#sweet and I- at least- have found it relatively easy to learn.

[oimitocat]

EXTENDED LOVE | HC

skz ot8 (seperately) x gn!reader

parent!reader + child (6 yo oc) + tender love + established relationship + fluff, fluff, fluff + extremely light angst + idol au!

a/n: amab reader. kids gender/name varies on the member, use your imagination if you want something different lol p.s - i don’t have baby fever, you do.

— BANG CHAN

getting close to your daughter was easy, she wouldn’t look away from him and he’d make cute faces at her

your fear was that she’d love him more than you

she grew to love being in his embrace, his hugs are the best

she’d fall asleep on him while he’s in his chair, cooking up some beats

you’d always watch as he gently does her hair, chan loves giving her pigtails

she’d write him songs and he’d make her sing them and make a song (he’s so sweet)

“chan, can we go get ice cream?” “absolutely.” he’d say. “you’re spoiling her,” you’d argue lightly.

on hot summer days you guys go for a swim at the pool, he teaches her how to swim

she’s his little champion, you two are always cheering her on when she’s doing something new!

she likes to talk a lot. and you fall in love with how attentive chan is, his smile on his face as she energetically yaps about

if she’s upset with how busy both of your schedules have been to hang out all three together, he reassures her with fun gifts and a treat. making sure he at least spends a meal time with you two.

she gets EXTREMELY jealous when you kiss chan, she’ll huff and pout, and then scream happily when you two attack her with tickles, hugs and kisses

loves it when chan sits her over his shoulders, you have thousands of pictures of him with her like that

— LEE MINHO

minho had no idea how to approach your daughter, matter of fact, he’d just stick to hand waves, small “hi angeli” ‘s and warm smiles

the moment your daughter finds out he cooks, she’s all over him

you’re also a relatively known producer, spending some late night at the studio, she’d beg minho to take you dinner

the three of you would eat in your studio and she’d tell you how she helps minho

she loves watching minho dance, always asking him to teach her

the second she knew how to do acrobatics dance, minho begged you to enlist her in classes

“clearly she got that from me,” he’d say proudly when you two would attend her shows

she’s in love with his cats, she’d beg you to buy them toys and snacks for them.

minho would fawn over her when he’d find her asleep with doongie on top of her

“why does it feel like she loves you more than me,” you’d huff. “because she does.” he’d stick his tongue out at you before allowing her to put makeup on him

if angeli injures herself he’d take care of her and calm her down

she enjoys cuddling up to minho and fall asleep on him

learned to talk back to you since he does that to you— “hey, don’t do that to your-“ “but you do it too! why can’t i?” and you’d watch them argue with a smile

family outings include going for an ice cream or a treat and walking through the pretty parks

she loves it when the two of you hold her hand on both sides and pull her up while walking

— SEO CHANGBIN

your child HATED changbin for the longest

he’d smile and greet him but he wasn’t taking anything from changbin

“allen be nice and say hi.” and allen would huff and look away.

then, one day you decided to pick up changbin after stray kids had a long day of dance practice. you were still relatively early hence you were allowed to watch for a bit

and allen found changbin super cool after that

he was super shy when talking to changbin but changbin always was patient and loving

changbin would crack up jokes and allen would laugh non stop

they’d have tickle fights.

if allen was sad for whatever motive, changbin always found a way to cheer him up

if you and changbin were in the studio for a really long time, he’s sleep on the couch and if you keep working more then changbin would cuddle up with allen and they’d be fast asleep waiting for you (you have a load of pictures of them like that)

allen loves arts and crafts, so he’d make changbin paper rings and paper hearts or origami cranes (changbin has them in his studio, chan and jisung deal with it)

sometimes if allen struggles with korean changbin would gently correct and teach

allen loves falling asleep in changbin’s arm he says changbin is like a big teddy bear

if you’re too busy from your schedules and changbin is decently free, then allen would stay over at changbin’s

changbin LOVES to spoil allen, with treats and toys

changbin gets extremely flustered when you kiss him in front of allen but allen also encourages you two to show affection

if allen notices that you are stressed, he’d tell changbin to help him surprise you with a gift

you love them so much

— HWANG HYUNJIN

so listen… hyunjin can’t do kids. he loves them- they just don’t love him back

yet, he tried hard for you, especially since alex was the light of your eyes.

both of them were super awkward but you helped them ease up, after all, the three of you had gone on a cafe date

alex always carries something with him and coincidentally he had a coloring book— you can imagine how it went from there

literally two artists that paint your days vividly

hyunjin finds himself buying coloring books or drawing something for alex to color- so cute!

one day you walk in on them doing face paint and you end up getting painted too

alex always praises hyunjin and talks good about him, you feel warm when that happens

the two of them are attached by the hips, you feel like a third wheel sometimes but in a non jealous way

MATCHING OUTFITS. the three of you are always matching outfits when going out

alex always gets upset when your schedules are packed, but hyunjin makes videocalls and sometimes alex falls asleep throughout them

hyunjin isn’t very affectionate but when it comes to your child he’s a natural

STOP. WHEN HE HAS LONG HAIR he lets alex put cute clips on him or tie it up

you cried when alex drew a family portrait and it was the three of you

alex is a really curious child, always running into danger so seeing hyunjin panic sometimes is funny

“don’t laugh! HE WAS CLIMBING THE FRIDGE!” “baby, you’re equally tall, you can easily get him down.” “i wanted cereal!”

you’re a dramatic trio

arts and crafts. hyunjin wears and keeps everything alex gifts him

— HAN JISUNG

oh boy… jisung was ANXIOUS

he always backed out but seeing you so exited to introduce your kid, he swallowed down his nerves and went forward with it

luck or not- you’re child is a chatterbox, but that didn’t happen until after your child processed jisung’s tension

jisung would nervously smile when making eye contact and to your mental peace, ally finally began conversation

“- says you make music, do you do -‘s music?” “uh- i- no-“ “so you don’t do music?” “no i do-“ “can i hear?” and jisung’s a fumbling mess while pulling out his phone

good to say that after that jisung eases up. ally is extremely extroverted around introverts without knowing, so when she leans into jisung it’s a bond from there

she loves playing with his rings and stealing them- at some point she replaces them with toy rings and jisung wears them proudly

she demands to have matching jewelry with jisung. earrings and bracelets, the three of you match

jisung rots in bed a lot, so the two of that do it together if she crashes over

skincare, skincare- she loves spa days so the members aren’t surprised when a picture of the three of you with face masks and a headband pops up in their gc

if she notices jisung is anxious or simply not mentally there, she goes quiet and stays by his side for emotional support

every time she wins something at school like a certification or a good grade she shows it off to jisung. you love seeing him smile and praise her

sometimes she falls asleep after asking jisung to sing for her— it’s adorable

— LEE FELIX

ack- you fell in love with him all over again after he easily chats up lilly.

“he’s pretty,” she says to his face and you laugh at how red felix goes

felix is SUPER caring, he’s always watching out for her, holding her hand when walking and talking to her attentively

the two of them LOVE games so you’d often find them playing cards or video games

they’re both competitive so if you play with them you’ll be getting yelled at

if felix does a certain style with his hair she wants it too (for example if he has braids she wants braids)

you often find them talking about the most randomest things and laughing

spa days happen here too, and the three of you watch movies a lot

if she has problems with homework he’ll do everything possible to help

tiktoks. they two of them always record videos and are updated with the trends, sometimes they drag you along to do them

fashion icons too.

she sometimes gives him ideas on his outfits and he immediately tells his stylist to make it happen somehow

they do little mukkbangs together, you love receiving videos of them doing things together

felix always gets her flowers and you adore seeing that

DO NOT KISS FELIX before her. she’s jealous. felix is hers now.

— KIM SEUNGMIN

seungmin is AWKWARD the first few weeks.

still, he makes a visible effort for you.

he naturally does some really random things or sounds and she ends up giggling. boom.

you probably should’ve expected that they’d roast you

and bully you

and gang up against you- “I GET IT!” you’d exasperate after their brutal comments over a tiny mistake. “do you?” seungmin grins. “yeah do you?” mina mimics.

not only does she not spare your pockets but seungmin doesn’t either. “seungminnie i want ice cream.” “let’s go get it.” “do we have money?” “yeah,” and he takes your wallet before you even know what’s happening.

movie dates! the three of you always go out to watch a movie. he spoils her with popcorn bucket.

seungmin doesn’t really do affection but mina loves hugs so she’s always hugging his arm if they’re laying down or holding his pinky while walking

she loves being in the studio when he’s recording, she enjoys his voice

they often do karaoke nights, where even some members take apart of. the best memories!

seungmin loves reading to her. she always comes with a book for bedtime stories and if he’s not with her then she demands you call him so he can read to her

the two of them are always in comfortable silence and it’s something you love to see— them getting along so well

they strive to annoy you sometimes though, literally coming to your studio to distract you

if you have a concert and he has the freedom to go to it, best believe he and minnie are at there and screaming/cheering

— YANG JEONGIN

oh he was ready

he had every scenario imaginable set. he greeted him and even brought a gift!

“- i like him,” jacob giggles as he hugs the stuffed dinasour

whatever obsession your kid is into, best believe jeongin shares that with him.

“you’ll spoil him,” you huff. “good. someone has to do it.” he’d argue.

yang jeongin is a menace and your kid has picked up on it now.

you cannot go a day without being bullied

it’s okay though, you know how to attack

also spa days!! jeongin has a thorough face routine and jacob was super shy to ask to join in, but you found your kid giggling while jeongin gentle washed his face

jeongin loves going out for peaceful walks, so the two of you would take jacob to the park and then go to a nice cafe or restaurant after

jacob loves being on jeongin, sitting in his lap while eating or sleeping on him while at home

the two of them just HAVE to try out new food items every time you go out, you have to suffer with the uncertainty of whether you’ll be forced to eat something delicious or nasty

selfies!! always taking cute family selfies

jeongin loves making sure jacob is happy and comfortable, almost always finding out fun activities to do

both of them get disgusted if you kiss jeongin… you never win

[coldshrugs]

ffxivwrite - prompt 6: halcyon

characters: mikoto jinba x io laithe (wol) word count: 1412 rating: mature; sensual/sexual content summary: in their downtime between unearthing ivalician myth, io and mikoto spend an evening at kugane's hot spring.

“Is this the way it’s done?” Io looks up from the middle of the Hot Spring, large eyes seeking Mikoto’s reassurance that she is preparing their rice wine bath correctly.

Kugane’s crimson sunset catches on the rivulet of sake flowing from the bottle Io holds. The light is in her hair too, and on her skin, kissing her edges orange and red as she kneels in the water. As etiquette decrees, Io’s thin gauze wrap hangs from a pillar at the water’s edge—clothing is not allowed in the baths.

Mikoto hangs her wrap with Io’s and wades into the comfortably warm water, carrying two porcelain cups and her own bottle of sake. Hells if she knows the right way to pour it, she’s never been here either.

“It seems an appropriate technique. At least, I can think of no better way.”

Io’s laugh is light as she empties the bottle into the shallow, private pool. The steam takes on a soft aroma, honeysuckle and pear, and perhaps the proprietor was onto something when he raved about how relaxing these baths could be. Io tugs at her wrist. “Come on, sit. It’s been a long day in an even longer week. We deserve a break, and I want to hear everything you know about my friends before their accolades. And learn more about you too?”

Mikoto’s thighs break the water with a little splash. She doesn’t look at the droplets sprayed on Io’s arms. That would be inappropriate, since their acquaintanceship was founded on a professional, academic basis. And she certainly doesn’t notice the ones on her chest, collecting into tiny streams that run south until they drop from her—

“Shall I fill the cups?!” Mikoto quickly arranges the small cups on the stone lining the pool's edge, pouring each to the brim. “I can assure you, on the subject of your friends, I was little more than a hanger-on. My time at the Studium was less than exciting, which is why I am venturing farther afield for research that sparks my interest.”

