#stuff but i want her to be a part of a big event her powers could change so much

[buckets-and-trees]

Huffily Ever After: A CindereLloyd Story [3/?]

Chapter Three - The Panel Characters/Pairings: Lloyd Hansen x curvy Millennial Female!Reader Word Count: 4k Summary: It's the morning of the panel you've been invited to be part of and there are both friendly and unfriendly faces in the crowd.

Content/Warnings: modern Cinderella adaptation, unknown identities, enemies to lovers, toxic coworkers, eventual smut

Notes: Same as last chapter, I'm no PR or Marketing expert! I have some functional knowledge due to some aspects of my own work and I know how to Google articles, videos, and research up some stuff because I want reader's industry knowledge and experience at the conference to feel plausible and not just be completely glossed over. If you actually do anything with PR or Marketing, please just be gentle!

Additional Note: Please do imagine/channel Angelica Huston as Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent in Ever After as your toxic boss Amilla Tremaine. I fully did. Wicked step-work-mother-boss.

Previous Chapter | Series

↠ Main Masterlist | Aspen's Ask Box | Field Guide to the Forest

On the second day of the conference, you woke early, a mix of excitement and nerves fluttering in your stomach. You spent extra time getting ready, wanting to look polished and professional for the panel. After a quick breakfast and the pre-panel meeting with Claude and the other speakers, you found yourself with a few minutes to spare before the big event.

You slipped into the women's restroom near the conference hall, wanting one last chance to check your appearance. The restroom was a luxurious affair, all gleaming marble and soft lighting. You approached one of the ornate mirrors, taking in your reflection. Your hair was neatly styled, your makeup subtle but flattering. You had gone with your navy blue blazer again, but it was the most professional piece you’d brought with you and it looked crisp and paired perfectly over your cream silk blouse.

As you did whenever you needed a little steadying, you touched a finger to your mother’s necklace for good luck. The pendant briefly caught the light - it was only sometimes visible with the length of the chain and where your blouse buttoned up to today. Now seeing it also reminded you of your mystery man from the masquerade. But you pushed the thought aside, focusing on the task at hand.

The sound of a stall door opening and the click of heels behind you drew your attention. You looked up in the mirror and your heart sank as you recognized the familiar figure of Amilla Tremaine emerging behind you. Your boss looked immaculate as always, her sleek black hair pulled into a tight chignon, her crisp white blouse and tailored charcoal suit speaking of effortless power. Her blood-red stilettos clicked against the marble floor as she approached the sinks.

"Well, well," Amilla drawled, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "If it isn't our little rising star."

You forced a polite smile. "Good morning, Amilla. How was your flight from Shanghai?"

Amilla waved a perfectly manicured hand dismissively. "Oh, you know how it is. First class makes everything tolerable." She turned to the mirror, touching up her already flawless lipstick. "I hear you’ve been incredibly busy, and of course there’s your very important panel coming up.”

You felt a chill run down your spine at Amilla's words. Her tone was casual, but you could sense the underlying tension. "Yes," you replied carefully. "It was an unexpected opportunity. I hope my email explained the situation adequately."

Amilla's eyes met yours in the mirror, her gaze sharp and calculating. "Oh, it explained plenty. Though I must say, I'm surprised you didn't consult me before accepting such a high-profile engagement."

You bristled slightly at her implication. "I apologize if I overstepped. I assure you, I didn't seek this out. Claude Dumont and Professor Mortimer offered it to me-"

"Of course they did," Amilla cut in smoothly. "And I'm sure you were just thrilled to accept, weren't you? Never mind that you're representing our firm without any proper vetting or preparation."

You took a deep breath, trying to keep your composure. "I understand your concern, Amilla. I assure you I've been preparing diligently and will represent Nexus to the best of my abilities. This is an incredible opportunity not just for me, but for our team and the firm as a whole."

Amilla's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that so? And I suppose you think this little panel appearance makes you qualified to speak on behalf of our entire organization?"

You felt a flicker of hurt at her dismissive tone. "That's not what I meant at all. I'm honored to have been asked and I plan to share insights from our work, not speak for the whole firm."

"Hmm," Amilla hummed, her tone dripping with skepticism. "Well, I certainly hope you don't embarrass us up there. Remember, you're still quite junior. Perhaps it would serve you well for me to clarify the reality of the situation. You work for me, and by extension, for Nexus. Your little moment in the spotlight is all well and good, but don't forget where you’ll be this time next week."

You felt a surge of anger at her words, but before you could respond, the restroom door swung open. Maggie Mortimer bustled in, her face lighting up when she saw you.

"There you are!" she exclaimed. "I was just looking for you. They’re wanting to get us mic’d up and do a quick sound check.”

You felt a wave of relief at Maggie's interruption. "Of course, I'll be right there," you replied, grateful for the excuse to exit this tense encounter with Amilla.

Maggie's eyes flicked between you and Amilla, clearly sensing the tension. "I don't believe we've met," she said, extending a hand to Amilla. "I'm Maggie Mortimer."

Amilla's smile didn't quite reach her eyes as she shook Maggie's hand. "Amilla Tremaine, Nexus PR. I'm her director and supervisor," she said, nodding towards you.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Maggie said, her tone warm but her eyes sharp. "You must be so proud of her getting to participate on this panel. She was one of my star students, you know. Her insights are always so fresh and innovative."

You felt a rush of gratitude towards Maggie for her words of support. Amilla's smile tightened almost imperceptibly.

"Yes, well," Amilla said, her tone clipped, "we certainly encourage our team members to... stretch themselves."

"How lovely," Maggie replied, her voice sweet but with a hint of steel beneath. "Well, we really must be going. Can't keep everyone waiting." She linked her arm through yours, gently but firmly steering you towards the door.

Amilla waved a hand dismissively. "By all means. Break a leg, darling. And do remember what we discussed.”

As you left the restroom, you caught a glimpse of Amilla's reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips pressed into a thin line. You suppressed a shudder, realizing this encounter was far from over.

"Thank you," you murmured to Maggie as she led you away from the restroom. "I really appreciate your timing back there."

Maggie patted your arm reassuringly. "Of course, dear. I could sense the tension from a mile away. That woman seems... challenging to work with."

You let out a soft, humorless laugh. "That's one way to put it. She wasn't exactly thrilled about me being on this panel."

Maggie's eyes narrowed slightly. "Hmm. Well, don't let her get in your head. A large part of this field is navigating the difficult personalities that it’s teeming with. You're here because you deserve to be, and you're going to do brilliantly."

As you approached the conference room where the panel would take place, you took a deep breath, trying to push thoughts of Amilla from your mind. The encounter in the bathroom had rattled you, but you were determined not to let it affect your performance.

The room was already buzzing with activity when you entered. Technicians were bustling about, adjusting lighting and checking microphones. Claude spotted you and waved you over to where the other panelists were gathered.

"There you are!" he said warmly. "We were just about to start the sound check. Are you ready?"

You nodded, mustering a confident smile. "As ready as I can be."

Stepping onto the stage, you felt a mix of nervous energy and excitement coursing through your veins. The spotlights above cast a warm glow over the panel setup, illuminating the sleek black chairs arranged in a gentle curve. The audience area before you was still mostly empty, but you could hear the growing murmur of attendees filing into the room.

Victor Chen took the seat to your left, flashing you a reassuring smile as he settled in. "Nervous?" he asked in a low voice, leaning in slightly.

You gave a small nod, appreciating his perceptiveness. "A little," you admitted.

"Don't be," Victor said, his eyes twinkling. "You're going to knock their socks off. Just pretend we're back at dinner, having another riveting discussion."

His words, coupled with the warmth in his expression, helped ease some of the tension in your shoulders. You took a deep breath, settling into your chair as the technicians approached to clip on your microphone.

As the final preparations were made, you scanned the rapidly filling audience. Your heart skipped a beat as you spotted Amilla taking a seat near the back, her posture rigid and her gaze fixed on you. You quickly averted your eyes, not wanting to dwell on her presence.

Your eyes widened as you spotted Gus near the front, giving you an enthusiastic thumbs up. Next to him sat Anya and Holly, their expressions a mix of curiosity and barely concealed disdain, but you could handle them.

Just then, a flash of movement near the side entrance caught your attention. Lloyd Hansen slipped into the room, his tall frame unmistakable even from a distance. He leaned against the wall at the back, arms crossed, his piercing blue eyes scanning the stage. When his gaze met yours, you felt an unexpected jolt of electricity.

You quickly looked away, focusing on Claude as he stepped up to the podium, his presence immediately commanding attention. "Good afternoon, everyone," he began, his voice carrying easily through the room. "Welcome to our panel discussion on 'Blending Audience Insights and Brand Expertise to Build Trust and Social Relevance.' We have an exceptional group of experts with us today, each bringing a unique perspective to our discussion on building trust and social relevance in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape."

He gestured to his left. "First, we have Victor Chen, renowned crisis management specialist and author of 'Navigating the Storm: Crisis Communication in the Digital Age.' Victor's innovative strategies have helped countless organizations weather public relations challenges and emerge stronger than ever."

Victor gave a modest nod, his salt-and-pepper hair catching the stage lights as he smiled at the audience.

"Next, we have an emerging star in our field," Claude continued, gesturing towards you, and you fought the urge to squirm and sat up a little straighter as he announced your name despite the butterflies raging in your stomach. "She brings fresh insights and innovative approaches to audience engagement and brand authenticity from the work she’s done at Nexus PR.

"Dr. Seth Rossi joins us from the London School of Economics, where he leads groundbreaking research on consumer psychology and brand perception.”

Claude then gestured to the man seated next to Dr. Rossi. "To his right, we have Aaron Lang, Chief Marketing Officer of Tidewater Industries. Aaron has spearheaded some of the most successful rebranding campaigns of the past decade, transforming staid corporate images into vibrant, socially conscious brands that resonate with modern consumers."

Aaron Lang, a man in his late forties with a neatly trimmed ginger beard and wire-rimmed glasses, gave a friendly wave to the audience. His casual demeanor belied the sharp intelligence in his eyes as he scanned the crowd.

