#someone's surely already done this but i've been thinking about it for 2 weeks
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khaotunq · 5 months ago
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The Heart Killers Episode 2 (2024) | Pulp Fiction (1994) contrasting the violence and darkness of the characters' everyday lives by showing them sharing a moment of levity, flirtation, a glimpse of what-could-be normality.
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lazylittledragon · 1 month ago
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so uhhhhhhhh. not to be cryptic and bitchy on main but congratulations to everyone in my messages for like 5 months on being right i guess
#ramble#ughhhhhhhhhhhh ok so#i will delete this later bc idk if this person has tumblr and i genuinely mean no ill will i just need an outside opinion#i vented about it on my close friends story already but i need like. a neutral party#i won't say their name but if you're on other socials you probably know who it is#basically for a while i've been getting messages saying 'this person has hacked your art style' or 'is REDACTED your alt account'#and in the beginning there were like. similarities? but nothing i could really claim and also i don't want to accuse someone of theft#like i don't own any stylistic choices or anything. i've used things from other artists i like. honestly it's kind of flattering#and we are actually really friendly in DMs now and we even joke about it. we message eachother any time we get a comment about it#i made a joke literally 2 weeks ago about how we're two different people i swear#but after adding some Very specific things to my art (like the paper texture/hatching/shiny lighting). they also added them#and i gave them the benefit of the doubt bc i don't like to believe anyone has bad intent with stuff like that. and i've done the same obvs#but recently they dropped some tav lore and it was. basically a panel for panel copy of one of my cyra comics down to the HAND PLACEMENT#and obviously i don't own the Bitch Mother trope or anything but it's just. mmmmm it makes me feel weird#idk it just feels like it's gone a bit far now and i'm not sure what to do about it#like you would think after we became moots they would get scared and stop but i think i was too openly trusting and they just kept going#recently someone on THEIR PATREON thought they were me and they weren't even one of mine (which by itself is funny but. y'know)#i don't want to call anyone out or upset anyone bc it only causes more problems but like. i Know. and idk if they should know that i know#maybe i'm just stupid idk i really trusted that it wasn't happening but it is and i don't know how to feel#hONESTLY I'M JUST MAD THAT I CAN'T DO ANY MORE CYRA LORE NOW BC PEOPLE ARE GOING TO ACCUSE **ME**#also PLEASE do not witch hunt this person i want to deal with this as quietly as possible#i really felt like i was in the twilight zone or just being paranoid so i had to ask
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pibsboots · 1 year ago
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I've always had chronic fatigue. I remember being twelve, and an adult mentioned how I couldn't possibly know how tired they felt because adulthood brought levels of exhaustion I couldn't imagine. I thought about that for days in fear, because I couldn't remember the last time I didn't feel tired.
Eventually I came to terms with the fact that I was just tired, and I couldn't do as many things as everyone else. People called me lazy, and I knew that wasn't true, but there's only so many times you can say "I'm tired" before people think it's an excuse. I don't blame them. When a teenager does 20 hours of extracurriculars every week and only says "I'm too tired" when you ask them to do the dishes, it's natural to think it's an excuse. At some point, I started to think the same thing.
It didn't matter that I could barely sit up. It was probably all in my head, and if I really wanted to, I could do it.
When I learned the name for it, chronic fatigue, I thought wow, people that have that must be miserable, because I am always tired and I cannot imagine what it would feel like if it were worse.
Spoiler alert, if you've been tired for a decade, it's probably chronic fatigue.
Once I figured that out though, I thought of my energy as the same as everyone else's, just smaller in quantity. And that might be true for some people, but I've figured out recently that it absolutely isn't true for me.
I used to be like wow I have so much energy today I can do this whole list for sure! And then I'd do the dishes and have to lay down for 2 hours. Then I'd think I must gave misjudged that, I didn't have as much energy as I thought.
But the thing is - I did have enough energy for more tasks, I just didn't go about them properly.
With chronic fatigue, your maximum energy is obviously much smaller than the average person's. Doing the dishes for you might use up the same percentage of energy that it takes to do all the daily chores for someone else.
If someone without chronic fatigue was to do all the daily chores, they would take breaks. Because otherwise, they're sprinting a marathon for no reason and it would take way more energy than necessary. We have to do the same.
Put the cups in the dishwasher, take a break. Put the bowls in, take a break. So on and so forth. This may mean taking breaks every 2-5 minutes but afterwards, you get to not feel like you've run a marathon while carrying 4 people on your back.
Today, I had a moderate amount of energy. Under my old system of go till you drop, I probably could have done most of the dishes and wiped off the counter and then been dead to the world for the rest of the day.
Under the new system, I scooped litter boxes, cleaned out the fridge, took the trash out, cleaned the stove, and wiped off the counter and did all the dishes. And after all that, I still had it in me to make a simple dinner, unload the dishwasher, and tidy the kitchen.
It was complete and utter insanity. Just because I sat down whenever I felt myself getting more tired than I already was.
All this to say, take fucking breaks. It's time to unlearn the ceaseless productivity bullshit that capitalism has shoved down our throats. Its actively counterproductive. Just sit down. Drink some water. Rest your body when it needs to rest.
There will still be days where there is nothing to do but rest, and days where half a load of dishes is absolutely the most I can do. But this method has really helped me minimize those, which is so incredibly relieving.
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silenceofserenity · 2 months ago
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BNHA BOYS as book tropes - PART 1:
Pairing (s): bnha boys x gn! reader
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↳ Includes: Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, Kirishima & Kaminari
Part 2 includes: Sero, Shinsou, Shigaraki, Dabi & Hawks HERE
IZUKU MIDORIYA
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↳ SLOW BURN
you and Izuku got partnered for a hero strategy project, analysing past battles and having to create counter-strategies
"if we adjust reaction time for this move we could- oh uhm, I'm talking too much again, I'm so sorry!"
he's always a little shyer with you around, fumbling over his words
the night before submission, you two were at the library studying late when he stops you
"wait... would it be okay if I... walked you back to your dorm?"
you thought that his nervousness was adorable
"sure, I'd like that."
the walk is quiet and all you can hear is the wind
"you're incredibly smart, you know?"
it caught you off guard but it felt... nice? like butterflies in your stomach
the project was now over so you two weren't expected to continue meeting up
the slow building tension lasted weeks after until you decide to finally say something
you go into the library - your safe space where you and izuku became close - looking for some form of comfort
until you see him there... looking for something? or someone?
the two of you looked at each other for a few moments
"y/n, i like you a lot!"
"i like you, izuku!"
a... mutual confession? at the same time??
"wait, what? i-i mean, i've liked you for a while but i didn't know if you-"
you cut him off, "me too!"
BAKUGO KATSUKI
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↳ ACADEMIC RIVALS
you and bakugo have both been competing for the top spot in class since before you could remember
every exam, every project was a battle to see who could outdo the other
"you should just give up now. i've already won."
you take your seat next to him, rolling your eyes
"i don't give up bakugo, why would i start now?"
the whole session is intense, even though it's just a 'short 'practice' test which isn't going to make a difference to your grades
every time he saw you write something before he did, he would complain under his breath
"damnit."
suddenly you get to the last question
you don't remember learning this...
quickly glancing at bakugo to see if he's struggling too, you notice him already writing
panic seeping through, you rush to write down an answer just as bakugo stands up
you glance up from your work to see him smirking down at you
"you better hurry up, don't want to be the last one finished."
smacking your pencil on the desk and standing up with your test, you smile at him cockily
"last one finished, my ass."
you stride to the front of the class to give the teacher your test as bakugo leans on the door with a confident grin
"if you wanted to copy me so bad, you could've just asked."
you freeze, "hey! i did not copy-"
but he's already out the door, smirking at you over his shoulder
SHOTO TODOROKI
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↳ FAMILY RIVALRY
you grew up being taught that the todoroki family were snobs who never had to work for what they got
so when you were partnered for a training exercise, you could imagine how awkward that went
"so do you have a strategy?"
"mhm"
you'd been trying to talk to him the whole exercise but he continued to shut it down
"right... so are you going to explain it or am i expected to just follow your lead?"
a nod. a fucking nod.
that caused you to snap, "you know, you could at least pretend that you care, or is ignoring people just a Todoroki thing?"
he froze.
slowly he turned to look up at you, "you think i'm ignoring you?"
you opened your mouth to answer but he cut in
"look, i already know how this works. you hate my family, so you've already made your mind up about me." his gaze sharpened, "so why should i bother to change your opinion?"
the question had caught you off guard because honestly, truth be told, you didn't really hate him, you were just taught to
"todoroki-"
"shoto." his voice was softer now, "i know what my family has done to yours, but i'm not like them. so please... call me shoto."
EJIRO KIRISHIMA
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↳ MUTUAL PINING
you and kirishima have been friends for ages, always side-by-side - training or hanging out
but recently you can't help but think something feels different?
the way he looks at you a little longer, or how your heart flutters when you see him smile
everyone can see it - except you two
"you two are practically dating already!" mina teases
"no way! we're just friends!"
but the awkward silence and mutual look after says otherwise
kirishima begins using training together as a subtle (or not so subtle) way to show off his strength
"I bet you can't beat me, y/n!"
"well, i don't lose, Ejiro so bring it on!"
after that particularly tough spar the two of you collapse on the grass smiling, looking up at the stars
you see his heard turn, like he's about to say something but he pauses
you notice and decide to say something first
"do you ever feel like... we're waiting for something to happen but don't know what it is you're waiting for?
he swallows hard, "yeah. all the time."
another wave of silence
"y/n, i think we both know what it is we're waiting for."
before you can answer, he leans in as his lips gently brush yours and for once, this is what feels right.
DENKI KAMINARI
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↳ ONE BED TROPE
it was a school trip / training camp and somehow the two of you got partnered up
he was so excited about sharing a room with you that he begged for you to let him pick which one to stay in and for some stupid reason, you said 'okay'
before you two got to the room, he was making jokes about how you should just sleep in his bed
he opens the door for you to look around, clearly pleased with his choice
you step into the room and immediately freeze. one bed.
"are you kidding me? what is this? you didn't think to ask for two beds?"
"huh? wait what... oh damn. that's crazy. I definitely asked for two, must've been an accident."
"an accident?!"
he just grins and flops onto the bed, spreading out like he owns it
"well, i guess that means we have to cuddle now, huh?"
dumbfounded, you threaten to sleep on the floor but he pouts dramatically until you give in.
when the lights go off, he's quiet for a bit until you feel a shift behind you
"you cold?" he says in a way where it almost sounds like he's trying to make you believe you are
"denki-"
before you can answer he throws an arm around you and shushes you, mumbling your name sleepily
"shh y/n, we can talk about how stupid this is in the morning, for now, this is okay. please?"
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becausegraf · 6 days ago
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Stolas is not Blitz's first rodeo - the case for Blitz' potential history as a de facto sex worker
(Okay, whoop de doo, here we go, if I sit on this essay any longer I won't get around to having dinner.)
Imagine someone you're into knows you've been struggling to make ends meet, and they approach you with this:
"Hey there, I've been thinking, how about we meet once a week to get giggity and have a good time, and in exchange I'll pay your rent, no strings attached."
Since 'this is hell' and not real life, also try to imagine what for example Moxxie or Millie's reaction might be to something like this. How would you envision this might go?
'What the FUCK' would be a completely sensible response. Even if someone agreed to this, you'd expect some reluctance, unease, nervousness, internal conflict... from most people.
And yet, this is basically what Stolas offered Blitz, and even in a hurry, his reaction wasn't at all shocked or confused. We see no hint of awkwardness in his behaviour around or during his monthly visits, not a lick of it.
There's a simple explanation for this: Blitz has done this before plenty of times.
He's quite literally 'used to it' and accepts this as a fairly routine type of agreement, without even questioning the concept of 'that horny head-in-the-clouds dork of a prince had a good time with me, and wants me to keep servicing him enough to offer me precisely what I want'. Stolas is far from unattractive to him, sure, 'why the fuck not'. Of all the ways this situation could have played out, this is one of the less difficult ones to deal with - satisfying people using his body is pretty much a 'shrug' to him, as opposed to having to come up with some kind of manipulation, or negotiating a different agreement, or keeping the grimoire against Stolas' will and earning himself the wrath of a Goetia.
The premise:
There is a long, long list of clues, many of them hiding in plain sight as 'haha crude jokes oh Blitz u so silly' moments, that Blitz has a history of providing sex as a service.
I also believe this is something most of the fandom already implicitly expects or wouldn't be surprised at all if it were confirmed in the show, but a lot of the implications are entirely invisible, and the effects on Blitz' behaviour are VERY easy to read as 'it's a comedy show, they write him this way because it's supposed to be crude and funny'.
Parts:
1) A hoard of hints
2) How this contributes to the massive disconnect between Blitz and Stolas' understanding of their arrangement
3) Some notes regarding the 'stage persona' of a performer, and recognition of achievements - a connection to his VA and co-writer
1) So, let's look at some contextual evidence first. This list is mostly constrained by my limited capacity to rattle off more examples on the fly, I'm sure you can easily find more of these everywhere you look.
- 'It's your night', and other such flat dismissals
This can be read as him just being cold and apathetic towards Stolas, as obviously 'Blitz is an unempathetic jerk-ass boyfriend'. However, if you read this through the lens of Blitz truly handling this arrangement pretty much like a professional, it makes perfect sense.
'We can do what you want, you're the client here buddy. This isn't about my preferences or wants, my job is to please you and not the other way around.'
- 'You know, I'm not really fussed when stuff like this happens' about Stolas rescheduling
Kind of a funky thing to say about your lover asking you if you have time to meet a bit earlier than originally planned, isn't it? Again, this makes sense if you read this arrangement as Stolas being like a client with a monthly appointment, and Blitz as the accommodating professional. The customer is king, if Stolas wants to move their appointment date (for something Blitz can do during his off-hours that aren't likely to conflict with other plans) then sure, it's not like he's going to charge a damn cancellation fee.
