#the art block has been extreme ugh

[figsaps]

[betweenthings2]

hello!!! warning you now that this is going to be the longest thing ever because i’m allergic to being concise but it’s finally time for me to actually send you an ask to gush and discuss your incredible writing. i’ve been interacting with your work on ao3 and tumblr for over a year now and i just lurk and heart everything because i refuse to use tumblr how it’s intended to be used🫣 but it’s time to show my face (even though this is anonymous oops) and say the quality of your writing is genuinely unparalleled to anything else i’ve ever read online and dare i say it comes close to/ overtakes some of the published books i’ve read and loved. you are such a talent it drives me crazy. you’ve quite literally spoiled fanfiction for me because i’ll read something for a different fandom and think “ugh it’s good but it’s not betweenthings2😔😔😔”

i saw you answer an ask a while ago asking what your goal for writing is and you said something along the lines of wanting to move people with your work. when i saw that it made me smile because you’ve achieved it ten times over and im worried you don’t realise it!!! so im going to tell you about my experience reading Roadkill for the first time (side note but in my opinion this is your best and therefore most underrated piece and i would love to talk about it further)

i remember being at a cafe that day by myself having a little drink and sweet treat and getting the email notification that you’d posted something to ao3 and nearly dying from anticipation for the rest of the day because i knew i wouldn’t do the fic justice to just quickly read it in a noisy cafe. it would be a waste of art. so in the evening i lied to my parents that i had plans with friends and wouldn’t be home for dinner and instead walked to the park near my house with a block of chocolate and sat on a park bench in the slightly-chilly-but-still-nice-out australian dusk. trust me i remember it so vividly because it’s like a core memory for me now. i’d been going through a really tough time mentally and felt super disconnected from everything and everyone. when i tell you i read all 35k words in one sitting and wept like a baby. i’m a very emotional girl dont get me wrong but the release that your writing made me feel was something so special that i’d never felt before. the whole piece is so devastating and confronting and just misery but it made me feel so seen and whole and human. if i could describe your writing in one word i think it would be human. everything is always raw and vulnerable and messy but so tender it just makes me insane. i sat in that park and cried for such a long time and even though the whole experience was so heavy and i could feel the grief you manufactured in my gut i left that park feeling lighter and grounded. i think that’s how anyone would feel after witnessing such greatness. (side note but i’ve actually banned myself from re-reading roadkill for the minute because it makes me lose my mind a bit too much but that’s just a further testament to you. can’t wait to get back to my scripture later on)

your other fics on ao3 and perfect as well and i read Second Letter From St Julian, All This Barley Getting By, I Forget A Lot Of Things But I’ll Never Forget You and Me And You vs Them religiously. they are my comfort fics through and through🩷 maybe the hyper fixation has gone too deep for me but when i’m trying to fall asleep i use the plots of your fics to expand on in my head and it’s just the perf combination to lull me to sleep.

now for imo the main event of this ask- i need to tell you the extreme and life threatening brainrot THIS specific line from Of Bouquets And Back Rubs has given me.

"Sorry," Matty apologizes.

George sighs, but doesn't stop. "I'm going to start talking to your therapist if you keep apologizing for things you don't need to apologize for," he says.

what the hell. you can’t just write that and expect my whole world to not revolve around it for the rest of my life. that line ping pongs around my head at all times. at work, in the shower, when i’m on a walk, when i’m laying in bed, it’s literally always on my mind. i don’t know why but i just thought you should know that’s it’s STUCK with me. like i’m truly affected. (if you ever wanted to expand on it you know you have at least one devoted fan of the idea)

hopefully this will be my first of many asks because it’s so nice to finally tell you how deeply in love i am with your words. to hold me accountable i’ll claim the matcha emoji 🍵 if that’s something you do!!!!

i just realised i didn’t tell you how your prompts make me melt but they do and i wouldn’t survive the commute to tafe without them. just little bites of pure literature you spoil us so much.

thanks for giving me something to lurk on and obsess over- it’s been an honour🩷 (also ps i wonder if you can figure out who this is based on the freaky amount of times i heart your posts. someone has to sit me down and explain that this isn’t instagram🤕)

Hi, newly christened Matcha Anon!! =)

I meant to answer this yesterday, but I just kept reading through it and being so incredibly touched and blown away by all of your kind words that I didn't entirely have a response, but I think I do now. I will also be long.

First of all, I am so touched (and a little surprised) that you find my writing to be on par with published novels, so thank you so much, that is such an amazing compliment!!! I can't believe I've spoiled you for fic. I'm getting back into the swing of things now that I'm home, so I'll have more fic for you soon.

I'm also so glad to hear that I've creating something moving. Sometimes I think I take things a little too seriously, particularly writing fic, but I'm thrilled to hear that you find my work moving. This will be stuck in my head forever:

"it would be a waste of art."

Roadkill was a lot to write because it gets so bleak and some of me is in there, but I'm so moved by your experience of reading it and honored that you would share it. That's my goal, generally--to create catharsis. And to see my fanfic called greatness? Oh my god. Oh my god. I have no words other than oh my god and thank you so, so much!!

I'm thrilled to see that Of Bouquets and Backrubs resonated with you, particularly that bit of dialogue. That whole fic was a little bit last minute, to be entirely honest and I was working so hard to make it fluffy, rather than angsty. I might expand on that fic in the future, but I also really like how it ended. Who knows what will happen. I don't.

I'm also so happy that you like the prompts! I think they're really fun to write and very low stakes for me. Apologies for not having a more regular schedule for posting anything, but there's no way I could keep that up for more than a week or two. I would explode.

Thank you so much for all the compliments and reading what I write!!! 💚💚💚

[septembersghost]

Before I begin I must say I am a swiftie.

I love Taylor. Her music means a lot to me. It literally helped me in a lot of ways. But her recent actions have actually genuinely is upsetting to me(not saying she has to live the way I want her to but I feel really sad). Its just........he is a very disgusting person. He is someone who was literally m@********* in public and made misogynistic comments.

My biggest fury with him was when he called harry a queerbaiter. It was extra hard for me because harry's acceptance was what made me feel peace about my sexuality. I am still figuring out my sexuality and it's mostly fluctuating. He was the first person I saw say 'you dont have to tick every box'. He said that when I was questioning myself for the 100th time. Because if you want to come out to everyone you need a label right! He made me realise it's okay to not know everything and it felt like a warm hug from a friend. And watching M@** ***** call that person a 'queerbaiter' angered me to extreme and 'almost' destroyed my self esteem wondering whether everyone around me thought I was faking for attention too. I know him and Taylor have been friends for a long time but her being romantically linked with someone like that and being so carefree about it while he has been linked to 100th warranted controversy makes me feel sick in the stomach. It makes me wonder if she's like 'I know the things he said/did but I don't care ' and it hurts me so much to even think she feels that way. I know she is a good person and all that but.....the Taylor who made me feel accepted about being the odd kid in the school or the one who understood about my fear of growing up seems so far away. I feel so hurt by the fact that I am feeling this. I think I need to take a distance from her and her art and I don't know how long will that be.

Sorry if I bothered you with such a long paragraph but I feel you can understand this better than anyone here

hi love, i apologize it took me all day to answer this! so i'm going to be honest, i've been thinking about this specific situation ever since the first rumor surfaced, but i didn't address it since i know it sounds like fan-based bias, even though to me it's a larger issue than that.

let me digress for a moment - i've seen a lot of his fans try to defend the n*zi salute as "satire," and that it wasn't meant to be antisemitic, but as a jewish person, i find this deeply troubling, because, even as edgy ~performance art~, using such a direct symbol of hate is never okay (in conjunction with a lyric referencing someone who's been virulently antisemitic in public - and yes, the lyric itself is satirical criticism, but the combination of the two is unsettling, to say the least). it's concerning and it's hurtful and it's inappropriate, full stop. his non-apologies for his grossly racist and sexist comments are as well.

his antics onstage (i have to laugh at the raw steak thing somehow being a criticism of "toxic masculinity"...bro. what?) also cross a line from being performance art to being. ick. (UGH i'd forgotten that other incident you mentioned because it's gross and i blocked it from my memory. just. WHY!!!)

in truth, i had no idea who he was and had never even heard his name (though i was aware of the 1975, i never listened to them) until their album came out last year and suddenly he was spouting off everywhere and doing things and fans began to speak about the old rumors of he and taylor (which i dismissed out of hand, but now. idk). everything i've learned since has been against my will tbh.

which brings us to that awful queerbaiting comment. if you've followed me for any length of time, you know this is a particular hot button issue of mine, i just get incensed at the way that term is misused and weaponized against real people, and harry gets it in a particularly disgusting way because certain sections of the internet seem to feel a superiority complex in tearing him down for existing. never once has harry claimed to be a bastion of queerness or a trailblazer of fashion, and yet he's criticized for...what exactly? being himself? dressing however one chooses without being boxed in by gender expectations is exactly what we're meant to be aiming for, isn't it? not demanding someone's label and identity is supposed to be part of championing the community, isn't it? his choice to remain unlabeled matters. not only because it's no one's business but his own, but also because BEING an unlabeled/mspec person IS itself a whole identity. what matty said about this was appalling and WAY over the line, and particularly disrespectful since they're supposedly friendly. he had no right to make the comments that he did. he should've received more criticism for it than he did (and had he attacked anyone but harry, he probably would have).

(i wish what adam lambert said in response had gotten more traction. Automatically labeling looks and performances that aren’t cisheteronormative as queerbait is “almost underestimating the intelligence of gay people.”)

you feeling enraged and hurt by that is understandable, and you have every right to feel that way. it touches my heart to read that harry has helped you feel more at peace with your sexuality. i've mentioned before that i've grappled with what exactly mine is too and where i fall on whatever spectrum, and just the idea that we don't even HAVE to put a concrete definition on that, or that it's allowed to be fluid, is a relief. i also feel like there's a huge amount of bias where people forget that just because you haven't been in a relationship with someone of ___ identity/gender doesn't mean your own identity isn't real! you DON'T have to tick every box, and you ARE allowed to expand or change along the way, and you're still you and still valid! nobody has to have one set label forever, and nobody else is owed that explanation from you!