"And last but certainly not least," Claude continued, his voice warm with affection, "we have Professor Maggie Mortimer who now lectures at Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Columbia University's School of Journalism. Maggie's groundbreaking research on the intersection of social media, journalism, and public opinion led her to quite literally wrote the book on social media's impact on brand perception with her bestseller 'The Digital Mirror.’”

Claude paused, letting his introduction sink in before continuing. "Now, let's dive into our first question. In today's hyper-connected world, brands are under constant scrutiny. How can companies effectively build and maintain trust with their audiences while staying true to their core values?"

Dr. Rossi led out on the first question. As the professor began to speak about the psychological foundations of trust in brand relationships, you felt yourself relaxing slightly, absorbing the insights and mentally preparing your own thoughts.

When it was your turn to speak, you leaned forward slightly, your voice clear and steady as you addressed the audience. "Building on what Dr. Rossi said about psychological trust, I think it's crucial for brands to understand that trust is not just about what they say, but what they do. In my work with smaller, emerging brands, we've found that consistency and transparency are key. This means not just being open about successes, but also owning up to mistakes and showing how you're working to rectify them."

You paused, gathering your thoughts before continuing. "For example, we worked with a sustainable fashion startup that faced criticism over some of their manufacturing processes. Instead of getting defensive or trying to sweep it under the rug, we advised them to acknowledge the issue publicly, explain the steps they were taking to improve, and invite their audience to be part of the solution. This approach not only mitigated the potential damage but actually strengthened their relationship with their customer base."

As you spoke, you noticed heads nodding in the audience. Even Amilla, despite her earlier hostility, seemed to be listening intently. You felt a surge of confidence and continued.

"In today's world, consumers are savvy. They can spot insincerity a mile away. So authenticity isn't just a buzzword - it’s the lifeblood of a brand.”

Victor Chen jumped in, building on your point. "Absolutely. And in today's social media landscape, that kind of authentic engagement can spread like wildfire. We've seen countless examples of brands turning potential PR nightmares into opportunities for growth and connection with their audience."

The discussion flowed smoothly from there, with each panelist building on the others' points and offering unique insights. You found yourself relaxing into the conversation, your initial nerves giving way to genuine enthusiasm for the topic.

As the panel progressed, you couldn't help but notice Lloyd Hansen still leaning against the wall at the back of the room. His piercing blue eyes seemed to follow the discussion intently, his expression unreadable. You tried not to let his presence distract you, focusing instead on the engaging dialogue unfolding on stage.

About halfway through, Claude posed a question that made your heart race: "In an era where cancel culture can make or break a brand overnight, how can companies navigate controversial issues while maintaining their integrity and audience trust?"

Aaron Lang started to answer, discussing the importance of having a clear set of values and sticking to them.

Once he finished his thoughts, you jumped in, eager to contribute on this topic. "If I may add to that," you began, "I think it's crucial for brands to recognize that staying silent on important issues is no longer an option. Consumers, especially younger generations, expect the brands they support to take a stand on social and environmental issues."

“Can you expand on that for us?” Claude asked.

You nodded. "Authenticity is key. It doesn't mean jumping on every trending hashtag or making empty statements. Brands need to carefully consider which issues align with their core values and where they can make a genuine impact. Then, they need to back up their words with concrete actions."

You noticed several heads nodding in the audience, encouraging you to elaborate, and you went on to describe what a tech company had done to address the gender gap in STEM fields by launching a comprehensive summer bridge program for female high school students in the city of their headquarters and how they were planning to expand to the other two cities where they had offices.

When you finished your example, you noticed another ripple of approval through the audience. Victor Chen leaned in, nodding enthusiastically.

"That's an excellent point," he said. "It's not just about making statements, but about taking tangible actions that align with your brand values. I've seen companies falter when they try to jump on every trending issue without a clear strategy or genuine commitment."

The discussion continued to flow, with each panelist building on the others' insights, and with fifteen minutes left , Claude opened the floor for questions from the audience. You were pleasantly surprised when several hands shot up, and even more so when some of the questions were directed at you.

One attendee, a young woman with vibrant blue hair, asked about strategies for smaller brands to compete with larger corporations in terms of social responsibility initiatives. You felt a surge of confidence as you answered, drawing on your experiences with Nexus's smaller clients.

As the panel drew to a close, you felt a mix of relief and exhilaration. The discussion had been lively and engaging, with each panelist bringing unique insights to the table. Claude expertly guided the conversation, ensuring that everyone had a chance to shine.

"And with that, we'll conclude our panel," Claude announced. "I want to thank our exceptional panelists for their invaluable insights. Let's give them a round of applause."

The panel had gone better than you could have hoped, and the positive energy in the room was palpable. As you gathered your notes, Victor Chen leaned over, a warm smile on his face.

"You were absolutely brilliant," he said, his eyes twinkling with admiration. "Your insights on brand authenticity and social responsibility were spot-on. I particularly loved your example of the tech company's STEM initiative - it perfectly illustrated the importance of backing words with actions."

You felt a flush of pride at his words. "Thank you so much," you replied, your voice filled with genuine gratitude. "It means a lot coming from you. I've admired your work for years."

Victor's smile widened, and he leaned in a bit closer. "Well, the admiration is mutual now. You know, I've been in this industry for over two decades , and it's not often I come across someone with such a fresh perspective. The way you blend theoretical knowledge with practical application is truly impressive."

His eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as he continued, "I particularly enjoyed your take on the importance of transparency in crisis management. It's a delicate balance, but you seem to have a natural intuition for it."

You felt a warmth spreading through your chest at his words, a mix of pride and something else you couldn't quite place. Victor's gaze was intense, his body angled towards you as if you were the only person in the room.

Victor was undeniably charming, with his salt-and-pepper hair and warm brown eyes that seemed to sparkle when he spoke passionately about PR strategies. But he had to be at least fifteen, maybe even twenty years your senior.

But then the moment passed, and he casually said, “We should connect again before the conference is over.”

"That would be great," you replied, keeping your tone professional.

“I’ll let you address your new adoring fans now,” he smiled and nodded off to the side of the stage where a small knot of people were waiting and looking directly at you.

And as you approached that knot, you spotted Gus pushing his way to the front, a huge grin on his face. He pulled you into a big hug.

"That was amazing!" he exclaimed, his eyes shining with pride. "You absolutely killed it up there. I knew you would, but wow!"

You laughed, feeling a mixture of relief and elation. "Thanks, Gus. I can't believe it's over already. It felt like it flew by."

As you chatted with Gus and a few other attendees who had approached to ask follow-up questions, you noticed Anya and Holly hovering nearby, their expressions a mix of surprise and something that looked almost like grudging respect. You caught Anya's eye and gave her a small, professional nod, which she returned after a moment's hesitation. Holly looked away entirely.

Gus left with your coworkers, and just as you were wrapping up a conversation with an enthusiastic marketing student, you felt a presence behind you. Turning, you found yourself face to face with Lloyd Hansen. His piercing blue eyes met yours, his expression unreadable.

"Not bad," he said, his voice low and smooth. "Your point about authenticity in crisis management was... insightful."

Coming from Lloyd Hansen, this was high praise indeed. You felt a flutter in your stomach, but kept your composure. "Thanks. I'm glad you found it valuable."

He nodded, then bent his head closer so only you would hear. “Just enjoy your flash in the pan conference fame, pumpkin, because it takes more than a couple of clever questions and answers to make it longterm in this business.”

Your jaw dropped slightly, anger flaring inside of you, but you pulled it together and responded with, “Well, not all of us have nepotism to work with.”

Lloyd's eyes flashed dangerously at your retort, a muscle in his jaw tightening. For a moment, you thought you might have pushed too far. But then, to your surprise, the corner of his mouth twitched upward, giving something not quite a sneer but certainly not a smile.

"Touché," he said, his voice low and smooth. "Maybe you've got more fire than I gave you credit for."

You held his gaze, refusing to be intimidated now. "You really don’t know me at all, Mr. Hansen."

He studied you for a moment longer, his piercing blue eyes seeming to look right through you. "So it seems," he murmured, almost to himself. Then, abruptly, he straightened up. "Enjoy your moment in the spotlight. We'll see if you can sustain it."

Before you could respond, Lloyd's attention was drawn away by someone calling his name.

To say you were put out by him was an understatement, but you didn’t linger over it as a moment later Maggie appeared at your side, beaming with pride.

"You were absolutely brilliant up there," she remarked.

"Thank you, Maggie," you replied, feeling a rush of warmth at her praise. "I was so nervous, but once we got going, it was exhilarating."

Maggie's eyes twinkled. "That's the sign of a natural, my dear. You have a real talent for this. I’m so glad we reconnected here." She glanced over your shoulder, her expression shifting slightly. "And between you and me, I think you outshone some of our more... seasoned panelists."

You felt your neck flush, loving her confirmation you’d done well, but still finding it hard to accept the compliment. "I'm just glad I didn't embarrass myself up there."

"Embarrass yourself?" Maggie chuckled. "Far from it. Now you must agree to be my plus one tonight at the awards gala!”

Your heart skipped a beat at Maggie's invitation. The awards gala was one of the most prestigious events of the conference, typically reserved for industry veterans and VIPs.

"Are you sure?" you asked, trying to contain your enthusiasm. "I wouldn't want to impose."

Maggie waved her hand dismissively. "Nonsense! After that performance, you've more than earned your place there. Besides," she added with a mischievous glint in her eye, "I could use some youthful energy to keep me entertained during the stuffy speeches."

You laughed, feeling a surge of affection for your former professor. "Well, when you put it that way, how can I refuse?"

"Excellent!" Maggie clapped her hands together. "Meet me in the lobby at 6:15. Wear something fabulous, it's time to - oh,” she paused when the look on your face changed, “what’s that thought that just crossed your mind?”

"I... I don't know if I have anything suitable to wear," you admitted, thinking of the limited wardrobe you'd packed for the conference.

