#so yes i am particularly fond of this baby

[googoothegodofblood]

A little fanart for @fluffyglass of their little bug baby and her mama : -) Yolka number one

[twinkling-moonlillie]

Headcannons for Hawks fluffy but little be suggestive if possibly alright.

~🩷

A/n: Yes yes yes yes, I love this. This isn't super long but I hope you enjoy. Nothing makes me happier than receiving requests!! This was a much needed distraction. I have another request I am almost done with too, so expect that Friday.

Hawks Headcanons Part 2: Fried Chicken Boogaloo

Warnings: Suggestive

Keigo wasn’t a jealous or possessive guy, but he loves being able to mark up your neck with lovebites. Not only was it enjoyable to see you writhe when he had his lips on your neck, but he felt proud knowing that people were aware that you’re his.

Keigo is very perceptive of everything going on around him, which works to his advantage when gift giving is one of his top love languages. He is able to notice the way your eyes linger on a certain necklace or outfit and loves to surprise you with those items later on. He is so keenly aware that he notices when something is bothering you. 

And although sometimes he isn’t able to thoroughly articulate the comfort he desperately wants to give, he DOES conveys it through his actions. 

Hugs are 10x better with his wings; it’s like a second pair of arms keeping you warm. 

One of the things he delights in the most is when you share parts of your normalcy with him. Sharing stories about your day while nuzzled up on the couch, or agonizing over an essay due at midnight, or even going to the grocery store. He adores it all because they are the things he lacked as a child, the things he currently lacks as a hero. Keigo doesn’t care if it’s mundane. 

Keigo has a habit of singing or humming when cooking or doing chores. 

PET NAMES! Oh my god does this man love pet names.  He is particularly fond of calling you his little songbird or lovelark. But he does use regular pet names as well, such as darling and baby. 

He is absolutely smitten over the intimacy of skin-on-skin contact, whether that be through sex or something else. When you two sleep together, he sheds all of his clothes hastily - or if it’s right after sex he makes no move to retrieve his clothes. He is also fairly certain he can keep you warmer than any pesky clothing item you may have. 

This man, this fucking BIRD, loves kissing you. Anywhere will do, just as long as it is somewhere. Sweet little kisses on the forehead after a bad day, steamy kisses as he pins you against the wall, loving kisses when you have to part for a significant period of time (anytime away from you is a significant amount), morning kisses painted with streaks of gold, night kisses memorizing curves of your body, ALL OF THEM. HE NEEDS THEM ALL. 

[stunfiskz]

Rouxls asks! Feel free to only answer which u want to, I sent a lot to give you options!

● What do you think the deal is with his mouth stringy? Is it just a skin flap, or something else?

● Your Rouxls is built with a broad chest, skinny limbs, and a veryvtiny waist. Does he work out/diet to maintain that look, or is he just naturally built like an upside down triangle on a toothpick? Does he lift/jog, or is he sedentary?

● Is your Rouxls goopy? If so, what is his "default" consistency, and what does Max Liquid look like?

● If he's goopy, is his hair also just goop that just looks like hair, or is it actual hair? What of his teeth and eyes and junk? Is he 100% goop, or does he have some non-goop bits?

● If goop, does he have bones and organs or no?

● Does he keep worms as pets, food or both? What is his definition of "worm?" (like, are we solely talking earthworms, or do things like grubs, mealworms, inchworms and caterpillars count?)

● Is there a reason his clothes are the same colour as his skin, or is he just a freak who dresses like that on purpose?

● What is Rouxls's Roux made of? What does it taste like?

● Any clothing hcs? Worm/bug hcs? Backstory hcs? Lay them miscellaneous headcanons on me!

YAYAYAY QUESTIONS! thank you for indulging me in this lol

What do you think the deal is with his mouth stringy? Is it just a skin flap, or something else?

i think of it as a goop strand (& think it can change location due to this, it’s my reasoning for why its placement is inconsistent across his sprites lol) from opening and closing his mouth

when his mouth is closed it’s still there though. because i think it’s cute to give him a little drip

this is also part of why i think he defaults to grinning so often. embarrassed about his mouth drip  

Your Rouxls is built with a broad chest, skinny limbs, and a very tiny waist. Does he work out/diet to maintain that look, or is he just naturally built like an upside down triangle on a toothpick? Does he lift/jog, or is he sedentary?

i do think he works out- i try to draw him leaning like…somewhat twunk-ish but closer to twink due to clover & the rudinn calling him a hunk

i have a bunch of nebulous headcanons surrounding this but i think he has a very off relationship to food for a variety of reasons. i do not think he eats enough

in general, i think of him as very vain and focused a lot on his appearance. i think of all this as an extension of that.

Is your Rouxls goopy? If so, what is his "default" consistency, and what does Max Liquid look like?

yes and no? 

i think that the way we always see him- pretty much his default- is like. if you touched him it would feel pretty much the same as normal human skin, just a bit more slick & cool to the touch (in general, i think darkners would run cold as well)

in my head, for whatever made up species he is, they sort of like…firm up as they get older. hence why the baby rouxls i draw is just kind of a little goop blob. 

i also am very fond of the headcanon that rouxls is a card with printing errors, including ink smudges that may mean he’s still a bit more goopy than he’s supposed to be. hence the goop strand on his mouth. also means i think he’d leave ink stains on stuff he touches with his bare skin

i do think that he would melt if he were particularly overwhelmed because it’s fun. probably would feel good as hell to just turn into a puddle

If he's goopy, is his hair also just goop that just looks like hair, or is it actual hair? What of his teeth and eyes and junk? Is he 100% goop, or does he have some non-goop bits?

ummmmm. depends on what’s funniest. i don’t know

i do think his hair is just goop that looks like hair. i don’t know about his teeth. i don’t know.

i also really like the idea of him having a cardstock skeleton, like the armature of a clay figure. very easy to bend, probably what his teeth are, i don’t know. i’ve talked about this hc a lot though LOL

If goop, does he have bones and organs or no?

bones question answered above

as for organs. same as before, depends on what’s funniest. generally i lean towards him just being solid goop all the way through but i also like drawing his guts so it just kind of depends on how i'm feeling

also, vaguely related- he’s very, very loosely amphibious to me. i think he has weird amphibian “ears” that his hair covers. i think he would probably breathe through his skin regardless of if he has organs or not. 

also probably would have to open his mouth to smell things/have a not great sense of smell because i don’t think he has a nose

Does he keep worms as pets, food or both? What is his definition of "worm?" (like, are we solely talking earthworms, or do things like grubs, mealworms, inchworms and caterpillars count?)

i lean towards the thought that worms are food, bugs are pets

with this, i think that he would primarily eat earthworms/mealworms/other oligochaetes. grubs are basically puppies to him probably 

Is there a reason his clothes are the same colour as his skin, or is he just a freak who dresses like that on purpose?

he’s just a freak who dresses like that on purpose.

i think of dressing in clothes that look like part of your body is just a darkner fashion standard, considering you can compliment lancer with it

What is Rouxls's Roux made of? What does it taste like?

his roux is described as a dark roux. a roux is just a flour & fat base used for other recipes. a dark roux specifically is cooked for the longest out of other types of roux, and is primarily used in cajun & creole recipes (most often gumbo). i imagine it’s just the same as a regular dark roux just with worms in it in which case….i dont know what his reasoning in universe would be for just selling the roux with worms in it and not like an actual dish you would make with it. he’s a freak and not normal. horrifying to think about the concept of a worm gumbo though 

Any clothing hcs? Worm/bug hcs? Backstory hcs? Lay them miscellaneous headcanons on me!

i think he has like twenty different near-identical copies of his uniform, just with the slightest variations between them. sometimes he has whatever weird shoulder pads he has now, sometimes he has ones with a trim, sometimes he has epaulettes. sometimes he’s wearing normal pants, sometimes tights, sometimes none (probably depends on length of coat). sometimes boots, sometimes regular shoes, you get the idea. this is my excuse for drawing his outfit inconsistently.

i like to think card kingdom has a bunch of weird flora/fauna we never get to learn too much about because that’s not the point. i think he probably has different bugs than we do. which i am not good enough at fantasy biology to make up just imagine something really cool and badass 

i like to think he was the original tutorial guy- i think he started working at the castle in his early teens, but ended up leaving for a bit to try doing that. he was not successful at all. also, given the proximity between the tutorial area and seam’s seap, i like to think it would be funny if he like. briefly crashed on their couch during that time. i think it would be a really funny world to think about. 

[15-lizards]

Imo there is not enough Valyria content out there so I would LOVE to see your thoughts/headcanons on what the geography, city, fashion, etc. looked like

okay this ones a little difficult because even though Valyria is clearly inspired by Rome, I don't like roman (aka greek) architecture for them it just doesn't really fit to me. Honestly its hard to assign any real life inspo because the existence of dragons would have had some major impact on the society as a whole, architecture included

However, if I had to pick a type to ascribe to Old Valyria, my first choice would be a twist on Hindu architecture. I am absolutely obsessed with the sheer amount of details on the buildings (especially the Meenaskshi Temple at the bottom, everyone please go look at more pictures of it it's gorgeous). It's incredibly complex but also tends to be very symmetrical, the styles perfected over hundreds and hundreds of years. I also really love the idea of the spaces being open and well lit, it fits well.

Another alternative is traditional Chinese architecture, with the added bonus of dragon motifs that are already there :D Another type of architecture with an intense focus on details, symmetry, and how the design of a space affects a person. Architecture is a reflection of where a society is in their development, and I find that this could be a good inspiration for Valyria, an advanced culture with the excess time and resources to build things like these.

Woof okay clothing is all over the place I need to brainstorm and tighten my focus on different inspos (also I wish I could draw well so I can blend these styles properly but alas...anyways we ball). The main thing is mediterranean cultures I know that much. The Iberian Peninsula, Rome, Greece, the Minoans, Malta, Cyprus, etc etc all the ancient clothing and traditional costumes from around the Mediterranean Sea. Valyria was in a warmer, damper climate, meaning lots of loose fabric that could let air through but wouldn't weigh you down. Also doubling as shields from the sun. You get the gist I use this type of clothing all the time.

Okay Random Cultural Things Time

Art and literature? honestly really important because while yes this was a conquering civilization, they needed their exploits to live on in wall frescoes and written epics and dramatic pantomimes. I think they were literate, and probably spread written Valyrian to all the colonies, so that they were easily assimilated. People particularly fond of their dragons had pictures of them made and statues sculpted so that they would live on after their death.

Sports and entertainment also pretty big as well. Valyrians were a highly competitive people To Me so I think that riding, swimming, wrestling, racing, and other games were popular with the people, even those in the higher classes. Also fuck it I bet they raced their dragons. A really tall amphitheater where rich men lost money as they watched dragons circle around the ring. Or fight in midair, if the dragon riders were prisoners or sentenced to death.