- 'But I thought you like it when I talk all dirty and fucky and shit'
The start of Apology Tour is a rough one, but it reveals a lot about the hidden reasons behind Blitz behaving the way he does with Stolas, and why we shouldn't take everything at face-value.
During their encounters, Blitz is in work-mode: h's very deliberate about how he comports himself and how to play to Stolas' tastes, for as far as he thinks he understands them. Stolas responded well to the aggressive stuff upon their first meeting as adults, and from Stolas' POV he had no real reason to clock that as *not actually really what Blitz' own personal preferred style is*. For as far as the owl knows, Blitz truly is unforcedly, naturally just 'like that' - scathing, dominant, rogueish, confident, bold and brash and adventurous in bed.
I think it's likely that Blitz probably *isn't*, maybe partially but not entirely, but trial and error quickly showed him Stolas is into that so... sure, he can accommodate. Whatever the fancy man wants of him, he can stay 'in-character' in that kind of exaggerated role pretty effortlessly.
Blitz glomming to MnM is a pretty big tip-off that he does have a sense of what true close intimacy is like and he absolutely does have a yearning for that. His 'I'm just here for the sex' bad boy attitude does not truly convey who he is as a person in his entirety.
The rowdy sexy assassin-cowboy-imp is the role he plays for Stolas, under the assumption that that is what he's into, and as a way to shield off his own much more vulnerable and conflicted real feelings. When it seems as if Stolas is no longer satisfied, he tries to 'get his shit together' and dial up the intensity, taking the whole sexually aggressive act to a level where it majorly crosses Stolas' boundaries.
Blitz at that point is just SO confused, so in turmoil with himself, and so terrified of losing the one point of connection he has to Stolas (which at that point really is pretty much their sexual compatibility plus a dollop of mutual je-ne-sais-quoi) he gets frustrated and just slips into a blind defensive rage.
(...yeah, that sure went over well, didn't it. 'God damnit Blitz', thus spoke the entire fandom.)
- Blitz' encounter with Chaz
This is a very interesting one to me. This set of scenes shifts very rapidly from one impression of Blitz to another, a triple pile-up of 'lol gotcha'.
'Oh ok , Blitz gets that it's kinda iffy to bang your friends' shitty ex' immediately gets subverted to
'...welp I guess his weird fixation is enough to disregard that entirely', and shortly after to yet another twist:
'-aaaaand welp, he took advantage of the situation without even blinking, because his instinct made him catch a whiff of something, and he took the first opportunity to poke into it a bit more even if said opportunity is banging the airhead randy shark'.
Blitz 100% uses his body like a tool. Any personal pleasure or bonuses that suit his whims he gets out of it is only part of his motivation. His played-for-laughs fling with Chaz is really much more functionally motivated: diving into bed with someone is just one of the several items on his list of things you can do to slip past someone's guard, shmooze them up, get up-close and even have them dead-asleep to create the perfect moment.
Watching this unfold, I personally very much did have that moment of 'oh dear that's a little concerning', that he made it look like he's 'just kind of a morally questionable ass', so casually making it seem like he was having some fun for his own sake when he was clearly going into this with the plan to slink out as soon as he had the shark where he wanted him.
This example also shows that Blitz clearly understands that sex and intimacy and trust are connected, but for him personally, that's pretty much optional (or even explicitly to be avoided).
- 'I've spent too much of my time, energy and holes on getting us set up', (so maybe don't get lame about this Mills)
File under 'haha Blitz so crude' and the easy interpretation of this as referring ONLY to Stolas. This likely concerns all the work he's done over the many years, starting long before the short time he's had the grimoire at his disposal at the time he says this.
He also does note himself as a) business savvy and b) sexy as fuck as the two major assets he has that he thinks of first in this scene. Blitz knows he's capable of capturing 'that kind' of attention, and he's clearly willing to make use of that.
- Finding out later in the series that he has a whole slew of exes that are still upset with him
This 'reveal' aligns with the general impressions we have of Blitz by that point pretty well. I wasn't surprised at all about that one - 'Oh, of course he does'.
Blitz dodges truly close personal intimacy, but he hardly avoids getting into situations that most people would experience as explicitly intimate, vulnerable and personal. His idea of 'boundaries' are very different from those of most people he deals with, and it's truly no wonder he ended up attracting quite a number of people to him only to ditch out once it became clear they were expecting some kind of romantic commitment.
With his natural charisma and easy charm and his *actual* innate kindness, combined with his well-practiced capacity to flirt and fluster and flatter, people that get to know him may very well be tempted rather quickly. They then easily misread his intentions when he's not one to say no if they make a pass and he's passingly interested. Of course, as soon as they let it show they're falling for him in earnest, *WHAM* goes the door, with no warning and often a sound 'fuck you' to seal the deal and ensure they don't come back.
'Why would he go and get intimate with me, if he didn't want to be with me?!'
The sheer confusion only adds to the offense at that point, and it's that lack of a sensible explanation that contributes to the pattern of people struggling to 'get over it'. We want to know 'why', we need the story to make sense, but Blitz does not give people that closure easily.
'Sorry I have a warped relationship with sex and it doesn't mean to me what it means to you as a baseline, AND I have massive hangups about people getting the feefees for me because everyone who does gets torn to shreds, so if we get giggity that's all you're gonna get from me' isn't really the kind of thing Blitz tells people ahead of time or after the fact.
- I may add more later or in a reblog, I could go on for hours honestly...
2) All this is far, far removed from Stolas' entire world
We all understand pretty well that our beloved well-intentioned dork of an owl has had a pretty sheltered existence (albeit frought with its own problems), and has *very* little experience in the realm of actual sexual activities.
If someone more worldly were to encounter Blitz and regularly interact with him in the way Stolas does, I think it would very quickly begin to raise questions.
You know, if someone so consistently treated your 'sexy date nights' the way Blitz does, I think quite a few of us would start to catch on that maybe he's got some, eh, 'circumstances' that inform his behaviour. Stolas however has nothing to go off off - Blitz is the experienced one, and he certainly acts like everything they do is pretty par for the course. Blitz is the role model, the example Stolas learns from about 'how things work' and what the rules are.
The issue is that Stolas is trying to learn how to have a fulfilling intimate relationship with someone, while Blitz is, in some fashion, actually trying (rather frustratedly at times) to teach him the code of conduct around just-business sex work. Over and over and over we see Blitz try to remind him of these rules, and from our POV, this comes across as Blitz being kind of cruel and mean because he's bluntly brushing off every earnest attempt Stolas makes to forge a connection.
Stolas doesn't understand what's going on under the surface, and for the most part, *neither do we as the audience*. We're here for the fluffy love story, and the hilarious impish shenanigans of our kind-of-a-dick of a protagonist. *Neither we as the audience nor Stolas take Blitz' behaviour and push-back seriously* as we don't get to explicitly view things through his eyes with the full understanding of what the world works like for him. He's either acting like a douche, or being erratic and hilarious, all just meaningless funny bullshit - right up until the moment where he snaps and suddenly it's no longer charming.
Stolas hapless persistence with trying to move past these 'walls', as he truly does desire something very different, eventually leads to Blitz giving up on getting him to cut it out, and it really seems as if he desperately tries to interpret he situation as an unruly spoiled but harmless client getting way too into the 'playing boyfriends' roleplay.
After all, what else could it *possibly* be? Love? Ha ha ha fuck you, of course not. What kind of asshole would even suggest that, that's just hurtful, inconsiderate and stupid - don't play with his feelings like that, it's JUST BUSINESS and Blitz needs to keep his head on straight. He's got a job to do and if he fucks this up and lets himself get attached and it all gets too real holy fucking sh- just drop the sky on him while you're at it, why don't you.
NO.
3) There are some themes here, as per the person who plays a big role in shaping Blitz' character
As 'the sassy crass youtube dude' in reputation I wouldn't be surprised if Brandon Rogers himself might be kinda familiar with the effect of people mistaking your 'on stage persona' for who you really are. People at times approach performers like him under the assumption they're always 'like that', and they tailor their behaviour according to that, too, instead of taking a step back and treating them like a regular person with regular boundaries.
At some point Brandon also said one of the things he relates to the most with Blitz is how much it irks him when people low key look down on what he's achieved.
'Nobody just handed him stuff, he and the team put in a fuckton of hard work into getting to where they are now'
This echoes Blitz' derision towards Fizz as someone who seems as if he's being given privileges, resources and support on a silver platter, just for existing as the person Asmodeus has a special interest in.
I will let that lead into my concluding comment:
I'm pretty damn sure we don't officially know the first damn thing yet about everything Blitz has put himself through to make it out of his twenties alive, just for starters, and to then become successful and reliable enough to provide a stable home for Loona and get his business off the ground.
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jmdbjk · 9 months ago
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All things Walmart, poo, ticks and inspiration...
Spoiler alert but to hell with it, I know y'all have watched it all already.
Things I cannot relate to and will never happen to me:
• Pushing my cart down the snack aisle at Walmart and running into Jungkook searching for Tostitos and a sponge.
• Going out to the mailbox to gather the day's junk mail and two guys on a Harley drive by and wave at me and me not know it was Jimin and Jungkook.
• Hiking through the forest and not realizing that guy way up ahead swatting at mosquitoes is Jimin.
• Enjoying my lobster mac & cheese at a restaurant and not know Jungkook is discreetly (not so discreetly) staring at my food trying to decide if he wants to order what I'm having.
I didn't have time today to spend on this like I wanted to and I feel like everyone has already talked about the finer points they're most interested in so I'm going to just drop a few things that made ME laugh, smile and cherish the fact they even started this thing, this show. Episode 3 will be here tomorrow night (for me) so I don't want to delay this anymore so I'll be brief for Ep. 2.
Saturday, July 15:
They left the campsite and Jungkook got to ride the motorcycle. Jimin said he looked like a proper American.
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They stopped at a park and hiked a trail. Jimin fought mosquitoes. It was brutal. I've seen people worried about ticks. And snakes. Jimin pointed out a spider on a tree. Jungkook fantasized about alligators. Tick inspections occurred all around later on I hope.
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We didn't see the transition from woods to marina. Maybe they had to make a bathroom stop for Jimin. Or urgent care to get him some meds. Who knows. Poor thing was suffering.
On the yacht, Jimin was still feeling puny but he tried. He ate though he knew he was risking it all.
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He horsed around with Jungkook with the beast still rolling around in his guts.
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I really wasn't expecting so much poop talk during Are You Sure but here we are.
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I think this summed up the yacht trip. Especially after how it all started with the excursion being leaked by the boat captain himself. Perhaps the editors did this on purpose.
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FYI those concentric ripples in the images are my camera trying to capture the screen in a different frequency than the monitor refreshes or some tech mumbo jumbo. Apologies and please ignore. It's Disney's fault for not letting us screen cap using an app.
I think Jungkook was looking for ticks. He would take something like that seriously, don't you think?
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But Jimin mostly slept on the yacht. He had a rough night before. They still salvaged what they could and they still seemed to enjoy the experience.
A trip to Walmart. On the way they have one of those rambling conversations where Jungkook, who is not the most talkative type, decides to talk Jimin's ear off. They talked about making music and what drives them personally in their choices about their work.
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We'll visit that thought again in a minute....
The whole Walmart visit is surreal to me. I go to Walmart at least once a week so to see Jimin and Jungkook browsing the aisles just blows my mind. NEVER did I EVER dream I'd see them looking for bacon at WALMART.
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They look just like anyone else pushing their shopping cart going down the cereal aisle past the boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Sugar Pops.
Jimin was a tad testy when JK disappeared. He even cussed him out. HAHAHAHAHAAA. BEEN THERE DONE THAT!!!
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I know Jimin-ssi, why are men like that? I swear to god...
I saw someone say this sums up their dynamic perfectly: Jimin calculating in his mind how to work the self-check out while Jungkook does the helicopter cam above him.
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You gotta give it to Walmart though, they do know their customer. The self check out is pretty self-explanatory.
The content of their cart:
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TWO boxes of Twinkies???? And both Prego AND Ragu...
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Getting to the AirBnb accommodations. Cooking. Chilling out before bedtime and Jimin lets Jungkook hear Who.
Horsing around in bed. You know, all these years, I've wondered how they keep the toothpaste spit inside their mouths while brushing their teeth? We've seen them brushing their teeth backstage, in the bathroom, walking around the green room, outside practicing choreo... HOW DO THEY NOT DROOL ALL OVER THEIR CUSTOM MADE OUTFITS? And now wrestling on the bed...
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Waking up, JK and his frosted flakes. Jokes about abandoning Jimin...more horsing around on the bed. And then they doze off again. I know they did. Hard to tell but Jungkook is glued to Jimin's back.
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Jimin gets to ride on the back of the Harley with JK. It starts to rain. I guess they were bringing it back to the rental place.
Going back to the store for a sponge.
I think Jimin was feeling much better. Looked like he slept better.
We see the Army who said they met Jimin and Jungkook last year. When I first heard about it I thought how lucky and random and what kind of stars need to align for that to happen??? What a great experience!!! When will it be our turn???
And then the next idea for Run BTS (the show)... hide and seek while shopping for specific ingredients to cook with and the twist is they're in a foreign country. WORLD TOUR RUN BTS!!! BIGHIT I HAVE IDEAS!!!! LISTEN TO ME!!!!
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Its raining, dancing in the rain as they exit the store. They leave in the Jeep and head back to the house to eat their pizza.
Army in Connecticut won in life.
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Then they start their journey back to NYC (I'm assuming) so Jungkook can go on to London and Jimin can head back to Korea. They stop one more time for lobster rolls and lobster mac & cheese.
That's when we see Jungkook contradict himself...
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In the Jeep just a little while ago you said nothing inspired you. Was it the rain or the beer that was inspiring you? Or was it the head full of new memories and ideas about the next trip that were swirling around in there?
