?” 

“To find you, Art,” Though you felt that that admission was a bit trite with how cliche it was, it was true. Had it not been for the possibility of meeting up with him, you would’ve lacked much, if any at all, motivation to make the move back, even with the threat of losing your job. “I’ve spent so long - so long missing you, and then I started remembering everything about how I felt about you back then, I got excited and happy to see you, and then I just -” 

You paused, taking a deep breath. 

“God, Arthur - I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m in love with you.” There was no going back after this, and so not even giving him a chance to respond did you continue your rambling; “I don’t even know, I felt it back then, and then I thought I was over it, but then we met again and it all came back so quickly and now I just - want you to know about it.”

Your voice trailed off, and you felt yourself holding your breath. You knew you had said too much too fast for him - and to be entirely honest, if you were in his spot then you probably would’ve slammed the phone down because of how absolutely overwhelming the sudden barrage of information and feelings that were poured out undoubtedly was, but deep down you hypocritically prayed that he wouldn’t respond that way. Arthur could be a particularly complex person to read, and while that was something you liked about him to a degree, it made situations like this tougher at the same time. 

Your feelings were so incredibly conflicted, as a handful of actions from him gave the indication that he might’ve felt the same way; that soft hum his voice had every time he spoke your name, how when you were walking with him the other night he always smiled at you when you even so much as glanced at him, the fact that he had been so eager to accept your number - but at the same time, you knew that Arthur spent most of his time alone or with his mother, having little, if any at all, genuine contact with others. There was a very good chance that he had platonic - and only platonic feelings for you - and that each and every sign that you thought carried the connotation that he liked you more than such was just him being excited to just have a friend again. 

Of course, you prayed that your admittance of feelings for him didn’t sully your friendship, as well. Humiliating as it would be, you could deal with the rejection and still feel nothing but fondness for the man and the desire to remain friends - but did he feel the same way, too? Would knowing that you were in love with him, as you had put it, make him uncomfortable with you? Would it be far too awkward to continue speaking? He was a grown man, so surely he’s had his eye on someone after all of this time - but the thought of it being anyone but you made your heart sink into your stomach where it settled into a sour pit of dejection. It hurt, but the more you thought about it did you accept it - as long as he was happy, could you live with whatever the outcome was - and with that acceptance did you patiently await his response. 

After a moment, what sounded like a sniffle came from him first, and then the words that could’ve broken your heart;

“I don’t think you really mean that, Y/N - you can’t, there’s no way -” 

He sounded heartbroken as he spoke, his voice so unsure that it sounded as if he expected this to be nothing but some sort of cruel, absurd prank being played on him. 

“Arthur, what? No - I do mean it, and I mean that. What would I gain from lying? - No, why would I do that to you? You’re the only good thing about this damn city, and I have no reason to lie about this.” Whether or not your statement was any reassurance to him you had no clue, but you couldn’t help but regret how completely inappropriate it was for you to suddenly blurt out such a heavy confession to him at such random notice. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have -”

“No! No, don’t apologize, please,” His voice had a sort of hushed, yet frantic undertone to it - Penny was probably near, and the last thing either of you needed was for her to overhear. “I just don’t get it - why me of all people?”

“Because you’re you, Art,” You whispered, hopefully loud enough for him to hear. “I’ve kind of always had a feeling ever since we first met, but I don’t know. I guess I was just scared back then and I knew you didn’t - and probably still don’t - feel the same way, so I just… never thought I should mention it.” 

Once again did he go silent, and you debated on just bidding him a quick goodnight so you could hang up and sulk in the utter humiliation of what was undoubtedly a rejection, but you respected both Arthur and yourself too much to do such a thing. You were fully prepared to apologize once again, your mind running a million miles for each second that ticked by without any sort of response, and just as you were about to ask if he was still there did you hear him take a short breath.

“What if…,” He paused for a second, taking another shaky breath. “I said that I did feel the same way…?” 

What?

Your breath hitched, and had it not been for feeling its pulse as it pounded away in your chest, you would’ve thought that your heart had stopped from the shock. 

“Wait - What. What do you mean?”

“You know, Y/N… That I like you - too, in that way.” 

“Arthur - do you actually mean that?”

“Y/N, what would I get from lying?” His voice was teasing, yet gentle as he tried to reassure you the same way you had done for him when he asked you the same thing prior. 

You knew that Arthur wouldn’t be bold enough to outright say it if he loved you like you did him at the moment, and part of you didn’t even believe that your feelings were reciprocated, so full of self doubt and insecurities were you. That part of you thought that he just didn’t know how to let you down without hurting you, but at the same time, the other part of you so desperately wanted to believe that it was true - and that was the part you were inclined to go along with.

“Hey, Art - I have this weekend off, and if you do too, maybe just you and I could… go do something…?” 

“Yes - yes! What would you -? ” 

“There’s a discount theater about halfway between my place and where we split up, so we could go see whatever’s playing there - I think it’s a Chaplin film, and you still like those, right?”

One of Arthur’s long time favorites; he’d always had a soft spot in his heart for Charlie Chaplin, and so it made sense that your first date (if you could be so bold as to call it that) would be seeing one - one that, ironically enough, was City Lights as you saw the marquee above the doors advertising on your way home from work earlier that day. 

He didn’t even need to actually answer your invitation for you to know that it was a resounding yes, the smile that was undoubtedly on his face audible through his voice as he confirmed that he did, in fact, still like them. With a plan in place - Saturday, 6:30pm, 9th Ave - did you bid each other goodnight, the giddiness in your voices not going unnoticed by the other. 

From the kitchen to the couch did it feel as if you were floating on whatever the earthly equivalent to cloud nine was, and with a lack of grace did you flop down into the spot you had been sitting previously. The television drawled on in the background, and the grin that spread across your face showed no signs of letting up any time soon, but you cared little for how much your face was beginning to ache from it. Instead, as you tipped your head back did tears of pure happiness flood your eyes, threatening to spill over and blur your vision. 

How nice it felt to be liked, to be wanted, to maybe even be loved in return by the same person that you had spent so long longing for. You couldn’t help but wonder how long exactly Arthur had gone feeling the same way; had he always felt it, like you had? Or was it a recent realization, one that sprung up when you two spoke again the other day? You’d have to ask him about it whenever the opportunity came up, but until your weekend rendezvous could you subsist on just your ponderings and fantasies about what the two of you could get up to, knowing that regardless of how it went, as long as you had Arthur by your side, would you be okay.

You would be okay - because while Gotham was different, it was home, especially now that you had Arthur again.

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[hello-robin-goodfellow]

Top Five Favorite Books

TAGGED BY: @hmmm-what-am-i-doing​

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The other famous novel by Victor Hugo. Written in 1831, Notre-Dame de Paris, known in English as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is a rich, meandering tale that addresses messy relationships, fate, and the future of architecture in 1482. The English title is a misnomer, since the protagonist of the story is Esmeralda, the original title being a metaphor on the cathedral who serves as the central location of the novel, and Esmeralda herself (though one could argue the cathedral is itself a character). Victor Hugo strongly protested against the English title, as it turns the focus from the cathedral onto the characters.

The hunchback is Quasimodo, the deaf, one-eyed, hunchbacked, monstrously ugly bell-ringer of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Abandoned outside the church at the age of four, he was taken in out of kindness by the Archdeacon of Josas, Claude Frollo, who raised him in the church and introduced him to the bells. When the hitherto chaste Frollo sees the  romani girl Esmeralda dancing in the street one day, he finds himself stricken with lust, and doesn't know how to deal with it. So, sure as Love Makes You Evil, he grabs Quasimodo (for muscle) and tries to kidnap her. The attempt is foiled by Phoebus, Captain of the Archers. It is spectacularly not foiled by lovable slacker-poet Pierre Gringoire, who gets knocked out trying to save the girl.Later that night, however, Esmeralda temporarily marries the poet, to save his life from her friends at the Court of Miracles. That doesn't mean she's going to let her new "husband" touch her, mind you, or that she's going to give up her dreams of marrying Phoebus. Phoebus likes the look of her, himself, and although he's already engaged to his teenage cousin Fleur-de-Lys, he's not opposed to a bit on the side. Esmeralda's small kindness to Quasimodo when he is in the stocks for the kidnapping attempt (Frollo having let him take the fall) makes her an angel in Quasimodo's mind, and he is henceforth devoted to her. This eventually, and painfully, puts him in conflict with Frollo, whose combination of lust and loathing for Esmeralda makes him increasingly unstable. Amidst the drama and tragedy resulting from everybody's fatal obsessions, Hugo includes leisurely chapters on the architecture of Paris and the expected impact of the newly-developed printing press.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, usually abbreviated to Frankstein is a novel by Mary Shelley. It was originally published in 1818. It had a 1823 reprint without Shelley's involvement and a third edition in 1831, this time with significant edits from the author. Frankenstein is considered an Ur-Example of Science Fiction and inarguably has vast historical significance.