Io takes up a cup. “While I’ve no formal education, I understand the desire to expand one’s horizons. Quite intimately, in fact. To venturing farther afield?”

Mikoto mirrors her, unable to stop the pull of an embarrassingly obvious smile. It must be the joyful click of their toast, that’s all. She pays no mind to the point their knees meet beneath the water. “To venturing farther afield.”

Warmed by the steam, the sake is full, sweet, and easy to sip. The flavor leaves her tongue quickly after each pull, and it is not long before they are each pouring a second cup as their conversation leaves Sharlayan, and a third as they land on relatives. They take that one as an ill-advised shot, agreeing that Kugane is a terrible place to discuss sisterhood.

It’s true these last few weeks have been tiresome. Traveling to Dalmasca, close calls in Rabanastre, and all the documentation in between. That is to say nothing of the familial melodrama of their hosts. Alma suggested they take the weekend to explore Kugane like the average tourist, even going so far as to book their lodging at the Bokaisen Inn. Mikoto thought Io’s quick acceptance was out of politeness, but she’d been in decent spirits as they took in a local theater show and toured the castle gardens yesterday. They spent today combing the markets for obscure trinkets, with Io occasionally dragging her to the next stall by the hand, an adorable rush of intrigue lighting up her face. On their way back to their rooms, Amaji, the proprietor of the Bokaisen Hot Springs, convinced them to have a bath.

When in Kugane…

Io readjusts her legs with another splash. She leans against the low stone, so close to Mikoto that Io’s leg almost overlaps her own. Ripples dampen new bits of their skin, fresh places for the last sliver of sunlight to hang on. Maybe she is imagining Io studying the molten shine on her scales, her expression filling with a soft kind of awe.

Mikoto inhales, taking this opportunity to let her gaze linger on Io’s freckled form as well. There is so much of her; lean arms and long legs, shoulders set in an effortless elegance, and (Mikoto sucks in her bottom lip) the darkened peaks of her exposed chest, stiffened by the evening air. The image flashes in her mind—her tongue on Io’s skin. Would she taste of soft, ripe fruit, like the sake they drink, or the warm water in which they soak?

Best not to let her mind wander to what is under the water…

Their eyes lock through the thin steam. Mikoto’s mouth goes dry when Io’s lips lift on one side.

“Apologies. The wine has made me rude enough to stare.”

“Well…” Mikoto joins Io in leaning on the stone. Would moving closer be unwelcome? “If you are rude then my sense of decorum is truly lost. It’s difficult to keep up formalities in the state we currently find ourselves.”

Io reaches for the bottle between them and pours the next round. “Then we should simply forget the formalities, no? I would prefer to think of us as friends after our adventure, and surely there are more to come.”

She pauses, and there is something strained in it. Despite her playful delivery, the words are not as light as they sound. “If I may be frank, after Ala Mhigo, I could use a friend’s distraction right now.”

She presses the porcelain cup into Mikoto’s hand. There is no room for guessing when Io’s fingers linger on hers longer than necessary. She traces a winding path over Mikoto’s wrist, delicately gliding along the sensitive edge of her scales.

Mikoto's takes a long, final sip, savoring of the flavor as she looks over Io once more. Io watches her drink, lips parting slightly at the sight, and Mikoto cannot believe her luck. She feels certain about her next action.

The cup falls against stone and she shifts onto her knees. Like this, she is a few ilms taller than Io. She can easily cradle her cheek, or push the curtain of half-wet hair over her shoulder, or tilt her chin up, firmly, with her palm. She can do all these things from this angle, and Io melts at the touch. Mikoto replies, “A quick evaluation tells me you are already distracted, Io.”

“Perhaps,” Io whispers. She moves forward, one hand on Mikoto’s waist. They are slightly misaligned with Mikoto kneeling over a still-seated Io, but their bodies are pressed close now, skin to wet skin, and she learns Io’s hands roam easily.

Mikoto leans down. Io’s lips part again, wider this time, wanting. Mikoto teases them with hers, the lightest brush, and Io's reaction sends her head spinning. The quiet moan, her hands dipping past Mikoto’s hips, trying to pull her closer by her rear.

“A mutual distraction then. Between friends.”

Mikoto meets her open mouth. It might be Mikoto, or perhaps it's only this brand of touch, but Io is hungry for her. The steam around them is no match for how their kiss burns. Desperate, messy, but neither cares. The kiss travels. Mikoto pushes Io back against the stone and works down her neck, kisses across her clavicle and, finally, drags her tongue across the tight point of her nipple. Sweetwater and salt—the answer to her earlier query. Mikoto takes it into her mouth fully, driven by the sounds Io tries not to make, then gives the other side of her chest equal treatment. Her natural inclination is to move further down, but she realizes they are in water and pauses.

A real kiss now, Io’s full lips demanding hers.

Then Mikoto asks, “Shall we go to your room, or mine?”

...

“‘oto? …you alright, Mikoto?”

She hears her name, though her sense of recognition is hazy. It takes a second or two to blink away the fog and return to the present.

To Io kneeling in the Hot Spring, holding a half-poured bottle of sake. 

“Is this the way it’s done?” Dark, wide eyes that she has already witnessed flutter shut at touches she will make tonight. 

Sometimes she hates her version of this “gift.” Generally speaking, she would rather her Echo function in the same manner as Io’s: catching glimpses of the past, unburdened by and unafraid of the future.

Tonight, however, Mikoto is grateful for the certainty.

[fan-fantasies]

Prompt 60 with Sihtric Pls ☺️

THIS IS PROBABLY NOT WHAT YOU WANTED AT ALL IM SO SORRY

prompt #60 with Sihtric : I may be bleeding but I won’t stop until you’re taken down

Warnings: mention of violence

“Lord, please tell them to surrender!” Sihtric called to Uhtred. Uhtred just shrugged in defeat, watching the wild woman in front of him.

“Again!” You shouted breathlessly.

“Please take a break,” Osferth begged.

You ignored the men and took your fighting stance again. Sihtric sighed and readied his blade.

“Can we at least switch to-“ you cut him off with a swing of your sword. He blocked it with relative ease and allowed you to continue to attack him. He could tell you were tired but you refused to give up.

Sihtric countered your attack with his own and you ended up toppling over and earning a gash on your arm.

“Enough! That is enough for today,” Uhtred finally called.

“No! I may be bleeding from your blade, but I will not stop until he is on his ass. I must learn!” You growled, standing back on your feet.

“What a pain in the arse!” Finan sighed as he walked away, not wanting to witness your stubbornness any longer.

“You can learn tomorrow. Go rest and clean your wounds,” Uhtred told you. You knew by the tone in his voice that he was serious.

“Why do you insist upon torturing yourself?” Sihtric asked once everyone else had left.

“I must learn to protect myself,” you told him.

The men found you not that long ago on the outskirts of your burning village. You lost everyone you’d ever known in no more than a few moments.

“You have us to protect you now,” he said. You looked at him with a grateful smile but the sadness was evident in your eyes.

“That may be true, but I cannot rely on you forever. I may lose you all as I did before.”

Sihtric closed the distance between you and grabbed your face gently so you were looking him in the eyes.

“You will not lose us. I swear my sword to you and promise that I will protect you for the rest of your days. I have become most fond of you and I fear that losing you would be my demise. So with knowing that may you rest easy that you will not lose me.”

His words made your heart swell and he rendered you speechless. You did all you could think to do which was give him a quick and sweet peck on the lips.

“Do not think this means I will take it easy on you tomorrow in training,” you chuckled.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he sighed happily before kissing you once again.

[jamesphillimoresumbrella]

So. Coming back from bringing my aunt to visit relatives in South Carolina, I had no milk in the fridge (on purpose because I hadn't wanted to leave anything behind that might spoil) and was in desperate need of coffee. And I need milk in my coffee.

I did, however, have tins of milk in the cupboard. But, owing to an unfortunate combination of circumstances in the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad month of June, I had no can opener. My choice would have been evaporated milk, but it did not have the easy-open, pull-tab top. The condensed milk did.

I need milk in my coffee, but--and this was something of a surprise to me when I discovered that it could be done, coming from a place where 3-in-1 coffee sachets and instant coffee with spoonfuls of sugar is Just How It's Done*--I do not do sugar. However, when other people do condensed milk in coffee, it's delightful (witness barako condensada and Vietnamese coffee). And I thought to myself how bad can it be?

Answer: not bad at all, actually. It's...it's all right.

I say this in the tones of Arthur Shappey describing something as "all right" rather than "brilliant". I might have been better off bringing the coffee into work and grabbing a few little buckets of creamer from the break room (I know no moderation when it comes to milk in my coffee, and dread the day when my system finally goes "nope, you can't have dairy anymore").

So I had an open can of condensed milk that I didn't know how to use, and the next logical step was, of course, to see if I could make bread with it.

(This makes sense. To me, at least.)

I could. I found a recipe. I tried it. And it looked delightful.

"Looked" is the key word here.

I know where I went wrong. It was in trying to frantically multitask before I had to make myself get some sleep before going in to work and blindly trusting the directions instead of seeing how they adapted to the kitchen I'm not yet entirely used to. I ended up with an externally lovely loaf with an unsalvageable gooey interior maybe 2 slices in from the end.

Devastating,

So I ended up not just not having milk, but also not having a fresh loaf of bread. Not that I had a fresh loaf of bread to start with, but the absence of it was more keenly felt. (It was the potential of the fresh loaf of bread, you see.)

I did, however, have a very stale loaf from eons past in the fridge, which was in surprisingly good shape. The next logical thing then was to find a good recipe for bread pudding. Which I did. Because I am a rational human bean, and it made sense to me at the time.

The bread pudding turned out considerably better than the Tragedy of the Condensed Milk Loaf.

I'm still working on that--working on consuming that, I should say--but since I did eventually go and get the milk, I now have milk that I'm trying to use up (and a glass bottle with a $2 deposit that rather surprised me) so I am once again looking for recipes that aren't the one for the milk loaf that I usually fall back on. Because variety is the spice of life and I am in need of some low-key excitement.

This has been the long and bread-y ramble no one asked for.

*I would like to thank "The Hounds of Baskerville" and John Watson's "I don't take sugar" for this revelation. Mind was blown when I tried coffee that way and learned that sweetness wasn't compulsary.

[golden--doodler]

Bob's Burgers AU

This is basically a repost from an Ask I did on @drawthething's Tumblr (which you should definitely check out, like, yesterday, because it's amazing and everything I need in life). I'll also be adding a couple ideas or so I didn't put the original Ask which I thought of later:

Basically, the idea for this AU is that, for whatever reason, Linda was able to hear up until around the age of seventeen or so before going deaf, and now relies (mostly) on hearing aids, sign language, and lip-reading. I don't know why I thought of Linda specifically, maybe it's because she's such a free spirit and loves singing so much, my brain thought it would be an interesting change. Here are some headcanons I have:

--Bob is even more of a partner of the year because once he learned Linda was deaf, he made a HUGE effort to learn sign language just for her. He's not perfect, but dang it, he tries so freaking hard for her. Whenever she got even a little down on herself about this part of herself, he reminded her how much he loved her and this part of herself. This was an added reason why she wanted to help with the restaurant so badly because he already made such an effort to communicate with her on her level, and was so kind to her about all of this, so she wanted to assist him with his dream. Once, he tried signing her name, and ended up making a mistake with it (it wasn't a huge mistake, he just ended up making her name shorter, which is how he got the nickname "Lin" for her-- she ended up loving the mistake so much she wanted him to keep using that sign for her name, which he still does to this day).

--Mr. Fischoeder just casually knows sign language, and was very casual about Linda being deaf (he was just like "oh, cool, that makes sense, you're not getting discounted on the rent though") and is actually quite enthusiastic about using sign language in front of Linda, because he's just like that, it's honestly a little sweet (though he's strangely averse to explaining the reasons why. Maybe he learned for illegal reasons somehow...).

