#so that i can be somewhat free during holidays

[yume-x-hanabi]

Life update

Posted on DW, but I figured I could update this blog as well now that I'm semi-getting back into social media...

I've sorta fallen off from the fandom and social media space, because life has been a lot these past few years. To sum up briefly:

- I made a couple of posts about it last year, but I bought an apartment in a new building (construction wasn't finished at the time). Running left and right to choose stuff such as flooring etc, getting things organized on the paperwork side (banks, notaries...), plus the move itself, took me a lot of time and energy. I've been living here full time for 10 months now though, and it's been great. Love the building (even tho it's not entirely finished orz), love the neighbourhood, and it's so great to have your own place. Missy seems at ease here, too, which is important. The balconies' guardrails are huge glass panes that go all the way to the floor with no gap, so that means I can let her out without supervision without fear of her falling/jumping off.

- Work, the main culprit for my withdrawal from fandom. I think I mentioned before that I took on more admin tasks a couple years ago, and while I enjoy the actual work when I get to it, it's a huge huge drain to my mental energy, esp when combined with everything else (class prep, exams, meetings etc). So it's pretty much killed my drive, and my already bad work-life balance just became worse and worse. Like, it's not that I don't have free time (perks of teaching = lots of holidays), but when I do I'm so mentally exhausted that I was pretty much only able to play mindless games like Solitaire or Civilization VI (which became like an addiction lol) or doomscroll on twitter or reddit. I pretty much lost my ability to engage with hobbies, except for the ones below, and I'm trying really really hard to come back and make it stick this time around.

- Speaking of hobbies though, I've gotten really into classical music and started attending concerts regularly. By perfect coincidence, my new place is at a 2-minute walk from my city's philharmonic hall, and I've been enjoying the heck out of that perk. My city's orchestra is really good, and their program so varied. When it was time to choose my subscription for next season, it was harder to choose which concerts not to attend (but a choice had to be made ;v;). Also I'm super stoked because they're playing my favorite symphony next year, I didn't expect to be able to hear it live so soon!

I think this really saved my mental health this year. Like, it's a bit hard to explain, but there's something really unique and relaxing about the atmosphere there. It's a bit intimidating at first, and I was really self-conscious about not making noise at the beginning, but I've gotten used to it now. Mostly, I think it helped me rediscover what it is to just sit down and enjoy the moment, without constantly looking for stimulation to my already overstimulated mind (silly aside, but before that I'd sorta lost the ability to binge a series without mindlessly checking my phone in the middle of episodes. Being "forced" to keep my phone away for the duration of a concert has really helped me recover my attention span). I think it helps my mind rest, if that makes sense? Also there's nothing comparable to listening to the music live in a hall with great acoustics x3

I followed the Queen Elisabeth Competition closely this year, live for a few finals performances when possible, the rest on TV, and it was really awesome. I think in four years I'll get the subscription for the whole finals week :p

- Relatedly, I've also started taking violin lessons. I'd always wanted to learn an instrument since I was a child (loved those mandatory recorder classes we had at school lol), but it never happened (partly because I was too passive as a child to actively ask for it, partly because my parents probably didn't want to have their eardrums massacred, so didn't offer it (wouldn't have said no if I'd asked, but as I said I wasn't good at asking back then)). It took me a while to actually make the jump, because I thought I'm too old now and there's no point, but I finally did with some encouragements from friends and colleagues and I'm really glad I did. Violin is... hard lol. I sound absolutely terrible. But it's also really fun? Like I feel like I'll never be good, but also I've made so much progress since I started. I don't have much time to practice (I aim at at least 10min a day these days, which isn't a lot, but it's better than nothing and it's more important to do it a little regularly than a lot once in a while). I'm really looking forward to the day I'll be able to attempt to play Xillia songs 😄 Also I really love my teacher<3

- Lastly, niece is 3 now and so fun to interact with. It's not always easy, she's very stubborn and willful, but she's also really sweet and funny. Love her ❤️ And she's just got a little sister! who's a very chill newborn, so different from niece#1 lol. I can't wait to see them play together when they're a little bit older.

Anyway, that's pretty much the main things that have been going on the past couple of years. Like I said I'm not sure I can be totally back, I think it's gonna take a lot of adjustment, but this time I really don't want to let another year pass by like that. I'm really gonna try hard to have better balance this time!

[loganwritesprobably]

Your Little.. Boyfriend?

Just a little something because there's not enough male reader content

Tags/Warnings: Crocodile/M!Reader, getting together, jealous!Crocodile, boss/employee, weird npc is obsessed w reader, implied canon-typical violence, possessive!Crocodile, first date

You'd been working for Sir Crocodile at rain dinners for a while now. You worked on the casino floor, waiting on guests who might need it while most of your co-workers worked the tables or at the bar. You were one of just two waiters, and that meant you were often stretched thin, working twice as hard as your other co-workers in order to do everything you needed to. But, damnit, you did your job well! You had already gotten a small raise, and you'd gotten a bonus last holiday season.

Crocodile wasn't at the casino often, attending to other business that he had. He was a busy man. But on the times that he was at the casino, you were usually sent to tend to him. Your waitress co-worker had been asked once but she hadn't been able to keep her nerve in the wake of such a large, intimidating man. You didn't mind, tending to Crocodile was usually a far less stressful job than tending to the general public.

You'd built somewhat of a rapport with him, to the point where he usually greeted you by name whenever you first came to see him during a visit, taking his first drink order of the day. He asked you for your thoughts on the casino sometimes, asked for information about the usual goings on of a day when he couldn't be there. You answered the questions to the best of your ability, but at first you'd also been prone to telling little white lies - you didn't want to disparage his establishment after all. Now? Now you'd freely tell him about problem employees and customers, things that needed changing, and ideas you had for the betterment of the casino. Sometimes, things changed and sometimes they didn't - he was free to make those choices himself of course, you were just honoured that he asked you at all.

Today, Crocodile was due to make another visit. You'd been told ahead of time, instructed to take care of your section until he arrived, and then it would be closed to help your co-worker while you tended to the man.

There was just one small problem. You had.. an enthusiastic customer, to put it politely.

The customer was a regular, and he always made sure to sit in your section and chat with you. It'd been nice at first, you made sure to give him excellent service for being a loyal customer, and it was nice that he liked you. Then he specifically waited for a table so he could sit in your section even if the entire other section was empty. He'd be there from open until close, buying something just often enough that he wasn't told to leave. He'd attempted to follow you on your lunch break more than once. He was starting to be scary, but you had to put on your best customer service face, because that was your job.

You closed your section, despite much complaining, and the customer attempted to follow you to Sir Crocodile. Thankfully, he spent his time in a private VIP area, so the security stopped the customer from following you. You had less than a minute to calm yourself down before making it to Crocodile, but you were fairly sure you'd managed.

"Good afternoon, Sir. How can I help you today?" You asked, cursing your slightly shaking voice.

"You know, I afford my employees here a lot of free reign, but this is incredibly unprofessional of you," Crocodile said, causing anxiety to start brewing in your stomach, "I'll take a whiskey." You nodded and set off to do that for him, desperately attempting to figure out what you'd done wrong.

And then he was gone. Crocodile had stood from the chair where he'd been lounging and left you in the VIP area out of harms way while he returned to the main area of the casino to find the customer that had been bothering you. The VIP area was soundproofed, so you could only guess what had happened while he was out there, but Crocodile returned with red knuckles and a small spatter of blood on his face. You were able to fill in the gaps.

Your stomach was in knots when you returned to Crocodile, setting his whiskey down on the table in front of him gently.

"I'm sorry if I'm speaking out of turn, sir, but I was wondering what I've done that you consider unprofessional?" You needed to know, and you could only hope that he'd explain so you could fix the behaviour.

"This is your work place, leave your little boyfriend at home next time." Crocodile told you, looking bored as if it should've been obvious that his was the issue, but you only found yourself more confused - you didn't have a boyfriend.

"I think there's been a miscommunication sir - I don't have a boyfriend. I'm single, I live alone." You replied, the tray you'd used to carry Crocodile's drink clutched tightly in your hand.

"Then who is the young man that has been obsessively following you?" He asked, his dismissive tone replaced by one more firm. He needed information and he needed it quickly.

"Just a customer sir." You told him, and you couldn't bear to make eye contact anymore, his hard gaze unnerving for the first time since you'd begun to work for the man.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You've been gone for a few weeks, he only started being so.. interested when you were gone. I haven't had a chance." You admitted. You'd been planning on telling him today anyway, it wouldn't be the first uncomfortable visitor he'd banned from the casino for mistreating his staff.

"Stay here. I'll be dealing with this one personally."

"Sir?" You asked softly, unsure what you were meant to do from here, what was expected of you next.

"I'm taking you out." Crocodile declared, gently taking the tray from your hand that you were still clutching, something to ground yourself with. You looked up at him blankly for a moment, just blinking, processing what he'd said.

"You're what?" You asked, needing some seriously clarification before you were able to process his words.

"Go home, get changed into something casual, be back here in three hours. I'm taking you out." He repeated, ushering you out the door. Out. On a date. Okay maybe you were getting ahead of yourself, maybe it wasn't a date, but just an outing. Bosses did those right? Sure, yeah. That must be it.

You headed home as you'd been instructed to, took a shower and scrubbed yourself within an inch of your life. You sprayed yourself with deodorant and cologne, hoping you could raise yourself to the standard Crocodile might expect from someone he was going.. out with. You agonised over what to wear, sure that nothing in your wardrobe was good enough for wherever you were headed. At least he'd said casual - that meant you were off the hook.