As for religion, the Valyrians worshipped the gods that gave them dragons, but also tolerated the other faiths of the places the conquered, just in order to ease tensions (and because they had no dragons so why would they worship dragon gods). I like the idea of Roman household gods, with small altars in every home. Statues of the gods of the home, along with any gods a particular family might favor, along with ancestor veneration and dragon veneration. Dragon skulls and dragon masks on the walls baby!

[itsgrimeytime]

The Nurse (Part Eleven) || Rick Grimes (TWD)

Part: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven...

AVAILABLE ON AO3

Taglist: @strnqer @1985bitch @curlycarley @imaginemyfavoritefics @t-uroboros @crazytxgradstudent @addisonnie @whos6claire @taylvvrr @quicksilversg1rl @catt-leya @1tsk1tty @pascalshearts @hopefulatrocity @xoyouronlyamorrxo @fuseburner @idkseraphine @all-for-kpop @carlgrimeskisser @emo-potato-virgil @timotheesrealgf @mcuclintasha @8crazy-freak8 @peepeepoopoobutt @crazyunsexycool @moneyoverl0v3 @alixxhere @allthetroubleiveseen @dxrkymxrchy @taylormarieee

Summary: Before all this, you were a nurse. A nurse who had patients, one of which was a man in a coma. A sheriff, you think, it was all kinda fuzzy now. When it all went sideways, you set up what you could for the man - but had to leave. You’d always wondered where he’d ended up; until in your search of shelter, you run into a familiar face.

TWS: a touch of angst (mostly fluff though), mentions of death, gun violence (just violence in general), gunshot wounds, swearing, and all things typical of TWD.

[[A/N: listen, I know there's a similar scene to Maneater but this has completely different vibes okay? (I just like face kisses, sue me) So don't judge me. Thanks for reading !!! ]]

Your head hurt, that was the first thing you felt upon waking up. A sort of throb in the darkness of your mind.

It was warm, under a sort of scratchy blanket that you felt was oddly familiar. As thin as a sheet, but it still kept you warmer than without one. You'd felt rather tired, sort of heavy, particularly in your shoulders it felt sore -you briefly wondered why.

"Y/N?"

You were hardly awake then, as you shifted ever so slightly -there was a pillow under your head, you realized. You couldn't remember the last time you'd had one. All you remembered was concrete floors-

"Hey, hey," the voice spoke, "-you're safe. You're safe, sweetheart."

You recognized him then, something in you relaxing -safe, safe. You knew that if he was there, you weren't in Woodbury anymore -you weren't locked away. You were safe-

"Rick-" you whispered -your voice dry and cracking, you wondered how long you'd been out, "-Rick?"

"Breathe, baby, I'm here-" he responded -you felt something shift near you, "-right here."

Your eyes opened then, settling to your right -where you heard him, searching. Despite the pound of your head, you wanted to see him -really see him, he was right there. You could see him.

He was there, looking slightly tired -blue eyes intently focused on you, something warm and heavy there. His hair pushed intently behind his ears almost as if he was doing it anxiously, you wanted to reach forward and fix it.

"Hi," you echoed -quietly with a smile, he was right in front of you.

Rick smiled -a sort of hazy fond one that sent a flush down to your toes, "Hi, sweetheart, you feelin' okay?"

"Sore," you answered -shifting slightly, the deep ache only spiking, "-did Hershel-"

"He stitched ya up," he spoke, careful to keep his voice low, "-you're supposed to be on rest for a while. Doctor's orders."

You smiled -voice still dry, "You gonna be my nurse, cowboy?"

He laughed -a wonderous sort of noise that made your heart squeeze in your chest, "Already am, darlin'. Haven't left y'er side since we got 'ere."

You faltered, trying to turn more toward him -ache rather distant at the moment worth looking at him better, "Have you been sleeping?"

"Yes," he responded, "-when I can, I 'ave. Don't worry 'bout me right now-"

"'Can't help it," you hummed, "-I just need to make sure you're okay. I have to know-"

"'Course you do," he echoed, moving his hand to smooth against your hair -soft and tender and fond, "-you're on bedrest and still worryin' about me. You're unbelievable, ya know that?"

You leaned into his touch, now recognizing the surroundings to be your own 'office', "I just... I care about you, Rick. You know that."

Your words echoed off as you just looked at him, heavy eyebags underneath his eyes but there was something so content there. Deep within the slope of his shoulders, he seemed to relax -you were safe. You wondered just how similar his experience apart from you had been -had he slept? Could he think straight? Could he breathe?

"I'm sorry," you spoke, sort of quietly -his hand still cradling your face there, "-for... for leaving everyone here. Leaving you, Carl, and Judith here. I- I really thought I was doing what was best, saving lives. I just... I can't imagine what it was like me just leaving so quickly-"

"Y/N-" he urged in a soft whisper that swept a heat across your face -he was so close.

"No, I..." you paused, raising your own hand -despite how weak it felt, to flutter along his jaw, "-I need to say it. It was all I could think about, the pain that I had caused."

"I won't say I wasn't affected," he hummed -leaning into your fingertips slightly, "-but I know why ya did it. There's no need to apologize, not when you're here. When you're safe-"

"Rick..."

"I thought, well I hoped really that you would be safe," he spoke -rubbing his finger along some of your cuts (from the glass, you assumed), "-when we started makin' that plan, I... I thought he might'a killed ya already. That I was too late."

"You weren't," you soothed -a sort of twisted turmoil rooted in your stomach, "-I'm here."

"I kno', darlin'," he shushed you, holding your eyes steady with his -a sort of cloud hanging over their normal blue, "-I kno'. I was just scared. And when I saw you again... I just got... got so hopeful. Even though we were in danger, I was just so happy to see you breathin."

"Rick..."

"And when he-" he started before his throat seemed to choke up slightly -tears rising behind his eyes, "-when he shot you. I just... I got the feelin' I'd lost it all again."

"Rick," you whispered, slowly moving to grab his hand from the side of his face -both hands timidly enveloping his skin, and pulled it to your chest (where your heartbeat was a steady thrum against your ribs), "-I'm right here, I'm alive."

He seemed to pause, hand tensing at the sensation, as his eyes trailed over your chest -rising and falling with each breath. Making sure you were still there.

That you were okay. You knew the feeling.

"I love you."

He said it quietly, a sort of breathy whisper through his tears and the ghost of a smile on his lips. Tone washing over you like the morning sun, you felt something in yourself shift. Maybe a little disbelief, like you wondered if you'd actually heard it. Or if he intended for you to.

Rick answered the question himself with a watery chuckle and moved his hands to cup your face -fondly, so fond, "God, I love you."

You smiled, teary in your own way but smiling, happy, "I... I love you too."

"Never thought I'd get to say 'at," he grinned, still teary but you'd taken it upon yourself to wipe away any you saw, "-I love you."

"Rick-" you laughed.

He leaned forward, kissing your forehead first, "I love you-" then your eyebrows, "-I love you-" the apples of your cheeks, "-I love you-" your cheekbones, "-I love you-" the creases of your smile, "-I love you-" the tip of your nose, "-I love you."

You only laughed louder, your heart sparkling more and more each time he said it. It sent your head spinning, "Rick-"

He leaned back, looking at you in a sort of wonder -so happy. You couldn't believe it, honestly, that he... that you could make him so happy.

One hand moved down to your chin, fingertips pressing into your skin -guiding, blue eyes set on you in a haze. Something soft, something like a daydream-

"Can I kiss you?"

You stilled, heart beating along your chest, as he stared. It felt like all he did was stare, you couldn't read him. But... you knew what you wanted.

"Yes," you echoed, breathlessly.

Rick was slow to move, tender sort brush as he tilted your chin to face him. Gentle, he roamed closer -breaths fanning across your face, slowly so as to not hurt you. You could tell he was worried. Fingers moving up from your chin and fluttering along some of the glass cuts -which seemed to be healing. Like he was giving it extra thought, extra care.

Before you could speak a word, he connected your lips to his.

It was something small, a press of the lips (he was worried-) -stubble creating a buzz against your skin, in time with the thrum of warmth.

You let him guide you, hand still placed casually on your face - affectionately brushing his thumbs against your cheekbones. Calloused fingertips so warm so safe, you want to stay here -enveloped on Rick. From the woodsy scent that trailed behind him, to the feeling of his stubble against your skin, the gentle push of his lips against yours. It was anything done in a passionate moment or as a last resort, but more so... a promise.

A step in what was to come. A notion of something small for now, but bigger things to happen to see, to feel-

Rick pulled back but stayed close -breaths a puff onto your skin, just looking at you, "I love you."

"Really?" You smirked -rather playfully, eyes dashing between the two of his, "-'Couldn't tell, cowboy."

He laughed, and you felt your heart flip in your chest, as his eyes softened into something you could see now -love, "I missed ya, so much. I can't- I won't lose you again, 'kay? No matter what. Promise me... Promise me you'll stay safe."

"Okay," you whispered back, leaning into his touch -a little stunned by such admiration, you'd never... you'd never considered that he loved you too, "-I promise, but you too, okay? I can't... If you're not safe, I don't know what I'll do-"

"Deal," he answered, in a sort of low rumble you could feel down to your toes -eyes heavy on you, as if they were tracing every inch of your being. As if doing so, would keep you there -safe.

And you thought, just for a second, maybe it would.

[a-french-coconut]

Protector of Youth

Chapter 3 : Asclepius

He should have known it would end like this, standing over a dead body.

He is famous for his terrible love affairs.

Daphne, Hyacinthus and now Coronis.

He softly caresses her white, cold face, eyes open and wide of terror.

He chuckles, her sister certainly was a terrifying sight when she was furious.

And how furious you made her little princess, how furious you made me.

"Foolish girl," he scowls, "thinking you could hide your disloyalty from us."

"She got what she deserved," Artemis says coldly, her silver arrow embedded in Coronis' throat, "she's lucky to have suffered such a quick death."

"Now, now sister," he warns her, "that woman once hold my heart in her hands, she is worthy of what you graciously offered her."

"If you say so brother, now what will you do with the boy you gave her ?"

"Save him, he is mine after all."

Carefully, he pries open the woman's stomach and takes the small baby in his arms.

As soon as the cold air hits him, the little boy begins to cry, his wails piercing even Apollo's ears.

"See ?" He says with satisfaction to Artemis, "he holds divine within him, no mortal boy could scream that loud or even survive being taken out of their mother's womb like this."

"Indeed, he is your son, how will you name him ?"

"Asclepius," he whispers, "he is to be named Asclepius."