--Linda still enjoys singing every once in a while but doesn't do it as often as she does in the show. Whenever she does, she usually does it alone, but whenever someone hears her (especially Bob) she gets complimented. She still has a relatively nice voice.

--Speaking of her voice, she's practiced endlessly to have her voice be as clear as a deaf person's can be (because she knows how much easier it is to understand people when their voice is clear, she wants to make sure hers is clear for others), so she still sounds pretty similar to how she does in the show, with her even retaining her New Jersey accent. Everyone, or at least most people, has definitely noticed how clear and usually easy to understand the tone of her voice is. This was definitely helped by the fact she used to be able to hear in her youth.

--During the events of the movie, Grover thought Linda's hearing aids were some sort of device she could use to call for help, so like her and Bob's old cell phones, he grabbed ahold of them and put them in the ocean. He was shocked when he found out they were her hearing aids at first but ultimately didn't care because he figured they were going to perish in the submarine anyway, so it didn't matter. Because of this, at the end of the movie, Mr. Fischoeder not only helps pay for the bank but also helps get Linda some new hearing aids, which actually work slightly better than her old ones, which she's ecstatic about.

--Teddy knows some sign language! He's definitely not fluent, but he does know an impressive amount for some reason I haven't come up with yet and loves to show off his skills for Linda. Occasionally, Linda will actually catch Teddy and Bob having a conversation or two in sign language, even when they think she's not around. She finds it hilarious, and also surprisingly sweet.

--Kristen Schaal has stated she thinks a "secret talent" Louise has is picking up new languages really fast, so Louise probably knows the most sign language out of her family, besides Bob. Gene barely knows any, and hardly ever uses it, and Tina definitely tries the hardest with it and studies it the most, but it's come the most naturally to Louise. Whenever she uses it in front of Linda, though, Linda gets all excited and sometimes teary-eyed, which embarrasses her. Secretly, though, she likes how much Linda appreciates her knowledge of sign language.

--Felix Fischoeder doesn't know sign language but pretended he did when he learned that Linda's deaf, to everyone's annoyance.

--Jimmy Pesto once made some sort of comment about Linda being deaf, whether he was intentionally trying to be rude or not, and that was probably the moment when Bob knew he hated Jimmy Pesto.

--During the episode in which Bob and Linda have their "snoring contest" (I think it's Season 8, Episode 12), Bob wonders if Linda is even able to hear their snoring, especially because she has to take her hearing aids out to sleep. She commented that while she mostly can't, she can actually hear it faintly, because of how loud it is. She also can very much feel the vibrations of his snoring specifically, which she says is very comforting for her. He didn't expect to find that so touching, but he does.

--There was one occasion in which a slightly younger Gene tried performing one of his songs for the entire family, only to remember Linda's deafness. Bob actually stepped in and tried his best to translate the song into sign language, and Linda, of course, loved it. Just another reminder for her why she loves her family.

--One time, Tina got an ear infection, and this caused her some temporary hearing loss (the inspiration for this came because the same thing happened to me once, but my hearing came back relatively quickly) and this allowed her to walk in Linda's shoes for a day, and it gave her a new perspective on life and a new appreciation for Linda.

--This doesn't have to do with the actual AU, but if you want to see a bit of the inspiration I got for this AU, definitely check out the deaf, Queer YouTuber Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, because she's amazing and deserves all the love. Her channel might be where I do some of my research for this AU.

--One time Bob was watching something on TV at night while the kids were asleep and this piqued her curiosity a ton. However, her hearing aid's batteries ended up dying, and she couldn't understand what was going on. But she didn't want to stop his enjoyment of the movie, so she didn't say anything until after. When he learned about this, he immediately got her new batteries and opted to tell her everything that happened in the movie while snuggling in bed.

--During the events of the song "Bad Things are Bad" in "Wharf Horse, Part 2" at the end of Season 4, Tammy, Zeke, Jimmy Jr., Rudy, plus all the other kids who're talking to Linda, Gene, and Louise hold up signs while they're talking with the words they're saying written on them (such as "maybe you'll find him inside of this vase"). This is because Tina and Louise are the only ones there who even mildly know sign language (besides Linda, of course), so they wanted to make sure Linda understood what they were talking about, especially with how dire the situation was. She did appreciate the gesture.

--One of Bob's wedding vows (taken directly from Jessica Kellgren-Fozard's wedding vows) was that despite Linda being deaf, he felt she was the first person who ever really listened to him/understood him in a meaningful way.

--Gayle is quite sensitive/astute to Linda's deafness, being her sister and all, and having experienced Linda losing her hearing in the first place, but doesn't really know any sign language. She doesn't pretend to know it like Felix, but she does try extremely hard, to a kind of annoying degree (she uses weird hand gestures sometimes). Bob has tried to teach her, but she's kind of impossible to teach. Because of all this, they usually communicate through the written word, which is much easier for Gayle. That, and Linda just tries very hard to understand her. Bob says on a regular basis that if he were her, he'd just ignore Gayle most of the time. Linda thinks this is a joke. It is not.

--As is common knowledge, Bob has a "thick, luxurious" mustache that Linda loves. However, facial hair does make lip-reading basically impossible. Despite this, though, Linda still refuses to let Bob get rid of it, just because of her love for it and its Tom Selleckianness. They're still able to get by because Linda actually understands really low tones much better than higher-pitched tones, and Bob's voice is notoriously extremely deep. Plus, as stated earlier, it does also help that he's the most adept at sign language in the family besides her.

--Gloria and Al are even more terrible than in canon. Well, mostly Gloria. For whatever reason, Gloria keeps forgetting, or just straight-up denying, that Linda's deaf (saying things like "oh, you're still saying she's deaf, we're still doing that, okay"). Bob has questioned this line of thinking on multiple occasions, and when Linda wasn't around to hear, he straight-up tried to call Gloria out on it, saying it was gaslighting. This conversation didn't go anywhere, though. He's also questioned the fact that this line of thinking could even exist, wondering how Linda got her first pair of hearing aids in the first place if her own mother keeps denying her deafness (the answer is, Linda got them herself with Gayle. Also, Gloria didn't exactly deny it back then, but does in the present for whatever reason).

--It's revealed in the Season 11 Episode "The Terminalator II: Terminals of Endearment" that Linda's dad, Al, uses hearing aids like Linda, but he just has them because he's old. In the episode, I imagine Bob making a comment about how being around Al made him appreciate Linda even more because he insists Al is somehow way more difficult to deal with when it comes to his hearing loss than she ever was.

--Linda has gone through quite a few pairs of hearing aids, and they're not cheap, so that was pretty hard to deal with. Ironically, all of her kids had a part to play in her losing a few pairs. When Tina was a toddler and teething, she ruined a pair by sucking on them. When Gene was young, he used them as a pair of drumsticks with pots and pans, ruining them. When Louise was young, she pretended she was Godzilla and used Linda's hearing aids as a stand-in for helpless citizens, and crushed them with her little toddler foot (Linda didn't have them in on all of these occasions because she was either napping or taking a shower).

--Linda learned how to sign the entirety of "I Love U So Much (It's Scary)" by Boyz 4 Now. during the events of "The Hauntening" in Season 6, to get into the Halloween spirit. Tina immediately insisted Linda teach her how. Louise also eventually admitted she wanted to learn, especially because she was in a good mood after the family put in so much effort to scare her on Halloween for the first time. In fact, everyone was kind of impressed she was able to learn how to sign the entire song. Of course, when Linda began teaching them, Louise still vehemently denied her celebrity crush on Boo Boo.

--As mentioned before, Gene doesn't really know sign language, and basically never uses it. However, he does know one phrase: "More cookie, please" (this was just taken directly from the "Hawkeye" show but it's very fitting for Gene). He still uses this one phrase from time to time once the occasion calls for it. Linda finds it very endearing.

That's all I can think of for now, this is getting way too long already (I gave away so many secrets for the actual fic but its fine shhhhhhh). Hope this was at least mildly enjoyable

[an-android-in-a-tutu]

I love your AU ideas so much. The weird high school serial killer romance one... *chef's kiss*

HELLO thank you so much you're very sweet.

So I have many thoughts very few concrete details about this au. You're absolutely right about Dean being weirdly flattered about his stalker guy that's the whole reason things are able to continue and kind of escalate after he learns about Cas. My first idea for this AU was mostly just kicking around ideas for the conversation where Cas offers to murder Dean's abusive ex or whomstever, but the more I thought about it the more ideas I had for like a more gradual progression.

I think Dean would probably still have a really unstable childhood, but at the time of the fic he's at least relatively settled in one place, I think he moved to an entirely new city right before Cas found him, either leaving behind a not great situation or at least after some kind of life disruption so he's kind of isolated and off balance. Cas for his part like, changes his habits and patterns a lot within the city he lives, but he doesn't leave it much, and since his previous obsessions were all relatively short lived, he never felt the need to uproot himself if they moved somewhere. If Dean left at this point he would follow him though, he's aware that he's in it for the long haul.

Anyway, one of the ideas that came to me was like. The first actual contact Dean and Cas have is something Dean doesn't remember because he was shitfaced drunk. Depending on how the like main threat takes shape this could be an early incident hinting that Dean is being targeted by someone, like Cas might intervene to keep a stranger from taking a thoroughly incapacitated Dean out of the bar, who may simply be very drunk or may have been drugged, using information he gained by being an actual stalker to prove he knows Dean and can be trusted with him. Or alternatively since Dean isn't in the greatest emotional state at the start of this journey it could just be regular old recklessness that has Dean stumbling out of a bar well on his way to blacking out and right into the arms of his stalker. Maybe one happens and then the other, since I think this is an incident that gets repeated a few times.

Anyway, I digress. Cas finds Dean in a vulnerable situation and breaks his rules about no contact to take him home, because Dean is too far gone to remember him anyway, and he's concerned about what will happen to Dean if he doesn't. Of course he also has reason to be concerned about what he will do to Dean once he gets him in his car, because the temptation to take Dean home and disappear him from the outside world is very real. Especially because he's been following Dean long enough to know that he has very few outside connections and no one will be looking for him for quite some time. This is one reason why it'd be better to have Cas take him home without confrontation the first time, the temptation would be even greater if Cas, for example, picked Dean up half conscious in an alley behind a bar and knew for a fact that no one had seen them together. So he spends the entire car ride debating and wrestling with himself and imagining what he could do to Dean and thinking about how easy it would be, and then jerks out of the fantasy when he realizes he's stopped the car and that he's already taken them to Dean's apartment on autopilot. And he sits in the car for a little while resisting the urge to start the car again and leave before almost robotically forcing himself to take Dean inside.

At this point the smart thing to do would be to dump Dean on the couch and let him believe he made his own way home, but Cas can't resist taking care of him a little, so he cleans him up and takes off his shoes and jeans and tucks him into bed, plugs in his phone and leaves him a glass of water and some pain killers on the bedside table for the next morning. Takes the time to wander the apartment a little and maybe absentmindedly tidies as he goes, rather than being careful to leave things in their place as he usually is.

So when Dean wakes up the next morning he only has hazy half memories of the journey home, an impression of Cas' hands and his voice. And he's definitely confused because he's pretty fucking sure he didn't know the guy, and doesn't recall ever telling him his address, or even his name for that matter, but he's also completely unharmed and left with the warm fuzzy fragmented memories of being gently cared for, so he's left more curious than he is unsettled.

Which is like, sort of the catalyst to the shift in its own way, Dean talks about this with a newish friend/acquaintance/work colleague and he starts jokingly calling Cas his guardian angel, and Cas is able to see that Dean despite being aware of his presence, isn't frightened of him yet. So the next time Dean ends up in a vulnerable position and has to be taken home, he's even more obvious about it. Like I have this image in my mind of Dean at some point, maybe the third or fourth time something like this happens, he wakes up and shuffles into the kitchen and there's a still-warm breakfast waiting for him in an empty apartment. Cause Cas has literally just left.