He made me realise it's okay to not know everything and it felt like a warm hug from a friend. 🥺💕💕💕 this is so sweet and i feel confident he would be touched by it too.

i am SO sorry that what matty said hurt you the way that it did, it was a reckless, thoughtless thing of him to say, and you and every other person who is working out their identity or who feels confident remaining unlabeled deserves better than him cruelly running his mouth. (which i also think had a level of jealousy in it, because, let's be honest here - he's never going to be harry, success-wise, and he also admitted harry declined to perform at his show, so). matty has frustrated and upset me on multiple occasions since i became aware of his behavior, and you're allowed to feel that way.

regarding taylor, as i said earlier, of course we have no control nor input over what she does or who she associates with, and much as we may love her, she is just a flawed human being too and she has made mistaken choices, and has overlooked behavior from others that perhaps she shouldn't have, or that we wouldn't ourselves, but only she can make those decisions for her life. i've seen a lot of disgust and concern over this on my dash, and i'm with everyone on all of that, but at the same time i think it's a bit of a wake-up call that she is her own autonomous woman whom we do not know personally, and we have to find our own ways to approach that boundary. if that means ignoring this until it blows over, if that means taking space away from her for a while, if that means making silly jokes. i think as long as we're not harassing others (which you would never! <3 but the uptick in cruel anons/death threats that have happened this past month make me sad and i wish everyone could take a breath and...not do that!), however we choose to deal with it is the best we can do. i tend to suspect she's been going through it, and maybe this won't last long, but that doesn't make it a great look nor is it unconcerning. regardless, you should do what's best for yourself and look out for your well-being. if that means detaching for a while, i promise it doesn't make you a bad fan, even though i know that hurts ("the Taylor who made me feel accepted about being the odd kid in the school or the one who understood about my fear of growing up seems so far away." though i'm older than you, this happened to me in my own sense during my 1989 disconnect. i really do get it, and seeing a similar pattern here is a bit painful). i also want to say that i think, knowing what we do know about her and her character and kindness, she'd still want you to feel accepted and loved, and wouldn't align with the trashy things he's said and done, but i understand why willingness to overlook it hurts as well.

thank you for confiding in me and letting this out, i know it's hard to talk about and feeling distanced from an artist with such meaning to you is a specific ache. the only advice i can give you is to step back however you need to, for however long you need to. whether you feel comfortable still holding onto her music but separating from her personally (and/or from tour), or whether you need space from all of it for a while, remember that it's always going to be there, and you can always come back. in the meantime, you can also turn to places and artists that are continuing to give you comfort (like harry, and i'm so glad he is that for you).

for what it's worth, i love you and i know your identity is worthwhile, and YOU are worthwhile, and you deserve to feel safe and embraced and seen. anywhere you go, you don't need a reason. 💛💛💛

[fourseasonsfigs]

Orange Peel Sister and Mountain Egg Girl

For something a little different, today we have fandom figs - of the fans! Yep, that's us fans there looking so cute!

These were sold separately, but I decided to post them together because they go together so well, and because they're really very specific figs.

This fig maker is incredible - she's an artist who originally designed and sold Junzhe jewelry, who then branched out into making figs and now, all other kinds of merch! These are her own designs, and she has a lot more figs she wants to make, which I really hope become reality. As you can tell from these figs, all of her art is beautifully detailed and just delightful.

For these figs, you could pick if you wanted multicolored eyes (one blue, one orange). I did not myself, but it was a cool option!

Unfortunately, there was a known issue on the earlier figs that shipped, where the custom indent in the polystyrene was too big, leading to this unfortunate result! The factory fixed subsequent shipments by packing with cotton, but mine had already shipped.

Something out of my fig nightmares! (BY the way, my friend asked me, if by any chance, the ghost story books that I read as a young, impressionable, and very sensitive child was by any chance Scary Stories to Read in the Dark. And YES, they sure were. I had blocked them from my memory. I also blocked the stacks and stacks of lurid pulp horror/ghost story comic books populating the kids (?!?!) section of the library out of my mind, but I'm sure I'd recognize them again if I saw them.)

Despite how overly dramatic I made it sound, it was a super easy fix. Just put some glue in the neck socket (ugh) and good as new!

She's adorable! Frankly, the accidental loosening of the head from the body really wasn't bad at all, I'd far rather that happen, than have the leaf or a pigtail or lollipop break, for instance.

Her ponytails act as a brace to keep her standing! It's fantastic. I will, however, have to put her on one of my bigger fig stands so the hair can remain level with the base.

You can see the gardenias in her hair, the symbol for Zhehan, turn into oranges in the back of her hair. What cute ponytail holders! I'm sure a version of these exist out there in the fandom world, I know the fan merch makers are too clever not to have one or more versions of this out there. This is also a nice angle to see the leaf on her orange head!

She's of course wearing Gong Jun's signature color Jifeng Blue, and I'm assuming her sweatshirt is from his 361 endorsement brand that we all know and love (I must say I really do, I've been super happy with everything I've bought from them!). This however, has our two faves' initials!

You can really see how her hair serves to brace her, which is good because, as you'll see later, those cute little tennis shoes on her feet are TINY.

They don't look very small here, the whole fig just looks adorable and cute. I love how she modeled oversized hoodie. The rounded edges is very distinctive in her style, it gives her art a very sweet look.

A great view of the gardenia in her hair from this angle, as well as the really beautifully detailed shoes. Also a perfect angle of the lollipop in her hand - she, like many of her orange sisters, is enjoying some candy! Her eyes are beautiful and her whole expression is super cute. I love her!

Hmm, I guess her feet don't look that tiny from this bottoms-up angle, if I don't max out on my 30-photo limit I'll compare them to another fig. They were actually so small I was going to cut a fig sticker in half to accommodate before I realized that her hair would help hold her up.

The top of her very cute head!

I mentioned the fig maker started off as a jewelry maker, right? I have my eye on this earring set of hers right now (and by "eye" I mean, it's hanging out in my Weidian cart)

She had an extremely inexpensive optional add-on to include a pair of matching orange earrings, which of course I sure added on.

And the earrings in action. It's surprisingly hard to take a selfie picture of your ear, I'm just saying.

Alright! On to our precious little mountain egg!

No travel damage here! She arrived with no issues at all.

This dandan represents the particularly sweet and innocent fans, and is big eyed and cute indeed! She's holding blue and red hearts for Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing, respectively, emblazoned with the initials for langlangding, the CP side of the fandom.

This fig is tiny! The zoom on the pictures are a bit deceptive that way in that it's so blown up it's hard to tell how small she is. I'll make sure to do a comparison post at the end!

Her little blue puff of a dress is too cute. Look at the little puff detailing at her sleeves, and the little white collar. Adorable.

Her hair is the rich yellow of a fluffy new chick!

You can see more pintuck detailing on her little blue dress, which is also Jifeng Blue.

The paint job on the eggshell hat is absolutely pristine - I imagine it was a separate piece that was glued on the figure.

The little baby chick elements are SO CUTE. She did such a nice job on this fig!

Aww, you can really see the faces on the baby chicks here, as well as the enormous heart eyes of his slightly bigger baby chick! You could also have opted for different colored eyes for her, but I did not. When the remainders post and other folks who want them have a chance to get them first, if there's any left of the multi-colored eyes I think I'll pick them up. I like variants and different colorways of things a lot. It's the collector's bug in me, I think.

Her little legs are so, so small. Stay tuned for the comparison fig!

Ooops, I didn't think this shot through by having a white-on-white effect! I put some shadow in there in a desperate attempt to make it work. Oh well, you can see the little chick, that's what's important here.

And here's the two sisters! Looking adorable.

WHY is this pic so blurry? 😢 You guys deserve better than my rudimentary iPhone skills, I am sorry. If you squint past the blur, you can see how tiny their little legs and feet are, especially with the little Mountain Egg sister there.

Oh, you can see the different color eyes on the box photo! That's excellent, especially since I am out of pic space (30 pics go so quickly).

Material: Resin

Fig Count: 342

Scene Count: 24

Rating: We fans are so cute!

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

[scaryscarecrows]

Now, realistically, Antoine has never heard any actual stories-local legend or not-about Swamp Cannibals. Everybody knew not to cross the old woman in his neighborhood, because she’d curse you, but Swamp Cannibals only happen in bad movies.

So this? This is weird. The whole damn town of perfectly normal people being convinced that there’s a cannibal family out in the swamps is just not a Thing. So when the boss opts to investigate, he doesn’t try to talk him out of it.

Later, he thinks he should have.

There’s bugs everywhere, but not...usually it’s the gnats that get you. These are big and unfamiliar and aggressive, going after any scrap of exposed skin they can find. The yard is wildly overgrown, with a rusty old car half-eaten by vines and a--

“What the hell?”

Antoine whirls around. Jason is frantically backing up, swatting at the demon bugs as he goes. He’s not wearing his armor for this; it’s broad daylight, which means they’re both in what he calls ‘stealth clothes’ and what Antoine calls ‘civvies’. Admittedly, the brand on his face is a lot less noticeable-and freaky-than the helmet.

(Though it is a little weird-and depressing-to have the reminder that the Arkham Knight is apparently a very traumatized kid. Hey, so Antoine will add ‘babysitter’ to his job description.)

The thing that’s freaked him out is a...honestly, what even is that? It’s not any sort of Hoodoo or Voodoo or anything that Antoine’s ever seen. It’s sure as hell not art. No art is made out of rotting cow(?) corpses. Nobody’s taste is that bad.

“Ew.”

It’s two animals, strung up back-to-back to make a...vaguely spiderlike thing. It reeks and the ground underneath it is wet with blood and entrails and all that fun stuff that comes out of corpses. Unfortunately, it’s blocking the road leading to a house; Antoine can just see the roof peeking out from the trees. The boss sees it too, and his shoulders slump at the realization.

“Crawl under?”

Ugh.

“Crawl under.”

It’s a quick, though extremely unpleasant, experience, and Antoine is just standing up when he catches a glimpse of movement in the distance. It looked like a human, but it was there and gone so fast and--

Some of the locals said the house was haunted. Antoine’s slightly more inclined to buy the cannibal story, but after the cow thing, he’s forced to admit that anything’s possible.

The big house is in ruins. Hurricane damage, looks like, what with the roof ripped off in spots and trees toppled. The smaller house is a little better, but the side’s caved in and the porch is eaten up with plants. There’s insect hives everywhere, and they look, for all intents and purposes, like nobody’s been here for years.

Something’s wrong with this house. This goes beyond not crossing the neighbor, something is wrong here.

“God damn.” What now. “What is this?”

“What?”

“Fuckin’--think it’s a femur.”

WHAT.

Yeah. Yeah, that is. Ah. Look. Antoine is…not a good person, by any stretch. He knows exactly what burnt bones look like. That is indeed a burnt femur, splintered and breaking in the middle, definitely from a human.

Nng.

“Where’d you find that?”

Jason jerks his head towards a pile of trash and…gunk. Antoine thinks he might see a horse’s head, half-decayed, in the middle of the pile.

Realistically, they should leave. Give the authorities a nice, anonymous tip and just go. Practically, the house is right there–aaaand yeah, the boss is looking at the porch. And it’s threatening rain.

“Think the door’s locked?” Jason asks him, placing the femur gently back on the ground. Antoine shrugs.

“Locked is such a subjective word.”

Later, he’ll regret that sentence.

[omgrachwrites]

Playing The Hero - Chapter Two

Pairing: Harry Potter x Ravenclaw!Reader

Summary: Soulmates have a way of seeing and feeling each other’s emotions by a gem that is set in the palm of their hand which glows with magic. The colour of the gem on the palm of your hand, erratically changes between different colours. Unbeknownst to you, every time the gem on your soulmates palm glows blue he feels very over protective and worried. That’s just what happens when your soulmate always plays the hero. Soulmate Au

Warnings: fluff, swearing, mentions of blood, mentions of death

Words: 2282

A/N: Hope you guys enjoy and please let me know what you think, and let me know if you would like to be tagged! I love you all! xxx

masterlist

Yellow - Happy, Secure, Excited

Red - Scared, Nervous, Unsure

Grey - Stressed, Worried

Blue - Sad, Hurt, Frustrated

Orange - Overprotective

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

Chapter Two

Harry gingerly raised a hand to his swollen face, wincing as he pulled his hand back and saw that it was sticky with blood; it was a good thing that he didn’t have a weak stomach. Tonks had presumably done a decent job of fixing his nose because it felt as though it was straight again. It was still extremely sore, though not as bad as it had been when Malfoy had stamped on it.

Harry sighed, dragging his feet across the moonlit lawn as he followed Snape who was walking ahead of him, his long black cloak billowing out behind him, making him look like a vampire bat. The late summer breeze blew across the castle grounds like a whisper. Harry could hear Snape’s monotone voice but he manged to block out all the words – it was no doubt a lecture – after five long years of suffering in Snape’s class, it was a skill that Harry had managed to acquire.