The novel tells of Dr. Victor Frankenstein who unlocks the secrets to Creating Life. He uses this knowledge to create an artificial man, larger and stronger than most mortals, by means which he chooses not to describe. While he is initially triumphant with his success, a few moments of observing the flailing and moaning patchwork being leaves Victor disgusted by and fearful of his creation. Realizing the ramifications of his success, he is horrified. He abandons the Creature and flees to his family's estate. In his absence, the Creature is forced to come to grips with suddenly finding itself alive and alone without explanation or guidance. He learns about humanity by watching a family cottage from afar, but is again driven off when he attempts to offer his friendship- one of many bad run-ins with humanity which leave the monster bitter and cynical. Eventually, the Creature comes to resent his creator, whom he views as his father, for abandoning the Creature to a life of torment, and decides to come home to seek vengeance against Frankenstein...

The subtitle, The Modern Prometheus, compares Victor Frankenstein to the Greek titan Prometheus, who brought the secret of fire from Mount Olympus to mortal men, reflecting on Frankenstein's spiritual would-be theft of the secret to creating life — but like Prometheus, Frankenstein also came to regret his transgression.note Many would say that Frankenstein was the ultimate warning of Science Is Bad, though similar stories were common throughout the industrial revolution and it is not even clear whether the act of creating the Monster was bad in itself, if the world wasn't ready for it, or Frankenstein was just a horrible and abusive parent.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude is a 1967 novel that won Gabriel García Márquez the Nobel Prize for Literature. It's become a staple of Spanish-speaking high school curricula everywhere.  Arguably one of the most important pieces of literature written in the 20th century, or to put in context, almost as important as Don Quixote to Spanish speaking literature. Famous, among other things, for using every conceivable trope one could ever hope to fit in 28.8 oz of paper.

The book follows the story of the Buendía family and the town they create, Macondo, from its foundation to its end. Of course, it is told in a non-linear fashion with every generation having the same few names, as well as the same basic attributes (except for a pair of twins whose names are thought to have been accidentally switched at some point). Alongside the story of the Buendía family, there are an abundance of vignettes recounting both the everyday and the supernatural occurrences that shape the lives of the inhabitants of Macondo. The themes range widely, incorporating legendary figures (such as the Wandering Jew), historical events (Sir Francis Drake’s bombing of Rioacha, the Massacre of the Banana growers), and short stories about the love of two minor characters who never get to interfere with the main action. Believe it or not the story takes place in a time span of a hundred years.

Netflix has announced that it will be adapting the story into a television series.

The Arabian Nights

The Arabian Nights, correctly known as The Tales of One Thousand and One Nights (Farsi Hezār-o yek šab, Arabic Kitāb 'alf layla wa-layla), is a massive collection of Fairy Tales drawn from sources as far apart as the Middle East, North Africa, India, and, to an extent, even China and Greece. It has for centuries shaped the European view of the [relative to Europe] "(Near) East" or "Orient", even though only some of the stories are widely known. In fact, early Arabic-language versions only contain about 300 nights. The 701 others were added later; most of the additions were by Arab writers, but European translators added some other folktales they'd collected in their editions. Some of these additions were based on other Arabian sources, but others, including Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, were stolen by Antoine Galland (the French translator) from Syrian Maronite writer Hanna Diyab, who recounted those tales to Galland and based them on various aspects of his own life. Diyab's autobiography was found in 1993 and greatly expanded our understanding of these stories.

The Framing  Device for the story cycle is the tale of King Shahryar and Shahrazad. The King's first wife had cheated on him, so he had her executed. Then, feeling that no woman could be trusted, he hit upon a plan only a powerful and insane tyrant could pull off: He'd marry a woman, spend the night with her, and then, in the morning, send her off to the royal Wazir (chancellor) to be executed. No woman would ever betray him again! After a great many wives were executed in this manner (Richard Burton's translation says the King did this for three years, which would be about 1,100 wives), the Wazir was running out of marriage prospects to present to the King. Then the Wazir's daughter, Shahrazad, came to him with a plan. Since her plan involved marrying the King, the Wazir objected in the strongest manner possible, but nothing would deter the girl, and finally he brought her to the King.

Come the wedding night, once he started putting the moves on her, she feigned becoming upset, and pleaded to see her younger sister one last time. The King acquiesced, and allowed Shahrazad's sister Dunyazad to stay in the room with them until dawn. Even while they consummated the marriage. Awkward. After that and the three of them went to sleep, the sisters woke up at midnight. Just as planned, Dunyazad asked Shahrazad to tell her a story, but by the morning she was not finished, and ended the story on a Cliffhanger. The awoken King was so hooked on the story that he postponed the execution for one night, in order to hear the rest. But after Scheherazade ended that story, it was still the middle of the night, and she started up another story, again ending on a cliffhanger in the morning. The nightly routine continued. Some of the stories were simple, some complex and multi-layered; sometimes a character in one story would begin to tell a second story, and sometimes the story was never actually ended because Scheherazade had gone on two or three layers and never returned to wrap up. Or sometimes she claimed she didn't know the ending, but had another tale that was even more intriguing than the unfinished one. But all of the stories were so compelling that the King could never bear to order her execution without hearing the ending. So Shahrazad kept up the stories for three years — in the meantime bearing Shahryar three sons — and finally, after 1,001 nights, she said that she had told all of her tales and was ready to die. But the King had fallen in love with her, and had been calmed by her entrancing stories. He declared that no woman in the kingdom was as wise as Shahrazad, and he made her his queen for keeps this time, and they lived Happily Ever After.

Unlike many legends which deal primarily with the deeds of the nobility (who after all were the ones who could afford to have a bard as a permanent resident at their palaces), Arabian Nights has the fascinating twist that it covers people from myriads of occupations in a highly-complex society.

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

A novel by Umberto Eco.

Yambo Bodoni has a problem. After suffering a stroke, he lost his episodic memory. Now he can't remember his name, family, or any aspects of his life. Thanks to a lifetime of work as an antiquarian book dealer in Milan, however, he can recall anything he's ever read. In order to rediscover his lost past, Yambo heads to his childhood hometown of Solara. As he pores through old newspapers, comics, and magazines, Yambo - and the reader - get glimpses into the often tragic and bittersweet reality of a boy coming of age in Italy during World War II.

[bronzeflower]

How Your Dads Fell in Love

Also on ao3

Chapter 1: Kick His Butt!

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“Papa? Dad?” Eri was feeding ducks with Hizashi and Shouta at the park. “How did you two meet?”

“That’s a great question, little listener!” Hizashi accented his words with dramatic gesturing, and Shouta smiled at the dramatics. “Your Dad and I met at the UA Sports Festival in our first year! He ended up kicking my butt-”

This was met with Shouta elbowing him in the side for saying that.

“Hey! It’s true! And that wasn’t even too much of a swear!” Hizashi exclaimed. “Actually, I have to admit the fight was the reason I fell for Shouta. I probably wouldn’t have pursued him so much if it weren’t for that fight.”

“He wore me down,” Shouta admitted.

“Tell me about the fight, Papa!” Eri insisted, and Hizashi responded with a wide grin.

“You’ve found my weakness, sweetheart-commentating! So, there we were, the final round of one on one fighting, waiting for the announcer to say ‘Start’ when suddenly-”

It was at that moment when someone accidentally brushed up against Eri, and she found herself in a huge open auditorium filled with what must have been thousands of people in the seats that lined the sides. She stood in the empty center of the arena, noticing how the grass beneath her feet had changed to rock.

When Eri looked up to more closely observe her surroundings like Dad taught her to do when met with an unfamiliar place, she saw two boys that seemed about Deku’s age on either side of her.

One of them had dark messy hair and tired eyes like Dad. The other had styled blond hair and sunglasses like Papa. They both wore UA gym uniforms.

After looking at her surroundings, Eri did what any sensible child would do when faced with a situation in which they were suddenly separated from their parents without a single trace of them to be found.

Eri started crying. More silently at first, but the tears soon grew into full-blown sobs.

“Da-daddy? Papa?” Eri cried out. “Where did you go?”

The two boys that were there didn’t know what to do. Soon enough though, the blond one stepped forward and reached towards Eri.

“Hey,” He spoke softly. “It’s gonna be okay-”

“You can’t-” Eri violently flinched away from the boy’s hand. “Y-you can’t tou-touch me. M-my quirk-it-”

Eri couldn’t make it through her explanation as she broke out into sobs once again. She could feel her control over her quirk waning, and her horn began to grow.

It was getting difficult to think about what her Dad and Papa said about what to do when she felt the grip on her quirk control slipping when she was so distressed, especially since her parents weren’t there to help.

This realization just wracked more sobs from her body.

Suddenly, the overwhelming feeling of her quirk growing stopped. Eri looked up to see the comforting and familiar gaze of glowing red eyes along with dark floating locks.