By the end of this trip, they are back in sync.
Their closing interview: JK wants to keep doing this until they're 50, 12 more seasons! JK said "practice being better variety show entertainers so the two of us can continue doing this" as motivation to continue doing this type of thing way into the future. Jimin found humor in that. And that's where we fade to black.
And during the credits, Jimin is eating again, spicy ramen, possibly the next day. Apparently his stomach is back in order as he readies to fly back home.
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What a trip.
Deeper thoughts:
Jimin and Jungkook wanted to spend time together. We knew that. It didn't seem to happen when it could have. They even said so in the Jeep. But JK concluded the discussion succinctly:
Finally.
Finally they were spending quality time together. Though their talk was brief, we have no idea if there was more to it before or after what we saw of it. The editors showed us that much enough to explain the situation and why it had not happened. The end result of it all was: finally.
Finally, after wanting this. Finally, after saying we would. Finally... doing something together that we loved doing before and we've wanted to do again. Finally.
Jimin pushed for it. He knew. He made it happen. Finally.
They are two distinct personalities and their journeys through this solo era leading up to their enlistment were different.
Jimin is a leader and doer. He is the initiator. Jimin said if he hadn't pushed for this show to happen it would not have gotten done.
There were a few moments in these first two episodes where Jimin brought up MS. Jungkook didn't seem thrilled to talk about it.
They truly didn't know what they were going to film for this show. They got in the car and started to make it up as they went. I can see how that would be awkward.
They don't understand that just them being themselves is what we want to see. They don't have to try to make something happen. Its the spontaneous moments that make the best content (see kayak dump and Walmart trip). Maybe Jimin was more in tune with this than Jungkook was but he is the one who turns on a live and sits there and watches Netflix while eating chicken. They had to get back in sync and they did.
So the first episode was a little slow, a little cautious, a little quiet. Reserved. That first day they were finding their groove, getting 're-acquainted' if you will, finding the slots and spaces in each other that fit and feel the most comfortable to them. You could see them relax as the day wore on.
But, they still had challenges. JK's head cold. Jimin's stomach bug. You want some TMI's? Watch Jimin run to the bathroom for the fifth time.
We may see a little bit of this quiet re-acquainting when BTS does its first group live next year. And yes, I am 100% confident we will see this first live shortly after Jimin and Jungkook are discharged. We will see them in a way we've never seen before.
After both episodes... my conclusion is we saw about 2 hours out of the roughly 3 or three and a half days Jimin and Jungkook were together. Thursday evening, July 13 through Sunday evening, July 16. I'm not exactly sure when JK left for London but Jimin went back to Korea on July 17.
I wonder if the plan was to create hour long episodes or if there was so much they wanted to show the episodes just ended up being that long. They could have easily hidden Jimin's stomach issues from us. They could have edited a lot of it down. But in making the episodes this long, they showed more and more of their dynamic in play.
I didn't put everything into this post that I wanted to but we've got six more episodes coming and I still haven't had time to watch Run Jin.
Hashtags arent working... I'll add them later.
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weirdsht · 10 months ago
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Another yapping session lol, I haven't done this in a while. Omfg tho, I didn't mean for this thing to be as long as I made it. I'm sorry shfgsidfhsfjgsdlg
By clicking read more you will be subjected to novel spoilers and my messy long rant about LoTCF. This is your warning.
I've thought about this for a long time but LoTCF is a fix-it novel. Not sure if someone thought about the same thing or if they have talked about it yet. But I've felt this way ever since I read about Kim Rok Soo's life.
After realising what he went through and just how hard his life is made me realise why he does the things he does. Why he has such a mindset. Why he values the little things other people would not even think about.
It made even more sense after hearing how he was collateral damage from the White Star's curse. How he can't hold the things he deemed dear close to him as he will always be bound to lose it. To lose them.
Lastly, it made me realise why the novel seems all sunshine and rainbows in the long run. Sure, there are angsty moments. Some moments and arcs made me bawl for weeks on end. Made me feel as though my heart was being ripped out of my chest (Looking at you earth lore). However, at the end of it all everyone on Cale's side is okay. It's like watching one of those old-school shonen animes where you know everyone will save the day with the power of friendship.
And I know I'm not the only one who noticed that. I saw a lot of discourse about how the series would be more interesting if someone actually died. If a lot was on the line. Something like ORV.
And omg does it piss me off so much.
Because once again LoTCF is a fix-it novel.
It's a novel about starting again. About Cale finally being able to hold and protect the things dear to him.
That's why it wouldn't make sense for him to lose more.
Plus, I genuinely think that if he loses one more thing important to him (non-material ofc) that would be his last straw. He has already been through so much. And it was because of something he didn't even have a clue about. Something he essentially had no business with if White Star just wasn't a greedy mfer.
I think some people also forget or doesn't realise the fact that this is also Cale's last chance. Like Ron and Choi Han who has lost their families several times and deemed their new group as their last chance. Their last family.
It's the same for Cale.
He already lost his biological parents. He already lost his brothers.
He can't lose his new family too.
That's why no one can die.
Despite that, as a reader, I am scared though. Scared at the lengths he's willing to go to protect his family.
Because this man has no self-preservation skills despite him always saying he has no plans of getting hurt or dying. I mean, I can't blame him for not knowing his worth. His life has been shit. He always had to go above and beyond to try and grasp the things he wanted only for them to still slip away from his fingertips. Like he's trying to collect running water with open palms.
And until now, even without the curse, he does the same thing. Because it's what he's used to. Maybe he subconsciously thinks that if his efforts dwindle a little he'll lose everything again. Not fully comprehending that it's fine now. That it's okay for him to breath a little.
Anyway, my point is I'm scared that at some point Cale will try to protect everyone and everything at his own cost. Will try to convince himself that he will be fine when he won't be. I mean I've already heard spoilers from book 2 and heard that's what seems to be happening right now.
I'm just scared that a point will come where Cale won't be able to come back from the decisions he makes in the name of protecting his family.
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skelliko · 2 years ago
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Hoiii if possible can yu write a pt 2 to the confession fic with chifuyu, kazutoro and baji? Like just a scenario or small points as to what happened after they confessed and y/n says yes. it's fine if yu don't want to btww! Luv yur writing, hope yu have a nice day 💗💗
yes certainly sorry for the wait! and thank youu, your so sweet <3
I may have done more than 'small' I hope that's okay, I had no idea on how to format it I just went in with whatever and hope it works fine
★- Tokyo revengers
☆- you saying yes to their confession
pt1 here
featuring: kazutora, chifuyu, Baji
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°- Kazutora hanemiya
he'd stay silent for a brief moment but a smile would curl up on his face. he wants to say something, anything that would help his brain function but hearing your voice say the words he's wished you to say for a long while has made him awe struck.
once he finally got his senses straight he took a small step closer to you, "wait say that again" he didn't demand it but rather in a really hopeful and proud tone, like a happy boy finding a new favourite song
his previous thought of wanting to hug you has increased but he was still a little nervous on the inside so he held back a little bit. unsure on if you want you want to get physical yet with an innocent hug.
though he extended his arms outwards a little as an invitation for you to hug him, all while he held a slight nervous yet joyed smile. his hug was warm, probably from growing extremely hot at just the thought and middle of the confession.
kazutora nervousness grew a little when you hugged him and took a sharp, subtle breath in and panicked a little on where to place his arm, he's hugged you before but not in a situation like this.
but once his mind got shaken he man'ed up and make a move, his grasp would be gentle yet firm around you, one arm around the waist and the other behind your shoulders. his nervousness would calm down a little and he very clearly never wanted to let go of you.
but of course in a good moment like that kazutora's brain loves to just mess it up for him, 'what if it wont work out well?' 'what if something happens and our friendship will fall apart?' all this overthinking that he never spoke up about.
but the longer he was in your grasp the calmer he felt, he won't pass out an opportunity like this especially after he confessed, he's just a little worried for the future, like a few weeks or months later.
you're basically a cure for him, despite overthinking his mind has already made so many ideas and what you both could do now, more hugs is one of them.
his heavy heart would feel a lot more relaxed and lighter in the end. you are his, and he is yous.
°- chifuyu matsuno
if his face wasn't red before then it sure is now, his eyes wide and his cheeks slightly flushed. this boy is overjoyed but would try to control himself around you in case you'd think his reaction would be 'weird'
"wait really!?" he'd be so happy and hold such an adorable smile but he still would want confirmation so that you're not lying to him, he knows you're not that type of person to lie like that but his overthinking always got the best of him.
he hardly had any idea on what to do in the moment, a lot of the time in his romance manga someone gets flustered and they end up kissing or something but is that really how it is in real life? no, very rarely and it shows.
but you like him back as much as he likes you, his efforts and backed out attempts all paid off and his whole body grew warm.
one question circled his mind 'why didn't I do this earlier?' he knew he wussed out plenty of times before but with it going so smoothly currently it almost seems as if he was worried over nothing, he couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"to tell the truth I've been nervous about this whole thing for a while"
that 'while' was actually a long time, 6 months to be exact,
after he dropped you off at your home with both shy and confident words, on chifuyu's way home he had the biggest smile on his face, his cheeks raised up and ever so slightly pink and his eyes shining, he couldn't contain it. he's already planning out the dates.
°- Baji Keisuke
he would hold an amazing smile without wanting to hold back, he'd be so happy about your answer that he took a step towards you to hug you but quickly realised and stopped himself due to him not wanting to invade your personal space immediately, though he didn't want to take that step back in case it'd make it a little awkward.
but he'd speak up all in hopes of you ignoring the little step
"you really mean it?"
he meant his question too, he also meant his confession, as much as he wishes to go back to change it up he couldn't avoid the fact that even with his corny ass confession you still like him back, you decreased his nervousness and brought it down to peace.
it wouldn't be until he heard your part of your own feelings that he gave in and softly pulled you in for a hug, his arms over and behind your shoulders. for once baji is scared to say a few words, what does he do? does he start a conversation?
his lips would part to say something but no words came out, he'd only look at you as you manage to snuzzle yourself in his embrace and his whole heart would do a flip.
despite him playing out this whole scenario he never finished it to figure out what to do after your words, like an unfinished fanfiction but the idea of it is so clear yet the words are so vague
though that was until he finally spoke up with what was in his mind,
"so... does this mean we're together then?"
deep down he wants to get straight into the couple stuff, you've talked and became close friends in school he doesn't need to do all that nonsense dating, sure you can go on dates even while being a couple but with you he wants to push the barrier a little.
he probably should have thought of something better to ask or say but his mind was blank, empty. and he blames that on you, but in a sweet kind of way.
 ♡---
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lilolilyr · 1 month ago
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What I've been reading March 2025
January • February • 2024
I have read 5 million words in fanfic this month :D and also, I've surpassed 4k bookmarks on Ao3! 50 of them are my March Fic Recs!
The Geraskier obsession that had me in its grasp since reading the Accidental Warlord in February is still going strong, and the first weeks of march I really read nothing but Witcher fics! Now I've branched out a bit again through bookmark surfing (reading everything a fic author has written, then going to their bookmarks and reading them all, going to the author of the best one, rinse and repeat), and I've also read some James Bond 00Q, Marvel mainly ClintCoulson, NCIS Tibbs and H50 McDanno! Very slash heavy last month for main ships, I also ended up reading a bunch of femslash rarepairs in basically all of the fandoms I was reading in, looks like it might be time to get back to more of that xD probably Avorah, what with the new season of Hacks coming out soon!
When it comes to books, I've really just continued the bird book from the month before - made it to page 100 before I had to bring it back to the library last week. I'll for sure borrow it again! Check out this pretty illustration:
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Whose fic I read is a lot more spread out than last month (tho some Witcher repeats, & I'm not spam tagging ppl who I've already tagged last month xD I'm not sure anyone but me cares about these stats anyway but I do like to give a little shoutout to everyone whose Tumblr I can find) , 37 works (6%) by penandinkprincess, 34 (6%) by whisperedstory, and also still 11 works (2%) by inexplicifics who was at 14% last month because of all the accidental Warlord works, and should probably be even higher wordcount wise bc the fics are so long!
And the new ones: 15 works (3%) also Witcher fics by @hummingbee-o0o hummingbeeooo and 14 (2%) by @suzukiblu suzukiblu, 13 (2%) 00q by @beaubete beaubete, and once again Witcher for the others: 12 (2%) @livingintheworldofstories snowkatze, 10 (2%) fandomtrash24601, 9 (2%) @eyesupmarksman eyesupmarksman, 9 (2%) @lurikko lurikko... So yeah apart from one 00q it's still all Witcher really xD
Thank you all for your many wonderful stories, allowing me to read so much :D
Of course I also read fics from authors with less fics or where I just stumbled across one and didn't get around to reading more yet, some of my faves were:
NCIS Tony/Gibbs
Something New by summersquares - Gibbs gets some new neighbors and a dog, and later a new love...
Hawaii 5-0 McDanno
Lost at the Edge of the Sun by @gilajames - Danny tries to hide from the team that he is homeless.
The Witcher Geraskier
when you feel bad about what you've done by ollyollyoxenfree - Jaskier is so used to bickering with Geralt that the mountain argument barely registers for him - but Geralt feels guilty!
of bards and witches and witchers by writethroughthenight - Jaskier and Yennefer are siblings. Jaskier made everyone forget that though...
James Bond 00q
Sigh No More by @dhampir72 - "Bond wants nothing more than for someone, just once, to be waiting for him at the airport when he returns home."
Remember Me by @consultingwriters, which I actually had an (fic spoilers!!) inspo idea for (but of course no energy to write it... Leaving the idea out there for maybe someone else to pick up!) - James forgets his gay revelation and his relationship with Q.
Fidelity by @marlowe-tops - Q is doomed to always fall for someone who won't be loyal to him. He thinks his unrequited crush on Bond will let him stay happily single without risking further heartbreak...