And as time goes on and Dean starts doing a bit better, making friends and settling into the city, bolstered by his "guardian angel" that he knows rationally he should probably be afraid of but has grown too attached to because they were the only friendly presence he had in some difficult months, he stops drinking quite as recklessly and has fewer reasons for Cas to step in and help him, so Cas starts finding other reasons to break into Dean's apartment and do things for him, or show up in the night to spend time being close to him. How much of this is aware of and what mix of anxiety vs bizarre comfort he takes from it could go a couple of ways, but he definitely is aware of Cas on some level even if he's not really letting himself investigate it too much.

With that set up I think it would make for a good idea if Dean getting drugged was the culmination of this build up actually, when Dean hasn't had to be taken home in months, and there have already been hints that he might be in some kind of trouble, and Cas stepping in to help Dean doesn't just risk revealing himself to Dean but puts him on the radar of whoever is out to get him as well. That would be the first time Dean doesn't wake up alone after one of these incidents, and the first time he properly meets Cas, and has the surreal experience of sitting on his couch while a guy he doesn't know anxiously fusses around his kitchen making him tea or coffee, already familiar with where everything is because he's been in the apartment dozens of times without Dean being aware of it...

As you can see it's all very loose and I'm making it up as I go but that's the vibe. Dean is lonely enough to find Cas' presence a bizarre comfort and then I think when the do meet face to face and he gets to experience the full force of Cas' obsession with him he finds it kind of intoxicating. Cas is also very undemanding company, since he is often just content to watch Dean whatever he's doing, and like while I think being confronted with Cas as an actual person rather than a nebulous idea of a guardian angel he could pretend was made up is initially frightening as he finally starts asking what Cas wants from him, when the answer to that question pretty consistently turns out to be nothing he relaxes into it and gets to enjoy being the absolute center of someone's world.

[greentrickster]

I found your TSP AA crossover au on Ao3 and can I just say, wow!!

now, I'm not that far into the whole AA game series but! How is Apollo feeling about The Narrator and Stanley?

Thank-you so much! ^U^ As for Apollo, he finds them... strange. Stanley? He's okay enough - relatively normal guy, maybe a little... too normal in some way Apollo can't quite put his finger on, but a decent bloke. A chap, if you will. Starts feeling more comfortably normal once Athena gets that bucket for him, a little layer of constant tension Stanley'd been carrying up until that point goes away, which Apollo hadn't realized he'd been picking up on until it leaves due to it just being always there.

Well, he does seem a little... odd in his reactions to certain things. Sometimes he seems to just... forget stuff. Like that you have to open a door before you go through it, or that his friend Narrator has a different walking speed than him even though they've obviously known each other for years (long enough that matching walking speeds should be a subconscious action for both of them). And then, when he does remember, he gets... excited? Apollo watched him go in and out of the Agency seventeen times in a row once, apparently just so he could open and close the door. Who does that? What's so fun about opening and closing a door? (Not much, unless you haven't gotten to do it yourself for many many the end is nevers.) Not to mention that Stanley forgets to make sure the Narrator's looking at him half the time when he signs - both of them forget that for some reason. The Narrator makes a certain amount of sense for this to be a thing with, but like... why would the guy using ASL forget that people need to be looking at him in order to understand what he's signing? ...and why do they know ASL when they're both British? (Answer: because the Narrator wanted that sweet, sweet American market approval, so he skewed certain things American to curry favour, like the attention-craver he is.)

And all that's weird, yes, but also could probably be explained away if asked. Like, Stanley's selectively mute, maybe heavy reliance on sign language is a newer situation for him, and he and the Narrator learned ASL because they were living in America at the time so it made sense to learn that version. And maybe the door thing is a stim? Apollo doesn't know, and he's not about to go poking into someone's physical and mental health history for no reason when they barely know each other. Stanley’s kind of weird, but no more so than any of the weirdos they meet in this job.

Now, the Narrator on the other hand? He rubs Apollo the wrong way, and he’s not even entirely sure why. It’s hard to get a read on him, Apollo’s getting way better at using his natural abilities to read people and detect lies, but it... doesn’t quite work with the Narrator? Or, at least, not properly/consistently - he gives off a lot of false positives and negatives. Apollo avoids talking to him unless he needs to as a result.

What Apollo doesn’t know/can’t properly understand is that the reason this is happening with the Narrator is partially because some of the outlandish, unbelievable things he says are genuinely true (like about creating the Parable and Stanley, and not being used to having a physical form), and part of it’s because the Narrator isn’t used to having a physical form. He (luckily) has all the inherent motor skills and spacial awarenesses he needs to function in it properly, but he still isn’t used to the blasted thing. Touch is such a strange sensation to him, and his tells are still developing because he hasn’t had a body long enough for them to develop into automatic muscle memory or anything of the like. Athena, in contrast, has a very easy time reading the Narrator, because his emotions come through loud and clear, but his body language is still developing, and that gives Apollo (and Trucy) pause from time to time, due to the dissonance of it.

Thanks for the ask!

[simowis]

Monthly nonsense：

I got used to draw prothean and forget how to draw human，nooooo

he is refusing me again and again in my head canon...

if no official update , 5 years seem to be the maximum time to love a character, with production. I wonder how many I can give him.And I wish I will love him longer.

Love him more and more day by day.

Really like the smile Javik I drew and make it my screen wallpaper. So sweet and shine. If he’s not sculpted by the war…

I have so many word to say to him

too much need to read

how many non-sex javik fanfic exist??

I understand why I love him so much now, I realize I can never ignore him, for he is an Asian, obviously, the way he endure, his softness and warmth are Asian, silence and not easy to find. And his final end, now I understand more about his mission success with glory to end his life to be. It still hurt me,but now I know this.Good day everyday Javik, you are the best.

Starving, want more prothean related or just Javik fanfics, no-sex content will be better. I want to know more about him in other’s opinion.

I'm not good at coloring, now I need to study this, and photoshop maybe later. So much need to learn, so much need to read, so much need to think, because of him.

Just wanna hug him and tell him everything will be fine though not possible at all, and accept his memory and feeling deep inside

I found Javik laughing more often than I thought he would. As long as you count the corners of his lips grinning upwards when he speaks as smiling. He occasionally can't help himself.

I can only be relieved when he gets a good ending.

I guess t'sovik advocates, maybe their Shepard has another love interest; maybe they prefer liara and want her to be happy without Shepard? At least for them, Javik is not the relatively important character, right?

Helpless and frustrated to realise that I have to portray javik and the other prothean in a human perspective, and that even though I try to empathise with the prothean as much as I can, ultimately I have to make it comprehensible to the readers, and the readers are human.

These days when I'm reading, I always have a prothean in my head. "How would these things happen in their society?" "How would they think about all this?" "Would these things be problems for them?" "What would they think of our culture?" It's like one person in two roles, double the mental energy drain, but pleasurable.

Me: Try to use five fingers together as three to experience the daily life of a prothean.

Still, even among those who loved him, no one was seen to have actually given him a happy ending. It has to be me, only I can do it ……

ficbook has many fanfic about Javik! oh my...

Most of the Javik fanfic in Russian is full of sadness and makes me depressed. And AO3 is all sex… Can't say which one is even worse, there are very accurately written novels in both of them. But with Javik, none of the novels give Javik a good ending… I die for that.

A bit want to see a kongfu prothean, emmm

Big eyes, long lashes, he looks beautiful. a side of alien, with a very long back of the head; a side of human, which his head carapace just like a hat, somewhat army cap. His eyebrow, his carapace, under his carapace, or even his eyelid shows his emotions. His eyes, yes, are the windows of his heart. He never faking his emotions, he was just, well, hard to detect. If big eye's eyebrow is hard to detect, his smaller eyes shows much more emotions.

I wonder maybe his cheeks grew less bony if he ate well enough.

Russian fanfic know what sacrifice is, wonderful.

How much lonely he has...

he's beautiful. and i'll make him look even better.

Maybe the part of Tali’s races which Javik said prothean appreciated is their EYES. prothean absolutely love eyes.

So wishing he was standing behind me and gently touched my shoulder with his finger. I turned my head to look at him and was kissed. Because he knows we humans need this, he knows that humans don't understand companionship in the same way as prothean, that human ways takes a closer act to make it work, and so he's willing to do that for me...he passes his stability through the touch, that it's okay, that everything's okay. Once I had calmed down, his cool lips, simply pressed against me again gently, and I wanted to kiss his eyes in that moment. ——that's what in my dream.

After so many javik's head drawing, it seems i finally have a kinda of style in drawing him. A thin, young javik, with many line ignored

Wish I could invite him to my country's local cuisine. Can he eat spice?

I spent a lot of time in shamusyoung's collection of ME critiques, and if the reading time for each one was ten minutes, it took over an hour to read the contents of the review. And that's still the fastest case.

Don’t stare at me with your four beautiful yellow eyes I just can’t handle them…

If copulate with a prothean isn’t like with human, if Ithe mating ritual is a spiritual fusion？

I think he would have been a poet or a philosopher or a scientist in peacetime.

Is it possible that the red outline on javik's chin is a prothean male trait? Female Protheans don't have this?

Could the prothean be a bioweapon bred by the Inusarian to be used against the Reapers?

I can't relieve my feelings without drawing.

[returnofahsoka]

Hi Kam! Happy New Year :-) I found out the other day that I'm giving a paper at a conference this summer in Budapest. I apologise for reaching out like this, but you're the only person from Hungary I know, so I was wondering if you have any advice for someone who's never been to Budapest before. Is there anywhere you'd recommend going (especially for an archaeologist)? I'm not sure if I'll have time (or money) to travel outside the city, but I could possibly do a day trip. Sorry if this is a bother :-) - Em

hello and congrats to the conference!!

sorry it's taken me this long to answer but here we gooo

under readmore because it got long lmao

budapest is a truly great city for sightseeing and most things are within walking/reasonable public transport distance from each other so that's pretty cool

here are some sights i know are really worth checking out

buda vár (buda castle), the old royal castle on the hill, along with the mátyás templom (a church, i think it might be a basilica but i never learned the types of churches and at this point i'm too afraid to ask) and the halászbástya (fishermen's bastion)

idk i just love the sziklatemplom a lot (which is another church but it's inside a cave)

parliament (tbh i have never been inside but i guess it's pretty??)

dohány street synagouge (it's one of the biggest synagouges in the world i believe and it's just. gorgeous.)

városliget (a nice park)

hősök tere (heroes' square) that's like the most touristy place in budapest

idk what else. i'll look it up though until then

now for the archaeology part: museums!!

the hungarian national museum (includes archeological and more modern periods)

aquincum (the old roman town on which budapest was found) along with the budapest history museum (includes archaeology specifically within the city)

the museum of fine arts (fine arts + the ancient egyptian and antique collections)

museum of ethnography (it's opening in the summer so you might not be able to see this one, depending on the date of the conference)

the national gallery is also there (more paintings!)

things to do

walk around the city centre. i love it, especially in the spring/summer. just the streets and the houses and ahhhh i miss living there tbh

bathhouses!! they are super famous and also beautiful, i think one of them's been here since the turkish times

eat eat eat. hungarian food is lovely and very very homely. but there's street food and also sweets and like. they are all amazing. you gotta try them

other things to know

the airport bus is the best way to get to the city from the airport

you can buy a 24 hour or 72 hour public transport pass that lets you use everything within the city (including even boats)

day trips to other cities are pretty easy to do. trains are relatively cheap and the furthest you would have to go is like 3 hours i think?

we're part of the eu but our currency isn't euros. many stores accept them, and if you are paying by card then the currency isn't a problem anyway, but i'd recommend having some money bc you never know if the card reader is working/if they accept your foreign credit card/etc. our currency is huf (hungarian forint)

it's a 50/50 chance if the cashier in a store/restaurant will speak english or not. learn a couple basic phrases in hungarian just in case, and you're good to go (i'd be happy to help with that!)

if you are coming here in the summer, it's gonna be HOT. around 30 celsius at least. so be prepared for that

that's all for now, i'll let you know if i think of something else!!