Maggie waved her hand dismissively. "Nonsense. We'll find you something fabulous over the lunch break then. We’re in Paris! It won’t be hard. And before you say another word, it’s my treat!”

“Maggie, I couldn’t!”

“No, I really do insist. I had ulterior motives in getting you on the panel today so I wouldn’t be surrounded only by men, and I’m selfishly coercing you to play that part again tonight."

“But-”

“I have no children and my husband left me with far too much money when he passed away two years ago, so we are going to a fancy shop and getting you a gorgeous dress, and I may get another one for myself if the mood strikes me while we’re there, and I’m almost one hundred percent certain it will, so don’t spoil my fun, dear!”

Before you could protest, Maggie had linked her arm through yours and was steering you towards the exit. "Come on, we only have so two hours to get there and back before the afternoon keynote.”

next chapter: coming January 6

Well, lovelies, you did a good job participating in that panel! I'm as proud of you as Maggie and Gus!

↠ Main Masterlist | Aspen's Ask Box | Field Guide to the Forest

I do not do tag lists, but FOLLOW @buckets-and-stories and TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS to be updated any time I publish a new work!

[avengerphobic]

what do you think is going on with jacks during the fall of x?

[anthurak]

You know that "Mundane super power" aspect you mentioned?

Another thing I like about crossing over RWBY characters with other settings is how easily their nature as basically coming from an apocalyptic hell-world can bleed through.

This is hard to articulate, but like.

The casual way in which towns disappear, that ruins dot the landscape, that people like Ruby & Yang grew up immersed in a culture that trended towards violence and early graves.

There's a nifty Naruto/Stargate crossover, (Its complicated) where Himawari kind of subtly disturbs the Stargate crew cos she knows exactly how best to behave in a dangerous situation, doesn't really seem bothered when enemies die and has been taught stuff like "Reading the battlefield."

I think RWBY characters would be similarly off-putting in their own way unless they were incredibly sheltered like Jaune or rich enough to have not ever encountered a Grimm until the the Beacon Test like Weiss. & even then, the lived experience, training and cultural awareness means they'd likely still come off as a little off-putting.

This also plays into how Ruby and Yang are seemingly quite... Not comfortable, but functional about the prospect of causing death or grievous bodily harm in a way most Shounen/action protags aren't.

Ruby, as far as she knew, sent Neo hurtling to her death in V3 and was at most momentarily shocked when Roman died & forgot all about it. Yang processed killing Adam in a very straightforward manner, she's not cavalier about it, but she'd made peace with it being a them or us situation right quick.

There's plenty of other examples but I think we've discussed it before.

But yeah, I just think its fun, even in series that can have similar degrees of destruction or death, their relative youth and manner with it would likely still make many locals be like (oO) & I think that's fun.

Oh yeah, this has always been a great idea for RWBY crossovers.

And one of my favorite/most interesting parts about is, as you touched on, how subtle Team RWBY’s whole vibe is and how it can potentially sneak up on others.

Like Team RWBY and really most of the show’s characters generally DON’T give off any real obvious ‘I come from a fucked-up deathworld’ vibes like being real dark, broody or even just looking anything the part. For anyone from a much more mundane setting/background, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang generally come off as a friendly, likeable, good natured bunch without really anything all that offputting.

For about… eighty to ninety percent of the time.

But then you’ve got those 10-20% moments where the dark, serious ‘fantasy war-veteran’ sides of Team RWBY slip out. Like they might not even have been trying to hide it, it just comes out when things get serious.

Like maybe there is some big disaster or some other terrible event perhaps caused by the villains that leaves the more ‘normal’ characters/heroes frozen in shock and horror, meanwhile RWBY are just immediately jumping into the fray to fight or help however they can. With perhaps one or more doing the whole ‘slap the shock’ out of the other characters with a ‘We got work to do!’. And it’s just kind of… unsettling how Team RWBY takes these events in stride.

Or to build off your point on Ruby and Yang, as well as Blake and Weiss, being ‘functionally alright’ with hurting/killing people*, there’s a LOT of juicy potential there for when Team RWBY goes up against more mundane villains.

Like just picture a situation where a villain is threatening innocents in a classic ‘you’ll have to KILL ME to stop me!’ standoff that has the heroes freezing up… only for Ruby to almost immediately just shoot said villain.

She certainly looks like she didn’t enjoy or even want to do it, but both how quickly she did it and how easily she seems to role with it afterwards are just REALLY unsettling.

And then there’s what I’d call the FLIPSIDE to all this in how Team RWBY deals with being in a world that might NOT actually be filled with monsters who are an ever-present existential threat to humanity.

Like even for someone who grew up more sheltered like Weiss that is almost certainly going to be a MASSIVE culture-shock. Not to mention that the only people with a frame of reference that Team RWBY would be able to talk to about this would likely be each other.

Even in settings that might have some kind of monsters threatening humanity such as most magical girl shows, the appearance and threat that these monsters pose are almost always a very RECENT occurrence that most people might not even know about. Generally in these settings, the ‘normal, mundane world’ IS the norm, with the dangerous and supernatural merely popping up on and off in isolated places.

It could really create this interesting contrast where Team RWBY finds the mundane world that their new friends consider ‘normal’ to be just a bit uncanny and unsettling. And even finding it a bit comforting when monsters or some other supernatural threat to fight shows up because that feels more NORMAL to them.

This is actually something I tried/am still trying to explore in my Kingdom Hearts crossover fic. Like Ruby musing on how to explain her whole huntress background to Sora, Kairi and Riku when to them, monsters are things that have existed in storybooks, while for Ruby monsters have always been REAL. Or Ruby even noting a comforting ‘return to normal’ when she starts fighting the Heartless.

I’ve even got ideas for Ruby, as well as Weiss, Blake and Yang further on, idly musing on whether the Grimm or Heartless are the worse to fight, with some of their new friends being just a BIT weirded out.

And that’s not even getting into the potential of Team RWBY interacting with various Disney movie settings. Like I’ll admit that I kinda REALLY want to have Ruby boom-headshot at least one Disney villain XD

*I will say, I’ve had a theory for a while that Ruby, even more so than her teammates, has particular ideological reasons to generally avoid killing people, specifically when we consider how Ruby specifically DOESN’T use her ‘walking grimm-blender’ style of fighting against human opponents. Personally I imagine Ruby seeing it as ‘I hunt MONSTERS, not people.’ That being said, I don’t see Ruby as having some strict ‘no-killing’ ‘one rule’, but rather that she views taking a life as a last resort.

[devondespresso]

FINALLY

after NINE. HOURS. (NOT including meals and sleep) ITS FUCKING DONE.

A complete floorplan of the entire Harrington house. Including too much thought about random, throw-away lines from characters and squint-to-see-it background glimpses inside.

plently of stuff in the actual house is altered or straight up ignored in favor of following the fiction logic and because I Wanted To. A lot of this is motivated by my headcanons for the Harringtons and how I'm writing them in my fic, but I'm also certainly not an architect so it's by no means perfect. It is, however, unreasonably canon compliant in the few bits we do see.

Thought Process (for context):

the darker shaded floor areas are lower than the rest, some bits like the garages having stairs and some areas like the sun and dining rooms list being like a step lower. Windows are marked with dashes along the outside, sliding doors are two thin lines slightly overlapping, stairs change color as they diverge from the level we're looking at, and furniture is eyeballed so don't look to closely a the scale.

not all closets are labeled, just the ones i figured could be confusing. Steve and the guest rooms have closets i promise.

the laundry room and pantry are not the same size but by the time i noticed i was exhausted. so pretend they're both more reasonably sized.

i don't know what the floorplan symbol for garage door is and then i forgot to look so the headlights point to where the doors are and you can see them clearly in photos so yeah.

The general layout is based on the idea that the Harringtons are or were into hosting dinner parties and business meetings in their home, especially as a young rich couple looking for respect in their circles (Mr. Harrington taking on his father's business and reinforcing that power, Mrs. Harrington climbing her own social ladder and building an image).

So the house is laid out with hosting areas towards the right with the office big and near the dining room because it's more than just a workplace, it represents him as a businessman. In canon the entryway and living room both have very high ceilings and no second-floor above them, so I'd imagine they're also aware of how the top floor looks from below, hence the fancy double/french doors to the master bedroom which is in plain view from below. Steve's room and the guest room are's nearly as visible.

As for the kitchen and sun/pool rooms, I see them more as secondary hosting areas that aren't used as the main location most of the time and are more this background setting to these events that still feel rich. The kitchen is massive and mostly for dinner-parties and Mrs. Harrington's social events.

The kitchen and main bathroom's placement is based on a line Steve said to Barb giving her directions to the bathroom: "down past the kitchen, to the left". With the massive living room on the left and wanting to keep the dining and office close by, i interpreted the "to the left" part being like "find the kitchen, then turn left". And with the rest of the area being open-concept, the bathroom would be the only normal door over there and easy to find. it's a bit of a stretch with just that line, but it makes sense to me with the rest of the context for the layout.

the basement is similar to this, though not as openly displayed so I imagine its for slightly closer friends. Theres a garage door down there so I figured Mr. Harrington might have a cool car he shows off, like he's letting people in on a personal detail about himself. There's also a guest room down there (the only one still considered 100% for guests, more on that later) for those people.

beside the basement garage, there was originally one main garage that holds two cars, obvious Mr. and Mrs. Harrington's cars. I imagine they bought the house before having kids, so a third one wasn't on the mind but after having Steve they added the front one (either turning the carport into a closed garage or they never had a carport and added a whole new addition, up to you)

Both garages lead to the same part of the house, and that area is the only one besides the water heater room that is purely function over effect. It still looks good like the rest of the house but it's not made to be fancy because guests would rarely need to be over there if at all and it's not noteworthy from other parts of the house.

In my headcanon, Steve's room used to be a guest room, staying his room from nursery to present with Mrs. Harrington renovating every now and then. Its one of those places in the house that doesn't have to look perfect for all to see, so she gets creative and has fun with it.

