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rieamena · 5 months ago

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cosmic understanding

headcanons on nerd!takuma and sexually reserved!takuma

word count: 1.7k

riea's comments: can you tell idk the difference between a shortfic, hcs, a drabble, and whatever else there is. yes those are (twitter!!) visual links. mdni divider by @/cafekitsune ,, flower dividers by @/saradika-graphics ,, art on banner by @/nunusenpai on twt

nerd!takuma who is practically begging you to leave this after party that he dragged himself to. your so incredibly smart boyfriend of four years received a prestigious award for his new advancements in quantum physics and the makeup of the universe at an event that only happens once every five years. he was invited to the same event last time but was subject to teasing from his colleagues due to a lack of a plus one… eventually leading to them getting near blackout drunk and trying to set him up with any girl that looked their way, "hey, ino! what about her? she got the highest award for a field similar to ours. hm?"

nerd!takuma who managed to slip away from the confinement of his friends despite their protests. takuma inched out of the large hall and into the dusk blue evening, leaning his head against the ivory wall. he stayed in that position for a few moments before sliding down, bringing his chest to his bent knees. you watched on, cigarette and lighter in hand, as he grumbled and mumbled incoherent words. the drape of the deep red satin fabric on your figure matched the position mr. lonesome wore. "hey." you called out, abandoning your cig and lighter in the ashtray next to you. the guy just looked around for a bit, then looked at you and pointed to himself. "yeah, you. what award did you get?"

nerd!takuma who couldn't deny that there was something comfortable being in your presence, despite being a couple feet away from you. "it was the uh, celestial horizons award for pioneering contributions to cosmic understanding. what about you? what award did you get?" at that moment, you stood up and walked closer to him, your white heels clacking with every step. "me? i didn't get any award. my family is one of the sponsors for this event and my brother…," your voice trailed off, remembering his divine wall—as he called it—filled with every single major accomplishment since high school. that wall was nearly at full capacity; you guessed that it could only hold four or so more plaques, so it wouldn't be long before he needed to expand it. after all, he was already brainstorming names for it, divine wall junior? or divine wall part two? "gets at least one award every time. that satoru…"

nerd!takuma who watched every word fall from your lips like a pendulum he couldn't turn away from. "so what about you? what do you do?" his brown eyes met yours. it was an innocent and basic question, yet it's one you seldom hear. usually at the mention of your brother, satoru, people would connect the dots. satoru to satoru gojo the science prodigy to the gojo clan to satoru's sister. that's what people knew you as, satoru gojo's younger sister and the secondborn of the gojo clan. but this guy didn't seem to care about all that. a who are you? whispered through the air, your tinted and glossed lips holding the ghost of the phrase. a chuckle rang out not even a second later, "i asked you a question first." ah right. you explained that you worked in business and were training to become the chairwoman of the gojo business district before looking at the man expectantly. you didn't bother to take in his appearance before this moment. he was a man of stature, you wouldn't say he towered over you but even in your crouched position, he still had some height on you. the black and white suit he wore seemed tailored and you appreciated how it matched the nature of his brown hair and eyes. he was handsome, you couldn't deny that

nerd!takuma who put out his hand with a smile, "takuma ino, getting my doctorate in physics and chemistry in three-or-so years."

nerd!takuma who offered to bring you to a special place that… ended up being a fast food spot. but you'd be lying if you said that you hated it. it was private enough that even though people stared at your classy outfits, none would care to ask about it. talking about whatever came to mind, you and ino got your food and drinks, settling in a booth right in the corner of the establishment. before taking another bite from your burger, you spoke, "y'know ino, this kinda feels like a date." sputters came from the man across the table who nearly spit out his carbonated drink at your comment. "what? a date with me is that disappointing to you?" you questioned, burger in hand. "what no! absolutely not! this can be a date! t-this is a date! and…" he cleared his throat before continuing, "takuma. just call me takuma."

nerd!takuma who watched you pull out a pen and scribble something on a nearby napkin once you felt your phone buzz four times. you audibly groaned at the notifications from "useless satoru", sighing and shaking your head. "i gotta go. call me." and just like that, takuma was left with a wink, your number, and a blown kiss that he'd be sure to hold tight

nerd!takuma who is still begging you to leave this party. his hand is placed at the small of your back, urging you to the exit. you continued to converse with colleagues, briefly introducing the man behind you as your boyfriend when you saw their eyes flicker to him. taking another sip of your wine, you felt takuma's deathly close to your ear, "can we please leave?"

nerd!takuma who would've jumped for joy once he heard you make up a quick reason to excuse yourselves. once you both made it out of the grand hall and into the evening air, your boyfriend shrugged off his coat and draped it over your shoulders and, in one fluid motion, swept you off your feet. you gasped, laughing as he carried you bridal-style toward his car, the gold-and-crystal plaque shining in his hand

nerd!takuma who latches onto you upon entry into your shared home, disregarding your whines that you needed to take off your heels and dress, pushing his face further into the crook of your neck. "let me change," you whined, though you couldn't help smiling at how he nuzzled into the crook of your neck. "i'll let you change after i get a few minutes," he said, his lips grazing your skin. reluctantly, he let go, watching you as you slipped off your dress and reached for your favorite silk slip. as you adjusted the fabric, you turned to him with a teasing grin. "so, pretty boy, how does it feel to win the celestial horizons award for pioneering contributions to cosmic understanding…… again?"

nerd!takuma who sheepishly explains his project to you as you made quick work of his tie and blazer. "we worked on particle stabilization for high-energy states using a hybrid plasma matrix. it's about creating cohesion under extreme pressure—similar to the conditions found in stars. it could lead to advances in fusion energy and maybe even space travel." you leaned in, cupping his face and planting soft kisses across his cheeks and jawline. "you've got that big, beautiful brain and yet, you still act all shy."

nerd!takuma whose face is dusted with red as he whispers "stop it. you know the effect you have on me…," his words sending a shiver down your spine. and before you could tease him, his lips captured yours in a slow, tender kiss. the heat between you lingered even as he pulled away, resting his forehead against yours. his brown eyes held a softness that melted your heart, a love too deep for words. "have i told you how gorgeous you looked today yet?" he asked, the familiar spark of adoration lighting up his face. you giggled at your boyfriend's words, an expression that couldn't be determined as anything other than pure love on his face. "yes, baby, you said it when i woke up from my nap, when i was getting ready, when we arrived, when we left, and just before we walked in." "oh, did i?" takuma's lips twitched into a grin. "doesn't matter to me—you're gorgeous." his hand slipped to the curve of your behind, holding it as he hugged you close, his heartbeat steady and warm beneath your palm. you tilted your head up, eyes locked on his. "i'll never get tired of hearing it. just like i'll never get tired of this." takuma traced slow circles along your lower back. "good, because i'm not planning on stopping anytime soon." in this moment, you realized something

sexually reserved!takuma who never did anything beyond making out with you in all four years of your relationship. it wasn't that he didn't want to or that you didn't want to either, you just wanted to wait until you knew you were ready and takuma respected that decision fully. and when those four words slipped from your tongue accompanied with your intentful stare, takuma felt something inside of him snap. takuma, i'm ready now

sexually reserved!takuma who spends hours between your legs, lapping up every drop of juice to come from your cunt

sexually reserved!takuma who feels like he's died and gone to heaven when you get on top of him. he's an absolute mess, moaning your name between bounces. his hands are firm on your waist, setting the pace of stimulation. in between moans and mewls of your own, you whisper to takuma, asking him to continue. and that he does, further explaining with many pauses. "w-we worked on a way to create—mmmhh—an artificial plasma field, a hybrid matrix, that mim—mimics those extreme conditions. fuuuck you're tight… most particles would scatter and—god, you're so good to me—destabilize under those circumstances, but by intro—just like that baby, don't stop—introducing certain electromagnetic waves and specific metallic nano—nanoparticles, we were able to get the particles to stabilize. it's kind of like corralling a storm with an invisible force fie—oh god i'm–oh fuck… thank you thank you thankyouthankyouthankyou—the uh, invisible force field."

"mhm… tell me more honey…"

jjk taglist

@blendingcaramal @gzchaos @theamazingrain @woah-girlz @voloslobotomyservice

@kyozvy @obessionofagrl @bubybubsters @sugurusbaobei @raindropsonrwses

@c-moon20-12 @saltynanobeanie @theamazingrain @synthiiiiis @ghostlyluminarycloud

@poopyyy @supernatrualqueen @bxrbie-jadeee @laitifly @babysoo-meu

@cheesecake95 @strawberry-cherrypie @makeshiftproject @magiamad0ka @ncitygreen

@mayyhaps @oniondrip @cloudy-yyy @definitely-not-leena @kidd3ath

@atigerandabear @russianremy @ohnoitsamistakee18 @ivy-vivii @ourfinalisation

@1ndee @yourhornysister @ancientimes @cupcaketeddybehr @tomikixd

@e-dollly @ozdramaqueen @nymphsdomain @beeksyurr @colorcode

@baekhyunsbestie @vorfreudevortex @leuriss @xaithings @corvid007

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ckret2 · 7 months ago

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It's fic time. The Axolotl tries to persuade Bill to face what happened to his dimension while Bill tries to avoid that literally any way possible.

This is part 8 of a 9 part plot about the Axolotl meeting this friendly harmless innocent little triangle in the wake of the Euclidean Massacre and gradually learning he's literally the worst person ever. If you want to read and/or look at the pretty art on the other parts, here's one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven.

(WARNING in this one for nonspecific but pretty obvious suicidal ideation)

####

The triangle whirled around as a milky white void closed in around him. "Whoa whoa hey! What is this? How'd I get here?"

"Welcome to my office. You're in a time and space outside time and space," the Axolotl said. "Take a seat. I have a very comfortable bean bag chair."

The triangle did not take a seat. He pointed at the Axolotl like an angry arrow. "What did you do! If you don't put me back now—"

"Don't worry. When we leave this space, you will be where and when you were. Think of this like a dream."

Furiously, the triangle burst into a ball of bright blue flame. It reeked of burning hydrogen—the stench of the fabric of reality itself burning away to nothing. But he, himself, didn't burn. What was fueling his flames? "Yeah?! Well, dreams are my business!" A wave of blue flames surged toward the Axolotl.

And dissipated without touching him. The Axolotl's eyes glowed white. "THIS IS MY DREAM, TRIANGLE—NOT YOURS!"

The triangle shrank down. He squeaked, "Got it." He quietly perched one edge on the Axolotl's bean bag chair. He didn't look at the Axolotl. He was staring up around them at the Axolotl's tank.

The Axolotl's eyes dimmed again to black voids. He settled back, trying to look unthreatening now that the triangle wasn't fighting him. "Do you see something?"

The triangle laughed uneasily. "Not aside from a whole lot of white."

"You keep looking up," the Axolotl said.

"Up?" the triangle said, confused; then apparently figured out what the Axolotl meant and snapped his gaze down to meet his again. "I never—haven't been able to see the stars before," he said, trying not to sound self-conscious even as he slowly tinted red again. "I've never seen anything that could block them. Except you."

Except him. The guy who passed the wall every day on his way to work; the eclipse that blocked out the sun once a year. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize." The walls of the tank seemingly dissolved, letting the triangle see the scene beyond: the glittery cotton candy celestial clouds of his home.

"Hey, I wasn't complaining! You're the one who asked." But the triangle had already visibly relaxed. He still wasn't looking at the Axolotl; but now, he was staring around at the unfamiliar new constellations with wonder.

It was the most unguarded the Axolotl had ever seen him. They didn't have much spare time; but the Axolotl couldn't bring himself to interrupt this brief peace.

After a moment, the triangle gestured toward the sky and said, "So, you—call that direction 'up.'"

"Yes?" the Axolotl said. "Is that strange?"

"No! Nooo no no. Just seems like it might be confusing, trying to tell apart north-up from star-up."

How odd. "We don't usually call north 'up'."

"Oh," the triangle said, voice small and sheepish.

"Some planetbound mortals do. But usually only when they're—" Oh. "... looking at maps." The world printed on a paper 2D plane. Like the plane the triangle had come from.

For all his power, his charisma, his bravado—the triangle was still just a lost little refugee from a flat little world. He held a whole universe in his hand, and he didn't even know up from down. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to him.

"Listen to me," the Axolotl said. "You're in a lot of trouble. I'm sure you know that."

The triangle scoffed. "Tell me something new."

"How much of our discussion did you hear?"

"Just something about rebuilding the higher dimensions' foundations. Which is exactly what I told you to do! You mind your business, I'll mind mine!"

He suspected the triangle had heard more than that. "It's not that simple. They can't rebuild the foundation until the fires are out. So, as long as your actions keep setting new ones..."

"A-ha. So that's why you're here," the triangle said. "They sent you to intimidate me into letting 'em condemn my dimension."

"No." It was true enough that they had sent the Axolotl to try to talk the triangle down. And yes, he would if he could—he certainly didn't want to see all of reality destroyed—but he wasn't primarily here to help the other gods. "I'm here to help you."

The Axolotl had watched how this triangle puppeted corpses and terrified the barely-living into dancing along to his tune. He had seen the dying and dead melted together into oversized composite corpses at the triangle's party; and he'd seen how the triangle's unhappy victims tumbled down into his hell. He'd seen how blue flames flared around the triangle in his anger, and how his lines of fire warped, melted, and consumed whole universes, and how he burned mortals down to the soul with his mere gaze. He'd felt how all of Dimension Zero moved when the triangle moved.

This triangle, this poor child, was a monster.

The Axolotl wore many faces. He'd been a psychopomp, a god of death. He'd changed roles so he could help the dead he escorted reach better futures—now he was a god of rebirth, a god of second chances, a god of justice.

And in his capacity as a god of justice, he'd proudly defended the villains that no one else would defend. He did not believe in punishment. It was too late to save the villains' victims, and no amount of punishment would ever change that; but it was not too late to save the villains.

He was god of death, god of rebirth, god of second chances, god of justice—and also a god of monsters. And he'd decided this monster was under his protection.

Dubiously, the triangle said, "So they sent you as my legal counsel."

Oh, for— "No. I'm just trying to give you advice."

"Even better—pro bono legal counsel!"

"You're not my client," the Axolotl said. "But I'll advise you as a friend. I can tell you your options as I see them. We can discuss them if you'd like. You may ask me one question, and no more."

"What? Why—" The triangle caught himself and struggled to rephrase. "That's a—stupid rule—that I want an explanation for!"

"Because I'm the Axolotl."

"What does that have t— I don't know what that has to do with anything!"

"I'm the only one who gets to ax a lotl questions."

The triangle stared at him. He burst out laughing. "I think I hate you!"

The Axolotl gave him a wide, gummy grin.

"St—stop that! It makes you even more ugly, ugh. I thought you were here to give me advice, not bad jokes." The triangle made a show of leaning back as though getting comfortable, although it was clear he was uneasy touching the bean bag chair. "So advise me, pink stuff."

"I preferred 'frills.'" Gently, the Axolotl said, "I think it's in your best interests to give yourself up to the divine authorities."

The triangle laughed in disbelief. "You're kidding. Hey, I heard your pals talking about how they can't fight me without knocking the multiverse down—"

"And once they've put up a fireproof foundation you can't burn your way through, there will no longer be any risk to the multiverse if they come after you."

"Sounds to me like a good reason to make sure they don't get that foundation in place!"

"For you to do enough damage to ensure they can't construct a foundation, you'd probably knock the multiverse down yourself," the Axolotl said. "And if that's the case, they'll have nothing to lose by trying to stop you anyway, and everything to lose by not trying."

The belligerence leeched out of the triangle's face by the word. "Oh. Yeah. I guess that's... yeah," he said. "Okay." His expression was faraway for a moment, as he tried to wrap his mind around the magnitude of the situation. "Okay. That's okay, it's fine, it's fine." Could he feel the walls closing in on him? Did he see the stars being blocked out? "I've... got a way out of this."

"What?"

He didn't meet the Axolotl's gaze. He pulled off his hat to worry at it in his hands. "I have a way."

Bluffing. Or wishful thinking. "No. This is trouble you can't get out of. There's no greater crime against reality than the destruction of an entire dimension," the Axolotl said. "Right now, the gods think you're an active, divine threat to all of existence. That's what this is about. They're not after you because you broke a couple of rules—they're afraid of you." (The triangle lit up at that. Not quite the reaction the Axolotl had been going for, but at least he had his attention.) "And that means they won't stop until they're sure you're no longer a threat. As long as they're pursuing you, your best case scenario is getting buried alive beneath the multiverse's foundation where they can forget about you until your dream realm unravels."

"So what g—I don't see what good giving myself up would do! My best move is putting off the inevitable as long as possible! Just let 'em try to bury me!"

"But it's not inevitable," the Axolotl said. "They fear you as a divine threat. If you prove you're neither divine nor a threat—"

"No."

"Mortals can't be charged the same way as gods can. If we convince the court that you didn't have your current powers at the time of the inferno—"

"I don't know why you're so convinced I didn't have powers at the time!"

"I'm not. That doesn't mean I can't convince a judge," the Axolotl said, which surprised the triangle enough that he actually shut up for a moment. "If you're charged as a god, you face eternal imprisonment or oblivion. If you're charged as a mortal, you'll be sentenced to a regular afterlife. If you give up your power—I'm not sure where yours come from, but there are ways it can be done—" (the triangle was already raising a finger to protest) "—and it can be temporary! But if you don't have divine power when you're taken in, it will be that much easier to convince the judge that you didn't have any when your wall burned. On top of that, if you surrender yourself willingly and admit that destroying Dimension 2 Delta was an accident, that alone can knock off half your charges."

"Next you'll ask me to give up my eye! No!" He was clenching his fist around his hat so tightly that it shook; but that was the only sign of anxiety he betrayed. His gaze was as intense as the stare of a sun. "I told you: me, my power, and my people are a package deal. We stay together. We're staying right here. I don't care how much it inconveniences you."

"It's not about how much it inconveniences us," the Axolotl said. "I'm here for you—you and your people."

"They don't need you or any of your stupid 'gods.' I can take care of them!"

"Then take care of them," the Axolotl said. "You understand that, no matter how this ends, your dream realm will be destroyed and you'll have to leave or perish—don't you?"

"No." That stubborn little glitter fleck. "I can patch up this dump and repair the wall by myself. Once the wall's back, you don't have to worry about your stupid multiverse destabilizing, right?! I'll stabilize my realm before you get your stupid impenetrable foundation in place! Maybe I'll put a roof on top of it that you can't get through!"

"You haven't done it yet! What do you think you can do that you haven't already done?"

"You don't need to know," the triangle snarled.

He had to be mad, bluffing, or in denial. But he didn't look it—eye narrowed in determination, flames smoldering around his edges, fist clenched around his hat—

And then it clicked.

He hadn't said he would replace his wall. He said he'd repair it.

The Time Giant had said there was no way the little speck of matter that the triangle kept in his hat could be all the matter from his universe; no mortal could handle it without its gravity crushing them, nor would they have the energy to move it.

But she'd also said that gravity was turned off in Dimension Zero. And the triangle had proven he did have the power to move an entire universe—so why should a universe the size of a grain of sand be any more difficult?

And anyway—what did restrictions like that mean in a place where dreams and reality overlap?

"The Time Giant was wrong, wasn't she," the Axolotl said. "You don't have a dark matter problem. You're carrying around the rubble of your universe. All of it. All the matter she sensed but couldn't find."

The triangle gave him a resentful look; but then sighed in defeat. He loosened his fist, reached into his hat, and plucked up the speck of what remained of his universe. The black pinprick of white light. "You're not as dumb as you look," he said wryly. "Yep. The whole thing's right here—all but a city or two. I figured out how to catch it pretty fast."

Catch it? "What... happened to your dimension?"

A faint uneasiness itched at the back of his mind; a sound, right at the edge of his hearing, that he couldn't quite identify but knew shouldn't be here.

"It doesn't matter," the triangle said. "It's about to un-happen."

"You're thinking about setting off a big bang, aren't you?"