[drawthething]

First of all, thank you again for replying to my previous BobLin ask, they're the literal best.

This is super random, and I'm seriously not sure at all how I got such a weirdly specific AU idea (I literally have no clue, because I'm not even deaf and am very much a hearing person) but I wanted to share this AU idea/a couple headcanons/get a second opinion on it if it's dumb or not. I already started writing something for it, hopefully, it'll appear on AO3 soon(ish), but I want to write more for it before posting (I actually already have BobLin fic called "Lobster Love" on there if you wanna read the first part of it). Anyway, the AU would basically just be chapters of random, unrelated events, but onto the actual strange AU idea!

Basically, the idea is that, for whatever reason, Linda was able to hear up until around the age of seventeen or so before going deaf, and now relies (mostly) on hearing aids, sign language, and lip-reading. I don't know why I thought of Linda specifically, maybe it's because she's such a free spirit and loves singing so much, my brain thought it would be an interesting change. Here are some headcanons I have:

--Bob is even more of a partner of the year because once he learned Linda was deaf, he made a HUGE effort to learn sign language just for her. He's not perfect, but dang it, he tries so freaking hard for her. Whenever she got even a little down on herself about this part of herself, he reminded her how much he loved her and this part of herself. This was an added reason why she wanted to help with the restaurant so badly because he already made such an effort to communicate with her on her level, and was so kind to her about all of this, so she wanted to assist him with his dream. Once, he tried signing her name, and ended up making a mistake with it (it wasn't a huge mistake, he just ended up making her name shorter, which is how he got the nickname "Lin" for her-- she ended up loving the mistake so much she wanted him to keep using that sign for her name, which he still does to this day).

--Mr. Fischoeder just casually knows sign language, and was very casual about Linda being deaf (he was just like "oh, cool, that makes sense, you're not getting discounted on the rent though") and is actually quite enthusiastic about using sign language in front of Linda, because he's just like that, it's honestly a little sweet (though he's strangely averse to explaining the reasons why. Maybe he learned for illegal reasons somehow...)

--Linda still enjoys singing every once in a while but doesn't do it as often as she does in the show. Whenever she does, she usually does it alone, but whenever someone hears her (especially Bob) she gets complimented. She still has a relatively nice voice

--Speaking of her voice, she's practiced endlessly to have her voice be as clear as a deaf person's can be (because she knows how much easier it is to understand people when their voice is clear, she wants to make sure hers is clear for others), so she still sounds pretty similar to how she does in the show, with her even retaining her New Jersey accent. Everyone, or at least most people, has definitely noticed how clear and usually easy to understand the tone of her voice is. This was definitely helped by the fact she used to be able to hear in her youth

--During the events of the movie, Grover thought Linda's hearing aids were some sort of device she could use to call for help, so like her and Bob's old cell phones, he grabbed ahold of them and put them in the ocean. He was shocked when he found out they were her hearing aids at first but ultimately didn't care because he figured they were going to perish in the submarine anyway, so it didn't matter. Because of this, at the end of the movie, Mr. Fischoeder not only helps pay for the bank but also helps get Linda some new hearing aids, which actually work slightly better than her old ones, which she's ecstatic about.

--Teddy knows some sign language! He's definitely not fluent, but he does know an impressive amount for some reason I haven't come up with yet and loves to show off his skills for Linda. Occasionally, Linda will actually catch Teddy and Bob having a conversation or two in sign language, even when they think she's not around. She finds it hilarious, and also surprisingly sweet.

--Kristen Schaal has stated she thinks a "secret talent" Louise has is picking up new languages really fast, so Louise probably knows the most sign language out of her family, besides Bob. Gene barely knows any, and hardly ever uses it, and Tina definitely tries the hardest with it and studies it the most, but it's come the most naturally to Louise. Whenever she uses it in front of Linda, though, Linda gets all excited and sometimes teary-eyed, which embarrasses her. Secretly, though, she likes how much Linda appreciates her knowledge of sign language.

--Felix Fischoeder doesn't know sign language but pretended he did when he learned that Linda's deaf, to everyone's annoyance.

--Jimmy Pesto once made some sort of comment about Linda being deaf, whether he was intentionally trying to be rude or not, and that was probably the moment when Bob knew he hated Jimmy Pesto.

--During the episode in which Bob and Linda have their "snoring contest" (I think it's Season 8, Episode 12), Bob wonders if Linda is even able to hear their snoring, especially because she has to take her hearing aids out to sleep. She commented that while she mostly can't, she can actually hear it faintly, because of how loud it is. She also can very much feel the vibrations of his snoring specifically, which she says is very comforting for her. He didn't expect to find that so touching, but he does.

--There was one occasion in which a slightly younger Gene tried performing one of his songs for the entire family, only to remember Linda's deafness. Bob actually stepped in and tried his best to translate the song into sign language, and Linda, of course, loved it. Just another reminder for her why she loves her family.

--One time, Tina got an ear infection, and this caused her some temporary hearing loss (the inspiration for this came because the same thing happened to me once, but my hearing came back relatively quickly) and this allowed her to walk in Linda's shoes for a day, and it gave her a new perspective on life and a new appreciation for Linda.

If you, by some miracle, actually like this AU idea, you can feel free to add a couple ideas because I'm always in need of more haha.

I think I have more I didn't list, just because of how much I want to do with this, and this Ask is getting long enough already.

*GASP* why did you spoil all these super cool AU fic ideas for us?! I'm not really enthusiastic about AUs stuff but these are really interesting and screaming to be put on ao3! Bob's obviously still the ultimate partner achievement and I love that little "Lin" nickname backstory and all the kids parts aww. Also Felix pretending to know sign language haha.

See, a world without Linda singing and chanting 24/7 is not a world I want to live in but this is an interesting spin 👀 I hope you'd flesh out all of these great ideas in your upcoming fic ♥️ Thank you for sharing!

[compelledcurator]

Today was like any other day in the manor. Teen angst lined the walls and mutants of all ages co-existed in relative safety with the minor incidents that are bound to happen while new mutants learn to control and develop their power.

Rogue had an early training session in the danger room and really worked up an appetite, lucky for her Remy was cooking up a storm that smelt heavenly. She loaded her plate and with a covered hand she planted a kiss for Remy, one she always found bittersweet. The biology of her mutation was growing ever tiresome, like most she sometimes wished maybe she was human. She could at least feel those around her and not worry about covering every inch of skin, but then Remy would be here and she'd give up the chance of meeting him and she comes right back to being grateful.

Breakfast was interrupted, Beast marched in mumbling something she wasn't really paying attention to and turn the small tv set on. The news anchor, a petite blonde was reading a harrowing tale of mutants on a rampage in the down town area. That caught her attention, along with everyone else.

Beast, Scott, Jean and Storm all gathered to make a plan, with Logan and Morph out on their own adventure, Gambit was needed to support with intel gathering on another situation and everyone else was set to visit Genosha, they were spread pretty thin.

" Ah hell sugar, you know I aint got nothin' goin' on " her southern drawl, Loud but sweet, like honey cuts through the debate. After deciding Rogue would handle this disturbance solo then join the rest of the team everyone set off.

The scene was a little more then chaotic when Rogue arrived. The city was littered with burnt up cars and broken shop fronts. She found the officer in charge and hoped he'd enlighten her as to what or who was causing this damage. So far it seemed no one was hurt, equally though no one had a clear picture of what happened just a rough description of a teenager throwing 'energy balls' at people.

The police seemed to have one street under lock down and was using a speaker to persuade the young mutant out, Rogue stepped in.

" Honey? Now I know it's scary but you'll be alright, names Rogue "

Silence.

" I can take you with me, get the help you need, you'll be safe "

Silence.

The professor made this look so easy but Rogue was getting no where and these officers were a little too twitchy. Rogue moves slowly toward the first shop to peer inside, maybe if the mutant saw her then they'd talk. An explosion goes off a few paces behind and everything seems to ignite. A frustrated growl escapes her throat, now she's got to act without thinking to keep the kid from getting themselves killed, she rushes over to the crowded area to find a young woman at gun point being screamed at. She wasn't a teenager, she looked human.

[angeldcgs]

part of the fun of fucking with people was their eventual reaction once they realized the joke at their expense, but that epiphany had still yet to dawn on henry. ophelia almost preferred it that way, as it meant she was able to continue to toy with him with virtually no end in sight, upping the ante with every visit just to see how much he'd let her get away with. back in school, she'd been fascinated to learn that you could boil a live frog in a pot and they wouldn't jump out so long as the liquid was heated gradually enough. by the time it came to a boil, it would be too late— that's exactly what she planned to do with henry. slowly raising the stakes little by little until he found himself firmly entrenched in her chaos and turmoil with no hope of escape. "but you've already given me so much... i wouldn't want to exploit your kindness," she murmured, offering him a rare glimpse of vulnerability. faux vulnerability, but he wouldn't be able to tell the difference. "i don't really have that many friends. i dunno, i think most people are intimidated by me, or something... so it means a lot to me." which wasn't exactly true. she'd become adept enough at painting on a somewhat friendly persona in order to lure in a new victim whenever she got bored enough to need a little outside entertainment, employing that mix of sour and sweet that some folks seemed to go crazy for. onyx might've been content with living a life of relative isolation out of fear that they'd hurt someone, but ophelia didn't feel alive unless she was causing pain of some sort. it was all too easy to make him squirm, his discomfort evident in his subtle shift in body language as she toyed with his tie, and she had to resist the urge to snicker at his response. even if he wasn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier, she was still trying to maintain an aura of earnestness, lest he finally catch on to her less than genuine intentions. the more innocent she came off, the better, especially with what she was about to request. of course, he'd probably jump through mental hoops to try and strip it of any sort of sexual connotation, so desperate to see ophelia as willing to convert that he'd gloss over it entirely. "that's ok," she shrugged. "you can take 'em off. it's just us here... no need to be shy." with her best attempt at a friendly smile, she batted her lashes, eerily large doe eyes still trained up at him. she only continued to stare at him up close for but a few more moments before allowing him some space, going to sit on the edge of her bathtub to watch him expectantly. part of it was a desire to force him farther outside his comfort zone, getting him to reveal more of himself to her than he was comfortable showing and leaving him in a state of total vulnerability, but there was also a more simple element of curiosity at play. he'd always shown up at her door in those stuffy suits, showing the least amount of bare skin possible. with so much left up to the imagination, she couldn't help but wonder what he looked like underneath; mainly what underwear he wore. tighty-whities, she assumed. and he probably ironed them after every wash... "you're not scared, are you? i can close my eyes if you are."

if she was trying to poke fun at his fanatical and prejudiced ways, a more obvious approach was needed because henry nodded along eagerly, entirely convinced by what she was saying and pleased to see that his message had gotten through. she might have been a sinner but everyone was, that was the entire point of seeking redemption. "it's not greedy to ask for help." he argued, although he could see her point and might have agreed if he hadn't found himself so charmed by her. in their back and forth fight for control over her future, henry had grown to enjoy her company in the way one enjoyed looking after a sick animal, the promise of being a saviour was too good to resist. "if you ever need something, i'm here, okay? we're in this together now." he might not have been thrilled about the task at hand, he couldn't complain too much when he'd be able to go home and brag about his success and finally prove that he wasn't the failure. as he slipped his blazer off, henry raised his head at the sound of ophelia's confusion and furrowed his brows in return before his confusion turned to surprise as she looped her nimble fingers around the end of his tie and tugged, not enough to make him jolt with the gesture yet he still fumbled to keep his composure. it wasn't her fault, he was the one misinterpreting things, his dirty mind was taking her innocent question and turning it into something sinful and unkept. as much as he praised his religion, henry knew he wasn't perfect, not like his parents were and he had a long way to go before he could ever dream of reaching their levels of dedication and discipline. "i- uh, didn't exactly think to bring something else to wear..." he managed an awkward chuckle and began to roll up the sleeves of his freshly ironed shirt. looking good was a key element of selling anything, no one would listen to a slob trying to talk about god's perfection and he'd always made an effort to paint himself in the best light, not only because it made people more susceptible but it made it easier for him to pretend that he was someone with confidence. "they are but- but it's okay, really i- i'll wash them when i'm home." what was the alternative? in his eyes, there wasn't one, not even something mischievous that someone like ophelia could cook up with ease.