The upstairs guest room is also unofficially Mrs. Harrington's room, based on a line where Tommy mentions a fireplace in "his mom's room" instead of "guest room" or "parent's room" or "master bedroom". I belatedly realized this could be a solidarity thing with Steve hating his dad and calling the master bedroom his mom's room, but that was after 9 hours of this and im not changing it but there you go. In this version, I imagine she leaves the master some nights because her marriage with Mr. Harrington is failing (cheating and all, I wouldn't want to be in the same bed with someone who cheated either)

the master bathroom was an executive decision, just looking at the house in canon and not having enough space in my first attempts, i decided the triangle roof part above the dining and office could fit a master bathroom.

Feel free to use or reference this in your own fics! Feel free to block out my furniture or walls and make your own version. If you share my image please credit with an @ mention!! (again, 9 hours) (thank you fhalsfhd)

[dark-dragon-8]

I want to write a supernatural fic where Sam still hunts while in college.

Like, hunting has always been such a big part of his life that he just can't live without it, especially when he knows other people are going to die and/or suffer if he doesn't help them.

I want Sam to be one of those students that you know never goes to any of the classes but almost always gets an A (or at the very least a passing grade) on all the exams/assignments (he both knows from experience and studies in his free time while on the road).

I want Sam to be the weird/cool guy at school that everyone theorizes about ["Do you think he has a girlfriend?" "He must be rich or something, how else can he afford to travel so much while still attending school" (he's not BTW) "I wonder who that guy that always drives him to and from classes/exams is" (that's Dean) "So he's a passenger princess" (they've never seen him drive), etc].

Everything about the show is the same (I might keep Jess alive though, IDK, like that girl who ends up having a crush on him so she's looking into him and finds out some stuff) except he's still in school and he & Dean always cover their faces/only Dean impersonates people (that work with the state/law & stuff) so that the authorities won't be able to connect things too quickly and ambush them while there's a test or something.

Sam is literally the cryptid of the school after getting his powers, like people literally see him get visions/mumble about future events in the middle of those rare lessons he comes to/exams/assignments.

After Dean becomes a demon, people start thinking he's his drug dealer and that they're a part of some Mafia group that needs a new lawyer/future new lawyer (hence why Sam is learning law) after they keep hearing hushed conversations where Sam practically begs this Dean guy to "Just please give it to me, please Dean I don't think I can take it much longer" (assuming "it" probably means like heroin or some other type of drug. Also how they finally found out Dean's name) and Dean begrudgingly handing him a small red vial and telling him he'll give him more, sometimes directly from the source (his wrist), later. Sam also starts bringing a second, smaller, steel water bottle to school after those interactions start but almost nobody notices (or they do and there are a thousand and one new conspiracies about it and what it means, after all, it could just be coffee for all they know, they can't be sure though, and they're too scared to ask whenever they do see him and he actually stays in school for a little longer instead of instantly leaving to go somewhere. So they don't really get the chance to ask him even if they want to).

They see him "give a random girl hickeys" in the alley right beside the school (he's actually drinking Ruby's blood after she got her throat slashed/slashed her own throat just a little bit so that they won't look too suspicious) and they think that's his GF. And then some other students see him doing the same to his drug dealer's (Dean's) wrist a few days later and they don't know what to think anymore [he was desperate (read; needed a boost before a stressful exam/lesson/finals week), okay? He wasn't thinking straight and all three thought it was at least somewhat okay as long as they were being careful].

One day, during a lesson because the others know he won't answer during an exam, Bobby (because he still isn't talking to John, fuck you John) is calling him, saying it's an emergency and that they need him there ASAP. He doesn't remember to control his reaction in front of the class and now everyone further believes that he's in the Mafia and that was his boss talking to him [they vaguely remember hearing him, quietly whisper, if they need him to bring his extra guns at the start of the conversation/if he needs to kill someone/if anybody died towards the end of it (all said somewhat casually, considering the situation, mind you)].

I imagine Gabriel coming over to fuck with him one day at the school and people thinking he's part of a rival group/family (that may or may not have joined Sam's own after betraying said family, depending on the timeline) based on their interactions. On that same note, I want Castiel to be like the boss's right hand/messenger and that their boss's name/title is God/the lord (if I was in that situation, I would think their boss is very narcissistic, but I won't say anything about it because crime and I don't want to die yet). And then when Godstiel comes around, Dean, who at this point knows way more than Sam about these rumors (because unlike Sam he's actually been around), makes him seem like their new boss (he might just use it to help him get laid, like in that one episode, but IDK).

I really want to write it, and I might just do it, I just need to finish the series first so that I'll be characterizing them correctly (these are all characters I already somewhat know about/saw) so we'll see if I remember it by then.

Feel free to use this idea but also I want credit/link to the story (mainly a link) if you do use it, since I want to read it regardless of whether or not I actually write this (knowing myself, I probably will. Like 78% will).

[mayonesamitch]

I BELIEVE IN AROACE TSUKASA (An unnecessary post)

i made this to keep track of my mind.

So Tsukasa Tenma, huh? World Future Star. Older brother. Yadda yadda yadda. Well, he's definitely an aroace person. There are just so many signs that he it that I doubt he's anything else. So let's get started on why I believe he's aroace.

Just in case you don't know what aroace is it stands for aromantic asexual. They don't feel romantic or sexual attraction. This is just a general definition though and every experience is different for everyone.

So first of all he almost never blushes. He only blushes when he's saying something embarrassing or when someone compliments him. However he doesn't blush at stuff like the sight of a person. If he does it's in admiration. Think about the recent event where he's getting all buff and stuff, Haruka played a big role in that event and she has probably the best powers of getting someone to blush ever. I mean, she made an alien fall in love. That's gotta be rizz. So Tsukasa not blushing that entire event it's kinda weird since Haruka is known to make everyone blush and basically fall in love with her. So this adds to my headcanon.

Next off is how he tends to remove the romantic aspects in stories since he views is not an important part of them. Now, don't get me wrong, romance doesn't have to be part of a story for it to be good, but since he's altering stories with key romantic elements. He views them as unnecessary to the story and rather make them friends and stuff. This makes me believe that romance to him isn't important in his life and he'd rather just be really good friends with everyone.

So, a weak point here, but you can pick the colors of the aroace flag from his color palette. I know it's a really weak point but I feel like I should mention it anyways because it's fun

So with all of this combined you get an aroace Tsukasa! Now this isn't meant to say any other headcanon is wrong. I like the gay or bi or whatever Tsukasa headcanons. I just wanted to show my reasoning for my Tsukasa headcanon here and keep track of my brain a little. We also only got to the romantic side of things and not the sexual side since, well, they're still teenagers. I'm sure they've experienced some sort of sexual attraction but it's not mentioned in the story anywhere. Plus, I'm not comfortable talking sexual stuff. Anyways, I need a chill pill.

[bruhstation]

Since we see him every now and then, what is Ryan like in Casa Tidmouth?

ryan works at the harwick branchline with daisy. in the secret of the lost treasure and misty island rescue arcs, ryan is the bystander to thomas' adventures that lead up to his fight with sailor john and skiff, eventually adding to the number of supporting characters that got dragged into both the mystery surrounding the gold dust and the mess thomas has left on sodor. after sailor john got arrested and thomas went missing, ryan helped thomas' friends look for his whereabouts while also being the key witness to sailor john's mad ramblings about "lady of the legend" and his motives for almost blowing up the island. ryan never asked for any of this but because he likes thomas and knows info that other people don't, he just HAS to step in

outside of the plot-heavy stuff, ryan's one of the kinder sudrian railway workers compared to his weirdo coworkers. he considers daisy and thomas to be his closest friends despite the former having the tendency to push her workloads onto him in the past and the latter being a bit standoffish despite ryan's attempts at hospitality.

ryan's extended family, on the other hand...

ryan is connected to the gresleys through his mother. his mother is the daughter of joseph gresley I (the gresleys’ grandfather), so he’s the cousin of gordon, scott, spencer, and mallard. he doesn’t talk to his cousins often ever since he’s a teenager because they’re nutjobs who mostly care about themselves and ryan has self-respect and values his sanity

unlike most his cousins who has the power of hater-ism coursing through their veins, ryan is a perfectly normal man who cares about his friends. he talks about his issues directly instead of letting it simmer. he sometimes have drinks with daisy and thomas after work. he used to have trouble articulating his more “negative” feelings and driving his opinion, but he’s doing better lately. he wants to maintain peace by being kind to others, which makes him prone to being dragged into any weird business his cousins have whenever they have the chance.

whenever holiday season is around the corner, ryan knows exactly what to expect. scott, his most famous cousin, the only one who still GAF about tightening what’s left of the gresleys together, will ask him to come over for dinner with his cousins (his charisma stat is maxed out). ryan can’t refuse because scott will pull excuses like “it’s just once a year” or “there's a dog” and ryan doesn’t have anything else to do. the family party will start off normal, then when mallard brings out the wine (provocateur!!!) things go south. gordon and spencer would badmouth each other about each other's secrets/fails, they get into a fight, scott tries to calm them down, ryan frowns at the disinterested mallard, sighs, goes outside to the nearest telephone booth to call daisy and ask her to pick him up. at this point it’s comical

ryan’s really the opposite of his cousins, from clothing to backstory. when designing him, I took the key components of his cousins’ designs and invert them. his cousins dress lavishly – big coats and suits, but ryan just rolls up his sleeves and dons a vest. his cousins’ haistyles are combed back, gelled, etc, while ryan’s hair goes everywhere (parted bangs show hairline). most of his cousins have horrific trauma related to death and loss from their childhood, while ryan’s just a city boy who grew up with nothing eventful in his life (except attending his cousins’ funerals). he doesn’t even inherit the gresley surname and is oblivious to most of the gossips surrounding or is inside the gresley family.

ryan is his own person who gets thrown around like a volleyball a lot, but he still has a good heart. one can consider ryan to be what any of his cousins would’ve ended up like if they had normal upbringings. who am I kidding? lol

[catsharky]

It looks like her horns are much bugger and more devil like than tiefling naturally. Would her horns grow back to that shape if sue let them, or is it more like docking a tail and permanent? Would she become more comfortable with her original horns being around tieflings more if they could grow back? Why did she trim them initially?