Eri found that her crying had stopped as she gazed up at the boy in awe.

“You have the same quirk as Daddy,” Eri found herself saying. She relaxed slightly at the realization. She couldn’t hurt anyone if that was the case, especially if he was planning on becoming a hero if the uniform was anything to go by.

The dark-haired boy’s widened a fraction, and he blinked in surprise, stopping the Erasure.

Eri didn’t mind too much when he stopped erasing her quirk. Knowing what his quirk was and that he was there in case she lost control again made her feel a lot calmer, which allowed her to think clearly.

“Thank you for erasing my quirk,” Eri said, knowing that it was important to be polite.

“What is your quirk, little listener?” The blond boy questioned, and Eri was again struck by an extreme sense of familiarity.

“Only Papa calls me that,” Eri frowned before remembering that this boy was probably just trying to help her. “My quirk is Rewind. I can rewind organic beings to a previous state. It can be dangerous if I’m not careful. That’s-That’s why I didn’t want you to touch me. Because then I might have accidentally rewound you to before you were born.”

“Oh.”

Eri turned towards the dark-haired boy.

“That’s why I wanted to thank you for erasing my quirk. I’m still...I’m still working on how to control it.” Eri brought her hands up to her chest and rubbed them together in a nervous manner.

“I guess, you’re welcome? Then?” The boy’s voice came out awkward and stilted.

“I’m Yamada Hizashi!” The blond boy greeted before gesturing towards the dark-haired boy. “And this is...uh...sorry, dude, but I don’t actually remember your name. I know they just announced it and all, so it’s kind of embarrassing for me to forget this fast, but-”

“Aizawa Shouta.”

It was then when Eri put two and two together. It was also then when she realized where and when exactly she was. It was also then when she realized she had interrupted a very important moment in history, or, at the very least, very important to her.

Eri wouldn’t know what she would have done if Dad and Papa never got together.

“Were you two about to fight?” Eri asked.

“I mean, yeah, kind of,” Hizashi flustered. “It’s more like a spar, really, you know? This is the UA Sports Festival, which I’m sure you’ve watched before, but it’s not like we’re fighting just for the sake of fighting, yo!”

“But I’ve interrupted it, right?”

Eri waited for Hizashi to sheepishly nod before speaking again.

“This is the final round, right?”

Again, Hizashi nodded. That only confirmed what Eri thought, which meant that she had a duty to make sure her dads would talk to each other and then fall in love and eventually get married and adopt her and Hitoshi.

“Alright. You have to fight then.” Eri turned towards Shouta. “Kick his butt!”

“Wha-” Hizashi choked, not really expecting the little girl who appeared out of nowhere to have an actual preference as to who won.

“Okay,” Shouta responded.

Eri exited the ring and stood beside the referee, who apparently didn’t do anything during that whole conversation. She also got out the earplugs she had in her purse in case Papa got caught up in a villain attack and was trying not to hurt civilians. It was also good for naps.

Papa talked a lot about how difficult it was for him to control his quirk so that Eri would feel better about making mistakes with her’s. And here, Hizashi was still young, so she knew he didn’t have as much control as Papa. Hence, the earplugs.

Eri gave both Shouta and Hizashi a thumbs up, giving them the smile that she was told made her look a little bit too much like them. Aunt Nemuri told her it was a ‘Totoro smile.’

Both Shouta and Hizashi took their eyes off her as they shifted into something more focused.

The announcer must have said start because they both sprung into action.

Hizashi didn’t use his quirk immediately, wise from knowing what his opponent's quirk was. Instead, he tried to play the long game, attempting to get closer to Shouta in an effort to catch him off guard.

Unfortunately for Hizashi, Shouta was much better at stealth than he was and was therefore able to quickly gauge Hizashi’s next moves.

Eri watched as Hizashi reached out to grab Shouta, only for the arm to be grabbed and for Hizashi to practically fly through the air. He landed within bounds, however, so he was still safe.

Hizashi stood back up and attempted to use his quirk. Shouta’s red gaze was fixed upon him. Hizashi attempted a more direct approach this time around, going to kick Shouta’s feet out from under him.

At least, it would have been a good strategy if Shouta wasn’t so quick on his feet. Shouta jumped and basically drop kicked Hizashi.

Hizashi used that moment to start shouting. At least, that’s what it looked like to Eri, but Shouta had clutched his ears with his hands, leaving him vulnerable to attack.

Hizashi led with a punch to the solar plexus, causing Shouta to double over in pain. But that didn’t stop Shouta from staring up at Hizashi and using his quirk once more.

This time, Shouta dropped down and aggressively kicked Hizashi’s feet, causing him to fall.

Before Hizashi managed to fall through, Shouta grabbed his arm and started to swing him around. When he let go, Hizashi once again went flying, this time out of bounds.

Eri cheered as loudly as she could. She couldn’t actually hear her own cheering, but she was yelling out from her lungs instead of her throat like Papa taught her to do when she needed to be loud.

Eri was also pretty sure he just taught her to be annoying to Dad, but she was glad to have the skill anyway.

The fact that she couldn’t hear her own shouting reminded her that she still had her earplugs in, which she removed.

Eri bounced down from the referee platform. She gave a thumbs-up to Shouta, who returned the gestured, and then she went over to Hizashi, who was still lying on the ground.

“Are you okay?” Eri asked. “Papa told me that this was when he fell in love with Dad. Are you in love yet?”

Hizashi was still pretty dazed from the fight, as he didn’t really respond to Eri.

“Hey.” Shouta walked over to the two of them, but Eri was pretty sure he was mostly addressing Hizashi. “That was a good match. You fight well.”

Shouta reached out a hand to help Hizashi up, and Hizashi stared up at Shouta in the way Eri had seen her dads look at each other when the other wasn’t looking.

Hizashi took his hand, and Shouta helped him get back on his feet.

“You did it!” Eri congratulated, elated by the fact that Hizashi had successfully fallen for Shouta.

“Yeah, kid, thanks for the support,” Shouta said, thinking that she was referring to him winning as opposed to Hizashi falling in love.

“You both did it!” Eri clarified, happy about the double-meaning behind her words. Papa would be so proud! He loved talking about that kind of thing in the books he read.

Although, she wasn’t sure when Dad fell in love with Papa, but she was sure it was some point after Papa decided to become friends with him, and Papa was only so persistent because he ended up with a crush on Dad.

But how to make sure that Papa wouldn’t give up?

“Yamada-san,” Eri addressed, using the term she used to call Papa when he first adopted her. “Don’t give up.”

And how to make sure Dad wouldn’t ignore Papa for the rest of eternity?

“Aizawa-san,” Eri said, thinking of something that Dad reminded her of often. “Don’t forget to have fun.”

With that, Eri once again found her surroundings changing around her, returning once again to the green grass of the park next to the ducks that were clamoring for more food nearby the blue of the lake.

“When suddenly-” Hizashi was still there, in the middle of his story, and Shouta was still there, listening intently, both seemingly unaware of the ordeal Eri just went through.

“I showed up!” Eri interrupted excitedly. “I was just there, and you two fought, and it was so cool!”

“And then you gave us cryptic advice and then vanished,” Hizashi finished the story.

“It wasn’t cryptic.” Eri stuck her tongue out. “I was trying to make sure you got together so that you would fall in love and then adopt me and ‘Toshi, and then be a happy family.”

“It was cryptic at the time,” Hizashi confessed. “But you want to know a secret?”

“What?” Eri’s voice got much quieter as Hizashi came closer in the universal ‘I’ve got a secret to tell’ signal.

“Your advice helped a lot.”

“Really!?” Eri exclaimed, feeling very pleased.

“Yeah, Sho was so stubborn. He should have followed your advice more.”

“I followed it plenty,” Shouta insisted. “My idea of having fun was sleeping.”

“Uh-huh. And that’s why it was so hard to become his friend. You’re lucky our daughter from the future came in to tell me that I shouldn’t stop trying. Where would you even be if I hadn’t?” Hizashi lamented. “Where would I be? I’d be a lonely old hag, and you probably would have become an old man with more cats than sense.”

“I would’ve had so many cats.” Shouta grinned his scary smile.

“But you wouldn’t have had me!” Hizashi whined.

“Or me!” Eri added on.

Shouta’s smile died down slightly to a more normal smile.

“I’d take you guys over fifty cats any day.”

“Oh! That makes me remember!” Eri said. “How did you fall in love with Papa, Dad?”

Shouta chuckled goodnaturedly.

“It’s not quite as dramatic as Hizashi’s story, but I’ll give you the main highlights,” Shouta started. “I think it started around the time when Hizashi realized I was struggling in English class…”

[thelustrousyellowdiamond]

List of references and behind the scenes stuff for the latest arc

If there’s anything you’d like to know about or something I missed, please send an ask about anything that’s happened in the log if you need clarification, juicy details, etc.