He cradles the small infant in his arms, half scared of crushing him when he feels the fragility of his bones.

"A wonder isn't it ?" He marvels at his son, "so many dangers in our world and yet, despite their frail constitution, the mortal children grow into men."

"I'm afraid yours won't go far now that his mother is dead." Artemis says from over his shoulder, with an edge to her voice, "and you cannot raise him brother, it is against our rules."

"I am aware of those rules and that is why Chiron will take of the child." He stands up, "you may leave me, I will go to Mount Pelion and I understand if that matter does not concern you."

"Don't be ridiculous," she scoffs, hitting him lightly with her bow, "that boy is my nephew and he will be treated as such."

Apollo smiles gratefully at his sister and both of them vanish in shows of light.

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

"Father !" A young blond boy yells happily, tackling Apollo into a hug.

"Asclepius !" He spins his son in the air, smiling broadly at him, "you have grown since the last time I saw you !"

His son laughs, looking at him with wide blue eyes filled with innocence and glee.

"Indeed, and into a fine young boy may I add." An amused voice says from behind Apollo.

"Chiron, old friend," he greets the centaur with a nod, still holding Asclepius in his arms, "I am glad to see you."

"As do I Lord Apollo," Chiron bows his head in respect.

"Father," his son squeals excitedly in his hold, "I have learnt to play the lyre, could I show you my progress ?"

"Of course ! Go, fetch your lyre and come back."

Asclepius runs in the cave, leaving Apollo and Chiron alone.

"He is a wonderful child of yours, gifted in healing particularly."

"Yes, he will be praised by the mortals of Epidaurus when he is of age." He beams proudly, thinking of the marvels his son will accomplish.

"Have the Fates grace you with any insights ?" The centaur requires.

"No, they aren't keen of doing that when it comes to my blood," he says bitterly, "but Asclepius will not be of the likes of Heracles or Theseus. He will be known for his kindness, not by killing monsters."

"Apollo," Chiron looks at him with wise eyes, "you are very fond of the boy, more than others you sent my way. When his time comes-"

"There's no need to discuss this further Chiron," Apollo cuts him off curtly, "he has only lived through eleven winters, he is far from joining Hades' realm."

"When his time comes, as it will inevitably do," Chiron continues calmly, "I must ask of you not to act harshly. You are known for your untempered wrath and it has never ended well for you."

Apollo cannot answer for his son reappears, holding proudly a lyre and beckoning him to seat next to him.

He obliges and they spend the afternoon together, eating sweet figs and honey, Apollo sometimes helping his son with hands placement or how to string a chord to make a specific sound.

Chiron leave them, letting him enjoy his cherished time with his son, but his words linger in his mind, echoing and tarnishing his smile.

"Father ?" His son looks at him, head tilted, "what is wrong ?"

"Something Chiron told me, but do not worry and resume your playing, it is of the most charming to hear."

Asclepius shrugs and soon, a melodious harmony echoes in the air.

As he plays, Apollo watches him.

Blue eyes, golden hair, tanned skin.

He is undeniably his son, a demigod under the care of Chiron, trainer of Heroes.

And yet, he knows Asclepius won't be a monster slayer or a mighty warrior.

Even if the Fates tamper with his vision, he is certain his son will be the most gifted healer in Greece, a man liked by everyone as he will save countless.

His son is safe, he's sure.

Nobody would kill a healer.

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

Time flies and Asclepius is now a young man, fresh into adulthood.

As Apollo foresighted, he is known in all of Greece, praised for being able to heal all injuries and illnesses.

And to his even greater pride, Artemis often visits her nephew, bringing him gifts from her hunts.

She isn't the only goddess to offer him presents.

"It's not like you to meddle with demigods like my son, you usually favour war heroes."

"I have no need of this gorgon blood," Athena says as they walk through Olympus' gardens, "might as well put it in good hands."

"How wise of you sister," he smiles at her only to find her troubled, "still upset about Athens, are you ?"

"Of course I am !" She scoffs, "A son of our uncle on my city's throne ? It's pure and blatant disrespect, he's still bitter of losing !"

"Theseus might not be the best, but his son Hippolytus often hunts with Artemis, he seems like a respectable man."

"He must be if your sister welcomes him in her hunts," Athena admits, "I suppose he is fitted to rule once Theseus dies."

"I'm sure Dionysus would be thrilled to hear of his death," Apollo says, amused, "he hasn't forgiven him for abandoning Ariadne on Naxos."

"And now he is marrying her sister, Phaedra. Good political move, joining Athens and Crete so that Minos' debacle doesn't happen again."

"Careful Athena, someone might hear a hint of praise in your voice." he whispers, making a show of making sure they're alone.

She rolls her eyes but indulges him a smile nonetheless.

"Hermes has been spending a lot of time in your company, has he not ?"

"Are you implying I am humourless without him ?"

"I merely imply that your tales used to be of good taste."

"Careful he doesn't hear you," Apollo laughs, "he is quite spiteful when it comes to his beloved tricks and jokes."

"I'll survive him," she says drily, "now don't you artists to inspire ? It's been a while since I heard the Muses sing on Olympus."

"I may have spend more time than I thought with Asclepius," he shrugs sheepishly, "but now that he is a man, he can be on his own."

"You will not protect him ?"

"Of course I will ! He may not be a young child now but he is still mine." He snaps, offended by her implication, "I will always protect my children, wether they are young or old."

"Be careful of your emotions Apollo" she warns him, "do not let them control you when it comes to mortals, you will regret it."

"Don't fear Athena, I have no reason to succumb to them," he reassure his sister, "no one will harm my son for he hasn't done anything to deserve such treatment."

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

Aphrodite watches a young man with a bow strapped on his back making his way to King Theseus' palace.

She sees him greeting his father as a prince should to his king, bowing his head in respect, and grant one too to his new queen.

Phaedra is, like her sister Ariadne, a woman of great beauty. Nothing surprising there, as she is of divine lineage.

Standing there, draped with the finest silk in Greece and shining gold jewels, she is magnificent.

She expects to feel in the young man some kind of desire, arousal like any other men would at the sight of the daughter of Minos.

But he stays cold, indifferent and soon depart from the throne room, not a single thought about the beauty he just met.

With seething rage, she sees him kneeling in front of an altar dedicated to Artemis, the young man thanking the maiden for letting him join her hunts, for allowing him to run besides her in the forest.

A sneer disfigures her gracious face when she hears him reject love and physical attraction, talking about her domains with disgust.

"Eros !" She calls upon her cherished son who, loyal as ever, appears next to her, "my dear son, I need you to hit someone with one of your arrows."

"Of course, mother. Who is the arrogant mortal ?" He inquires, already notching an arrow.

"The son of Theseus, but he is not your target." She looks back on earth, where Phaedra is in her chambers, looking outside by the window, "she is."

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

He is in Atlantis when he hears his son's vengeful demands.

Theseus is Poseidon's pride and joy, not only for being a hero but also for seating on the throne of Athens, the loss of the city to Athena still a bitter subject for him.

But what he is asking...

There is no worse crime than shedding your own blood, than killing your family.

As divine beings, they are exempt of the rule because they cannot kill each other, despite their best's attempts to do so.

But Theseus is mortal and he is asking of Poseidon to kill Hippolytus, his own son.

The god of the sea frowns, swaying his trident in deep thought.

His son is his pride and joy, clearly fit to rule and he has proven himself a wise man.

As Hippolytus' char races on the stony path of the steep cliffs, Poseidon sends two sea serpents near the coast of Attica.

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

He is chilling on a tree, plucking lazily his lyre, when he feels the pull of soul in need of guidance.

He adjusts his helmet and sandals, there's no need to repeat last century's debacle, and speeds toward the source.

"Hello, young man," Hermes says cheerfully to the soul awaiting him, "I would ask you how your way was going but-" He grins sheepishly, "I think I know the answer."

"I- I'm dead."

"Yes, rather unfortunately."

The soul doesn't move, staring at the ground.

"Always a shock for you mortals." Hermes sighs, taking gently but firmly the young man's arm, "Come along, you are no longer a part of the living world."

He could rush them to the Underworld, dropping the soul on the Styx's bank but the man seems so lost, Hermes figures he can waste some time keeping him company.

"Do you have payment ?" He asks him as they walk, invisible to livings things.

"No !" says the soul with panic, "I didn't expect to die !"

"Take this, I'm feeling gracious today." He hands him two golden drachmas, "didn't expect to die you say ? Where were you going ?"

"My father, King Theseus, exiled me for a crime I did not commit."

Theseus' son... He's sure that he's already heard of him.... Aphrodite ? yes, yes, she was ranting about how disrespectful the boy was ! Or was it Artemis ? He's sure Artemis already mentioned him...

"You're Hippolytus !" Hermes snaps his fingers when he remembers, "the mortal man hunting alongside Artemis' group."

"Oh ! Lady Artemis !" Hippolytus laments, "please Lord Hermes, please tell her that I was falsely accused !"

"Of what ?" He inquires, rather curious about the whole thing.

"My father's new woman, Phaedra, tried to sleep with and when I refused, she told my father I had abused her !" He snarls, "Apparently, my father believed her more than me and exiled me."

"That's- quite the story." Hermes says.

And one with divine intervention at that too ! He's sure of it.

Aphrodite was too furious about the boy not to do anything about it.

"And then, two sea serpents attacked me !" The young man rants one, gesturing wildly, "the horses got frightened and- I fell off and hit my head against a sharp rock." He finishes glumly.

And it seems Poseidon played a hand in this too.

"I will deliver the news to Artemis," he reassures the son of Theseus, "but I am sure she doesn't believe Phaedra. If she let you join her hunt, she'll know you didn't do it."

"Thank you Lord Hermes."

"Always happy to deliver !" He grins, "but this is where we part ways, I wish you best of luck for your trial."

They have reached the Underworld's entrance and while he should accompany him until the Styx, he wants to warn Artemis before she hears it from someone else. She had truly befriended the mortal and there is no doubt his death will sadden her.

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

Artemis is waiting, patience reaching its limit.

Her huntresses are getting restless, itching for the hunt to begin and so is she.

"My Lady," her lieutenant asks, "how much time must we wait for the boy ?"

"He has never been late before and as such, I will allow him this misstep. When he arrives, I'll make clear that this situation must never happen again. But as for now Zoe, we wait until he is here."

Zoe nods and goes spread her orders, eliciting groans and scoffs from her sisters.

Artemis does not blame them for she is herself surprised wit her leniency.

A boy hunting with her, something she had thought impossible, except for Apollo of course.

However, Hippolytus has shown his devotion to her and has proven himself good company.

While he is still boastful and pride like any young man is, he knows when to bow and show respect to her huntresses and her, the goddess he worships.