The triangle said nothing. He just rolled his universe between his thumb and forefinger contemplatively.

"You are," the Axolotl said. "You want to replace your universe."

Coolly, the triangle said, "You're sounding kinda scared, frills."

"I am," the Axolotl admitted. "Of all your options, that's the most dangerous thing you could possibly do."

"Hey, the dangerous choices have turned out pretty well for me so far!"

The Axolotl really didn't think they had. "You know you can't get your old universe back, don't you? It will only make a new universe."

The triangle didn't say anything—but he went still, holding the tiny glowing pearl between his fingers rather than rolling it back and forth.

"It will have similar physical properties—it will be 2D, gravity and light will probably work the same way, all the laws of physics will be what you expect... but it will be a new universe. New stars and worlds will form. New species will evolve. Your people will never return."

The triangle squeezed the pearl in his hand. "You don't know that," he said harshly. "Everything that ever existed is right in here." He shook his fist at the Axolotl. He could see the light shining out between the triangle's fingers. "It has to have some sort of memory! There's gotta be traces of it left in there!"

"It can't remember. It doesn't have a soul to remember with."

"I'm a soul!" The triangle pointed at himself with a hundred arms. "Me! I remember! The whole dimension remembers!"

There was the hiss. The ever-present hiss that the Axolotl heard any time he was inside Dimension Zero, the static in the speakers, the last gasp of a dying big bang, the whisper murmur scream battering against the walls. Fear shivered up his spine. How was it audible from within his tank?

He tried to push down his fear. "You're not the whole dimension."

The triangle laughed. It was a chilling sound.

"Just—consider how much more you'd lose if it doesn't work the way you want it to. What will you do if you can't fix your dimension?"

"I can," he said. "If I can't fix it, no one can."

Why did he think he was more capable than gods who'd maintained the multiverse for trillions of years? "What if you're wrong?"

"I will fix it," the triangle said stubbornly.

"TELL ME WHAT YOU'LL DO IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT!"

The triangle literally shrank back, growing smaller as he sank into the Axolotl's beanbag. "Keep doing what I'm doing now! Partying!" He let out a half hysterical giggle. "I'll party til I die!"

"Set off a big bang in an unstable pseudo-dimension, and you will die! The kind of death no one comes back from!"

"Great!"

They both froze. Neither one of them had expected him to say that.

"Kidding," the triangle croaked. "I just—I just—I'm trying to get under your skin, pinky, that's all. Is it working? Don't answer that, that wasn't my question, that was—rhetorical. I'm assuming that stuff you've got is skin, anyway." The prattle was hollow and meaningless. "The point is, I'm the dream realm's eternal party host, and I'm not stopping this party for anything, no matter what you say, and—and that's it. That's all there is to it!"

He must have witnessed so many horrors, in so little time—his universe incinerating, his people dying, Dimension Zero constantly collapsing even as he attempted to prop it up, the dimensions above him twisting and warping as their people fell into his nightmarish realm...

The Axolotl slowly flew closer to the triangle.

"Oh, come on— don't," the triangle whined. "Whatever little speech you're about to make, don't, I don't wanna hear it—"

Gently, the Axolotl said, "I know you've lost your home."

The word "home" struck a note with the triangle. He didn't flinch, his expression didn't change; but he went still. He looked down at the compacted ruin of what used to be his whole universe.

"But it's not too late for you to find a new home," the Axolotl said. "You can still move on and rebuild. There's a future for you. If you come out, I'll help you navigate the afterlife system. If you're stuck in this dimension, we'll find a way to free you."

The triangle's face darkened.

"You can be reincarnated, or resurrected, or—just set free to be an energy being if you want. You can settle down in a neighboring dimension, join a new people—"

"No. I'm not about to be a couch surfer in someone else's universe." He glowered up at the Axolotl. "Those people will join me. Everyone can either join me, or—or get out of my way! I finally made my kingdom, I'm not giving up my crown now!"

"If you keep your crown, you'll kill your kingdom! You know that if you stay here you'll destroy everything, I know you know it!"

"It's the best option I have! Better than your plan, anyway! Surrender to the cops and let my world fall apart?" He laughed harshly. "No way, Buster! I told my people I'd liberate them from our flat, oppressive little world and take them to a party paradise, and that's exactly what I'm gonna make for them!" He held out his little pearl of a universe again, the paradise-to-be.

Before, he'd said that the dream realm was his paradise. He'd also said that he'd remake his destroyed universe exactly as it had been. How could the "oppressive" world they'd left be their paradise? Nevermind the fact that none of "his people" were from his world. Which of the stories he'd invented was the truth? Which did the triangle think was the truth? Did he even know?

"If all of this is for your people—would you risk them? If trying to build a paradise kills the very people you made it for—"

"They'd never know."

The Axolotl's blood ran cold. It took a moment for him to find his voice. "What?"

"I can keep the party going until the end. They'd never find out what's coming. If the dream realm collapses, it'll be too fast for them to tell what's happening," the triangle said. "In their final moments, they'll still remember me as a hero."

The Axolotl hadn't realized until that moment just how cold the triangle's expression was.

His mind flashed to seeing VENDOR earlier that day, hustling the Apocalyptic Threat Task Force to clean up this mess faster because THEY didn't want the journalists to claim THEY had mishandled the situation during an election season.

Was that all the triangle was?

Another politician more concerned with how his constituents saw him than with what he could do for them?

"But," the Axolotl said weakly, "I've watched how you rescue the mortals from the fires. I've seen how you're struggling to keep this dimension from collapsing on them. I've seen how much you're suffering. You're running yourself ragged to protect them. You want so badly for them to be safe."

The triangle seemed to brighten at the Axolotl's words, as though he was soaking in the high praise. "Well, sure! And they love me for it! Would any god do less for his worshipers? Would you?" His voice took on a bitter tone. "But I don't know of any god who'd stick his corner out for a nonbeliever—and that's what they'll be if I don't deliver on the paradise I promised. I take my party hosting seriously. I'll give them their paradise if it kills me. Or them. Or everyone, if that's what it takes."

He was no hero. He never had been. He didn't care about the countless souls he'd collected, only their worship.

He didn't want his people to be safe; he just wanted to be his people's savior.

If I can't fix it, no one can. The triangle hadn't meant no one else was able to. He'd meant no one else was allowed to. He'd rather die than let someone else fix his mistakes.

And he would. This was a mass suicide.

No. Worse than that—it was a mass murder-suicide.

"You already lost your world once," the Axolotl said desperately, "don't you remember what that was like?"

The triangle flinched back like the Axolotl had slapped him. The tank rumbled around them; the hissing whispers grew louder. "That's... none of your business! Stop talking about my world, you don't know the first thing about it—"

"I know how much you must miss it. I know how deeply losing your people must hurt." It must have hurt, why would he have clung to what was left of his world if it didn't, why would he be so determined to rebuild it exactly as it had been?

"My—my people are fine." His voice was choked. He squeezed his eye shut. "They're... all out at the party. Waiting for me. Don't talk about—"

"The people at the party are shapes you kidnapped from other dimensions." He was so stubbornly loyal to his chosen delusions. "Your people are dead. You know they are!"

"No!"

His scream was answered by howls outside the Axolotl's tank. Through the static, the Axolotl could pick up a sound repeated over and over. A word. Murderer, murderer, murderer.

"No! They aren't dead! I saved them!" He curled in on himself, hands pressed to his sides like it could block out the sounds. "I liberated them from their shallow lives! I gave them their freedom—"

"Then give them their freedom now!"

The triangle's breath hitched.

"If you want to die, you can die. There are ways to break a soul. I can help. But do it alone," the Axolotl pled. "I know you care about these people!" He had to believe it, he had to believe it, he had to. In spite of the evidence to the contrary, he had to. "If you won't let us help you, at least let us help them go home. Please. You need to let them go."

He clenched his tiny hands into fists; he looked so pained the Axolotl thought he might shatter.

In another timeline, a better timeline, he whispered, "How?" The word he should have said echoed around them, blending into the static whispers. It would be so easy to say.

But in this timeline, he asked, "You're some kind of lawyer or something, right?"

The Axolotl paused uneasily. "By... way of metaphor," he said. "We have trials and courts, but not the way mortals understand—"

"There are no laws in my kingdom," the king growled. "Get out of here. Now."

"But—"

"I said OUT!"

A force crashed into the time and space between time and space, shattering the Axolotl's tank, the glittery cotton candy nebulas' pinks and blues disrupted by a twisted geyser of colors—raw frothing stuff somewhere between matter and energy—and it flung the Axolotl away from the triangle like a wave flinging a fish from the ocean. The anxious background static whispers grew to a buzzing roar, 1000 decibel white noise. He spun dizzily through the cosmic miasma.

The first time he'd come in here—the first time the triangle had chased him out—he'd felt instinctively that he'd been in danger. He'd felt flames licking at his heels.

He knew now that that had been a mere warning.

"I might be in your dream, but your dream is in MY dream realm!" The triangle seemed to get larger without his size changing. Maybe it was the universe around him that was contracting. "And you've overstayed your welcome, Axolotl!"

The Axolotl had tumbled into the nightmarish eternal dance party. Shrieking overlapping music drowned out the buzzing whispers. Thousands of eyes stared at him in horror and thousands of voices gasped in disgust; and he realized that as many times as he'd seen them, he had never been in their two-dimensional field of view.

For all the thousands that stared at him, millions of corpses never stopped dancing.

One last time, the Axolotl turned to the triangle and pled, "Just give the hostages the option to leave if they want!"

"My people aren't hostages!"

"Then give them a choice!" He could feel dead hands grabbing at his skin and fins. He wasn't sure if they were trying to restrain him for their Magister Mentium, or cling to him for escape. He wasn't even sure whether they were the dead who still had their own souls, or the triangle's corpse puppets. "Anyone who wants to stay with you can!"

"Shut up!" The triangle boomed louder and louder and he grew larger and larger, until his voice and his eye seemed to fill the universe. He was shuddering with rage (with regret?)—it threatened to shake him apart, and the universe with him. "All of this is your fault! I'm—sick because of you!" In another reality he said insane; but the realities where he didn't closed up around the word and crushed it into silence. "You made me like this! You infected me!"

"With what?" He'd only spoken to the triangle once before today. He hadn't even entered his dimension.

"This—idea!" He didn't say what idea, not in this reality; but the words echoed in from another reality where he did. He screamed to drown the echoes out. "I was fine until I met you and you ruined everything!" Regret spilled out of his eye so thick it was almost palpable, energy like a river. It threatened to fill the interdimensional in-between space and drown them all. The Axolotl could taste the idea that had poisoned the triangle: the idea that everyone mattered. That everyone was worthy of a god's attention. And now, everyone was gone.

Bewildered, the Axolotl said, "You're not 'sick' to think that. It's the sanest idea you could have—"

"Get out!" The shriek echoed through infinity. "Get out! The dream realm is my domain and I am its king! I told you last time, I won't let you threaten my people!"

"I would never—"

"GET OUT!" Blue flames exploded out of the triangle; some of his nearest prisoners were incinerated as easily as tissue paper.

The Axolotl tried to shield himself; the flames consumed one of his forelegs and ate away at his dorsal fin.

He tore himself free of the desperate grasping shapes and swam from the triangle as fast as he could.

The triangle chased him; and, to the Axolotl's despair, as the center of Dimension Zero followed the triangle, the edge of reality pulled ever further away.

His flames licked at the Axolotl's tail, consuming the fin; he swam slower and slower.

As the triangle pursued the Axolotl, his attacks further destabilized the volatile dimension; wormholes formed where the fabric of reality folded and bunched in on itself and was pierced through. Light shot through the holes like a million disembodied sunbeams.

He saw one that led straight to the edge of Dimension Zero. He wriggled through.

"Where did you—?! HEY!" The dimension whirled dizzyingly as the triangle refocused on his evasive prey. "You think you can get away from me in my own realm?"

"Do you want me to get out or not?!"

"I want you DEAD!"

The Axolotl shouldn't have asked.

With a roar, the triangle clawed at him. A thick, sucking wave of gravity as dense as a black hole tore through the unstable miasma toward him. The triangle laughed sadistically.

With one last surge of energy, he paddled his tail hard enough to outpace the triangle and burst free of the dimension.

The ragged edges of Dimension Zero ripped further under the triangle's attack, but it dissipated in the third dimension.

The Axolotl sighed in relief—then flinched when the triangle crashed into the invisible barrier holding the cosmic foam in the space-between-space where Dimension Zero should have been. Like a piece of glitter sticking to a bubble, if glitter sticking to a bubble were the most violent force in the universe. "Get back here! I'll skin your freakish hide and make a tent outta it—!" He strained toward the Axolotl, threatening to drag the bubble along with him, like a particularly determined sled dog trying to pull a trailer home.

The Axolotl hastily backed out of range as nauseating plumes of color stretched outside their bounds again. Blue fire danced over the thin membrane between dimensions like a burning oil spill on an ocean. The plumes twisted into shapes almost like arms, hundreds of them, reaching toward him—

And froze. The triangle was staring past the Axolotl.

The Axolotl turned to look.

It was the most sublimely awful sight he'd ever seen. An impenetrable wall made up of gods, angels, sentient forces of nature—there were things here so transcendentally powerful that the Axolotl couldn't even see them; he only knew they were present by the perimeters of the space he couldn't bring his eyes to gaze upon and the terrifying awe he felt when he tried.

They were all armed.

All their weapons were pointed at the triangle.

Apparently, the ATTF had called in reinforcements.

A god that looked like a hologram projection, the light of its projector shining down on it from a higher dimension like a halo, thundered, "ADVANCE ANY FURTHER INTO REALITY, AND WE WILL BE FORCED TO SUBDUE YOU."

"You can't afford to!" the triangle crowed. "You'll knock your own universes down!"

"NOT ANYMORE."

The triangle's eye widened. The thousand arms of raw reality seized the jagged edges of the dimensions bordering the hole left when Dimension 2 Delta burned down, trying to crush them—and nothing happened. He slammed Dimension Zero against the bordering dimension, trying to crack open a larger opening, and then trying to simply shove the bordering dimensions aside—and nothing happened. Dimension Zero burned; but the surrounding first and second dimensions remained still. There was no creak and crack of snapping lines and shattering planes as the triangle tried to squeeze his bloated universe free. There was no glowing line of fire on the distant horizon.

The neighboring dimensions burned and blackened under the thousand hands; but they didn't dissolve to ash. The cinders got caught between the layers together as the dimensions splintered into layers, then multiplied—splintered and multiplied—splintered and multiplied—thicker and denser and harder—

Parallel universes. Every time the triangle touched them, they split into more timelines, reinforcing themselves. The Time Giant already reformatted the universes most closely adjacent to Dimension Zero. Not every universe—but just enough to form a cage.

The triangle gave up with a grunt of pain. He laughed in disbelief—and then anger. "You were the distraction?"

"No! I was supposed to talk you into cooperating with building the fireproof foundation! We agreed to only call in reinforcements if I couldn't persuade you!" He looked around for the Time Giant, but couldn't find her—nor any of the other gods he'd spoken to while dealing with this mess. Everyone, apparently, had been cleared out of the vicinity to make way for the god militia.

The only civilian left on the 3D side of the missing wall was the Axolotl—once again, stuck in the middle of a situation he had no business being involved in.

The triangle's eye widened further, further, white hot with fury. "Nothing's ever your fault, is it, frills?! Every time you ruin my life, it's all a big misunderstanding! You just keep talking your way out of trouble!" His eye opened wider and wider still. His eyelid unhinged. His mandibles split open and at the back of his eye socket was an infinitely dark esophagus. Sprouting in a ring around the triangle's eye like the petals of a grisly flower, piercing the membrane between the zeroth dimension and the third, were millions and millions of—

—teeth. Teeth longer than the spaces between stars and sharp enough to split an atom.

The Axolotl only barely managed to paddle back out of their range before they snapped at where he had been. A couple of the higher gods caught him, holding his sides protectively. His skin sizzled with holy electricity.

The god militia drew back from the gnashing fangs, then readied their own weapons: spears, guns, swords, a wider array of divine and holy weaponry than the Axolotl had ever seen. The projection leading the militia called, "DON'T LET HIM MAKE IT PAST THE FIREPROOF BARRIER."

"Afraid I'll start breaking things again?" The fangs snapped tauntingly. "Hey—how fast do you think I can find the load-bearing dimensions?"

The Axolotl shook off the gods and swam back toward Dimension Zero. "Stop!"

"HOLD FIRE!" The projected god commanded, "OUT OF THE WAY, AXOLOTL. THE MULTIVERSE'S SAFETY IS WORTH MORE THAN YOUR LIFE."

He knew it was. The leader of the militia was so powerful that resisting a direct order made the Axolotl dizzy—but he did resist. He shouted at the triangle, "You can't fight off every god in the multiverse! This is suicide!" He realized too late that that probably wasn't as discouraging as he'd intended it to be.

"So what?! There's no way for me to win! Get executed for god crimes or get erased when the dimension collapses—"

"Those aren't your only choices!" The Axolotl could see the fangs slowly, slowly curling up in his peripheral vision, and pretended he didn't. "It's not too late for you to stand down—!"

"I can't!" A wave of fire blazed up the teeth of the Dream Realm. He held up a fist, and it was far too small for any of the gods, so mighty and large, to see what he held; but the Axolotl knew. "If I don't get a happy ending, why shouldn't I burn the rest of you down with me?! At least I'll accomplish one thing before I go!" His hand began glowing as energy began gathering around the tiny seed of a big bang.

"Do you want your worshipers to remember you as a monster in their last moments?!"

"Better a monster than a LOSER!" His laugh was a strained subsonic roar. "Are fame and infamy really that different?! At least they'll be thinking about me at the end!"

"It would make you a terrible party host!"

The Axolotl didn't know what had possessed him to say that. Apparently the triangle didn't know what to make of it either, because he froze, giving the Axolotl a wide-eyed blank stare.

But it worked. He snapped out of his rage. The light gathering around the remains of Dimension 2 Delta went dark. For a moment, he was frozen, giving the Axolotl a wide-eyed blank stare; and then he laughed again, just as strained, much weaker. The borders of Dimension Zero shuddered with his laughter. "Fair enough!" The appendages stretching out into the third dimension lost definition. "Fair enough." He glowered tiredly at the god militia—but raised his hands in surrender. Both his palms were empty.

The trembling fangs dissolved as they retracted. The whole paradoxical mass sagged sluggishly back into the crawlspace underneath reality.

One by one, the god militia slowly lowered their weapons.

The Axolotl's heart was still hammering in his chest; and only then did it register that he'd nearly been eaten by an entire dimension.

Where had his power come from? How had the triangle done all this—made his whole dimension vanish without a trace, shoved an entire plane inside a point, gained complete control over it all...

He really did have complete control over the entire universe that had formed inside Dimension Zero—didn't he?

And to control an entire universe, he needed to have an entire universe's worth of energy.

Dimension 2 Delta had been an entire universe. And now—all of its energy was in Dimension Zero.

With the triangle.

As he watched the triangle wincing in pain as the Dream Realm sank back into place, as though the triangle could feel the way the edges of the neighboring dimensions dug into the frothing chaos, the Axolotl whispered, "Oh, no. What have you done?"

His power had come from his own universe. He had devoured it. He'd made it part of him.

All that energy wasn't stored inside the triangle's body—but the Axolotl had been wrong to think that the triangle was the body in the first place. The triangle was only the face: the eye, the mouth, the mind. The part of the Dream Realm that could speak.

The Dream Realm was the anglerfish—and the triangle was its pretty golden glowing lure. They were all one monster.

The triangle was slumped in defeat, but still he shot the Axolotl a tired glare. The hissing static whispers rose up around him again, spilling out of the Dream Realm. (The whispers, too, were a part of the triangle.) "Who are you to judge," he muttered. "You weren't there."

No, he wasn't. He'd gotten here too late.

Behind the Axolotl, the god projection said curtly, "APPREHEND THE TRIANGLE WHILE HE'S COMPLIANT."