- This whole storyline was supposed to be an alternate take on the events of Change Your Mind. I made it my goal to change and improve on things I didn’t like all that much. However, many of my plans for this arc were made before even Familiar aired on TV. I had always intended for Blue and Yellow to realize the truth by watching the videos that Rose made for Steven, and then for Steven to say, “Wait, you actually called me Steven!” I was rather taken aback in Familiar when Blue called Steven by his name in that episode because it didn’t seem like she was at the point of acceptance yet. I had Steven say that to Yellow instead so it wouldn’t feel too repetitive (that episode is canon to the events of the story) although I will point out that she did call him that while she was working at the Big Donut, but that was mainly to avoid suspicion.

-There’s a role reversal from Change Your Mind, with Yellow and the Crystal Gems fighting against Blue to get Steven out of the bubble, as opposed to Blue and Steven fighting against Yellow to get the Crystal Gems out of a bubble. 

- My goal here was to have all of the Crystal Gems play a role in saving Steven’s life. In Change Your Mind, the only thing that they really do that’s useful is fuse with Steven. I wanted to make sure that even though they were overpowered, they could still use their wits to save his life. Connie caught Steven while he was falling, Pearl stood up to Blue Diamond, Amethyst gave Garnet the idea of using her future vision powers, and Garnet was the one who pulled the whole plan off.

-One thing I did like in the Diamond Days arc was the fusion cameos, obviously I couldn’t do fusions with Steven, so I got those out of the way earlier (I’ll explain later why I needed to have him fuse then)

-One minor bit of character development I did was to show Pearl and Sugilitie working together to save Steven, and they have an improved relationship.

-Pearl being able to resist Blue’s aura is an improvement of the scene between Blue and Lapis. I wanted Pearl to stand up to Blue by empathizing with her rather than claiming that her pain is worse than hers. That was something that irritated me. I made a callback to Three Gems and a Baby and A Single Pale Rose to compare Pearl’s situation to Blue’s, and have Pearl explain how she got through it. Her motherly relationship also shows in “YOU WILL NOT HURT MY BABY!” To me, it just seemed truly more empowering.

-Garnet is very conflicted in the scene where she contemplates kissing Blue with future vision because Ruby sees it as scandalous to their relationship with Sapphire and with their shared enmity towards Blue. While Sapphire sees it as the only way to save Steven, while Ruby would rather just beat Blue up the old fashioned way. Let’s just say for now that it’s not a settled issue between the two of them… (Also, the future vision thing was an afterthought honestly, I needed Blue to fall into a trance that would change her mind but couldn’t figure out how it would play out, and then it just clicked)

-With that, I realize many people were confused as to what was happening to Blue. All of it was an illusion, and Blue was seeing multiple futures at the same time. One was Pink with a dead unrevivable Steven, another was Pink Steven, another was Rose with a resurrected Steven, and the last was one where nothing came back from the pink diamond gem at all. It’s fun coming up with all the possible ways that could have played out that I could actually include here in some capacity.

-The scene where Pink Diamond confronts Blue in future vision is a reference to Hans confronting Elsa over Anna’s frozen heart in the movie Frozen, down to the moment where Blue drops to the ground in grief while her aura of power subsides.

-Blue regretting her actions and desiring to return Steven’s gem is meant to be similar to what Pearl went through in Three Gems and a Baby, not understanding why Rose gave up her form, but accepting it nonetheless.

-Amethyst’s line, “We’re not the Crystal Gems without him” is a callback to her line in Gem Glow about the team not being complete without Steven.

-Garnet’s line “I wasn’t strong enough,” is a line she says when poofed in Attack the Light, though the dialogue from the game came from season 1 of the show since Estelle didn’t record for that game. I’m not sure which episode it was taken from.

-The music in both videos is taken from the track “The Tear Heals” from Tangled. It was a big giveaway, so I held off until now to specify which track it was.

-The whole death and resurrection scene is a reference to all those Disney Princess movies, but most especially to Tangled and Beauty and the Beast. Fitting, since many princess references were used in Diamond Days anyway.

-For the first video, I was originally going to do a zoom out on the last frame but my editor wouldn’t let me do that so I just did a fade effect instead.

-The way Steven rises from the ground while regenerating is mainly a reference to Beauty and the Beast, as well as the reaction shots. You could see it as a lowkey reference to Lars’ resurrection though.

-The flaming effect was a reference to the way Time Lords regenerate in Doctor Who, but animating those flames would have proven difficult so I just did simple fade effects.

-The rose blooming from Steven’s chest is a reference to the scene from Tangled where the image of the golden flower appears on Eugene’s wound. It’s also a reference to how Steven’s powers work, as well as to his mother, Rose Quartz.

-Speaking of which, I had the ghost of Pink Diamond appear for several significant reasons. For one, I hated the implication that she was completely and totally “gone,” and having Steven cry over and hug a clone of himself just seemed a little weird to me. I decided to go with a more compromising route, by having her ghost linger for a few moments. But rest assured, Steven is his own person and being. I did this as a bit of an improvement on the original scene.

-One reason I had Pink come back was to resolve aspects of her story, one of which was to reconcile with her fellow Diamonds. Originally it was just going to be a moment with Pink and Blue, but I decided on including Yellow too. That moment was to represent her forgiveness of everything they’ve done to her and Steven.

-I didn’t have her turn into Rose originally, but it made more sense for her to appear in that form to the Crystal Gems, because that is how they knew her. For those who are wondering, she was trying to say, “I’m sorry” but the words are inaudible.

-I really like the fading ghosts kind of trope, and even though I had this idea before it came out, this would be comparable to Solaria reconciling with her granddaughter Meteora and by extension her daughter in the last episode of Star vs. the Forces of Evil.

-Rose’s tear was supposed to fall on Steven but physically it didn’t seem to make sense while he was falling too so I decided not to do that. 

-I also decided that Steven needed to be aged up- it was pure coincidence that his teenage design was revealed while I was drawing the next comic panel. He’s still 14, so not as tall as he will be at 16, but his height is slightly taller than Amethyst and Connie. 

-He has bangs, Diamond eyes, and a rotated gem to resemble Pink more, but in a very Steven-y way. His partial reformation was made to reflect his character growth (both physically and in maturity) and his acceptance of his Diamond heritage. It’s not so much that he’s trying to take on the identity of his mother (though he’ll still have issues later down the line, that’s far from over) but more so that he’s embracing his connection with the Diamond Authority, Homeworld, and wants to forge a better and brighter future with them as his family.

-Also, how on Earth could a homage to Disney Princess movies be complete without a romantic kiss? I was sorely disappointed when there was no Connverse kiss in Together Alone. There was a royal ball and everything! Such a wasted opportunity! Like that episode, Steven is self conscious while Connie is more impulsive and overcome with joy. Poor Steven was just confused, but I wanted to make it clear that he did enjoy the kiss and it did end up being consentual even though Connie swept him off his feet (literally). I wanted to add the accidental falling into the water scene because it looked cool to draw and just adorably awkward.

-The scene with Steven asking about his hair is both a reference to Doctor Who (Am I ginger?) as well as his desire to have pink hair as revealed in Storm in the Room.

-Yellow Diamond telling Steven that he looks nice the way he is has significance to her character development for two reasons. The first thing she said to him when she saw him for the first time was “Is that Rose Quartz?!? Look at this hideous new form she’s taken! Forget the trial, we should shatter her just for looking like that!” Not only is she finally acknowledging Steven as his own individual, but in her relief that he’s alive, she has come to accept Steven as he is and loves him truly, half human and all.

-One thing I didn’t like about Change Your Mind was that Steven’s mother issues were kind of swept under the rug. Yeah he accepts himself, but so what? Pink’s story isn’t done, and I don’t think he has quite reached the point of being at peace what what she has done in the past. But even then, you don’t just “get over” growing up without your biological mom, no matter how many female role models you have in your life. And I had Steven share his unique kind of grief with the Diamonds and Crystal Gems, as a reminder that the one thing they have in common is that they’re all grieving Rose/Pink and they want to move on as a family. His grief is unique because he never knew her. It’s really touching and sad, but there was a scene in An Indirect Kiss where Steven implies that he’d rather have known Rose and be saddened by her memory than to never have known her at all. The closest he can get is having his loved ones share their memories of her with him, and the Diamonds knew this whole entire chapter of Pink’s life that the Crystal Gems didn’t know. (Even Pearl was not around for that entire time as she was a replacement.) I didn’t include this because it slipped my mind, but Steven’s intention was for everyone in his family to be able to bond over those memories of Rose/Pink. After all, the Diamonds did miss 5,000 years of Pink’s life while she was with the Crystal Gems.

-Amethyst’s line “Darn it! Now you’ve got me acting all sappy!” is a reference to Rainbow Dash from a My Little Pony episode called The Last Roundup.