Ehehe I'm glad you caught that, cause yeah you're right her horns are very much meant to be more devil than tiefling!

I figured if a devil is going to screw someone over by giving them a stolen child, why wouldn't they aim to pick one who would bring as much chaos and misery to that person as possible? Ember has no idea who her bio parents are, but she's definitely no ordinary Tiefling.

I put the rest under a read more because it got a bit long:

To try and kind of match the other companions, I wanted her to have the capacity to be incredibly powerful, but limited for game/story reasons. So for Ember, at least one of her parents is someone Powerful and Important in the hells, and that parent is where her sorcery comes from.

It means she's capable of crazy strong magic (like, on par with Gale before he got nerfed strong) but a combination of being self-taught and a lack of motivation means that she's never had a reason to find out what she's actually capable of. She also grew up very isolated, so until she met Gale she was under the impression that magic was just like that for everyone. And tied to all that, one of the most obvious tells that there's something else going on with her is her horns.

I like to think that for most Tieflings, their horns do grow throughout their lives, but hit what's considered 'full sized' by around puberty- at which point the growth slows to a crawl. I also have to assume based on Karlach's broken horn that if the horn breaks? It's gone for good, though they will still maintain that slow growth so long as the core at the base of the horn remains intact.

For Ember however, her horns are just enormous. At age 4 it's expected a Tiefling will have started growing their horns but that they'll still be blunt, nubby things like a baby goat. Ember's were the size they are in the age chart, and continued to grow even larger as she got older.

She likely would have trimmed them no matter what, because not being used to having horns in the first place made dealing with them frustrating, but they're really just unreasonably huge. She trims them down pretty much as far as she comfortably can, the blue tips being where the darker outer layers were cut away.

To her annoyance, they also grow back and do so remarkably fast, which is where the jewelry she has wrapped around them comes from. Those gold embellishments are actually enchanted so they'll stay the size she wants them! (They also keep them from catching on fire when her emotions are high, but that's a whole other thing) So she could actually let them grow back to their full size if she wanted to, she just doesn't because they'd be way too unwieldy and annoying to deal with.

And while I can see some of this stuff becoming relevant after the events of the game, for the duration of BG3's plot this is all just more or less flavour text. The magic stuff is the only part that would have a notable impact.

Also fun fact, this whole part of her backstory is just because I needed an excuse to make her immortal. I didn't have the strength to give Astarion a companion who he'd have to lose in less than 100 years. My heart can't take that 😭 So fuck it, she's the daughter of some big powerful demon or whatever so Astarion can have one nice thing that won't be taken from him!!!

[morbidanthem]

King of Greed - 1,184 Words [Ao3 Link]

Mammon X Fem!MC

You were away from Gehenna for the next long while, as you found yourself being a part time babysitter to some of the little demon's around Tartarus.

You found yourself enjoying this job, interacting with some of the cutest children you've ever seen in your life.

They had questions galore, and you had answers!

“Do all humans die early?” A small voice shouted, leaning on your crossed legs, as the big eyes looked up at you with curiosity.

Sometimes, being a dignitary also meant being a babysitter.

Not that you minded at all.

“Well- to us, it's not early.” You explained, thinking of how best to explain the concept to a child. “To us, you guys live for so long, that we can't even imagine ways to fill that time!”

“Tell me, what do you do to fill that time?” You asked, watching the little demon's eyes light up as he explained all of the things he liked to do.

It was normal stuff most kids would say- playing with friends, helping out their parents with chores, going outside, watching TV, playing games.

Still, you hung onto his little words, laughing along with him as he explained one of his favorite games to you.

“Come on, Nikki, you've taken up the Daughter of Solomon's time enough.” the Demon's mother said, motioning him to come back to her side as the big double doors opened up.

“Awww- but Mom! I was just explaining how Evil Tag worked!” He whined, leaning into you further as he gave his Mom his best pouty look.

“No buts! His Majesty Mammon was gracious enough to let us meet him at his palace. We don't want to be rude and take up too much of his time.” She scolded. “What does your Ma always tell you?”

“That time is money.” He sighed, standing up fully looking a little defeated. “And that Money is the root of all power.”

“Wonderful. Now, come along!” She said, as he jogged up to her to grab her hand. He waved to you as they walked away, and you waved back as you smiled as they rounded the long corridor towards the Palace entrance.

You yelped, as you felt yourself being lifted up off the floor by a familiar pair of arms.

Here in Tartarus, you rarely ever walked anywhere.

Mammon always obligated himself to carry you, despite you insisting that it wasn't necessary.

“My Master shouldn't be burdened with walking everywhere. Allow me to ease that burden.” Mammon would say.

It's not as if you were in a physical position to tell him otherwise, besides, if you were being honest with yourself… you kind of like the attention.

It fed into that little need you always had of being taken care of.

Ever since you lost your parents, you've had to be strong and independent. It was hard making that transition, and those close to you know that you get overwhelmed easily.

It's why Minhyeok insisted on taking care of you back at home, and here, you have Mammon who is more than happy to help fill in those little gaps.

So, if carrying you is what he wanted, then you shall grant him that wish.

“I'm sorry for making you wait on me, Master. That was one of my event planners, she assists with creating some of the best events that Tartarus has ever seen.” He explained, as he made his way back slowly to his throne room.

“It's no problem, really.” You insisted, “I know that being a king means you have other duties to attend to.”

“Yes, though I wish that I could spend the entire day with you uninterrupted.” He lamented, shifting your weight around so he could carry you with one arm.

You will always be in awe of his raw strength.

“It was nice, though, I always wanted kids of my own.” You spoke, absentmindedly stroking his muscular arms. “When I was little, I always dreamed of having a big family.”

“Oh? How big?” He asked, suddenly walking just a little slower as he looked over at you with deep interest.

“Oh, goodness- at least three or four.” You giggled, as Mammon adjusted you in his hold once more, holding you directly in front of him. “Maybe even five, just to make sure.”

“I was unaware of these plans of yours, please, tell me more.” Mammon encouraged, enjoying that little glint that appeared in your eyes.

He could feel the greed beginning to creep out of you, and he wanted more of it.

“Well, we'll have one to start.” You explained with excitement. “I would hope that the first would be a girl, but having a son first isn't a bad idea either.”

“Really, it would be ideal to have twins! That way, there is no animosity between them!” You sighed, laying your head onto Mammon's chest. “Too bad we can't make that happen. I never had any siblings growing up, and if it weren't for Minhyeok and his Brother, I would have been so lonely.”

“If you so desire it, I will make it happen.” He spoke, grabbing onto your face with his hand to have you look at him.

You swallowed, noticing a look of desire on his face.

“Mammon?” You asked, leaning into his touch, as you felt yourself becoming excited.

He leaned in closer, his lips almost making contact with yours, as you heard him let out a deep chuckle.

“My Master kept using the terms “we”. Am I to take this as a confession?” He asked, as you felt his large hand stroking your behind gently.

“I did?” You paused, realizing that you were indeed using the term “we” to refer to your future child.

You felt yourself blush, wanting to turn away, as you swallowed once more as you looked up into Mammon's gorgeous golden eyes.

“I, uh, I guess I did…” You said, drifting off due to your own embarrassment, as you finally felt Mammon's lips make very light contact with yours.

“I will not act unless My Master is requesting it.” He spoke, shifting you again to have your back against the marble wall behind you, his hands holding you up by your rear.

You moaned loudly, as you did your best to grind yourself onto his abs, and kept himself at just enough of a distance to drive you insane.

“What is it that you desire, Master?” He asked, caressing you as you continued to grind yourself onto him.

“Please, Mammon.” You begged, unashamed of your desire for the behemoth of a demon. “Please, allow me to have your children.”

“As you say.” He said, finally kissing you the way you were craving him to.

It was rough and sensual, as he nipped and succked on your lips while delving his tongue into your mouth as you moaned for him.

You reached out to wrap your arms around his neck, scratching harshly at his back while tugging on his hair, encouraging him to hopefully want to take this little twist further.

Again, who was he to deny his master?

[shawtyfromdirtydocks]

Thin Palace Walls

Pilot

Tags; könig x black!reader, monarch!reader, stress induced paranoia, first ppov, use of she/her and other feminine terms for reader (subject to change)

First fic series i’ve ever written so dont expect much. Also, don’t expect any part of this story to be realistic when it comes to government, im not a government official and pray I never will be. Take it as it is or don’t idgaf 😚🫶🏽 enjoy!!

I woke up that morning more drained than usual. Unfortunately for me, this was only the start of a miserable season.

The smell and sound of the light rain outside soothed me only a little. After returning home, anxiety started stirring in my stomach and doubt plagued my thoughts.

I was even more paranoid than usual. Everywhere I went I remained hyper-aware of my surroundings, not willing to be caught off guard even once.

Footsteps approach my bedroom door before it opened. In walked my footman, he bowed his head in respect before walking with me to my vanity.

“Rough night?”

“I couldn’t even sleep!” I complained, feeling my frustration pour out of me.

Sinking into my seat, I huffed and let my head fall onto the back of the chair. Yesterday was the last day of my continental tour. I’d been away from home for just over two months, visiting each country’s capital after the threats we’d received from the United States to boost morale.

My traveling party only got back to the palace just before the end of twilight. Alltogether I probably only got a half hour of sleep.

“I know you probably don’t wanna hear this right now, but everything will be fine. You’ve done everything right.”

“You’re right lamar, I really don’t wanna hear that shit right now.”

Then he had the nerve to laugh like something was funny. It felt like I was the only one who saw the danger I’d put everyone in. That one emotional decision I made could've just set a war against a power much greater than mine in motion, and everyone else is looking the other way.

“You be in your own head too much. Look around. You’ve built an empire of steel.”