The Axolotl whirled around, eyes glowing with rage. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!" The gods who had started moving toward Dimension Zero froze again.

"HE'S A THREAT TO THE MULTIVERSE!"

"He stood down!"

"HE'S PROVEN WILLING TO DESTROY REALITY. HE COULD EASILY CHOOSE TO AGAIN." The higher dimensional projector turned to project straight at the Axolotl, dazzling him even through his shut eyes, shining straight into his brain. "STAND. ASIDE."

"No." The Axolotl tensed his muscles against the compulsion to obey. "He was a threat to the multiverse. Once the last walls are closed over the crawlspace, he won't be anymore. If he doesn't make a move between now and then, you have no grounds to pursue him." It was a little easier the second time to resist the higher god's command. "So if you do follow him out of the third dimension to capture him, you're trespassing in a new god's sovereign territory to make an illegal arrest outside your jurisdiction!"

"HE'S MASSACRED TEN DIMENSIONS AND TRIED TO DESTROY MORE. THERE ISN'T A COURT IN REALITY THAT WOULD CONSIDER PURSUING HIM UNJUSTIFIED."

"I know a few."

"YOU'RE DEFENDING A DIVINE MENACE. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

He quietly kissed his career prospects goodbye as he watched himself do the stupidest thing he'd ever done. "I'm the Axolotl," said the Axolotl, "and I'm his lawyer!"

####

(Thanks for reading!! If the art lured you in and this is the first chapter you read, this is part 8 of a 9 part fic about the Axolotl in the immediate aftermath of the Euclidean Massacre. I'll be posting the last chapter next week, Fridays 5pm CST, so stick around if you wanna watch the Axolotl deal with having gotten his heart broken by this sweet little triangle who actually isn't sweet.

It's ALSO chapter 68 of an ongoing post-canon post-TBOB very-reluctantly-human Bill fic. So if you wanna read more of me writing Bill, check it out. If you're not sold on the idea of a human Bill fic, I've also got a one-shot about normal triangle Bill escaping the Theraprism if you wanna read that.

If this is NOT your first time here and you already knew all of the above: this was The Big One, gang. And now I expect for the next several months I'm gonna get comments from y'all rereading earlier chapters going HOLD ON WAS THIS LINE FORESHADOWING THAT LITERALLY THE ENTIRE NIGHTMARE REALM IS PART OF BILL? And the answer is: yes. yes it was. Looking forward to hearing y'all's thoughts!! 💕

also this was THE absolute hardest chapter to write, goddamn.)

#the axolotl #gravity falls axolotl #bill cipher #euclydia #gravity falls #gravity falls fic #gravity falls fanart #fanart #my art #my writing #bill goldilocks cipher #(this chapter is. incredibly unpolished. So if you're like 'hey was this sentence supposed to be unreadable—' no it wasn't. please tell me.

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youremyheaven · 1 month ago

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Mars, Abandonment Issues, Violence & Conflict

TW: murder, r4pe, abuse, domestic violence, suicide, gaslighting, mommy issues

This is a topic that is extremely close to my heart for various reasons. I'm putting this disclaimer up here because this post is going to be very raw and perhaps disturbing.

Please do not read it if you're not up for reading about violence & conflict of all kinds.

Mars in Roman mythology is the God of war, bloodshed and murder. In Vedic astrology, the planet of Mars is associated with power, action, drive, ambition alongside anger, war and impulsiveness.

Mars influenced women are often considered sex symbols and attract envy for their heightened sensuality. HOWEVER, something that seems to accompany all this is being subject to and enduring abuse.

Very broadly speaking, it can be said that Martian men often tend to be abusive and Martian women often endure abuse. In this video about the most evil zodiac signs , Mars-ruled naks were among the top indicators of someone being prone to violence. It's a very literal interpretation of Mars obviously.

Mars is considered the commander of the celestial army. Mars is the Roman God of War and Agriculture. It is a dry, fiery, masculine planet and a malefic. There are two sides to every coin and while the same energy and willpower can be channelled in positive way, it can very often be channelled in ways that are destructive and hurtful.

Khloe Kardashian- Mrigashira Moon

I feel like out of all the Kardashians, Khloe has suffered the most in her romantic relationships. Unfortunately, Mars is a malefic planet and people born under Mars influence are called Mangliks and they are said to have Mangal dosh ("mars defect" quite literally). This defect affects personal and romantic relationships the most. I think her Ardra stellium also contributes to her largely unhappy experiences in relationships. Ardra is very inauspicious for marriage.

From rumours of Khloe not being Rob Kardashian's biological daughter (she's allegedly OJ Simpson's lovechild with Kris and its very common for Mars individuals to not have a proper father figure growing up) to her being publicly cheated on by Tristan Thompson not once but several times and STILL choosing to have another baby with him?? Khloe has been very unlucky in love

Khloe and Kim also have nasty tempers and are super foul when they need to be. This is another Martian trait.

Kim Kardashian- Chitra Sun

idk how she managed to stay married to a man as horrid as Kanye for like a decade,, she's sooo brave honestly. I feel bad for her because I feel like Kim has never been loved </3

Given the way Kanye treats Bianca, we get a glimpse into what he is like as a man. I am not claiming he was abusive or violent towards Kim because we do not know that. However, I wouldn't put it past him.

However, like many Martian individuals, she is careful to not hurt her children. Watch this clip, for example.

Judith Barsi- Rohini Sun & Mercury, Mrigashira Moon

Judith was a child actor who was active in the late 70s and early 80s. Her parents had a really horrible marriage and her father murdered her and her mom when she was 10 years old. It genuinely breaks my heart to even type that out because nobody deserves that. Martian women suffer SO much in life and have to be very wary of who they give their energy too. They are so guarded and protective and I completely get why. They HAVE to be.

Jennifer Lawrence- Mrigashira Moon

“Art more often than not is about one’s mother. I hesitate to say that because I would hate for somebody to go back and watch my movies, or watch this movie in particular, and think that that is the way that I’m painting my mother,” Jennifer Lawrence said.

“My mother is a wonderful person but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still things from my childhood that I’m working out.”

“So many of my films in the past have been about my mother, my childhood. I wonder what will happen now that I’ll be witnessing somebody else’s childhood"

She's never really publicly dissed her parents but I have always felt like she didn't grow up in a household that was very accepting of her.

Glenn Close- Dhanishta Moon & Venus (Ashlesha Rising)

Glenn Close was a victim of a cult after her father joined, took off to work in Africa, and left his kids in Switzerland at the Moral Re-Armament headquarters. Close spoke about that time and shared, “You basically weren’t allowed to do anything, or you were made to feel guilty about any unnatural desire. If you talk to anybody who was in a group that basically dictates how you’re supposed to live and what you’re supposed to say and how you’re supposed to feel, from the time you’re 7 till the time you’re 22, it has a profound impact on you. It’s something you have to [consciously overcome] because all of your trigger points are.

Princess Diana, Dhanishta Moon and Marilyn Monroe, Dhanishta Moon

Both these ladies experienced a lot of neglect, abuse and emotional torment in life. I don't want to say too much about it because I feel like enough has been said about both their lives in the last several years. The conclusion is that these women had unhappy marriages and never really found love AND they grew up feeling very neglected.

Princess Diana was a really good mom and had Marilyn had children, perhaps she would've been to

One thing I have noticed with many Mars influenced individuals is that they may have suffered in life but they wouldn't let their children suffer the same way.

Eminem- Chitra Sun Dhanishta Moon

Eminem grew up without a father, and it's very common for Mars-ruled individuals to not have a father figure or grow up without a father figure. Eminem's relationship or lack thereof with his mum is pretty well documented so I won't go into that but despite the abuse and neglect he endured as a child, he has a very positive relationship with his children.

Gigi Hadid, Dhanishta Moon

I know Gigi had it better than Bella, but that does not mean she grew up well. Her mom literally told her to chew her almonds well; I don't know what else to say about this. Both the sisters are super close to their mom and live near her and everything so that will always be mysterious to me because its clear as day that Yolanda has been a questionable parent.

Dhanishta Sun & Mercury- Tinashe

Tinashe dated Ben Simmons, who two-timed her with Kendall Jenner in 2018, or moved on with Kendall, and Tinashe was apparently drunk for 6 months straight and called it the "worst day of her life" apparently

Coming back to the absent father theme, I have noticed this with many other Martians as well

The Weeknd (Dhanistha Sun) & Doja Cat (Chitra Sun, Rising & Rahu)

The Weeknd grew up without a dad and Doja also does not have a relationship with her dad. Marilyn Monroe (Dhanistha Moon & Jupiter) also didn't have a dad growing up.

All of them have abandonment issues as a result. Kind of random but all of them have a questionable dating history as well.

Martians have a "anything floats" kind of personality, and they really don't have a "type" and their dating history is often very diverse, eclectic and far-ranging and at times questionable.

Some well known abusers are also Martian:

Salman Khan- Dhanishta Moon

He physically abused Aishwarya Rai and got away with it

He also has a tendency to cast women that look like his ex after he breaks up with them

Aishwarya Rai and her doppelganger Sneha Ullal whom he cast opposite him

Katrina Kaif and her lookalike Zarine Khan whom Salman cast opposite himself

The pedophile and abuser Woody Allen is a- Dhanishta Moon

John Mayer who basically groomed Taylor Swift is a- Chitra Sun & Mercury

He has said horrible things about all the women he's dated, including Jessica Simpson whom he dated on and off FOR YEARS

"Have you ever been with a girl who made you want to quit the rest of your life? Did you ever say, 'I want to quit my life and just fucking snort you? If you charged me $10,000 to fuck you, I would start selling all my shit just to keep fucking you.'

Simpson said she was humiliated by this quote. This is what I mean when I say Martian men have no manners. Imagine dating someone and then publicly saying this about them ugh

Tom Hardy- Chitra Sun

Tom Hardy is known for a controversy that occurred during the filming of Mad Max: Fury Road. Specifically, Charlize Theron and other crew members alleged that Hardy's behaviour on set was unprofessional, including lateness and verbal confrontations. Theron reportedly felt threatened and required a producer to shadow her on set. Idk how much of an asshole abuser you have to be for someone like Charlize Theron to feel unsafe around you.

There are lots more to say so stay tuned for part 2

#vedic astro notes #nakshatras #sidereal astrology #astrology observations #astrology #astrology notes #astro notes #vedic astrology #astro observations #astro beauty

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ce1estiall · 1 month ago

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‘til we meet again

summary paige x uconn!reader saying goodbye to the girl you love to see her accomplish her dreams. masterlist.

warnings angst (?) unhappy ending

celestial notes i hope this is angst, i’m not so sure. still trying to figure out what these definitions mean in english 😓 enjoy!

“‘til we meet again

when you and i dream together, it’s a never ending story

please hold onto it until we meet again.” ‘til we meet again - aespa

tears started to form onto your eyes like waves of the ocean, causing blur to your vision while you were at the airport. you were dropping off your soulmate and teammate, paige, to dallas. you watched her grow up, the small, happy girl with a basketball always near her, dreaming to go pro. well, look where both of you are now.

the car ride there was silent, as the emotions between both of you spoke for themselves. tears escaped paige’s eyes as she was driving in your car. you sat in the passengers seat, quiet from your thoughts as you stared out the window attempting to distract yourself. you observed the wind hitting the trees, attempting to knock off some leaves. it represented you having to face the reality of leaving the girl you’ve loved since you stepped onto the uconn campus as a freshman. you didn’t want her to stay just for yourself, you weren’t that selfish.

all you wanted was one more day with her. one more day of hugs, one more day of cuddling in the cold connecticut weather, one more day of hearing her talk like there’s no tomorrow, one more day of her explaining her practices and games, her teasing, her kisses, her annoying you. how you took all of her attributes for granted of time.

paige parked the car and got out of the drivers seat, heading towards the passengers seat to open the door for you one last time. you stared at the floor, afraid to break down if you saw her face.

you held her hand, interlocking her warm fingers that made you instantly find some warmth in the cold weather. the walk inside the check-in seemed slow, as both of you were attempting to soak up as much time the both of you had left of each other.

she headed towards the security checkpoint, where you couldn’t go. this was it. you had to let her leave.

paige gripped your hands with hers, bringing them up to her chin as the tears flowed down her face. she kissed your knuckles smoothly, like a blanket that covered your hands. you looked up at paige, breaking down. tears leaving your eyes, one by one. you released your hands and wrapped your arms around her neck, placing your head on her shoulder as you sobbed.

“i know baby, i know.” paige cried, rubbing your back. “i will always be supporting you, no matter if its 1600 miles away.”

you could hear her voice breaking, knowing that she didn’t want to leave you. “dallas is gonna love to have you, p.” you looked up at her, attempting to give a smile. you spoke during your tears. “i don’t want to leave you. it pains me knowing i can’t go with you, paige.” you grabbed your black hoodie sleeve, wiping tears away from your eyes.

“hey, look at me.” paige grabbed your chin, forcing your eyes to gaze hers. “i don’t want you giving up on your dream for me. i know how hard you want to work in psychology. you have one year left to get that degree, so do it.” paige paused, catching her breath in between cries. “i’m gonna be so proud of you once i see those grad photos knowing my baby did it. you’ve supported my dream, now its time for me to support yours. i will always come and visit you. hopefully you can come and visit me in dallas, but i understand if you can’t.”

paige cupped your face, “i love you. so so so fucking much. distance is not going to change that, and it never will, okay? you are mine, and i’m so proud i have that privilege to call you that.” paige’s thumb swiped your cheek, trying to dry up your tears.

you nod, “this is what you’ve been waiting for, paige. go. your dream is waiting for you.”

paige gave you one last hug, squeezing you tight like she never wanted to let you go. you felt her sobs, knowing how it hurt her just as much as it hurts you.

she gave you a kiss, sweet and sincere, knowing the feeling and taste would linger around temporarily. “i love you, paige. ‘til we meet again.” paige grabbed her suitcase. “i love you more, forever and always.”

paige walked into the security line, placing her belongings on the tray as you watched like a bystander. once she was cleared, she turned around facing you, giving you a wave goodbye. you smiled, sending her a kiss and waved goodbye too. this wasn’t a goodbye, it was just temporary pain and a see you later.

#dallas wings #paige bueckers #paige bueckers x reader #uconn wbb #uconn womens basketball #wnba #paige bueckers fluff #paige bueckers smut #paige bueckers x you #paige x reader #paige bueckers angst

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shankss-magnificent-ass · 9 months ago

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Imagine breaking the news about the seraphim to King

You: I have bad news

King: [let's out a pained sigh] what could be worse than my race being revealed to the world, Kaido losing a fight, our empire falling, losing my wing, and being imprisoned by the very people my boss oppressed?

You: so we just heard from Luffy, and apparently. Vegapunk used the samples that he collected from you all those years ago.

King: [ throws back his head and cries] Fuck!

Queen: What'd he use them for? I had opted for cloning the skin samples to create a fleshy exoskeleton for a cyborg.

You: he made Lunarian cyborg clone-babies of some of the warlords.

Queen: oh! Cyborg Clones, huh? I had personally voted we use the skin samples we collected to create a skin for a mech, but cyborg clones never really occurred to me.

Jack: [guffaws] which ones?

King: [scrunches his eyes closed, crosses his fingers and whispers] not Moira, not Moira, please not Moira.

You: Kuma, Mihawk, Jinbe, and Boa Hancock.

King: how is that so much worse! Boa and Mihawk were intense enough as humans. And Kuma and Jinbe were strong enough due to their own species!

You: from what Nami said, they look around 8 or 9 years old. Vegapunk was kind enough to include pictures and details. [Holds out the package]

King: [can't stand the sight of the files, so he looks at the pictures first and sees they all look like normal photos a parent might take.] These are posed photos, aren't they?

You: most likely

Queen: [peeks over his shoulder] oh Boa is still beautiful as a child. Which makes sense, seeing as she's gorgeous as an adult.

Everyone in the room: [ ಠ⁠ಗ⁠ಠ]

King: [holds up a flaming fist] Kaido isn't here to protect you from me anymore.

Jack: [gives Queen a menacing look]

Queen: OH, NO! Not like that! NO!

No one in the room: [believes him]

A week later

You: hey King, so uh, I was wrong.

King: [pinches the bridge of his nose] please, don't.

You: There are other seraphims than the ones I told you about.

Queen: Figures

King: ... There's a Moira seraphim, isn't there?

You: [gives him a pinched smile] yeah, there's a Doflamingo, and a Crocodile seraphim too.

King: a Dofla-! That bastard! Mixing my genes with Moira of all people is bad enough, and to mix in a celestial dragon, especially Doflamingo, is even worse!

Jack: maybe Doflamingo was cute as a kid?

You: Ehh, no. I wanted to punch Doflamingo as an adult, but I want to punch him even more as a child.

King:[notices you are carrying more files] are those the new one's files?

You: yeah.

King: [braces himself and sighs] alright let me see.

You: you're taking this news better than I thought you would. [hands him the files]

Queen & Jack: [huddle closer to get a look]

Jack: [sees the pictures] oh god

Queen: how does Crocodile look more dower as a child?

King: [holds up the pictures of the Moira and Doflamingo seraphim's] these two are my least favorite.

You: Parents aren't supposed to have favorites.

King: ugh, don't call me that, please.

Queen: would you prefer Papa?

King: [pushes him away by his face] shut up

List of Up-and-coming works || Master list || Twitter| Kofi || Patreon

#one piece #one piece x reader #one piece imagine #king the wildfire #king the conflagration #king the conflagration x reader #king the wildfire x reader #beast pirates #animal kingdom pirates #queen the plague #queen #jack #jack the drought #from the depths of the dragons hoard #tma original #10/11/24 #not beta read we die like men

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stevetonyweekly · 13 days ago

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SteveTony Weekly - Week 24 - Favorite Authors

Tomorrow is my birthday, you guys! Which means this weekend I’m hanging out with my kids and reading some of my favorite things which ALSO means--y’all get a list of my favorite authors. This is by no means a complete list--I love too many folks to do a complete list of everyone, but here's some that always make me happy. Ready? :)

Sineala - Ok so I know everyone loves @sineala because of fucking course they do, have your READ their fic?? But also, I adore everything I’ve read by Sineala, and what I really truly love is how sineala weaves comic canon into the fics and also into the author notes, making it super accessible to the folks who haven’t read as much. I’ve learned as much about comic Stevetony from there as I have from reading comics, tbh. Sineala is especially amazing at soulmate aus (who doesn’t love slipping off the pages into your hands and never too late for love) but I’m also utterly enamored with the rare aus like straight on till morning and like a comet streaming on.

Complicationstoo - what I love about complicationstoo is how gentle Steve and Tony are with each other. Every single fic (and there are many!!) ache with longing and pining and a quiet gentleness that I can’t get enough with. The fic read like a warm hug, from things like dust off your highest hopes and take me away to you, to low angst sports romance like ice prince. Highly highly recommend.

meidui - so it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of @meuidi’s work. From the first time I read her work in angels who sin to her soft homewrecker Steve in this love came back to me to the puppy love and gentle adoration of Tony in there are still beautiful things, what I love about meidui is that she is so soft with Steve. He’s treated gently but never in an out of character way, and that’s a hard line to straddle.

sirona - I fell in love with sirona’s fic with their gorgeous look at Tony growing up with Steve as a figure in his world with party girls don’t get hurt and got hooked on their college au i wanna hold your hand. And I love with my whole heart is the sexy and gorgeous our rain-washed histories (don’t need to be told.) Honestly, everything is so so well done.

Sabrecmc - @sabrecmc writes so many fantastic AU’s and they’re so long and lovely--so easy to drop into and not surface until hours later or the next day, has happened, I def greeted morning from the wrong side the first time I read some of her work. Also, there’s just--celestial navigation and a higher form of war are just in a class all their own. And catching lighting in a bottle is so lovely, with the angst and the pining and the Howard’s bullshit--I love it.