Anything I’ve missed or want to know about? Just tell me! And thank you for taking the time to read all of this, I’ll get right back to working on the actual story as soon as I can! (Should be less than a week)

EDIT: Oh, and one last thing! Blue Diamond's monologue was supposed to be a reference to what Pearl said in Rose's Scabbard about not being able to understand how she feels, as well as what Blue said in Reunited. There's a ton of irony in that scene!

[goron-king-darunia]

Annon-Guy: Hi Darunia. What did you think of the Marta Defense Post I sent you? What did you think of it? Did it have good marit to it?

I’ve seen it before. I admit, the author of the post writes in a convincing manner, but it still doesn’t change my mind. I do feel she spent at LEAST half the game showing the negative traits Lumenary insists were only there for 1/4 of the game and that being 16 isn’t much of an excuse for Marta. 16 definitely excuses her from, say, accusations that “she didn’t stop her father so she is bad.” Like... She is 16, has no real legal or physical power and has no allies so of course she can’t take down Brute and the entire Vanguard by herself. She’s a kid. 30-year-old. Yeah, she might be able to oppose her father (even though it’s definitely not her responsibility to do so). 16-year-old Marta? I don’t blame her at all for stealing the core and running. Despite what Lumenary thinks, my problem with Marta stems not from the fact that she didn’t oppose her dad and the Vanguard. It comes from how she treated Emil.Being 16 does NOT excuse her from being that insensitive to Emil’s and Ratatosk’s needs for a large portion of the game. Her mother being dead also isn’t an excuse. Emil lost both parents and Richter is also an orphan and neither of them have the same boundary-breaching issues Marta has with intimacy. Emil repeatedly confirms what he’s comfortable with and she keeps pushing his limits. (It’s also especially nasty of her to demand Emil choose between Colette and herself IN FRONT OF COLETTE and the only reason Emil avoided giving the ‘wrong answer’ was because he didn’t understand the question and Tenebrae bailed him out. Like... it’s not nice to ask someone to pick favorites in front of the people he’d end up hurting if he said they weren’t his favorite, you know?)Also the part where Marta goes to sacrifice herself to save Luin that Lumenary talks about? I see that as selfish. When Emil asks her to hand over the core to save Luin, he doesn’t understand that removing it is impossible for her without her dying. Yes, he should have let her explain why she couldn’t hand over the core, but as far as he knew, the Vanguard - which Marta was part of - is fighting over this core and the entire reason Palmacosta burned was because of that and Luin was currently under attack for the same reason. As far as Emil knew, all they wanted was the core. And, as far as he knew, it could simply be removed and handed over... and once Tenebrae said she would die? He immediately changed his tune. “We have to tell her!” “SHE ALREADY KNOWS.” She didn’t try to explain again after Emil’s outburst. She didn’t say “I would hand over the core for you if I could, but if I try, it will kill me. And besides that, I think it’s better for us to hang onto it, since I believe what Tenebrae says about the importance of waking Ratatosk.” She didn’t try to explain or wait for Emil to calm down. She just saw he was angry with her and said “LOL, okay, I’ll go die for you. And once Emil realizes she will die? He immediately backs off of that idea, even though Tenebrae REMINDS HIM that the town will ostracize him for protecting Marta and the core. This reads less to me as a noble sacrifice and more like petty squabbling. “Marta, eat your broccoli” “But I don’t wanna!” “But you have to.” “FINE.” Eats broccoli and dies of allergy for SPITE. Now, I’m not saying this is how it’s meant to be read or even the correct way to read that, but it feels like she didn’t even try to explain to Emil again. It’s possible that she thought he wouldn’t listen, but the fact that he listened to Tenebrae suggests that perhaps if she’d said “Dude, it would literally kill me to remove this core” Emil might have said “Oh, yeah, nevermind, handing over the core is a bad idea.” Like... poor negotiation skills is not a trait I admire in Marta, regardless of if she turned herself in to be spiteful or if she never thought of another option or thought it would be noble. She basically just threw her life away without considering other options. (I’m aware the same can be said of Richter, though.)I agree that it’s nice of her to consider Magnar’s wellbeing when Ratatosk decides beating him to death sounds fun for no reason, but saying “Oh she has morals! Look!” doesn’t address my problems with her. I feel Lumenary has a fundamental misunderstanding why a lot of us dislike Marta. She’s a good person. We know she is. Or at least, we know she has morals and wants to help others. We have no qualms with that. “She does fawn over him, but Emil doesn’t stop her. He talks with Tenebrae about how he feels about it, but not with Marta. He willingly holds her hand in Asgard, but when he is VISIBLY embarrassed/awkward about it, she lets go. She’s not trying to make him uncomfortable, and when she can see that he is, she drops whatever she’s doing to try to make up for it. She may get carried away, but at the end of the day she tries her best to be considerate. That fact needs to stop getting overlooked.”I think Emil gives off enough of a clear signal that he’s uncomfy. Yes, it would have been better if he told her earlier that he was uncomfortable instead of just telling Tenebrae, but I feel like he was afraid of hurting her. But here’s the thing. When I was a kid, I thought tickling and hugging were all great signs of affection. I’d tickle and hug everybody. This made people avoid me because tickling isn’t pleasant for a lot of people. Not all of them told me to stop (and frankly I was a little asshole idiot who didn’t stop even when people told me to because laugh=happy to me so I was always just “why would I stop? We’re having fun!”) But just because they didn’t tell me to stop, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have noticed they were uncomfy and STOPPED. I’m not much better than Marta in this respect because it took me until adulthood as well to learn “Hey, stop means stop, no ifs ands or buts. Respect peoples’ boundaries no matter what.” But I’m also not your average joe. So maybe I’m holding Marta to an unfair standard since it’s one I also didn’t meet until recently but I feel like consent matters and since Emil wasn’t enthusiastic about all the affection he was receiving, she should have not only STOPPED when she saw he was uncomfortable, but she should have stopped initiating those activities as well. (Also, at least this is a reminder that they DO hold hands, but... it was kind of mandatory so they didn’t get sent flying by the wind.) Tenebrae really doesn’t help in this endeavor because he also shoves his nose into their relationship and rubs Emil's nose in the fact that he had to hold Marta’s hand and it was awkward. And yeah, she lets go when he asks but she teases him about it. Also IDK if I can call it “willingly” holding hands if it’s for their mutual safety. “Willingly” to me means that if no other factors changed, would he still do it? And he probably wouldn’t have held her hand if it wasn’t for safety. But who knows? Maybe he would have if she asked nicely? It’s hard to say. “Marta doesn’t really acknowledge it afterwards, only getting a bit jealous when Emil later says that Colette was soothing to be around. She tried to fish for compliments from him before and got nothing, but then he casually complimented Colette. Given that he’s her only friend in the world (besides her confusing relationship with Colette), and she has a puppy crush on him, I think it’s pretty understandable why it would make her feel not so great inside.” See, this is what I have a problem with. It’s not even just that she fished for compliments. She actively asked him to choose between herself and Colette. The fact that Emil can’t say anything nice to another girl without making Marta jealous is a little unnerving to me. Jealousy has a purpose and is a valid emotion, but if I was Marta, Emil complementing Colette would be my first sign that maybe he doesn’t like me and I should stop pursuing him. Also, yeah, it’s understandable that she gets upset that Emil is giving extra attention and paying compliments to Colette, but it’s no excuse to make it EMIL’S problem. Her unrequited love is HER problem.“When Emil and Marta end up in Iselia, Emil is extremely agitated from the get go. He makes rude comments, and has an overall bad attitude since it’s Lloyd’s hometown. Marta lost people too, and Lloyd took Lumen’s core, but she chooses to be the bigger person for the sake of their objective.” Double standard is intense. When Marta is being pissy about Colette, it’s forgiveable because she’s “confused and upset” about someone “letting her mom die” but Emil is not deemed “being the bigger person” for not hating Colette right off the bat. But when Emil is upset that he has to be around people who grew up with the guy that he thinks ACTIVELY AND MALICIOUSLY murdered his parents, Marta’s calm demeanor is read as “being the bigger person.” All that tells me is that Lumenary thinks that it’s okay for Marta to be petty because she’s sad someone accidentally killed her Mom, but Emil isn’t allowed the same amount of pettiness because someone ACTIVELY killed his parents.“When Emil finally tells her he doesn’t like the way she treats him (like a prince, etc.) she owns up to it and vows to change. She takes legitimate personal criticism and applies it immediately, and that’s hard to do.” It honestly doesn’t feel like that to me. She is less possessive of him, certainly, but she still doesn’t treat him as an equal. She treats him better, but it’s not enough. And it’s definitely not instant.“She changes her view and without meaning to, starts to love the true Emil. And she tells him that. She tells him, “I think that the real you is much, much cooler than the fantasy I had in my mind.” She acknowledges her flaws in this same scene but by this point, has actually already overcome a lot of them.” This takes her until the end of Chapter 4 to do, which is basically half the game.IDK, again, there’s a lot to like about Marta, but I feel like she doesn’t really begin respecting Emil until the very end of the game, and the interim is just an awkward slurry of her either being weirdly obsessive and creepy or her just... barely trying to change and treat Emil like his own person.