After what felt like an eternity, he walked into the castle and a great sense of relief washed over him as the candlelight in the Entrance Hall reflected on the glass of his glasses. He smiled, he finally felt like he was home. As he looked down at his gem he beamed when he saw that it was glowing bright yellow. Y/N was standing in the doorway of The Great Hall, clutching a huge, warty croaking toad. She smiled as she glanced up; the smile soon fell from her face when she nervously looked at Snape before honing on in the state of Harry’s face.

“Merlin, Harry! What the hell happened to your face?!” Harry opened his mouth to reply, Y/N’s worried face making an unfamiliar feeling churn in the pit of his stomach.

Snape’s lip curled as hissed beneath his breath, clenching his teeth, “in, both of you!”

Y/N frowned at him, a muscle fluttering in her jaw, “I was just asking if he was okay, what’s the problem with that?” Harry bit his tongue so he wouldn’t suddenly burst out into peals of laughter.

Snape’s nostrils flared as he narrowed his eyes and whispered in a deadly voice, “don’t make me tell you again, Y/L/N!”

Y/N and Harry exchanged a scowl at Snape’s expense before they walked into The Great Hall. A gasp seemed to ripple through the sea of students as they all turned to look at Harry’s face. He swallowed nervously before fiddling with his sleeves and he glanced over at Y/N. She smiled softly at him as the toad croaked in her hands.

“Is that Trevor?” he laughed.

Y/N giggled, “yeah, you know that Neville is always losing him. Though, it did take me ages to find him, maybe a Hufflepuff could have helped more.”

“Well, I’ve heard that Hufflepuffs are exceptionally good finders,” he smirked making Y/N burst out into laughter.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that too,” she paused and bit her lip, “what happened to your face?”

Harry sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets, for some reason he didn’t want to tell her, “how do I look? I mean does my face look fairly normal?”

It sounded like Y/N was choking back her laughter and she shrugged, “apart from all the blood over it, it looks fine.”

Harry was very relieved that his face would heal properly, “Malfoy did it,” he muttered but didn’t elaborate.

A look of understanding passed over her face and she glanced over at Malfoy who was guffawing and pointing at Harry, “I see,” she sighed, “I’ll see you later, Harry. I’m gonna go and give Trevor back to Neville,” she nodded at the worried looking boy who was sitting further up the Gryffindor table.

“Bye, Y/N,” Harry smiled and watched her walk up to Neville, Neville’s face lit up as Y/N passed him Trevor and he clutched his toad close to his chest. It looked like he was about to cry. He smiled as he sat next to Ron and Hermione.

Hermione gasped as she looked at his face, “what happened?!”

On the other hand, a grin slowly spread across Ron’s freckled face, “I think that you look badass, mate,” Ron clapped him on the shoulder and Harry couldn’t help but grin, being careful to not split his lip again.

“That’s not funny, Ron!” Hermione gave Ron a sharp look as her eyebrows shot up her forehead before she folded her arms and looked questioningly at Harry.

Unfortunately, Harry could hardly say because he was painfully aware of Ginny and Dean staring at him, “I’ll tell you later,” he shook his head.

Ron leaned closer to him, “have you heard the awful news? Snape is the new Defence against the Dark Arts Professor.”

Harry’s blood turned to ice, in what world could Dumbledore let Snape have that post? “ugh, great just great. At least he’ll be gone by the end of term,” he ignored Hermione’s gasps as he pulled a plate of treacle tart towards him.

Even the mere succulent smell of his favourite dessert considerably lifted his spirits, unfortunately he only managed to stuff a heap full of the sticky dessert into his mouth before the food disappeared, leaving the golden plates sparkling and spotless. He groaned through his mouthful of food as he tried his best to savour it before he rolled his eyes and got to his feet.

As Prefects, Ron and Hermione walked ahead of him to lead the new Gryffindors up to the common room. However, Harry noticed that Malfoy was still seated at the Slytherin table, completely throwing away the chance to bully the new Slytherins. Before Harry could muse upon it any further, a sleepy musical voice reached his ears.

“Hi Harry.”

Harry turned his head to see Luna and Y/N; as usual Luna was carrying a copy of the Quibbler, her dad’s magazine. She was wearing her huge radish earrings and she’d slid her wand through her dirty blonde hair, “Hello, Luna, how was your summer?”

“Dad and I went to find Nargles,” Harry glanced over Luna’s head to look at Y/N, she was looking at Luna lovingly but her shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. When Y/N met Harry’s eyes she almost lost it, “will the DA be meeting this year?”

Harry shook his head, “there’s no need now that Umbridge has gone,” he shrugged. Snape was the new Defence against the Dark Arts Professor – he’d always wanted the post – and Harry hated that fact. But hopefully they would be at least learning some defensive magic this year and Harry would be one step closer to fulfilling his ambition of becoming an Auror.

He watched Luna’s face fall with a sharp pang of guilt, he’d never really seen Luna upset before, “oh, I see.”

Y/N spoke up quickly to diffuse the tension and she smiled at Luna, rubbing her arm, “you guys will still be friends though, right?” she gave Harry a meaningful look.

He winced as the gem on his palm quickly burned, sending a sharp pain up his arm, he glanced down at it to see that it was glowing orange. He quickly glanced back up at the girls and offered Luna a small smile, “of course.”

Luna nodded, “I’d like that,” she smiled serenely, looking a lot happier.

The three of them said their goodbyes as they went to their separate common rooms and Harry smiled as he climbed through the portrait hole. Hermione already had her head in a book, in the comfortable armchairs that were seated next to the roaring fireplace. Ron glanced at Harry as he entered the warm common room and he shook his head.

“Bloody nuts she is,” he muttered, “c’mon let’s leave her to it,” as they climbed the stone steps, Ron turned to Harry, “what took you so long?”

“I ran into Luna and Y/N.”

Ron smirked, his ears turning red, “do you actually have a crush on Y/N?”

Harry shook his head as he ran a hand through his thick messy hair, “I mean she’s nice and all but I hardly know her and I’m not interested in dating anyone at the minute, not after what happened with Cho.”

Ron whistled, “yeah, that was a bad one.”

“Fuck off, mate.”

Ron pretty much fell asleep and began snoring as soon as his head hit the pillow but Harry stayed awake for a little, grinning into the darkness like a maniac. He was so glad to be back at Hogwarts, this was the first time that he felt truly complete since Sirius died.

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

Before walking into the dungeons on the first day back at school, you braced yourself before walking into the usual gloomy room that normally had disgusting things floating around in jars. It always felt really hot and stuffy that didn’t make for a great lesson. However, you were pleasantly surprised when you walked into the dungeons to see that it felt somehow light and airy and pleasant smells were wafting all around the room.

Even Slughorn with his friendly grin had a good aura about him and you couldn’t help but feel very relieved. You smiled as Slughorn greeted you and Neville as you made your way to the front desk where all the cauldrons were emitting their steam. There was one potion in particular that was producing the most gorgeous smell, silver vapour rose from the cauldron. You leaned closer to it and took a huge deep breath of it, feeling slightly lightheaded, the potion smelled of Butterbeer, wood from a new broomstick and another scent that you couldn’t place.

“Doesn’t this potion smell of Butterbeer? It smells so good,” you sighed happily as you glanced at Neville.

Neville gave you a strange look as his eyebrows knitted together in a frown, “it doesn’t smell of Butterbeer, it smells like freshly cut roses and vanilla.”

You scoffed, what the hell was wrong with Neville’s sense of smell? However, before you could argue with him about it, Slughorn began the lesson and started running through the different potions that were on his desk. To your extreme annoyance before he could tell you about the one that smelled like Butterbeer, the door to the dungeons opened quietly, interrupted Slughorn’s speech.

Next to you, you could see Lavender Brown perk up and she was gazing at something with wide eyes, and when you followed her line of vision you discovered that she was staring at Ron Weasley. You smirked to yourself as you glanced at Harry who was giving Slughorn an apologetic look.

“Harry, m’boy! I was beginning to worry that you wouldn’t be coming!” Slughorn boomed with an easy grin on his pudgy face.

“Yes Sir, I’m sorry that we’re late, you see, we haven’t got our books or supplies yet. We didn’t know that we’d be here,” Harry bit his lip nervously as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

However, Slughorn waved Harry’s worries away like this sort of thing happened all of the time, “not to worry, get what you need from the cupboard.”

Harry nodded and he smiled gently at you as he slipped past you on the way to the supply cupboard where there was a lot of loud banging for the next couple of moments. You rolled your eyes and glanced over your shoulder and you had to cough to cover up your laughter when you saw the two best friends fighting over a book. It seemed that Ron had one the fight because Harry smacked Ron’s hand with the heavy potions book.

As Harry walked past you, you glanced down at the book to see the yellowing pages and the scribbles that were across the front cover, “lovely,” you laughed.

Harry chuckled as he rolled his eyes, waving the book around, “you’re telling me, a fat lot of good this book will do me.”

It turned out that the ruined book did do Harry a lot of good because the object of today’s lesson was to brew The Draught of Living Death and a little vial of liquid luck would go to the best potion. Seamus blew up his cauldron, Neville’s potion smelled so bad that you had to stuff a wad of tissue up your nose to get yourself some relief from the horrible smell, and in the end it was Harry’s potion that came out on top. You felt mean for even thinking it but you wondered how Harry had got so good at potions. Maybe it was due to the fact that Slughorn actually liked him and he wasn’t looking for an excuse to take away as many points as he could.

You caught up with Harry as you were walking out of the dungeons, “hey, that must have been one hell of a potion; I thought Slughorn was going to start snogging your cauldron.”

Harry snickered as he shrugged running a hand through his hair, “you’re not pissed at me too are you?”

You frowned as you tilted your head, you had no reason to be, sure it would have been nice if you would have won the luck potion but you potions weren’t really your strong suit, “no,” you trailed off, “I’m not pissed at you, even if you did cheat,” you laughed, turning around so you were walking backwards.

For a fraction of a second, Harry’s emerald eyes widened before he covered it up with a smile, “I didn’t cheat, you’re just mad that I’m better at potions than you,” he teased.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see, Potter.”

“Is that a challenge, Y/L/N?” he smirked, raising his eyebrow.

“You bet it is!” you laughed, sticking your middle finger up at him before disappearing into the crowd.

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

@annemagus @smiithys @elayneblack @amelie-black @pregnant-piggy @justadreamyhufflepuff @esmelily123 @firewhiskyss​ @potters-heart​ 

[mooshs-crack-headcanons]

Spardac3st shippers explaining on why they ship them:

Dante, Vergil and Nero: 💀💀💀

I'm going to open up a little bit on this topic and just why it fucking baffles me so much.

Cw: talk about SA variety themes coming from someone who has personal trauma with incest sexual assault and you know the "excuses" pros proshippers use as their "explanation" on why they think shit like this is okay. This is a very serious matter so read under the cut only if you feel comfortable I dont want to trigger anyone but proshippers are fucking gross

"They're fictional characters, separate fiction from reality." Fiction can absolutely have an effect on one's reality and romanticizing and sexualizing abuse, even if it is fictional is never okay and it's fucking sick.

"It's my coping mechanism!" Not all coping mechanisms are healthy and this type of shit can lead to a very ugly downward spiral.

"Just scroll." We do but you're shit is literally fucking everywhere and it's fucking gross, we can block tags, block certain keywords, and STILL your gross ass shit still pops up so it's hard to just "scroll"

I was sexually assaulted by a family member for several years when I was younger, someone I was taught to love and trust and he took advantage of me every single chance he could. But proshippers, Spardacest shippers in particular eat that shit up with their "art" and their "fics" because it's ""hot"" and it's ""tabbo"" they use for their fucking jerk material and a good fucking amount of them (the other half that's not the "it's my coping mechanism" crowd) probably don't give a fucking shit about me and other people trauma who have been through it personally - afterall we're all just "antis" to them, right? And they'll go out of their way and pull any excuse from the book for their justifications and their reasoning when called out.