Copperbadge - Copperbadge writes just--really fantastically well. But they also nail characterization sooo well I can’t get over it. From the quiet desperation and angst of homefront to one of my favorite fem!Tony versions in Ironsides and the absolutely hysterical Reputation--I love every bit of their work.

#stevetony weekly #steve rogers #tony stark #stevetony #stony #iron man #captain america #stevetony fic #fic rec #stony fic

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cuppajj · 2 months ago

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You know, I just really, really want to say this. You are an exceptionally talented artist. I was genuinely surprised when you answered that one ask a while ago, saying you're self-taught. Because I truly, legitimately believed you were an art student or something lol. I'm honestly blown away by the fact that you're self-taught. That you figured all of this out all by yourself. Both your Cookie Run stuff and your original work. You should be proud, because I know it must've taken you a lot of time and hard work to get to where you are today. I both admire you greatly and envy you terribly (the latter stings a little to say, but it's true haha). I wish I could do what you can. You make it all look so easy... I wish I could say I'm your equal, but I'm far from it and I'm not sure how long it'll take for me to get there, or if I'll ever get there at all. But seeing what you're able to accomplish now is really rather inspiring. If you can do it, then maybe I can, too. Someday. Somehow. If only it could be today, though haha

Sorry if I sound weird or mushy, I've actually wanted to say this to you for a while now. I sincerely hope you find pride and joy in your art because you deserve to. Your drawings, your animations, even your writing. You're a jack of all trades haha. You're a very talented, creative, fun and hardworking person. And I wish you all the joy and success in the world, all the time. You've got something really great going here, keep it up for as long as you're able and willing to

Aww Merchant, that’s so sweet of you!!

I don’t often think of how far I’ve come mostly all by myself, let alone the message it can carry.. admittedly one of my biggest artist flaws is acknowledging my accomplishments haha, so this message really means a lot!

If I could give any advice for you:

Believe me when I felt like my art style was stagnating for the longest time, but I’ve come to learn that in just four years I’ve gone from having okay-but-mid art to making some pieces that impress the worst critic in myself!! And really the only thing that changed was my mindset. I stopped wanting to make high quality stuff every time and instead focused on the gradual grind. Commitment is what makes or breaks an artist.

And sadly, art is not easy. You’re going to hate how your art looks. You’re going to be envious of other artists. You’re going to compare yourself. I was like that once, still have those moments today. But the secret to truly feeling like your art is yours is to acknowledge that you’re constantly improving. Don’t call yourself an equal (or a superior or inferior) to anyone, because that implies there’s an established objective tier of artists with you below people you’re inspired by. Every artist has their own flow, their own starting point, their own ways of growing, which makes comparison unfair and more unhealthy than you think!

I’ve seen your redraw of Pepper Jack and Celestial Cheese, and your art has changed a lot within a year for the better. I think that’s a sign! The only difference between you and me is I started before you. But, that’s neither a right or a wrong thing, just a fact that has no effect on you.

I think the only goal an artist should have is learning to appreciate the art they make. I’m still reaching for that myself, and someday you’ll get there if you try! Just be less hard on yourself. Acknowledge where you are and where you were. And most importantly, keep at it! You might be surprised how much can change in another year

#cjj askbox #I do envy art school students but at the same time I hear horror stories so LMAO #you don’t need to be an art student to make banger art #(((technically im studying art at uni rn but my department has like 0 digital art curricula)))#(((so like I don’t think it counts if what I’m learning is sculpture and acrylic LMAO))))

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requiemforthepoets · 6 months ago

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first encounter ⟢ CL16

⟢ part two of you’re the closest to heaven that i’ll ever be

𖤓 series masterlist ⟢ playlist ⟢ part three ☽

PAIRINGS: charles leclerc x celestial!reader

SUMMARY: all thanks to leo, charles finally got the chance to meet you—the celestial being who has consumed his every waking thoughts, and managed to find out new things.

REMINDERS: this is purely fiction, the way how the character is portrayed in my story does not reflect the person that is portraying my character in real life. always separate fiction from reality, and do not repost or copy my work in any way.

WARNINGS: bible angel names references, some people may find this fic offensive, concept of divine beings and heaven & life and death, no use of y/n, angels and devils, mentions of papa leclerc (beginning is set in 2017) and jules bianchi, fluff, falling (literally & figuratively) in love, named side characters, angst but with a happy ending, purely written fic, a little bit of world building (concepts), mentions of death, bad/evil people, cursing, not proofread, and typos.

WORD COUNT: 5k

AUTHOR’S NOTE: this fic may not be some people’s cup of tea, if you don’t like it, don’t read it. sorry it took me a LONG time to post the part 2 of this series, i already have this on my drafts but never got the time to check on it bc i’ve been working on my other series (fa14 series), but finally, here it is! the part 3 may take a long time to be posted again 🥲 but you don’t have to worry bc i intend on finishing this series. taglist is open for this series, so just comment or message me if you want to be tagged. your comment/reblog is highly appreciated, and i hope you’ll enjoy this second part of the series!

It was a warm late afternoon in Monaco, and Charles had finally pulled himself out of his apartment, hoping that some fresh air and Leo’s cheerful company might turn off the constant thoughts running through his mind. Since that night in Singapore, you had been all Charles could think about—the image of you standing before him, looking at him as though you knew the secrets he hadn’t even dared to ask himself. Charles had barely gotten a word in before you disappeared, leaving him with nothing but more questions.

The park was mostly empty, allowing him and Leo to stroll without the usual flood of cameras or people hoping to get a quick word with him. Charles enjoyed these rare quiet moments, watching Leo run through the grass, capturing photos of him mid-leap, his ears flapping, and his tail wagging in pure delight. For a while, it was peaceful—that is until Leo began barking persistently, his gaze fixed on something in the distance.

“Leo, calme-toi.” Charles called, trying to soothe his normally docile dachshund.

Leo rarely barked at nothing, and Charles couldn’t see what had him all stirred up. As he looked past Leo, his heart skipped. There you were, standing at the edge of the park, just as he had remembered you, dressed in black, untouched by the brightness of the world around you, as if you had stepped from a different realm entirely. Slowly, Charles walked over, kneeling beside Leo, who was still barking.

“Can you see her too, buddy?” Charles asked softly, but Leo only turned his head back towards you.

His barks began shifting into a delighted whine, tail wagging as though greeting an old friend. To Charles’ amazement, Leo took off towards you, bounding across the grass with uncharacteristic excitement. You bent down on one knee as Leo reached you, his small body pressing happily against your touch. Charles just stood there and watched, captivated by the whole sight, how your hand moved over Leo’s fur, and how the dog responded, oblivious to the fact that what he felt was something beyond the ordinary. You then looked up at Charles and smiled, a gentle, knowing expression on your face.

“Hello, little one,” you murmured to Leo, reaching out to stroke him. Your gaze followed Leo’s figure as he trotted back toward Charles. “He’s a beautiful soul. It’s clear how well you take good care of him, he is very happy with this life.”

Charles swallowed, taken aback by the warmth of your words. He felt a huge wave of relief washing over him, and somehow, you were not a figment of his imagination. You were in front of him, speaking to him, your voice soft but firm, grounding him in the reality of your presence.

Noticing a bench nearby, you gestured, “shall we sit?” Charles nodded.

He followed you as you walked, though he kept glancing around as if worried that someone might catch him talking to thin air. The two of you sat side by side, your gaze focused on Leo as he scampered around, while Charles couldn’t seem to look anywhere but at you. The silence between you felt almost sacred, deafening, thick with all the unspoken questions he longed to ask.

“I know you have many questions,” finally, you broke the silence. Your voice was gentle. “Especially as to why you can see me, when others could not.”

Charles let out a shaky breath, nodding. “I—I don’t understand. I’ve seen you before, but you keep on disappearing, and no one else…they never see you.” his voice was a soft murmur, filled with confusion and wonder.

“Our kind, like myself, we’re not meant to be seen by human eyes. We’re here to watch and guide, but only from afar. Most humans only sense us as a passing feeling, a presence.” you softly said, as you studied him with a faint smile. “But in your case, you see me. Truly see me.”

“Why, though? Why am I able to see you?” Charles’ brows furrowed, his gaze intent on yours.

You turned to look at Leo, who was now sitting a short distance away, watching the two of you with a curious tilt of his head, and you couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Leo.

“It’s rare, Charles. But sometimes, there is a connection between our kind to your kind that goes beyond the veil. I’ve thought about it myself, and though I don’t have all the answers, it’s clear that there’s a reason you and I keep crossing paths.”

Charles’ heart raced. The way you spoke, as though fate had woven an invisible thread between you had left him reeling. He glanced around the park, reminded of how strange this conversation must look to anyone passing by, but he did not care at all. The need to understand, to know you, outweighed any risk of prying eyes.

“Maybe…maybe we should go somewhere less public?” Charles suggested, his voice low.

He did not want this moment to end, he couldn’t let you disappear on him again before he had the chance to understand this kind of connection. You looked at him for a long contemplative moment, then nodded.

“All right, lead the way.”

Charles led you quietly through the streets of Monaco and up to his apartment. He hadn’t said much on the way, clearly lost in thought, yet there was an unspoken understanding between the two of you. When you entered his apartment, you immediately noticed how it held an essence of him. Warm, understated, and filled with memories. The walls were decorated with framed photographs spanning his life from childhood karting days to podium celebrations in F1. Trophies were all lined up on the shelf, and each piece seemed to carry a story of its own.

You were drawn to the photos, especially those capturing his relationships, the warm smiles he shared with his family, playful moments with his friends, and candid shots of him and his brothers. Then your gaze settled on one particular photograph, and a bittersweet feeling bloomed within you. It was a younger version of Charles, perhaps in his teens, standing alongside a man whose face you recognize. Jules Bianchi.

Charles noticed the direction of your attention as he finished filling up Leo’s dog bowl, and he stepped over to join you, his expression softening as he saw the photograph. Jules had been so much more than just a mentor to him. The man in that photo had shaped parts of his soul and his dreams. You could feel the weight of Charles’ emotions lingering in the air, a tender ache mixed with recognition.

“You knew him?” Charles’ voice was quiet as he stood beside you.

You nodded softly, your own voice taking on a gentle tone. “I was there in his final moments. I was the one who guided him when he was ready to go, helping him crossover.”

Charles’ face was a mix of expression, caught between surprise and disbelief. For a second, he seemed unable to respond, the information settling slowly. You watched him intently as he took a deep breath, grounding himself.

“You…you spoke to him?” he managed, his voice strained with a mix of sorrow and longing.

“Yes,” you said, your voice steady but tender. “I spoke with his soul as he lingered between here and the afterlife. It was…peaceful. He was calm when I arrived, almost as if he knew he was not going to stay.”

You paused, “I then asked him about his life, what his favorite thing about life was.”

”He told me that his family meant everything to him. He then mentioned being a godfather, and his dreams for his protégé, a young man named Charles.” you added.

“He said that?” he whispered, breath hitched as he instinctively reached up to touch the frame, his fingers resting just over the image of Jules’ face.

“He spoke of you with such pride, with hope that you would go on to achieve everything he had dreamed for you. Jules saw himself in you, Charles. His last thoughts were with his family and you.” you looked at him softly. A quiet rage simmered in Charles’ eyes as he turned to look at you, his voice tinged with frustration.

“But why? Why couldn’t you let his family speak to him, too? They waited for so long, hoping he’d wake up, to say goodbye properly.” the raw pain and anger in his voice were unmistakable.

Charles had not meant to question your intentions, but the loss of Jules had carved a wound that had never fully healed, and in his grief, he momentarily forgot you were not human. You looked at him with a soft, understanding smile, letting the weight of his sorrow wash over you. You had witnessed this kind of reaction before, how those who are grief-stricken often felt deprived of closure.

“I understand, Charles. If I could have done differently, I would have,” you replied, your voice gentle but firm. “But it wasn’t his body I spoke to, it was his soul. Jules was already watching from the other side, beyond the reach of the physical world. In those moments, he wasn’t in his body anymore, he was seeing all of you from a place where time no longer held sway.”

Charles looked down, processing your words, the anger fading slowly as he tried to keep his emotions steady. He tried to reconcile his emotions with the reality of what you had just shared. He ran a hand through his hair, gaze fixed on the floor as he took in a shaky breath.

“So he…he was watching us all along?” he whispered.

“Yes,” you assured him. “He was with you. Every tear, every moment spent beside his hospital bed, he saw it all, even if he himself couldn’t respond in a way you wished for it to be.”

“Souls don’t always leave the way we want them to. They transition gently, often lingering just to be close to the people they love.” you added. Charles’ shoulder slumped slightly, and he let out a shaky sigh, nodding as if finally accepting what had once seemed unimaginable.

“It…it makes sense,” he murmured. “Jules was always calm, even in the most difficult moments. Maybe he knew it would be easier this way.”

There was a peaceful silence that settled between the both of you, the only sound being Leo’s soft footsteps as he padded over to sit by Charles’ feet. Charles looked at you again, the sorrow in his eyes tinted by a glimmer of gratitude.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, a sincerity in his words that touched you deeply. “For…for being there with him, and for telling me.”

You gave him a reassuring nod, feeling the depth of his appreciation. “He is proud of you, Charles. More than you know. You are honoring his legacy every time you step onto the track.”

Charles closed his eyes briefly, absorbing your words, a new sense of peace settling over him. He knew that the ache would remain, but perhaps now, with you there to share this part of Jules’ journey, it would be a little easier to carry.

Eventually, you found yourself seated on the barstool, observing how Charles moved around the kitchen, gathering ingredients as he prepared a dish called pasta, and noting the way he moved with a quiet confidence. He seemed at ease, but you could tell by the occasional glance he cast your way that he was still processing everything. The strange connection he had with you, a Celestial he could see but others could not. As he stirred the sauce on the stove, he broke the silence, glancing over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

“So…what exactly are you?” Charles asked, attempting to sound casual, though his curiosity was clear. “Are you like an angel of death or something?” his brows furrowed slightly as he added.

“No, Charles. I’m not here to take you away,” you assured him, tone gentle, and couldn’t help but smile at his suspicion. “Think of me as a guide and a protector. My duty is to help souls cross the afterlife, to make sure that they are not alone and lonely when they cross the other side.”

“So, you’re…you’re not here for me?” he asked, his voice tentative. You could see the worry in his eyes, as if he had been half afraid that he might be speaking with the very spirit that would one day guide him out of this life.

“Not at all,” you replied. “I’m here because, somehow, we have this connection. I was there in the hospital room, with your father, when you saw me for the first time. It was a natural part of my duty, I was waiting to guide him. Just as I was there for Jules.”

“So you only appear when…someone’s close to death?” Charles’ gaze dropped to the countertop, and he nodded slowly, as if piercing it all together.

“Typically, yes,” you replied. “Humans are not meant to see me. They may sense it, a presence, calmness, or even a cool warmth when I’m near, but that’s usually all. So, I could not quite understand why you could see me. It isn’t common.”

“But I can see you.” he said, almost to himself, as if still trying to grasp this phenomenon.

“Exactly.” you looked at him thoughtfully. “Over time, as I have watched over you, you’ve somehow become aware of me. It’s as if the bond between us allowed you to see me when others can’t.”

You let the words hang, hoping it answered the mystery that had puzzled him for so long. Charles turned back to the stove, his movements slower, as if he were allowing himself time to absorb what you had just said. After a moment, he turned to look at you again.

“Back in Singapore…I kept thinking of you, wondering if you were real or just in my head.” he hesitated, then continued. “And you appeared, it was like you sensed me or something.”

“That’s precisely what happened,” a gentle smile crossed your face as you saw the gears turning inside his head. “I could feel your thoughts, your longing to see me, and so I came to you. Your thoughts, they called to me.”

“But why do you always disappear?” he asked, his tone a mix of curiosity and exasperation. “Every time I think I already have you here, you’re gone the second I look away.”

“It’s not by choice, Charles.” you met his gaze, understanding his frustration. “My presence here beside you is not permanent. I have duties beyond just watching over you, it is my duty to guide other people as well. My duty is to help those souls cross peacefully into the afterlife, which means I’m often called away. That’s why I can’t always be here, even if you want me to be.”

“I understand,” he said softly as he looked down, absorbing your words. “It’s…strange, but it does make sense.”

A comfortable silence fell between you and Charles as he took out a plate and transferred the pasta dish on it. You could still feel the wheels turning in his mind as he processed everything. After a moment, you spoke again.

“If you want me to be with you, well, there is a way.” you said.

He looked up at you, now intrigued. “A way?”

You nodded. “Yes. If you light a match or a lighter and call for me, then blow it out, I’ll hear it, and I’ll come to you.”

“Why a match?” Charles’ brows furrowed as he considered it.

“Fire.” you explained. “It is a symbol of transition. It’s an ancient element that is used to connect realms, to call forth spirits, and to bridge the distance between worlds. When you light a match or a lighter, you are creating a momentary flame that connects you to my realm, and when you blow the fire out, it becomes a message—a summons. I’ll hear it, wherever I am.”

“So, I just…call out to you, light a flame, and you’ll come?” Charles’ lips curved into a small smile.

“Yes.” you returned his smile, feeling the warmth in his gaze. “As long as you need me, Charles. Wherever you are, I’ll always find a way to be there.”

Charles looked at you with a mix of gratitude and something deeper, a newfound comfort that seemed to settle over him. In that quiet moment, Charles reached for his fork, but his gaze lingered on you, a newfound clarity softening his features.

“Thank you.” he murmured, voice barely above a whisper.

He then placed a plate of pasta right in front of you, and you tilted your head, looking at the dish with sheer curiosity and slight confusion. Charles noticed your expression, stopping mid-motion as he raised his own fork.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice gentle but genuinely concerned.

“I don’t…eat,” you explained softly, gaze flickering between him and the plate, offering him a small, apologetic smile. “Celestials don’t have the need for food, so I don’t know what it’s like to taste something, let alone pasta.” you could see a flicker of surprise and something that almost looked like offense pass over his face.

“What? You’ve never tasted pasta?” he asked, shocked, as he looked down at his beloved dish, looking genuinely horrified. “Pasta is…it’s comforting, it’s warmth and tradition. It’s something everyone has to try.”

“Okay, imagine this—it’s soft and a little chewy, warm and…kind of like a hug, but for your mouth.” he added, grinning at you with his eyes lighting up. “And with this tomato sauce, its got this balance of sweet and tangy, a bit salty too, it just…makes everything feel better.” his expression softened.

You watched Charles as he spoke, entranced and touched by his earnest attempt to describe something so familiar to him yet so foreign to you. Spending this time with him, watching his animated expression, hearing his heartfelt explanations, you begin to understand why his father and Jules had spoken of him so warmly in their final moments. Charles was not only passionate, but genuinely kind and unpretentiously funny. There was a gentleness to him that touched your heart, even if it couldn’t beat the way a human’s did.

Hours slipped by so fast, and you both found yourselves seated on his living room couch, talking quietly, the evening light fading around you. Charles asked questions after questions, fascinated by your world and by what you do. You answered each one as best as you could, and with each answer, his awe seemed to deepen. You shared stories of guiding other souls, moments of peace and love you had witnessed. He listened, hanging onto each word, and you could see a newfound calmness in his eyes.

While you were in the middle of telling him a story about guiding an elderly woman who had waited until all her children were by her side before letting go, you heard a soft sound. Glancing to your right, you found Charles with his head tipped back against the couch cushion, his breathing steady and calm. He had drifted off, exhaustion settling over him like a soft blanket. For a moment, you just watched him, studying his peaceful face. Charles’ long lashes rested against his cheeks, and a gentle warmth seemed to radiate from him, a stark contrast to the chill you carried with you.

A quiet yearning tugged at you as you lifted a hand, your fingers hovering near his face. You wanted, just once, to feel the warmth of human skin, to know what it was like to truly touch, but you know better. If you let your fingers graze him, he would only feel a cold wisp of air, a reminder that you didn’t belong to this world in the same way as Charles did. So, reluctantly, you lowered your hand and simply looked at him, memorizing the moment.