"Something's coming !" Phoebe alerts and indeed, horses are running wildly towards them in a cloud of dust.

A sharp edge of uneasiness pierces her mind but Artemis ignores it, watching the horses getting nearer and nearer.

They are dragging a chariot, she realises.

One without driver.

When the animals stop panting in front of her, she is proven wrong.

There once had been a driver but he lays now dead and covered in dust from all the way the horses dragged him.

It's with horror that she recognises Hippolytus' face, his eyes devoid of like and staring blankly at the blue sky.

She softly cleans his face, dusting off the dirt and caked blood, while silver tears fall on the ground.

Her, the maiden goddess, crying over a dead man.

"My Lady," Zoe rests her hand on her shoulder, "we should give him a proper funeral, let his soul rest at last."

"No."

"No ?" The huntress staggers back surprised, "I thought he was worthy of your friendship !"

"He is, and that is why he will not die today." Artemis says with resolution, scooping the dead body in her arms, "Go to Athens and warn Theseus of this... event."

"Artemis", Zoe whispers, "forgive me the disrespect but nobody can bring back the dead from Lord Hades' realm."

"I believe you are wrong my dear Zoe, there is someone capable of this feat. When your task is done, come find me at Epidaurus."

With a bright flash, the goddess vanishes with Hippolytus' corpse.

Zoe is Artemis' most loyal sister, she is devoted to the goddess and will be until the Fates deem to cut her string.

"Sisters, come !" She orders at other girls, "Our Lady wishes us to come to Athens and warn King Theseus of this tragedy, then we will join her at Epidaurus."

"All of this for a man ?" Phoebe scoffs.

"It is not our place to question her Phoebe, if he is has gained her sympathy then he must be a good man." Zoe defends the goddess.

The daughter of Apollo scowls but stays silent.

As they journey towards Athens, Zoe thinks of a man in a garden.

Would that one come to die, she would sooner dance and celebrate than try to bring him back.

She hears the wind blowing fast and suddenly, Hermes is in front of her, the usually bright face of the trickster now grim.

"Lord Hermes," she bows, the rest of her sisters following her gesture, "what brings you here ?"

"The young man Artemis has befriended is dead." Hermes says sadly before frowning, "you don't seem very surprised."

"We stumbled on his body, we were on our way to tell King Theseus."

"Oh that won't be necessary since he is the one who asked the Earthshaker to kill Hippolytus." Hermes says brightly, "no message to deliver then !"

As fast as he appeared, the god of thieves disappears.

For one minute, Zoe tries to understand the new information she has before giving up.

"Well then," she turns to the huntresses, "we go to Epidaurus."

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

"Asclepius !" A voice startles him.

"Asclepius, I need your help !" He knows that voice.

"Lady Artemis," he greets cheerfully his aunt, "how can I help you ?"

When she presents him the dead body, his bright demeanour vanishes.

"My Lady... he is dead. I cannot bring him back."

"You are the most gifted child of my brother," she refutes, "so versed in the healing arts that you surpass him. Please, find a way. I know you can."

"I-" he wavers, looking at the tear-eyed goddess, "I can't guarantee it would work but maybe... gorgon blood is most wonderful.... and mixed with snake's poison... a flower for healing..." he hesitates, "I suppose it could work."

He hastily makes his way into his chamber to grab all the ingredients.

"Let's see," he mumbles, "poison of an earth creature, breaking the bind with the Underworld... a sun-touched flower from Delos to greet the soul into the living realm and-" he pauses, the open vial floating upside the cauldron, "and gorgon's blood, form the left side, to bring back the soul."

He stirs the mixture until it is clear and scoops some of it.

Carefully, he pours it into Hippolytus' mouth.

The man's eyes open instantly, the body jolting back to life as its soul is back.

"What- I was waiting for Charon by the river- and then..." He sees Artemis and falls on his knees," My Lady ! Please, I did not do it, I have stayed true to you and your values."

"Hippolytus," the goddess smiles, "there is no need to panic. I do not know of what you have been accused of and it doesn't matter for I believe you."

"Thank you" she looks at Asclepius, "for bringing him back. You are truly a prodigy, my brother couldn't be more proud."

"Thank you, My Lady." He answers softly, pride warming his body at Apollo's mention.

It's the last thing he feels before white hot searing pain set his body aflame.

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

When Apollo discover his son's death, the whole word endure his grief.

His screams, ethereal sounds of discord and strife, echo on all Olympus, deafening all its population.

"Who ?" He growls, eyes a pure gold, "who did this ?"

It's Hermes who gives him an answer, his brother looking warily at the heat waves he is emitting.

"Asclepius brought someone back from the dead, Hades didn't like it and ask our father justice."

"The only justice he found was killing my son !" He roars and the ground beneath him cracks.

"Well," Hermes sweats nervously, looking ready to dash off, "a soul for a soul ?"

"A soul for a soul, you say ?" He snarls, conjuring his bow, "very well then."

"Wait, Apollo-" Hermes screams with worry at his brother, "Apollo, don't do anything rash !"

But Apollo doesn't listen, doesn't care.

All he knows is that his father killed his son.

His bright, kind, wonderful son.

Distantly, he hears Chiron and Athena in his mind, their words of advice resonating.

They are drowned by a wave of grief and lust for vengeance, blinding him and all he can thing about is hurting Zeus.

How ?

How can he inflict such pain on his father ?

Killing his children ? No, he will not step that low.

Then who ?

He looks at his bow, masterfully crafted by cyclops when his father still loved him.

Cyclops.

The ones who forged the lightning bolt.

He takes three arrows from his quiver and his bow.

Zeus will be furious, a small voice hisses at him, absolutely livid !

He falters, his skin prickling as he remembers the lightning's touch on him.

Is he worth it ? the voice persists, is he worth the pain ?

Asclepius and his wide, blue, innocent eyes.

Asclepius and his kindness, healing whoever came to him for help.

His Asclepius, his son.

His young boy that he failed to protect.

Apollo disappears in a show of harsh, blinding golden light.

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

They greet him with open arms, surprised of his visit but pleased.

"Not much company," one groans, "except Hephaestus sometimes."

They go down quickly, too slow for his arrows, too shocked by his attack.

As he stands covered in their dust, he wonders avidly if his father knows.

He wants him to.

He wants to Zeus to bellow in rage when he sees that Apollo slaughtered his cyclops.

He wants him to suffer.

He knows he'll pay the price, painfully so, but he thinks of Asclepius and doesn't regret his actions.

Not even when thunder rumbles, when white lightning scars the sky.

Not even when he is summoned to Olympus and Zeus beats him to the ground, leaving him bloody and scorched.

His father brutally grabs his throat and holds against one of the white columns of the throne room.

"Tell me foolish boy," the king snarls, "what were you trying to accomplish ?"

"You kill my son and expect me to do nothing ?" He roars back, trashing against his father's painful grip.

"SILENCE !" Zeus bellows, sending sparks of electricity burn Apollo's throat, "your son was a filthy mortal full of hubris" he hisses," thinking himself above the mortal's nature."

Fury fills Apollo and he sends a beam of burning light right into Zeus' flank.

"DO NOT SPEAK OF MY SON LIKE THAT !" He wails, still trapped against the column.

Zeus' eyes whiten out completely and waves of electricity roll into Apollo's body, setting all his nerves ablaze.

"I will speak of your son like I see I fit," Zeus snarls, tightening his grip to the point where Apollo can hardly breath, "and don't you dare attack your king again. Are we clear ?"

Apollo tries to speak but no words come out.

His father loosens ever so slightly his grip and air floods his lungs.

"Yes" He rasps.

"Yes my King." His father stresses on the last word.

"Yes my King." He repeats, his whole body burning with shame.

"Good, good." Zeus says and he lets him fall on the ground while he sits on his throne.

"For killing the cyclops, for attacking your King and doubting my justice, I condemn you to hang over Tartarus for fifty years," Zeus smiles cruelly, "that should teach you to know your place."

"Father-" He tries to plea, the thought of dangling over that place with no sun, no music terrifying him.

"No, Apollo, my judgement is final." Zeus says with a cold voice, not even looking at him, "now go, I have a meeting with minor gods and you wouldn't want them to see the disgrace you are, the pathetic excuse of a son you have become."

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

Zeus finds again in the gardens, fiddling with his harp.

"Son."

Apollo jolts, scrambling back on his feet and putting as much as distance possible between himself and Zeus.

"Father," his voice trembles, "is it time to send me to Tartarus ?"

"No," his father says with a soft voice, "your mother pleaded your cause, begged me to lighten your punishment."

A new wave of shame burns his stomach when he thinks of his mother kneeling in front of Zeus, begging him to be king to their son...

"Instead," he continues, "you will serve a king of Greece as mortal for one year."

"Father, I-" He wants to thank him for his mercy but Zeus isn't done.

"Hades has also agreed to let me bring back the Cyclops and I have decided to make Asclepius the new god of medicine."

"You," his breath hitches, "I will see my son again ?"

"As long as he refrains from bringing mortals back from the dead, yes."

Tears of joy flood his eyes.

His son, a god !

"Father, I cannot thank you enough !"

"I have realised that I was too harsh on you," Zeus sighs, "let us put all of this behind us."

His father smiles at him and offer him a hand.

Apollo looks at that hand, the one who just a little while ago almost choked him to death.

But Zeus had seen that he was mistaken, that he had been in the wrong and there he was, willing to make amends.

"Of course, Father, thank you for your kindness." Apollo smiles back, taking Zeus' hand.

"You are welcome, son." Almost imperceptibly, his hold tightens and his blue eyes flash. "as long as you control your emotions, we won't face another situation like this."

"Yes, Father, I will try my best."

Zeus nods, happy with Apollo's promise, and promptly leaves him again.

He hears a gush of wind behind him and there stands Hermes.

"He's waiting for you in your palace."

Apollo doesn't need him to clarify who is waiting for him, he whispers a quick "thank you" before rushing to the golden palace a little further on the mountain.

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

"Father !"

Asclepius lungs himself at Apollo, who hugs him as fiercely as he did when his son was only a young boy.

"My son, my beautiful son !" He cries, burying his head into his son's golden curls.

"Father, it's okay," his son whispers softly, "I'm alive now."

"But you died !" Apollo says between sobs, "you died and I failed to protect you."

"I'm god now, I'm here, with you, for forever." His son says smiling, looking at him with those wide, blue, innocent eyes.

The reminder is enough for the tears to stop falling, for him to laugh wildly and pick up Asclepius, making him turn in the air like he did when he was eleven.

see ? he tells the little voice as Asclepius laughs, it was worth it.

This became way longer than I thought !