[douxreviews]

Legends of Tomorrow - ‘Egg MacGuffin’ Review

"I’m sorry that our first date got ruined by Nazis."

The Legends of Tomorrow episode title game is really on point this year.

Forgive me in advance if this is overexplaining, but I'm not entirely sure how well known the terms are and it's going to become relevant in a minute. If you already know the terminology better than I do, and I'm sure many of you do, I beg your indulgence.

A 'MacGuffin' is the term for a plot device that exists solely to provide motivation to the characters in a story. The example that's most often cited at this point is the titular Maltese falcon statue in The Maltese Falcon. This is a subtly different thing than 'phlebotinum,' which we discussed a few episodes back. Generally speaking, phlebotinum is a made up thing that facilitates the character's journey, for example, polyjuice potion. A MacGuffin is a made up thing that motivates the character to make the journey, for example the sorcerer's stone. Or philosopher's stone if you live in a country where the publisher wasn't afraid of accidentally teaching children the word 'philosopher.'

The real takeaway is that Legends of Tomorrow has now given me an excuse to explain both of those terms, and regularly allows me pretentiously discuss semiotics, and is therefore the best thing ever broadcast. But I digress.

The genius of this week's episode title is that the golden egg that Nate and Zari are looking for at the Adventurers Club is unequivocally a MacGuffin with no significance of its own beyond that (at least this week).  In fact, part of the plot of that storyline explicitly involves Nate and Zari questioning exactly that point, and they come to the conclusion that it is a MacGuffin that Sara planted just to give them an exciting first date. Which is clever because it isn't a MacGuffin within the story we're watching, but it absolutely is a MacGuffin from the outside perspective, and you know it might actually be possible to be too clever about these things. Whatever your personal tolerance for post-modern narrative gameplaying, I really enjoyed it.

Now, in the past I've complained a bit here and there about the fact that the Legends' reduced number of episodes in a season often makes them condense what could be two or three episodes worth of plot into one. I'm not sure if I've just gotten used to it or if they're getting better at it, but I've really begun to enjoy the fast, breezy clip at which these episodes move. Nate and Zari are really just doing an extended Raiders of the Lost Ark homage, and a nice zippy pace is essential for that kind of romantic adventure fiction. The Ark of the Covenant itself, while we're speaking, is another classic example of a MacGuffin. I'm certain that was not coincidental.

In any case, I think I'm pretty well sold on the Zari and Nate romance, and I think it's down to one particular moment in this episode. When they realize that Sara has set them up on a romantic mission, Zari offers to call it a night and return to the ship, and Nate says, 'Or we could see where this mission takes us.' What he's clearly really saying is, 'Hey, I'm open to exploring whatever this is going on between us if you are, but there's no pressure.' I don't seem to go a week without mentioning how refreshingly adult the characters on this show are.

In fact, part of why the aforementioned fast and breezy pace felt so appropriate this week all around is because the show has romance stories on its mind. We have Sara and Ava, thankfully post-argument, making an effort for one another in the little ways. We have Mick and Charlie at Romanticon, attempting to cash in on Mick's authorial alter ego, Rebecca Silver, without actually having to reveal himself to his fans. Which is so completely on brand for both of them that I loved every second of it. God bless Mick, both for actually caring about his fans and for being willing to admit the fact when pressed.

Then finally we have my current relationship on the show, Ray and Nate. I realize I went on a bit about this last week, but I just can't say enough about how great their friendship is. Thank you, whoever on the writing team made the decision that Ray would give up his soul to Neron in order to save Nate's life, as opposed to Nora's. Neron said he would make Ray kill someone he loved in order to break him, and the show went with Nate as that person. Is it possible to platonically 'ship a couple? Because I am totally team Palmwood.

That was an unfortunate first attempt at a couple name. Please leave alternate suggestions in the comments.

Which leads me to the painful part. There were a number of little clues as to what was coming for Gary, but I really only noticed them in hindsight. When Sara is discussing who the murderer could be in book club, she mentions that it must be the dogwalker because of his pent up frustration and being treated like a doormat. The shot transitions from her to the next scene halfway through the line, which means we're hearing her but looking at Gary. The subplot about Vincent the Adventurer's assistant is basically a mirror of Gary's position. And Gary is clearly crying in the bathroom – a thing that he had just told us he often did – when Ray calls him and he drops everything to go help.

Gary Green, on paper, should not work as a character. He should come across as a caricatured doofus, occasionally good for a comic relief moment. But Adam Tsekhman invests him with something undefinable and real, and he just fundamentally works as a tragic figure despite all the reasons that he shouldn't.

Also, whoever planned out that Gary's nipple returning from Hell would be the final temptation that makes him give in to Neron is a mad genius and should be our leader now.

Everybody remember where we parked:

The Waverider did some proper time travel for the first time in what feels like ages and took most of the team to the Adventurers Club, 1933, in order to retrieve that golden egg. Mick and Charlie, meanwhile, take the jump ship to Romanticon, 2019. Gary uses his time courier to flit between 2019 and the Waverider, and Neron and minion-Gary appear to lift Damien Darhk's old time travel stone from Constantine and use it to leave for destinations unknown.

Remember when time travel seemed like an exclusive and exotic thing?

Quotes:

Sara: "Honestly, with Neron gone, catching fugitives has never been easier. I thought it was gonna take all week."

Zari: "It was that awkward, huh?" Sara: "Even the mummy thought it was awkward."

Nate: "Excuse me, my good man, could you point me to the nearest facilities? I have an urgent need to… uh... relieve my bowel."

Nate: "Wait. Trip wires. This is going to require one of us to squeeze through these trip wires, maneuvering our bodies in unexpected ways." Zari: "Are you asking me to do that?" Nate: "No, I’m asking you to hold my coat."

Ava: "Honestly, I usually just drink rose and let Mona go on and on."

Gary: "I may not be a master of the dark arts, but I am an intern of the dark arts."

Ava: "Were you guys about to hook up?" Zari: "No. no, no, no, no." Nate: "It was definitely on the table."

Bits and Pieces:

-- This show just doesn't do misunderstandings for dramatic effect. Nora immediately told John that Ray was possessed as soon as she woke up. Neron repeatedly goes out of his way to clarify that he's the one doing evil things, not Ray, even when it would really be in Neron's best interest to let the Legends think otherwise, thus driving them apart. That might be the thing I appreciate most about the writing.

-- It seemed odd at first that Mona didn't already know about Mick being Rebecca Silver, but on reflection it makes sense.

-- Loved the Garima cosplay at Romanticon.

-- How many books has Mick had time to write by this point? I mean, I suppose time travel would help with that, but I lost track of how many different titles they mentioned. I particularly liked Raw Hides.

-- Mick's final speech to the con about how all anybody really wants is to feel a connection was a lovely piece of writing, well performed. And a hell of a good underscoring to what was happening to Gary at that moment.

-- I get why they didn't do it, but it would have been smarter for Charlie to have shape shifted into a neutral third party to portray Rebecca. That said, I adored the Rita Skeeter vibe she had going on with her outfit.

-- Outside of the Rita Skeeter vibe, we also had phoenix feathers and a dragon egg. I'm sure there were a few other Harry Potter nods that I missed beside those. Anyone?

-- And speaking of the egg, it's a neat bit of long term plotting that what was just a MacGuffin this week is clearly set up at the end to be relevant to a different plotline later.

-- It's entirely in character for John Constantine to be rude and speak to Gary like that in a moment of stress, but the whole sequence of events felt sadder to me when I thought about the considerate way that he sheltered Gary's feelings last week.

-- I've noticed that they've gotten into the habit lately of consistently leaving someone on the Waverider to 'Quarterback' the mission. That's not only hugely useful for splitting up the characters and facilitating different schedules, it's also a really sound battle tactic.

-- Note added after the writing of this review.  Apparently 'Egg MacGuffin' is the official name of this sort of thing as cited on tvtropes, and not an original pun coined by the writers here.  Ah, well.  Still a clever title for how it was used here.

I loved this episode from beginning to end.  How can we only have three more left?

Three and a half out of four, and the only reason it's not higher is I suspect I'm going to need a higher number to go to in the next few episodes.