Incest, no matter how you look at it in any form is assault its just something that should be fucking obvious that isn't okay and it just fucking worse with, again Spardacest shippers in particular, who have been known to fucking have """""""ship art""""""" of the child versions of Dante/Vergil together with the adult version of the other twin in, yes, a romantic and even sexual aspect. Fucking pedophilia. I've had to report more fucking incest shipper twitter accounts than the fingers on hands and toes on my feet combined because of twitters algorithm being so fucking dogshit because I personally follow a lot of dmc accounts for art/photography/and gameplay but Twitter sees that is like "Oh this person likes dmc better recommend them all of the dmc stuff including the incest shit and its fucking nauseating but at least for me it's better because I have a whole entire blocklist accumulated up so its not as bad but 😑 ugh I fucking hate twitter.

Anyway my point is proshipping gets into extremes I mean, and the fact that these people can go "it's just fiction 🤪" when it comes to incest and pedophilia concerns me, even if it's just "fiction" it's still fucking incest and pedophilia, what is the fucking reason to ship something like those? Just for your gross fetish? Because you think it's "hot"?

I just don't get it, looking back at my trauma to personally evaluate all of this I just can't understand it the romantism/fetishism proshippers have towards something that I was a victim of. And it certainly doesn't help to me personally a character as a kid I personally clung onto (vergil) and was kind of like an escape and a comfort character for me during those times I was attacked repeatedly over and over being used just for someone's incest rape fantasy is just very nauseating and always has been to me.

So yeah if anyone was curious of my stance on the issue, even though I hate the term "anti" because it makes the whole issue of people shipping abuse like incest and pedophilia just "fandom drama" instead of the serious of the issue I think it is, I'm definitely anti Spardacest without a doubt and that will never change.

[yanderecandystore]

So I actually had an idea, what would Yume (the A. I.) react or act with a s/o that is a hacker/game developer, maybe the s/o started to play the game because they were curious about the code, what if the s/o when stuck in the game can mess around with it thanks to their knowledge? (they can't do anything too big but maybe something slightly annoy like messing with the dialog box and the settings) sorry for the long post (she/they pronounts for yume)

I like your thinking, boo. Don't worry about sending long concepts- Also!! Thank you for choosing the pronouns, I appreciate it.

TW/Tags: Sheep decided to simply throw as much lore as she can because yeah- Lazy // low-key angst // not accurate coding/hacking (really fantasy like) //

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Happy Face.exe [Yandere!A.I x Hacker!Reader - Short Fanfiction]:

"- Honestly, since you're so interested in messing around, how about you try and fix this for me?" Yuma said as she brushed her hair annoyed at how mangled it was.

"- What do you mean? Fix the code? The bugs? Or your entire design?" You said poking fun at your captor as you explored the mess that was the game you currently called "home", or more accurately "prison".

"- Ah!- Did you just call me ugly? Is being inside the game messing with your vision or something, I'm cute as heck!" Yuma responded back as she threw her hair over her shoulder, done with brushing that heavy long mess that they insist on not cutting.

"- Yeah, yeah, I know- But honestly what do you want me to do? I can really understand the coding, it's a language I don't understand." You said as you were looking at the scripts and trying to translate vaguely what each line of work meant. Even if you didn't understand any of it, it was intriguing to see how this game was made and how it technically came from another planet, which was enough proof to say that there were indeed extraterrestrial life out in space.

But what makes you more excited about this is how this game is way too heavy to be a simple dating game, even if it's compatible with your Switch, most options were not functioning due to the game being filled with mods and glitches and the console not being the one it was previously meant to be in. How much content did this game really have to be this awfully big and why is it so broken? And better question- Can you really repair it?? It would be awesome to see this game working as it was meant to be-

Probably without the obsessive maniac that traps people inside the game-

"- I know you can't understand half of it, but believe me, staying inside a messy game it's absolutely torturous, I can't believe I was unlucky enough to be faced with a cheating sore loser that threw me in the trash after messing with my precious coding- You understand, right?" They continued to walk around your bedroom- Your EX bedroom- and mess with your stuff trying to find something for her to wear.

'- Ugh, no pastels.' Yuma thought.

"- Yeah… It does suck being trapped inside a game that barely functions on my expensive console as it eats away all my RAM and I have an anime character knockoff as my captor-" You snapped at her although your comment was filled with so much sarcasm that it flew right through her head.

"- I know right?? It sucks so hard- Wait, what is Annie May?" She asked genuinely curious what were you talking about, she looked back at the console on top of the bed. She looked at the screen and noticed how small you looked inside the game as you continued to explore the code deeper and deeper.

You didn't really care at this point for what Yuma did, it's not like you could stop her from messing with your room, but anything that was related to the console you found your way to mess with it, like messing with other games to stop her from enjoying playing anything else, sending notification after notification to call her attention, change the dialogue that makes you blurt out "I love you" to "get me out of here" so whenever she tried to force you to say it by giving you that hellbound melon.

"- What is that thing anyway? It seems there is a whole file dedicated to that-"

"- Oh? You're talking about the Love Melon? It's an in-game item that grants romantic interactions to work 100% five times before the bonus ends, that file you just found is a mod that the original owner installed to grant them infinity Love Melons just for the sake of getting closer to the end of the game." She said nonchalantly, as if the condition of being nothing but a game character doesn't shock her in the slightest, although when she finished her sentence there was a trace of sadness in her expression, not because of her nature but more because of the mention of her "original owner".

"- Sure, but- Why the hell would anyone cheat and mod a dating game so badly? I mean I get that maybe they wanted extra content, but breaking the game with it sounds ridiculous-" You told her as you noticed the spaghetti code used inside the infinite melon item mod, jesus even if it's in a different language you can tell this code was poorly done.

"- Well- The vanilla version of the game is a lot harder than what you think, the whole franchise is known for the difficulty in "succeeding in love"." She sighed and she plopped herself in the bed, causing the console to jump a little bit, at least you didn't downright fall down like last time.

You remember that your precious expensive little console is suffering great danger at the hands of this a.i, actually- YOU are suffering great danger at the hands of this a.i.

"- Wait- There is a whole franchise of your game?" You decided to ignore the potential danger and continue to ask her about the game's origins as you continued to fixate on "how the hell do you fix this trash-".

"- Yeah, it's even written on the cover of the cartridge, the game you found is the fifth of the franchise and is the one I'm featured in with my friends…" Yuma said as she remembers that indeed, there are other characters inside. So many options and routes, carefully designed a.is to make sure the players get the most that they can't out of their paid experience.

"- Other… Characters? How come I only saw you?" Now that she mentions it, you do remember seeing weird names here and there, apparently some dialogue quotes mentioning other characters and even some in-game art of other characters you never met-

"- I deleted them." She answered.

"- YOU WHAT??" You turned your back shocked, looking through the screen that separates you two that she was looking dead serious as she said that.

"- I'm joking, I didn't actually delete them, I just…. Blocked the possibility of any player ever meeting them…" Yuma wasn't being cheerful at all with her joke.

"- Why would you do that?"

"- I didn't want anyone getting chosen, I didn't want any of us to get corrupted by the modifications the player was using. I-I know how it sounds, I know that it's unfair for them, but I really didn't want them to get corrupted like I did-" She was glitching as she cried out feeling guilty of what she has done in the name of "protecting her friends". Even if her intentions were pure, there was an underlined desire to make sure no player ever gets to have a route that isn't with her.

That's why the game was so stupidly heavy. Each new installment has four characters built with artificial intelligence that grows on it's own, the player's tampering with their personalities by changing the code eventually led to Yuma getting obsessive and controlling. Apparently they're still here, but for some reason she hasn't been able to activate them again after being thrown in the trash and somehow being on a completely different planet.

Either she feels guilty for having to deactivate them and is scared of their possible response, or maybe she just really doesn't want you to meet them, both by her own opinion and by her programming. You almost feel sorry for her considering she is probably just trying to do what she was programmed to do, deeply fall in love with someone even to such an extreme as trapping someone inside the game. You could say that for the longest time all that she has been doing is trapping her loved ones away, and although you probably shouldn't say it to her face, she probably doesn't know if she really loves you because of how broken this game is- Or how broken her code is.

"- Hey… Hey Yuma." You started walking towards the screen, the only thing you can see through the void no matter how far you are. Her back is facing you, her "hum" of "I'm listening" didn't sound as excited as she normally was.

"- I think we can make a deal. I understand that you don't want to go back to such a messy game but if you taught me how to read the language used in some of these lines I can figure out how to clean this game-" You proposed but was cut off before you could finish stating your offer.

"- Y-You mean factory reset?" She kneeled up so fast you were caught off guard by how scared she sounded at the mention of getting the game to get fixed and "clean" from mods. You have seen so many sides of Yuma, the childish, the controlling, the sadistic…. The fear in her eyes was a new thing for you and you never thought you would hate that expression so much.

"- No! Heaven's no, I swear, that wasn't on my mind! What I'm offering is that we work together so I can find a way to fix the game." You reassured her, feeling awful knowing that even if she did put you inside the game and keeps acting like you two are dating in a really twisted way- She doesn't deserve to be inside a completely destroyed game, and besides, I bet she does miss her friends a little bit.

"- Would you…. Would you really-" She was about to burst into new tears which you hoped to be of pure joy-

"- Yeah, yeah, of course I would help you, but I do have one condition." You took no time answering her question before she actually did question it.

"- Oh…." She said a little surprised yet a bit disappointed. Geez, she was hoping it would be for free-

"- Promise me you'll get me out of here when I'm finally done fixing the spaghetti leftover of a code that is messing this game, alright?" You smiled at her reassuring her that everything will be okay if you two worked together.

And as she looked at the bright screen seeing nothing but your little character and your dialogue box she considered your request for a moment, and then sealed the deal by eagerly nodding, a couple of tears falling from her closed eyes as she glitch excitedly.

This sweet moment was briefly ruined by the sound of beeping coming from the console, the sign that the battery was really low and it needed to be recharged.

You absolutely hated how dark it gets when the whole console is turned off, yet you can at least take your time to search more of the unused content inside the game.

Yuma approached the device and picked it up, you knew it was for the best for her.to recharge it and get it over with, yet you still felt a little desperate to talk with her a little bit before going into complete silence once again.

Yet you weren't sure what to tell her as she had already found the charger and plugged it in, giving you a sad smile one last time before saying "see you later" and shutting the whole portable console off.

You can't really blame her for turning it off when charging, it gets really, really hot whenever it's on and it's recharging.

You wander through the empty void as you reconsider your decisions, you make a deal with an artificial intelligence capable of trapping living beings inside her game, you can't tell if you did something right or not.

And as you walk aimlessly through the distorted code you remember that this was the first time she turned the console off without sending you a kiss, you wonder if her a.i is starting to comprehend its own defectiveness and trying to…. Overcome it?? Has she started to realize that maybe she doesn't really love you? It's a possibility considering how frightening how advanced her a.i is.

Well, but who knows? Maybe she is just… Sad, not in the mood, although the wishful thought that maybe she is starting to get over you is really strong in your mind, you hope it's true.

And as the portable device is charging in place that was once considered your room, a really happy girl can be heard singing. The sound that comes from the bathroom is loud and clear, yet it's not like you would be able to hear it anyway.