With a pair of nice trousers, patterned and made of a thin cotton that would allow the fabric to breathe to help with the heat, and a shirt in a different colour, only buttoned part way to display some of your chest - it still could be a date and there was nothing wrong with showing off a little on a date - you were ready to go. Go where, you still had no idea, but you were ready for it. Anywhere that Crocodile took you could only be wonderful.

It was definitely a date.

As requested, you returned to the casino to find Crocodile outside already waiting for you. For a second you were concerned that you were late, but Crocodile gave a small smile upon seeing you, using his sand to snuff out his cigar which was quickly disposed of.

"You look handsome." He said as you stepped up beside him, and it caught you off guard.

"Oh- thank you sir. You look quite dashing yourself." You replied and he softly laughed, offering his arm for you to take.

"Please, don't call me sir outside of work. Not unless you want me to drastically change our plans, and take you back to my bedroom." Your cheeks warmed quickly and you froze, eyes widening.

"I- yeah. Okay." You quickly nodded, hardly able to speak nevermind reply intelligently.

Crocodile took you to a small café, which was hardly what you'd been expecting, but apparently they did the best coffee in the area. After tasting it, you believed him. He indulged you by paying for everything, and banned talking about work, only allowing the two of you to talk about yourselves.

When you approached the casino again, the sun had begun to set and you'd only left because the café had closed. It had been nothing short of wonderful, but you had questions that you needed to ask before the two of you parted.

"I hope you had a good afternoon with me?" Crocodile asked, allowing you to take your arm back from his.

"I did, it was lovely. But, I have some questions."

"I'll do my best to answer them."

"Mainly.. why? I don't understand why you'd want to take me out like this. I didn't think I was your.. type." You dodged around the fact that what you really meant was you didn't think Crocodile was gay. He seemed the sort to enjoy having a pretty lady on his arm, not.. you.

"Well, you shouldn't assume those sorts of things. I've entertained both men and women in my life," Crocodile said first, and you were embarrassed to know he understood what you'd meant quite clearly, because you had assumed he was right, "and I suppose I should've made my intentions clearer,"

"at first I was away on business, but I extended my stay after Miss All Sunday notified me of your little fan. I admit it was childish, but I've been interested in you for some time now, and I thought I'd lost my chance. When I heard today that his attentions were unwanted, I took it upon myself to take care of the issue, and then I knew I had to ask you on a date myself. I couldn't risk letting you get away again."

You couldn't see anything wrong with that.

His confession made your head spin and your palms sweat. What? Your own feelings that you'd been harbouring for your employer were requited, and had been for a time now.

"I've had a little thing for you for a while as well, actually. I have to admit. I kind of convinced myself I didn't have a chance with you." You replied, and Crocodile tilted your chin so you were looking up at him, also bending down so you were more level, his eyes locked on yours.

"I think you're stunning. I only wish I'd pursued you sooner, you could've been trussed up in the finest fabrics, sleeping in my bed, and far from the scum that decided he had any right to try to touch you." His words made your heart flutter and stomach flip. He really wanted all of that?

"I should've known you'd be a possessive man."

"Oh I am. Incredibly so. If you agree to this with me, there will be no getting away from it. You'll be mine. My boy."

SFW Requests Open Only

AO3 | Fanfic Masterlist | Request Rules | Recs

Tags: @claryeverlarkf @uselessboots @cainnoable @discordantwritings

[thesassypadawan]

Feel The Force (Hayden x FemReader)

Summary: It’s May the Fourth and what better way to spend it than with your big dork of a boyfriend, the dark lord himself, Hayden! Even though you two aren’t able to see each other all that much during the day…you still manage to squeeze in some quality time to ‘feel the force’.

Warnings: 18+ (mdni), because there sooo much of the smut. Bad puns, public sex, up against the wall, and, as always… Hayden’s big, fat dick.

Notes: May The Fourth Be With You! 🖤❤️

- It was May the Fourth, one of your absolute favorite holidays!

- What better way to celebrate it than at a con. Rocking your FemObi cosplay. Surrounded by fellow nerds, who are just as passionate about the franchise as you are. And, of course, with your big dork of a boyfriend, the original moody teen from Tatooine, Hayden.

- Despite not being able to see each other all that much during the event. You two still manage to squeeze in some quality time here and there. Which typically involves Hay showing how ‘wizard’ he thinks the most recent addition to your costume is. A pair of black booty shorts with ‘I Only Date Sith Lords’ printed perfectly across one of your cheeks.

- As the day goes on though, your ‘negotiation talks’ become more and more ‘aggressive’. And, soon enough, he’s dragging you off to a somewhat deserted hallway in the con center. Begging you to let him show you his ‘lightsaber skills’.

- “Hay, we’re going to get caught,” you giggle. Shrugging off your cloak and handing it to him, just like he asked.

- Quickly he pulls it on, flashing you one of those damn smiles. “Guess you’ll have to find a way to muffle all those cute sounds of yours. Think you manage that?”

- Biting your bottom lip, you nod excitedly. Tugging impatiently at the cloak, wrapping it around you both.

- “That’s, my good little padawan,” he chuckles. Backing you against the wall, shrugging down a bit to capture your lips in a searing kiss. Big hands resting on your hips; squeezing and kneading them gently.

- Moaning softly, your fingers get to work. Frantically unbuttoning and unzipping, pushing his jeans just far enough to free his rock-hard cock. “Someone’s eager for the fun to begin.”

- “Can’t help it,” he groans. Yanking at and helping you slip out of those wonderful shorts. That are hurriedly stuffed into his hoodie pocket, most likely not to be returned until the end of con. “Want more.”

- “Ah uh, you know you shouldn’t,” you tease. Leg hiking up onto his hip, the other balancing precariously on your tiptoes. While your hand fumbles to shift your panties off to the side.

- Still having to crouch a bit, Hayden lines himself up. Fat head prodding at your soaked entrance, he growls low in your ear. “Oh well, I was never the jedi I should be.” Before thrusting forward, burying himself inside your tight pussy.

- You press your face in his neck, trying to cover up your sobs from feeling that familiar burning ache. Teeth nipping at his shoulder as he starts pounding up into you, splitting you open so deliciously.

- For as much of a hot mess as you’re becoming, he’s fairing no better. Panting above you with every pump of his impressive length, hand firmly gripping your thigh. “W-when I’m around you…m-my mind is no longer my own. It’s al-always a muddle…can only t-think of you.”

- Those words, coupled with his long fingers desperately circling your clit; aid in speeding your release along. Making you clench hard around him, head tipping back while you mewl out loudly. “Kriff! Gonna…gonna…”

- Bending, he leans his forehead against yours. His blue eyes blown wide with lust; lips curled in a smirk. “You grow too aggressive. Be mindful.”

- Picking up his pace, hitting that sweet spot over and over. You barely manage to gasp out, “I…I lo-love you,” before the pleasure overtakes you. Tears stinging at the corners of your eyes, whole body clamping down on him. While you completely and totally go crashing over the edge.

- “I know,” he grunts. Bucking into you one last time, reaching his peak too. Filling you with rope after rope of hot, sticky cum.

- Mouths melding to stifle the noise coming from both of you. Bodies trembling against one another, riding out your aftershocks together. Utterly oblivious to the slow, steady stream of con attendees filtering out of the nearby panel room.

- It isn’t until you pull your head back that you notice how packed the hallway has become. Letting out a small squeak of surprise, you tense up. Walls giving an involuntary flutter, fists scrambling to pull the cloak around you two tighter. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

- Hayden on the other hand… Realizing your predicament, a smug look crosses his face. Cock twitching in interest, hardening again. Hips start to rock as he leans in more, muttering. “Relax. Just feel the force overflowing inside of you…trickling down your leg, onto the floor.”

Tag List: @espinathena-17, @myheartwillgoon2022, @wifeofasith, @princessswifie, @kenobiskywalker16, @loverforoldermen

[plxnetn1ne]

since everyone in this fandom and their mum seem to be giving their piece about the ‘update’ coming to Hogwarts Legacy on the 6th, i figured id give my piece even if no one has asked

ive been seeing a lot of posts and replies about how “we should just take what we get and be grateful” and “the devs are working hard, do you know how hard game development is?”

im very aware of how difficult game development can be and how mentally taxing it is. i dont doubt that they’ve been through the mill.

the update is trash. its that simple. we’re allowed to feel upset about it, and for people saying that its not fair to be upset — it is fair. we shouldnt have to expect the bare minimum from a game that sold 22 million copies and reached nearly 2 billion dollars in revenue, a game that had 14 nominations for awards and 3 wins.

we were told we were getting a summer update alongside the Haunted Hogsmeade quest — the quest they promised to release to PC and Xbox in march when the game celebrated one year of release. they said, and i quote;

“As we near the one-year anniversary of Hogwarts Legacy, we wanted to let our community know that the Hogwarts Legacy PlayStation-exclusive content will be available on other platforms later this summer, along with additional updates and features for the game. Stay tuned in the coming months for more details on what’s coming to Hogwarts Legacy this year.” copy and pasted straight from Hogwarts Legacy’s official twitter page. along with additional updates and features to the game.

yes — i know, thats a very vague statement. it could have been taken in any way, but typically when additional updates and features — plural — is put into a sentence, you assume that there will be more than one new feature. it wasnt wrong for the community to assume that there was more than a few new additions coming to the game.