You had spent nearly the entire day with Charles, and though part of you longed to stay, you knew it was time to leave. Quietly, you stood up from the couch and made your way to where Leo was resting nearby. You knelt down beside the little dachshund, who lifted his head to watch you with those soulful eyes, tail giving a soft wag, and you reached out, your fingers ghosting over his fur.

“Leo, I know that your past life was not kind to you and had been cut short, but you’re safe now. In this life, you’re well taken care of and so loved.” you spoke softly, as Leo seemed to tilt his head, like he understood every word you say. “Charles is a good man, he will love and take care of you, always.”

As you straightened up, Leo continued to watch you, his eyes filled with a sense of understanding. You turned to take one last look at Charles, still asleep on the couch, chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. A soft smile crept over your face as you watched him, there was a wave of warmth washing over you, even without a heartbeat to drive it.

With a final, quiet glance at Leo, who looked back at you with trusting eyes, you let yourself disappear, and slipped back into the unseen world that had always separated you from the people you guided. Yet, for a short moment, you knew you had left a part of yourself with Charles and Leo in that Monaco apartment.

Charles woke up with a dull ache running through his neck, reminding him of the night he had spent sleeping on the couch. He rubbed the sore spot, groaning slightly as he tried to stretch out the stiffness. For a moment, he just sat there, gathering his thoughts, until the memories of last night’s memory surfaced. The conversation, quiet moments, and then the emptiness when he realized you had left. He sat back on the couch, staring at the ceiling as a sense of longing settled over him, a quiet ache that wasn’t so easily stretched away.

A small bark drew his attention to Leo, who was sitting nearby, watching him with an endearing tilt of his head, and noticing Charles’ contemplative state. He smiled and reached out, calling Leo over.

“What do you think, Leo? It was one strange night, huh?” Leo padded over gently, wagging his tail as Charles scooped him up, holding him close.

For a few minutes, Charles simply enjoyed and basked in the warmth of Leo in his arms, the familiar comfort that Leo offered in the midst of all the strange, unexplainable things that he was feeling. Last night had been a fever dream for him, but he knew that it was real, that it happened.

“Do you think it’s strange? Wanting to see her again?” he added. Leo just responded with a quiet, comforting look and nestled close to Charles.

After a while, curiosity began to gnaw at him. Charles could not shake the desire to know more about you, as to why he felt this pull, this connection that seemed impossible and yet so real. He padded into his bedroom, grabbed his laptop and settled in, typing Celestial Angels into the search bar. Countless articles, myths, and even fiction flooded his screen. Charles sifted through several pages, skipping over anything that seemed overly romanticized or far-fetched, until one article caught his eye.

The article spoke of Celestial Angels who formed deep bonds with their humans, describing how they acted as protectors, watchers, and guides. It mentioned the rare connection that could occur, a phenomenon where an angel might become so deeply intertwined with a human soul that they developed a sense of longing or even love, something that was both a blessing and a curse for the Celestial. As he read further, Charles could not help but wonder if this was what he had experienced, if this was the reason he kept seeing you, why he felt such a pull toward you.

Charles then stumbled upon a book: The Celestials by an author named Celestine Williams. The cover featured a faint, ethereal image of a figure wrapped in light, the silhouette barely discernible, much like he imagined you, and the description noted that it explored the stories and folklore surrounding Celestials and their interactions with humans, a deep dive book. The reviews were glowing, a few feedbacks talking about how the book shed light on the mysteries of these beings and the unique connections they could form. Without a second thought, Charles clicked buy, hoping the book would give him a glimpse into your world, something that might help him understand you much better.

Charles then returned his attention back to the article. But his focus kept drifting, thoughts of you had surfaced in his mind unbidden, wondering where you were right now, what you might be doing, if you were watching over someone else or wandering through some hidden place unknown to humans. The pull to see you, to call you, was growing stronger by the second, becoming a quiet ache that settled deep in his chest.

He set the laptop aside, exhaling as he mulled over the idea. Charles remembered what you had told him when he needed you—that he could call you by lighting a match or a lighter, a summon that would draw you to him. He doesn't know if it would even work, or if you would even come, but the need to see you was already overriding any doubts that he has. So he then grabbed a small lighter that he kept somewhere hidden in his kitchen and went to his living room, sitting down on the couch with Leo curled up beside him.

Charles knew it was kind of absurd, like it was something straight out of a fairy tale of a late-night ghost story, but last night, you had told him that if he wanted to see you, all he had to do was light a flame and call out to you. A part of him, the rational side, wanted to shrug it off as nonsense. But then the other part of him had witnessed things that were impossible and felt that strange connection to you, urging him to at least give it a try.

“Am I really fucking doing this?” he murmured, looking down at Leo for approval. But Leo just looked at him, with a face that said ‘what’s the harm in trying?’ “Ah, fuck it.”

Finally, with a deep breath, he flicked the lighter on, watching the tiny flame flame dance as he whispered out to you, a barely audible plea for you to return. The flame flickered as he called out to you, then he blew it out gently, his eyes lingering on the wisp of smoke that rose and faded. His heart was pounding, unsure if should expect an immediate response or if he had simply made a wish to the empty air.

A hush settled over the quiet living room, and for a moment, nothing really happened. Charles felt a pang of disappointment, even a touch of embarrassment at how eager he was and had hoped. He let out a disheartening chuckle, letting out a quiet sight right after, and lowering the lighter, thinking that maybe he had been mistaken or that the depth of the bond he felt was just his pure imagination.

Just as he stood up, about to return the lighter back into the kitchen, Charles felt a shift in the air, a delicate, almost undetectable shimmer, like a faint breeze brushing across his skin. He looked up, and there you were, standing in the soft morning light, an almost imperceptible glow framing your presence. The world seemed to pause, the weight of the day fading away as he took in the sight of you. You stood there, a soft, otherworldly light around you, the faintest hint of warmth in your eyes as you looked at him. Charles felt his breath hitching, he had not realized how much he missed seeing you until now. He began feeling a strange mix of relief and happiness.

“You called for me?” you asked softly, your voice like a distant melody.

Charles nodded, suddenly feeling a little bit embarrassed, but unable to look away at you. “I…I did, I hope it’s okay. I just…” he paused, fumbling over his words. “I wanted to see if it works, and to see you again. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“You’re allowed to call for me, Charles. That’s why I told you how you can reach for me.” you smiled gently, a warmth in your expression that seemed to reach him despite your distance.

“I’ve been reading about Celestial Angels, trying to understand.” he let out a soft chuckle, placing his hands inside of his pockets, feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable. “I came across all these stories about angels who…form connections with their humans.” Charles looked down, collecting his thoughts.

“I guess I just wanted to understand what we have. Why do you keep on appearing, and why does it feel like I know you, even though I don’t really.” he added.

“The connection between an angel and their human isn’t something that happens every day. It’s rare, something beyond explanation.” your expression softened, and took a slow step forward, closing the gap between you. “We’re not supposed to form attachments, but sometimes, it’s as if the universe allows it, just for a moment.”

“So…it’s real, then? I’m not imagining it at all?” his gaze never leaving you, but filled with curiosity.

“No, Charles,” you shook your head. “You’re not imagining it. It’s real. You were always different, even from the first time I saw you.”

“I don’t know what this all means, but I want to understand.” he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, voice quiet, and a raw honesty was lacing his tone as he held your gaze.

“Sometimes, understanding isn’t possible, not in a way humans desire. Some things simply are.” you said quietly.

You then placed a hand near his, close enough that Charles could almost feel your presence, but not quite touching. The silence stretched, rich and weighty, filled with words left unsaid. Finally, he managed a faint smile.

“Thank you. For you know, for coming.” Charles said softly.

“For you, I always will.” you replied, smiling at him.

taglist : @charlesgirl16 , @chloes-book-corner , @wierdflowerpower

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dragonakito360 · 2 months ago

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HELLOOO! Could you write Sabo x Maid of a celestial dragon!reader? Like, he save her from the stupids celestial dragons. It can be my genre fluff, angst or smut. This man is too hot (oh of course, he eat Mera Mera no Mi. YOHOHOHOHOHOHO💀)

My Saviour

⋆｡°✩ Pairing: Sabo x Maid!Reader

⋆｡°✩ Summary: Sabo rescues a maid from the Celestial Dragons, but she only comes to fear him.

⋆｡°✩ Content Tags: Reader has trauma, mild violence, small mentions of abuse, angst, hurt (not from Sabo) with comfort, eating disorder if you squint (Reader is malnourished and refuses to eat), that’s pretty much it I think.

⋆｡°✩ Word Count: 2,650 words

⋆｡°✩ Lorekeeper's Notes: I have no clue why the formatting for the pictures looks weird in the Doflamingo fic (on pc), hopefully this one looks better. I’ll admit, this isn’t my best work, this would probably fit better as a series than a oneshot. Next request hopefully will be done by Tuesday.

How long have you been here?

How long has it been since you were caged?

A day or two, you suppose. Fed scraps of food along with the other slaves in cages, trapped in a dark room at sea.

No, you were caged for far longer than that.

You had been serving as a maid to a Celestial Dragon for years now, perhaps even a decade. It was a hell, a life you wished you could escape from.

Not even in dreams were you safe, as nightmares plagued you each night.

“Hey gurlie, you gonna finish that?” You hear a voice call from the cage next to you. You look over to see burly man, pointing to a scrap of bread you had leftover. A former pirate captain, if you had to guess.

“I can spare a little.” You offered, picking up the piece of bread. You dropped it as you flinched, looking down at your bruised hands. With a pained expression, you start to recall the day’s events. The Celestial Dragon you worked under had gotten into a foul mood, taking it out on you when you messed up his cup of tea. He smacked a heavy centerpiece down on your hands multiple times, before sending you to the second ship following his. It was a dingy one, old and clearly having seen better days. Most of the slaves were kept there, “Filthy, worthless slaves have no place on my ship.” was the despicable man’s principle.

You picked up the piece of bread again, tearing a piece off and throwing it over to your neighbor. He picked it up, swallowing it whole since there was nothing much to begin with. “Thank you, gurlie.” He bowed his head in gratitude, something you didn’t expect, but the man’s spirit was broken, he no longer had a will to be defiant and fight. You sighed and leaned back against the cage bars, hoping to get more rest while you still can. That was until you were jolted from your spot, hitting the other side of the cage. The ship had stopped abruptly, as if stopped by a powerful force. The slaves who still had energy all rose from their cages, trying to catch a glimpse through the grate above. Screams could be heard all throughout the ship as an unseen fight rages. When it ends, you heard a young male’s voice call, his silhouette peering in.

“Over here! I see people down there!” He spoke with a commanding voice, breaking the grate’s lock and flipping it open. The man jumped down, examining the room before him. From what you could make out, he was a tall, blond man around your age, sporting a coat and top hat. “This is terrible. don’t worry, I’ll get you all out of here. Did you guys find any keys?” He asked, before a keyring was dropped down, landing in his open hand. The blonde started opening the cages, removing each of the collars with haki and tossing them away, exploding on the ceiling and breaking it apart. As light streamed in, you could make out more figures aboard the ship, presumably the blonde’s comrades.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when you heard the cage door open, a hand reaching through. The man gave you a warm smile. “It’s okay, we’re getting all of you out of here.” He assured. You stared at him with a cautious, reluctant expression, unsure if you can trust his words. You knew well that the only way out of being a slave was through death. You had seen it time and again, and it was through sheer luck you were still breathing. “C’mon, take my hand.” The man gestured for you to come closer. Without much of a choice, you took his hand and exited the cage, the collar being swiftly removed. “I think that’s all of them! Koala, is the ship ready?”

“We’re all set! Just waiting on you!” A female voice called out as a ladder drops from above.

“E-Excuse me.” You spoke up, causing the man to look at you. “Where are you taking us…?”

“We’ll be taking you to our ship. You’ll be safe there.” Your eyes widen at his words, you had heard them from before, long ago. Your breath hitched in your throat, hands trembling as memories flooded through your mind. You wanted to turn heel and run, out of poor instinct, but where are you to run? This man surely has many comrades at the ship’s deck.

You take a deep breath. Listen to them for now, you thought. For what it’s worth, wherever this man and his crew took you would be better than staying with the Celestial Dragon.

After the blonde man’s crew took you in, you were taken to their ship’s infirmary, where they assessed all the slaves’ wounds. They dressed your bruised hands with care, better than the simple self-care you had grown accustomed to. Over time, you had come to learn the girl’s name; Koala. She had a bright smile that eased your nerves, and yet, you couldn’t shake off the dread you felt. This whole situation, being stuck in a ship with people you were unfamiliar with, it brought back terrible memories from when you were first kidnapped.

It didn’t help that the man running the operation, Sabo, was constantly around.

He gave orders, checked on everything on the ship and even went to the infirmary every so often. His demeanor was similar to the slave dealer who had kept you; a happy, well dressed man.

Your mind raced, full of thoughts and emotions. What did these people want with you? With everyone? Were they really what you thought, bold slave dealers re-selling all of you for a higher profit?

Then again… They didn’t put a damned collar on you. But you didn’t know if the same was true for those outside the infirmary.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when you heard the infirmary door open. Koala stepped inside, holding what looked like a clipboard. She took a look around, checking and marking her clipboard every now and again. She then approached your bed, it was the one at the back of the room by your request.

“How are you feeling?” She asked with a warm smile. “You were the least injured, but I heard you’re malnourished. Did you eat…” Koala trailed off, noticing the untouched bowl of soup. It had a film at the top, an indication of how long it’s been sitting there. “You didn’t eat any of it?”

“I took a few spoonfuls, I’m not that hungry.” You lied, forcing a reassuring smile for the issue to not be pressed further. The brunette pouted, seeing through it immediately.

“You should eat more, you’re incredibly unhealthy!” She scolded, leaning forward to meet your gaze. “We’ll be docking at an island soon, don’t you want to leave this ship?”

You froze. An island? No, no, not Sabaody again. You don’t want to go back and be sold to another damned Celestial Dragon or World Noble. Staying on this ship would be the only way too avoid that fate. Being at the mercy of the powerful was like waiting for death.

“-Are you even listening?” You looked over to Koala, giving her another smile as you rub the back of your head.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be sure to eat more.” She simply sighed at your words, knowing there’d be no point trying to argue with you. You knew that she most likely knew of your behavior on this ship, how you’ve barely eaten anything. It wasn’t a risk you were willing to take, and for all you knew, they could be poisoning you.

“You’d better. And you should eat dinner too, okay?” Koala advised, her tone gentle and full of concern. She headed for the door, presumably to report back to Sabo.

Sabo stood by the ship’s bow, enjoying the cool breeze that blew in that part of the sea. He was ditching work to rest and watch the sea. Koala and everyone can handle everything, besides, they can just call him if they need him. As he gazed at the vast waters, he smiled brightly. Maybe he’ll be able to get away with slacking off–

“Sabo!” Spoken too soon, he thought, as he heard Koala’s voice call. “We’ve got a problem.”

“Depending how big it is, hand it over to Hack.” He replied with a dismissive wave, pretending to be disinterested. Koala let out a groan and pinched Sabo’s cheeks harshly.

“This is serious! It’s about one of the patients in the infirmary. She hasn’t been eating much for the past few days, just water and the occassional bread.”

“Has she asked for a different meal? Maybe she’s not big on soup. We’ve got meat, fish, shellfish–”

“She hasn’t asked for anything at all. She’s malnourished, it’s dangerous for her not to eat a balanced meal.” Sabo paused and put his hand to his chin, thinking about what to do next. He knew the issue had to be addressed immediately, and as the ship’s captain, he had responsibility for those onboard.

“I’ll take care of it. Can you ask the chef to bring over a fresh bowl of soup?”

“Were you listening? I said she doesn’t eat–”

“Make it two! And I’ll convince her, trust me! I’ll talk her into eating.” Koala raised a brow, a taunting smirk on her face.

“You? Really?” Sabo couldn’t help but snicker at her playful doubt. He’ll find a way, he always does.

Sabo entered the infirmary, bright smile on his face as he carried the tray of food. He didn’t sport his signature hat and coat, choosing to leave it in his room to have a simple, humble appearance. He walked to the back of the room, spotting you immediately. He walked on over, and the moment you took notice, your eyes widened in surprise. Taking a deep breath, you composed yourself, not giving any hint of fear. To the best of your ability, anyway.

“Hey!” Sabo greeted happily, pulling up a nearby chair to sit by your bedside. He set the bowls down, one at your bedside table and the other on his lap. “I heard you haven’t been eating much, why is that?”

“Oh, well… I’m not really hungry.” As if on cue, your stomach betrayed you, growling loudly to both the smell and sight of food.

“Not hungry, huh? I heard that stomach loud and clear!” He laughed, holding his bowl to not let any soup tipover and spill. He looked at you with a warm, reassuring smile. “There’s no need to hide it, let’s eat! The soup the chef makes is really good, but if you don’t want it, I can ask them to make whatever you’d like.”

You nodded, taking the bowl of soup and setting it down on your lap. You stared at it, watching your reflection before stirring it slowly. Sabo ate his portion, expecting you to follow suit. When he noticed your still movements, he lowered his spoon and looked at you with an expectant gaze, whether it was for you to eat or request a meal, you couldn’t tell.

“… What are you going to do with us?” You spoke up, meeting his gaze. Sabo paused, caught off guard with the strange question.

“The ones on the ship who are in good shape will be taken to an island we’re affiliated with. As for everyone in the infirmary, well, we’ll be taking you all to a different island when you’re all better.”

“Why?” Sabo raised a brow, not expecting that response from you. You swallowed the lump in your throat before you continued. “Don’t take them to Sabaody!”

“Sabaody? We’re not taking them to Sabaody.”

“Don’t lie!” In a fit of panicked rage, you threw the bowl of soup out of your lap, the hot liquid splashing on Sabo’s clothes. Your eyes widened, realizing what you had done. Your lip quivered as your trembling hands grabbed the blanket. “I-I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.” Your knelt in front of the blonde, using the cloth and wiping his clothes in an effort to clean the mess you made. Sabo looked at you with a serious, hardened expression, one full of concern and frustration at your sudden action. But it wasn’t frustration towards your outburst, no, it was toward the Celestial Dragon who had instilled fear into you, and the distrust towards others.

“Stop, you can stop.” He spoke softly, a hint of sternness to truly make sure you cease your actions. He helped you up to your feet, sitting you down on your bed. “I need to know the truth. What did you think we were up to?” Your eyes widened slightly, your breath hitched as your heart started to pound. Sensing your distress, Sabo’s expression softened, placing a hand on your shoulder. “I’m not going to be mad. I just wanted to know why you’re so cautious of everyone.”

“… I thought… The Revolutionary Army are a bunch of slave dealers, and you were going to bring us to Sabaody to sell us back to the auction house.” You averted your gaze, afraid to see his reaction. You didn’t know if you prefer to be right or wrong, were you to be right, it’d be a horrible fear coming true. Were you to be wrong, you’d be embarassed, and you felt that Sabo would be angry at you for such a horrible assumption.

“I see. You don’t know anything about the Revolutionary Army, do you?” He asked, his gaze steady on you. You shook your head, and he understood immediately the situation you had been in. He knelt down in front of you. “We’re against the Celestial Dragons. They’re our enemies. The place we’re going to is an island affiliated with our organization. Everyone will be safe there, and they’re free to go home, or start a new life on that island. You have nothing to be afraid of.” He smiled reassuringly, looking at you with sincerity and honesty that was undeniable. As you stared at him, a wave of guilt washed over you. Every act of kindness they had shown you, every single thing they had done for everyone, you repaid with ingratitude and indifference. You teared up, not because you were afraid of his anger, but because of the earnestness in Sabo’s expression making you relax. You finally felt safe.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” You mumbled over and over, holding onto the sheets tightly. The blonde frowned, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping your tears.

“C’mon, no need to cry. It’s okay. You should be happy.” He smiled softly, holding onto your shoulders.