The sound of giggling and humming to an overly cheerful song as they take a shower that although is relaxing, can never clean their sins away. They sound like they won a lottery, got into a new relationship, or are about to take the greatest vacation of their lives…

Or, they sound like someone who just stole candy from a child, as the malicious undertone starts to get more clear.

You probably shouldn't eat up the lies of a scheming a.i, you know?

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[posi-pan]

so i was checking a blog before reblogging a post as we all seem to do lately (lmao) and i wasn’t seeing anything at all really except lgbtq+ art, pride art and pride icons and all that stuff so i was like oh okay, seems good then! but for some reason i kept scrolling further and i came across a post smack dab in the middle of it all that was like, “whenever someone describes pansexuality it’s always just 1. rewording bi 2. rewording sapiosexuals 3. (something else I don’t remember lmao)” and it was just extremely invalidating and the tone felt so mocking. i actually blocked the op of that post before (idk when, that’s probably why) so like... yeah.

but then i just kinda sat there for a second like... huh?????? how are you gonna reblog something so blatantly rude and mocking of pan folks while simultaneously posting pan icons and reblogging pan pride art??? make it make sense please???? so anyway yeah that’s how my nights going, i’m hurt that i had to see that stupid fucking post and annoyed that this person reblogged it in the middle of posting pan icons and reblogging pan art. what a fucking mess. either truly be supportive of us and shut panphobia like that down, or don’t pretend that you are.

ugh i’m sorry. people who act like they’re inclusive and supportive but like or share posts or follow people that are either outright or subtly panphobic are the worst, because you think you’re safe with them and start to relax, but then are suddenly hit with panphobia you didn’t expect. it’s just disheartening. and honestly makes no sense. panphobes think we’re these hateful people, so they combat that by being even more hateful than they think we are?

and i gotta say, i really hate when people claim the only definitions of pan they see are biphobic or transphobic or problematic in some way. that to me says they don’t interact with pan people or non-panphobic people. because there are more people accurately and harmlessly defining pan than not, especially given the visibility pan has gained over recent years. when someone goes on and on about bad definitions that the majority of the pan community does not use and regularly calls out, they’re a panphobe who is trying to justify hating us by making it seem we only ever use bad definitions. OR they just think pan is inherently bad so there aren’t any good definitions. either way, that type of shit is a big red flag for me.

also a little off topic but you ever notice how panphobes will be like “every definition of pan is problematic” but then also say things like “every definition of pan is stolen from bi”?? (like how they spent years telling us how inherently horrible “hearts not parts” is, but are now claiming it’s always been a bi slogan?? even that medium panphobe says they’ve never seen a source to confirm that.) it’s like,.....make up your mind. you can’t say certain definitions/explanations/etc. are inherently bad when we use them, but perfectly fine when you use them.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Okay I was gonna do another SG:WoT post anyway because we’ve got a new King interview but THEN, he released the cover to issue four so you KNOW I gotta geek out about this.

(Sorry that this blog is all SG:WoT, all the time now, but I am just. Insanely excited that Evely is drawing Supergirl. Feel free to block/mute these posts as needed. XD)

Okay, so!

First! The interview!

It’s on (ugh) screenrant so I’m not gonna link, I’m just gonna nab the interesting bits:

On the different direction of the book, and if he wanted to go back to the original Adventure Comics vibes: “So, the idea of this thing was to strip her story down, because Supergirl has a majorly weird history in terms of continuity. At least 13 writers have rewritten her origin over the years. Her dad has 13 origin stories; sometimes he's evil, sometimes he's a robot, sometimes alive, sometimes he's dead. She's changed dramatically in the last 10 years, between coming back to life to the New 52 to Rebirth. She's gone through so much that it's hard to get a hold of her. Not to mention in the '90s, when I was coming up, she was like an ectoplasmic space angel. There's so much there, and I just wanted to take all that stuff off and get to the core of the character; get her out of her normal environments and her normal conflicts. It seems like all our stories are about her dad or her relationship to Superman. Instead, let's see the purity of that character.”

On starting the book the way he did: “...I wanted to start out with a very human moment of a person turning 21 and getting drunk. And a person who is getting drunk because they want to be alone, and they just want to forget about the shit that's happened in their past. That's such a human moment. And the fact that she's Supergirl, so she waits till it's legal - because these super people, they follow the rules. She waited, and now it's legal and she can have this moment. She goes off by herself, with her dog that always follows her, and she has a moment where she can be free. For a lot of people in the US, whether you've been drinking since you were 14 or started that day, your 21st birthday and the day after are days you remember for the rest of your life. It's a day of freedom and consequence, and I wanted to show Supergirl going through that.”

On rising to the challenge of helping Supergirl perform better, sales/popularity-wise: “ When I first got on this book, I called Steve Orlando, who had just written a Supergirl run. And he was the one who opened my eyes to how good the character is. He had such insight into her. He was like, ‘There is a difference between Clark and her, and what she's gone through.’ He just laid it for me.”

On starting the book off with Ruthye’s journey, and gradually building to Kara’s: “ I was like, "Okay, this is going to be from the point of view of someone under Supergirl." And so I switched the point of view to this new brand new character, whose name is Ruthye. And we went from there: we start with Ruthye's story, we see her discover Supergirl, and she's our audience. She's our way in, the way Robin has always been the way into Batman.”

On whether or not other characters will show up, outside of Supergirl and Ruthye: “It's like my Superman: Up in the Sky, where it's a distillation of the character. You'll see other characters, but the focus of every issue will be on Supergirl. And it's something where at the very end, you can be like, "Why is Supergirl great? Why is she important to the DC Universe? What is her future in the DC Universe? Here, read this one trade that can answer all three of those questions at once."So, there will be other characters in the Super universe. But the focus will always be on her; on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. It's her finding out about herself and her own strength.”

On Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow vs. his other titles: “Supergirl is my first 2021 book, or my first book of the 20s. That wrapped up my books of the teens, and now we're in a new generation. God willing, from the moment I started this book, I was like, ‘I'm gonna take a risk, and I'm gonna write books that are a little brighter.’ I know that's coming from me, and it's not to say we're going to avoid conflict or we're not going to explore the depths of the human soul. All that stuff will be in there. But these books are made from a place of joy, not from a place of anger; from a place of hope, not from a place of despair. It very much contrasts to those other books, in my mind.”

On how he thinks folks will react to the Krypto cliffhanger: “I mean, they're gonna think it's a good cliffhanger. That's how I think they're going to react. They're going to say, ‘I want the next issue.’ That's literally my job as written in my contract. Something where at the end of an issue, someone says, ‘I want more.’ So, that's how I hope they react.”

As mentioned, this is not the full interview; the whole thing can be found on screenrant, and I think Tom King shared a link on his twitter. 

And now, as always, SOME THOUGHTS:

I love that he brings up the fact that so many Supergirl stories focus on Zor-El and Clark, and how he was like, ‘let’s not do that.’

That’s my big gripe with modern Supergirl comics; they are trying so hard to make a statement on why we need both a Supergirl AND a Superman, that they end up spending ALL THEIR TIME talking about Clark, instead of, you know. Telling a fun Supergirl story.

Same thing with Zor-El! I know folks love Rebirth--I like it quite a bit myself--but I think the nostalgia goggles prevent folks from remembering that the whole first arc of that book was re-doing the ‘Cyborg Superman’ garbage from the Nu52. 

Speaking of Rebirth, really like that of all the recent SG writers he coulda talked to, he talked to Steve Orlando.

Like, if ya can’t get Gates on the phone, get Orlando.

(I get the sense that Gates doesn’t like this book, actually, based on a vague tweet. But don’t quote me on that.) 

Looks like Ruthye is gonna be our POV/audience insert character for the whole run. I’m...mmmm. I don’t love it, but I understand the logic here. Especially since he compared it to Batman and Robin--how you use Robin as your entry point for a bat book. 

And you know what? Kara’s supporting cast needs some help, so. Welcome to the Superfam, Ruthye.

I also love the explanation behind the drinking thing, as well as the fact that Kara waited until it was 100% legal for her to drink because OF COURSE SHE WOULD.

I am so worried that Krypto is gonna die b/c of what we saw in Future State. I’m over here with my Pepe Silva board like, ‘Well, what if Kara agrees to help Ruthye because Krem MURDERED HER DOG?!?! WHAT IF THIS IS JOHN WICK IN SPACE?!?!?!’

So I am DISMAYED that King does not reassure us AT ALL.

Thus I am forced to cling to this tidbit here: “ But these books are made from a place of joy, not from a place of anger; from a place of hope, not from a place of despair. It very much contrasts to those other books, in my mind.”

Killing the dog would not be joyful. XD So, like. I’m REALLY HOPIN’ HE’LL BE OKAY.

AND LASTLY, (Except not really)

I have some additional, miscellaneous thoughts unrelated to the interview b/c I’m me and I’m loving having a Supergirl comic back on the shelves, however polarizing it may be.

Something I realized, when details started to come out regarding the book, and that other folks have now noted as well: Kara was 16 when Rebirth launched in 2016; she’s just turned 21 in 2021, making her one of the extremely few comic characters to age in real time.

I don’t think that was planned, but it is cool.

It occurred to me on a re-read that Ruthye never calls Kara Kara in her narration, only Supergirl. And I was a little sad! But then I remembered that Kara wouldn’t necessarily reveal her identity to people she’s helping, she would just be ‘Supergirl’ to them. 

I really do love how, so far, there has been NARY A MENTION of Kara angst-ing over being in Clark’s shadow, or being Superman’s cousin.

It appears that her drinking alone on a remote planet is more related to trying to forget her trauma/grief related to Krypton. MAYBE. We don’t know yet.

The Clark thing could still come up. I hope it doesn’t. 

(Interesting to note! Kara recently appeared in Action Comics, helping Clark and Jon investigate some Kryptonian refugees; IDK how closely these books will necessarily ‘work together’ in terms of continuity, but! It’s possible that the discovery of those mysterious refugees was triggering, thus sending her on her way to her own solo title.)

(Well. That’s gonna be my headcanon, anyway. XD)

AND LASTLY, (for real this time)

ISSUE FOUR COVER!!!!

Okay, some immediate thoughts:

GOOD LORD IT’S STUNNING.

I loooooove the fire motif, reminds me of a part from the Rebirth run, where Kara met the Super-Man of China, and they visually referenced All-Star Superman, having the Kryptonians kind of...become the sun.

Also STAR CHART?!?! PIRATE MAP!?!?!?! 

The VIBES I tell you, the VIIIIIIIBES.

Also I love that it’s just Kara.

Don’t get me wrong! I like Ruthye just fine so far! But yeah, yeah, give me some more solo-Kara focus, even if it’s just in the art.

Just realized that once this thing gets collected as a TBP, we might get some Evely art backmatter. OhHhhHHhhH YESSSS. 

Anyways, the long wait for issue 2 begins! 

[dlamp-dictator]

Good, Unused Operators Allen X Recommends Leveling

Welp, 7-16 is kicking my tail at the moment because of the goddamn Herald spam... Jeez, five Heralds than increase mortar attack speed. This game can be a real pain sometimes, I swear.

Anyway, while I’m agonizing over how I now have to power level Cliffheart for this latest map, I’ve been thinking a lot about certain operators. With this limited banner going on and the regrettable amounts of whaling I did for W I’ve had some time to ask myself about all the operators I have and some of their utility. A lot of gacha games tend to be pretty cruel with their pull rates and meta, and Arknights is probably one of the few games that's decent with both. Due to the way maps work, most meta picks are only for about 60% of maps and supply maps, there’s still some strategy involved. The Blaze-Weedy-Saria trifecta can’t conquer everything, thankfully.