okay, we got photo mode — thats great for console players, but it isnt new for us PC players. im happy for my console buddies that finally get to bring their mc to life in the way ive been able to. im looking forward to seeing the uptick in photos upon the updates release. PC and Xbox got the new haunted hogsmeade quest, and thats great, considering the release of it was delayed by 3 months, but atleast we’re getting it. but basically. PS5 was fucked in the process, because everything minus photo mode is stuff they already had, and honestly, thats not fair. and double honest — thats not an update. thats the release of exclusive content plus a new addition.

for several months a summer update was hyped up, and the result was…. ps5 getting fucked, a photo mode that im going to bet my ass on will be buggy as all hell, and some cosmetics. so no — i wont be grateful. especially when we keep getting promised things and then getting fucked by a hot iron in the process. because i havent forgotten the documentary that was supposed to come out, and i still remember during September when they hyped up a digital surprise for Back to Hogwarts day and it ended up being 30 percent off on a game most of us already had, only for the game to go on sale for half off the following Nov/Dec for the holiday sales.

since the release of the game, modders have been basically picking up the slack by working their asses off to create bug fixes, better cosmetic options, enhanced schedules, companions, and so much more to keep the community somewhat entertained. this as well as the file miners that are constantly digging things up that we were robbed of, like the relationship list for companions, gaunt manor, other house specific quests, more quests concerning Isadora, on and on. on top of this, ive seen first hand how much of the outer parts of the map was developed only to be cut out. i spent a solid hour and a half today using free cam to fly around the outskirts of the map — buildings, caves, entire areas laid out for towns or poacher camps, all thrown out on top of all of the discarded quests and content.

and while im at it — ill be one of the few to say it, but Hogwarts Legacies storyline was not well thought out, or at the very least it wasnt very well portrayed. there were hundreds of questions we were left with upon beating the game. where did Anne go? what happened to the keepers after the final battle? why wasnt Isadora in her portrait? what were the keepers hiding? did inhaling the magic actually make a difference or was it just for shock value? how much of Isadora’s story did we miss? how was the undercroft tied in with Isadora when it was apparently a Gaunt secret? what even really was the undercroft?

yes, i know — “well arent they making a second one?” and yeah, im pretty sure they are, and maybe thats why we’ve gotten nothing more than a pile of bricks in the last year and a half. but, they should probably finish the first game before starting on a second.

this doesnt mean i dont love Hogwarts Legacy. i love the people ive met, the stories ive read, and i love capturing the screenshots i take from that game. the entire situation is just frustrating to no end.

[iamnmbr3]

Lord Voldemort <- break his ass down, please. (Love you blog, btw! 💖)

How I feel about this character

One of the characters of all time. I find Tom Riddle to be an absolutely fascinating character who is so fun to explore. I think he came out a lot more 3 dimensional than JKR perhaps intended (I say this because a lot of the backstory we get on him makes him a lot more nuanced than the narrative seems to acknowledge) which I absolutely love. His complexity, intelligence, creativity, self sufficiency, determination even in the face of impossible odds, ruthlessness, penchant for drama, and the tremendous amount of adversity he has to overcome provide a lot of richness that is fun to analyze and read about. I mean, without him we wouldn't have the story.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Alphard Black. Yes, I wouldn't have called it either not too long ago but now this ship lives rent free in my head. (If you want to read about why you can look at this post here). All hail the dysfunctional, hilarious, and emotionally compelling mess that is Alphalord - which I ship both in serious incarnations and also for the crack humor potential; truly the versatile ship of all time that gives me way too many feels but also is very fun to make crack humor posts about. Also, although it's not my OTP, I think there's a lot of interesting potential - all of varying degrees of darkness - to explore pairing him with Regulus as well.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I talked here about how fascinating I find Voldemort's relationship with Snape. He does genuinely seem to like and respect him - to the point that he is actually willing to do favors for him and expresses regret about killing him. Though also...on the flip side, he doesn't like him enough to not murder him (although interestingly from an in-universe perspective we could even read him using Nagini to kill him as him not being able to use the killing curse against Snape due to feeling conflicted). I really like the idea though of him destroying everyone who he feels even somewhat close to.

Which leads me to my actual answer to this question since I already wrote about him and Snape in the Snape ask (linked in the previous paragraph) which is - Hagrid. In the book 2 flashback Tom and Hagrid are on a first name basis. And Tom clearly already knows that Hagrid has an Acromantula because when he gets the unexpected and unwelcome news that the school is going to be closed he immediately knows just where to go to find someone to blame. This suggests that he and Hagrid had a preexisting relationship where Riddle gained Hagrid's trust enough to learn things about him.

It's notable that they would have probably been the only 2 orphans at school (after Hagrid's father died.) I can imagine them running across each other during holidays when everyone is home. (They also both had a nonstandard accent - though Riddle has succeeded in mostly getting rid of his own accent by the time the memory takes place - that might have been looked down on by some of their privileged pureblood peers).

It's also not even clear if Tom intended for Hagrid to be expelled (though he certainly was willing to risk it in order to prevent the school from closing and to avoid incurring any blame himself) given that he seemingly intends to kill the spider and say that it got loose by accident rather than as some sort of intentional plot. He also doesn't kill Hagrid when he has the chance in book 7. This is probably just for plot reasons so JKR can have him carry Harry's presumably dead body back to the school, but in-universe it's interesting. Maybe Tom thought he could still turn Hagrid into a useful servant (which I don't think would have gone well). Either way, the fact that they seemingly had a sort of friendship at one point is very interesting and lends an added layer to Hagrid's assertion in book 1 that Slytherins are bad and not to be trusted.

While Tom likely viewed Hagrid with a certain degree of disdain right from day one, it's up to interpretation whether he ever also felt any positive emotions about his relationship with Hagrid or if the friendship was purely a one-sided farce. I prefer the former because I think it adds more depth and complexity to the characters and relationships if Tom ended up having some feelings of genuine camaraderie with Hagrid but was still willing to sacrifice him to protect his own interests. It makes the moment even more interesting if he did not specifically intend for Hagrid to get expelled and thus ends up losing one of the few people who, unlike the majority of his housemates, doesn't look askance at his presumed lineage as a muggleborn and his utter poverty. And this also adds interest to his decision in the end of book 7 to capture Hagrid rather than kill him.

Though of course, neither Snape nor Hagrid hold a candle to the true Tom Riddle BROTP of all time - Tom & Nagini. I love the way he is generally very touch averse but likes to hold her and pet her like a very terrifying therapy animal.

My unpopular opinion about this character

There's a lot I've talked about before like the fact that I think Tom really did want the DADA job and I also think he's a lot more emotionally intelligent than he gets credit for and the people he seems to enjoy hurting most are actually monied purebloods and the person who behaved most unreasonably in the orphanage memory was actually not Tom.

So for this I'll go with the fact that I view Tom as a much more tragic character than the narrative seems to frame him as. It's weird that so many other characters who do bad things get framed as a tragedy not an inevitability - something that is closely linked with the idea that even for characters who have gone down the wrong path there can be redemption. We see this with Snape, with James Potter, with Regulus, with Dumbledore, arguably with Grindelwald whose last act is to lie about the Elder Wand, and sort of even with Peter Pettigrew.

In contrast, Dumbledore always acts as though it's a forgone conclusion that Tom was going to turn out evil and ignores the way wizarding society and even he himself failed to ever do anything meaningful to help Tom or try to guide him onto another path. That doesn't mean he might not have still become Lord Voldemort. But it's never treated as something that even might have been avoided. There is no discussion of what a loss it is that his talent and power and intelligence and creativity weren't used for good. But it is a loss.

It's not inevitable that Tom turned out the way he did. It's not inevitable that he lived a life where he never knew what it was to be loved. It's not inevitable that the first person to ever offer him mercy is Harry Potter and by that point it's far too late and he doesn't even understand what Harry's trying to do. It's not inevitable that because the wizarding world has no concept of social services he grew up in a muggle orphanage without any knowledge of who or what he was, hated and feared by all, and in turn learning to hate and fear them in return. It's not inevitable that Dumbledore immediately gave him up as a lost cause and he never had an adult in his life who could provide support and guidance and a sense of safety. It's not inevitable that upon arriving at Hogwarts he got sorted into a House with people like Walburga Black who would have called him mudblood and hated him for his poverty almost as much as his bloodline, breeding further anger and resentment. And it's not inevitable that he made the choices that he did to kill and to maim. It's SAD. He could have done and been so much more.

I mean, to be clear, from a reader perspective all of this makes Tom an interesting and fun character. It's not bad from a storytelling perspective that these things happened. But nonetheless, it's a tragedy. And I think that gets very little play in the narrative. Yes, Harry tells Tom to try for remorse, but it's framed by the story more as an instance of Harry being ridiculously decent. When Dumbledore discourages Harry from feeling pity for the horrifying state Tom will find himself in the afterlife, there's nothing in the narrative framing that suggests the readers are meant to view Dumbledore's callousness as awful.

From an in-universe perspective we can talk about the strange bias Dumbledore had towards Tom from the moment he met him, but from an out of universe perspective it's more about the author's bias. Yes Dumbledore is meant to be flawed and imperfect, but we readers are not meant to think his treatment of Tom is an example of that imperfection. We're supposed to think it's just fine that upon learning that Tom has lived a lonely and miserable existence where he is constant mortal fear of being declared mad and forcibly locked up, Dumbledore's first act is to use magic to frighten and to punish. Partly this is just because that scene is a flashback about the villain of the series and JKR kind of forgot that from an in-universe POV he wasn't the villain of the series yet.