Through the mirror I watched him walk to my bedside table. He picked up what looked like a newspaper and brought it back with the dumbest smile on his face.

“Do you see how great we’re doing? We have the entirety of the west scrambling and shaking in their boots.”

He gave me a knowing look and handed me the paper for me to read myself. The front cover alone was enough to make my head big.

“Atland Sends The West Into It’s Death Throws.”

I folded the newspaper in half and started reading the article as Lamar unwrapped and styled my dreads. The president of the States was trying to paint me as an aggressive and naive little black girl. He said I was a traitor and a danger to the U.S., which is rich coming from him.

“Did you hear Austria wants to form an alliance with us?”

I whipped my head around to look at Lamar. Then he laughed again because the excitement on my face was funny I guess. Austria has a strong military that I’d been eyeing for a while. With their help, we could do a lot. It wouldn't be smart to ask them for something with nothing to give in return though.

“You know ima always be nosy for you.”

He turned my head back around and picked up some bobby pins. Reading the article made me more anxious. Bouncing my leg, my eyes darted across the thin pages.

“Girl I was in my office organizing your mail and shit right?”

I hummed absently and continued to read. The newspaper even had an entire column dedicated to foreign news and how it could affect us. Some of these events were completely new to me. Are the pillars keeping stuff from me?

“Well the interns were in the kitchen on the otherside of the wall behind me. And you know the young ones always know whats going on.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes. Schools across Atland have a Palace Internship program that allows adolescents in their late teens to get work experience in the Palace. Ever since the first batch came in, I noticed that they kept the palace young with their gossip. Which I appreciated because I was too busy to do it myself.

Some of the official palace staff had filed complaints. One even quit because one of the interns found out that he was an anti-royalist and was telling everybody all the shit he was talking about me. They bullied that man out of the palace.

“They was in there loud as hell just yapping. Apparently, Serenity’s wife had a meeting in Austria and she gonna request an audience with you today.”

My eyes lit up and the gears in my head started turning immediately. The timing is suspicious, but I could use it to my advantage. They need something from us so we can force their hand if need be.

The whole reason I’ve been freaking the fuck out is because I did something petty. The United States wanted to build an embassy in Atland’s capital and I refused…then publicly supported the ICC. Indirectly declaring the U.S. an enemy of Atland.

“Gods that could mean anything. I’m far from impartiality and they don't do conflict. What do you think they want?”

“Do you know how big your sphere of influence is? They don’t wanna be on our bad side. And they’re tryna keep it on the low, so you know what that means.”

——————————————————————-

For the remainder of my morning, I roamed around the palace. Staff and Interns greeted me as I made my way around. Some stopped to inform me of changes around the place, others walked with me and shared their concerns or gratitude.

My spirits had been raised significantly. Settling back into palace life wouldn't be easy, but it wouldn't be unbearable either. Everywhere you go there are smiling faces. It was impossible to not like it here. Sweet scents of warm vanilla and pomegranate flowed through the halls and there was always an excitable buzz lingering nearby.

Eventually, I remembered to eat and made my way to the kitchen. The tall swing doors loudly indicated my presence. Kitchen staff greeted me with warm smiles and head bows before returning to whatever they were previously occupied with.

My eyes examined the inside of our walk-in refrigerator. Eating was beginning to feel like a chore. How could I focus on anything when I was trying to ameliorate a potentially catastrophic fuck up?

A shiver ran down my spine, an unpleasant reminder that I had stood in the refrigerator for way too long. Settling for an apple and giving a small wave goodbye to staff, I started towards my study.

As I walked down the hallway, biting into my apple occasionally, I kept glancing over my shoulder. There was an unsettling feeling in my gut. I couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched.

“Already thinking about work I see.”

My heart raced. Turning to the direction the voice had come from, I let go of a shaky breath and held my hand over my heart. Korynn, my best friend’s wife had snuck up on me.

“I’ll be damned! How’ve you been Korynn?”

I laughed off my paranoia and hugged the tall woman. Korynn is Atland’s Core Pillar. She acted as a royal advisor and messenger to the public. Without her, I’d be under far more stress.

“Busy as all hell. Serenity said she’d stop by soon.”

I nodded and took a mental note. Serenity is Lamar and I’s long-time best friend. She doesn't live in Atland’s capital anymore. Said it was too grey and serene for her. Ironic right?

“I was just walking to my study, you can come with me if you’d like”

“No it’s alright, this should be pretty quick actually.”

Korynn gave me a brief overview of major events I missed while on tour. My dramatics sent the pillars into initial panic but things turned out surprisingly well for us.

“You just made the power move of the century! Nato is upping their military. They’re afraid of you.”

We’d received support from several different nations across the globe. Partners in Asia have also publicly defended my statement, and made it clear they would step in if the States decided to become aggressive. Allies of our partners also expressed their support for us.

“The only thing we need from you right now, are signatures. Citizens will vote on it and nothing will be publicized until you say it’s okay to do so.”

I glanced back at the newspaper header. A big part of me liked the idea of my face being the first thing people think of when the Death of the West comes up in history books. Another part, however, knew just how ugly things could get and how fast.

Sure everyone was standing behind us now, but what if I slipped up? What if they’re just trying to butter us up so they can screw us over? The competitive game that these world leaders set up is something I don’t want to fall victim to. Something I can't fall victim to.

“History can’t repeat itself Korynn. This nation will not be looked at as weak and pliable.”

She only shook her head, not in disappointment but in acceptance. My youth lead people to underestimate me, which I was fine with, but it also made me overly cautious when making big decisions like this.

I chewed the skin on my bottom lip as I watched her turn to leave the palace. Before she got too far, I called to her.

“Have the papers sent to my office by the end of the week.”

With a smile and a small bow of her head she left me with my thoughts.

I dragged a tired hand down my face. Things are about to get serious a hell of a lot faster than I’m ready for. On the bright side, the sun hasn't reached its half-point. I have time to plan.

————

I moved through my study frantic as ever. Shuffling around and rummaging through random drawers. Cool air that blew in from my window kept me grounded but did little to soothe my nerves.

There was a notebook that was given to me by the Pillars lost in my study somewhere. Retracing my steps didn't help me either. I rushed to the window and looked to the sky. The sun was a quarter past the half-point now.

“Shit!”

Defeat pummeled me to the floor. That journal is probably the most important thing I’ll ever own and now it's missing. Pages of plans and expansion ideas could be in the hands of an anti-royalist right now. Or worse!

“Girl I been looking-.”

Tears burned my eyes when I saw Lamar in the doorway. He made haste to shut the door and join me where I sat. The comfort of his hug made me break down. I sobbed into his suit jacket. All the pressure from the stress I kept bottled up was starting to release.

“What happened?” The concern in his voice didn’t make me feel any better. What if they force me to abdicate? They’ll use this as proof of my being unfit to rule.

“It's gone! The journal- the PLANNER is gone!”

He held my face in his palms and wiped away my tears with the cold silk thumbs of his gloves. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. What was I missing?

As if he could hear my thoughts, he answered my question before I could even begin to search for an answer myself.

“You’re overthinking still. Why won’t you just ask for help?” his question sent a pang of hurt through my chest. How could he not see the position I’ve been forced into? Asking for help isn’t an option.

“They already think I'm incompetent.”

“Do you think being a good leader means doing everything yourself?”

He sounded like he was asking a genuine question. Why would he ask me that?

“Of course not.”

Lamar has been my best friend since 1st grade. He was like a brother to me. Throughout our lives, he’d been beside me during every trial and tribulation. Whenever my head drifted too far above the clouds, he reminded me to look to the stars for guidance and never to reach for them.

“Okay then. If you want to prove to them you’re fit for the position gifted to you by an entire nation, show them you know when to ask for help.”

The expression on his face was a clear picture of true heartbreak, and it was at that moment that I realized just how foolish I must seem. With the support and constant praise of hundreds of thousands, which I witness daily, I still let my fear of letting down the ones I'm devoted to cloud my judgment of self.

“Well, now I feel stupid.” I wiped my tears with nervous laughter. The stress has taken a bigger toll on me than I thought. Feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders is one thing. But forgetting that there are people who would voluntarily help me carry that weight is another.

“You know what, we’ll host the first ball of the season this year. I’ll tell Serenity to cancel hers.”

I looked at him like he was crazy. Since Atland’s founding back in the States, Serenity always hosted the first ball of the social season. It felt almost like a federal crime to tell her not to.

“I'm sure she won’t mind when I tell her why.”

He didn’t give me the chance to give a counter argument before standing to his feet and stretching out a hand for me to take. “It’ll also be a great way to welcome our Austrian Allies. Yes?”

With a smile, I took his hand and stood to my feet. “Yes.”

[quitealotofsodapop]

Mei is both proud and very unhappy with the grounding. True, she didn't know her little buddy was actually Sun Wukong's son until about ten minutes ago, but her parents got to meet her little brother figure, and they think he's adorable! Wukogn makes sure to warn them of potential baby layers, tho, new powers and all. Luckily, that's not something new to the Ao Long household considering how Mei holds a certain Ring.

That conversation has to be one of the msot awkward Wukong has ever had up to that point tho, calling up Ao Lie's great granddaughter to tell her that her daughter, whom she hadn't even realized knew him, had gotten his son, who nobody even knows he has, into a bit of trouble and now DBK is free and all the parents to the kids involved in freeing him are coming together for a tea party to figure out, essentially, what's next.

Wukong, astral projecting: Hello, yes, Mrs. Long? Lovely to speak face to face, I knew your grandfather you know, but that's not why I'm calling. Um, so it's about your daughter.

Yi Li: What!?

Wukong, getting nervous: Uh... yeah, see, she and my kid have gotten pretty close. Mr. Tang is his tutor, you see, and they tend to have their lessons at the Noodle Shop she works at. Well, I let Mei take my little Xiaotian out with her for some of her delivery runs aaaand... next thing I know, the Demon Bull King is free.

Ye Li, already suspecting: Oh no... dont tell me, it was her!?