It was time Apollo got a happy ending, even though I made him suffer a lot....

If you think Zeus is little too nice, don't be fooled. He's just trying to gaslight Apollo into making him think that he is the problem here, by being the one with wild reactions while he is merciful, fair, blababla.

[joshym]

Watch Me

Pairing: Josh x f!reader

Summary: You love getting to support Josh in all of his pursuits, but sometimes your anxiety gets the best of you. And knowing this, he finds the perfect way to use music to offer you comfort in a particularly anxious moment. 

Word Count: 1.6k+

A/N: Josh at Lollapalooza is one of my greatest weaknesses. And him singing this song, at Lollapalooza specifically, is a huge comfort to me. I thought it only fitting to write a one shot in which he offers support to his girlfriend in a moment of anxiety. We all know he would be the most attentive boyfriend to any mental illness, and this story shows how he’d use music (you both love) to do so. 

This is my first story to share on here, so I am a little nervous to post. But, I wanted to share just in case this hit home for anyone who struggles with anxiety. I seriously hope you enjoy! 

Warnings: Mentions of anxiety, allusions to sex, serious fluffiness.

“Just look at me. Don’t focus on anything else, just watch me. Okay, baby?”

🎶🥀🎶

You had always loved concerts. Live music ignited something in your soul that nothing else came remotely close to achieving. You loved following Josh and the boys around to their shows, seeing them do what they love and watching them succeed. You made it a point to go to as many shows as possible, and Josh loved your support. He fed off of it, always saying he performed at his best just knowing you were in the crowd. He also loved getting to see you right after each show, so full of excitement and adrenaline. You loved seeing him so happy, and you loved that you could be a small part of that joy he exuded. 

The boys were gearing up to play the Lollapalooza festival in Chile this week, and you were eager to join and witness what you knew would be one of their best shows. The only issue: there are no seats at festivals, just general admission.

Yes, you loved concerts, always had. But admittedly, you avoided general admission due to your intense anxiety. You’ve struggled with your anxious thoughts for as long as you can remember. It can be quite debilitating at times. 

Josh is always so attentive and understanding, constantly making sure you’re okay and not too overwhelmed. He also knows just what to do to calm you down. He knows you so well, and he knows exactly how to reassure you and help you feel safe in any situation.

Josh knew you were nervous. He told you multiple times that you didn’t have to come along this time, but you insisted. You knew he would need you there and you didn’t want to miss this magical moment for him and his brothers.

“I just worry about you, sweetheart. Your soul is too lovely to be plagued with such trouble. Really, it’s okay if you can’t put yourself through it. I’ll know you’re there in spirit, sweet girl.”

“I’m not missing this, babe. I’ll be just fine, I promise. I can’t miss this. I’m so proud of you, and it wouldn’t feel right to not be there just because I get a little overwhelmed.”

“Well, if you insist. Just promise me that if you feel the nerves rising, watch me. Just look at me. Don’t focus on anything else, just watch me. Okay, baby?”

“I do insist, and I will. I promise. And truth be told, I don’t think I’d be able to focus on anything else if I tried. You’re pretty dazzling, especially on the stage.”

“Gee whiz, what did I do to deserve the likes of you, huh? I’m quite lucky to have you, you know.”

🎶🥀🎶

The day has come. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t terrified. There’s a lot of people out there, and soon you’ll be mixed in with the eager crowd. This show wasn’t set up like the others. Usually, you’d be seated on the side of the stage on either Jake or Sam’s side. You were never fond of being backstage, as you loved being able to see them from the audience’s perspective. Each show was never short of breathtaking, and you loved being amongst all the loving and adoring fans in the safety of seated sections.

This time, your only option was a pass that gave you access to the barricade. You’d have the best view of the whole crowd, but the mind-numbing thoughts and fears were becoming a bit too much. You were so much in your head about all the things that could go wrong. There were so many people out there. So. Many. People.

You had helped Josh get ready, helping him situate his mic pack on his red velvet pants. This was by far one of your favorite looks on him and it was a welcome distraction. You’d been so excited to see him wear this outfit on stage, and you’d even dressed yourself as a perfect match to him in your own red velvet cropped vest and mini skirt adorned with jewels and a single white rose on your hip.

After getting his mic pack positioned and attached just right, he turned to you and grabbed you by the waist with a strong and intentional grasp, looking you up and down.

“Gosh, you look magnificent. I won’t be able to keep my eyes off of you.”

He leaned in to kiss you, and you relished in it. It was full of passion and love. You reciprocated, kissing him back with the same fervor. You could’ve stayed in this moment forever. He was so comforting, so reassuring. 

The kiss was reluctantly broken by Josh’s warning that it was almost time to hit the stage, and almost time for you to be escorted to your spot in the mix of fans.

“Remember what I said, baby. Just watch me.” He gave you another quick peck on the lips, followed by a wink. 

You were taken to your spot, and the nerves were hitting. You felt so confined and restricted. You were counting each second until your beloved graced the stage, eager to lay your eyes on him and feel the instant relief you knew that would bring.

Finally, here they come. 

Jake’s guitar roars through the atmosphere, Danny’s drums beat louder than the pounding of your anxious heart, Sammy’s bass reverberating through your being.

And Josh. His voice captivating you. No matter how many times you hear him sing, he never fails to astonish you. You’re always left enchanted.

The familiar chords of The Cold Wind begin, and you feel your body become a bit lighter. 

The familiarity and comfort ease the tension, and you keep your eyes locked on Josh. He glances your way every so often, blushing and smiling each time. 

The boys were notorious for planning their setlists right before a show, allowing the list come naturally and authentically to them as they prepare to hit the stage.

Because of this, you pretty much never knew what to expect from them, and you absolutely loved that.

The next few songs were electric. This crowd was so full of love for them, and the boys could feel it. 

However, your anxiety was beginning to cripple you. You could feel the weight of the crowd, the screaming and yelling becoming louder and louder. You kept your focus on Josh, and it helped. You were nervous, but you’d be damned if you let it show. 

Flower Power had just come to its exuberant ending. You were anxiously awaiting the next tune, noticing Josh’s glances had become a bit more frequent. You had a funny feeling that he had something planned, though you had no idea what it could possibly be. You were intrigued, to say the least.

“Watch Me now, Watch Me!”

There it was. 

You instantly knew where this was going.

Jake’s guitar began strumming the familiar tune, Sammy’s keys quickly following suit. 

“Watch me when you call my name…”

Watch Me. The song Josh sings to you anytime you’re in the midst of your struggles. This song has been your source of comfort for as long as you can remember, something Josh loves about you as it’s one of his favorite songs, too.

“Yes, I’m so glad you came…”

You knew exactly what he was doing. He knew this song would bring you comfort and serenity, and he added it to the setlist just for you.

“Touch me in your own sweet way…”

Your eyes instantly became welled with tears. Tears of pure joy and love. 

In this moment, Josh was all you could see, all you could hear. He filled your senses. 

Nothing else mattered. He was singing this for you, he was singing this to you. He looked at you continuously to gage your reaction, smiling brightly when he saw the happiness splayed across your face. 

“All the time, I love you…”

The crowd reciprocated the song beautifully, clapping to the beat and chiming in on the chorus. 

Josh’s stage presence was electrifying. 

You couldn’t take your eyes off his, making eye contact with your beloved as he sings so beautifully.

“Say that you’re mine…”

He looks at you again, smiling ear to ear, pointing at you. You’ve suddenly forgotten about any fear you’d had leading up to this moment. It just didn’t seem to matter anymore. You were protected, you were loved, you were happy.

“I’m still falling, but not quite so far…”

The song came to an end in pure Greta Van Fleet fashion: extravagantly.  

Josh waved a peace sign to the crowd, making your heart full.

The rest of the set was incredible to say the least. The boys played their hearts out as usual, but you were so ready for it to end so you could see Josh and hold him tighter than ever before.

🎶🥀🎶

You were escorted to their trailers, and you eagerly pushed your way through to him. You grabbed him, and he instantly lifted you up and spun you around with excitement. You kissed him with even more intensity than before, eliciting a small moan from him.

“I take it you liked the set, yeah?”

He’s smirking at you, knowing good and well what your answer is without you needing to say a single word.

“You’re absolutely unreal, Joshua. You’re prodigious, you’re beautiful, you’re—.”

He stops you with a kiss, stealing the breath from your lungs.

“Now listen, I’m the rambler in this relationship. Stop while you’re ahead, sweet girl, trust me.” 

You both break out in boisterous giggles together, and you watch the way his nose scrunches as he laughs.

“I just love you a lot. Thank you, Josh.”

He pulls you in to a deeper kiss, his hands trailing up and down your body as yours wrap around his neck, playing with his curls that rest in the back.

He moves slightly to lock the door to the trailer.

You break the kiss, looking at him with lustful eyes.

“Wouldn’t want anyone to walk in and ‘watch’ us, right?”

🎶🥀🎶

A/N: I wanted to link the performance for anyone who may want to watch it again. It’s just so beautiful. 😭 

Masterlist

[curawrites]

A Gift

Xavier Thrope x Addams!fem! Reader

Warnings: Tyler Galpin, lazy ending

Note: just some fluff! i wrote this a while ago and I just need something to post. Reader is Wednesday’s sister 💚

You pushed open the door of the Weathervane, the chime of the little bell irritating your ears. A tortoise shell cat following close behind you.

“Welcome to the Weathervane how can I help you?” Tyler the barista your sister had taken a slight interest in greeted automatically, “Oh- sorry y/n, what can I get you?” He asked once seeing it was you.

You stared at him for a moment before greeting him coldly, “Hello Tyler.” You repositioned the strap of your cross body bag before speaking again. “I’m here for Xavier, not coffee.”

“Oh. I see. I can go get him.” Tyler replied awkwardly before heading towards the back of the cafe

You stood by the counter waiting. After a minute you finally see the long haired boy.

“Hello, Xavier.” You greet, much less coldly than you did the other boy.

“Hey, didn’t think I’d see you around the Weathervane, seeing as you don’t particularly like coffee.” Xavier smiled at you as he leaned on the counter.

“I’m done with my assignment actually.” You state, “I didn’t feel like torturing myself further by going to Pilgrim World to visit my sister so I decided to come here instead.”

“Well I’m flattered that you’ve come to see me. I can brew you some tea if you want.” He offered.

“No need, I’m not in the mood for a cup of tea.” You decline.

“So.. how was your day at Uriah’s Heap?” He asked as he started making coffee.

“I quite enjoyed myself honestly, the shop was good and I found many things I liked. But I would have enjoyed my time much more if Enid wasn’t flirting with Ajax the entire time.” You sighed.

Xavier chuckled before starting to make a latte, “Seems you’ve got yourself a little friend there.” He remarked looking at the cat rubbing itself against your legs.