Out Tonight by @starredthought - Q is a drag queen, and James has many feelings, also on this but mainly on other matters entirely!
Thanks y'all's, really bringing me joy with all the fics <3
Those fics and more can be found in my Ao3 bookmarks and recs, feel free to check them out!
No pressure tagging everyone who sees this to show us your own fic or book recs and/or make some more Ao3 bookmarks :D (in a new post pls)
History + 6377812 - to read: -10276 - 1531 - 29669 - 158322 - 4698 - 26609 - 29815 - 34469 - 78993 - 5517 - 138180 - 21719 - 40873 - 34886 - 5890 - 1045 - 99571 - 37305 =-759368 - to continue reading: -373223 - 42369 =-415592 - mar25 didn't reread -14169 - didn't read yet: -43184 no external sources
total: 6377812-759368-415592-43184-14169= 5,145,499
and holy fuck exactly 600 works in my history?? what in the even... for comparison in february the history has barely even 400 works, and I had a Lot more 'to read' stuff that didn't count bc of the accidental warlord inspo bookmarking... So, lots of shorter fics this march!
My formula so I have it noted down somewhere: history - to read(exclude:series, exclude: external source) - to continue reading (exclude: series, exclude: external source, exclude: to read) - didn't read yet (exclude: series) + external source (exclude: to read, exclude: to continue reading, exclude: didn't read yet) & check month tag (mar25 in this case) and add and subtract as noted (subtract usually, it's probably 'didnt reread now' on an old bookmark, unless it's external source I've actually reread)
And actually what I've been reading most is probably my now over 40k words long master's thesis xD I'm almost done with it!
Adding my geraskier tag list bc this is still mostly a Witcher rec list @toboldlynerd @cincia-azzurra
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Hunter's Moon (Medieval AU pt. 2)
Epilogue
With everyone settled at the Abbey, Rain and Dew think about taking the final step in their relationship. Swiss and Mountain spend some quality time together outside of its walls and return with something – or someone – rather unexpected.
This is it! Thank you so, SO much for following along!! 🖤🖤🖤
I think that's going to be it for these characters for a while, unless inspiration strikes me. I have more ideas for a new fic that has been on hold since before I started writing this (as the “short 15k” fic it was meant to be), but in the meantime I've slowly posting my character designs from this AU, linked via my AU masterpage.
Rating: T Content: young orphaned ghouls Words: 6952
I'll leave y'all alone for a while now this is done lol, @ashthewaterghoul @bloodfin @cosmicseafoam @everybodyshusband @jazz-bazz @karmicbias @kentuckyfriedsatan @midnight-moth @nefariousghoul @papaslittlesunshine @zombiequeen777 @0-miles-away @ghostedrain
Links to full fic: Tumblr | AO3
Read below, or on AO3!
By the time late autumn rolled around and the final auburn leaves on the trees that matched the colour of Mountain's hair began to fall, so too did Swiss and Mountain fall further for each other. As sure as the turning of the seasons, the pair were undoubtedly soulmates.
Life had changed far less than any of them could have expected: they had been so close for so long now that this new step in their relationship was not as monumental a shift as they had thought it might be. Their days were still spent by each other's sides when it was possible, or in each other's thoughts when it was not. Even the other ghouls had a hard time remembering the time before they were a pair.
The winter was one of hibernation for all the ghouls, sheltering behind the thick walls of the Abbey. The warm temperatures inside matched the warmth of their new family as they huddled together in the Den of an evening, watching the snow fall and paint the ground in a pristine, gleaming blanket of white.
As he had in the long winter nights at their farm, Dew had taken his responsibility as pack heater very seriously. In the same way Rain had helped him connect to his hidden water element, he had grown more attuned to fire after spending time with the Abbey's fire ghouls, and his magic was stronger than it had ever been now that he had found a community within them. Some of the older ghouls who remembered him from his previous time at the Abbey were still a little off with him, but none were outright rude, and Dew was finally self-assured enough to know that he could not force everyone to like him.
He especially liked Ifrit. Despite their very different personalities, with Ifrit being so outgoing that Dew thought he could walk up to a wild bear and try to befriend it – or scarier still, to Mountain – they were becoming fast friends. As another fire ghoul who had run away from his clan while still very young, they had a lot in common. Dew's mischievous side, one that had evolved and mellowed out of his already quick temper, complemented his new friend's perfectly, much to the chagrin of the ghouls who crossed their paths.
One such ghoul was Mountain. As soon as Dew had found out how scared of him Ifrit was, he had made it his mission to remind the gentle giant of a ghoul about it at every opportunity. It had finally reached the point where Mountain was also becoming afraid of bumping into the young fire ghoul. He thought he should probably apologise, but had no idea how to start or really what he would even be apologising for, and so Swiss had stepped in. The multi ghoul had talked Mountain down, explaining that Ifrit was absolutely fine, despite their first encounter,evident by how Dew always had some story or another about which ghoul or sibling Ifrit had coaxed into bed that week. Eventually, the tensions quieted when Ifrit came to realise that Mountain did not want to gut him on sight, and the whole incident was reduced to a small in-joke between Mountain, Swiss and Dew.
Rain was delighted by each and every new development of Dew's friendships, overjoyed that his beloved ghoul was finally coming out of his shell more. His newfound pod of water ghouls were equally smitten with Dew's continued efforts to learn about and fulfil all the mating traditions their kind were used to. Mist in particular had caught him slacking off his duties in the library on many occasions, having discovered something else he could do to further woo Rain written in an old text and fallen down a rabbit hole of research.
Dew's efforts were certainly paying off: while Rain himself was already deeply smitten with Dew, the rituals he was completing were building the sacred mating bond between them. As millennia of ghouls before him had, Dew was demonstrating his commitment to Rain and any future offspring they may bear in the water ghouls’ own manner.
As sociable a species as they were, their mating traditions were the most private of any ghoul and, like the fluid nature of their element, their bonds were not sealed in a single ceremony. Rather they were an ongoing stream of promises through small actions; forming a bond as a river forms a valley. Whereas quintessence ghouls sealed their bonds in His eyes through the spilling of their mixed blood during a full moon, and earth ghouls funnelled their shared energy into a plant that would grow as strong as their love, both in ceremonies in front of their clans, water ghoul bonds were most precious when they were formed with no witnesses but Him himself.
One day, Rain and Dew's bond would be complete. They hadn't discussed when exactly that would be; they both knew it was something they couldn't put a date on, something they would just feel when the time was right. They had, however, decided that when that day came, they would conclude with one last ritual; this time for Dew. Fire ghouls had a ceremony of their own, a tradition almost diametrically opposed to those of the water ghouls. Instead of building something, creating nests and future resources, fire ghouls would braid small locks of their cut hair together to symbolise their union, before sending it up in flames; their love burning brightly together for their pack to see.
Dew would have plenty of practice by then Rain thought, having received countless intricately braided blankets and other gifts made of woven kelp from the lake that the other water ghouls had helped him harvest. He had thrown himself so deeply into learning about water ghoul culture, Rain felt almost guilty how little he still understood about fire ghouls. Dew seemed unbothered though, and there would always be time for Rain to learn more later. They had forever, after all.
Swiss and Mountain were yet to have a conversation about any sort of mating ceremony, although there was an implicit understanding that it would happen in the Spring. Swiss, as a multi ghoul, had no specific ritual he believed in following; his clan had none of their own that he remembered outside of the human wedding ceremonies they partook in for appearance's sake. Earth ghoul rituals however most commonly took place in the spring. In spite of Mountain’s clan’s more brutal traditions, they had also always celebrated in the traditional way, by planting something meaningful to the couple and funnelling their combined energy and love into it. As most plants did best when planted in the springtime, most mating ceremonies had taken place in the same season.
Of more pressing concern to the pair though was the planning of their upcoming expedition. Once the worst of the winter had passed, they wanted to head out to explore the frozen wilderness to experience it in all its sparkling, icy glory. What neither said aloud, but both had thought, was that they would then still be home in the springtime.
Home. It was a new experience for Swiss, knowing he could travel and still have a place to return to. Finally, he could appreciate the land they lived in, and experience existing in nature rather than merely surviving in it. For the first time since he was young, he felt the grounding presence of home; a guide rope back to the surface when he explored too deep. It had taken him a while to realise that home wasn't necessarily a place, but rather a feeling. Losing his city and his family all at once had made the two feel so connected, and his wandering in the many years that followed had lacked either one. In finding his new pack, he had simultaneously found his new home in the village and so he had still never had to think of them separately.
The Abbey was his home now, to be sure, but that hardly mattered. The difference in scenery here compared to their little farm was stark, and yet the feeling was the same. His home wasn't a place; it was his pack. Leaving the village had felt nothing like leaving his city: he had his pack with him still, and wherever they were was home.
Going travelling with Mountain, instead of feeling like he was leaving his home behind, actually felt exciting. After all, he would be taking a part of his home with him; the part that lived deep inside his heart. He couldn't leave anything behind, not when he carried all of his packmates’ love so close to him. The thought brought a peace and security to Swiss that he hadn't felt so deeply and truly since he was young.
They left after the last frost, when the weather was starting to warm up again but before the snow had fully melted. The pack had waved the pair off one crisp morning, even Copia joining them at the main doors to wish them well and watch as they strode off between dew-kissed trees. The chill was invigorating as they hoisted their packs further up onto their shoulders and bade a fond farewell to their home, at least for a while.
It wouldn't be a long trip, not this time, they had agreed. The world was wide and there was so much to explore, but for now they would stick to their plan of heading to the mountains. Copia had helped them acquire supplies from the nearby village; sturdy boots, fur coats, proper sleeping mats and food rations. They had tried to insist that they make their own way, but he had assured them that it was nothing: really just fair payment for their work so far around the Abbey.
If things were tougher than expected, they could turn back. There was no urgency to their exploration, no pressure to hurry along the paths ahead, and the freedom of it was intoxicating. Certainly, the camping part of their expedition was perhaps a sore subject after the rather difficult time they had had travelling to the Abbey, but there had been other factors which made that journey harder than necessary. This trip was all about enjoying nature, just the two of them. Mountain could – and indeed Swiss hoped he would – show off his knowledge and love for the world he had grown up alongside, and Swiss would finally be able to see more of it, building the connection with their environment that most other ghouls had. Most importantly, he had the best ghoul in the world to show it to him.
Trekking along the valley that separated the Abbey from the mountains ahead had been so peaceful, full of a tranquillity that Swiss hadn't known he could feel. They were completely alone under the ice blue sky with a contented silence falling between them for large swathes of the day, and yet it was never quiet. The twittering of birds rang out overhead, the myriad conversations of a species he would never understand and yet could somehow grasp the meaning of completely. Beside them, the river tumbled by in a constant jumble of excitement and frenzy. They hadn't been away long, yet everything was already so much more enjoyable than their hurried trip north months previously.
Ascending the mountain had an altogether more solemn atmosphere, the chaos of the river far behind, and the crunching of their feet the loudest sound. The air grew colder as they climbed, and the terrain shifted from compacted earth and leafy flora to jagged rocks and equally angular evergreens. Despite the quiet, it was still clear that the mountain was full of life. From animal tracks and spindly nests high up in the rocks, to iron footholds hammered into sheer cliffs and rickety rope bridges neither of them was brave – or perhaps foolish - enough to cross.
At one point, Swiss had been convinced he had spotted a yeti, a vast off-white figure far away in the distance reaching up with a tremendous bellow that echoed as far as him and Mountain. The tracks left in the snow when they eventually dared to continue on told a different story; a large bear, its fur covered in snow, seemed a much more reasonable explanation.
The joy of exploration was infectious, capturing both of their imaginations. They trekked over glaciers, frozen rivers of ice trapped in the stony grip of the peaks around them and emerged from valleys into blinding sunlight. As they approached, the animals who called the frozen landscape home scattered, hiding away in their dens to stay warm in their own fur coats rather than the man-made ones Swiss and Mountain wore.
They had continued hiking up until they reached the summit, looking out over the world enveloped in a blanket of clouds. It was nothing like Swiss had ever seen before, everything else they knew seeming so distant down below. Stood on the snowy peak, it truly felt like he and Mountain were staring out at everything ever made while simultaneously being the last two lives on earth.
Descending the mountain had almost been harder than ascending, watching every footfall with deep concentration. It was that concentration that had allowed them to sense the nearby presence of life, Swiss's small quintessence sense niggling in the back of his mind for several miles already. Mountain had also spotted tracks that seemed more humanoid than beast, although he had put them out of his mind as an impossibility. They were almost down to the valley now, and then it would be just one more day of travel to reach the closest town where they could rest fully and recoup supplies.
It was as they were carefully picking their way down a rocky scree that they spotted them; tucked behind a boulder, almost entirely hidden under the spindly shrub growing around it, were two pairs of dark purple eyes staring fearfully out at them. Swiss stopped abruptly, almost causing Mountain to crash into him and send him flying down the slope, before smiling cautiously at the cowering figures. They were ghouls, that he could tell instantly, quintessence ghouls judging by their eyes and the faint static buzz that lingered in the air around them.
“Hi there,” he cooed softly, as though he was approaching a wounded animal, “are you alright?”
The figures didn't move, staring unblinkingly up at the two towering ghouls casting a shadow over their hiding spot. Swiss realised how they must look and crouched down, motioning for Mountain to do the same. The earth ghoul fished some food out of his pack as he did, passing it to Swiss who gently placed it in front of him, before shuffling backwards to give the ghouls space.
One of them, a male, scuttled forward, his eyes never leaving the two strangers as he reached out a long, skinny arm to grab the bread and fruit. He retreated as quickly as he had emerged, but he didn't tuck himself quite as tightly behind the rock this time. Spindly fingers split the chunk of bread down the centre, giving the larger section to the ghoul behind him, before doing the same with the dry ribbons of apple leather.