But also maybe it says something more profound - because in the end of the story the narrative declares "all is well" and yet none of the factors that led to Tom Riddle's rise have actually changed. As Harry is sending his children off to school 19 years later in the accursed epilogue, nothing has actually changed. It's fine to have a story that doesn't have a happy ending. But the narrative frames the ending as a black and white "everything's fixed now and they all lived happily ever after" sort of ending and...no. And this stems, I think, from the failure to engage with the elements that make the main antagonist a great tragedy rather than a cartoonish inevitability. This all makes the story much more interesting, but I'm not sure JKR is fully aware of what she wrote.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish we saw more of him in book 7. The opening scene at the Manor in Deathly Hallows is really tense and gripping and interesting...and a lot of the wedding planning and camping stuff in my opinion...is not. More scenes of the Death Eaters and Voldemort (delivered via Harry's visions) could have been very engaging. Furthermore, Harry could have actively explored Tom's mind and/or widened the connection to try to figure out where the Horcruxes were. This would have added drama, made Harry's connection to him more central to the plot, and allowed us to see more high stakes and interesting scenes.

[softpascalito]

Raised on little light - 2003!Joel Miller x F!Reader

Summary: You don't have anywhere to go on Christmas Eve. Much less anyone to celebrate with. A neighbour down the street turns out to be your personal Christmas miracle.

Relationships: Joel Miller xF! Reader WC: 1500 Tags/Warnings: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Protective Joel (The Last of Us), Good Parent Joel (The Last of Us), Forehead Kisses, First Kiss, Pre-Cordyceps Outbreak (The Last of Us), Pre-Cordyceps Outbreak Joel (The Last of Us), Christmas, Christmas Eve, Author needs therapy (and sleep), domestic abuse Read on AO3 full advent calendar (updated daily)

notes: hello loves. today is another sad one. please read the tags. the abuse is not very detailed but it's there. this fic is very personal to me and (partly) based on how i spent christmas last year. any comments are very appreciated. i'm sending you all all my love &lt;3 also i wanna mention that this has similar tropes to a longer story idea im working on so feel free to let me know if you like the vibes of this and would like to read more :) title from the song northern attitude by noah kahan and hozier

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

for everyone who has spent christmas alone.

The worst part is the shouting.

You can ignore the passive-aggressive snides, mumbles that reach your ears in passing. You can ignore the absence of the feeling of safety. You have even learned to ignore the sinking feeling in your stomach when you apply another layer of concealer.

But the shouting seems to follow you. No matter how many rooms you put in between them and you, the sounds crawl through the house, slipping under doors and into hiding nooks that you’ve long outgrown.

It makes you freeze in your tracks, every time it starts. You stand still for a moment, listening, trying to hear what it is about, how bad it seems. There is always the gnawing fear of them running out of words and turning to actions instead. And despite the fact that you’re a grown adult, that you’re technically not the helpless child you once were, it still scares you like nothing else does.

It’s exhausting to exist in a violent house.

You silently let the front door fall shut behind you, stumbling a little as you make your way to the street. Your feet seem to have a mind of their own, carrying you out into the night without a goal in mind. Just get out of the house.

It’s surprisingly cold for Austin and you draw your jacket a little tighter around your shoulders as you move down the sidewalk. The houses on your street are lit up with Christmas lights, stars dangling in windows, colorful fairy lights wrapped around fences, a lit up reindeer figurine a few houses over. 

A truck drives by, the engine humming quietly, before it pulls into a driveway two houses ahead of you. When you pass the house with your head down, the sound of a car door opening and slamming shut makes you jump slightly.

The voice that follows doesn’t.

“That you?”

It only takes Joel a few strides until he’s in front of you, brown eyes searching your body for god knows what. There is a brown paper bag in his hand but you don’t dare lift your head higher to look at his face.

“Whatcha doing out here? Escaping the family gathering?” He jokes lamely, remembering the way he used to sneak off during the holidays if it got too overwhelming.

“Something like that,” you mutter back, trying to put on something resembling a smile. Either it doesn’t work or Joel is too smart to be fooled by it. Because he nods softly, bending his back a little to try and get a look at your face, “Can you look at me for a second, darlin’?”

Oh, he’s so not playing fair. He knows exactly what that nickname does to you, especially coming from him. And he’s shamelessly abusing that.

You swallow, hard and lift your head enough for the porch light to hit you. Joel’s face instantly changes. The somewhat cheerful, joking manner he’d been in a second ago is replaced by concern and something else. Something that almost seems like anger.

He drops the bags of groceries to the floor, bringing both hands up to cup your face. He’s mere inches away when he suddenly stills, eyes softening a bit, “Can I?”

You give a small nod and right away, he closes the distance, turning your head a little to get a better look at the black eye that is undoubtedly getting worse by the second. He should get some credit for not flinching away, you think, for not pretending not to see it like everyone else does.

“You put ice on it or anything?” Joel mutters, his gaze flying over the rest of your neck, clearly checking for more injuries. You barely have time to shake your head no before one hand is on your back, steering you back towards the Miller’s house. “We’ll get you patched up, okay?” Joel asks softly. When he sees your gaze, he adds, “Won’t take long, promise.”

The mood inside the living room could not reflect yours less. There is a bright tree by the window, colorful lights twinkling away. You’re barely inside when you hear footsteps coming down the stairs and you stop in your tracks. Of course Sarah would be home. You’ve gotten to know her rather well this year, after she almost failed Biology last year and when Joel mentioned it in passing, you offered to help out.

You don’t plan on letting her see you like this. She’s smart, like her dad and your afraid that just like him, she’ll know instantly what’s going on.

Joel tugs on your sleeve, motioning for you to stay. Then he turns the corner, catching Sarah at the foot of the stairs before she can reach you. Her voice still carries through to you.

“Did you get the ice cream?” Joel chuckles softly, “I did, dessert is safe. Listen, I gotta- I mean, Santa’s gotta do some last minute preparations. You mind staying in your room for a bit? And no peeking.” The girl grumbles something under her breath but heads back upstairs and a moment later, you hear her door close, a small breath of relief escaping you at that.

Joel's head appears around the corner, “Come on. I’ve got some stuff in the kitchen.”

He pulls out a first aid kit, disinfecting your wound carefully before wrapping a few ice cubes into a towel and dabbing it against your cheek a few times before holding still. The cold immediately seems to work and you involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.

Joel smiles a bit, his hand still pressing the cool sensation against your skin, “That’s better, hm? Just don’t leave it on too long.”

“Yes, sir,” you tease, bringing your own hand up to take the towel from him. There is a small moment, merely a few seconds, when your hand sneaks below his, your skin pressed against him, somehow fitting more perfectly than you ever couldve imagined. It feels even better than the ice.

Joel let go after a moment, taking a step back and turning to the kitchen that is messy with dinner preparations.

“She made you get ice cream?” You ask softly, hoping to steer the conversation into a somewhat pleasurable direction.

“Yeah, yeah, she did. You know how she is,” Joel smiles softly. It doesn’t last long. He clears his throat, glancing down at his feet.

“Listen, I know it ain’t my place. But this is not- it’s not normal. Not even close.”

“It is to them.”

Your voice is quiet. You don’t even want to say it. But something about Joel has always made you open up faster and more intensely than you have with anyone else, “It doesn’t happen that much.”

“Ain’t supposed to happen at all, darlin’,” he argues softly. His eyes fly to the window for a second. There’s a string of lights hung up in it as well. You think there’s not a single one at your house. You were raised on little light.

“We’re making dinner in a bit, Sarah’s pick, and Tommy can’t make it so we are one person short.”

You furrow your brows slightly, wondering for a moment why he is telling you about his dinner plans. But then- it washes over you.

“I couldn’t- I’m sure you have a lovely night planned and-”

“Won’t change if you’re there. It’ll still be a lovely night,” Joel says softly, nudging your foot with his. “Come on, let me- let me do this for you.”

You let him. There is dinner, luckily with no more questions about your slightly swollen face. Joel offers you some wine, lets Sarah pick a movie, pretends to hate that it’s some cheesy Christmas movie. You still catch him smiling at the screen throughout the film.

The teenager falls asleep halfway through and Joel gives you an apologetic look before he carries her to bed. When he comes back and sits down, his hand almost automatically finds your knee. Between the romantic movie and the second glass of wine, the atmosphere between you has changed.

“You know our door is always open, right? Sarah loves having you here.”

“Only Sarah?” You raise a brow, leaning into Joel’s broad form a little more and his eyes soften as he looks down on you, “You’ve had a long day. We shouldn’t add any more to that.”

“What if I want to?” Your face is hovering inches from his. You don’t remember even being this close to him, “Joel, please.”

He can’t resist your begging. He doesn’t think he could if he tried.

Christmas Eve brings you your first kiss with Joel. He runs his hands over your cheeks, always careful to avoid the bruise and even when you pull back to catch your breath, his mouth stays on your face, kissing your chin, your nose, your eyes.

He kisses your forehead an hour later when you’re wrapped into his sheets, after you’ve moaned and then cried immediately afterwards. He holds you through all of it, his voice barely a whisper to not wake Sarah.

“I like having you around too, darlin’.”

notes: thank you for reading. i love you &lt;3

[twilightmalachite]

Raison d’être - A Premature Burial 4

Author: Akira

Characters: Shu, Mika, Nazuna, Kuro

Translator: Mika Enstars

"I wonder. Although I am discussing art with Westerners in Paris in a foreign language, my flesh and blood is held captive by this facile building."