“I am happy.” You smiled, the most genuine one you’ve had in years. “I’m finally free, I’m safe. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. If only I was on the other team, maybe I could’ve thrown a punch or two on the Celestial Dragon who did that to you.” He snickered, and you couldn’t help but laugh along at his claim. It was outlandish, but it made you feel better. You hugged him tightly. hoping to convey the gratitude you felt from the bottom of your heart.

“Thank you, Sabo. You’re my savior.”

#One Piece #One Piece x Reader #One Piece Fluff #One Piece Sabo #Sabo #One Piece Sabo x Reader #Sabo x Reader #One Piece x You #Sabo x You #Sabo x Y/N #Sabo One Piece #One Piece x Reader Fluff #OP x Reader #OP x Reader Fluff

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physalian · 9 months ago

Text

Introductory character descriptions

Friendly reminder about introductory character descriptions, especially those at the beginning of the book: To avoid it sounding entirely like an exposition dump, give a reason to why the narrator is noticing what either they or another character is wearing.

For example, worked on this first draft last night:

Iris hauls up her pack and smooths her clammy hands down her skirt. At the time, the pleated corduroy seemed both durable and multipurpose. Her boots, too, knee-high but thick-soled, and her leggings—warm, flexible, already scraped up at the knees. Clothes she could have hanging in her closet without her mother getting suspicious of why they were so different from the rest of her wardrobe. Clothes that are not sprinting-through-the-Sakartan-wilderness attire.

First draft, so, you know. But! Character isn’t just describing what she’s wearing, she’s describing it in relation to how impractical it now is for her environment. It’s motivated exposition.

Shortly thereafter, Iris meets a new person, and describes them as follows:

Did she stumble into an unassuming temple, whole house left in sacrifice and worship of some celestial she can’t begin to name? They don’t look Sakartan, not just in coloring, but in stature, too. Lithe, frightfully thin with gaunt cheeks, a discoloring across their nose like tiny yellow lesions, and Iris has never known a Sakartan with curls. They’re not even dressed like one, wearing something that kind of looks like a high-collared robe, except it’s split up both sides to a wide belt. Leggings, like hers, adorned with leafy lace, and more of it on the edges of the belled sleeves. The black and gold fabric only serve to make them look even more ethereal. Iris flies through her catalog of fashion across the realms, trying to find a home for this displaced god in vain…

I might still trim it down later but it’s 8am on a workday and this is an example post. It’s still a lot of description to throw at the reader, at least in my opinion, but all of it is anchored to the narrator trying to figure out who and what they are and if they’re a threat, not just taking an aside to describe their features unprompted.

—

So whether you’re describing the narrator or someone the narrator is observing, giving the narrator a reason to give this description at this time and some reaction to it pulls double duty: You’re giving exposition, but still telling the story as you tell it. She’s not just describing clothing, she’s describing why it matters right this second and how both serve to hinder the conflicts of the scene.

It's not just clothing, it's impractical clothing, or it's far too bougie for this side of town, or far too fancy for an average school day, or it's all stained and ripped, which reflects the wearer as either destitute or on the run, perhaps. It's motivated.

#writing #writeblr #writing a book #writing advice #writing resources #writing tools #writing tips #character design #exposition

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blackknight-kai · 7 months ago

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Hi I read your yandere HCS of both monkeys and I love reading it ! Would it be ok if I ask would the monkeys treat reader differently if she was human , a celestial deity/ being , or a demon (could be moth , a monkey or a lioness herself ?)

love to hear your thoughts please (if you wanna go dark ; go for it XD )

(sorry if request are close ; my phone wasn’t showing me if request are open or close) 💗 hope your doing ok !

Ooo okay!

So I think this could go a lot of different ways but I’ll narrow my thoughts down a bit.

Regardless of WHAT you are, I think he’s going to have to learn to trust you. He’s gone through a lot (both DO/Wukong). So while he may get along with you or be interested he’s going to have to learn to trust you deeply. Some races more than others.

And it might take him a while to figure out how exactly to treat you, bear with him because he’s trying. But I think this is going to the the biggest factor for him in regards to treatment of you, his trust with you and the circumstances you meet him in/how you treat him too etc.

In General:

I of course think he’d treat you differently depending on WHAT you are specifically in regards to holding back his strength or does he fight you / you fight him. As well as, do you have fur????? A tail? Because some physical actions might be different towards you based on those things. Like tails might intertwine or maybe yours is less sensitive than his etc, or do you have wings? Or other physical attributes that he’d have to account for.

BUT I also think he’d treat you differently based on your personal preference TO A POINT. Meaning, he’s going to factor in your likes and dislikes but will always know your limits (especially after he learns to trust you) and boundaries, he won’t push past those unless given explicit permission - granted he might test the boundaries here and there until he figures out where you stand.

And his basic personality characteristics don’t necessarily change. Example: He is still a trickster and will play pranks at your expense.

For humans, I think he’d be the most delicate with them in terms of using his strength be it during spicy time, cuddle time, or even sparring. While humans are resilient we aren’t that strong especially compared to him. So he’d have to temper himself. Granted, if his human lover wanted a little rougher treatment during spicy time I don’t think he’d be opposed to it but would temper himself accordingly.

Of course it depends on how any one person sees their reader/OC! So keep that in mind 😊

For demons / celestials I think this opens up a lot of room for interpretation. Because depending one WHAT you are your strength and tolerances vary. And I think he’d absolutely adjust to it. He may not HAVE to be as delicate in general but might be if it’s your preference. If you can spar or fight with him he’d be delighted - he would love having a playmate that can relatively keep up with him or keep him on his toes (not that a human couldn’t catch him off guard but unless they have some super cool magic etc they won’t always keep up).

In regards to grooming - he’d of course want you to help groom him. As for grooming you, he’s absolutely gonna do it regardless of what you are. But as I mentioned certain things may be a little different if you have fur vs no fur. He will learn what you like or what needs to be done for your hair/fur. He will want to be an expert so you come to HIM for grooming needs. Stuff like scales, fur, wool, skin, whatever - he’s going to want to learn so he can help you with whatever you need.

Plus, I think cultural differences can come into play. There may be certain things he doesn’t understand about you and would need to be educated on them and same for you him. But he’d definitely make it work and make compromises - sometimes might take some patience here. He is stubborn.

Regardless of who his mate is, I do feel like he’d be extra caring of them. Sure some he can physically be tougher with but I feel like he’s going to be caring and soft for them and only them too. Sometimes it may be more physical in nature- comforting tail stuff like holding tails together or making sure he doesn’t hurt your wings. Or holding hands and curling his tail around your waist.

Other factors like - Do you go into Heat/Rut? Those could be questions to consider that he would have to deal with. I feel like if you DID have that, it could make it fun because Monkey has a LOT of stamina so he’d keep up. He’s also tend to your basic needs like food and water or replacing clothes/bedding etc.

He is a protector, so this means no matter what race you are he’s going to always fill that role. Granted, he’s going to learn your limits. So if you’re not a fighter? He’s going to do the brunt of protecting and fighting. If you are a race that can fight or likes to, he’s going to let you take control of yourself to a point. Because he wants to see YOU defend yourself and be confident of course! But at the end of the day he’s going to step in when he’s needed (and at times when he’s not because that’s him).

I don’t think he’s going to treat anyone better or worse depending on a race after falling in love with them. It just shifts based on how much of HIM you can handle physically and abilities etc etc. As I mentioned above he’d take time to trust someone and depending on who you are or where you come from it may take him longer.

That said….

Yandere and or Darker thoughts below.

I do HC him (both of them) as dominant in this aspect. So yeah, he’d absolutely treat you differently based on a race here. He might be meaner or more standoffish OR he might reel you in just to get you to trust HIM based on WHAT you are and the circumstances surrounding you, this way he can sus you out easier in case YOU are trying to trick him. If you’re a monkey he knows he wields power and influence over you pretty easily, he is the Monkey King…. But another demon race or even a celestial? He might not be super pleasant at first, even to humans. (If it’s not yandere, he may just be an absolute dick/asshole). Might come off uncaring or untrusting until he figures you out to a degree.

He likes things HIS way. Deciding your his well…hopefully you want him too 💀. But in general especially depending on WHEN you meet him he might be meaner or a bit more cruel before he softens up for you. Something about you pulls his attention though and he keeps finding himself near you. Even if he’s being a jerk - he might let you struggle before helping you (until he truly falls for you).

If you’re thinking along the lines of “Court napping” he’d see some races as more of a challenge than others. Humans? Not that bad. Probably fun to scare and ‘hunt’. Demons/Celestials? Probably going to give him a challenge one way or another and he’d thrive on that. Regardless of which, he’s going to assert himself over them one way or another and they will be his.

#black myth wukong #sun wukong x reader #black myth wukong x reader #destined one x reader #bk kai writes

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the-s1lly-corner · 3 months ago

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A rest well deserved (Astro x reader)

as promised for assisting in me and my friends attempt to get to floor 20! (we failed/lh), here is @dollie-stars one shot! hooray! not my first dandy fic but its the first that is going to be posted! yay! prompt: astro and the reader unwind after a busy day in gardenview notes: fem toon reader, reader is an age regressor, based off of both mine and the requester's experiences woo!, pre game, short and sweet, admin is still trying to figure out how to write astro so his dialogue may be clunky or off, no use of y/n he calls you starshine/starlight, caregiver astro, not beta read we die like men, you both wind down for a much needed nap, admin has never written caregiver fics in long term so this may be hit or miss word count: 1.7k cws: none

Today had been… busy to say the least. Far from the busiest day Gardenview had seen- no new toon had been released and there were no time limited events that were being hosted that’d draw in some extra waves of people.

To the shock of no one the mains were given the most attention- with Astro being swept away almost as soon as he had set out into the halls. Something you’d grown used to even if it never fully dampened the pang in your gut at being separated from him for so long.

Lunch time was kind enough to grant you about half an hour to catch up over whatever Sprout and Cosmo had cooked up. Something good, usually.

Pizza and cookies were eaten- cutely enough the pastry was modeled after the mentioned celestial toon…

And right back to work.

Taking pictures with visitors, signing any merchandise that they approached you with, and sharing the same sayings from lessons you’ve recited over and over again. It was almost a relief when everyone was warned that Gardenview was closing in five minutes over the intercom.

Five minutes pass, and then a couple more to usher any stubborn stragglers away…. Finally, freedom.

Your steps echoed softly through the halls are you bid your greetings to passing toons.

Goob had craft bits stuck in his fluff, and Gigi was sneaking away with all sorts of lost items left behind in her arms.

“Going up?” Dandy was already in the elevator- Boxten quietly tucked himself to his own corner a few feet away. You speed your pace up to cross the threshold of the door.

“Mhm,” Your hands straighten out your dress. A yawn is clenched back in your teeth- the flexing of the back of your throat more than a little unpleasant. Dandy said something in response as he turned to the buttons of the elevator- stretching up on his toes before falling still.

“You wouldn’t happen to be going to Astro’s?” The flower shot you a glance over his shoulder.

A knowing grin stretched over his face as he swayed slightly on his toes.

Your words stumble slightly.

“Yeah- yeah, I’am,” You mumble sheepishly. Without any hesitation Dandy presses a button and lowers himself back flat to the floor. “Had a hunch you were,” He hummed and looked over to Boxten. Then back to you. “He’s already in his room,” Dandy added with a wink.

The elevator shudders to life and begins to rise…. Motion mixed with the creeping sleepiness in your body swirled into an almost disorienting and unpleasant sensation. You’re silently grateful for the rails installed on the walls of the elevator.

“If you’re lucky you might catch him before he dozes off,” Dandy snickered softly under his breath. You only offer a hum of acknowledgement as you steady yourself.

Slowly the elevator rises… before finally crawling to a stop- ending with a slight jolt.

“Thanks,” You give Dandy a sleepy smile as the door cracks open and reveals itself to Astro’s themed floor. Every main had one- two actually, one for the visitors and one as a personal living space for the main. This floor had many similarities to the one allowed to the visitors; really the main difference was there were more resting areas. Bean bags, sofas, things like that. Slightly smaller too. Still massive compared to the rooms the other toons were given.

You push yourself off of the railing and shuffle your feet forward- the exhaustion no doubt starting to hit in harder waves as your head tries to readjust to being still once more.

“Have a good night-” You look over your shoulder and give the flower one last wave- one that was eagerly returned in a more exaggerated gesture. “You too Boxten-” You manage to quickly squeak in before the door slammed shut… The music box nearly scrambled out a response… failing before the door cut him off.

Quiet once more.

Astro’s floor was cooler compared to the others. That’s how he liked it when he slept- though to be fair he could fall asleep anywhere; and at this point you could too.

The immediate area is scanned.

No sight of him, yet.

You bring your hands up to your mouth and cup them.

“Astroooo?” You call out in a half yell. You never liked yelling around the toon- he wasn’t the easiest to startle but he disliked sudden sounds almost as much as he hated flashes of light. A few seconds pass… nothing…

You suck a breath between your teeth and prepare to call out again- only to fall silent as the first syllable passes through the air. He had heard you the first time.

He shumbled slowly into view around a corner.

“Starlight,” His tired face broke into a sweet smile as his singular eye lands on you. He brings himself closer and closes the wide gap between the two of you. He stops a few steps in front of you… his head is lowered as always, as if it weighs heavy on his shoulders. The sway in his step was apparent as the end of his blanket dragged across the floor.

“You came here fast, did you need something?” He asked. Had it been anyone else the question may have come off as annoyed or impatient. Astro was never the best with tone but with you misunderstandings like that were few and far between.

He had only ever treated you with softness and compassion.

“Missed you,” You mumbled and returned his same tired smile.

Astro hummed softly… and his arms shifted under his blanket. You wasted no time in coming even closer and allowing him to envelope you in the soft fuzzy covers. Two sets of hands gently set themselves on your frame and guide you to the hiding spot the toon had come from.

“I meant to come down and get you, but I couldn’t find you… I assume you went straight for an elevator?” His eye darts to you before focusing back to the path in front of him.

You melt into his hold. Like his room he was cool. Not freezing but he wasn’t the warmest. The blanket made up for the chill… it smelled slightly of lavender and jasmine. It was a wonder Astro could stay awake throughout the day while constantly smelling the fabric.

“I did, it looked like everyone else had the same idea,” You smile as you lean into his shoulder.

“To the elevator I mean… not to your room,” You added sleepily.

Astro hummed softly against you. The vibration meshed into your shoulder- another layer of comfort.

“A sleepover doesn’t sound so bad, it’s been a while,” He turned the corner and while still guiding you he stepped towards the large bed he had made his own. Massive- wide, and absolutely littered with blankets and pillows. No one needed that much bedding… it more so resembled a nest than a bed.

But it was nice, and cozy.

“Not tonight,” He added as he gently set you on the edge of the bed. Astro’s arms shifted off of you for a second to adjust his blanket. Your hands reach forward again in an attempt to grab him and pull him back in.

Astro’s expression softened.

He allows himself to be pulled in as soon as his fidgeting passed. “Did you have a good day?”

He carefully shifts his legs onto the bed- more than a little mindful of his knees as he clambered in while you slightly tugged him onto the mattress.

Neither too soft nor too firm. It was perfect.

You shimmy him to the middle of the bed towards the eye of the mock blanket nest.

“It was real fun,” You let your head come to rest on one of the pillows. The scent of the blanket wafted over you as Astro covered you in it. The bedding carried the same calming fragrance. The lights were dim- fake stars hung around the walls illuminating the space around the bed. Soft music made an ambience for the room. Muffled, quiet, Calming. Comforting. A safe feeling. Almost nostalgic in its own way. Almost like taking a nap while it rained outside.

“Yeah? What did you get up to Starlight?” His arms reach themselves to the top of your head and lightly pat the top of it… pats turned into light circular rubbing.

If you were melting before into the bed… you were now reduced to a pubble of ichor under his hands.

He always loved listening to how your day went, even if he wasn’t much of a talker himself.

“Me and Poppy helped Yatta out with one of her parties- we gave out sodas and candies… Yatta mostly did the candy, though,” You push your face into his shoulder. The toon hummed in response.

“Yatta does throw good parties, doesn’t she?” His hands slipped from your head down to your back. Any tenseness left behind stood no chance. The massage shifts into a hug… and he doesn’t shift as you wrap around him like a koala. If anything he had grown to expect the move and would’ve asked if you were okay if you hadn’t done it. His thumb gently swipes across your spine in one last final movement before falling fully still.

“Why don’t we get you some rest, Starshine,” He shifted you around into a more comfortable position.

You didn’t have it in you to fight back. Even if you did have the energy you didn’t want to wriggle your way from his embrace.

“We can talk more about it after a nap,” Astro added as he rested his chin on top of your head- comfortably nestling your face close to him.

“And after dinner?”

“And after dinner, of course,” He chuckled… then he began to hum a soft tune.

So it was decided- the two of you would spend more time once you were more rested. The threat of oversleeping not much of a problem knowing Sprout would come looking if neither of you turned up to come eat.

The promise of possibly seeing Astro in your dreams added extra encouragement to succumb to sleep.

Not even a minute passed before his humming warbled and gave away to the quiet buzz of white noise in your ears before unconsciousness took over…

#astro x reader #dw astro x reader #dandy's world astro x reader #dandy's astro x reader #dandys world astro x reader #dandys astro x reader #dw x reader #dandy's world x reader #dandy's x reader #dandys world x reader #dandys x reader #canon x reader #canon x you #x reader

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0cta9on · 1 year ago

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Unlikely Duet - 7

length: +7k words

Genre: Fluff

NewJeans Minji x Male Reader (OC)

(Author's Note: Finally, after almost 3 months of writing on and off, rereading and rewriting entire portions, and countless edits, I finally finished chapter 7 of UD :,] I'll get started on chapter 8 asap so it hopefully doesn't take as long. Enjoy!)

【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】

Yuno’s POV

I inhale deeply, letting the grassy aroma and fresh evening air fill my lungs. The full moon looks down at us with its gentle gaze, reflecting its light on our intimate moment. Street lights flicker in the town below us, mimicking the stars hanging in the indigo above. Minji shivers next to me as a cool breeze whistles by, and I instinctively wrap my arm around her for warmth. Her cheeks light up with a pretty pink hue that lingers in my vision longer than it should have.

“It’s really pretty tonight,” she comments, glancing up at the moon. I nod, but all my focus is on the girl next to me, more beautiful than any celestial body could hope to be. The wind makes her long, black hair float and ebb like a stream of the finest silk, while the Milky Way traps itself into her irises, containing the beauty of an entire galaxy in just her eyes alone. Being here with her, nothing to interrupt our moment. Everything feels perfect.

“Minji, I…” As if she can read my mind, she turns to me, a knowing smile on her face, and shuts her eyes, awaiting my next move. With a quivering breath, I slowly lean into her, the warmth emitting from her skin growing ever warmer. The last thing I see is her lips before my vision fades to black, and then nothing.

I open my eyes to find Minji gone, replaced by my ceiling fan. My body jolts upwards in confusion as I grasp at the bed sheets beneath me. Instead of the grassy hill overlooking the town, all I see is the familiar layout of my bedroom, taunting me with its stillness. A disappointed sigh leaves my lips - just a dream.

My phone sits on my bed, still open on Minji’s blank messages. How pathetic of me. I spent all night wracking my brain for a response and couldn’t find a single thing to say. I hover tentatively over the keyboard one last time, desperately searching for the right words to say, before eventually giving up and sending a text to the group chat instead.

Yuno: Good Morning.

To my surprise, Yujin and Winter respond rather quickly.

Yujin: GOOD MORNING!!!!

Winter: good morning :)

Yuno: What are you two up to?

Winter: working :/

Yujin: im taking care of my grandma today!!