“My name's Swiss,” the multi ghoul smiled again, keeping his tone gentle, “what's yours?”
The flicker in the ghouls' eyes told him they understood him, even if they seemed reluctant to speak themselves. Mountain introduced himself too, trying to aid Swiss with the amicable, non-threatening atmosphere he was building.
“'M Mountain.” Swiss heard him shuffle, knees likely burning from crouching after walking for so many weeks, before seemingly losing his balance and landing on the dirt path with a grunt. As he winced, rubbing his backside that smarted from the fall, the pair of ghouls glanced at each other, giggling softly.
Swiss followed suit, flopping down into a seated position himself. The quintessence ghouls seemed instantly more relaxed now nether of the large strangers were in any position to pounce, or even move, in a hurry. The second one crept out from behind the rock to get a better look at them, whispering in the other's ear. She was a ghoulette, they realised.
“What are you doing out here? Are you with someone?” Swiss continued, hoping they spoke the same language while wanting to check there would not be an angry clan of quintessence ghouls descending upon them for accosting their young any time soon. The pair of youngsters whispered to each other again before meeting his gaze, clearly putting on their bravest faces.
“Ph-phantom,” the ghoul stuttered out as the ghoulette grabbed his hand to reassure him, “my sister–”
“I'm Aurora,” she almost whispered, “and we're all alone.” She fixed Swiss with a beady gaze, clearly growing with confidence as he and Mountain continued to stay flat on the ground.
“You're going to help us?” she spoke with a stronger voice now, as though her own thoughts were solidifying in front of her. Swiss supposed she was quintessence, and some of them had a way of knowing things that rivalled even the air ghouls, back at the Abbey.
“You have food,” the first ghoul said again, watching Mountain cautiously, “where from?”
Digging more out of his pack Mountain attempted a smile of his own, careful to keep his lips in front of his teeth to not appear more threatening than he knew he likely already did.
“We brought it with us,” he replied quietly, gesturing into the valley below, “we came from down there, we wanted to see the mountains.”
The ghouls looked at him, then at the distant valley, then back at him.
“Our family lived on the mountain,” Aurora, the ghoulette, said sadly, “but they're all gone now.” She turned her head into her brother’s chest, and he wrapped protective, albeit skeletal, arms around her comfortingly.
Swiss and Mountain exchanged glances – any threat that could wipe out a whole clan of quintessence ghouls would be a threat to them to.
“A ghoul,” the male nodded gravely, “he hurt our Mama.”
“Do you know where he went?” Mountain asked gently but with enough urgency that both ghouls paused in their chewing to look up at him. Exchanging a glance, they both pointed up and over the mountain, away from the direction they were headed. Maybe Swiss’ earlier conviction about seeing a yeti wasn’t totally unfounded, but was instead something rather more threatening. Mountain sighed in relief however; they had seemingly missed him and he was unlikely to cause any future problems for them as they headed south and away from the mountainous territory.
“We’re very happy you’re safe,” Swiss was still talking to them like they were a pair of wounded animals, but they seemed to be responding well to it, “they hurt your Mama, but could we help you find the rest of your family?”
They shook their heads in sync.
“Papa told us to run,” Aurora, evidently the more talkative one, raised her head again to speak, “but we felt his energy go dark. Everyone’s did.”
“We left them.” Phantom whimpered, his lower lip wobbling but keeping a brave face up and refusing to let tears fall. It was the ghoulette’s turn to comfort him, whispering words the two older ghouls could not hear.
Swiss felt his heart breaking for the young pair. He knew intimately the exact struggle they had been though, and at a similar age. Having each other would help them, but nothing could truly ease the pain they felt. Time would help them, but freedom from guilt was something he had spent many years battling, something he had learned may never be possible to live without. He lived despite it though, and he prayed with every fibre of his being that these ghouls would learn to too. There and then, Swiss made them a silent promise: he would never let them beat themselves up the way he had done. He would walk over hot coals before he let harm come to them.
Jolting back into the present, Swiss felt Mountain’s gaze on him.
“You’re staring, Love.” He whispered under his breath, concerned for the multi ghoul.
“Sorry.” He muttered, hoping he hadn’t frightened the siblings. Mountain distracted them by offering his waterskin, while Swiss regained his composure. Rather than fear though, the pair seemed more curious in Swiss than ever, as if they recognised something lurking behind his eyes.
“Y’know,” he started, shifting his weight to make himself more comfortable on the hard ground, “something very similar happened to my family too. I was about your age, and I thought I had a great life. I didn’t have any brothers of sisters like you two, but I had lots of cousins. Friends too, who lived nearby.”
He left out the parts about his friends being human – that ghoulish abnormality could wait until they fully trusted him.
“One day, our home was attacked just like yours. My parents wanted me to run, so did my whole family, but I wanted to warm my friends to get away too!”
He felt four bright violet points laser-focussed on him, but unexpectedly two green ones too. Thinking about it, he supposed Mountain had never heard the full story before; only the sanitised version he had sung about in the tavern on occasion.
“My parents begged me to run with them, but I was young and stubborn. I tried to help my friends, but they didn’t want to leave our home. When I tried to run after my family I found my parents had stayed to wait for me, but they–”
The two young ghouls looked solemnly back at Swiss, understanding they shouldn’t have had at their young age clear in their eyes. Swiss heard shuffling behind him, until he felt Mountain’s arms snake around his waist and his chin hook over his shoulder, comforting him. Understanding the truth behind the city’s fall was one thing, but Mountain had not known anything of the guilt Swiss still harboured over it.
“They died protecting me, so I know how you feel,” Swiss summarised, not having expected to bring up the well-buried memories of their cold, still faces when he awoke that morning, “but it’s not your fault, alright?”
Phantom and Aurora nodded fervently, a newfound understanding and kinship on their faces behind the pain that was so apparent there.
“So please, trust me when we ask that you come with us now. We can help you, I promise.”
“There’ll be more food?” Phantom asked hopefully, already eyeing up Mountain’s bag again.
“All the food you can eat.” Mountain chuckled. Despite everything, he supposed they were still normal young ghouls at heart.
They looked to Swiss as though awaiting confirmation. He smiled and nodded, amused at how quickly they had decided he was trustworthy with just some food scraps and a few understanding words. It was good they had found them first; quintessence ghouls were powerful, and he didn’t want to think what could have happened had they been captured by any other ghoul seeking to abuse that power for their own ends.
“There’s other ghouls where we’re going too,” Swiss continued, “good ghouls – they’re like our family.”
The pair exchanged another look, before Aurora spoke up in a very small voice.
“How far is it to your family?”
“It’s still quite a long way,” Swiss winced apologetically, thinking of how weary they already were, “maybe one more day down the mountain to where we can get more food, then another week beyond there?”
“Less if we hire a horse and cart,” Mountain murmured in his ear, “they wouldn’t have to walk, and we could all get back sooner.”
He had a point – they had discovered on their outbound journey that several of the towns between here and the Abbey had operated on a trading network; fresh fruits and vegetables from around the Abbey making their way to the colder climate of the foothills, and stables loaning mounts between the settlements.
“Less than a week,” Swiss corrected himself, looking at the forlorn faces in front of him, “just one more day by foot, then we could travel the rest of the way in just a few days with a wagon and horse.”
“We’re going to help you,” Mountain spoke up with surprising conviction, “you’re not alone anymore.”
With some effort on everyone’s part, the two young ghouls eventually scrambled to their feet and the small party could continue a halting descent down the last of the mountain. Their shoes, while they looked to have been suitable for the terrain some time ago, were worn and thin, and Swiss began to wonder if they wouldn’t be better off simply carrying the two scraps of ghouls. They remained glued to each other’s side though, and he could see no benefit that could come from tearing them apart.
Besides, with each step, the pair seemed to grow in confidence; their tired and sluggish steps becoming nimble and light. This was after all the terrain they were familiar with, made evident as they hopped effortlessly over the rough surfaces like mountain goats. They weren’t speaking much, both clearly still on-edge, even though as quintessence ghouls they could most probably feel that there was no animosity or danger from the large ghouls they were travelling with.
Their progress slowed as the ground flattened out, the paths made soft with the beginnings of the snowmelt from higher lands. Swiss and Mountain urged them on to where they knew they could make camp with promises of hot food, but both knew the rest of the way to the town tomorrow would be a struggle. So much for an relaxed trip thought Mountain, flashbacks of their original flight to the Abbey with a sick Rain at the forefront of his mind.
Something else about the two quintessence ghouls would become difficult in the morning too: their less-than-human appearances. Both seemed to be having trouble with their glamours; their horns and tails hidden safely away but their other unnatural features still clearly on display. Any human who so much as glanced at them currently would be left with the very distinct impression that they were not of this world.
The ghoul had black, shaggy hair with an almost-luminous white streak that kept falling in his eyes, and matching silver blotches scattered across his dark grey skin. The ghoulette was an opposite in complexion, so pale she could have blended in with the mountain snow, if not for her equally dark hair that flickered in a rainbow of colours like oil on water. They had near-identical facial features, down to the glowing shade of violet of their eyes, making Swiss wonder if they weren’t just brother and sister but rather twins. Any siblings were rare enough by ghoulish standards, but twins were almost unheard of.
Aside from their most clearly inhuman features, both ghouls were also concerningly skinny and malnourished, enough to attract unwanted attention even if they did get their glamours together overnight. Swiss and Mountain would have to split up tomorrow, an added complication, with only one of them going near the town while the others waited outside and out of view of the humans.
Finally, the group made it to where Mountain wanted to make camp. The sun had almost entirely set as he went about pulling foliage into a makeshift cover and Swiss built and lit a fire. Phantom and Aurora huddled around it as the flames caught, so close that a protective instinct in Swiss wanted to beg them to sit back a little.
Neither Swiss nor Mountain slept much that night, both too distracted by the quiet huffing breaths of the sleeping quintessence ghouls.
“They're so young, they didn’t deserve any of this.” Swiss whispered forlornly into the air in front of him as Mount held him close to his chest, neither taking their eyes off the small sleeping forms curled together for security and warmth.
“They’re practically still kits, Mount. They can't be much older than when I was when I ended up alone!” He sniffed loudly, holding back tears in Mountain’s reassuring arms.
“Hey, shh…” The earth ghoul rocked him comfortingly. “They’re safe now, they’re here with us.”
Swiss sniffed again, wetly, as Mountain rocked him soothingly.
“And you turned out wonderful, you know? If they have the chance to put their lives back together now, think what they'll be like when they’re all grown up.”
His next sniff was a more resolute one; a promise to so good by the young ghouls.
The next day, everything went smoother than they could have expected. After a slightly rocky start with the two young ghouls waking up and forgetting their unfamiliar surroundings and company for a moment, they set out on their way, slowly. Swiss had waited with them well outside the town limits, as they still seemed most comfortable with him, and he worked hard to keep them distracted with the last of their food while Mountain headed into the town.
He returned a few hours later, pack refilled and a rented horse and cart in tow. Before they left the Abbey, Copia had insisted they take a pouch of emergency money lest they get into trouble, and they couldn’t be more grateful to him for it. They had sworn not to touch it, but knew the old man well enough to know that protecting a pair of young orphaned ghouls would more than count as an emergency in his eyes.
The rest of their journey was swift and uneventful, so much so that Swiss began to wonder if someone was looking out specially for them. Days were still long, and their charges were still skittish at every strange noise and smell, but they made good progress and met surprisingly few other travellers along the road. The young siblings had scarves now, bought for warmth as well as camouflage, draped over their heads which they could hide further behind if they came across any humans. In fact, the only hindrance they had encountered so far was an early spring rain shower, making everyone just a little bit colder and more weary than they already were.
Mountain and Swiss stayed single-minded in their mission to return to the Abbey as quickly as possible, to get the quintessence ghouls somewhere warm and safe where they could begin to heal from their ordeal. Neither would sleep properly or allow themselves to relax until their duty was done.
The air ghoulettes saw them returning, although they had no idea who the figures travelling with their packmates could be. As she had been on the first day of their arrival at the Abbey, Cumulus was waiting by the gate. This time though, Cirrus and their whole pack were also waiting beside her. The arrival of a horse and cart had raised some eyebrows; Mountain and Swiss were not the type of ghouls to shy away from a few days trekking. Had one of them perhaps been injured?
Mountain passed the reigns of their borrowed horse to a waiting Cowbell, who steadied the mare while the wagon's occupants disembarked. The earth ghoul stepped down first, before a murmur of surprise echoed through the assembled ghouls as he turned to help two small ghouls down after him. Swiss brought up the rear.
The pair of larger ghouls, derailing the expected joy and exuberance at their return for now as they stood not facing their pack, protectively ushered their young charges forward to meet the assembled ghouls.
“This is Phantom and Aurora,” Mountain spoke with an authority that suited him well, as unfamiliar to him as it felt, “and they need our help.”
“We can explain more later,” added Swiss in a softer tone, clearly aimed to comfort not only the pair quivering beside him but also his own pack, “but for now, they need hot food and to rest.”
As could have been expected, Cumulus stepped forward immediately, a gentle and welcoming smile replacing the look of confusion on her face.
“Well you're in the right place for that, little ones!” With a glance at Swiss and a nod of confirmation from him, the quintessence ghouls shyly approached her. Cirrus joined her, looking more uncertain than her mate yet also smiling softly at Phantom and Aurora.
“Come on, let's go and get you fed.”
The pair hesitated, observing the assembled crowd of the rest of the pack. They seemed more curious than frightened though, especially of Aether who was hanging back at the rear of the group. Swiss had been worried – although he hadn't said a word – on the final steps of their journey about how they would react to him. Even though he knew Aether was a gentle giant, Swiss had been quietly fearful that his generally large stature and the universal assumption that quintessence ghouls were bullish and violent when others encroached on their territory would frighten the young ghouls. Maybe they sensed his pacifism, or maybe they were simply too naive to know better, as their attention soon switched to observing the rest of the assembled pack.