[n0bamak1s]

laughing gas - mai zenin x reader

request: “Mai Zenin x Fem S/o, where the s/o gets their wisdom tooth removed and confesses their love to mai acting all sweet and cute, mai then takes care of her s/o and confesses too, we can see mai being her bratty and confident self but when she is with her s/o she just lets her walls down” - @shockfirefly

summary: in the request! (genre: fluff, friends to lovers, slice of life, humor)

warnings: reader is high on anesthesia if that counts as a warning, swearing, mostly just tooth rotting fluff (literally!!)

word count: 2k

a/n: i really enjoyed writing this request! at this point i’m basically just a mai zenin stan account tbh but the requests for her are just so fun to write. i’m almost on summer break so hopefully i’ll be more active bc i have a few ideas i’m excited to write for!!

it seriously took everything in mai’s willpower to not immediately whip out her phone to film your groggy state the moment she stepped into the room where you had just gotten your surgery done. she stifled a laugh at the bandage wrapped around your head, vaguely reminiscent of the one noritoshi had worn following the exchange event. when your eyes flicker over to meet her gaze, you give what she can only assume is your attempt at a smile, but looks more like a dog caught eating its owner’s dinner, with your face all swollen and slightly flushed.

forget that willpower shit.

she shamelessly calls out your name, to which you respond like an eager little kid. “say cheese!” she gives you an uncharacteristically wide grin to signal you to mirror her actions. you seemed to not learn from your previous mistake and attempted to smile back at her, before immediately cutting yourself off with a muffled groan. she hardly bothered with hiding her giggle this time, but at the very least she had the decency to cover her mouth as she cracked up.

with an annoyed pout on your face, you huffed and turned to the nurse standing beside you, who you were apparently to loopy to notice had joined in with mai on giggling at your grogginess. “she’s so mean to me!” you said, though your tone had no real irritation to it.

“it’s just to send to utahime. she wants to make sure your doing alright.” mai lied straight through her teeth, though you seem satisfied enough with that answer as you started to push yourself up from the seat you’d been in. mai quickly rushed to your side, knowing you weren’t sensible enough at the moment to ask for her help. before you could stand up and inevitably wobble over, she looped an arm around your waist and moved your arm so it was slung over her shoulders.

“alright champ, let’s get going.” she tried to remain as nonchalant as possible with the close proximity, but unfortunately for her, you seemed determined to embarrass her as much as possible.

“well at least buy me dinner first, ya casanova!” you said (much louder than necessary, mind you). honestly, it wouldn’t be surprising to mai if you could be heard from the waiting room.

with an over enthusiastic wave from you and an awkward thanks from mai to the nurse, you guys set off on your way.

to be fair to you, it was surprisingly a relatively tame trip to the door, with you focusing on keeping your steps in tune with mai’s. you were too lost in thought to embarrass yourself until you had made it to the waiting room. you had rather innocently pointed out a small curse, which would have been completely harmless had it not actually been an old woman, and had you not spoken with an inappropriately loud voice. the poor old lady who had fallen subject to your anesthesia induced self gave you an agitated glare as mai waved sheepishly in apology. the moment you guys were out the door, you turned back to glance through the glass.

“we’ll get her later, mai!” you patted her on the back with determination, your voice still muffled in a way that made you sound like you belonged on sesame street. “she can’t fool me, stupid curse!”

had it been anyone else, mai would have simply rolled her eyes and tugged you on, but since it was you, she found herself laughing along, a quiet laugh, like the sound of a wind chime in early spring weather. the sound seemed to catch you off guard, causing you to stop in your antics before turning to face her. she paused when she felt your gaze back on her, looking at her like a kid would look at fireworks for the first time.

she raised an eyebrow at your sudden change in demeanor. “what?”

“your laugh is pretty.” you stated simply, clearly having some pride at being the one to get her to laugh like that.

she turned away for a moment, hoping it would stop you from seeing the flush spreading across her face, knowing you’d never let her live it down. “thanks.” she muttered, praying she sounded at least a little bit cool and composed.

the short walk to the car was filled with you pointing out random cars asking if they were mai’s as you rested your head on her shoulder, before deciding the swelling was too painful for that.

a large grin which quickly turned into a grimace (you really never learned) appeared on your face when mai finally informed you that you’d made it to the right car. she held your hand to support you as you stepped into the seat, and once she’d sat down, reached over to buckle you in. she chose to ignore the over exaggerated wink you sent her way in favor of her own sanity.

as she drove, you babbled on about nonsense like how you were sure noritoshi had made mechamaru to hide the fact that he was secretly a robot, or how after that run you had gotten at the baseball game, you were sure you were destined to quit sorcery to go to the major leagues. to humor you, mai nodded along, before dryly responding that she’d probably be a better fit considering how good she looked in the baseball uniforms.

ignorant of her joking tone, you were quick to agree enthusiastically. “definitely! but i dunno if i’m the best person to ask, because i think you look good in just about anything.” your voice was sincere as you turned fully to look at her with slightly hazy eyes.

before either of you had time to process the admiration you had shown towards her, you glanced back out the window to the familiar sight of your school. you excitedly waved at the sight of todo and noritoshi sparring together. after catching his attention, todo didn’t even bother to stop the roaring laughter that came from your appearance, pointing out to noritoshi the similarities between your current look and his from just a few weeks ago. noritoshi gave todo an annoyed look, before glancing back over to see mai helping you out of the car, once again slinging your arm over her shoulders and supporting you with an arm on your waist.

she tried her best to ignore todo, she really did. though, it wasn’t exactly easy to ignore him when he loudly exclaimed what a ‘lady killer’ mai was. she snapped her gaze to meet his eyes, giving him a cold glare, before continuing to slink you along to your dorm.

when you opened the door to your dorm, the first thing mai noticed was a bulletin board on your wall, decorated with photos of all your friends, which most recently included your classmates. her eyes flicked to a photo of you next to another girl in elementary school with a smile that showed off your gap from missing teeth, and she chuckled softly at the irony of the photo compared to your current situation. her gaze then quickly shifted to a newly added strip of pictures from a photo booth. she smiled fondly at the memory of you, her, miwa, and momo sandwiching yourselves together in the tiny booth to take photos during your shopping trip. they weren’t ‘good’ photos, per say, in fact you guys all looked rather ridiculous trying to pack into frame, but for some reason, mai seemed to soften up at the memory of it, and how happy you looked just to be next to her.

her train of thought was interrupted by you tugging on the hand that didn’t rest on you, making her turn to see you mere inches from her face.

why the hell were you so close???

“yes?” she questioned, hoping to deflect from the fact that she was so obviously gushing over the photos on your wall just moments before.

“will you sleep with me?”

had you not had an arm around her, she probably would have dropped you in that instant. from the way she carried herself to the way she talked to others, most people would assume mai zenin does NOT blush, yet somehow you’d managed to disprove that theory way too many times today.

“WHAT?” it was her turn to be loud for a moment.

“i’m tireddddd” you whined “and you’re so warm.” you had stated it so casually, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

she groaned, as if it would cover up her sheer embarrassment at how bold you were. wordlessly, she walked you to your bed, keeping her grip on your waist secure. it was amazing how gentle she was as she laid you down on that rock solid bed all the dorms were stuck with. she pulled a blanket over you, sitting awkwardly on the edge of the bed in hopes you’d doze off peacefully from there. when she didn’t shift from her position, you looked at her with a confused expression.

“wouldn’t it be more comfortable to lay down?” your words were still slightly slurred together. you rested a hand on hers. “you know i don’t mind.” despite your dazed look, she could tell your words were sincere as your thumb rubbed circles atop her hand.

mai turned to face you full on, her eyes gentle rather than their usual harsh look.

curse you for being so hard to resist.

“fine” her voice was quiet “but only because it’s my job to watch over you.” she stretched out her legs so she was laying down on the bed, pulling the blanket towards her so she could get comfortable.

“you’re so good to me mai.” you smiled. not a pained grimace, or an awkward baring of your teeth, but a smile. “people always seem to be so intimidated by you, but i don’t really get it. you’ve always been so nice to me. it’s nice.”

she didn’t understand how even when you were all loopy, you still managed to have such an effect on her. hesitantly, she reached up to grab your hand, intertwining her fingers with yours.

it seemed the boldness from your anesthesia had rubbed off on her.

before she had time to talk, you continued. “i always feel so glad when we get paired up for missions, you make me feel so safe. like, i know when i’m around you that you’ll protect me. i admire you so much for doing all that for me.”

she went slightly stiff at your...confession? declaration? what exactly would you call that? you had said it so nonchalantly, whether it was out of trying to play off your fear of rejection or legitimate confidence, it was hard to tell.

“plus you’re really pretty.” your hand squeezed hers as you looked suddenly very interested in the pattern of your blanket. it was odd, seeing you get so shy all of a sudden, though she supposed it was somewhat of a win for her.

as you stared sheepishly away from her eyes that traced over every inch of your face, you felt her hand come up to your cheek, tilting you to face her. she continued scanning your face with an impossibly soft expression, before meeting your eyes once again.

“you know i wouldn’t do all that if it was anyone else.” her voice was barely above a whisper as her eyes bore into yours. her face was so close to yours that you could feel her breath fanning lightly across your face. “it’s all for you.” you’d never seen her so earnest before.

you smiled softly at her, even despite the ridiculous bandages around your head, and your chipmunk like cheeks, she still stared at you with so much love.

“you like meeee.” your tone was teasing, but it was obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that you were just as whipped as her.

“dammit. you figured me out.” she said sarcastically, shuffling forward slightly so you were flush against her.

up close, the tiredness in your glassy eyes was obvious. she sighed to herself, and slowly leaned in to plant a soft kiss on your forehead.

“get some sleep.” she smiled at your eyes struggling to fight open your heavy eyelids. “we have a lot to talk about once the anesthesia wears off.”

maybe todo wasn’t so far off with that ‘lady killer’ comment.

[ghooostbaby]

i feel like shouting into the void about an adhd discovery i have recently made.

i’ve mostly always been pretty dismissive of adhd “productivity” self help guides and tips, because of the way they seemed to pathologize my mind and enshrine neurotypical behaviour as the only reasonable way to behave. BUT the past few months, I’ve been very fortunate to live on an artist grant that funds all the essentials for living & studio costs for a year to work on a project, which is a dream right? BUT I COULD NOT DO IT. It was so upsetting and frustrating, no matter how hard I tried, I could not do the work that is all I’ve wanted to have the time and freedom to do for so long. All the obstacles I blamed before had been removed and I still could not see any progress.

I started learning about executive function & adhd, and that basically adhd people have a limited capacity for executive function and you can only do a task that requires executive function for so long before your energy store is depleted and then you have to do something that DOES NOT require executive functioning to let it restore itself. You can even do things to help restore faster, like eating or drinking things that keep your blood glucose levels up, or meditation (although I tried to do that for 2 minutes and I felt like my brain was dying. shen qiao is so powerful.) or SCROLL TUMBLR. Basically anything that fully rests your mind!