You looked down at the fluffy cat, your gaze softening, “He’s been following me since I left Uriah’s Heap. I’m surprised that it’s so fond of someone like me.” You bent down to pick up the cat and held it in your arms like a little baby.

“He’s not the only one fond of you, you know.” Xavier passed on the latte to Tyler before going back to looking at you.

“Are you saying you’re fond of me, Xavier?” You asked looking at the boy

Your gentle expression made him smile boyishly, “What if I am, hm?”

“Then I would say that I’ve grown fond of you to.” You replied looking into his eyes.

“Really?” He asked, a bit surprised.

“Yes, you’re one of the only people who doesn’t make me want to crawl into an endless abyss to avoid them.” You joke but it didn’t really work considering your tone sounded the same.

“I’ll take that as win.” He smiled and straightened back up.

You gently placed the cat down on the floor, “Anyway. I decided to call the cat Belphegor and got him a collar after I purchased some things at Uriah’s heap.” You say as you dug through your bag trying to find the collar you bought. You pulled out a spiked black collar from your bag and ripped off the packaging.

���Love the collar. It fits right in with your.. aesthetic.” Xavier commented.

“I didn’t pick it, he did. I would of rather given him a sophisticated bow tie but he was very insistent on getting this one.” You said crouching down to the cats level so you could put on its collar.

He chuckled at the thought of you arguing with the cat in collar isle of the pet store while it just meowed loudly back, “What else did you get?” He asked.

“A few shirts and sweaters.” You shrugged, “and a gift for you..which I’d rather give to you in private.” You said shyly.

“You’re full of surprises today, y/n” He grinned.

You rolled your eyes, “When does your shift end?”

Xavier checked the clock mounted on the wall, “In about half an hour.” He sighed.

You visibly deflated, “Well then, can I get a cup of tea then?”

“Of course, what kind?” He got a mug ready.

“Black tea.” You replied getting out your wallet.

“Don’t worry about paying, it’s on the house.” He smiled, before turning around to prepare your tea.

While his back was turned you stuffed a five dollar bill into the tip jar before sitting down at a table near by.

Your leg bounced anxiously as you waited.

You really hoped he was going to like it..

[centrally-unplanned]

There is a particular brand of Trump Apologism from the Wonk Standpoint that I particularly hate, that tries to Well Actually something by shifting the goalposts. MR is giving me one today it seems, about the NATO comments:

Long-time MR readers will know I am not fond of Trump, either as a president or otherwise.  (And I am very fond of NATO.)  But on this issue I think he is basically correct.  Yes, I know all about backlash effects.  But so many NATO members do not keep up serious defense capabilities.  And for decades none of our jawboning has worked. Personally, I would not have proceeded or spoken as Trump did, and I do not address the collective action problems in my own sphere of work and life in a comparable manner (“if you’re not ready with enough publications for tenure, we’ll let Bukele take you!” or “Spinoza, if you don’t stop scratching the couch, I won’t protect you against the coyotes!”).  So if you wish to take that as a condemnation of Trump, so be it.  Nonetheless, I cannot help but feel there is some room for an “unreasonable” approach on this issue, whether or not I am the one to carry that ball.

This idea, that like "oh you know he may have phrased it weirdly but this is a real NATO problem ya know" is hopelessly disingenuous: how he phrased it is the problem! If he just talked about how NATO allies are free-riding on defense procurement, a thing everyone has been saying for 20 years, it wouldn't be news! The news is that he just casually mentions the idea that he would love to see our allies invaded! He is running for President! Its literally a diplomat job! He sucks at it to a hilarious degree! That is why this is a story!!

It actually is fine to, behind closed doors, go to NATO partners and say "okay, we are gonna set a deadline that if you don't reach force readiness the US is leaving NATO" or w/e. I don't think that is wise, NATO is still a net win for the US, you gotta appreciate that these things work dynamically - note how NATO partner Poland is stepping up to the plate right now because they have a strong reason to, and NATO makes that easier for everyone involved. But anyway, fine enough if you think the gambit can work.

But what you don't do is publicly cast ambiguity over your mutual security deterrents when you yourself haven't decided on them. Will Trump pull out of NATO? Who knows! He hasn't said he will. Will he back NATO allies in war? Idk he publicly says maaaaaaybe not. But if you are Russia, and you hear public comments like this, perhaps you might think huh, you know, I could roll the dice, invade Estonia! And then Trump doesn't back down because its Tuesday or w/e, and suddenly you are all at war. Because you intentionally cast doubt on if your alliance was real because you felt pissy one day!

I spend my life shitting on how basic IR theory is, because it is, but sometimes life makes you realize exactly how much more basic everyone else is. However, Tyler Cown, you are not basic. You are a very smart person. You know all this. Stop trying to be a uwu Straussian Hot Take clever little baby boy and score "both sides" points on the ledger in your status brain to appease your audience.

I don’t usually blog on “candidate topics” or “Trump topics” but 

That "but" is a war crime against rhetoric, I would convict you at Nuremburg for that alone.

[philosophicalparadox]

Itachi is a Weird Kid(tm)

These need to exit my tired brain so I am releasing the wild, naked baby plot bunnies upon ye:

Some of these points are paragraphs because that’s just my style, but this one’s not super long (for me 😅) so I’ll leave it no-cut.

He is more fond of plants and birds than people. That he’s an introvert surprises nobody but it’s worth mentioning.

He doesn’t know how to have a “normal”conversation with normal people; he’s been so conditioned by his Shinobi centric/Child soldier life that he literally doesn’t know how to talk to civilians at their level, so to speak. An ordinary conversation about ordinary, every day things is either boring and meaningless, or completely lost on him in most cases.

He is somewhat accidentally piscivarian/ predominantly vegetarian. This is more an observation of canon than a HC. His character/data sheet does mention that he’s fond of vegetables, particularly crunchy ones like cabbage and peppers, and utterly hates red meat, but we do see him eating fish and I don’t think he’d be opposed to chicken or eggs either, whatever that would make him. (I could go on and on about how this, among other things, queer codes tf out of him, but I will refrain)

To that effect, he has absolutely stellar foraging skills, particularly with regards to edible and medicinal plants. He could survive on his own for quite some time if he needed to, and I suspect he did for a while before joining the Akatsuki.

Many of Itachi’s “weaknesses” in fact make him more dangerous, not less — that is to say, they make him unpredictable. To whit, in my opinion, his weaknesses are:

Small Children (protective brother instinct, or maybe a paternal one) — these will give him pause in most situations, but lord help whoever thinks it’s a good idea to try using that against him. He will do anything he can to avoid hurting or killing a child, but that does not work out to mean they make good leverage — he’s much too clever and knows how to put on a show to fake his opponents out a little too well. He’s not necessarily afraid to frighten a child either if it means they live to see another day, though if it can be avoided all the better. But what makes it dangerous is that his whole disposition changes when there’s children involved. If you don’t know him well one might not notice, but it’s a palpable change, a charged kind of energy he doesn’t typically have otherwise — an opponents threat level to him personally ceases to matter quite as much as their relative threat to the child. One of the few situations in which he might go out of his way to start a fight with a civilian or other typical non-combatant.

His Stress Response: Itachi is not someone who ever had the option to flee in most cases as a child. So he’s developed a Freeze-Fight pipeline. When confronted with something that scares him, he will, situationally, freeze, first — not bad for a Shinobi, really, as freezing makes one less noticeable and might give one time to assess. Given the option, he would like to do that, but in the event he can not, whether because the opponent is moving or the situation is overwhelming or too stressful, he will immediately switch to Fight. Good when you’re being attacked. Not so good when the PTSD flashbacks get you or a nightmare wakes you up ready to throw hands. The real danger of the Freeze-Fight pipeline is that it presents the illusion that his Threshold of Tolerance is higher than it actually is; He can therefore seem very, explosively unpredictable when he’s under extreme stress. If he’s actually terrified, you will not typically know it until he is so scared he lashes out. And the lash-out/freak out might seem disproportionate as a result of whatever is going on in his head.

6. He is surprisingly invisible. Despite being an Uchiha, despite having a widely known name, despite having fairly wide ranging reputation, he can be very effective as an undercover agent because he just… blends in. He’s not loud. He’s not aggressive. He’s not very noticeable at all, especially without his cloak. Adding to this, I personally believe in making him at least partially abide by his name, and thus posit that he has an unusual gift for the use of Henge, despite canon not mentioning it. It would be all too suitable for someone named after a shape-shifter to be skilled in the art of transforming himself into not only other people, but animals as well (which is supposedly the hardest kind of Henge to accomplish consistently).

7. He is…basically a cat, lol. Is borderline obsessively clean, keeps things tidy, doesn’t like being touched without permission, is moody as all hell, and very…demanding, in his own quiet way. Communicates with his body language more than one would assume, in that if he’s there, he’s there for a reason. Example being if he wanted to comfort someone— rather than making a fuss over them he’d probably just offer his company by moving closer, paralleling, etc. giving them space to bring it up or set it down. He never had much personal freedom as a kid, so he tries to be generous with others and not pry into their business unless he really needs to. He also communicates with his body in other ways related to staging — where he is in proximity to others — by drifting closer to those he trusts and keeping away from those he does not, I.e if he were traveling with a contractor or other akatsuki members in addition to his own partner, he may drift toward Kisame and stay next to him as opposed to trying to be in any particular position within the group.

8. This one’s more focused on other characters perception of him, but he is Weird in that for all his nasty reputation and abilities, he’s very demure and non-confrontational. He would rather not use his powers if he doesn’t strictly need to, and with regards to wayward animals he’s quite gentle, when he can afford to be.

9. On that note: his crows are his family damn near. He inherited these crows from Shisui, so they mean a good deal to him on the whole, although he will sacrifice them if he has to. But this is something he does with deep regret and respect, and the crows are just smart enough to sort of understand. They love him, he is their flock friend, and they will defend him/look after him of their own volition to the best of their ability. He could use his sharingan to trick them, and will if he must, but crows are much too clever to make a habit of it; it’s better for everyone if he goes out of his way to be their friend. Crows are a very difficult familiar/summons to have, because they’re insanely smart for an animal and they communicate with each other much like people do. You’ve no choice but to carefully cultivate your relationship with them, because if they decide they don’t like you, they will never let you forget it. They’re perfect for someone who is meticulous and kind like Itachi. You can not be mean or careless to a crow and expect them to forgive you.

I’m sure I’ll think of more, but until then Enjoy.

And please, Anti people of any flavor, don’t even bother. I won’t play those games.