“Go with them, they'll take good care of you.”
All heads turned to look at Dew, as he suddenly spoke up in a surprisingly sweet tone. Rain squeezed his hand. The promise of a warm meal seemed to finally win out over their intrigue at the collection of new faces, and the two quintessence ghouls trotted after Cumulus and Cirrus.
As soon as they disappeared behind the Abbey walls, Swiss let out a tremendous sigh of relief and slumped against Mountain. They had got the pair here in one piece and they were now safe, at last. The mood was more sombre than anyone could have expected for what sould have been a joyous reunion, but it was very clear why.
“They'll be fine,” Mountain rubbed Swiss’ lower back comfortingly, “they've got no choice with those two looking after them.”
Swiss smiled weakly.
“Well that was all very unexpected.” Sunshine said lightly, shattering the strange silence that had befallen the group. That seemed to do the trick, as Swiss finally felt able to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
Finally, the pack had the reunion they had been expecting. Amid the hugs and loud questions from all the ghouls, and Aether admitting he had used the same calming quintessence trick he used on his more anxious patients in the infirmary on Phantom and Aurora, they heard a commotion as Copia came jogging across the crunchy gravel, robes askew.
“My ghouls! I just heard that you had returned!” He coughed and composed himself, red-faced and out of breath as he was, slightly embarrassed at his undignified appearance. “I am delighted. I trust you had an enjoyable time – and what was this I heard about some young newcomers?”
“Sorry we couldn't send news ahead, Papa,” Swiss was quick to apologise, “and it's a long story!”
The man smiled indulgently.
“Let us retire inside then! You must tell me all about your trip. All of us are desperate to know every detail!”
Swiss and Mountain shared a look.
“If it's alright Papa, I'd like to check on the new ghouls first. Just to check they're settling in.”
“Ah my, of course,” Copia patted Swiss gently on the shoulder, “forgive an over-excited old man. It has been so long since I had adventures of my own you see! I'll be in my study, when you have time.”
Phantom and Aurora were doing just fine, it turned out. The ghoulettes had settled them in front of their Den fire, as they had for Dewdrop all those years before, and they were happily ripping into a whole roasted chicken Cumulus had smuggled out of the kitchen. They looked up at Swiss from the floor with matching grins, shiny with food grease, and his heart had melted. He could see why ghouls would go to war over their kits.
Over the weeks that followed, the young ghouls had filled out some, losing the hungry glint in their eyes. Swiss had quickly found that in helping them, it had also helped him work through his lingering feelings about his past. The pair looked up to him, which he hadn’t been expecting. Whether they had just latched onto the first person they met, or if they really did feel a kinship with him from their similar backgrounds, it didn’t matter. They were clearly looking for a role model and so he would be one.
Their personalities had also started to shine through, shyness now almost entirely evaporated. Aurora was the more independent one, that was abundantly clear. She was smart and witty, and Swiss thought she could probably run the whole Abbey if left to her own devices. Phantom had been quieter to start with, clearly the more sensitive of the two, but he borrowed a confidence from his sister in a way that was endearing to watch.
Swiss had noticed him mimicking some of his own actions too, and it gave him a strange feeling in his stomach – pride, possibly? He was planning to teach Phantom to play the guitar soon – the ghoul had shown a great deal of interest already, his tongue sticking out between his teeth as Swiss showed him how to play a chord or two. Aurora seemed less interested in the guitar. If anything, she was more into dancing; twirling around with the other young ghoulettes of the Abbey and singing along while her brother sat watching the band's performances, utterly enraptured.
As sweet as their early idolatry of him had been, Swiss had been worried about them getting to know other ghouls their own age. Mountain had reassured him countless times that they would be fine without him interfering and he had been right, of course. They had quickly settled into a wing of the Abbey mostly occupied by other quintessence ghouls. Led by Delphinia from the infirmary, they were continuing the pair’s education starting with their clearly-lacking glamours. Swiss found himself feeling like an older pack member to them; he was not used to ever being seen as responsible, but it felt good.
The rest of the pack couldn’t help but feel a fondness for Phantom and Aurora either. Their interest in Aether hadn’t wavered when he stopped using his own quintessence to calm them – if anything it only served to make them more curious, and he was happy to indulge their attempts to practice their newly-learned skills on him.
Dew however was utterly fascinated by them. He had never seen twins before in his life, only ever hearing exaggerated horror stories featuring them, told under the cover of night. From the first moment he met Phantom and Aurora, with their perfectly synchronised head-turns and a continued unsettling silence, he had been captivated. Dew had quickly learned that the pair were definitely not scary at all; especially Phantom, when his eyes would unknowingly blink out of sync with each other. It remined him of a frog.
For ghouls that looked only a little younger than the age Rain had been when he first joined the clan, they both seemed pretty clueless. To think; he had first thought Rain to be the most sheltered ghoul in existence! Naive would have been a better description for the young siblings, but Dewdrop had never claimed to be anything but clueless himself.
As they settled, Dew remained absolutely enchanted by them. He chose to ignore the niggling thought in his brain that perhaps he was feeling the exact same thing Cirrus and Cumulus had felt when he first arrived, bedraggled and pathetic, on their doorstep.
~~~~~~~
As the final vestiges of winter faded and spring fully embraced the earth with her arms, so full of life, Swiss and Mountain only grew closer, knowing what their next step would be.
On a sunny morning with the sky filled with birdsong, Swiss, Mountain and their pack gathered under the freshly green canopy of trees in their garden. Together, the pair pushed handfuls of earth around the myrtle sapling beside the bench that had been the site of so many key moments in their story together. Laying their hands side by side on the soil, they poured all the love they had for each other, and for the earth that had brought them together and held them close, into its roots. The tiny flicker of green-gold from Swiss’ fingertips was a new sight for Mountain and he gasped in astonishment.
“I’ve been practicing,” Swiss whispered with a conspiratorial smile, “specially for this. For you”.
The beaming smile Mountain gave him could have rivalled the brightness of the sun.
On that warm spring day, with the whole pack celebrating the formal union of two of their number, there was only room for love. The love that had been simmering between Swiss and Mountain for longer than either could remember, the love that had blossomed so suddenly between Dewdrop and Rain, but most of all the love that the whole pack shared.
Not one of them had room in their thoughts today to dwell on the events that had brought them to the Abbey, or the reasons they had ended up in the village in the first place. None of them could ever forget those past hardships, but they could choose to move on from them; to set them aside for this brief moment and embrace the parts of life that hadn’t been dealt to them but that they had chosen instead. Today, they had all decided to focus on love.
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gortash-did-nothing-wrong · 11 months ago
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Feral 2
Minors Do Not Interact!!!
Warnings: brief mentions of arranged marriage, threats of harming an animal (it's a joke but the reader takes it seriously), and several references to slavery
The silly little cat fic is getting a sequel because someone commented that Feyd not liking Friz would make him Friz's favorite person.
"Get him." Feyd said firmly.
Y/N snorted out a laugh. Ever since the wedding she had gotten very comfortable around him. He liked that. He wasn't a fan of a certain flea bag getting that comfortable though.
Friz had a new habit. A habit that annoyed Feyd to no end. Anytime Feyd sat down somewhere, Friz would climb up on the back of the couch or chair, and rub against the back of Feyd's head. Normal he would just ignore the beast until the creature got bored, but with Friz's newfound affections came a fun new fact. Something about the combination of Friz's fur and Feyd's skin created a bit of static. Every damned hair the cat shed stuck to his head like it was glued. Only showering or a lint roller would get it all off. Every damned time he left his rooms he had to triple check himself to make sure he wasn't walking around with cat fur on his head. Y/N was admittedly helpful about the situation, often going over him with a lint roller before he left.
Friz seemed to have an endless supply of fur that fell off of him at the slightest touch. The beast didn't seem to have much fur when you looked at him, but it was a cowardly deception. Y/N had taken an undercoat brush to Friz while Feyd watched, horrified at the amount of fur that kept getting brushed off of him. It was never ending. And after Y/N was done, a giant clump of furballs next to her to prove she'd done it, Friz looked no different. And still she'd on the couch that evening during his nap time.
"The maids scramble about to keep this place as fur free as possible." Y/N explained to him, throwing the fur into the incinerator. "I've no idea how they do it, I think they use some sort of hand rake that works kind of like the undercoat brush."
"Remind me to increase their rations." Feyd grumbled.
Which brought Feyd back to his current predicament. Friz was standing in the back of the couch, rubbing against his head like he owned it. Y/N held out her hand, offering pets to Friz.
The tomcat promptly gave her a warning hiss.
"It's out of my control." Y/N said.
"And you're sure we can't shave him?" Feyd pressed.
"He'll get sick. Giedi Prime is already so cold, I can't let him freeze without his coat." Y/N explained.
Feyd opened his mouth to say that wasn't the worst outcome he'd ever heard, but went silent when he felt it. On the back of his head. Something warm, wet, and scratchy. It touched him briefly, then disappeared for a split second before touching him again, and again, and again.
Y/N grinned from ear to ear. "Aw, he's grooming you!"
Feyd growled, crossing his arms in what definitely was not a pout. "I am cleaner than he has ever been."
"You know, cats only groom things they consider to be family. And since you're new to him, and have no hair, he might think you're a kitten!" Y/N giggled. "A poor, cold little kitten with no hair."
A little meow from behind him assured the both of them that not only could Friz understand them somehow, but he was committed to this entire bit.
"I'll toss you to the slave pits." Feyd threatened the cat. "They're usually half starved. They'll tear you to-"
"Feyd." Y/N snapped. "If you speak to him like that again, you'll need to go to your own room tonight."
Feyd took a deep breath, gently reminding himself that his wife wasn't from Giedi Prime, that she was softer than him, that she wasn't going to take kindly to even joking threats. "My apologies. Is there some solution to his shedding I have overlooked?"
"Well, regular baths would help." Y/N said. "Right now I can only manage about one every two weeks, but if I could give him longer bathes where I really get in there and scrub him, it'll knock a lot of fur off."
Feyd narrowed his gaze at Friz as the cat jumped into his lap. "Consider it done."
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noproofread · 2 years ago
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A little Luffy fluff
I've never written fanfic on tumblr before so pls bear with me. Also I'm so used to writing smut but I started this one and it was just so fluffy i didnt wanna taint it so maybe there'll be a part 2, who knows.
Word count: 1,425
Nothing but cute fluff, first kiss, feelings, all the soft stuff
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‘Luffy!” you shout, spotting your captain in a restaurant. You have only been on this island for 15 minutes and already Luffy found a place to eat. He turns to face you “Hey Y/N!” Luffy says, crumbs of food spilling out of his mouth as he grins at you.
“You gotta try these potatoes! They’re so good!” The young captain shouts, making you giggle. “I believe you. We have to go to the ship though, Nami sent me to get you” you state, taking a seat next to him. He doesn’t look at you, too focused on scarfing down the hot food while he can. “Hmmm but I’m eating right now.” A whine comes out of Luffy. “We’ll just go back when you finish then” you smile at him. You won’t admit it to the rest of the crew but you developed a little crush on your captain in the time you’ve spent with the Straw Hats.
He had come into your village and beat up some guys that were giving you trouble as you were going back home from shopping for gardening supplies. He asked you to join the crew, per Nami’s request, as she saw the way you tended to the garden. She wanted someone who knew what they were doing when it came to green life, especially for her tangerine trees. You graciously accepted the invitation, mostly because of the young rubber pirate that helped you.
You were good at hiding your feelings for the most part. Nobody questioned your unwavering loyalty to the group of pirates you had only known for a couple of weeks. Nor did they notice all the times you stared at Luffy, studying his face. Appreciating the way he always smiled even when faced with scary situations. Nobody saw the way you blushed whenever he complimented the way the lawn on the Sunny looked.
You never expected him to feel the same way towards you so you never did anything about your feelings. After all, this is the future King of the Pirates. The man that will find the one piece. You were perfectly content just being close to him as his friend. Perfectly okay with simply admiring him from afar.
“Aaahh I’m all done now! Ready to go back to the ship then?” Luffy’s words snapped you out of your thoughts. You nodded at him and got up from your seat. “We have to hurry though, Nami says there’s going to be a storm soon and I don’t wanna get caught in the rain.” Without thinking, you grab Luffy’s hand and start heading back to the Sunny. Luffy looks down at your hand, confused but he allows it.
As you approach the ship, Luffy speaks. “Hey Y/N, what’s with this hand holding thing anyway?” He looks at you and grins. That signature wide grin he always has on his face. “Not that I mind, just curious.”
“Oh! I uh… I hadn’t noticed haha” You pull your hand away, hoping you didn’t sound nervous. Luffy shrugs it off and jumps up on the ship. You climb your way up and see Nami “See! I found him” you tell her. She smiles and looks at Luffy “Don’t run off without telling us! We almost left you until Y/N pointed out you weren’t on the ship” She nods disapprovingly at him and chuckles lightly. “NAMI-SWAAANN” you hear Sanji yell from the kitchen “Please oh PLEASE taste this tangerine tart I made just for you.” Nami rolls her eyes and walks towards the kitchen, leaving you and Luffy alone as the sun starts to set.
You are standing a little close to Luffy, who looks towards you. You notice a faint blush on his cheeks briefly before his voice cuts through your thoughts again. “Hey, why do you always make my face feel warm?” He smiles.
“What?” You stand shocked, looking at Luffy. “I don’t know, I just feel warm whenever you’re close to me. It’s weird.” Your eyes widen at Luffy’s sudden confession. “Good weird or bad weird?” you ask.