Feel free to mention your favorite MacGuffin in the comments.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

[neondnp]

my ii m&g experience ♥

(long rambling and pic spam ahead)

arriving + waiting in line

prior to and upon arriving at the venue, i was SO incredibly nervous to the point that it nearly overpowered my excitement. my heart had been racing all week and my stomach was in knots. i’d been anticipating this very day for almost a year and i was absolutely terrified that something would go wrong. i kept having thoughts like, “what if there’s a ton of unexpected traffic backed up for hours and i miss the meet and greet?” “what if there’s something wrong with my ticket??” “what if i forget something important and i’m denied access?” “what if i DIE before i get there!?” luckily, none of my delusional fears from my panicked state of mind came true and most of my anxiety disappeared after i was given my wristband.

meeting and conversing with the lovely new friends i made in line put me at enough ease that my ability to comprehend the intense reality of the situation was beginning to vanish. everything was too dreamlike to feel real. was i really mere minutes away from meeting my idols??

suddenly, everyone started screaming. i looked up and saw phil standing at the rail. i nearly had a damn heart attack!! that’s phil! he literally looks like an angel! i heard dan’s voice from the other corner and turned around to see him right above us! that’s dan!! he glows! o m g !! there they are!! in person! holy s*** that’s actually them!!! whatever they said to us either completely went over my head or was entirely forgotten because i don’t recall any of it. this was the most surreal moment of my life.

shoutout to the girl on twitter who filmed some of this and caught my reaction after they waved and left lmao

i guess this is what my mind being completely blown looks like??!?

my adrenaline was through the roof, but i was too stupefied to feel emotional yet. my throat was drying as the line in front of me gradually got shorter. the lack of air conditioning upstairs didn’t help. i was close enough to talk to marianne (a queen, btw) about what i wanted to give them. i had a letter from a friend and two of my ii themed d&p drawings that i made into magnets. she told me she would keep them and give them to dan and phil after the meet and greet. disappointing, but understandable. i wrote my name on the magnets but they won’t have a clue who i am. oh well. here’s what they look like:

before i knew it, it was my turn to meet them. a friend i met in line agreed to film my meet and greet but was too nervous to do so once we approached our turns. although it sucks to not have footage, i fully understand having anxiety. she’s very sweet and i’d never want to cause her any stress.

the actual meeting and greeting:

before i get into the personal details and talk about my interaction with them, i’ll describe their irl voices and appearances. 

i’d say they sound exactly the same in person. they don’t necessarily look any different from how they do in pictures and videos, just more radiant; especially phil. his hair somehow looks even darker irl and there’s an indescribably beautiful contrast between his black hair, vibrant eyes, and pale skin. it makes him look otherworldly. his features are sharp. dan’s stubble is actually quite prominent, even from a distance. his features are soft. there’s not really much else to say about his appearance; he’s just as gorgeous in the flesh as he is on a screen. they were just as tall as i expected them to be so i wasn’t alarmed by their height. it did, however, feel different to look up at them and see them from a new (significantly lower) angle as opposed to seeing them from an eye-level camera angle. the same can be said about viewing them on stage from a close orchestra seat.

now, onto the good part! i wish i could remember more details, but meeting them was such a blur that i didn’t feel like it even happened at all until the next day (more on that later). most of my dreams are more vivid than this memory is. my brain was majorly lagging from the moment i was far enough ahead in line to be off the stairs, and my entire consciousness seemed to exist in some alternate dimension when i walked toward their direction to be greeted. i remember one or both of them saying, “hiii!” and dan saying “thanks for coming to see us!” i remember phil instantly opening his arms and asking if i wanted a hug. i think i said, “hi! yes i do!” i remember it being so much easier to talk to them than i thought it would be. words came naturally despite having very little awareness of what i was saying and—due to being in such a daze—completely forgetting to say any of the important things i’ve always wanted to tell them. they were both so warm, gentle, and welcoming. i was too out of it to realize this at the time, but looking back, they treated me like i was an old friend of theirs; like i was someone who mattered. that warms my heart. they genuinely care about making us feel comfortable and relaxed.

dan did most of the talking. i don’t remember what either of their hugs felt like, but i do remember dan giving me one of his awkward “dan hugs” lol. dan and i were both wearing striped shirts and he said that we were “totally coordinated with our stripes” which made me WAY happier than it should have, but oh man i was BEAMING. “we are!”

when phil asked if i’d like to have something signed, i took out a print of the two portraits i drew of them. “yes, can you sign my art please?” after handing the print to them, dan said, “oh my god did you draw these??” and i responded with something dumb like, “i did! it took me like my entire life but yeah!!” i really wish i could have seen them react to my drawings, but i didn’t think to look at their faces when i showed them. in fact, i’m not even sure if i made eye contact with them at all. they complimented me on my art but i don’t remember what they said. i'm not 100% certain, but i think dan called it incredible.

dan offered to take the selfie so i handed him my phone and we all got close and smiled for the camera. i noticed from other people’s meet and greet pics that phil had a tendency to lean his head in next to fans, but i’d of course forgotten about this detail. i was so weak later on when i saw how close our faces were in the group photo, w o w !! i asked if we could take individual pictures as well and dan said, “of course!”

this is the part i remember the most clearly. taking individual pictures was almost like hugging them again, only better because i was a little more aware—i was almost able to actually process it this time. looking at them you’d expect to feel nothing but firmness and bones, but they’re both delightfully squishy; especially dan. they’re two tall adorable teddy bears. dan fondly said, “thank you philip” when phil took our picture and it was the cutest thing. after the pictures were taken, i thanked them for about the tenth time. i remember saying “thank you” and “thank you so much” to almost everything they said and did. i probably would have thanked them if they accidentally stepped on my foot or dropped my phone. they told me to enjoy the show and i thanked them once more. i wished them a good show and at some point i think i said, “it was really nice meeting you.” we waved and said our goodbyes to each other.

and then it was over.

wait, it’s over. what the hell just happened?

i literally forgot everything on the spot.

everything happened so rapidly and it ended before i had even begun to take any of it in. i really wish i could have absorbed the moment more. i wish i could have said more. this may sound silly, but none of it felt real. it didn’t initially feel like, “aah i just met dan and phil!!” instead, it felt more like, “...did i really meet dan and phil? wouldn’t i have remembered meeting them if it really happened?” i was so disappointed in myself. how was i that spaced out the whole time? i expected a more emotional experience, but it was all so surreal that i wasn’t even in touch with reality, let alone with my emotions. i didn’t know how to react, so i blanked out into a strange semiconscious state and i hated myself for it. 

i went on to realize that meeting them was indeed a very emotional experience; i just needed to fully recover from my daze for it to hit me. while most of my memory is still a blur, several small details came back to me the following day bit by bit. it was enough for me to look back on and miss. it took me days to recall everything i wrote about above. i did cry. i was emotionally impacted, just not right away. it had to catch up with me. meeting them was absolutely amazing. looking at my pictures and signed artwork elates me. i actually met dan and phil!

even though i didn’t say what i wanted to, i’m grateful that i managed to talk to them at all. i was so sure i’d either stumble over my words or end up speaking in my stupid high-pitched nervous voice. i was also afraid i’d cry in front of them and i didn’t. it went smoothly and i survived. i have a few regrets, but i still loved it. i loved them.

i’d do it again in a heartbeat.

yes i was very extra with the editing but these pics mean a lot to me and i wanted them to look the best they could

what i didn’t get to say: 

@danielhowell @amazingphil thank you for inspiring so much creativity, motivation, and passion within me. you guys are the reason i wanted to start drawing again. you’re the reason why i stopped immediately giving up. you’re the reason i’ve met so many spectacular people and became part of such a diverse and extraordinary community. you guys give me a reason to smile. i love you, thank you for everything ♥ - alexis

[vivacesole]

Surprise

Draco Malfoy x Gryffindor!Reader

summary; after having become close friends with Draco, you accidentally confess your feelings, mid-argument.

requested by @redfiregreenwaves

warnings; like, one curse word, an argument (or two), awkward silence, idk i cringed when I wrote it so it might be...cringey…. 

word Count; 1.9K

a/n; If you play HPHM there's a lil mention in there if you squint (; Also I’m sorry if the ending is like...super crappy. This isn’t my best writing.  also this has nothing to do with surprises really..so..i suck at titles once again

Masterlist | Prompt List | Request 

-

“Potter, did you really faint?” you heard Draco Malfoy snicker behind you. Before either one of your friends could answer, you whipped your head around.

“Piss off Malfoy. If it were your father on the train, I’m sure you would have done just the same.” you glared at him, before turning back to your friends. “Don’t listen to him Harry. You know he’s just trying to get under your skin.”

“Yeah? Well it seems to be working.” he mumbled and stuffed his mouth with bread.

“You really shouldn’t let him get to you, Harry. You know, I think you would be good friends if you tried.”

“You always say that, and I always tell you it’s never gonna happen. That option was threw out our first year.”

“Ever heard of something called redemption? Truce, I dunno. You will have aged 10 times faster by the time we reach our 7th year because of all the bickering you will have done.”

“Drop it, (Y/N), please.” Harry sighed and you shrunk in your seat.