What I’d been doing was trying to do some task, that even though it’s art and what I want to do, still required executive functioning, and I would find myself spacing out, pacing, idk just anything but what I WANTED to do, and then keep trying to go back to the task I was supposed to do again and again, and fail again and again. Hours would go by, days would go by, and I’d maybe do 1-2 hours of work a day. That was the exact same amount I could manage when I had to go to job all day to pay my bills. So the last few days I’ve been taking a short break about every 30 mins or so, eating a lot of fruit/sweet drinks when I do, or walking around, going into my bedroom to rub my face on my cat for a few minutes, and oh my god. I’m able to work, I’ve been able to do so much!

What I realized I’ve done is internalize these neurotypical expectations of how we are supposed to work and force myself to keep at it despite my body screaming no. All my life I’ve had to work like that, everything took me a lot longer than everyone else but at least I could make up for it with working voraciously. A lot of the time I spent working would be spacing out, getting distracted, going on social media, so I had to remain “at work” longer to compensate. Now I realize I had maybe depleted all my executive function in the first hour, and then when I drifted off because my brain needed a break, I would punish myself by then dragging my limp, resistant body forward agonzingly for the next 11 hours. Now, when I find I’ve stopped doing whatever task I meant to do and have started scrolling tumblr AGAIN, I recognize that my brain has tapped out and I need to stop and rest for a few minutes.

Sometimes, before, when I would be doing something that wasn’t “on-task” that I knew I wasn’t supposed to be doing and I’d keep telling myself, in 10 minutes I’m going to go back to what I’m supposed to be doing (and usually plan to work even longer to make up for it), then the 10 minutes would pass, and sometimes hours would go by when I never got back to the task, just keep on wasting time, feeling horribly, really wanting to work on my art project and knowing that I needed to, but I could not make myself. There’s some subtle shift that happens when instead I notice I’m not doing what I am meant to, so I stop trying to do it and accept it is now time for a break, I’ve found if I do that, it’s relatively easy to go back to my work 5-20 minutes later.

I feel like a toddler, haha. maybe this is all stuff everyone knows. but when before I would spend hours trying to drag myself along trying to do something i really wanted to do but could NOT make myself do, now if I take ten minutes to eat some strawberries and pet my cat I actually find myself being able to be interested and motivated to do that thing I wanted to do. It’s amazing. I mean seriously the absolute WONDERS of snacks! And sparkling water with a little bit of lime! I had so many periods of time when I needed to finish a project and I would just be so infuriated by the inconvenience of having to eat and sleep. It’s been mind blowing to find that what I need is the exact opposite (exact opposite of trying to overpower my body's need for eating and sleeping i mean!). I have been really really hard on myself I realize, but it was always like, I didn’t have an option to be otherwise.

[hyungieyoongi]

See You

Pairing: Professor!Hobi x Professor!Reader

Genre: Enemies to lovers + fluff + angst + Hobi and Reader have some personality conflicts at work but should really just make out or something and stop acting like they dislike each other + this entire fic is inspired by Hobi’s look in that gum commercial I mean he screamed professor with that turtleneck and plaid blazer (thank you @moon-write​ for encouraging this vision)

Word Count: 3.2K+

---

“No, no, please tell me you’re joking,” you groaned, eyes scanning over the classroom assignment list posted on the faculty board in the hallway over again, hoping you were seeing things wrong. A third look at the paper confirmed that your fears had in fact come true – you and Hoseok were teaching next door to each other the entire fall semester.

Hoseok was the History of Dance Professor in your department. He was hired at the beginning of last year, three years into your career as one of the youngest faculty members in the Music & Arts program at your university. While he was bubbly and energetic, you were the more typical academic – down-to-earth, a little bit serious. He was beloved by his students for his positive personality and passion for teaching; you were well-regarded as being a natural talent who wanted to hone your students’ abilities.  

It wasn’t that your students didn’t like your course. No, it was well-reviewed and relatively popular considering it was an elective. But once Hoseok arrived, you felt like you were competing with the star of the program. Every student, even the ones who didn’t like dance, were lining up for his course, pushing your class and others into smaller classrooms with dwindling numbers. He, of course, got the large lecture hall this year.

He was the pain in your side, constantly flashing his bright smile to get his way in the department, dazzling your colleagues. Students would often be buzzing in the hallways about how they didn’t have to take an exam in Professor Jung’s class like they did in Professor Y/L/N’s. They got to go to a local show instead and analyze the dance performance. Hoseok was creative and intelligent – that much you could agree with – but you rolled your eyes every time you saw another one of his students attempt to flirt with him.

Hoseok and you figured out you got on each other’s nerves pretty quickly. He would always play music too loud in his office while you were grading papers – he timed how long it took you to show up at his door to tell him to turn it down every afternoon. You would make it a point to have your students play samples of their pieces they’d written on the piano while he was in the middle of a lecture, leaving your classroom doors open so the notes of the instrument would float down the hallway to the lecture hall. You’d have a satisfied grin on your face when you heard the telltale noise of the lecture hall doors slamming shut.

The entire department knew about this little game the two of you would play with each other, not to mention the sarcastic comments from you and teasing jokes from him that were on repeat any time you were in the same room. The bickering was bound to get worse with the two of you in such close quarters all semester.

“Y/N!” you heard a loud voice call down the hallway. You hadn’t heard that voice in two and a half months thanks to your summer vacation. You gritted your teeth, turning with a tight-lipped smile toward your least-favorite coworker.

“Hoseok,” you greeted with a nod. As usual, your semi-chilly behavior toward him didn’t faze him.

“Y/N, come on, I thought I told you to call me Hobi!” he said cheerfully, his eyes squinting from his smile. He was wearing a cream turtleneck tucked into his khakis, plaid blazer over his shoulders. He had dyed his hair from the black you were accustomed to, his strands now a platinum blonde. You realized, begrudgingly, that he looked more attractive than he did last year.

“Well would you look at that, we’re neighbors,” Hoseok said after scanning the list on the board.

“Try to keep the gaggle of screaming fans away from the hallway when I’m teaching, would you?” you said sarcastically. Hoseok’s hand flew to his heart, acting like you had personally attacked him.

“Y/N, I cannot believe you would accuse my students of being so frivolous,” he said dramatically. “Just because we have more fun in my class, doesn’t make it any less serious than yours.”

“Oh, please, save the theatrics for the students who signed up thinking your class would be an easy ‘A’. I know for a fact that you gave out four D’s last semester.” Hoseok’s eyes twinkled at your challenging tone.

“And how many did you give out, Professor Y/L/N?” Hoseok asked in a sweet voice.

“None, thank you very much. Since my students actually learn something in my class, I don’t have to give out such low grades,” you quipped. Hoseok chuckled, running a hand through his wavy blonde hair.

“Maybe I should sit in on one of your classes this year. Learn a thing or two,” Hoseok said, stepping toward you. You flushed momentarily at his low tone, immediately stepping back. He smirked at your reaction.

“It’s invite only to audit my class, Jung,” you said before turning on your heel to walk toward your office down the hall, “I would say I’m sorry, but I’m really not!” you yelled over your shoulder.

You heard Hoseok laugh, and you cursed yourself for giving him the satisfaction of knowing that his teasing had gotten to you.

You had promised yourself at the end of the summer not to play into it this year – you were going to be professional, courteous. But the first time you see Hoseok, bam, it goes right out the window. 

You would just have to avoid Hoseok as much as possible.

You sighed once you closed your office door behind you. It was going to be a long semester.

---

Two months into the semester, the leaves had turned to burnt oranges and red, signaling the return of fall. Hoseok was sitting in one of the auditorium seats, his legs crossed over each other, looking down at his fingers with a soft smile playing at his lips. The delicate notes of the piano were playing from your classroom, the noise piercing the thin walls separating your classroom from his.

His class had been dismissed half an hour ago, and, based on the lack of students having straggling conversations in the hallway, yours had, too. He often waited after he was done teaching to see if you would play when you thought no one was listening. The notes you played sometimes indicated your mood; the music was soft and flowing, other times dark and intense.

Today it was, melancholic? He couldn’t quite place it, but it made him think about the change in seasons. He wondered if that was on your mind. The song was fluid, making him want to choreograph a piece to it, the dancer’s body matching the tempo of the music. He shut his eyes, picturing the movements behind his closed lids.

He’d never admit that he indulged in this as often as he did – he knew you wouldn’t be playing if you found out he was your only audience member. You had been avoiding him this semester. He had tried all of his old tricks – the loud music during office hours, teasing comments during staff meetings. But you wouldn’t blink.

He opened his eyes, the song transitioning into something light and happy. It made him think of sunshine.  

---

You stopped playing, your hands lifting off the keys like they burned you. You had been playing mindlessly, your fingers starting to pluck away at the keys in the melody that you had thought of when you would think of Hoseok.

The more you avoided Hoseok, the more you seemed to miss his overly positive personality. You would see him at staff meetings, always giving you a big smile. One day you came in late after a meeting with a student ran long, and you came into the room to see that he had saved you a seat next to him, the last one left empty in the room. 

He was still playing his music too loud, but you had stopped bugging him about it, and you noticed that it was gradually getting quieter.

You closed the cover over the keys, willing the thoughts about Hoseok to go away, packing up your papers and laptop. He was just your annoyingly happy colleague; there was no reason he should be taking up this much space in your mind.

---

“Are you honestly suggesting that the music composition class shouldn’t be considered a prerequisite for all music program students going forward?” you questioned angrily. You and Hoseok were at a standoff in the department meeting, his normally pleasant features tense, arms crossed in front of him.

“If that means that it prevents funding from getting diverted from the dance program to the instrumental students, then, yes, that is what I’m suggesting,” Hoseok countered.

“That’s ridiculous! Music composition is a fundamental building block for all students – including dance, Jung!” your voice had risen, and the department head looked between you both, deciding that the meeting had gotten too out of hand to continue.

“Professor Y/L/N, Professor Jung – why don’t the two of you take a walk around the building, get some fresh air. The rest of you, dismissed. We’ll resume this conversation, civilly, next week,” the department head declared.  

You were fuming, angrily shoving your notebook and pen in your bag before storming out of the building. You felt someone else’s presence, and you turned, groaning when you saw the last person you wanted to see standing behind you, a shit-eating grin on his face.

He opened his mouth to say something, but you held up your hand to stop him.

“Give it a rest, Jung, I’m not in the mood,” you said grumpily.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to go to the bookstore to grab a coffee and put this behind us,” Hoseok scoffed, smile wiped away. “But, I guess not.”

“Not everyone wants to just roll over and play nice when you flash them a smile, Hoseok.”

“Well, not everyone wants to act like they have a superiority complex, either.”

Your lips pursed, hands beginning to fidget with how angry and upset his comment made you. The two of you had been annoying last year, sure, but you had never been mean to each other. Until today.

“You don’t know anything about me,” you said quietly, heated tone still evident despite the low volume.

“The feeling is mutual,” Hoseok said harshly. “It’s not like you’ve even tried to get to know me. You immediately disliked me from day one. You never even gave me a chance!”

“That’s rich coming from you. All that shit with the music and the comments – it’s like you wanted me to dislike you,” you replied.

“I wanted you to talk to me, Y/N,” Hoseok said, exasperated. “Forget it, I can see now that it was useless to try.”

“I was trying to play nice this semester,” you said, glaring at Hoseok. “You came in like a damn bulldozer last year, disrupting everything in the department. And everyone just did what you wanted because you’re ‘mister nice guy’, and you make people laugh and people just think you’re perfect. Well, I don’t buy it.”

You took a deep breath, leveling your gaze at him.

“Stay out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours,” your voice was stone-cold. Hoseok’s eyes flashed, lips in a thin line before he responded bitterly.

“Perfect.”

---

Things had been quiet between you and Hoseok since your fight outside of the building a few weeks ago. You politely nodded at each other in the hallway when you passed by, avoiding eye contact. You would grimace when you heard his laugh during lectures next door to yours, wanting to block the sound out.