“I… I’m not sure. I honestly don’t know what to think about it.” The blush on Luffy’s cheeks deepens slightly. “I think it’s good though.” You smile to yourself and let out a sigh “That’s good…” You say softly. Looking out at the blue water past the ship, you make your way towards the railing. You feel your heart flutter at Luffy’s words. He catches up to you and looks at you, slightly confused. “Why is it good?” he smiles. “Just… I would never want to make you feel bad weird," your gaze still looking at the crashing waves. “Haha! Well you sure don’t make me feel bad weird so you’re good!” Luffy says, looking at your face as a small blush forms. “What about me? Do I ever make you feel… weird?” He leans against the railing of the Sunny, right next to you. You feel the air change as you process his question.
“Yeah… good weird too” You laugh, avoiding his gaze as you try to ignore the feeling of your heart dropping to your stomach. You can feel Luffy’s eyes on you, you wonder if he can see the blush on your face. If he can sense your nervousness. You feel a warm sensation on your hand and look down to see Luffy’s on top of yours. You look at him and he smiles “I mean… you are something else Y/N.” You feel your face grow hotter and you bite your lip. “Haha… So are you. Captain Luffy… Future King of the Pirates.” You look down once again, trying to focus on the sound of the waves to ease up the tension. It doesn’t work.
“Can I maybe… I don’t know…” Luffy says awkwardly, as his voice trails off. You look at him and notice the deep pink hue that washes over his face. His eyes meet yours and you see them trail down to your lips. You feel your stomach do a flip as you realize what he is thinking. “C-Can you maybe… what?” You speak but your voice is barely a whisper. Luffy leans in closer to you. “Maybe…” His voice is soft and low.
“I… I think I want to…” He continues to hold your hand as he inches closer to your face. Your brain cannot process what’s happening “You… you want to…?” You echo his words as you hear your heart pounding in your chest. He looks back up into your eyes “You… you don’t mind… do you?” Luffy asks quietly, his face is so close you feel his breath on your lips. You can’t find the voice to speak anymore and you simply shake your head no. Everything feels like it’s happening in slow motion. You can’t hear the crashing of the waves anymore, or the sound of your crew mates’ banter. You have never felt more present and yet so far away. Luffy’s hand is still on yours as he leans in further. You close your eyes and notice your shallow breathing. You feel his lips press against yours. They’re soft and light. It was only a quick second but it was enough to make you gasp.
You open your eyes to see Luffy smile. His face is a deep shade of red and you assume yours also is. You bite your lip to hold back an impulse, but it fails. You grab Luffy’s face once again and kiss him. You feel him relax into the kiss, which is already longer than the previous one. Your heart is racing as you feel Luffy cup your cheek with his hand. As you both pull away you’re both breathing heavily. “That…” Luffy begins but his words trail off. “I don’t know what to say…” You simply smile and bite your lip. “What do you feel, Luffy?” You finally find it within you to speak. “It’s.. It’s hard to describe um..” He begins. You see his eyes scan your face, trying to find the words.
“It’s like a strange sensation in my mind and my body… I feel um… I feel like these warm tingles and it’s hard to think sometimes.” He speaks softly. You simply smile and pull him in for a hug. He gasps at the sudden embrace and soon you feel his arms wrap around you. You can hear his heart beating in his chest. You close your eyes and sigh, feeling yourself be present in this moment. A moment you really never thought would happen.
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bomberqueen17 · 6 months ago
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lurkey lurkey
so i had in my mind been like "when the farm season is over i'm gonna get so much done" and also in my mind been like "bitch be real i am going to be decompressing uncontrollably and will achieve nothing" and just as one might have predicted, i have split the difference, spinning wheels wildly and also achieving little.
i did do a final definitive trial of ADHD meds, long put-off because the season was too hectic, and decided that yes, my impression of July was correct, I suck at being medicated LOL
I did start publishing the 150k of incoherent fanfic I started writing in August while insane, and I might keep going on that; there's a small audience but a lovely one
and I really really did take the characters from that fanfic and shove them into a new story and I have written several tens of thousands of words of notes but in the last couple of days I actually think I have begun to write a draft. So.
If anyone is interested in possibly doing some beta-reading, even just cheer-reading, of a draft of an original novel about bisexual tall ship sailors in a solarpunk setting, I should mention that the stay-at-home wife is turning out to be the B-plot heroine (it might actually be the A plot) and the Admiral's sassy gay socialite husband is doing some heavy lifting I hadn't expected, but on the other hand, the children are less onscreen than I'd expected. And I'm not sure where the sex is going to fit in, if at all. But there is still an OT3.
So let me know about that. I'm not quite ready with a shareable draft but I'm two chapters in and cautiously optimistic that this is actually a story. Maybe?
But I'm about to head back to the farm for the turkey processing ordeal, which is a solid week of extremely hard work with a major holiday in the middle with family obligations and then more work immediately afterward, so I don't expect to have time to work on it for a bit. But it's ruminating in there, I promise.
I have a snippet, which is a first-- everything I've written so far I've hated upon rereading, so that's why I think I'm making progress. I've renamed everyone but kept the first names mostly, where I didn't swap genders. This is the opening of chapter 2, so we've already had Technology Backstory With Smart Wifey, and Action Sequence At Sea With Explosions, and now it's time for Character Backstories:
Someone shouted his name from down the street, and Tom laughed aloud, handed his datapad to the mildly alarmed merchant captain walking beside him, and turned, holding his arms out and bracing himself to receive the sudden arrival of thirteen stone or so of Yardley at full velocity. James always jumped and Tom always caught him, that was how it had worked since they were about thirteen, and he spun around to absorb some of the excess velocity and then kissed James soundly on the mouth before setting him down.  “Atkins, you fucker,” Yardley said. He’d knocked both their hats off. He was tan, straight off a run from around the Storms, and had been long-scheduled to meet them here. Constellation’s limping had slowed them down so much they were eight days overdue, so he’d likely been hanging around a while now. “I hear you have a good excuse for being late.” “I don’t know that it’s good,” Tom said, retrieving their hats and putting Yardley’s back on him. Then he realized it was the wrong hat, so he switched them. “But it couldn’t exactly have been avoided.”  James grabbed his face in both hands and kissed him again, and it could read as just friendly to a casual observer but Tom knew it was not, and smiled, curling his tongue wickedly but briefly behind James’s teeth before pulling back. James kept hold of his face and frowned. “You look like shit,” he said. “Thanks,” Tom said. “You look like you’ve been lying around Barka drinking and fu--” He rerouted the sentence, remembering they weren’t alone. “Making friends.” “Well,” James said modestly, preening, “naturally.”
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factorialsotherfandoms · 5 days ago
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Tango day! I actually wrote a Tango bit yesterday, but decided it was too much about Evil X and Zedaph, so... let's see what I can cook. Might release that later, as it's got fun lore in it, and there's a lot of room for character development between cycles 2 and 10...
This one is set at the end of the second cycle, so waaay before the Grian fic. They haven't even quite worked out that there are cycles just yet.
Mostly based just on the stuff going on in the background as you sort the final paperwork at the end of each school in campaign mode, heavily dramatised as that's just little guys screaming and running to the edge of your screen while being chased.
Warnings for fire, fear of death, and implied minor unnamed non-canon character death
The hallways smell of burning.
Not the good burning, not a nice campfire or lava pool, the sort of burning that comes from dyed fabric and human-adjacent flesh.
Tango ducks his head out of the door, hears screaming, and then ducks back in.
The terrified faces of three first year students look back at him.
"Right," he tells them. "Okay. How to do this."
If anyone had told him that, less than a week into his new job as at a fancy university he would be having to work out how to safely get an elf, a deep one, and a vampire out of a burning building during a fight, he would have laughed in their face. Sure, Hermiton University had been attacked by the Lord of Evil a while back, but everyone had assumed it was a one off thing.
It might not be the Lord of Evil, of course, it could be anything attacking them right now.
Tango knows better than to think that anything else could stand against the hoard of friendly zombies helping them guard their gates.
"You," he points at the elf, having not even learnt any names yet - he hadn't even taken the register for his first class before all this began! "Do you know where the necromancy classroom is?"
"Um..." she looks at the others, and shakes her head.
"I do," the vampire pipes up, clinging tight to both their hands.
Tango slaps his forehead - of course the vampire, not the elf, knows where the necromancy classroom is.
"There should be a secret exit under the third coffin," a logic puzzle, Tango knows all the pieces; he starts grabbing things from his drawers. "I just need to... Push it aside - someone else might have done it already - and head down there. It should cut you through the mountain, and get you around the invaders."
He's missing a few pieces; no matter. A little fire from his hair heats his claw, and then he uses the sharp point to scratch the missing runes into cold steel.
It's not a perfect solution, but like this...
Three wards against smoke.
There's not the materials in the enchantment lab to make a fourth.
Still, he reaches out, and hands them to the three students.
"Get out," he tells them, ruining the villainous vibes of his classroom and attempts at a strict reputation.
"You're not coming?" the deep one asks.
"I'll follow," he lies. "I've just got to find the rest of my department first."
He doesn't even know who the rest of his department is - there's Mumbo, who he met a while ago, and Xisuma, the headmaster, and... Well, the fact the whole university is on fire and being attacked by the forces of evil does probably explain why the other teachers had been too antsy to talk to him.
The vampire nods, and grabs the other two's hands.
Tango rifles through his half-unpacked boxes of stuff. There should be, if he can find it...
The door slams shut as the three students leave.
There!
Tango isn't really sure what he is supposed to do in this situation, but with a natural fire resistance, enchanted boots, and a belt full of potions, he's probably supposed to do /something/.
---
Doing something, it turns out, is a terrible idea. He's not good at this, especially not without the sort of backup he's used to. Tango has stolen a bow from the weapons rack in the assassination classroom, and that's his only weapon right now. His technique is entirely about buying time, still hearing screams below and panicked footsteps above; he avoids the forces of darkness where he can and, when he can't, a single shot.
If it hurts them, great!
If it doesn't hurt them, he's got speed enchanted boots, seven bottles of gotta-go-fast-juice, and a rabbit warren of a wizard's castle that he doesn't know how to navigate, but the evil minions know even less well. Having a classroom on the top floor Tango has at least seen most of it, unlike the rest.
It was going... not fine, this is not fine, nothing about this is fine - he's trapped on the upper floors, and at some point the necromancy lab collapsed, sealing the only fire escape he knows - but he was keeping ahead of the minions! Tango had been keeping ahead of the minions, but then he turned a corner and-
More minions.
He looks ahead of him, and behind him, and takes a calculated - stupid - risk.
Bottle of explodificate.
He throws it at the minions ahead of him, and doesn't stop running towards them.
The potion rips the floor open, shaking the whole tower.
Tango stumbles, but manages to throw himself over the gap.
The minions... They aren't so lucky.
Tango sticks his tongue out at them, and keeps running.
---
Nobody cannot run forever, is the thing.
Half an hour later, and the building is still burning. It is a testament to Xisuma's insistence on fireproof structural supports that it hasn't collapsed just yet - Tango doesn't fancy his chances if he does.
He's still stuck, of course, with the forces of evil below, and nothing but the sky above. The smoke is thicker, too, but he's lavaborn, he's fine with /that/.
It's just... everything else.
It's not the smoke that has him heaving for breath - of all species, he's the one it actually helps - but the exhaustion from running for so long. Right now he's hiding in a cupboard built against one of those structural supports, maximising his meager chances if the building does collapse.
There are no potions, artifacts, or tricks that will get him through an entire evil hoard. He knows his chances, he knows-
Something pulls open the cupboard doors.
With a last gasp of energy, he ducks under their arm, and darts towards-
A much stronger hand grips his arm. Tango fights, bites, and struggles, and in the end-
"Tango!" the voice cuts through. "Come on, we need to leave!"
Tango freezes, and sees the familiar form of their helmetted headmaster at the other end of the arm.
"X?"
"Um, yes?" Xisuma shakes his head. "There's a way out this way; I'm so sorry, I should have made sure you knew-"
"Running?" Tango suggests. "Apologies later, flee now."
"Right, yes, of course."
Xisuma does not let go of Tango's wrist as he drags him across the hallway, down some stairs, through a classroom, over a balcony, up some stairs, around a bend, twice around a statue, through a portal, and-
The portal seals shut behind them.
Xisuma lets go of his arm, and Tango collapses into the grass behind him.
It's finally quiet, here, with just the quiet talking of a small number of people. Tango spots a few people in student robes, and more in faculty ones, before he allows gravity to take him and closes his eyes.
"Tango?" Xisuma's voice again. "Are you hurt?"
Stupid question, of course he's hurt.
In the scheme of things, however...
"Tired," he groans. "Been fleeing. Fleeing with extra flee. Took some of Zed's potions, they always leave a headache."
Zed.
Impulse.
He suddenly forces himself up, scrambling for any sort of communicator, any way to let them know he's alright. If they hear about this before they hear from him...
Nope, no communicitifactor, and he doesn't see a postbox...
He sees... There's a field, and Xisuma is crouched next to him, looking somewhere between concerned and tense. Tango can recognise Cleo - in a giant hat, likely so they don't burn - and the man holding a giant parasol over them both must be Joe. Or is he Jevin, and the other one is Joe? Either way, they're both there, and Tango will straighten them out if he meets these people ever again. False is pretty recognisable, armed to the teeth as their assassination teacher is, and Mumbo is fluttering between people with an anxious look, and the rest... Tango hasn't really met most of the faculty, but it looks about the right number for at least most of them to have escaped.
"Tango?" Xisuma calls his attention back. "Do you have anywhere to go?"
Tango nods, and Xisuma relaxes.
"You should probably head there. When I've got a new place set up, and resources in place, I'll be in contact. If you don't want to return, though, I understand."
Return?
Tango doesn't even know what he's doing now, let alone later! But at least he can just say no to the letter, if he's decided not to by then, he should say something, what is he supposed to-
Someone else calls Xisuma's attention away, leaving Tango lying in the grass.
He'll... Find a town, and send Impulse a message in a bit. If the three of them don't just magic him back before then. That would be easier.
He just... Would like to become one with the soil now.
Hmmmmm, dirt...