“Right. Anyways, how was your summer guys?” you sighed, changing the subject.

You never considered Draco Malfoy a real friend, maybe an acquaintance? You really weren’t sure where you stood, but you were never opposed to treating him like a friend. But then again, you were never afraid to stand up for and to your friends, no matter who it was. You often found yourself in quick witted banters with the Slytherin prince when he would make a snarky comment about you or his friends. But if you were ever partnered with him in a class, you appeared to be completely unbothered, and extremely...nice? It certainly got Draco Malfoy’s head all mixed up about you.

You got to Potions early, one of the the few classes you had without your friends. The classroom was mostly empty an you took a seat near a wall, not too far up and not too far back, just where you liked it. You pulled out your supplies for the day and kept your eyes down. You didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone, incase they thought you wanted them to sit with you. You figured you’d let fate figure out who your table partner would be. By the time class had begun, you noticed a Gryffindor in your year occupied the seat next you. A quiet, blonde boy whom you recognized from your Charms class the previous year. He always struggled in that class, and you silently hoped that he was more advanced in Potions than Charms.

“Wiggenweld Potion.” Snape's voice drawled from the back of the classroom as he walked forward. “Who can tell me what kind of potion it is?” your hand shot up as well as the kid next to you. ‘Oh thank god he knows something.’

“(L/N).” Snape turned to face you.

“It’s a healing potion, most commonly used as an antidote to the Sleeping Draught.” Snape nodded, his expression remaining.

“Five points to Gryffindor.”

You smiled in content and sat back in your seat. Snape drawled on, about the potion for a few more minutes, explaining its contents and how to make it, briefly. You split the list of ingredients with your table partner so it would go by much faster.

“It’s supposed to be….green?” you heard a voice behind you. Upon instinct, you turned and noticed it was Vincent Crabbe, one of Malfoys friends. And speaking of, there the Slytherin prince was, next to him.

“What step are you on?” you asked when you noticed some liquid had stained their books, making the instructions almost impossible to read. Malfoy raised an eyebrow, as if he was questioning your presence.

“He doesn’t need your help, I can do it.” Malfoy spat and reached across the table to stir their potion, in the wrong direction.

“Well he’ll never learn that way. Especially if his table partner hasn’t got a clue about how to stir.” you glared at him and took the cauldron back. “Stir the other way until it’s orange.” you told Crabbe. He looked over at Malfoy as if asking permission, he didn’t answer. You received only questioning glares instead of a ‘thank you’ before you returned back to your own table to finish you potion.

Malfoy’s stare burned holes into the back of your head and you could feel it. It took everything in you not to turn around, but you successfully made it through class with a perfectly brewed Wiggenweld potion. That earned you another 10 points.

“Hey, Malfoy.” you called as your class started to make their way out of the dungeons. He turned slowly at the sound of your voice, raising his eyebrows in response. “If you’re needing help in potions I’d be more than happy to help. Not that you’re doing bad, I’m just offering. And I realize how much of an ass I must sound like. Sorry.” you shook your head and waved him off, turning to walk in the opposite direction.

You only made it a few steps before he responded. “I’ll be in the library after dinner.” you turned around and nodded, giving him a small smile.

That evening you slowly walked around the library, searching for him, until he appeared from behind a bookshelf, waving you over to the table he had already claimed. You both only spoke simple sentences to each other, and it was all about potions, until you were preparing to leave.

“I like your note taking strategy. I’d love to get with you again to cross reference notes.” you smiled, hoping you weren’t being too forward.

“Of course.” he chuckled. “Thanks for helping out. This..wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

“Oh so you had low standards?” you teased.

“About the experience, yes. But everyone knows you’re brilliant.” your mouth parted slightly in surprise. “For a Gryffindor, I mean.” he coughed.

“Mmhm.” you rolled your eyes again. “Anyways, we can meet up again tomorrow.”

That day jump started your friendship(slowly, because he wasn’t fond of your house differences at first), and you’d hung out more often as time went on. You studied with him a lot, although the sessions seemed to gravitate to normal conversation than actual studying. You learned a lot about him, and he you.

You felt like you were living a double life, keeping your friends separated because they couldn’t stand each other. You dreaded the day you told the trio, no to accompanying them on the Hogsmeade trip because you were already going with Draco. Their reactions were not pretty, to say the least. But like all other things, they accepted it. It wasn’t like you liked each other or anything, right?

First term was ending and you were headed out on your last Hogsmeade trip before the break. You’d been one of the last to arrive due to your last minute packing. You were more than surprised to see Draco interacting with your Gryffindor friends, until you neared and heard them arguing. Rolling your eyes you stood in between Draco and Hermione, who looked like she was about to kill him.

“It’s not worth it, don’t mind him. Why don’t you head to Zonko’s?” you suggested towards the trio. “All of you. I’ll catch up in a bit.” the tension was high and you could feel it, but they complied and you felt as if you could breathe again.

“Really?” you turned to Draco and scoffed. “Is it really necessary? Do we have to go through this every single time?”

“You didn’t even-”

“It’s childish banter. Haven't you grown past this? Honestly, Draco.” you pulled your beanie down so it covered your ears. He rolled his eyes and you scoffed.

“I don’t see why you just can’t accept that not all of your friends will like each other.”

“I don’t see why you always have to instigate fights.” you retaliated. “And not just with them. I mean in general, you really can be suck a prick.”

“Me, a prick?”

“Yes you! Being mean doesn’t make you leader it makes you an ass! And if you haven’t noticed, you’re not the most likeable guy in school!”

“Oh, please.” he rolled his eyes.

“Oh stuff it Draco, I’m going to be real with you.” you huffed. “You could get on good terms with Harry if you tried. You tried it once, you can give it another go .”

“That was his one and only chance, but he’s as bad as those mu-” he stopped when he made eye contact with you, your glare piercing through him.

“Finish that sentence. I dare you.” he shook his head. “We really need to work on your manners.”

“Me? What about-” he raised his arm in the direction of where the trio had walked off.

“I’ve talked to them about this too. But they aren’t the ones looking for a fight with you. You could get on good terms with them if-”

“Oh you’re on about this again!” he groaned. “Why do you care so much about my relationship with your friends?”

“Because I want to talk to them about my feelings for you without being ridiculed!” you yelled back at him and then covered your face with your hands. “I should not have said that.” you whispered.

“Your.. what?”

“I’m going to leave now.” you stared at the snow on the ground and pivoted. ‘What an idiot.’ you scolded yourself.

“No, wait. Please.”

“What?” you whined and turned around, keeping your head low. You cringed as you heard the snow crunch under his feet. He was walking towards you‍. And you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. But then he was hugging you. “What?” you mumbled, your voice muffled by his chest.

“I’m just really glad I don’t have to worry about rejection anymore.”

“What?”

“Is that the only word in your vocabulary, (L/N)?” he chuckled nervously.

“No,” you scoffed and he pulled away. “I’m just..”

“Surprised?” you nodded. “I thought I might have been a bit more obvious, but I guess not judging by your reaction.”

“Yeah but you’re, you.” you struggled to keep a smile off of your face. “And, you just hugged me.”

“Yeah?”

“In public.”

“And?”

You shrugged. “House differences.”

He shrugged, mimicking you. “Don’t care.”

“Malfoy, you surprise me sometimes.” you laughed. You both fell into an uncomfortable silence, waiting for the other to say something.

“So you really..?”

“Yep.” you rocked back on your feet. “And you too?”

“For a long while actually, yeah.” he held your gaze. “Fancy getting a butterbeer then?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” you smiled and brushed a bit of fallen snow off of your gloves.

“I’m trying.”

“Are you going to attempt to mend things with Harry?”

“(Y/N) don’t ruin this.” he groaned.

“Draco.” you glared at him to let him know that you were at least half serious.

“I suppose I can try. If that’s what it takes to go on a date with you.” he held out his arm to you and you linked yours in.

“Thank you love. I’ll take that butterbeer now.”

“You’re impossible.” he grinned, leading you to the Three Broomsticks.

“Oh we’re just scratching the surface, Draco.” you chuckled.

“So, not the most likeable guy in school, huh?” he smirked down at you and you rolled your eyes.

“Don’t ruin this for yourself.” you shook your head and tightened your grip on his arm, staying tucked into his side. “I want this to be a decent first date.”

“So you’re already expecting another?” he smiled at you in awe.

“Well of course.”

-

Feedback is always appreciated!

request; hi love!!! i adore your writing. could i maybe request a draco story where y/n is in gryffindor and always stands up to draco when he’s mean, but she’s always nice to him at the same time? and he’s confused but they become better friends because she cares about him and they start to fall in love? and maybe this can end with them blurting out that they love each other in the midst of a fight? sorry if this is way too specific. you can alter it however you want! Xo

Harry Potter Tags; @ta-ka-shi-ma / @1lotr-trash / @prasygold