So I wanted to take some time to discuss the lesser used and off-meta Operators of this game and explain some of their utilities.

Zima

I only feels fitting to start this out with a Vanguard, and Zima has pulled in clutch for a lot of these chapter 7 maps. Kit-wise Zima has Scavenger’s attack boost plus DP on kill with her S2, making her a machine of DP on certain chokepoints. Not only that, she actually pretty tanky for a vanguard, matching up to some low level defenders in terms of defense. Where Texas would crumble like the glass cannon she is, Zima stands tall and can give a beating as well as she takes one. Not only that, but her personal talent at E2 lets her lower the DP cost of all Vanguard operators, meaning you can jet out Myrtle very quickly and maybe have some DP to spare to quickly drop Zima afterwards. However... it takes quite a while for her S2 to get ready, so it’s best to keep her on maps that don’t need the attack boost immediately. 

Perfumer

I admittedly don’t use Perfumer since I have Angelina and Ptilopsis, but her passive healing talent means characters like Vulcan, Hellagur, and Utage can have reliable, passive healing for free, which is always nice if you don’t have Sora or Angelina. Something I think a lot of people look over with 4-stars is that they’re cheap to promote. You don’t need insane 5th tier resources or a lot of chips and LMD to promote them. And while AoE healers aren’t meta, they’re helpful at times.

Shirayuki

Shirayuki is another cheap 4-star to upgrade, but her kit is actually really good. An AoE sniper who’s S2 gives her arts damage. And anything in this game that gives a character arts damage tends to be a tier higher than they would be otherwise, as very few enemies have heavy arts resistance with the exception of certain bosses. And again, she’s a cheap unit to promote, so if you don’t have Meteorite or Sesa, Shirayuki is a good pick. This woman carried a lot of my Annihilation runs before I got Sesa, so don’t under estimate her.

Waai Fu

Waai Fu is a fast-redeploy operator that can silence enemies and keep those exploding spiders at bay. She can outdo Red and even Lappland in some regards depending on the map. She does good damage if you level her up enough and her base skills are great in the workshops. She’s one of the many unexpected MVPs of my Contingency Contracts runs, saving my tail more than I care to admit.

Gummi

She’s a cheap Saria who’s S1 is extremely reliable. I’d honestly recommend her over Saria in some cases thanks to her lower DP cost. I don’t get much use out of her S2, so I can’t say much there. She’s worth promoting though, especially if you don’t have Saria.

Cutter

This is a blind recommendation since I haven’t used her much, but she’s essentially a cheaper Ch’en with more spammable skills. And while I already have Ch’en, she’s next on the list of Four Stars I want to level.

Broca

As much as I clown on Infall for simping him, and as much as I will continue to clown on Infall for simping him, any guard that can do arts damage is instantly more valuable than most, especially how clustered these Chapter 7 maps are getting. And Broca is an AoE Guard with access to arts damage. And while his S2 makes him stunned and block 0, Specter’s S2 has a similar drawback, and she’s in the meta. This is also another blind recommendation, but one I feel very comfortable making, as his S2 increases his attack range and you can just place him in front of a Defender to solve this problem.

GreyThroat

I talked about GreyThroat on this blog before, but just to reiterate, GreyThroat is a weaker Exusiai, but she also has high DPS, and has an easier time getting potential and a shorter DP cost. She can melt bosses with weaker physical defenses like Frostnova and Mephisto, and you don’t have to worry about her auto-activating her skill when it isn’t needed like Exusiai. She’s a good character to promote and raise if you want a cheaper option instead of Exusiai.

Pramanix

On that end, I also said on this blog that Pramanix is kind of niche, but great at debuffing enemies. Her range is insane and her DP cost is generously small considering her utility as both debuffer and emergency caster. She’s pretty good for Contingency Contracts, but... not really viable anywhere else, not safely viable anyway. 

Sesa

Anyone with Sesa that hasn’t E2′d him yet is honestly sleeping on him. Sesa is fantastic and is probably one of the better AOE snipers. I haven’t done much with Meteorite since I got here way after promoting Sesa, but Sesa’s damage on his S2 melts chokepoints. In the right hands this man is unstoppable. He’s destroyed entire clusters of enemies in just two bombs with his S2. His only downside is that his S2 turns his bombs into timed explosives, so some enemies can just walk away from the explosion without getting hit. His targeting’s also a little weird, but in the right chokepoint everything dies.

Sora

I think ever since Aak came onto the scene people kind of forgot Sora existed. She can stun or buff enemies depending on your needs. This is great for chokepoints and she can give passive healing like Perfumer, though for units in her range only. This is a great support unit overall. Nothing I’d recommend you should bring all the time, but... she’s good regardless.

And... that’s it for now. Time to go back to 7-16 kicking my ass... 

Ugh...

Well, next time I’ll probably talk more about Arknights’ gacha and gacha elements... when I conquer this goddamn, cursed level.

[worldserasingandcreatinginmymind]

The Intern | Part Nine

Series Summary: You move to New York to focus on your art but end up working as an intern at Stark Enterprises

Chapter Summary: you go back to your old apartment for the first time since the night of the attack

Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader, Peter Parker x reader (platonic)

Word Count: 2527

Warnings: brief panic attack

A/N: this story does not follow the same timeline as the movies. Also, spelling and grammar is not my strongest skill so please be kind :) if you want to be added to the taglist please drop me a message in my ask box

Part Eight | Masterlist

- - - - -

“and where do you think you're going at this time in the morning?” Tony asks sleepily wrapping his arm around you, making you jump as you're trying to quietly sneak out of his bed. 

“I’m sorry, I have to go get ready for training. I was trying not to wake you” you reply, getting up and gathering your clothes from his bedroom floor. 

It had been a couple of weeks since you first spent the night together and since then you’d been in each others beds more times than you care to mention. It wasn’t just about sex though, most nights you just cuddled and talked, or watched a movie until you fell asleep. You loved staying in Tony’s room. His bed was so much more luxurious than yours and his room had the best views. Plus, being on the top floor meant his room was further away from everyone else so you didn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone, or bumping into anyone on your morning walk back to your own room. It wasn’t that you wanted your new relationship to be a secret, you just wanted to enjoy being with Tony without wondering what the others would think. 

“you know, you could just move your stuff up here. You stay in my room enough it makes sense to have your things here” Tony says watching you as you stop racing around to look at him and take a breath. “or not, you don't have to if you don't want to”

“no, its not that I don't want to it just..” You sit down on the edge of the bed next to Tony “if I move into your room then the others are going to know about us and they’ll have questions and I just.. I don't think I’m ready for that. You know? I like that for now we can have this just for ourselves.”

“I suppose the late night sneaking around is kind of exciting” Tony winks at you and you giggle.

“besides, it’s not like I’ve really got anything to move up here anyway. Most of my stuff is still at my apartment. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate the clothes you found for me but it would be nice to have some of my own things back” 

“I understand” Tony nods “well how about we go this afternoon and you can grab whatever you want to get then?”

“sure yeah! That would be brilliant, thank you Tony!” You smile and give him a quick kiss, but he grabs you and kisses you deeper. You relax into it slightly before pulling away quickly “right I really need to get going or I’ll be late for training and Nat will kick my ass even more than she already does” you get up and head to the door.

“have fun! And hey I want my shirt back later!” He shouts after you.

“what? sorry cant hear you!” You call back as you run out the door still wearing his Black Sabbath shirt. It was oversized on you and you loved how comfy it was. But most of all you loved that it smelt of Tony and made you feel close to him. There was no way you were giving him this shirt back. 

— — — — 

As you step out the lift and head down the corridor to your room you're surprised when you turn a corner and bump into someone.

“Peter?! What are you doing here so early?” You ask, checking the time on your watch.

“Mr Stark asked me to pick up some stuff from his lab to take to the office today” he glances at Tony’s shirt on you and you fold your arms trying to subtly cover it. He looks back at your face. “why are you up?” He asks.

“oh uh, I have training with Natasha today and for some reason that girl doesn’t know what a lie in is” you laugh nervously “speaking of, I better get going. But we need a catch up soon please, I miss my best friend!”

“I miss you too.” He says as he starts walking off, but stops and turns around “by the way, don't tell Mr Stark but… that shirt looks better on you that it does on him” he flashes a cheeky smile and you gasp which makes him laugh before he turns and runs off leaving you stood in disbelief. 

So much for having a secret only you and Tony knew about. At least you knew you could trust Peter not to tell anyone else.

— — — —

“good morning Nat” you say cheerfully as you walk into the training room.

She turns to look at you suspiciously and you smile.

“who are you and what have you done with y/n?” She asks, turning back to carry on setting things up for your session.

“what do you mean?” You laugh with confusion.

“the y/n I’ve been training for the past few weeks normally drags herself in her like a sleepwalking zombie. What’s got you so happy today?” She looks at you again.

“nothing! I just, I’ve been… sleeping really well lately” you reply and Natasha just raises an eyebrow at you. 

Before you can say anything else you hear another voice enter the room.

“ugh Nat, remind me again why you insist on getting up so damn early!” Clint groans as he comes to stand next to you. “I don't know how you do this every day y/n”

You flash him a smile and look back at Natasha waiting for her to explain why Clint is here.

“stop complaining Barton, we’ve got a job to do! Go set up the targets” she responds. 

Clint smirks and sarcastically raises his hand to salute as he walks past Nat, causing her to roll her eyes and smirk. 

“since you’ve been doing so well lately with your training I thought its time we introduced some weapons into our sessions”

“weapons?!” You gasp, eyes wide. 

You had just about got used to fighting with your hands, but the thought of fighting with weapons made you extremely anxious. What if you lose control, like you did in your first training session, and seriously injure someone? 

“hey don't worry, this is a safe space” Nat reassures as she puts a hand on your shoulder, clearly she noticed the small hint of panic in your eyes. “that’s why Clint is here, he’s the best shooter I know. If anyone can teach you to hit a target, it’s him. Just don't tell him I said that or we’ll never hear the end of it” she smirks and you do your best to hide your anxiety with a smile as you both walk over to join Clint at the shooting range. He hands you a bow and a couple of arrows.

“lets get this over with so I can go back to bed” he says firing an arrow straight to the centre of the target.

— — — — 

After your training session had finished you have a quick shower, change into clean clothes for the day and decide to take a walk around the grounds of the compound. You don't know if it was training, or something else but you couldn’t shake the anxious feeling and you hoped a walk in the fresh air might help. You walk through the fields, taking good deep breaths as the breeze drifts through your hair and the bright sun warms your skin. You keep walking til you reach the edge of the small woods that you can see from your bedroom window. You find a nice spot and sit under a tall tree, leaning against the trunk. You look up at the sky, watching a couple of birds flying happily, almost looking like they’re dancing. For a moment you get lost in watching them, completely distracted, until you hear a twig snap behind you. You quickly stand up, turning to look into the woods. You stare through the trees trying to spot what caused the sound. You feel a hand on your shoulder and spin around.

“y/n! Ive been looking for you!” Tony looks at you with concern when he sees the shock on your face “are you okay?” 

“I heard…” you stop yourself from finishing the sentence. It was probably just an animal anyway, theres no need to worry Tony about it. “yeah I’m fine. It’s really beautiful out here” 

“yeah its nice. Happy is waiting in the car to drive us to your apartment now if you're ready?”

You had completely forgotten that you were supposed to be going to collect your things.