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: The Itsuki's House (Exterior)

Shu: However, as long as you have a brain in your head, you should have been able to figure out what I’d just told you out yourself.

This is just a villa, the Itsuki household has their stronghold in Kansai. That’s why I’ve always told you I’m going “returning home to the countryside” during the New Year’s holiday and such.

The circumstances surrounding when I’d first met you is also due to that.

Mika: Nnah, I’d always wondered why ya had been in my hometown, Oshi-san… Huh, but wasn’t there somethin’ about you and “Ryuu~-kun”-san runnin’ away together?

Shu: That’s likely because the destination of our expedition was just around the area. At the time, my world was extremely small, and I knew very little about the area.

So, well, in the end my little childhood adventure ended without any result. I could reach anywhere with my child’s feet…

Mika: Ya met me, didn’tcha~? And now, ya can go wherever ya want, right, Oshi-san?

Shu: I wonder. Although I am discussing art with Westerners in Paris in a foreign language, my flesh and blood is held captive by this facile building.

That’s how I feel. It seems humans are not so easily freed from their ties.

There are always various things pulling us about everywhere. Much like strings tied to a marionette.

Mika: Oshi-san…

Shu: Ahh, I’ve said something strange. Let us go in, we shouldn’t be chatting out in front.

Also, to answer your first question, why I brought you along with is because “I do not want to see my family alone”. Do I need any other reason?

Mika: No need t’be so scared, they’re family.

Shu: It’s not as if I’m scared, or we have a poor relationship, though. The hierarchical relationship ingrained into my instincts since childhood is simply something that I cannot ignore.

But, as long as you’re here, my family will put up a front of sorts and go a little easier, which helps. My family likes you as well, somewhat.

Mika: Even though they completely ignored me when I first arrived, huh… Or rather, they were completely surprised an’ caught off guard when ya suddenly picked me up, Oshi-san.

But I feel like we’ve been able to get t’know each other better over time. When ya live under the same roof as another, it’s natural to start t’warm up to one another.

Aha. First it were an orphanage, then Oshi-san’s house, and now Starmony Dorms… Come t’think of it, I’ve always been roomin’ with other people!

Shu: If you don’t feel comfortable with that, find the “family” you want to live with with all your heart going forward.

You have the limbs to do so. You are a free soul bound by no one. And nobody, not even God, can forbid you from it.

Location: Starmony Dorms Kitchen

Nazuna: Hello~, Kagehira?

Ohh, so you’ve arrived at Itsuki’s house and are taking a break now that you’ve dropped off your luggage?

Didn’t want to bother them early in the morning, so you ate early and came over at noon, huh?

Itsuki arranged a flight in a hurry and returned to the country later on, so you waited for him and came along with…

Right, right. He wasn’t planning to return to Japan originally, so he arrived a little later than you.

Hm? Well it’s lunchtime, so I’m eating.

Yeah… I think Kuro-chin’s trying to win me over with a home-cooked meal, giving an excuse that he “made too much”…

Kuro: I’m not givin’ up, Nito.

Nazuna: Hm~… Then I’ll just have to introduce you to some of my friends who often crossdress as women and don't seem to have a problem with it.

Kuro: I’d prefer if it were you, Nito.

Nazuna: I wish I was hearing those words in a different context, you know… Well, if this is for behalf of your sister, “cross-dressing” would be somewhat different.

No, even if it were me, it’d still be “cross-dressing”! Isn’t this too uncomfortable?

Kuro: It’ll be fine. Have confidence, Nito. You’re far cuter than any girl out there!

Nazuna: That doesn’t make me happy… You’re stubborn. I should have expected that from a childhood friend of Itsuki—You two are pretty similar.

Oh, well. Anyways, Kagehira, I know I’m being persistent, but if anything happens, call me right away, okay?

We at Ra*bits are going through a strange situation right now, so we’ve been a bit dried up on our work and have time to spare. Yeah, but it’s not like I’m poking my head in for the fun of it, okay?

I’m not helpless, not anymore… Maybe I just want to prove that I am able to at least help someone.

Kuro: Ya don’t gotta prove that. You can help me right now, at least.

Nazuna: Oh~, you~ are such a pain in the ass~, have you always been someone so annoyingly selfish, Kuro-chin? It’s strange!

Kuro: A lot of things are at play here. I’m tryn’a shed off the character of bein’ a “understanding, dependable big brother who doesn’t bother anyone”.

Rather, I’m in the process of try’na figure out who I am, and what I want to do.

Nazuna: So you’re trying to dress your male best friend in child’s girl’s clothes… If that’s your true nature, then put it away where else nobody can see, it’s gross.

Kuro: You’re so cruel. I’m askin’ you ’cause you’re my best friend, you know?

Nazuna: Hm. Oh well, it’s rude to be on the phone while eating, so I’ll be hanging up. Right, I may not understand everything, but—Let’s hang in there, you and I.

I know it’s not easy taking care of someone like Itsuki. But that’s exactly the thing you “want to do”, right… Kagehira? ♪

[ ☆ ]

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[bluberimufim]

The Caretos of Podence

Happy Carnaval!! Time for another cultural ramblie because I haven't done this in a while!!

(I just think they're cool)

This was originally gonna be about multiple Carnaval traditions in Portugal, like my Halloween post, because I wanted to talk about a really beautiful festivity in my city but then I realized it was related to an entirely different holiday and I wasn't gonna scrap this idea (I'll do that one in August, I guess??). So I decided to make a post about the Caretos of Podence because I just really vibed with them.

disclaimer! None of this is from lived experience, just online research (although I tried to use sources directly related to it, specifically the Casa do Careto website). I am not from Trás-os-Montes at all and have little contact with this. Just like in my first cultural ramblie, this is just me trying to better connect with my own culture and sharing what I find with anyone who's interested. If you see any errors or want to add anything, feel free!! I'm always happy to learn!

Okay, but before we begin: what exactly is Carnaval?

You might have heard of Brazil's Carnaval. Portugal's is way less hardcore but still culturally important (although some brazillian-style Carnavais are celebrated here).

The actual day of Carnaval is the day before Ash Wednesday, but it usually lasts about a week or 3 days in more urban areas (Carnaval break is a real thing that schools have). The general objective is to have an all-out celebration before Lent starts because, after that, you're not supposed to celebrate until Easter rolls around.

The Caretos

The village of Podence is in the middle of Trás-os-Montes, somewhat between Mirandela and Miranda do Douro. It is mostly known for this celebration, which lasts for about a week.

The name "caretos" means something like "big faces" and comes from their very recognizable masks. They're made of either leather or metal and are meant to completely obscure the identity of the wearer. The costumes are made of rows of coloured wool and are usually made by the community. The red, yellow, and green pattern is not mandatory and it can have many different colours, but it's the most common since it's the colours of the flag. On top of the costume, they wear a lot of bells: smaller ones attached to the straps on their chest and 4 to 8 bigger cowbells tied around their waist.

During the celebration, the caretos dance through the town, accompanied by the jingling of their bells. Traditionally, the caretos were young men who chased after single women, but today anyone can wear the costume and chase after anyone they please. They also go around stealing any easily grabbable chorizos left hanging from smokehouses, and use wooden staffs to propel their jumps higher.

On the last day of Carnaval, the Entrudo (a giant figure of a man) is burnt to draw away the bad things of the old year and let in the next. Like this:

This celebration has pagan roots, although none really know exactly where its origins lie. People seem to point to it being a pre-roman festivity, but we have few sources to go from. The most probable explanation is that it was a fertility ritual connected to the agricultural cycle, since this is generally the time in which farmers can start planting again after the winter.

I hope you enjoyed this little ramble. Because I very much did. Here's some more pictures:

[from-the-clouds]

I grew up with a very similar narcissistic abuse system leaving and distance are the things that help the most. Kendall is free.

The last argument he had with his siblings involved them trying to hold his guilt against him and telling him his kids aren't real. If that doesn't fuel him into trying to find his kids and apologize for everything.

I do see hope for him. I refuse to believe that there is no hope for him, there's hope for all of us. There has to be.

Kendall is a billionaire, the only one of his siblings that has successfully gone to therapy before. He has crunbled before and he has healed before, he can do it again.

I really have to belie that he can, so that I believe that I can. I don't think he can ever go back to his siblings tho and that's probably for the best.

i 100% agree.

i do hope ken goes an apologizes to his kids, or at least takes a greater interest in them now that he has more time on his hands. kendall is incredibly resilient and we've seen him pick himself out of terrible situations before.

i think there's a chance he could go back to his siblings, but i do think the dynamic would be different with logan gone and none of them in the company. it is necessary he spends some time apart from them maybe, so they can heal on their own. i think they should avoid working together in the future, though. maybe they can just be normal siblings who only interact during holidays.

but yeah, i do think ken is capable of change. but i don't think it was possible for him to change with logan around or if he is involved at waystar. i know it might feel horrible to him now, but i think that with time he will see the freedom that comes with not vying for that position/trying to impress his father anymore. i love jeremy strong but i do disagree that this is the end of ken's life. i think even jesse was more hopeful than that. i guess it's valid to have that bleak outlook, but as someone with a somewhat messed up childhood myself, i always am going to believe i am capable of changing and i have changed by going through therapy and learning about myself. i have a lot of friends who have done the same. its possible to change and break the cycle.

i think kendall, too, has a lot of capability to be a good person and a desire to do good, and now he has a chance to learn how to without feeling the judgement of his father or siblings.

also, for what it's worth, i believe you can, too :)

[eirasummersart]

I need 1 and 6 for Akshaya owo (plz)

Refering to this.