[xfilesinamajor]

My Fics are All Over the Place

And most of them are smutty. All AO3 links because everything I write turns out long. An incomplete list:

Another Day in Paradise (Hazbin Hotel, Adam x Fem!OC, offensive language bc it's Adam and violence bc it's Hell, currently 100k and still going, my current baby)

Unspoken (Only Murders in the Building, Theo x Fem!Reader, 18+, 84k words, love and angst)

The Best Revenge (Hannibal, Chilton x Fem!Reader, 18+, 81k words, also love and angst)

Coattails (2012 The Lorax, Oncler x Fem!OC, 18+, 54k words, yes I went there but I am REALLY proud of my take on it)

Dangers of Working with Ferric Oxide (Venture Bros, Rusty x Fem!OC, 18+, 100k words, particularly fond of my OC in this)

Fumbling with the Future and Falling for the Future (2021 Encanto, same story from two different POVs, Bruno x Fem!OC, about 71k between the two, amazing NOT 18+ but there's a TW to make up for it)

With Wandering Steps and Slow (Ghost fandom, wip, Terzo x Fem!Reader, 18+, 23k words so far, lots of angst)

The Peach (Ghost fandom, wip, Cirrus x Fem!Reader, 18+, 35k words so far, kink and cuteness)

Flipping the Script (toes the line of original work because I based the whole thing on a four-minute song, standard M/F romance but I think I did a really good job on it nonetheless, 18+, 107k words)

Fireflies and Auto Theft (Gravity Falls, I did a whole series of these and they're honestly pretty good stories on reread so I guess I'll link them, Stan x Fem!Reader, 18+ even though it's a kids show I know I'm gross, 76k words)

And there a few one-offs and side-stories floating around my AO3 too.

[nanawaffles]

Hey, I just wanted to share an opinion after reading one of your posts which I completely agree with. Apparently there's always been a lot of LoTR (am I even writing the abbreviation right, uh...) and I was aware that the movies exist. It's been like 20 years since I first learnt about this universe and I haven't watched the movies yet. I started, I tried, it just never got me, while lots of ppl around me were either lorebros or admiring those elves played by Lee Pace and Orlando Bloom. Yeah, that's how illiterate I am. Never planned to change, but came across the Haladriel ship last year, caught my eye, and this year... wait, is it the came dude who gave off Flynn of Tangled vibes??? I swear, if such a characters, such an actor was a part of those movie trilogy I would have watched them long time ago! I mean, this is absolutely golden, I had to dive deeper and I totally enjoy Haladriel dynamics like I haven't enjoyed a romantic ship in ages (life made me go for bromances somehow). But what else occurs... All of my friends hate the show, I dunno if I ever tell them I wanna watch it and find the Haladriel thing amazing. Feels stupid, feels like doing something wrong.

First if all, hi, I'm so glad you could share this. Secondly, yes, LOTR is the correct abbreviation. 😊 thirdly, I'm so happy to hear that rings of power is giving you a a bit of an entryway into the world, that's amazing, and you have no idea how welcome you are by a lot of us. I can't say all of us, unfortunately, but a ton of us are thrilled you're here and interested.

Lastly yeaaaah that's exactly my concern. You shouldn't ever feel bad about wanting to enjoy a piece of art; and i think the negativity about rings of power has done quite a bit of damage to those who would be most welcome in the fandom and just being able to enjoy it. Take it from a hardcore fan of the books, the movies, who has been on this train since i was a wee little one-- there's nothing wrong with wanting to watch it, or even finding interest in haladriel it's an interesting ship though it sure does anger folks I'll tell ya. But everyone and everything has a critic, and there's far more of a fanbase than a negative one. Even those who don't ship it find it an interesting dynamic.

I think the lorebros, like you mentioned, got very attached to Jackson's vision, though even that vision was flawed--and in some ways flawed quite heavily-- aaand its kinda become their holy grail. Like i love lee pace and Orlando bloom, but there is certainly a gravitas that got added, and more than that Jackson changed both characters in ways I'm not particularly fond of. Why, I'm not quite sure. Orlando bloom seems the type of guy who if you told him to troll 95% of the time just cause his character is 3000 years old and thinks everyone is a baby, plus screech at seeing a balrog because "oh fucking shit" he'd have a blast. What rings of power hits on with elves that the movies don't... is the humanity if you will. They're thousands of years old, with wisdom given as gifts from youth, and still fuck up horrifically. They're not these.. stoic beings who speak all high and beyond everyone else's comprehension. They fuck around, they tease, if anything they're humans without the inhibitions because they are so old and. They explore and sometimes that destroys the world.

And I'm talking pure canon on that. I'll shut up now though-- point is it's not wrong. Millions of us like this show and fully believe it's worth it.

i wish you well. And if you ever do watch it, know that I'm cheering for you 😎❤

OH ALSO hal as Flynn vibes is something I've not thought of but gosh... that explains a lot.

[mirupiico]

HELLO your art is delicious amazing stunning showstopping!!!!!!!!!! i absolutely would love to hear more about your oc <3 she's literally so cuteeeeee

(also i love your breakdown on the accents!!!! like yes give me as much lore as possible)

Ah, you sweet sweet soul. You have opened the floodgates fully. I don't think you understand, I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS OC.

So my Field of Mistria OC's name is Emilia Goldhart and she's from the Caldosian Empire! Since the game is still in early access, aspects of her lore will likely change depending on the more we learn about the world building of the game. With what little info we have, I HC the Caldosian accent to be more or less the same as Scottish English. I am a massive linguistics and dialects nerd, so having an OC from far away from the main town whose accent provides both a point of charm and a language barrier that melts over time is super fun to write. To super simplify her background...

She was a street rat adopted by an adventurer's guild, doing whatever quests she could handle for her age in exchange for room and barebones food. A basic bed and bread was all she really needed, and she did whatever she could to maintain her basic needs. By the time she got into her teens and her body started filling out a little more, they started sending her on more serious assignments -- a femme fatale for hire. She was tasked with luring in men who owed debts to others, and would "collect a debt" (lowkeyjustmurder) on her client's behalf. She was taught to charm others easily, sharpening her natural wit and love for banter. And most importantly, it certainly paid better than petty theft and small monster killing for sure. Her training in this field made her very adept with knives and daggers specifically, and she has a distinct fondness for throwing knives. She would often wear the one nice attire she owned, a red dress, and tie her abundance of red hair into a tight and heavily braided bun, having to infiltrate densely packed late-night fancy galas to find her target. It got to the point where the pattern of seeing a woman in a red dress at parties where men died started a rumor that if a rich man or a scammer died overnight, he must've spent the night with the Maiden in Red.

However, having to put her life on the line and entertain weird rich older men just to survive was getting old. She wanted to escape, but she knew she only really was suited for harm, and had no real prospects for any other kind of work. It wasn't until a particularly auspicious day that she saw a flyer for a free farm available in backwater town she'd never heard of called Mistria. Before any of her bigger more adept peers could find it, she stole the flyer and left the guild in the dead of the night, following the map on the back of the paper...

Emilia post-moving-to-Mistria is a much happier girlie. She makes fast friends pretty quickly with Celine, Reina, and Adeline, often staying over at Celine's house with them for tea and gossip and giggling. Her favorite part of farming, however, are the animals. Her first animal, a duckling named Finnegan, was a gift to her from Hayden, the farmer/rancher that lives at Sweetwater Farm (due west of the player farm). She treats Finnegan like its her own human baby, carrying him around in her overalls pocket until gets too big to fit. The first day she got him, she just sat at Sweetwater farm with him and cried, watching him exist, baffled that he was real and cute and hers and perfect.

Emilia's accent when she first comes to town is extremely thick. The vast majority of the townsfolk don't understand her most of the time when she first moves in, but after hanging around with her girlies (Reina, Celine, Adeline) they start understanding her a little better. Terithia, and Balor, having been well traveled, also understand her a bit better than the others to some extent. Despite having been in the capital for some years, she never really talked to anyone or got close enough to anyone for that to change. It's not until her move to Mistria that her accent begins to wade slightly, however she will often slip back into it deeply if she's feeling any kind of heightened emotion like sadness, rage, or intoxication. I'd made a chart of her accent, but I can also reiterate it here:

Based on the example sentence: "Where do you live? I don't know."

First arriving to town / After a few beers too many: Lots of lexical Scotticisms, very heavily rhotic pronunciations, uses SSE grammar patterns. Only Terithia and Balor can really understand her fully. Example: "Whaur dae ye bide? Ah dinnae ken."

Months into Mistria: Fewer lexical Scotticisms, but the rhotic pronunciations and grammar patterns in there. More understood in town both from her being around more and her Scotticisms being dropped on occasion. Example: "Where de ye live? Ah dunno."

She also has a pretty significant crush on the farmer next door. Emilia isn't really used to just... overt sweetness? So from how brutally kind Hayden is to her on a regular basis, she starts softening up to him and his endearingly goofy love of animals. And, since her usual manner of getting chummy with someone involves a lot of flirty banter and teasing, she really enjoys how notably he responds to being hit on. Making him blush becomes a hobby at one point, though it's all fun and games until he starts figuring out ways to return the favor.

They're totally not dating though. They're definitely just bantering for fun. It's completely platonic and friendly no matter how red either one gets. Totally.

Also she's barefoot the vast majority of the time, with the exception of being in the mines, when it snows, or when its too cold outside.

And that's it! She lives rent free in my head, and I have multiple AUs and fics and shorts written about her that I haven't posted anywhere yet. I love her so much it makes me insane. Thank you for the ask!!!

[axolotlsupremacyowo]

Find the Word...Love Edition!

Hi besties! Now we're back with find the word...except, this time, it has a theme! And the theme is, love! All kinds of love! Familial, romantic, platonic, you name it! It's all about love, baby!

And to spread this love...lemme tag my bestiest of besties! Those being @sliebman10 @tsunderesalty @mrsmungus @oceangirl24 @narcissasdaffodil @udaberriwrites @hylianjo @sergeantneko @fattybattysblog @mikaharuka @bees-and-sunshine @kayedium-writes and of course, open tag! Seriously, if you wanna join, join right in!

Words for me to find

Passion, Affection, Dear, Cherish, Romance

Words for you to find!

Darling, Friendship, Fond, Tender, Relationship

All of these snippets came from newer fics...so count this as some weird ass self promo XD. But seriously, now let's go on to the snippets!