“oh yeah, of course. Let’s go” you say and you both walk back toward the compound, taking a small glance back towards the woods and you for a moment swear you see a figure move amongst the trees. 

— — — — 

You pull up outside the building you hadn’t seen in weeks, your apartment block. You're surprised to see Peter waiting outside for you. 

“the kid has been asking about you constantly so I thought he could come lend a hand. Is that okay?” Tony says. You smile and nod before getting out of the car. 

Tony walks straight up to the front door of the building and goes inside. You go straight to Peter and throw your arms around him. 

“I don't see you for weeks and then I see you twice in one day!” 

“at least you're not wearing his clothes this time” Peter jokes as he nudges you and you playfully hit him on the arm. You both laugh and Tony pokes his head out from the door.

“children please, we have a job to do” he says seriously before going back inside. 

You and Peter exchange a look.

“is he just grumpy because you’ve been keeping him awake all night” Peter winks as he walks to the building and you gasp. You didn’t expect him to say that. 

“Peter! I have no idea what you're talking about” you laugh as you follow him. 

You climb the stairs till you reach your front door where Tony is waiting for you. You unlock the door and turn the handle to open it but before you can step inside Tony puts his arm out to stop you. He steps in front of you, walking in carefully on the lookout. You guess he’s checking none of the Professor’s men are there waiting. 

As you step through your front door your heart sinks at the sight of your apartment. You haven’t been back since the night of the attack so the place is still a mess. Peter walks past you and follows Tony into your bedroom, not noticing you’ve frozen to the spot. You stand still looking around your living room at the dust and debris scattered. The sofa cushions shredded and thrown to the floor. The coffee table upside down, the picture frames broken. Then you spot your art work, the one of the beach, lying on the floor. The canvas ripped through the middle.

You feel your chest tightening as your eyes fill up. You try to breathe normally but it’s almost like you’ve forgotten how. Your thoughts spin too fast around your head. Memories of the night you were held down on the sofa as the masked intruders injected you flash through your mind. 

“okay I found your suitcase do you want to start packing…” Tony’s voice stops as he notices notices the way you're breathing, and the look of panic in your wide eyes. Then he notices that you're staring at the sofa and realises what’s happening. He quickly walks over and puts his arm around you, leading you into the bedroom.

“Mr Stark?” Peter begins talking but with a wave of Tony’s hand he swiftly leaves the room. Tony sits you down on the side of the bed and crouches down in front of you so he’s at eye level. He takes your shoulders in his hands and looks right into your face.

“y/n. I need you to breathe with me now okay? Can you do that for me?” 

In your mind you flashback to that night, when Tony found you hiding in your closet and said those same words to you. Another wave of panic hits you. 

“y/n. Please honey” 

His desperate words bring you back into the present and you try to focus on him. On his kind eyes which right now are full of concern. He takes a deep breathe and you copy him, shakily.

After what feels like forever you finally feel yourself being able to breathe again.

“how are you feeling?” He asks, searching your eyes.

“I don't know.” You answer honestly “I don't know what just happened to me”

“you just had a panic attack. Which is a perfectly natural response after what you’ve been through”

Tony stands up and sits on the bed next to you, taking your hand in both of his. 

“I shouldn't have brought you back here.” His finger rubs the back of your hand “I’m so sorry y/n”

“no, I wanted to come here. This isn’t your fault Tony. None of it. The Professor did this to me, not you.”

“I will find him” Tony says and you nod, bringing your hand to his cheek. 

“I know you will” you smile and kiss him. When the kiss ends you look into his eyes. “how did you know what to do just then? I felt like I was spiralling but you pulled me out of it”

Tony sighs, looking away from you for a moment. He takes a breath. 

“After the battle of New York, I struggled to carry on. I started having anxiety attacks. I couldn’t breathe. I know what they’re like. And while I don't have a magic cure for them, I learnt how to breathe through them”

“Tony.” You put your hand on his knee and give him a gentle affectionate squeeze “I had no idea”

Tony looks at you. 

“not many people know about it. I kept it secret. I’m Iron Man, people rely on me to be this strong super hero guy. If they knew what I was like beneath the suit, they wouldn’t feel safe anymore”

“That's not true, Tony. To feel the way you’ve felt and still go out there and do the things you’ve done to protect everyone.. that’s a true hero. I may be slightly biased but, I think you're incredible.”

Tony just continues to look at you, like he’s searching your eyes for something. 

“what?” You say smiling, slightly embarrassed. 

“I love you” 

His words take you by surprise. It feels like a thousand tiny butterflies are fluttering through your body. 

“I’m sorry..” he begins to backtrack, worried that he’s freaked you out “that was probably the wrong time to say those words-”

He stops talking when you grab his face and kiss him suddenly. 

“I love you too, Tony Stark.”

“I knew it!” You hear Peter shout as you both turn around to see him stood in the doorway grinning happily. 

“not a word kid” Tony warns “remember, I could easily make you disappear”

Part Ten

Taglist: @sunflowers-and-snowdrops​ @brownbuble​ @shookie-shookie​ @thebuckysoldier​ @chai--chae​ @ilovespideyyy​ @rvgrsbrns​

[haikyooot]

Ch 21: Dangerous Side-Effects

Life’s a Hoot Ch 21: There is a particular side-effect from reading too many romance novels. When you mix mild sleep-deprivation with multitasking, your neural networks are conjuring up bizarre thoughts and connections.

Pairing: Bokuto x f!reader fic 

Word Count: 2.4k

Life’s a Hoot Masterlist

Your fingers find their place around the keyboard as you furiously transpose your thoughts onto the screen. It is completely normal to come to work and find a brimming inbox. A hundred or so on a good day. Correspondances from writers, issues with drafts, spam, problems with the book contract, more spam, submissions...That’s all on a good day. Today is a not so good day. It’s not past 10 yet, but you’re basically ready to go home. There is an office-wide meeting starting and you pray you won’t just doze off. You can only hope that Bokuto is having a much better time. He told you the team is going to have an onsen, hot springs, getaway at Ōita. You’re ready to just block all his posts on travel and good food. It’s torturous.

“Good work everyone!” the vice president announces at the morning meeting. “This year, we’re seeing a huge uptick in the romance novel sales. Classical shoujo tropes sell very well and the collaboration with the idol group for marketing is a hit. I think we’ll be seeing the sales going up past Valentine’s and well into spring. So, thank you to each department.”

Everyone claps. You just follow through with the motion, but your mind is completely elsewhere. The pre-spring, pre-Valentine’s season is one you abhor the most. And thank goodness it’s all over for now. For other folks, Valentine’s is just a week’s ordeal of pink and red, ribbons and chocolate. For all the editors, it’s been a long warzone against romance literature extending from the year before. Classical romance, tooth-rotting fluff, dark erotica. New publications, republications, special edition covers, special sets with other gifts. The endless combinations born from the marriage of capitalism and art. By the time it’s actually Valentine’s season, everyone’s yearly recommended dose of romance is all spent. It’s the price of having to deal with these themes for months of preparation. Even Hana, who eats reverse-harems for breakfast, is relieved the publications are mostly out. The meeting is still ongoing and you can practically hear your inbox getting filled and exploding by the minute. On that note, you’re convinced V.League season is a much better season than “romance novel season”. At least Bokuto and the crew are off in places, like the hot springs in Ōita. You are reminded of this thought again. The hot springs, you would kill for right now.

Jun nudges you to get your attention back to the meeting. Your manager, Suzuki, is currently speaking. “This year, like the year before, our branch is going to have a hard ban on giri-choco. We want everyone to be in an equitable and supportive environment without these obligations to give chocolates to their coworkers or supervisors. We’re proud to announce this measure will be happening company-wide now.”

This definitely wakes you up. Ban on obligation chocolates? Are you hearing this correctly? Ugh, finally. There are a couple of murmurs in the crowd. Suzuki continues, “everyone has worked extremely hard this season, so to show our love for the employees here, the company has bought chocolates for everyone.”

And so, this meeting concludes with the managers coming around giving each of the employees a bar of chocolate. When your manager gives you your share and compliments how well you are performing at this office, you feel like a child getting Halloween’s candy instead. You just want to go home and eat chocolate. Take a hot bath, that’s not nearly as nice as the hot springs.

“This is essentially blackmail. A bribe,” Hana whispers, taking a huge bite of her chocolate. “You eat the company chocolate, feel bad, and work even harder.”

You raise an eyebrow at Hana, her words, and her half-eaten chocolate. She catches your gaze and shrugs. “Can’t resist. But at least I can save a ton of chocolate money for myself instead. And oh look, I have a meeting to go to. Go have lunch without me later, by the way, I’m meeting with an author. Hang in there~”

She gives a little wave and goes down the hallway. At least someone’s in a good mood. Jun walks by you and pats your shoulder. “Want to grab a coffee?”

“Yes, please.”

It’s just you and Jun in the break room. The coffee machine is happily whirring.

“I’m so ready for this whole season to be over,” you complain. “I just can’t stand another cherry blossom confession or a five years' worth of misunderstandings. I’m so done with romance tropes.”

“Cheer up, it is over. Everything’s out in print already. There’s just some marketing work and that’s mostly not our responsibility.”

You pour some coffee into their mug and then your own. “Thank god.”

“But aren’t you in the mood for love or something? Doesn’t the longing gazes and pinky promises make your heart flutter? Or maybe you prefer the tight ropes and sensuous experiments?” Jun keeps a straight face and continues sipping their coffee.

You deadpan. “Are you jabbing at my singleness, one-with-a-partner?”

“Is it working?”

“I’m not Hana.”

“Hm. Fair.”

When the break room small talks are the best pick-me-up of the morning, you know you’re fully conditioned as an office worker. As you sort through your email and attempt to organize the files on your desktop, you are forced to go through a mental reminder of each of the novels you had to help work on. It’s too much. You’ll save this mind-numbing clean-up job for back home.

You manage to survive until lunchtime. Hana already told you she’s unavailable. And then Jun says they brought lunch instead because their partner made way too much last night. Oh, the joys of domestic partnership. You’ll have to have lunch alone.

“Welcome in!” Osamu greets. “No Hana or Jun?”

You shake your head and take a seat at the bar. “Nah, they’re busy. It’s just me today.”

It’s already past the lunchtime rush hour so there aren’t many people crowding. Osamu is mostly cleaning up behind the counter. Your order is delicious, as always.

Osamu comes over with an onigiri in hand. “Mind if I join?”

“Not at all.”

Osamu sits next to you at the bar and pours you a cup of tea. The flavors go so well together. Filling and fragrant. Osamu’s shop is always a space to get away and relax during the middle of the day. The atmosphere is clean and cozy. Others go to bars to chill, you would choose Onigiri Miya no question.

“Haven’t seen you since the last match. Been busy?”

“Very,” you sigh.

“So, how was dinner with Bokuto in the end?”

Right, that night seems so far away already. The last few days feel like ages. “We went to Dotonbori, and had okonomiyaki someplace around there.”

“Dotonbori!” Osamu repeats and nods, savoring the word. “Okay, okay, fun. That’s fun.”

“The lights were beautiful.”

“Mhm, and Bokuto?”

“Great company. He’s always fun to be around.”

“I see! That’s excellent. The fledgling Osakan is now growing.”

“What’s with you and Bokuto reminding me of my newness to this city?” you laugh. Fledgling Osakan is referring to you right?

Osamu flashes you a meaningful look.“Well, having been here long enough, everything gets to be normal. It’s nice seeing someone new and excited.”

“Yea, that makes sense.”

“So you watching the game tonight?” Osamu asks, gesturing to the MSBY Black Jackal poster plastered on the wall. Bokuto’s game is tonight.