With the two of them busy, I’m left to figure out how to spend my Sunday alone. I click over to Minji’s blank messages one last time, my heart palpitating with an uncommon anxiety. Whatever this feeling is, love or otherwise, it’s getting old quickly. Everything feels confusing, and unlike most of my problems, I can’t solve it with brute force alone. What am I even hoping for here? A relationship? I don’t know anything about relationships or dating or how to be a boyfriend. Minji’s boyfriend, huh? That sounds kinda nice-

No. We’re too different. I don’t exactly have any good points to me either. I mean, Minji is like… a shining star - beautiful and radiant, but unattainable. And I’m like a sad cockroach looking up at that star, put on this planet because someone up there decided to play a sick joke. We’re just friends and that’s okay. Yet, the dull pain in my chest tells me otherwise. With a heavy sigh and a couple thousand unanswered questions, I shoot her a simple “Good Morning” text, because that’s what friends say to each other.

The sizzling of melting butter on a griddle and the heavenly scent of warm maple syrup grows stronger as I descend the staircase toward the kitchen, my tastebuds salivating at the thought of my favorite food - pancakes. My dad is in the kitchen, hunched over a cookbook with a surgeon-like focus, as a stack of warm pancakes sits next to him with two more cooking on the stovetop.

“Good morning, Yuno,” he greets me with a wide smile. “Cooked up breakfast if you’re hungry. Help yourself.”

I quickly take a seat at the table and stack a couple of them onto my plate, my stomach grumbling with a vicious hunger. As I go in to take the first bite, the scent of pancake wafts through my nose, taking me back to the first morning I woke up in Minji’s house. Despite us being strangers at that point, she let me crash on her couch so I didn’t have to run home in the rain, offered me warm clothes to sleep in, and made waffles for me the morning after so I didn’t go to school hungry. She didn’t have to, but she did, and it made all the difference in my measly little life. Minji is just so… incredible. And beautiful. And intelligent and kind and sweet and-

“Uh, are you alright?” I hear my dad ask. “You’ve been staring at your pancakes for a while now.”

I shake my head, clearing my thoughts. “I-I’m fine.” That's a lie. I’m not fine. A girl, THE girl, is taking over my mind and my dreams, making my heart feel weird and my mouth feel dry. I like a girl that can’t possibly like me back and I’m just supposed to be fine with that. How do I even begin to explain this to anyone?

My dad sits across from me at the table and fills up his plate. The silence between us begins to grow as we eat, an air of unease and uncertainty filling the room. On top of my feelings for Minji, I now have to deal with my feelings regarding the state of my dad. It’s been years since I last saw him like this. He’s fine now, but what if he relapses? How did he even make such an abrupt change anyway when all I saw him doing was sleeping and drinking? I should be happy, but I can’t shake the feeling that he could just revert to his older self without warning. I can’t cling to hope for too long, otherwise I’ll be met with disappointment yet again.

“So, uh, I was thinking,” he says, nervously clearing his throat. “Would you wanna go to the mall later?”

I freeze like a deer in headlights, caught off guard by his sudden question. “The mall? Why?”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t wanna, I just thought…” He sighs heavily, dropping his expression to the floor. “I want to be your dad again, like old times, before your mother… left us. If you don’t want anything to do with me, I understand, but if it’s okay with you… I want a relationship with my son again.”

He looks into my eyes with a sincere expression, tears threatening to pour. A part of me wants to say no, to make up some lame excuse and wander the streets until it’s dark instead of spending any time with him. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I am harboring some resentment for him for leaving me, a child, alone all these years, left to watch my one remaining parent shatter into a million pieces every day until he’s nothing but dust. Maybe I got so used to being alone that the thought of relying on someone else again makes me uncomfortable. Maybe I get into these stupid fights and aimlessly walk around the neighborhood because I know that the only person waiting for me at home is constantly drunk and sleeping.

Despite that, I don’t say no. I nod my head and utter, “Okay,” because the other part of me wants to have my dad back regardless of what he did. I want to be able to come home after school, into a home with the lights on, where the air doesn’t constantly smell like alcohol, and have someone, anyone, ask how my day went. I want someone to rely on when life gets too difficult to handle by myself. I want my family again.

So we eat our breakfast in silence. The uncertainty lingers, but next to it is a warming sense of hope, holding its hand in reassurance.

______________________________________________________________

Minji’s POV

Knock, knock, knock

“Minji?”

Knock, knock, knock

“Honey, are you awake?”

I finally sit up, rubbing the drowsiness from my eyes. “Now I am,” I yawn, stretching out my limbs. The clock reads 7:12 AM, about an hour after I usually wake up on the weekends. My phone lay face up on my bed, still on Yuno’s empty messages. Like an idiot, I waited all night for a response from him, but all I got was an hour less of sleep. Maybe I shouldn’t have held my breath for him.

My mother swings my bedroom door wide open. “Oh good, you’re awake,” she says, pacing around my room and picking up some of my laundry off the ground. “Go eat breakfast and get washed up. We’re going to the mall in a bit.”

“The mall? Why?” I ask.

“Oh, y’know… Just some clothes shopping,” she says with a peculiar smile. “We need to update that closet of yours, dear.”

Too drowsy to argue, I get out of bed and head downstairs, where my father is taking a call in the kitchen. Wisps of steam float from the mug of black coffee sitting on the counter next to him, untouched as he presses his phone to his ear with an intense focus. He mouths “Good morning” to me, gesturing to a plate holding a fancy-looking omelet. I dig in, unintentionally eavesdropping on my father’s conversation.

“Mhm. Tuesday you said? No, it’s not a problem at all. Yes, she will be there, I’ll make sure of it. Yeah. Mhm. No problem. We’ll see you then.”

Finally, he hangs up the phone and sits next to me at the dining table. Wrinkles of exhaustion decorate his face, likely from working early in the morning.

“Did you sleep okay, Minji?” He asks. “You’re usually up earlier than this.”

“I slept fine. I thought I’d get some more studying done after I got home and forgot about the time,” I lie. I can’t even imagine how furious he would be if I told him that I stayed up all night waiting for a text from a boy.

He grins proudly at me. “I’m happy that you’re working hard on your studies, but good sleeping habits will keep our brain healthy.” His phone buzzes in his pocket. “I’ll be right back, I have to take this.” He leaves the room, leaving me alone in the kitchen with my omelet and my thoughts. Maybe Yuno isn’t going to text me. Maybe I should text him first instead. But shouldn’t the guy text first…?

A sigh leaves my lips. I'm way in over my head with prom preparations already, I definitely don’t have any room for a silly little crush. Perhaps these feelings are just one of circumstance. We’ve been bumping into each other everywhere, so these feelings will fade if I just avoid Yuno for a bit. Sounds easy enough, right?

______________________________________________________________

The mall is always busiest on the weekends, full of families and friends looking for new deals while carrying around soft pretzels or pointing out attractive people who pass by. This mall, however, is a bit different from most, reserving its entire top floor for high-end designer shops. There isn’t any sort of membership or secret password that prohibits people from entering the top floor, but it generally stays barren aside from the few wealthy shoppers who can afford to do more than just window shop, including my family. The blatantly obvious segregation between social classes is disgusting, but I would be lying if I said I don’t like being able to shop without stumbling through the thick crowds on the lower levels.

“What do you think about this one, dear?” My mother pulls a black dress off the hanger, presenting its fine, intricate detailing to me. Shimmering black beads are sewn into the fabric, probably taking countless hours to place by hand.

“It’s very pretty,” I comment plainly. By all means, it’s a beautiful dress, but I much prefer something more comfortable.

“Why don’t you go try it on, dear,” she says, handing me the dress. I glance at the price tag, causing my eyes to go wide in shock at the $120,000 price point.

“$120,000? Isn’t that a bit much for a dress?” I ask, concern painting my face.

“Nonsense, Minji. Don’t you want to look good for the party?”

My brow furrows. “Party? What party?” My mother’s gaze wanders, avoiding me completely.

“Well, there’s no party in particular, but you never know what will come up. Just try on the dress please.” She pushes me into the dressing room before I can ask another question.

Right as I close the door behind me, I feel my phone buzz in my purse. My heart skips a beat from the words on the screen - 1 new message from Yuno.

“AH!” I exclaim, nearly dropping my phone.

“Are you okay in there, ma’am?” A worker asks from the other side of the door. I can feel my cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

“I-it’s nothing! Just a, uh, a spider! But it’s okay! Ehe…” I silently cringe at myself as I hear the worker’s footsteps walking away. I just know Hanni would be laughing her butt off at me getting this excited over a text from Yuno.

With a trembling hand, I open up his text, which simply reads “Good morning.” It’s a short and simple message, yet I bite my lip, actively stifling a delighted squeal. An overwhelming sense of giddiness washes over me from those two words on the screen, my mind racing as I try to think of a response.

Should I ask him how he slept? Maybe that’s a bit too intimate… Oh, what if he had a weird dream? That’s an interesting topic of conversation, right? No, that might be too weird… Maybe I should ask the girls for help. But they might just laugh at me. Oh god, what do I do?

Right as my thumb hovers over the keyboard to type up a response, I freeze. This isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing. Yuno and I are just friends, and that’s all we can ever be. I’m just far too busy for any kind of serious relationship, and my parents clearly don’t approve of him either. Even so, a small voice in the back of my head tells me to go for it, that it’ll work out if I try hard enough. Anything can be achieved through hard work, right? That’s what my parents always told me. A heavy sigh escapes my lips as my heart and mind devolve into war with no clear victor. I don’t even know for sure if he feels the same, yet here I am, getting all excited over his words on a screen.

A knock at the door snaps me out of my rambling thoughts. “Honey, are you okay in there? You’ve been in there a long time, I only gave you one dress to try,” I hear my mom ask.

“S-sorry!” I quickly toss my phone back into my purse and grab the dress off the hanger. Maybe I just need some time to think about it.

______________________________________________________________

“Thank you for shopping with us, Ms. Kim! Have a wonderful day!” The worker exclaims as we leave the store with a plethora of shopping bags and a long receipt to match. My mother takes a single bag, leaving me to carry the rest. My family definitely has the means to live a “comfortable” life, but even exorbitant purchases like these are uncharacteristic of them.

“Why... huff... do I... grunt… need all these clothes?” I ask, struggling to carry everything. “Isn't this... huff… a bit much just to update my closet?"

“Think of it as a gift from your mother, dear,” she replies, not looking in my direction. “I barely get to see you because your father and I are always working. Don’t you want to spend time with your mother?”

“I guess so…” But not like this, I think to myself. As we descend the escalator to the lower levels, the frequency of people increases, making it nearly impossible to take two steps without accidentally hitting someone with the bags. My cheeks burn with embarrassment as I offer an apologetic look to everyone who passes by.

Amidst the chaos, I trip over my foot, inadvertently sending shopping bags and expensive dresses flying everywhere. My mother continues on without even so much as a glance backward, leaving me to pick up the remnants of her wealth as passersby give me weird looks or downright ignore me. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a man snatches my purse off the ground and dashes toward the mall exit.

“H-hey! Give that back!” Of course, my words fall on deaf ears as the thief gets farther and farther. No one moves to stop him, too scared or confused to intervene. My phone, my wallet, the little knick knacks my friends have given me over the years, all of it is gone…

Out of nowhere, a person tackles the thief to the ground, wrestling my purse from his hands. The scuffle ends with the heroic stranger standing over the thief’s now unconscious body, a crowd surrounding and applauding his efforts. An overwhelming sense of gratitude fills me, and without thinking, I run over to my savior and capture him in a big hug,

“Oh my god, thank you so much for getting my purse back, I don’t know how I can-” Panic replaces gratitude as I look up at him for the first time.

“Y-Yuno?!”

______________________________________________________________

Yuno’s POV

I glare at the black screen of my phone, taunting me by reflecting my own ridiculous emotions. My body is restless, itching for any sign of life, a vibration, a notification, just anything to quench my frustrations. And then it happens: the screen lights up with life. Frantic, I grab the phone, bringing it up to my eyes to read the notification.

Yujin: Heeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy guyyyyyysssssss. I made kimbap for my grandma, what do yall think?

A photo of Yujin is attached to the text, depicting a clumsily put-together plate of what I assume to be kimbap. Out of the billion notifications I’ve received in the past hour, all of them have been from Yujin, and zero have been from Minji. My head drops in disappointment. Despite my own warnings, I can’t stop thinking about her. She plagues my mind with her pretty eyes and cute face and gentle voice and-

“You alright, Yuno?” My dad sits across from me at the table, his brow furrowed in concern mid-chew. “You haven’t touched your burger at all.”

I shake my head, gathering my bearings. ’50s rock music blasts from the speakers above, fitting the atmosphere of the 50s-themed diner we are in. With no plan in mind, my dad suggested that we get some lunch first, although his words fell on deaf ears since I was too preoccupied staring at my phone.

“It’s nothing,” I utter, avoiding his eyes. He sighs heavily, his expression darkening.

“Look, I… I understand if you don’t trust me completely, a-and I will work harder to earn your trust, but I don’t want you to suffer in silence,” he explains. “If something is going on, I want you to know that you can come to me for anything, no matter how big or small. I don’t have the answers to everything, but I’m here to listen if you need me.”

My lips part to speak, yet no words come out, hiding away in my throat, too scared to show themselves. I choke them down, guilt arising within me due to my silence. What am I supposed to say? “Hey Dad, you are right, I feel weird seeing you like this after so long and so suddenly, but also my life in general has just become so weird. In less than a week, I slept over at the student council’s president house, got two friends, beat two people in a fight, went to the fair for the first time, and I also really like the student council president. Maybe even love her, I don’t know.” This whole thing is ridiculous. I am ridiculous.

“I’m fine, really,” I assure him, and myself partially.

He looks at me, unconvinced, but doesn’t pry any further. “Alright, just… I want you to know.”

God, this sucks. I can’t even eat a meal with my own dad in peace because of my inability to function like a regular human being. Part of me wishes I could just pretend like everything is alright, but since when have I ever felt alright?

“What about you?” The words eject from my mouth without thought. Call it curiosity or not wanting to eat in awkward silence for the second time today, either way, the question is out there now.

“What about me?” My dad asks, rightfully confused.

“I mean…” Fuck, why is it so hard to talk? “You… You’re up and alive, I guess. What changed?”

He places his burger down and looks up with a thoughtful expression. “I, uh, went out for another drink one night and ran into an old friend from college. We just talked for a while, maybe even all night, just catching up like no time had passed. Y’know, he introduced me and your mom way back when. Seeing him reminded me of my old college days, living like I was on top of the world, and… I just knew something had to change.”

“That’s… great. Really.” And I mean it. A smile grows on his face at my sincerity.

“Yeah, it really is. He basically saved my life. I hope you’re able to find good friends like that, Yuno.”

My phone buzzes with a new message from the group chat.

Winter: that looks really great yujin :D

Yujin: hehe thanks !!!

A small grin grows on my face. Maybe I already have. If only I could get a text from one other friend…

______________________________________________________________

We walk into a clothing store full of people my age dressed much more stylishly than I am. I didn’t particularly need to update my closet, but the potential guilt of declining my dad’s offer to buy me clothes was too overwhelming. Besides, what else are you supposed to do at a mall other than spend exorbitant amounts of money on material things?

“Go look around. Let me buy you something nice for once,” he quips. His mood seems to have significantly brightened after our talk at the diner.

Looking through all the racks made me realize just how out of my element I am. Outside of my school uniform, most of my clothes are just sweats and hoodies - comfortable and don’t draw too much attention. Everything (and practically everyone) in here is basically a giant billboard that says “Hey, look at me!!!”

Then, something catches my eye: a forest green crewneck sweater with a bear wearing overalls screen printed on the front. I try to move on, but the beady lifeless eyes of the bear stare into my soul, demanding that I take it home. It’s ridiculous, It’s childish, it’s…

“I want it,” I blurt out.

“Really? This?” Dad chuckles, examining the sweater. “Didn’t think you would be interested in this kind of thing, but hey, what do I know about fashion?”

I cough awkwardly, my face growing warm. I didn’t know anything about fashion either. Hell, if I didn’t have the reputation I have, I would probably be a prime target for bullies if I wore that around. Out of everything in the store, why did I want that sweater? Who in their right mind would even like this sweater?

Minji. Minji would. Half of her bed is covered in teddy bears. I want that sweater because, for some stupid reason, I think it’ll magically make her like me. Or something. I don’t know. She hasn’t even texted me back yet, what good is a sweater with a bear on it gonna do?

Before I could protest, my dad hands me the sweater in a plastic bag, already paid for. “You wanna stop by a couple more stores?” he asks.

“Sure,” I concede, still feeling embarrassed. A part of me feels oddly glad that I took it, imagining Minji’s reaction to seeing the sweater. “Wow Yuno, your sweater is so cute, we should go out sometime!” Yeah right. Still, I can’t stop the small grin dancing on my lips.

“H-hey! Give that back!”

A familiar voice rings from the center of the mall. I glance upwards to see a man barging through the crowd, clutching onto a purse that definitely isn’t his. Without thinking, I spring into action, dashing towards him as fast as I can.

“Yuno!” My dad calls out from behind me, but his words are left unheard as I continue my pursuit. Right before the man reaches the exit, I jump onto a bench and dive at him, tackling him to the ground.

“What the fuck man, get off of me!” The thief yells. He lands a punch to the side of my head as I try to wrestle the purse from him. While it isn’t the hardest blow I’ve received, it’s enough to piss me off. I grab his throat, digging my fingers into his windpipe, nearly crushing it in my grip. He squirms underneath, the desperation welling in his eyes as he fights for breath. I reel back my fist and let it fly, aiming to crack his skull against the ground.

As my fist gets closer and closer to his head, time crawls to a standstill. Minji’s voice echoes in my head: “You’re a good person, Yuno. I just wish you would stop getting into trouble.” I mean, he deserves it, he’s a thief. He steals some poor girl’s purse, he deserves a good beating. And yet, I pull back at the last moment, knocking him out instead of outright shattering his jaw. While none of his bones are broken, he’ll surely be feeling that once he comes to.

The sound of scattered applause around me pulls me from my adrenaline-fueled haze. It’s only now that I realize people are recording me like a zoo animal, upholding me like I’m some kind of “hero” or something. In reality, I just did what they were too scared to do, but they’re too busy creating their own hyperbolic narratives to see that.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrap around me in a familiar and oddly comforting anaconda grip.

“Oh my god, thank you so much for getting my purse back, I don’t know how I can- Y-Yuno?”

That voice. Is it?

“M-Minji?”

I turn to look at the source of the voice, inadvertently meeting her eyes, mere inches away. Thick-rimmed glasses adorn her face, like the ones stereotypical nerds wear. Technically, she is a nerd, but a really cute one. She still has me in her grip, but if I’m being honest, I never want to leave it. It’s like the warmth of a weighted blanket, but… cuter. God, I think I’m going insane.

Fortunately (or rather unfortunately), Minji lets go, finally giving me room to breathe. This weird, fluttering feeling in my stomach remains (Is this what people mean by butterflies?).

“S-sorry about that, uh… Th-thanks, Yuno…” She mutters, her gaze never leaving the ground.

“Y-yeah, no problem…”

“Yuno!” My dad calls out to me, running in our direction. “Jesus, you're fast… huff… Are you alright?” He glances over at the thief’s unconscious body as two mall cops drag him away. “You certainly did a number on him, huh? Impressive.” He pats my shoulder, giving me a proud smile.

The clop of expensive high heels draws our attention, growing louder and louder with each step.

“Minji! Are you okay, dear?”

Minji’s mom appears, checking her for injuries.

“I-I’m okay, mother. Um, you remember Yuno, right?” She awkwardly gestures towards me, leading her mom’s gaze. With her cold gaze studying my expression, It’s like I have a sniper dot placed firmly onto my forehead, ready to blow my brains out if I so much as cough in her direction.

“Ah yes, I remember. Thank you for getting Minji’s purse back, although I could’ve easily purchased another one for her.” Her lips curl into a smile, but I can clearly see the disdain evident in her eyes. It’s almost like she knows I can see it and is doing it on purpose.

“And you must be his father, I presume.”

“Yup, that’s me, I’m his dad alright,” he says with a friendly chuckle. “Ian Lin, it’s nice to meet you.” My dad extends a hand towards her, which she accepts with clear reluctance in her movements, although he doesn’t notice this.