You couldn’t get what he said to you out of your thoughts – you really didn’t know Hoseok very well. All you knew is what he presented to the rest of the world. He was bubbly and positive and optimistic; he probably thought you were just some brooding, academic stiff.

Hoseok noticed the songs you were playing lately were rather intense. Sometimes he would hear you smash against the keys like you were angry with the piano for not producing the sounds you wanted to hear.

He knew the feeling. He was spending more time in the dance studio lately, dancing aggressively to loud hip hop music, trying to drown out the frustration he was feeling at not being able to make you crack and talk to him.

That’s where he found himself tonight, trying to get rid of his stress. You were stubborn, but you were also beautiful, intelligent, passionate, tenacious. He turned his music up louder, drowning out the thoughts of you.

---

You had re-read the same sentence four times, red pen poised in your hand ready to edit the student’s paper. The loud beats were still audible from the practice rooms. It was late, and the building had been closed to students for the past two hours.

You decided to go down there. You weren’t going to get them in trouble for staying past close, but with finals coming up, you were sure the students needed a gentle reminder that sleeping was just as important as practicing.

You walked down the dark hallway, going down the steps to the practice rooms on the floor beneath the faculty offices, finding the one with the light on, music blaring through the glass panes separating the space from the hall.

You glanced into the room, seeing Hoseok dancing. You had never seen him in his element before, and it was captivating. He was wearing a black pair of sweats, an oversized yellow t-shirt adorning his slender frame. The music seemed to be moving through his body. He was grounded in the floor, an intense expression on his face as he hit heavy movements on the beat, fluidly moving through other parts depending on the music. You felt like this was personal, like you weren’t allowed to be watching, but you couldn’t tear your eyes away from him.

Hoseok looked into the mirror, his eyes looking toward the shadow in the hallway. His eyes met yours, his gaze burning into yours through the glass. You gulped.

He turned, grabbing a bottle of water and pausing the music. You figured that was your cue, opening the door to the studio and stepping inside.

“Was it too loud?” Hoseok asked, voice light despite the obvious tension in the room.

“No, it’s okay uh – I was grading papers, and I thought a student was still down here,” you explained softly. “I thought I’d tell them to go home, get some rest.”

Hoseok had a curious expression on his face. If he was surprised to hear why you were down here, he didn’t mention it. You felt the need to fill the silence, so you spouted the first thing that came to mind.

“You’re really talented, Hobi,” you said quickly. His eyebrows shot up at the sound of the nickname you never called him. “Hoseok – sorry, I meant Hoseok.”

“Watch out, people might think we’re friends,” Hoseok joked, but it came out strained.

“Hoseok – Hobi. I’m sorry about what I said a few weeks ago. I was heated, and I apologize,” you said, looking down at a scuff in the hardwood floors.

“I’m sorry, too. What I said was uncalled for, and I didn’t mean to upset you. Last year, this semester. Anything I’ve done that has made you mad or annoyed. I’m sorry,” Hobi said sincerely. “I-um, well…”

You looked up, waiting for him to continue.

“I just wanted your attention.”

“What?”

“I wanted your attention. I wanted you to want to talk to me. I wanted you to get to know me. Not the version of me that I show my students. I wanted you to see me. Really see me.”

You gulped, Hobi’s vulnerability making you nervous. He took a step toward you, and you willed yourself to stay in place.

“I know you do the same thing; you hide. Hide behind this persona you’ve created. I think it goes away when you play piano.”

“How do you–what do you mean?” you asked incredulously.

“I hear you play. After class. I never told you because I selfishly wanted to keep listening. Your music it – it tells a story. About your day, your feelings. If you didn’t tell me yourself, at least your music did.”

Your cheeks burned knowing that he was audience to all of the time spent in your classroom, working out your feelings on the piano like it was your therapy.

“Everything goes away when I play,” you stopped, thinking about how distracted you had been lately trying to compose. “Well, most of the time, anyway.”

“That’s how I feel when I dance,” Hobi admitted with a gentle smile. You nodded, realizing that the two of you had this in common, at least.

“I’ll leave you to it,” you said, backing away from Hobi toward the door.

“Wait –,” Hobi said, slightly flustered. “Dance with me.”

Your eyes widened. Hobi laughed, and you hated to admit that you had missed the sound.

“Come on, just trust me, Y/L/N.” You waited while he picked out a song, holding out his hand. You placed your fingers in his, and he pulled you close to him, leading you around the studio floor to the song. He made you feel light on your feet despite your lack of dance experience, his hand tightly gripping yours, his other floating over your waist. Your skin tingled from the contact.

He spun you around twice, your hands landing on his chest as you tried to regain your balance. You looked up at him, genuinely enjoying yourself. His bright smile you used to roll your eyes at lit up his features, causing your smile to match his.

“Can you see me now, Y/N?” Hobi asked, referencing his earlier confession. “Because I see you when you play. When you tell a student crying in your office that everything is going to be okay. And I see you now when you’re dancing with me like this.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Remember when you said I didn’t know anything about you?” You nodded, recognizing his reference to your fight outside of the department building. “I don’t think that’s true. But I know there’s so much more to know. And I want to know everything.”

Hobi’s hand came up to your cheek, softly placing it on the side of your face.

“I want to know you, too, Hobi,” you whispered.

He leaned forward, his breath fanning over your lips, “Want to start now?”

You gripped his t-shirt in your hand, pulling him the last few inches to your lips instead of answering. You felt him smile against your lips, wrapping his arms around you and holding you close to him.

He pulled back, his forehead resting on yours as you caught your breath.

“Does this mean I can start playing my music loudly during office hours again?” Hobi teased, his fingers playing with the hem of your sweater, brushing against your skin.

You made a face at him, causing him to laugh. He kissed you on the forehead, then on the lips again to make you smile before answering.

“Not a chance.”  

---

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[infernalrevenge]

HCs abt an S/O of Lady D's who's struggling to get her daughters' approval? It's rarely addressed in fanfics, but y'all.. becoming a stepparent is a hard and frustrating journey, especially when mama and kids have such tight bonds. Makes small wins feel so rewarding, tho! What are your thoughts on that? How would D react, how would she help? (or make it harder, in true possessive Mother Hen™ fashion..) Which flybaby would warm up to S/O first? How would S/O try to win each of them over, etc..?

Oooh this is a really cool thought! Not that I have a lot of experience with stepparents but yeah, changes and adjustments in family dynamics like that can't be easy. I think I'm gonna have some fun with this.

When the Dimitrescu sisters found out you were the human dating their mother, at first they were mostly indifferent. Not like it's their business as to who Alcina gets it on with anyway (and they could also be thinking you would quickly turn to lunch if you fuck up badly enough, in which case they would gladly join her in the feast.)

They might quip with you sometimes, but for the most part, you're left alone.

But when they realized you were here to stay and might become a parental figure in their life... oh boy.

You're telling them they have to answer to you now? A mere mortal? On what grounds? Just because you have sex with their mom? They think the fuck not.

Hell, they're individually old enough to be your parent, so truly... what the fuck?

(Part of that fear of you joining the family may come from thinking that Alcina now has someone else to preoccupy herself with, so there's less time for them. Perhaps even less love for them. They can't have that. That can't happen.)

As for your partner's reaction? She's kind of torn. On one hand, she understands how her daughters feel about having a new family member suddenly join the dynamic -- someone they barely know relative to each other. You could have been around for a few years, but they've been all together for more than half a century, and they're doing just fine.

On the other, she wants to see you all getting along. She loves you and wants you to be a part of her life, and of course she also loves her daughters with all her heart.

She's not really sure what to do, so she kind of... ends up not doing anything.

But she is curious as to what you'll do about the situation though, since the sisters would hardly make it a secret that your presence is an annoyance at best, completely unwanted and unwelcome at worst.

Bela, surprisingly, might be the hardest to win over. You would think that, as the eldest, she should be the one to lead by example and be the mature one. Plus, she's always looking for her mother's approval, so approving of you may get her on her good side (and yours.)

But she's very opposed to change, especially one that affects her life this much when it's not her choice.

She lets Cassandra and Daniela get away with pulling harmless pranks on you to get under your skin, or make Alcina mad at you. She pretends to not have a direct hand in them and would passive-aggressively remark on whatever they did.

Oh, your clothes were misplaced and looking for new ones made you late to a date with the Lady? "None of them were very nice anyway. This is doing you a favor."

You found dog poop under your bed and now you reek? "I don't smell that much of a difference."

Getting doused in sticky honey and molasses somehow? "At least Mother has a reason to think you're sweet now."

They would never do anything to hurt you, not unless they want to incur their mother's wrath or sadness, just... little things (hopefully enough to get you to leave.)

But luckily, if you're a patient and persistent person, they (ever so) slowly warm up to you in different ways.

The most important thing to remember is that they're different people despite having a lot of things in common, so your manner of approaching them will have to vary for each sister.

Daniela might be the easiest to win over, such a sociable little fly. She might try to be standoffish at first, but if you bring up a book series that she enjoys reading as a topic for conversation, she can and will keep you there for hours talking about the characters, dissecting certain themes, and explaining her theories of the inner machinations of the plot.

If you actually start reading it upon her recommendation, she becomes ecstatic. Finally, someone other than her sisters she can explain these theories to! And someone who can actually relate and add on to them!

Eventually, she'll come to realize that having you around won't mean the end of their family. It just means they're getting more out of it -- a new member to love, and one who loves them.

Cassandra might be a little territorial about her current interests, so you'll have to take on a different approach.

Maybe try introducing her to something that peripherally matches what she likes now. She seems to really like hunting and torture to take her aggression out on, so uh... maybe try martial arts?

It would be more fun if it was something the both of you were new at, so you could bond over attempting to do things together. Nothing says "I want to get to know my stepdaughter better" like letting her throw you to the mat and laugh in excitement when she gets the technique right.

She is still very stubborn though, so she may take a while to fully convince. Even when it seems like you're on her good side, there's a tiny bit of denial. But she'll come around, no matter how reluctant.

Finally, as for Bela, she just needs to see that, though most of her family now genuinely likes you, that it doesn't have to change a thing about how they feel about her either. They're not going to abandon her or anything that drastic just because someone new has entered their lives.

Seeing her sisters approve of you can be jarring, no matter how long or gradual the process may have been. Like, weren't they switching out your shampoos and putting snakes in your closet last year? Why is everyone buddy buddy now? (Why are they leaving her behind?)

She'll start to act bitter toward everyone, feeling like she's been betrayed and shut herself away. She doesn't even want to see her own mother anymore.

But eventually, you have to talk to Alcina to do something too -- she could see you were making an effort, but she's not making it clear to her daughters what exactly was happening. She should be the first to approach Bela regarding the subject, along with her sisters.

You may need some time alone with her as well to drive the point home too. Having more people in the family doesn't mean less love, but in fact it means more, because now you're there to care for her too.

And she has to admit that seeing her mother care for you, having her sisters like you, it didn't really feel like they were any different towards her. They were more insistent in getting her to spend time with you, sure, but other than that... things were mostly the same.

The acceptance may be begrudging at first, but when she actually gets used to this new norm, she'll come around.

If you want to bond with her, you can teach her something. She likes learning new things, and she'll start to warm up to you more if she has reason to keep going to you to get this new information.

It can be anything -- music, arts, sports, cooking, you name it. Even introducing her to new technology will help get on her good side. You'd be surprised at how quickly she gets into it that you start to wonder why it was so hard to get her to like you in the first place.

Also, just talk to her. As a person, as your new daughter, whatever. Just acknowledge her and be honest. She appreciates the little things.

All in all, it's going to be tough. The journey will have its ups and downs, and not everything is going to be smooth sailing. Communication is key, though, as with any sort of relationship. Let the girls know you care for them just as much as you love and care for their mother. In a way, that's all they really want.

But they're not calling you "mom/dad/parental unit". First name basis with a stepparent (affectionate) all the way.