Hello, thanks for the ask! I'm glad to answer some answers for my snake kid~ Here we go!

1. Do they love Christmas? Hate it? Is there a particular reason for it?

It's not her fave holiday for sure. Not particularly because of what you do in it but because of when it is. As a half-snake and having Kula with her, the cold is really harsh on them. And her mom, being a full snake beastwoman has it really rough too. So for her whole life, Christmas to her has meant staying at home with her family, warm next to the fire and with lots of blankets and being quite lethargic most of the time. Only her dad (the only human) is more active and is the one preparing everything and taking care of them usually. Akshaya can move around and all normally, but it's much more difficult for her than during warmer times.

They do exchange gifts every year and it comes with a lot of family bonding time, so it does bring good memories for her, so she somewhat likes it, anyway.

6. How are they when receiving gifts? Do they really value handmade gifts? Do they like surprises?

She'd go really quiet and probably even cry a little bit if someone surprises her with a Christmas gift (or on any other ocassion, really). She's only ever received gifts from her family, which were not a surprise. She never had close friends before, so to have someone care enough about her to give her a gift, she'd be moved beyond words.

She'd love just store bought things (someone though of her enough to buy her a present!!) and she'll definitely appreciate those. But with handmade gifts and all the effort behind them, she'd treasure them forever. And her love/appreciation for said person would go way up from it. If it's some kind of accessory, she'd definitely wear it everyday for a LONG time (she'll cry if it breaks or she loses it).

Also, not in the question itself, but expect her to return the gift 10 times over~

---

That's all! Thanks for asking about her~

And everyone else, feel free to send some for my other OCs too! Christmas is gonna be soon so~ C:

[jasper-juice98]

Ok probably cringe but my entire existence already is soooo-

Hopper and Julio (oc) headcannons cuz these bitches gay-

Despite Hopper being, well, Hopper he's actually a decent partner. He's not entirely used to being in a relationship as he's used to being alone and emotionally distant. He really tries though

Like sometimes, he'll try to bring Julio flowers (or those tiny flower buds that's down to their size) or food they can share. By Hopper's standards, that's a big deal for him as he'd never share food of all things with ANYONE

Julio on the other hand, is very lovey dovey and romantic, and adores even the smallest gestures from Hopper.

Because Julio is a singer, he dedicates some songs to Hopper ever so subtly. Mostly because they're in general love songs that don't go into specifics and they're all in Brazilian Portuguese, in which Hopper doesn't understand lol

Speaking of Julio singing, he's a big Bossa Nova fan and regularly sings in that genre. A lot of Julio's friends say he's stuck in the past because of this and the way he acts/dresses (i say dress very loosely because they dont wear clothes other than Julio's little hat) but Julio isn't bothered. There's certain things he liked about that time period and embraces it despite the time change

Hopper finds it somewhat charming actually but he'll take that to the grave

In fact he'll take many of his feelings/thoughts about Julio to the grave

Like how he loves the way Julio sings, and how it's enough to actually make him blush about it. And Julio's overal chipper attitude even if Hopper acts like it's mildly annoying or naive

And if he admits any of these to you, you're probably going to die in the next couple of seconds

Also, this storyline takes place after the events of the movie in as if he survived the bird attack. He made it out alive (barely) and fled and had to fend for himself for awhile until getting himself trapped in a transport truck while foraging that went all the way to Brazil where he first met Julio

Julio helped him navigate this strange new land of Rio de Janerio, with the added benefit of also somewhat protecting him from the many birds/parrots that are found there

You see, Julio is a violet-winged grasshopper, getting their name from their blue or violet wings they flash to warn predators that they're poisonous to eat, hence why Julio lives virtually worry free while Hopper flinches every time he hears a mere squawk of a parrot (and spoiler: he hears them a LOT)

Hopper is protective AS FUCK, and defensive. You give him or Julio a dirty look and he'll make your insides outsides

Julio is also very touchy, very often is seen hugging Hopper, kissing him, holding his hand, leaning against him, nuzzling up into him, etc etc. It makes Hopper feel all fuzzy and warm on the inside but almost nobody would be able to tell and he makes sure of it

The most you'd see from him is a small smile, but I can't stress the "small" enough

And once in a blue moon, Hopper is the one that shows affection first

I'll be honest when Hopper first felt feelings for Julio he deadass thought he was having a stroke and/or heart attack-

During holidays like Carnaval or New Years, you bet your ass Julio brings Hopper to those celebrations and they always have a great time together

That's what I've got so far. I plan to write a little more since my posting schedule is shit rn. I should post more fjskfnsnfkskfjsk

[away-ward]

Things that happen in the Willemmy friends-to-lovers au I now have playing on repeat in the back of my mind:

It's after Will's graduation and there is a party at the warehouse.

Emory shows up with Elle because she thinks this is the last opportunity she'll have to see Will. She doesn't usually waste her time with parties. She doesn't plan on talking to him. She just wants to watch for a while.

He clocks her the second she walks in. He's been wanting to talk to her for a long time but she always seemed to give him the cold shoulder when he tried to approach. He didn't know how to get in with her.

He circles for a while, not wanting to jump on her and scare her away. Eventually he finds his opening and they end up talking for a while.

They end up talking right into the backseat of his truck and Will can't believe this is happening.

She slows things down, somewhat unintentional, but she's also just nervous. This wasn't her plan... she does really like him... but this is stupid. Acting rashly like this is how you get pregnant or an STD.

They end up talking and making out all night. Mostly talking though. She can't stop herself from being critical of his privilege. He can't stop thinking she's beautiful. And smart. Smarter than him that's for sure. He's not sure why they're not having sex. That's what he's good at. All they're doing is talking, but she hasn't left yet...

They talk until the sun starts coming up. They get out and watch the sunrise from the bed of his truck. It's another Thunder Bay Holiday, similar to evernight, devil's night, and firenight, and Will tells her about it's history and tradition. She asks if he's not doing anything, could they spend the day together.

The tradition picks up later in the evening, so technically his morning is free. But he's never spent the day with a girl he spent the night with, even if they technically didn't sleep together.

He says yes anyway.

There's other stuff that follows the other plots of one day, but one of the things that happens is

After em graduates and goes to SF, Will texts her from wherever he's traveled to. Sometimes he's not also in the most sober condition. This time he is. He's a little lonely even though he's surrounded by people. It's early in SF (he keeps a clock on his phone that tells him the time in three place: wherever he's at, Thunder Bay, and SF), but he texts her what he's thinking anyway. She'll probably read all his nonsense when she wakes up, roll her eyes, send back an emoji and then carry on with her day. But to his surprise she's up.

He doesn't know what to say now, knowing she's paying attention. His words are so much more important now.

She tells him about thea, her roommate and all the drama surrounding her. It sounds like fun. It sounds like she enjoyed her first year away from Thunder Bay. His first year away was horrible, but he made it through. Kinda.

In fact, it's summer again. She might be home already. He asks if she'll be home for the summer. He hopes the answer is yes.

She says she and thea found an apartment to rent with some others. She'll be working in SF, but might be home sometime.

He doesn't know what to say. He wants to see her. Hates that she has to work instead of play during her time off.

She comments that she was lucky enough to get a bedroom with a good view. One of her new roommates has a view of the neighbor's brick wall.

He asks for a picture. She sends one from her bedroom window, and based on context, he can tell that the room is small. Her bed is pushed up against the window sill. He can see her knees in the picture, as if she hadn't bothered to move from where she was sitting. He now imagines her curled on her bed, sipping a cup of coffee, talking to him while watching the sunrise like she did two years ago.

He looks at that picture all the time.

Just thought you might like to know what happens when I reread the one day posts.

[astudyintheburningofhearts]

Right, so. I wanna imagine this slightly, mildly insane thing, ok? And I have absolutely no clue which ship to use this one for (since I'm currently obsessed with Good Omens and the Not-Nice-Demon and his Bastard-Angel, so yeah. I guess you can imagine it as Merthur if you'd want, or anything else really, but I'm gonna go with A and B this time around). Right. So, imagine this, ok? (It's very specific btw, so bear with me lmao).

Both A and B are aspiring doctors. They were in the same class in 10th grade, and towards the end of the year, B started asking A for help because they were scared of their exams.

Now, imagine for their next academic year that B switches curriculums (though they're still in the same school) and the minimal conversation which both A and B engaged in before is now completely zero.

However! Since they're both aspiring med students at the time, they meet again in a prepratory class they've both enrolled in; a class needed to help prepare for a medical admissions test they both must take.

Now imagine that they begin talking somewhat after their 10th grade results are released (since 10th grade is a board year ykyk), and A slowly begins to catch feelings.

A's schoolfriends don't exactly catch on, but do enjoy teasing them and shipping them with B, unbeknownst to B.

Slowly, over their two year course, they begin talking more, even more than they had before. And before they know it, they're sending in their college applications and whiling away their summer together, having gone from mere acquaintances to close friends.

And then they're off to college, with B staying in their home country while A leaves and goes abroad (I was thinking England, but again, feel free to imagine whatever other place you'd like) for their studies instead.

Imagine they still talk as much as they possibly can, and approximately two years into med school, they begin surprising each other with visits during whatever holidays they can.

Now, well into either their 3rd or 4th year of uni, B surprises A once more, showing up on their doorstep.

A feigns anger and annoyance, the facade immediately dropping once B reveals they've gotten A chocolates from home.

B says that they're visiting for a week, and A is thrilled, but continues to be jokingly annoyed.