Passion (Golden Hour)

The two laughed together, another small moment in a memento of small moments that they were together. It all made sense, why Klavier had fallen for him. Especially when Apollo was laughing in that adorable way he always did, in the rare moments that he found Klavier’s jokes funny. When Apollo was done laughing, he said. “Well, I hope this at least helped with the stress you’ve been feeling, even a little.” “It did, Herr Forehead. Don’t worry.” Klavier said. Then, he got an idea. Now that he knew that he was in love with Apollo…why not tease him? “You know what else would help my stress?” Apollo skeptically eyed Klavier. “…What?” Klavier grinned. “A kiss.” “Prosecutor Gavin…” “I’m serious, Herr Forehead! But you probably don’t have the balls to-” Apollo grabbed hold of Klavier’s collar and kissed him. Klavier was surprised at first, but then, he melted into the kiss. Despite the initial aggression of Apollo grabbing his collar, the kiss was gentle. It wasn’t the passionate kisses that Klavier was used to, but he liked it all the same. In fact, he liked it better, how the two embraced each other, the love that emanated from Apollo as they kissed. The two separated, and Klavier found that he was still in awe.

Affection (Benji, Darling)

Miles scoffed. “I know what I’m doing, Wright.” Phoenix raised a brow. “Oh, really?” “Yes, Wright. I am quite good at talking to people.” Klavier, Ema, and Apollo all burst laughing. “…You know, they’re laughing for a reason.” Phoenix said with a smirk. Miles grumbled to himself. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there to help you. We can do this, alright?” Miles nodded. “Let’s do this.” “Alright.” Phoenix said, and then, he went back to his Ryuichi persona. “C’mon now, Benji! Let’s go get you some wine.” He playfully laughed, touching Miles’ arm affectionately. “Darling.”

Dear (Reunion)

“Dear Maya Fey,” That was how Franziska started every letter that she wrote to Maya Fey, reading through the old letters that she had written to her over the years. This one was the latest letter, a letter she had written after coming back to Los Angeles two years again. Just for the possibility of seeing Maya again, just to see her blue eyes and hear her laughter. But she wasn’t brave enough. Not brave enough to face Maya Fey again, to take on the risk of Maya hating her guts. Franziska wasn’t perfect, was far from perfect actually, even if she was a von Karma. And no doubt that Maya had heard about Mia’s trial with her. They were sisters, after all. She should hate her, she should. There was a small chance though, a chance that Maya missed her just as much.

Cherish (Throughout the Seasons)

At some point, they had decided to sit down on a park bench. The air was brisk, leaves dancing through the air as the fluttered down into the ground. Ema held her emergency bag of snackoos as she talked to Maya about some interesting forensics thing she came across in a recent case of hers. Maya listened intently, and of course made jokes and contributed to the conversation. Their conversations together were always things that Ema cherished, still laughing at Maya’s particularly jokes hours later. And this conversation, as Maya giggled and Ema snorted out a laugh, were just a reminder why. Then, Maya yawned. “Man, that coffee is making me sleepy.” “…Doesn’t coffee usually energize people?” Ema asked. “It does usually, but I'm different I guess. I don’t know why it makes me sleepy.” Maya said with a shrug. “Huh. There must be a psychological explanation for that. I dunno what it is, though.” “Aren’t you a scientist, Ema?” “I studied forensics, not psychology.” Ema replied. “And here I thought you were a science nerd.” Maya said Ema rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up.”

Romance (A Warm Welcome Home)

Phoenix placed down the letter and looked at the rest of the table. When Phoenix looked closely, the packages of food on the table were just some of his favorites, and he was sure that just as Miles had said, there was more food in the fridge for him, just like the letter had said. What caught Phoenix’s eyes the most were his favorite chips, cheese flavored Piattos. They didn’t even sell Piattos at their local grocery store, so Miles no doubt had to go all the way to the Asian grocery store…just to buy Phoenix’s favorite chips. He picked up the chips bag, sitting down on the chair as he tore the bag open. That familiar smell of cheese made his mouth water, especially after such a long flight. Eating the chips, Phoenix sighed in content, the nostalgic taste of the chips reminding him so dearly of the Philippines hitting his tastebuds. Just eating the chips, he was reminded of his life with his family, when he and his parents would eat chips as they watched old timey Filipino romance movies. When they would visit the Philippines for Christmas and Phoenix got to eat the snacks from his tita’s tindahan. Of his family.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed these snippets!

[mcl4r3n]

Dando + 13 pretty please moss ~ love birb <3

This was kind of inspired by @merryslilhobbit's Chapter 4 for Celebrations! <3

List of prompts here :3

---

The worst thing about Daniel Ricciardo's inability to let go of a bit is that Lando keeps having to suffer because of it.

He didn't even know that he was walking into one until it happened.

To run it back, here's the situation: Lando has big hands. Lando is good with his hands. And his stupid boyfriend is always complaining about his neck hurting. So Lando finally offers to massage him now that he's a lone wolf and no longer has a trainer on the regular to do this shit for him.

It happens at Zandvoort, and Daniel's parked himself at one of the McLaren hospitality tables like he owns the place and absolutely refuses to leave Lando in peace to eat his teriyaki chicken.

He whines so much about his neck that Lando huffs in annoyance and finally stands behind him to press his thumbs into the firm tangle of muscles and suddenly Daniel is tipping his head forward and groaning out loud, in public.

Lando smacks him on the back of the head, earning a sad little yelp which of course instantly makes Lando feel bad, so he rubs the spot immediately.

"Danny, shut up," Lando says, his voice low.

Which was his first and most fatal mistake.

He gets back to it, pressing harder into Daniel's traps where the muscle is even more taut, forced to recuperate after being off the grid for so long. Lando uses his elbow to apply pressure on a particularly stiff spot, and Daniel, well—

“Oh God, yes, right there— oh my God, Lando just like that, please don’t stop.”

Two McLaren mechanics look up from their lunch to stare at them, but then when they see that it's Daniel, all they get is amused laughter and a fond shake of their heads.

Lando leans and hisses, "Can you stop that? You’re making it sound like we’re in a porno and now I’m highly uncomfortable.” 

Daniel just laughs harder and then tips his head back to smile brightly at him, the little shit.

"Baby, you know what I sound like when we're making a porno," he whispers, and then fucking winks.

Lando flicks his forehead in response, his cheeks burning at the memory. Jesus.

"I am not touching you in public ever again," Lando says, and sits back down to eat the rest of his meal.

"But my neeeeeeck," Daniel whines, attempting to pull puppy dog eyes that just absolutely do not work on a thirty-four year old man with stubble and wild curly hair.

"Suffer," Lando replies, and shoves a forkful of rice into his mouth.

[writersmorgue]

Febuwhump Day 29 - not allowed to die

TWs in tags || read on Ao3 || wc: 840

◈━◈━◈━◈━◈

Inko can hear them. 

Inko knows that they know she can hear them. 

She takes in a deep breath, suppressing the urge to scream at the nurses. 

He’s gone, it’s just cruel at this point. 

The only thing that’s keeping him breathing is the machine…

She needs to let him go. 

He’s taking the room from people who need it. 

Standing, she pats her son’s bandaged hand before making her way swiftly to the door. She sticks her head outside and smiles at the nurses. 

“Hello, would one of you darlings mind grabbing me a cup of coffee? I don’t have anyone to take a shift with Izuku in case he wakes, and I’m in desperate need of some energy.” 

They have the decency to look guilty. 

“Of course, Ms. Midoriya. Any add-ins?”

She shakes her head, leaving the door cracked, and walks back to her son. 

Inko has no qualms about using her situation to shame the young women. Of course, they don’t understand what she’s going through. 

Her only baby was attacked on his way to school by a nefarious villain. It was so cruel that her quirkless child was the victim. She wishes it had been Katsuki, he was always violent and good at fighting.

Izuku wasn’t breathing when they arrived at the hospital, but thanks to All Might he was transported just in time to be revived!

She’s sure one of these days her baby’s pretty green eyes will open and he’ll apologize for worrying her. He should be sorry! She works her butt off to give her son a happy life on her own, and if he were to go- well she would have nothing left!

Inko smiles to herself, but that won’t happen. 

The door creaks open all the way and the flighty footsteps of Izuku’s main doctor approach behind her. 

“Ms. Midoriya,” The man thrusts the cup gently into her space, and she takes it with a grateful smile. “I’d like to speak with you about your son’s… care plan.”

“Yes!” She glows, taking one of her son’s hands in her own, feeling his cold fingers. She listens to the soft hiss of his oxygen tube pumping air into his lungs. He'll have such a bad sore throat when he wakes up, poor thing. 

“Well,” He starts, sitting down on the other side of Izuku’s bed, “Just that I think it would be in Izuku’s best interest to… let him go. I would suggest you bring in any family or friends to say-”

“To check on him, yes. I think I will invite some school friends. He has one boy he’s particularly fond of.”

“Ms. Midoriya-”

“Doctor.” She responds, smile dropping, “Need I remind you who is in charge of the final decisions here? I am his mother.”

He sighs, looking down at her son. She almost wants to demand he look away as if the simple gesture will harm her child. 

“Of course, ma’am. I’ll let the nurses know to expect visitors?” He asks, standing and walking to the door. 

“Yes. Friends will do him good.” She agrees, taking a sip of her coffee. 

It tastes like dust. 

“Okay.”

Mitsuki and her son stop by the next day. Mitsuki brings a beautiful vase of Michaelmas Daisies. They brighten up the room significantly, and Katsuki spends his time sitting in the corner holding them. 

He’s quieter than usual and doesn’t say hello to Izuku, but Inko figures that Katsuki wants to let him rest. 

“Inko.”

She hums, letting Mitsuki know she’s paying attention as she brushes her fingers through Izuku’s hair. 

Her friend huffs, taking Inko’s hands and pulling them away from the bed, “Inko, you should go home.”

Inko laughs airily, “If you’re offering to watch after Izuku, that’s very kind but I’d rather be here-”

“No Inko, you should go home, and you should let Izuku go.” She says seriously, squeezing Inko’s hands. 

She frowns, eyes flicking to her door, “If that doctor told you something-”

“No,” Mitsuki shakes her head, chewing on her bottom lip. Her eyes look tired and red-rimmed. “Izuku isn’t going to wake up. It’s been three weeks, if he were going to wake up he would’ve when they resuscitated him and you know that. There’s no more damage to heal, he’s just gone.”

Inko scoffs, “None of you know my Izuku like I do, he’s strong. He’ll wake up within the week, I’m sure of it. He just needs a bit of time to sleep.”

Mitsuki drops her hands, clasping a hand on her mouth and looking over at Izuku. 

She turns around suddenly and grabs Katsuki by the arm, “C’mon, we’re leaving. Put those down.”

Her son flounders but doesn’t argue, haphazardly sliding the vase onto the small desk in the corner. 

The hospital is silent when they leave, and Inko turns back to her son, determined to stay at his side. 

“Mom,” She hears distantly, Katsuki’s voice calmer than she’s heard it in years, “is he really…?”

“Yes baby, he’s gone.”

And Inko cries.