Dirt sounds good.
Maybe he gets why Zedaph likes pretending to be a worm, now?
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yangbbokari · 1 year ago
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hiii, im back again!! I’m totally inlove with your part 2 of the bet !! I just thought of another angst (I know sorry 😭) but what about stray kids pushing reader away, avoiding them at all costs because of something (idk😭) and reader thought the wrong idea and started to overthink but reader ended up going on a walk but ran into a friend and started to talk to them, not noticing the time, the sun setting, And their phone blowing up with miss calls and messages from their lover. They totally forgot about everything. Then reader finally heads home after their friend telling them they have to go and once they walk in they see their worried/sobbing significant other.
- 🧈
sry that this took so long anon😭I've just been real lazy as always
Needed Space
Pairing: Han Jisung x gn!reader Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/comfort Warnings: Yelling, crying, language, i think that's it Summary: You give Han the space he wanted so badly and he grows worried. A.N.: Hehe 🧈 anon…. I got lazy again as u can see but I’m finally done😭
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was the week of the comeback so you knew it’d be busier and Han would be more stressed. But even so, you didn’t expect him to distance himself this far.
It got to the point where only a few words were exchanged and you only saw him about twice a week.
One day, Han decided to take a quick break. It wasn’t really a break since he was still working on different pieces of music, but at least he got to stay at home.
“Hey… Hannie? Have you had something to eat yet?” You timidly asked as you stepped into the room. “Hi, baby. I’ll eat in a bit. Just let me finish this real quick.” You softly sigh, walking up to him and made him look at you. “You already said that hours ago. You need some food in your system to finish your work.”
He shoved you away, nearly knocking you off you’re feet. “Look. I already told you I’ll eat later! I don’t have time to humor you so just leave me the fuck alone.” Your boyfriend didn’t even spare you another look before returning to his work.
You could only nod your head slowly. You slipped out of the room and grabbed your things. You knew he was just stressed but you couldn’t help the tears that pricked your eyes.
You thought about tell Han that you’d be out for a minute, but he did tell you to leave him alone. So you just left the house. ~~~ You didn’t even notice the amount of time that had passed until the sun began to set. Your phone had died a while back but you wanted to spend a bit more time by yourself.
Seeing the sun set, you knew it was time to finally return home. You hoped that Han would have cooled down down by the time you got back.
You didn’t really want to return to an angry Han so you trudged your way home. The pebbles and leaves seemed so much more interesting all of a sudden.
There was still a good distance between you and your home when you heard someone running towards you. Your terrified eyes quickly softened when a very disheveled Han stopped in front of you.
He wrapped his arms around you and cried into your shoulder. Pushing you away a bit roughly, checking your sides to make sure you weren’t injured.
“Wh-where were you? I got so scared.” He asked, still worried.
Your eyes held the softest comfort in you for him. “I was just at the corner cafe, baby.”
“We’re you going to leave me? I saw that all your most important assets were gone and I began to think that I finally scared you away for good.” He threaded his fingers through his hair rapidly before continuing to ramble to you. “I didn’t mean to yell at you, sweetheart. I was just so so stressed and frustrated. I know that’s no excuse to treat you the way I did. But I’m just trying to explain to you because… because… because I’m scared you’ll leave me and I just really want you to stay by my side.”
“Hannie…”
“Please don’t leave me…”
“Hannie…”
“I’ll do anything.”
“Hannieeee….”
“You mean everything to me and I really don’t want to lose you.”
“Hannie!!”
He slightly jumped as his eyes met yours. “Y-yes?”
“You’re rambling again. It’s fine. I know you were stressed and that’s why I gave you the space to calm down. You mean a lot to me and I wouldn’t risk losing you over a small argument.”
Han let out a breath of relief with a smile before hugging you. “Thank you for forgiving me. I’m so sorry. I can’t promise but I’ll try to be better for you.”
The two of you walked back home together. You were glad that he was by your side and so was he.
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starzioo · 1 year ago
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𝐁.𝐙 ❦ 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒?
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This is pt.1 of my 4pt series. The next part will be posted a few mins after this!! I need need to quickly edit some things! This is a pretty long one and it took me AGES. Sorry if the plot carries on for too long, I rlly tried here. :,)
No warnings just fluff!
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You're a 6th year Ravenclaw dating Draco Malfoy. You aren't the stereotypical Ravenclaw, although you are academically smart, you were extremely street smart. You and Blaise have been friends since your 2nd year at Hogwarts. You two are close, but you grew apart after you started dating Draco.
THIRD PERSON:
Blaise, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle are all sitting in the Slytherin common room. "Pansy is so fine...I think i'm gonna try to get with her..." Draco says as he sits on the couch. "Don't you have a girlfriend?" Goyle says laughing. Blaise sits on the chair across from Draco, glaring. "I mean...who said I can't have two girlfriends?" Draco says smugly. "I don't know man, that seems kinda wrong, and plus aren't Y/n and Pansy friends?" Crabbe says eating a muffin. "Well, I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart...and if she can't figure out what i'm doing then maybe that's just a personal problem for Y/n." Draco says shrugging. "You know that she will find out eventually? I've known her since 2nd year trust me...when she finds out, you'll be sorry." Blaise says with a dead tone to his voice. "Well..I'm gonna go to sleep see you guys tomorrow..." Blaise says as he walks to his dorm. "What's his problem?" Draco asks scoffing. "Well they have been friends for a while now, I mean i wouldn't be surprised if he told Y/n..." Goyle says shrugging. "Let's just hope he knows better." Draco says dead tones.
TIME SKIP : 2 WEEKS LATER IN YOUR DORM
You and Cho share a dorm.
-------------------
"Cho...I got a question." You say as you roll to lay on your stomach. "Hm?" she says looking up from her sketch pad. "Do you think Draco actually likes me? I mean...like I know we've been dating for 7 months now but these last couple of weeks it's been different. I mean he doesn't even sit by me in charms anymore." You say resting your head on your hand. "Well...I know for sure when you guys first started dating that he liked you. I mean you two were inseparable...he was even trying to find a way into our common room." she laughs "but I just feel like he'a losing feelings..." you say flipping through pictures of you and Draco. "I don't wanna hurt your feelings Y/n..." Cho says turning around in her desk chair. "It's okay...I kinda already know your answer anyways." You say lightly smiling. "He's a player...he's known for liking a girl for a couple months then getting bored of them. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already found another girl. He just isn't a good person or boyfriend. I don't see what you see in him. You're such a sweet girl and if I was you I would be with someone whose not as vile and repulsive as him....but that's just me." Cho says closing her sketchbook. "I'm gonna go to sleep now and just let you think about what I said." she says getting tucked into her blue silk comforter. "Ok...thank you for everything Cho...goodnight." you says giving her a warm smile. "Goodnight Y/n, sleep well..." Cho says as she turns over.
You couldn't go to sleep that night. Cho's words stuck in your head. All night all you could think about was the fact that the boy you loved could be cheating on you. Everything you done for the past 7 months had been for Draco. All of it, your entire life, was Draco. You changed so many things about yourself just to fit his needs. You quite quidditch so you could go to his games. You spent your spring break with Draco in France, instead of visiting your mom in Spain. You even cut off Blaise...your best friend since 2nd year. A man that understood your emotions and thoughts. The only person who knows why you love astronomy, the only person who knows why you cover your face when you laugh, the only person who really knows why you love hugs so much. Blaise was the only person you had told such personal things to. Stuff about you that's so sentimental you didn't even tell Draco. You had never realized how much of your life was revolved around his happiness. You were giving your all into a boy that was giving you nothing in return.
THE NEXT DAY
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"Y/n! Y/n! Wake up! Its 8:45! You're gonna be late for charms class!" Cho says shaking you awake. "OH SHIT!" you say springing up from your bed. "Thank you so much for waking me up Cho!" You say as you frantically run to your vanity. Then you look down at your wrist watch.
𝟞:𝟛𝟘♥AM
"Ha.Ha. Very funny Cho." You say turning around in your chair sarcastically clapping your hands. "Did you really think I wouldn't wake you on time?" She says lightly laughing. "Thank youu, you know that I appreciate it." you say as you start taking your hair out of its curlers. "Perfecto~" you say when you see the first curl in your hair. "Cho you know what that means...perfect hair day equals a perfect day over all!" "Yeah yeah well last time I heard that phrase you fell in a puddle" Cho says giggling. "Yeah, but after I fell in that puddle I cast a perfect Patronus charm." You remarked as you continued getting ready for the day by doing you're skin care and makeup. Then putting on your gold earrings and necklace. "Hey Y/n, I think we should head out now if we wanna make it to breakfast in time to eat?" Cho questioned. "Yeah, ok, just give me a second I gotta get my charm bracelet on." As you are putting on your bracelet you remember that Blaise was the one who bought you it, in your 4th year.
FLASH BACK
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That day Blaise had asked you if you wanted to go to Diagon alley with him to go shopping. You and him had wandered around the alley going into every shop looking at brooms, sweaters, shoes, but most importantly you both went into a jewelry boutique. You and Blaise looked around until you came across a gold charm bracelet that had a dark blue diamond butterfly charm. "Ouuu, Blaise look at this bracelet!" you said as he wandered back over to you. You looked at the bracelet in awe;while as Blaise looked at you in awe of your beauty. "Uhm excuse me? How much is this charm bracelet?" You asked the worker who stood behind the counter. "I don't think you kids would be interested in that one...It's 80 galleons." The worker says looking at you two with pity. "Hey Blaise I think we should get back to Hogwarts...it's getting late anyways." you said bummed out. "Yeah...you can head back without me there's a couple of things I still have to take care of down here." Blaise said softly. "Okayyy, be safe though on your way back okay?" You said as you walked out of the store. When you were about to walk back into the common room you heard Blaise yell "Y/N! Wait!" You turn around to see Blaise running up to you. "Shhhh! You're gonna get us in trouble!" you whisper yell at him. "Okay okay! But I got you something..." He says as he pulls the gold charm bracelet out of his back pocket. You gasp "BLAISE! REALLY?! AHHH YOU DIDNTT" "Shhhhh!" he says covering your mouth with his hand. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" you exclaim ingulfing him in a hug. "You're welcome, now go to sleep. You should've already been in bed." Blaise said smiling. You went to sleep that night thinking that Blaise bought the bracelet. Blaise went to sleep that night knowing he stole it. But it just so happens that, that day was a good hair day.
END OF FLASH BACK
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"Y/n!" Cho says waving her hand in front of your face. You finally snap out of your thoughts. "Geez you zoned out for like 30 seconds!" Cho says mildly worried. "Heheh, sorry I didn't realize" you say finishing putting on your bracelet.
TIME SKIP TO CHARMS CLASS
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As you walk into charms class, you sit in your regular seat. You see Draco walk in, he looks at you, then walks to sit on the other side of the classroom. Although there was no actual assigned seats in Charms Class Draco had sat by you in every class you've had up until now. Instead of sitting by his girlfriend he decides to sit by Pansy? You were on your final straw with the way Draco had been treating you. All you can feel is your throat starting to burn. All you could do was stare at him conversating with Pansy. You wanted to get up and slap him across the face but for some reason your body stayed in the same place; you couldn't bring yourself to do it. As you continue to get lost in your thoughts, you feel a hand on your shoulder. A familiar aroma surrounds you - the smell of red wine, a almost musky scent - "Are you okay?" a low voice asks you. You look up to see Blaise. You take a moment to fully realize it's him. "Yeah...sorry I guess I just zoned out for a second.." you say slightly embarrassed. "I noticed" he says lightly laughing; he sits down next to you. You and Blaise sit in a comfortable silence and Professor Flitwick teaches the class how to cast a Auguamenti charm; the spell to make water. Everyone was working in partners. While Blaise was working on casting the charm, you couldn't help but stare at Draco trying to flirt with Pansy. "Y/n, it's your turn to try casting the charm." Blaise says monotonously; he takes the bowl and places it in-front of you. With a flick of your hand you cast the charm nearly perfect. "Wow! Miss. Y/L/N , perfect! Nothing less than what I would expect from my star student!" Professor Flitwick says happily. "You and your partner may have the rest of class off!" He says making a arm jester to the door. As you're heading out of the classroom you feel Draco's eyes staring at you. "Hey... wanna go chill in the court yard or something?" Blaise says nodding his head in the direction of the court yard. "Mmmm, Sure..." you say smiling lightly. When you and Blaise sit down on one of the stone benches he turns to you like he has something to say, "Can I talk to you about something real quick?" Blaise says with a unsure look in his eyes. "Mhm, of course" you say curiously. "I feel like we've uhm grown apart I guess...we used to be best friends but now I feel like we don't even talk to each other, you know? I don't know...we've just been friends for so long and I uhm.... i just don't wanna lose you...I guess what i'm trying to say is that I miss you, I miss talking to you, I miss sneaking around the castle late at night, I miss going to Hogsmeade with you, I just miss everything about our friendship." Blaise says avoiding eye contact with you. "Blaise i'm so sorry" you say feeling a tight burning sensation in the bottom of your throat, you feel the tears building up in your eyes. It was rare for Blaise to open up like that; he has a habit of keeping his feelings tucked away. You hug Blaise, your arms around his neck; with your head tucked into the crook of his neck. He hugs you back. "I'm so sorry Blaise...Draco said he didn't feel comfortable with me being around you so much...I should've never let it go this far..." You say with tears rolling down your face. "It's okay. I figured it was something along those lines." He says un wrapping his arms from you. He wipes a tear off your cheek with his thumb. You smile and rest your head on his shoulder. "Hey Y/N there's one more thing I need to tell you." Blaise says. "Hm?" You say keeping your head on his shoulder. He pauses. "Draco...he's cheating on you...or atleast he's trying to. About two weeks ago he was saying some dumb shit about how he's gonna go after Pansy." He says dead toned. "I know..."
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I reached the max character limit oml. T.T
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