Over the course of the week, A and B (obviously) spend as much time as they possibly can with one another, from reading together while it rains outside to visiting shops together and buying breakfast before the other wakes up (just domestic things, but you know!!!).

Eventually, two and a half days before B needs to leave, they go out for lunch and end up dancing along to a live band at a restaurant, along with a bunch of other couples. They begin walking home, giggling and stumbling over one another, unable to stray too far away, and then it begins raining. And they're forced together under the awning of a nearby coffee shop. And then, before they know it, they're kissing. Sopping wet and shivering, but kissing nonetheless. And then they're back at A's apartment and. Well. I'm sure you can piece together where that goes. (They could either you know. Do the thing. Or just like cuddle and watch a film or something else if you're not into that kinda thing, I get it).

And then it's bliss for the next two days, they go nowhere except to shop for groceries.

After that, of course, it's time for B to leave and go back home. Though it's not exactly teary, their parting is filled with yearning and heartache because "why do you have to go, why'd we have to realise so late?" but B promises to come back as soon as they can, and A does the same.

This back and forth goes on for about a year, wherein whenever A visits home, they hide the fact that they are now dating B by saying they would visit and probably spend the night with a friend of theirs whenever they'd visit.

Eventually, however, they decide that it's time for their parents to know, and over a slightly longer, two-week break (or summer break, whichever you want), they decide to get their families together for a lunch, in order to introduce everyone to everyone.

A plans it at their house, ensuring their parents and sibling are out of the house before everyone else arrives, and they're super stressed over everything – "Have we made enough food? Did we buy the wine? I don't think so, wait no we did. But did we buy the chocolates? I don't think we did, could you run by the store and get some? Do I look alright? Should I cha–" and they're so wound up and B just thinks it's so adorable that they have to shut them up with a soft little kiss, saying something like "Hey. We'll be fine. They'll love each other, and I'm sure my parents will love you. Yes, we have enough food, and wine, and chocolates, and you look gorgeous, so stop worrying, we'll be alright."

And then B distracts them by sitting them down and turning on the television. And just as predicted, B's parents simply adore A and A's parents love B just as much too.

Eventually, as they were wont to do, they get married. (It can be either while they're just finishing up med school or after they've finished, that's another choice you make, but).

And though this obviously isn't the end, I'm too lazy to write more haha.

Now, there are a couple things – I know this seems super basic and boring because there's no huge plot twists- but I thought it was nice to just imagine two characters growing up together and falling in love and never looking back idk why. Either way, if you've read until here, kudos to you, this was super long, so thank you :D

[purplekoop]

Hey! So uh! Update on what's been going on and why I've been relatively inactive for longer than I implied I would.

So around this time last year, I realized my laptop's battery was uh. Very warped and big. A state it'd been in for several months at that point actually. It wasn't until I mentioned it to my partner and they said "hey uh. that's extremely dangerous" that I realized the big swelling in my electronic device was not good. So for a period of about 2 months, I had to not use my laptop while I was waiting for a new battery.

Luck of the holidays, while I was using it during some downtime while staying at my partner's place last week, the fans started to make a jarring new noise during intense operation (as in. Playing Minecraft). It was fine only two days prior, so I don't know what broke the camel's back.

Being cautious after last year's fun times, I don't want to push it much further than bare minimum operations to avoid any potential major damage. I haven't got it checked out by a professional (or any more tech-savvy family friends who I trust more and don't charge extra), so I don't know what the exact issue is, or if it's a serious risk and not just a sign of this laptop being old. Opening just about any game will cause the loud fans to go off, as does using my second monitor while running even just discord and a couple chrome tabs. While typing this post using my laptop, the fans made the jarring noise very briefly before calming back down.

So... am I just gonna be without a computer capable of safely doing anything until I get a replacement part again? No, because I don't think this laptop is worth maintaining when it's liable to just have another problem next december, if not sooner. It's a hell of a machine, don't get me wrong. It's handled a lot more than most laptops have, running every game I've thrown at it pretty damn well, but the tendency for some new problem to happen every now and then makes me wary of trying to keep it going for everything I need out of it for much longer.

Does that mean I need a brand new computer then? Well as a wise rat once said: Yes. and, No.

Good news: my dad had another PC lying around, this one a desktop tower that my mom swears is a beast on par with the laptop, and because my dad isn't uh... up to much these days, I'm free to take this one too.

Bad news: it doesn't work. My mom and I tested it the other day, and we can't get it to power on.

Still, it's certainly gonna be a lot cheaper to get that operational than to get a brand new PC, with aforementioned family friends likely able to help. Unfortunately (for me specifically at least), it's still the holiday break, so my mom will be in and out of town until the second week of the new year, and I imagine those friends have things they'd rather be doing as well in their time off.

What does that mean for me here? Well, if my laptop can behave like it has been since I started writing this, I think I can manage to type out more long stuff like this. I can't do the same on my phone, since while I'm a rather speedy typer on my keyboard, phone typing is pretty cumbersome for me, so I imagine a long post there might be grating. That means I can likely do a few more Role Requeues in the coming days, get back to work on my War Bots notes, and maybe even some other long-form posts I've been wanting to do. Things I Love #3 may be a multi-parter with a... somewhat similar premise to someone else's ongoing series. I'm not sure if I wanna totally rip off this unnamed mutual's format of going episode by episode, or if I wanna make it a spoiler-free overview more like the Brave and the Bold and Doremi posts. With those shows I tried to make the posts a more open-ended general pitch and go over the overall high points, which felt appropriate for those shows. With Batman the show is simple and relatively formulaic, so going over the broad strokes was more efficient than going "And then Batman teams up with this goofy obscure character" 60 times. Doremi meanwhile is the opposite, that show has so much I could talk about but I really really enjoyed going into the show blind and so I tried to convince people to watch it accordingly. If I get a chance I'd love to do a full video series going over the whole show, but considering that's a 200 episode deal, on top of me never doing a video of any scope grander than an on-stream Terraria playthrough... don't expect that soon.

On the note of videos though, that's the main thing that's gonna be on hiatus: streams. If this laptop wheezes once or twice when it's running a chrome tab with discord in the background, then I don't think you'd be able to hear my voice over the chainsaw fans with a full stream setup. A few more personal things might be on hold too, or at least will require alternate setups, but those are private discussions to be had.

In the meantime, don't worry too much about me being bored. It sucks I won't be able to do much on my laptop and thus don't have access to any games on there, but on the bright side this is a great time for me to be doing just about anything else. Got 4 switch games (between me and my sibling anyways, and they don't mind sharing) and over 100 episodes of neetle teetles (2012) from the holidays to keep me busy, plus I can use the time to do art or something if I need another option for variety.

But yeah, that's the update explaining things. I've been restricted to tumblr on my phone and if I had to type a whole real post on that thing I think I'd rather use the phone to bludgeon myself with, so I've just been reblogging stuff. Not sure when I'll be back to full-steam activity again, hoping it's soon but not expecting much for another week minimum.

But that said, I hope y'all have enjoyed the holiday times, and if I don't say it again later, that you have a happy start to the new year!

[misty-the-mysterious]

Some of my random twisted wonderland headcanons because I feel like being even more annoying on main then usual

Azul does drag and is a semi well known drag queen

Cater is nonbinary and uses she/they pronouns but hasn't come out yet because they don't want to bother anybody with using new pronouns/is always wearing like 8 masks anyway (she is so deeply troubled someone PLEASE help her oml)

Jade slowly becomes more and more alternative in his fashion during his years in NRC, including heavier and darker eye makeup and a lot of different piercings! During formal events he takes them out and uses clear studs/magic to hide the holes though. He also probably experiments with his hair style but not drastically as he enjoys matching with Floyd

Floyd wears skirts and dresses!! They're flowy and fun to spin in, plus they aren't constricting!! He loses his shit when he can find a dress/skirt with pockets

Riddle also likes wearing longer dresses and skirts, but does so very rarely due to having a somewhat strict routine with his wardrobe. (If that makes any sense aksgrksjdg)

Almost the whole cast is autistic and/or some form of queer and you literally cannot convince me otherwise

Kalim is genderfluid!

Jamil is FTM!

Idia is autistic!

Jade is autistic!

Azul is autistic!

EVERYBODY IS AUTISTIC!!!!

Look under your chair!! ITS AUTISM!!!!!!!

Anyway

The octotrio all just agreed to use he/him on land to make things easier for people, but all of them have either no gender or a gender so nebulous it cannot be described with mortal tongue. They're cool with any pronouns but when alone together, Floyd will default to she/they for Jade just cuz it feels right. Jade agrees

Azul's blood is blue!! He's self conscious about it because it's something that makes him different and he doesn't have a good track record with being different from others, but if you compliment him he gets a blue flush to his cheeks under that layer of foundation he puts on in the morning

Azul can and will carry Jade and Floyd at the same time, one in each arm. This boy is STRONG and he will use it to physically remove the tweels from causing problems (and maybe to give them affection but shhhhh)

Octotrio are qpps sorry I do make the rules

Jack, Jade, and Riddle will get together and talk plants!! They all sit in the gardens and have tea and talk about recent developments with each of their roses and cacti and mushrooms respectively

Azul and Jade are both scares of heights and get very motion sick. Brooms are rough and they're very thankful they haven't had to ride in cars too much since coming to land because that was a rough two hour trip of nonstop nausea. A plane is literally their worst nightmare. Floyd also gets slightly motion sick from cars but it takes him much longer than it does the other two, and heights don't bother him at all. He (lovingly) teases them a lot about this

Rook makes bombs in science club and Trey pretends to hate it but then they sneak off campus to blow something up together

All fae are gender funky by default. Except Sebek. That's a cis man and you can't convince me otherwise, sorry

Floyd and Jade are both mommas boys. They love their dad and respect him greatly, but mama eel just hits different.