“Well, I would love to chat, but we must get going. Minji dear, go and pick up the bags, we’re heading to the tailor to get your new dresses fitted,” she says to Minji before waltzing off without another word, leaving her daughter to pick up a mountain of shopping bags. Looking at her, it’s hard to believe that someone as unconditionally kind as Minji was born from that unassuming she-devil. Maybe Minji is adopted or something.

“I-I should get going,” Minji says, panting with exhaustion. “B-bye, Yuno.”

“Wait.” I reach out and grab some of the bags from her. “Let me help you.”

“Oh, you don’t have t-”

“I want to.”

The words come out before I have time to think about them. Minji blushes as she hands a few of the bags over to me. Meanwhile, my dad whips over to the other side of her and offers his assistance.

“May I?” He asks, reaching his arm out towards the rest of the bags. Minji concedes with a sigh, shooting him a grateful smile.

“Thank you, I was, uh, really struggling before,” she admits.

The three of us follow loosely behind Minji’s mother. No wonder she didn’t text me, I don’t think I would have the luxury of breathing when I’m around a terrifying woman like that. Still, it does put me at ease a bit knowing Minji wasn’t exactly ignoring my text. Seeing her in person is way better than a couple of words on a screen.

“Minji, right?” My dad asks her, making small talk. “Are you and Yuno friends?”

“Yes, Mr. Lin, we are friends.”

Friends. The title feels bittersweet at best, but hearing her admit that without any hesitation in her voice makes my lips curl into a smile, which I hide with a fake cough.

“That’s great, I don’t get to meet a lot of Yuno’s friends. By the way, just call me Ian, Mr. Lin makes me feel older than I already am,” he quips, earning a chuckle from Minji. “I have to ask, what’s Yuno like at school?”

“Yuno is…” She turns to look at me, but my gaze is glued to the ground, too nervous to meet her eyes. “...a bit of a troublemaker…” Damn. “...but he’s a good guy.” Hell yeah.

“That’s good to hear. Y’know, he gets his personality from his mother.” His grin fades for a second before going back to normal. “And he gets his good looks from me.”

The two of them laugh while I silently cringe to myself, a dull throbbing hitting my temples. Never in a million years did I imagine the two of them ever meeting, let alone holding a conversation like this. It’s kinda nice in an off-putting way. Better than letting Minji meet him as a grieving alcoholic.

“Hurry up dear,” Minji’s mom calls out to her, walking into the tailor shop.

“Welp, this is my stop. Thank you for the help, but I can take it from here,” Minji says. She takes the bags from us, lightly gracing my hand, sending a jolt of electricity through my body. “Bye Yuno and it was nice meeting you, Mr. Li- er, Ian.”

A disappointed sigh leaves my lips as I watch her disappear into the shop. She was right there, close enough for me to catch a whiff of her lavender-scented perfume. I’ve been waiting all day for a text from her, yet my stupid feelings made me too nervous to speak.

“You like her, don’t you?”

My head snaps towards my dad, a sly smirk dancing on his lips. My eyes grow wide in shock, “W-what, n-no… I-I just, uh… W-whatever…”

“I know that look anywhere, Yuno. It’s the same one I gave your mother before we started going out,” he explains. My face sinks into my hands, the overwhelming urge to disappear consuming me.

______________________________________________________________

Minji’s POV

My family has frequented this specific tailor shop at the mall for numerous occasions over the years, we even went here to get my school uniform properly fitted before the school year started. The shop has one sole worker, a kind yet quiet old man. He’s skilled at his job, but my only issue with him is that he continuously pokes me with sewing pins while taking my measurements.

“Mother, why do I- Ow! Why do I need so many new dresses for my wardrobe- Ow! None of these clothes are things I would wear casually.”

She sighs. “I suppose we’ll have to tell you eventually.”

“Tell me what?” I ask, my brow furrowing.

“We’re doing a business collaboration with the Park family and we thought it would be a good idea to hold a banquet this Tuesday to mark the beginning of our partnership. We haven’t seen them in a while, so we figured it would be a good idea to catch up.”

The Park family? “Okay, but if it’s for the business, then why do I have to go?”

“Their son, Sunghoon, will be in attendance, so we expect you to do the same.”

Sunghoon. Just the name alone sends a shiver down my spine. I thought I finally got rid of him after he moved away in middle school, but no. He’s finally come back to haunt me.

“U-uh, I have school that day a-and I have a test coming up that I need to study for and-”

“Your father and I think that the opportunity to network and make connections with influential people in the industry will be more beneficial to you than a high school test that you can make up anyway. Besides, don’t you want to see your old friend Sunghoon again? I remember how hard you cried after he moved away.”

No, Mother, those were tears of JOY. My parents have been close friends with the Parks since they attended the same college together, so naturally (and incorrectly), they assumed that their kids would be close as well. Sunghoon got along well with my brother, but he was an absolute menace towards me. He would call me names, steal my things, and talk bad about me to his annoying group of friends. No matter how much I cried to my parents about him, they always gave me the outdated, misogynistic line of “boys will be boys.” When his family finally moved away during middle school, I couldn’t have been more thrilled, literally crying tears of joy knowing that I would never have to see him ever again. But of course, fate is a cruel mistress, making everything go right for a couple of years before stabbing me in the back with a Sunghoon-shaped knife.

“But mother, I-”

“We’re just asking you to attend the banquet for a couple of hours and mingle. Why do you have to make things difficult?”

A dejected sigh leaves my lips. There’s no getting through to her at this rate. At least I have a day to mentally prepare myself before the banquet. Right now, I plan to say hi to him to keep up appearances and then avoid him like the plague for the rest of the event. Piece of cake, right?

My gaze falls to my purse, sitting on a bench a few feet away. A thought plants itself into my head like a seedling, growing and growing into a full-blown idea. Maybe there’s a way that I can make this banquet a little more bearable.

______________________________________________________________

The second we make it into the house, I kick my shoes off by the front door and dash upstairs towards my room, ignoring the calls from my mother to put them away properly. By the time we finished up at the tailor, my phone had somehow died in my purse, making me antsy the whole drive home.

I burst through my room, practically leaping towards the charger.

“Come on, hurry up,” I plead, praying that it will somehow make the phone turn on faster. Thankfully, it only takes a few seconds to light up with life. I quickly scroll through my messages, typing up a quick text to the person who will be most vital to plan.

Yuno: Good Morning.

Minji: heyyy! can i call u? i have something important to ask

______________________________________________________________

Yuno’s POV

I stop dead in my tracks, almost dropping the bag of groceries in my hands as I scan my phone screen over and over again. Does she really want to talk… to me?! On the phone? What could she want to ask me? Is she gonna-

“Hello? Earth to Yuno.” My dad waves his hand in front of my face, pulling me from my trance. “I can’t have you stand in the middle of the kitchen while I cook dinner,” he chuckles.

“A-ah, right. Sorry.” I move to put the groceries away, but he stops me.

“I can put the rest of the groceries away. It’s clear you would rather be doing something else right now.” He gives me a knowing smile as I briskly make my way towards the stairs, grabbing the bag with my new sweater in it. Right before I head up, I turn to my dad one last time.

“Um, thanks for taking me to the mall. It was… nice.”

He chuckles to himself before waving me off. I go to my room and shut the door behind me, typing a quick reply to Minji.

Minji: hey! can i call u? i have something important to ask

Yuno: Sure.

An overwhelming wave of suspense hits me, filling my mind with an endless mountain of questions. My phone buzzes to life with Minji’s name and I quickly swipe to answer her call.

“Hello!”

Her voice rings clearly through the speakers like the soothing sound of a gentle breeze. I’m somewhat glad she didn’t ask to talk in person, otherwise, she would see the obvious blush on my face.

“H-hi. Um, what did you want to ask me?”

“Oh right! It’s kinda weird, but… Are you doing anything on Tuesday night?”

My heart thumps loudly in my chest. Is she asking me on a…?

“N-no, why?” I can’t stop my voice from quivering with nervous excitement.

“Well…” She sighs. “It’s a bit of a long story, but basically, my parents are holding a banquet for the family business on Tuesday and if you’re not busy, I was wondering if you wanted to go… with me.”

“A-as your date?” The words come out before I can even think to stop myself from saying them. You fucking idiot, why would you say that!? Minji is gonna think you’re weird now! “S-sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“T-technically speaking, you would be my… date.”

A loooooooooong awkward pause ensues. My heart is beating so loud, I’m worried she’ll be able to hear it through the phone. TV static and white noise run through my mind as I stand in the middle of my room, frozen in disbelief.

“Um, hello? Yuno?”

“Y-yeah, I’m here, s-sorry,” I manage to croak out. “Why do you want me to go? Wouldn’t it be better if you invited your other friends instead?”

“There’s this guy that’s gonna be there and I would really like to avoid him, so I figured I could bring you instead of the girls and maybe he’ll… y’know.”

My heart sinks a little. “You want me to be there to scare him off?”

“...Well, when you say it like that, it sounds mean.” Her tone turns apologetic. “I’m sorry, Yuno, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to-”

“I’ll go.” Maybe I’m just a hopeless love-stricken fool who’s willing to toss away any ounce of self-respect I have left for a girl he likes, but it’s not like I’m doing anything interesting on a Tuesday night anyways. Plus, banquets usually have free food, and if Ms. Kim’s cooking is any sign of things to come, it’ll probably be really good.

“I’m sorry if it seems like I’m using you, I just really need a friend to help get me through the banquet. Y’know, it feels like I have to keep reminding you that we’re friends, Yuno,” she says.

I collapse onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling fan as it spins in place. “Sorry, I’m still getting used to having friends.”

“It’s okay, I’m probably not doing a great job at being a good friend. It feels like you’re always helping me with something and I haven’t paid you back at all.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“First, you saved me from that drunk guy in front of the convenience store, and then the spider in the Ferris wheel, and now today with the purse thief, and now I’m asking you to go to a banquet with me because I don’t want to see some guy. You’re always doing things for me and I haven’t done the same for you.”

“That’s not true,” I refute. “What about the time I walked you home and it started raining, so you let me sleep on your couch so I wouldn’t get sick from the rain?”

“See, I only did that because you offered to walk me home. You’ve done a thousand things for me, and I’ve only done one thing for you. I think I’m a pretty bad friend-”

“That doesn’t make you a bad friend at all!” I yell out without realizing it. Minji goes quiet, the only thing I can hear is my anxious heartbeat and her quiet breathing. “S-sorry, I-I didn’t mean to yell…” Fuck, I made it awkward. “I, uh… You’re not a bad friend, is what I’m trying to say. U-um, you’re very kind and understanding, even to someone like me. I know I don’t have a lot of friends, but I know for sure that you’re a good one. You help me out more than you realize.”

There’s a long pause before Minji speaks again. “...Okay, first of all, I don’t like being yelled at, but I will accept your apology since you had good intentions.” I let out a sigh of relief, but the ache in my chest still lingers. Her tone is much more serious than it was a second ago. “Second of all, what do you mean “people like you?””

“Y’know…” I think carefully before I speak, treading through eggshells while I search for the right words. “You said it yourself when we were at the mall, I’m a troublemaker.”

Minji sighs. “Okay, that’s my bad, but I also said that you’re a good guy. You can convince yourself that you’re a bad person all you want, but that doesn’t mean you deserve to be lonely. I want you to be surrounded by people who love and care about you, Yuno.”

God, she’s so perfect. What did I do in my past life to meet an angel like her? “Th-thanks, Minji.”

“Of course. What are friends for?”

Friends. A word that felt so foreign and unattainable until recently. It still feels weird to digest, but a good kind of weird. The kind of weird that makes me feel excited for what’s to come, even though I have no clue what to expect. It’s like exploring an unexplored part of the world, no map, no research, simply traveling on pure curiosity alone. You might discover something frightening, yet you continue to dig because of the possibility that there’s something beautiful once you get to the other side.

Maybe “friendship” is as far as Minji and I are meant to go. Yet I continue to dig and dig through all these new, exciting, and terrifying experiences, because despite my whole internal monologue this morning about how we’re so different, about how she’s a shooting star and I’m a lowly cockroach, I desperately want to see what happens when I get to the other side. I am irrevocably, completely, and (most importantly) foolishly in love with Minji Kim.

#newjeans #kim minji #newjeans minji #kpop fanfic #kpop gg #minji x male oc #newjeans minji x male oc #minji x male reader #newjeans minji x male reader #fluff #minji fluff #newjeans minji fluff

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itsabouttimex2 · 8 months ago

Note

Could you write something for shadowpeach with yandere wukong? Maybe it takes place right after wukong sees macaque for the first time since he killed him or maybe it takes place during season 4 when wukong gets trapped inside the scroll and sees their relationship before he killed macaque and once he gets out of the scroll he got full on yandere? :3

(Hai, im rlly sorry. i just realized i sent this originally when your inbox was closed. im super sorry😭)

(Hey, no big deal! It’s sweet that you remembered your request!)

Lost and Found

“…you hurt a lot of people,” the Great Sage starts, plucking at the hair around his wrists, “and you don’t even feel bad, huh?”

“I’ve got nothing to feel bad for,” returns his rival, rolling a drupe pit between his palms- a remnant of the peaches that Sun Wukong so adores. “None of this was my fault.”

It’s hard to tell whether or not Macaque is being sincere right now- he’s more guarded now than ever before, even as rays of sunlight spill softly across his pitch-black fur and his stomach fills with sweet fruit.

He’s like shattered obsidian, inky blackness casting rainbows in the glinting light.

“Bud, you made a deal with the literal most powerful demon in the world, and didn’t even try to-

“Keep this up,” cuts in the umbrakinetic, “and I’m gonna leave.”

Wukong springs to his feet suddenly, crushing a few pink-white petals under his reckless soles, squashed into mangled clumps of cellulose under the reckless monkey- then crushes a few dozen more as he charges to Macaque and slings himself over the startled simian.

“No, no, no! Bud, you said we would-“

“Get off me! Dammit, I’m not some kind of toy!”

“No! Lay down and listen to me!”

Macaque struggles under Wukong’s iron grip, his claws digging into golden arms as the tension between them crackles like static. The multi-eared monkey snarls, his claws scraping at Wukong’s clothes and fur, but the Great Sage’s skin is long hardened by fire and trial- it remains unblemished.

“Listen,” Wukong huffs, his voice trembling somewhere between desperation and long-baked sorrow. “You can’t just walk away every time someone calls you out! That’s not how this works, Mac! That’s not how we work!”

Macaque’s pupils narrow to slits, his breath heavy as he glares into Wukong’s golden eyes. The sunlight dances on them, warm and radiant. “You think- you think a little chat will make ‘us’ work? ‘Us’ never worked!”

“It can! We can make this work, if you would just try!”

Macaque stills, his claws frozen mid-scratch against Wukong’s wrist. The afternoon sunlight filters through the cherry blossoms, casting fractured patterns across their fur. For a moment, the only sound is the wind rustling the petals around them.

He gives, eventually. The sable simian huffs and deflates under his old mate’s grip, going slack against the meadow’s grass.

There’s a moment where Macaque leans in, ruffled black fur thrown askew with effort and sweat, still flecked with debris from the Lady Bone Demon’s final push for utter “perfection”.

He’s tired, worn, spent from battle and spent from a lifetime of old regrets circling his heart.

But he’s still Macaque.

“…not in a thousand years, Wukong.”

Even though the rejection is tempered, the king wilts under it, golden fur dimming under the weight of his mate’s refusal.

“Mac... you can’t just-“

“I can. I make my own choices now, Wukong,” the darker monkey snaps, lips pulling back to reveal his sharp canines- a threat, if the matter is pushed.

...but the king just can’t let this go. Not after centuries spent waiting and wanting.

“...there’s no one else who can protect you.”

A harsh snort comes from Macaque’s creased snout, the unpleasant sound smoothing into chuckles.

“From what, O’ Great Sage? What do I need to protected from?”

“The Celestial Realm, bud. You think they haven’t already figured out who you threw your lot in with? That you made a deal with the Lady Bone Demon?”

A pause, sharp and stiff- he’s hit a nerve.

“...they wouldn’t. Not after I helped defeat her. Not after I put my life on the line,” he almost pleads, as though the court could hear his defenses. “They wouldn’t.”

“After what they did to me? You’re not off the menu, bud- you never are. Not after you’ve wronged the Celestial Court.”

There’s a dread rush of panic that starts to race through Macaque’s cold veins, an icy chill radiating slowly through his skin.

“They wouldn’t.”

Right after he says it, Wukong signs and rolls off of Macaque, offering a hand to help him up.

“They never let go, bud. The moment we sieged their home, there was no way they’d ever stop looking for a way to ‘repay’ us.”

His old rival sits up with panic in his shrouded eyes, slapping away Wukong’s hand.

“No,” he snaps, bolting upright under a shower of plink petals. “You’re right. They won’t. Which means I-“

“You’re leaving,” the king sighs. “You’re running away, again. You’re gonna leave me, just like every one always does.”

Macaque pulls his face into a nasty sneer, dark and creased. “You don’t get to try and pull me into some little pity part, Monkey King. Not after you put me in the ground.”

To his surprise, one of Wukong’s golden eyes twitch, lit with a sudden anger.

“You know what? No. No, you aren’t going anywhere,” the monkey snaps, snaring one of Macaque’s wrists in his hand. “Not until you’ve actually started to change. You spent five centuries down in the underworld and don’t even start to think “Hey, maybe there’s a reason I ended up down here?!” Not even for a second, Macaque?!”

The umbrakinetic pulls back a little, eyes wide with surprise at having his usual shit-slinging slung back at him.

“That’s not- shut your damn mouth. I don’t deserve to be yelled at, and-“

“Did I “deserve” to be alone under a mountain for five hundred years after one fight? Did I “deserve” to be abandoned while I was fighting the Jade Emperor? Did I “deserve” to be collared by the Celestial Realm while you got to run around wreaking havoc?”

Things are going wrong, Macaque faintly realizes. He’s not usually the one get reamed out for centuries old mistakes, a dynamic he was quite fond of- Wukong takes all the blame, and he slinks off to hide in the shadows. That’s what he likes.

And he realizes more and more with each passing second that things are going further south- especially when he see the way that Wukong’s hand dips into his pocket.

From it, he procures a gleaming circlet.

No. No. No.

It’s wound with the image of branching vines and flowers, a step up from Wukong’s own in term of design- perhaps someone had grown bored with it

The golden hoop exudes a warm, almost soothing aura- it’d be calming if Macaque didn’t know what it could do.

But he knows almost everything about it. He knows how it works. He knows who made it.

Guanyin.

She had been like a mother to the Monkey King during his short stay in the Celestial Realm, one of the very few gods that he thought of fondly- and one of the even fewer who looked on him fondly in turn.

“My dear Monkey,” she had cooed to the intruding demon, both her warm hands cusping his furry cheeks, “what have you come for today?”

“Guanyin, I… I found my old mate,” he admitted to her, his palms nervously clasping over her own. “And I don’t know what to do. I want him back, but...”

“Oh, my little pilgrim... you wish to reunite with... wasn’t his name Macaque, then? Well, if you do desire this... shadowy little imp... I will lend you my aid.”

Her head had dipped forehead, lips gentle on his forehead, a blessing born of warmth and love- a blue sigil etches across the skin-warmed spot, riding the king good luck and protection. “Anything for you, my dear Monkey. Take my blessings, and take this... this circlet. I trust that you will do good with them.

But Macaque hadn’t know that.

That Wukong had a plan all along, that it was backed up by an adoring goddess of mercy, that he had a damned tightening fillet from the start and was never above using it-

All he knows at this moment, frozen in place form shock- is the tightness around his forehead as Wukong snaps the hoop into place.

“We can still fix this, Moonbeam. I’m not losing you again.”

#Romantic Yandere #Yandere Lego Monkie Kid #Yandere LMK #Yandere Sun Wukong #Macaque #Guanyin #Shadowpeach #The thought of Guanyin as a platonic enabler for her dear Wukong hits hard NGL #Or maybe even being a yandere herself who just wants all her ‘dear children’ to be happy

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