Wukong: From what I understand of the events, she was pretty involved and stuff... so do you mind coming over for some tea with me and the Demon Bull Family so we can kinda... figure out our next steps? They've called a bit of a truce for now after meeting my kid.

Ye Li: Of course! Just give us a few minutes to clear our schedule and we'll be right over... oh and please tell my daughter she's grounded.

Wukong: Alright then! See you there! *turns to unseen person as he begins to fade out* Hey Mei your mom says-

prev post. @soniclozdplove;

+an earlier ask;

Ao Yi and Long Cháo have long accepted that their baby girl is a lot more... firey than a normal water dragon pup. But they never believed in locking her up or forcing her to suppress her boundless energy.

So when Mei came to them wanting to get a part-time job as a delivery job so she could have "real life" experience, they were fully supportive.

They think it's really cute how she's bonded with her boss and some of the regulars. Mei especially mentions a little demon monkey named MK who's obsessed with the Monkey King, and is about to become a big brother. The Ao-Long's only met MK and "Mr Qi" once when they decided to visit Mei at her work. The little boy was so excited about going to school and becoming a big brother - even though "she's taking a long time." Mr Qi just laughed and explained that he was a little overdue. The dragon couple thought the two were an adorable parent and child, but Ao Yi swears she recognises Mr Qi from somewhere...

Wukong, astral projecting in: "Heeeeyyyy Mrs Long." Ao Yi: "Sun Wukong? Why, I haven't seen you since I was a pup. What brings you here today?" Wukong, stalling a bit: "Well it's about Mei- she's not in trouble don't worry! Well maybe a little in trouble... she was doing a delivery when she and her little stowaway came across my Staff and DBK's resting site. Iron Fan and Red Son included." Ao Yi, going pale: "She didn't." Wukong: "She didn't - but Red Son did. And then MK managed steal it off of him. Mei grabbed him and bolted before any fighting could happen but they got chased." Ao Yi, frustrated and worried: "Oh sweet- Cháo! Our daughter somehow helped release an ancient demon king!" Long Cháo, running in: "Is she ok!?" Wukong: "Oh yeah she's fine. Nobody got hurt. DBK was a lot more forgiving once he properly met MK-" Long Cháo, piecing together the lore: "Wait isn't that the same MK who gets tutored by Mr Tang? Isn't Mr Qi... pregnant?" Ao Yi, raises brow at Wukong: "Yes. Yes he is." Wukong, laughing nervously: "HAHA! Yeah! Surprise! I uh... have a kid and one on the way. Long story." Ao Yi: "Great-Grandfather did say you had an Egg with you throughout the Journey. I had assumed he was rambling, but this explains so much..." Wukong: "Yeah, I've been keeping it a secret for a long time. Ao Lie was always so protective of me... Anyway, my dao isn't so great right now so I need to wrap this call up. You guys wanna meet up or something to talk about this in-person? I just want my Xiaotian to know some folks connected to the "old gang" now that his powers are developing. Plus DBK needs a lot of history filled in for him." (*the dragon couple share a look and smile*) Ao Yi: "I see no issue in having a few lunch meetings. It's not every day I get to talk about Great-Grandfather's journey." Long Cháo: "Xiaojiao is grounded though, right?" Ao Yi: "Without a doubt."

The familys (+occassionally Tang, Pigsy, and Sandy) start meeting up for brunch afterwards. Ao Yi and PIF are glamourous girl besties the second they meet, and their husbands bond over their difficulties in courting them. Wukong is glad to have people to hang out with outside of FFM, and to rebuild the relationship with his brother and sister-in-law.

Mei house sits the day the parents are all out for dinner. Red Son is still trying to take over the city in a misguided effort to make his parents proud, so attempted sword-theft still occurs and Mei's own dragon abilities start erupting. MK yells with joy at his bestie being a fellow "Superhero!". Red Son gets grounded.

[kokomos]

❂ 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟

jessica riley relationship headcanons

+ Always so excited when she gets to see you! Runs up to you and traps you in a bear hug before giving you sloppy kisses on your cheeks.

+ Hates being away from you for long periods of time. She's a bit of a clingy girlfriend meaning she wants a lot of your free time to be spent with one another. Whenever you two are apart she's planning the next time she can see you, she can't help but miss you!

+ Constant physical affection is a must if you're dating her. She loves the reassurance she gets when you touch her. Her favorite is when you wrap an arm around her waist to get real close to her. Adores having your face in the crook of her neck.

+ Definitely treats your lap like her own personal throne; enjoys the feelings of your hands holding onto her hips and thighs.

+ Kind of like a puppy in love; she's quick to blindly follow her heart and it hurts her more often than not.

+ Feels compelled to do anything in her power to make your life easier ie. do the chores she knows you dread.

+ Since before you two even officially started dating, she's given you so many nicknames in passing that you're sure she can't even keep track of the ones assigned to you. Her go-to is the casual babe or baby. She also wouldn't mind if you called her princess every now and again.

+ She's always asking you questions about yourself. It's important to her that the both of you are knowledgeable on the topic of each other. It's something that makes her feel more close to you than anyone else.

  - "If you could do anything, like anything ever, for the rest of your life, what would you wanna do? By the way, you can say me, I wouldn't mind complying with that answer at all."

+ Quick with the comebacks. Be prepared to lose gracefully if you ever get into an argument with her because there's no way she's letting you win.

+ So playful with everyone but the most with you! She tries to live life somewhat lightheartedly believing that's what can bring her the most happiness.

+ Prefers to forgive and forget. Doesn't understand the whole idea of focusing so much energy onto someone in order to get revenge. If the opportunity presents itself that's another thing though!

+ She's an open book once she trusts you and it doesn't take a lot for her to put her trust in someone. Doesn't care about the risks involved with loving and losing someone, she sees it as a necessary part of life.

+ Big gossiper!! Constantly pulling you aside during an event to catch you up real quick on any updates with the drama. Please be enthusiastic/receptive while she's talking to you about this kind of stuff! She means no harm by it and stays positive about the people involved unless they've done something totally heinous.

  - "I need to tell you what I just found out about that girl and her boyfriend. So last weekend, when she was visiting family out of town…"

+ Says she needs your help to do her braids but really she can do them by herself in under five minutes. She'll take any chance she can to feel your fingers in her hair.

+ On days where she's feeling lazy, she makes you do her whole make-up routine. No mercy, she doesn't care if you guys sit there for hours, it needs to be done and it needs to be done right. She shows her gratuity with a shower of compliments and calculated kisses as to not mess up all your hard work.

  - "Oh my god, babe! You're so good at this, I should make you do my make-up every day. Kidding, don't worry."

+ Secretly insecure behind all that confidence. She can become pretty defensive in an argument with you, often lashing out because she feels threatened. What she really needs is reassurance that you're not attacking her, you just want resolution or to talk about the problem at its core.

+ Jess is the type of girlfriend that wants to be treated like a trophy wife… even without the ring.

— ♡☆

a/n: dedicated to the anon who requested :) i hope i did jess some justice!!

[markantonys]

wotseries posted an alleged elaida audition script about 1) her telling presumably leane that she's at the tower to look for elayne and also that siuan's in a big mess and she could use elaida's help in cleaning it up, and 2) her discussing prophetic powers with min.

the first scene is pretty standard with what we've been predicting for elaida and the white tower plotline in s3, so i don't have any commentary on that one for now (though it does imply that, indeed, we'll be setting up the coup to be a slowburn season-long event with elaida weaseling around for a while before making her big move, rather than a shock event that happens early in the season, but i think most of us were thinking this already anyway).

the second scene is interesting because a different leak had placed min in tanchico. wotup's leaks have been flagrantly incorrect before (said faile would be in s2) and wotseries' audition scripts have also been flagrantly incorrect before (said gawyn would be in s2), so at this point it's just a question of which source i distrust more, and i can't answer that haha so for the time being i'll treat both Min Locations as equally plausible. (i'm assuming it'll only be one or the other because i find it hard to imagine that she could make an appearance in both locations during the course of the season, but i suppose you never know.)

looking at where s2 left off, both are equally plausible. min is in cairhien, and both siuan & co and liandrin are also in cairhien. i could see siuan snatching min back to the white tower because she knows about her powers and wants to use them, and i could also see liandrin snatching min over to tanchico because she considers her a liability after min betrayed her/didn't follow through on the deal/figured out she's a darkfriend.

looking at min's established story in the show and where her story goes in future in the books (lmao at the statement that min has a story in the books), both are equally plausible. tanchico would put her back into contact with liandrin and mat to follow up on her story with them in s2 and set up for her future seanchan story with mat (and doubly so if there's a seanchan presence or even tuon herself in tanchico in s3). the white tower would return her to her book storyline and, based on this scene with elaida, potentially give her the opportunity to have a storyline exploring the nature of her powers and her relationship with them. either storyline would allow her to go on to cross paths with rand in the next season or two.

(edited to add that tanchico would also have min interacting with elayne to help set up the polycule. i've so thoroughly made the polycule rand/elayne/avi/mat in my mind that i kinda forgot min is the canonical fourth member when i was making this post djkfg)

i will say that in the books, the tower coup has absolutely 0 bearing on min's overall character/story because she has 0 stakes in any of that stuff and 0 connection to aes sedai. it makes for an interesting 1-book storyline for her, but it's never relevant to her again (vs. someone like gawyn who is dealing with the repercussions of the coup in his storyline for pretty much the rest of the series), and so for that reason i wouldn't be sorry to replace her book storyline with an invented tanchico storyline that might have more long-term relevance to her (re: seanchan stuff). however, if the show expands her white tower storyline to include an exploration of her powers, i'd love that because min actively struggling with and trying to navigate and learn more about and figure out how best to use her powers is something that should have been part of her current story rather than her pre-series backstory. and compare/contrasting with elaida and how SHE uses her prophetic abilities would be super interesting!

that being said, i will never again trust any wotseries audition scripts after the utter betrayal that was the gawyn one, so i'm taking this all with a grain of salt! every time they post a new one they're like "disclaimer that scenes could be invented just for auditions and won't appear in the actual show, but most of our past audition scripts have appeared in the show pretty close to the audition version" and i'm like "what about that time you misled me to believe a whole-ass boy would be present in s2 and then he wasn't???? is gawyngate a joke to you???" lmao i wish they'd be a bit more cautious with their audition script disclaimers bc *i* think they've been pretty hit or miss, not Usually Accurate (even the aviendha one, only 1 of 2 scenes made it into the show iirc).