Speaking of the Leech parents, momma Leech is the head of The Family while her husband takes the role of second in command in a sense. Grandma works behind the scenes as well, but the twins still aren't exactly sure how. She's a secretive fish.

Riddle will take a rare holiday break not to see his mom, but to hang out with Trey and Che'nya. He isn't the most knowledgeable on how one should normally spend free time with friends, but Trey and Che'nya are more than happy to lead the way. They both live for Riddle's smile and make it their personal mission to have him smile just as much as they have him cheeks puffed out red in the face with how annoyed he is with their teasing

Ortho helps Ruggie shop by mass searching what websites have the best deals for whatever he's looking for, in return Ruggie hangs out with him and tells him stories about his home and his childhood

Rook "The French Freak" hunt has locks of certain people's hair to try and make Potions to transform into them temporarily in science club. Trey is scared

I haven't slept or eaten and my brain is failing so I'm leaving it here, but I might add on later! Feel free to reblog on which headcanons you agree with or just shoot an ask to talk about them!!! The brainrot is real rn so I'm okay with social interaction for once SKSHHSOAHDBD

[ashxketchum]

MAYBLADE 2023 - DAY 5

The Hiwatari family is making their debut in a small oneshot!

Note: Originally I had no plans to post for this prompt, but something struck today and I wrote this little oneshot featuring my OC for Kai, and the fankid they have together. It's a silly piece written solely for me, myself and I, so feel free to pass this one up if KaixOC or Fankids/Future married life scenarios are not your cup of tea ^-^ picrew credit x x

Following a fixed method to get appropriate results, a logic that always seemed to prevail for Kai was currently failing him while his 9 year old son, Luca, was not having as much trouble at tackling the task in front of them.

They were in Luca’s room, sitting cross-legged on the floor across from each other, and even with the air conditioner humming its usual tune and the windows tightly shut, the buzzing of the cicadas outside still reached their ears, which was the making of a perfect summer day. Kai was a little glad however, that Luca hadn’t yet insisted on travelling anywhere during his month long vacation from school, since his own work had taken him around the globe more than twice this year and he was happy to finally spend time at home, relaxing with his family.

Or so Kai had assumed his days would go when summer vacation started for Luca, but just two days in and his son was adamant about finishing all his homework and projects as soon as possible. Maybe letting him spend that weekend with Tyson and Hilary when both he and his wife were travelling at the same time had not been such a good call after all because clearly, Luca had been influenced under Hilary’s care. Although complaining about it now wouldn’t do much good either, since he’d already agreed to help the kid when he came leaping into his room earlier this morning, without even considering that maybe Kai might not be so adept at whatever project Luca wanted to work on today.

On the floor in front of him, lay a few paper cranes, some very neatly folded while others looking like the handicraft of someone who’d lost a few fingers, and Kai was not happy to admit that he’d folded the latter bunch. Luca’s homeroom teacher had thought it would be good if their class came back from the holidays with a thousand cranes folded, using them to decorate their classroom and make it more lively. Each kid was assigned a certain number of cranes they had to fold over the holidays, and that’s what Kai had been enlisted to help with today. The problem, which was embarrassing to admit, was that Luca was doing a much better job at folding the cranes than Kai, which made him feel sort of unhelpful in the whole situation. Though, as always, he was pleasantly surprised by his son’s ability to learn a new skill faster than most other people.

His attention was suddenly diverted from the square sheet of paper in his hand when he heard some movement in their house outside of Luca’s room. Just as he was about to get up to go on the lookout, a familiar voice drifted in through the closed door of his son’s bedroom.

“Kai-chan?”

“In here!”

He responded as loudly as possible, and a few minutes later the door to the room creaked open and his wife’s head popped in through the frame. Seeing as both of them were relaxed and she was not intruding on any special moments, Charlie quickly slipped into the room, carefully shutting the door behind her.

“Can you believe the client cancelled the meeting while I was en route?” Charlie heaved an angry sigh as instead of sitting down on the floor with the two of them, she promptly settled on Luca’s bed.

“Takasaki, was it? The traffic’s pretty bad at this time of the day.” Kai hadn’t been expecting her to be back until dinner so he was a bit surprised to see her home so early.

“It’s terrible. Thankfully, I got the call just as I was about to get on the bridge, so instead I took a somewhat dangerous u-turn and came back home.”

Kai’s face deadpanned at her words, despite of Charlie working as a lawyer for so many years, her complete disregard for the traffic laws was still a great cause of concern for him, “Can’t wait to see the traffic cam footage.” He muttered under his breath as Charlie waved a hand in the air, dismissing his worry.

“There won’t be any, I’m pretty sure I did a good job avoiding them.” She winked at him to let him know that she was just kidding, but Kai still couldn’t help and be slightly suspicious. “What are you two up to anyway?” She asked, one eyebrow raised out of curiosity. Leaning down slightly to look at the craft supplies scattered around them, her long platinum blonde hair cascaded into a curtain of silver on one side as she did so, making Kai’s hand twitch with the need to tuck it neatly behind her ear.

“Dad’s helping me fold paper cranes for school!” Luca piped up happily, raising both his hands, with one crane that he and Kai had folded in each.

Charlie’s emerald eyes lit up with excitement when she observed the two wildly different paper cranes presented to her, passing a sly grin in Kai’s direction as she cleared her throat, “Helping, is it?”

Kai felt a warmth trickle into his ears as he avoided her gaze, only comforted by the fact that Luca was still content with his minimal contribution.

“Yes! He helped me understand the instructions, and even found a good video that made it easier to follow the steps.” His son nodded eagerly, oblivious to the sarcasm laced in his mother’s voice.

“And you’ve done a great job at learning this so quickly!” Charlie leaned forward and ruffled Luca’s hair affectionately. She then picked the crane that Kai had folded from Luca’s hand and twirled it around her fingers, with a smirk she added in a mocking tone, “Meanwhile this poor crane looks like it got steamrolled by a truck, or worse, a Beyblade.”

“Hn.” Kai let out a grunt, turning his gaze back to the paper that had been lying idle in his hand since Charlie arrived at the scene, he frowned at it and looked up at her again, “I’d like to see you try.”

The smirk on her face widened, and she diligently pushed her hair back, a disappointing sight for Kai since he’d wanted to be the one to do that. Getting up from the bed and kneeling next to him on the floor, she swiftly took the sheet of paper from his hand and pressed it to the ground. What happened next was something Kai couldn’t follow with his eyes despite of keeping them peeled open with concentration. Charlie’s hands moved fast, folding the paper into shape so neatly, not a single corner overlapped and not a single crinkle was made as within two minutes or so, she held a perfectly folded paper crane high up for both him and Luca to see.

There hadn’t been a time when Kai had not regretted challenging his wife over something silly, and yet he never learnt his lesson. Clearly, Luca had managed to get better at this activity so quickly was thanks to Charlie’s genes in him, and Kai should’ve anticipated that before giving her such an easy chance to make fun of him.

“Mom, you’re amazing at this!” Luca exclaimed as Charlie handed him the crane she had folded, “Look how neat the edges are, and the paper is still so smooth.” He admired the little crane from every angle as his violet eyes sparkled with awe.

“You’re not half bad yourself, kiddo.” Charlie laughed, pleased with how much Luca seemed to love her handiwork. She leaned her head on Kai’s shoulder and let out a content sight, “You, however, need to stick to sitting behind a desk and looking pretty.”

“Is that what you think I do at work?” Kai snorted, slightly relieved that she had decided not to rub his loss in his face and enjoy her victory peacefully.

“Honestly, I still have no clue what it is you do.”

Kai allowed himself to chuckle as he raised one hand to stroke the back of her head, they watched their son try to mimic Charlie’s speed of folding from earlier in silence. In the end, it didn’t seem like Luca would need Kai’s help in finishing this project, and while he was proud of his son for having learned a new skill, he wondered if he’d still be able to contribute to any of his other homework. He let his eyes drift over the room, hoping to find some project that was still lying unfinished that he could lend a hand to. He knew he would feel a bit dejected going back to work in a few days if he didn’t make sure that time spent with Luca had been meaningful and worthwhile for both of them.

Luckily for him, Charlie had always been able to read his mind effortlessly, so when she lifted her head from his shoulder suddenly, Kai knew that she’d already figured out how to solve his dilemma, even if he hadn't said a single word out loud.

“One thing I do know that you can do is make a killer soba sauce,” she said as she stood up, stretching her arms above her head and motioning for Kai to get on his feet too. Then she turned to their son and smiled wide, “What do you say, Lu-chan? Want to help your dad cook a nice cold soba meal to beat the heat?”

“Yes! I love cold soba!” Luca was on his feet in no time, both Kai and Charlie had to sound out a warning at the same time to keep him from stepping all over the paper cranes that lay on the floor as he bounded out of the room excitedly.

Before following him out, Kai leaned down to plant a kiss on Charlie’s forehead, smiling against her skin as he took in the smell of her citrusy shampoo, “Hasty on the roads, crafty with paper and quick at reading minds. Sometimes I wonder if I married a witch.”

“Careful now, Hiwatari.” She linked her arm with his as her mischievous laugh filled the room, “Or you might wake up as a paper crane tomorrow.”