[tokoyamisstuff]

Halloween with the Hellsing Characters

Inspired by an Anon ask. Can be read both romantic and platonic. No warnings.

Featuring: Anderson, Alucard, Walter, The Captain, Seras (+ Pip), Integra

Anderson:

Sorry, but this man is an absolute killjoy about every non-christian holiday. However in the end he's a big softie and can't deny you or the children any wish. Will fold like a lawn chair eventually.

Even then he'll complain. A lot. It's heretic to celebrate this, it promotes gluttony that, blah blah blah...

Man will get a heart attack seeing his sweet lil' babies dressed up as vampires and the likes, it's hilarious just observing him tryna keep his cool for their sake. You'll coerce him into going as Frankenstein but he refuses to acknowledge the similarities.

He definetly has a sweet tooth and can be bribed into having a good time though, especially after he discovers his bayonetts are working neatly for cutting pumpkins.

Alucard:

This is one silly, goofy man and you can't tell me otherwise. You think this is below him? Nah, he'll take any chance of entertainment he can get. There's nothing off limits or too cringe for him.

I mean hello?! It's the only time of the year he can literally be himself and people will think it's just a decent costume or special effects. Probably shows up headless or turns into a bat, shows people his 'puppies' or whatever.

Will absolutely overdo it, though. Terrifies the local children (and adults alike), the police will probably get involved at some point and Integra has to bail you guys out.

Ordinary events like these actually help him feel a little more human again, so he can't wait until next year.

Walter:

Not a fan of anything that had been introduced by the US, including this tradition. It wasn't part of his childhood either so he's not really eager to committ. Yet in the ends he loves to serve, especially people he's fond of, and he's very adaptable too.

Would like a more classy and mature approach, like going to some kind of masquerade. Could also see him hosting his own gathering.

There's literally nothing he can't do himself, from selfmade treats to a puppet show using his wires. Would absolutely love to do a partner-costume with you and can sew anything you want!

The Captain:

In all honesty this man would rather just spend the evening in peace and silence at home with you.

Is very passive about basically anything, but that means you can do whatever you want to him and he won't complain. Dress him up as something cute, chances are high he'll secretly love it. Doesn't even try to be scary, he just is.

Mostly just quietly looms in the background but he really is happy, he could watch you do stuff you like forever.

Seras and Pip:

They're the most hyped about it like?? omg yess thank you for asking

Wants to do it all: making sweets, decorating, trick or treat, visit a haunted house, go to a party. They have a whole childhood to make up for.

They're definetly pranksters and will wreak havoc in the entire neighbourhood. Act like Pip is some kind of glove puppet, use Seras' powers to entertain the children or make it rain candy, etc...

Despite being a literal median herself Seras is still soo jittery, will jump and scream at anything really. The fact that Pip tries to scare her doesn't make it any better. They're mostly giggling and chanting, though.

Integra:

To be honest it's been a while since this woman has actually enjoyed herself. It'll take a while to convince her but then she'll spare no expenses to assure the best experience ever. Private jet to all the best places it is.

No costume for her, she's intimidating enough. Gets in trouble for carrying real weapons too.

A lil' paranoid, always expecting the worst like an enemy to hide amongst the crowd. What better moment for a monster to strike would there be than during Halloween?

Calls it childish and unnecesssary a lot, but damn did she have fun (will rather drop dead than admit it).

[theomnicode]

One punch man and flirting with romance

Romance, in my opm? More likely than you think.

There are many instances in one punch man where the author and the mangaka specifically tip their toes into showcases of implicit romance than explicit, but it is there and I'd like to jump into the romantic cruise ship and put down some of the cases where romance has been implied.

Starting with number one, Fubuki and Psykos implied to be kissing under a tree as teenagers where Fubuki seals off Psykos' powers with an implied kiss, where Psykos is also seen blushing right after. Rest of their interactions also ooze romantic overtones.

Number two is cd audio drama, Saitama and the mysterious heroine, where Saitama and Genos go see a movie and Saitama starts talking about relationships after seeing Suiryu flirt with a woman, then goes on tangent about girlfriends and such.

Saitama: That’s not the point... I have the feeling that things like a heart to heart interaction, sharing an umbrella, warmth, are all things broken away in my life. Other people can have things like big events and circumstances happening, romances and such bringing happiness in their daily lives. I have the feeling something broke and that sweet-like fluffy, nice stuff just fell right off from me. That's what I meant.

Saitama: Genos, look, have you ever seen a hero anime without a love interest in it? Genos: I don't remember watching a lot of anime in the past.. Why do you ask? Saitama: Well, we're heroes, right? We're working and living as such. And yet, why are we indifferent towards things like love interests or girlfriends? In some way it seems obvious and logical, but is it really ok? Are you ok with reality being so much harder than fiction?

It is obvious that Saitama would still be interested in romance, as he seems to be a romantic at heart, yet after becoming so strong he struggles with his emotions, his apathy.

Saitama also reads romantic shoujo manga on his spare time, as seen on season 2 OVA.

Number three is fairly recent addition where it is implied that Genos interest in Saitama as a disciple may or may not be entirely platonic. 3 different people (Zombieman, Flashy flash and Amai-mask) take note of Genos growing interest in Saitama. Genos has also been noted very much be interested in his master's physical appeal in audio cd dramas and below excerpt.

Genos for a long time, has been a prime example of a potential fool in love, but it is still handled in implicit rather than explicit manner. Shoujo sparkles and all that included.

Number four is a most recent addition of Blast and his partner, possibly holding hands under the panel. Blast's partner is specifically referred to as "partner" and not a collaborator by Sitch, giving his partner some more importance in the scene than rest of Blast's teammates. This one may be reaching, but we'll be seeing in future arcs how correct that assumption is.

Number five, Saitama and makeover audio drama where Genos has given Saitama's attack a long name.

Saitama: (Serious voice) Super shining and lightning, that’s right, this next punch will overwhelm you like a gust of northern urban wind deep in December, this illusionary, fantastical, understanding punch from the heart, starting from hyper dreaming attack the final, a never-ending eternal forever endless sentimental with a high sense aggregation of full throttle, godless, loneliness, can’t stop falling in love and as soon as fighting…

Number six, monsters named Maiko plasma and Electric catfish man appear to be a married couple. Maiko plasma refers to Catfish man as "darling" in multiple occasions, so they appear to be involved.

Number 7, where Tatsumaki thinks that Saitama is attracted to her because he's gripping her hand.

Last but not least, number 8, romantic alternate universe comedy part between Fubuki and Saitama in high school audio drama, where Fubuki thinks Saitama wanted to confess to her.

OPM may not yet have any really explicit romance, but implicit...there is a boatload. ONE does not leave fans cold when it comes to romantic undertones. :D

[satirates]

Seeing Pomme and Richarlyson together made me think a lot about their how their firsts days on the server gave them two completely opposite relationship with death. Analysis under the cut:

Both of them came on the server after the initial egg event and a long time after the precedent egg's death. They didn't get the ten days other eggs had when losing a life wasn't a big event. When they arrived, they had to adapt quick to insane mobs and code monsters. I think that the imminent danger was a leading point into forging their personality.

Richarlyson

Richarlyson lost a life his first day on the server. His parent were unaware of the danger the server represented, how powerful the mob are. It got reversed, but not forgotten.

Then, a couple of days later, he lost his first perma-life to bulls. If it was not because of the decision to give him his first life back, he would have been the egg to die the quickest on the server. The Brazilians were not given stuff to help them face the danger, they were barely warned. Only this death really made them realize how Richarlyson death was not a question of if, but when, if they continue to play like that.

So they created the project Immortalyson. They showed him how to fight, how to be brave, how to survive on this wild Island. They provide him with insane gears to protect himself, a whole TP system to get him out of danger fast, and are always ready to fight for him.

Richarlyson was confronted to death really early in his life. But it didn't make him scared, No... It made him live his life to the fullest. His whole personality his a good representation of "you only live once". He doesn't care if he dies, only that it will sadden his dad. So he doesn't let fear stop him from living his life like he wants, as dangerous has it sometimes look (with the armour and the sas and all X)

Pomme

Contrarily to Richarlyson, Pomme was made really aware of her impending death on the first day. Forever made sure to warn the French of the danger ahead. Maybe even a little too well. For the first two weeks, The French keep telling Pomme (and themselves) that she was going to be attack and maybe die. They didn't want to go anywhere with her alone, always made her go back to her room after an hour or so. They were really prudent and careful. Then she moved to the Ninho, and started her journal, which his a good insight in what she was feeling at the moment. She didn't understand why people were overprotecting her like that. People kept telling her to be afraid of something she didn't understand, so she was careful. But fear, at that point, was almost the only thing she knew.

Then the first and second code attack, the "nightmare" happen. She was finally confronted to that fear, seen it face to face. Reading her journal after that is really an angst fest, I'm telling you. She keep saying that she wanted to be more brave, but keep being scare by everything happening on the Island. She goes to dungeon with Étoiles, build, participate in lore. But fear is still driving the way she acts. She is almost never removing her armour except if people let her, even in safe places. She is really obedient, the last time she wasn't she was almost killed by the code. And fear has started to bleed into other part of her life. She is scare of conflict, of division, of death, of loosing people. Her character has been taught to fear the world before she even has the chance to explore it. And even if she's braver nowadays, we can still see how fear has impacted the way she developed.

In conclusion

Richarlyson early experience with death taught him to live his lives to the fullest, while Pomme's early experience with death taught her to live in fear of it.