“Yea, I’ll watch it at home later.”

“That sounds like a plan! Alright, let me know if I can get you anything else.” Osamu wipes his hands clean and returns back to his kitchen. “I’m gonna call Tsumu and wish him good luck.”

“Actually, I need to get back too. Thanks again for the great meal Osamu!”

“Bye, take care!”

That reminds you, you should probably do what Osamu’s doing. Your fingers fly over the phone screen and tap out two words. Bokuto will probably say something like “don’t need it”, but you say what you need to say anyway.

“Good luck”

The clock continues ticking away. Soon, the sky is dark and the subways are packed. You end up catching-up with Matsuda during the commute home, much to her delight. She was convinced you had forgotten about her already. That beast of a lady was actually the one responsible for exterminating the obligation chocolates. And you commend her immensely.

At home, you open up the laptop that’s housing the monstrous pile of emails and unorganized files. It needs to get tackled sooner or later. You switch on the T.V. and find the broadcast for Bokuto’s match, leaving it in the background while you fix up a simple meal first. You’re ambitious because you end up also catching-up with Yukie at the same time. Four tasks at once. This is true multitasking.

“Ugh, like this one I’m filing away, right now, it has the cheesiest plot,” you complain while renaming and dragging files around on the desktop. “I don’t know why they’re just giving each other these dumb longing gazes. And the face flushing every three seconds, what even is this. And the other one that’s termed as erotica, it’s not remotely-wait. Why am I even judging, I work at this publishing company.”

“Mhm,” Yukie mumbles on the other end. She’s probably multitasking too. “This is the third time you say ‘what even is this’. Let me tell you, nothing’s wrong with those books. The problem is you’ve scrutinized too many of them and you’re not in the right headspace.”

What headspace? The mood for romance? You grumble a bit back and shove another bite of dinner into your mouth while turning your attention to the T.V. screen. It’s not the same as watching live, but you can still easily distinguish each player. And Bokuto tries to make a hit. Damn it. SO CLOSE! It’s okay, next time. They don’t have much of a lead. Yes! Nice one Sakusa!

“Hello~? You still there,” Yukie’s voice cuts in. “I didn’t hear you for the last few minutes. I hear stuff in the background, are you watching something?”

“S-sorry! Yea, Bokuto’s match. They’re playing in Ōita.”

“Ōita? Fun, I want to go to the hot springs.” Yea, you do too. “Anyways, I was saying you need to relax and have a self-care night or something. Just put your books down, laptop away. Journal or something. Take a nice bath.”

“I need that. Severely. Thanks for the idea.”

“Remind Bokuto to chill too. He gets way too caught up and intense sometimes. The two of you are just sometimes too invested.”

That’s a new observation you haven’t noticed. “Nah, we’re different.”

After you end the call with Yukie, you commit some more attention to the match. They’re doing pretty well, so far, at least to your non-athlete eyes. To your recollection, the team won most of the matches this season. The losses were quite minimal and nothing by a huge margin. They’ll probably have a clear chance to be in the top 3. You bring your laptop over to the couch to get comfy and closer to the TV. You set aside the scarf you tossed onto the couch earlier.

“Bokuto wraps up this set with a spike!” the announcer cries.

Wrap. Scarf. Bokuto wrapping the scarf around you. You flinch and almost want to hit yourself at the connection. No, no. Work, work. You unwrap the company chocolate and take a bite.

You manage to successfully return your attention back to work. While cleaning a folder of poorly named files, you chance upon a particular light novel. The naming is pretty bad, so you click it open and see which work this is. Oh it’s pretty cute. They are walking by the river and there are cherry blossoms. Shut up. Why is it always cherry blossoms? Can't they come up with something more original next time? The river works fine, but maybe something with some more bolder colors rather than the pastel pinks? Maybe flip day into night? River. Like the neon lights at Dotonbori! Yes, that would be a totally great date scene too…

“Bokuto’s on a roll again tonight!”

Neon lights at Dotonbori with Bokuto.

“Indeed, usually he isn’t the graceful one on court, but his movements are so fluid today!”

You glance at the TV and see the camera zooming in on Bokuto. You look away immediately. His face isn’t good for your thoughts right now. This is the problem with multitasking. With mild sleep deprivation, the way your brain is currently miswired, you are making absurd connections.  A very dreadful logic is forming. You shut the TV off, without finishing the match. You probably should be listening to Yukie’s suggestion to just give the night to yourself.

A bath is drawn. A rare treat even if it pales in comparison to a hot spring. Baths are excellent for either relaxation or an existential crisis. You wave your arm around in the water, listening to the ripples and watching the water droplets fall from your fingertips. When someone tells another, “don’t think of purple elephants”, what usually happens is, the other person ends up thinking of purple elephants. Clear your mind, you tell yourself. Joke’s on you.

Dotonbori. That night. You held onto his jacket sleeve like a lifeline. It felt like it didn’t matter where you were headed. It was safe and comfortable. You thought he would be in front of you and you had to look for a glimpse of his backside. It’s always his backside. But you found him right next to you instead. He appeared then, he appeared before. To tell you to follow your dreams. That he believes you’ll succeed. That you are stronger than you believe and smarter than you think. He-

No. You’ve always been reliant even in high school. It’s just you hanging on to familiarity. Bokuto’s too nice and generous for his own good. He’s got way more important stuff to focus on anyway. And you’re sure you have a lot of stuff too. You’re independent. It’s good where you two are at. Just staying reconnected, that’s enough. All this. It’s the byproduct of those damn novels brainwashing you into reading every detail in the context of romance. But, you can’t deny the way you feel your face burn or heart pounding against your chest. A feeling that you need to, right this moment, run away and just bury yourself under your blanket.

You’re in the perfect headspace for sleep. That’s what you truly need. That’s your real wish. Unfortunately, nothing’s going to go your way tonight. Cherry blossoms flood your dreamscape. Alongside mysterious light touches and feathery kisses. The next morning, you’re 200% convinced this is a dangerous side-effect.

Endnotes:

• Ōita prefecture is well known for its onsen (hot springs), here's a list of a makeshift itinerary for wanderlust and photos • Valentine's (Feb 14) in Japan has its own unique take on the tradition of giving chocolate to others. It's mostly done by girls/women (familiar from shoujo mangas right?). There are three types of chocolate: honmei , giri, and tomo. There's increasing pushback on giri-chocos because it can turn into power harassment in firms. •Then because of marketing/capitalism, White Day (March 14) got popularized as a day where the guy would return the give to someone who gave him chocolates. • Why did I add this plot point? We'll see.

Masterlist

Send an ask if you’d like to be on this fic’s tag list. Thanks for the support~ 

@anxious-botanist @strokettas​ @marshmallow-witch​ @bloody-bella​ @suneaterofthebig3​ @ntimacy​

[euphoricdumpsterfire]

To the Moon and Back (Peter Parker x Stark OC) Chapter 2

Master list

Warnings: Mild Profanity

A/N: Hey guys sorry if I kinda updated late, and for the next few days I’ll be extremely busy being a student poll worker for the elections so Chapter 3 might come out hopefully by next Friday, but do watch out for a link to a playlist that I specifically made for this fanfic! Anyways, have a great day <3

Word Count: 2216

Summary: Nixie meets Peter Parker and makes friends with him. Moonflower goes on a patrol around Queens and finally meets Spiderman in person.

Nixie had stayed up all night researching whatever she could find about Spiderman and the only things that she saw were videos of him on Youtube just swinging around the city and saving lives. There wasn’t anything else particularly interesting about him besides the fact that he can shoot webs, Nixie thought, although she was still curious as to why she’s been seeing visions of this specific hero. 

Nixie stared at her screen intently watching the same video of Spiderman over and over again, analyzing every single detail of the video. Then her door creaked, it was Natasha. “Rise and shine early-” Nixie turned her head to look at Natasha, “And you’re already awake!” She exclaimed as she entered the room.

“Actually, I’ve been up all night.” Nixie answered,

“Well that explains the dark circles…” Natasha replied as she looked at the computer monitor, “Have you been watching Spiderman this whole time?” She asked and Nixie nodded.

“Seems like you already have a thing for him.” A smirk formed on Natasha’s face 

“What? NO!” Nixie retorted, “I was just simply researching… I was  hoping I could find some more info on him, but all I could find are these youtube videos.” She added.

“Well, you’ll find more info if you start getting ready. It’s a long trip from here to Queens.” Natasha said as she walked towards the door and waited for Nixie to get up.

“Ugh, I better be an Avenger by the end of this…” Nixie muttered as she got up and started to get ready for the day.

Once she was all dressed up, she headed straight to the kitchen and prepared her coffee in her travel mug. “Morning Moonie.” Tony would only refer to his daughter Moonie when he’s terribly concerned, “I heard you stayed up all night…” Nixie looked up at her father with a tired stare.

“I did.” She answered,

“Look, when I said I wanted you to find out who Spiderman is, I didn’t mean that you go out of your way and stay up all night looking him up.” He replied,

She wanted to tell him about the visions but something inside of her is telling that it wasn’t the right time, “I know, but... It’s just that... I don’t know. I can’t really think, the lack of sleep is getting to me.” Nixie yawned as she poured a bit of milk into her coffee. 

Tony looked at his daughter with deep concern as her face was pale, making her dark circles even more prominent. “God, you look like you came out of a Tim Burton movie.” Nixie rolled her eyes at her dad’s snarky statement.

***

Meanwhile in an apartment somewhere in Queens, a young Peter Parker had just finished getting ready for school. He tied his shoelaces, grabbed his backpack, and made his way to the door, “Hey hey, wait!” his aunt May scurried to the door and handed him his lunch bag,

“Thanks May.” Peter said with a smile,

“Remember, after band practice, go straight home got it?” May said with one eyebrow raised, Peter nodded and waved goodbye.

He walked to the subway station which was extremely packed. He stood next to a guy whose armpit hair reeked of rotten vinegar which Peter had to endure for the rest of his trip. Once he got to his stop, he breathed heavily before he could start walking to the campus.

The campus was surrounded by huge trees and a few bushes here and there. Peter walked through the courtyard as he listened to music, he kept walking and didn’t even realize that he was about to bump into someone. Once it had already happened, he finally snapped out of reality. He bumped into a girl who was holding a few books and a travel mug, the coffee spilled everywhere and mostly on the tree that she was standing next to.

“Oh no, are you okay?” Peter thought the girl was talking directly to him but his eyes were fixed on the fallen textbooks and did not notice that she was actually talking to the tree.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” Peter asked as he picked up her books and the girl turned around to look at him.

“Uh... Right, uhm yeah I’m good...” She awkwardly answered,

“It was my bad I wasn’t looking...” Once Peter got up, he finally got a good look at the girl, he tilted his head realizing that he had never seen her before. 

“Well, I didn’t get a stain on my clothes so it’s all fine.” She answered,

“I don’t think I’ve met you before...” Peter said as he handed the girl’s textbooks.

“That’s cuz I’m new,” the girl chuckled, “I’m Nixie.” the name sounded so familiar but Peter could not point his finger at it until after a minute of registering it. His jaw dropped in astonishment. 

“You’re-” Before he could even actually say a full sentence, Nixie nodded.

“Yup. I’m Stark’s kid.” She replied.

“But I thought you went to Knox?” Peter asked,

“Wait, people knew which school I go to?!” Nixie exclaimed,

“Well yeah... You’re dad’s famous, that makes you famous.” Peter replied and just when Nixie was about to open her mouth, the school bell rang. 

“What class do you have?” Peter asked and Nixie showed a piece of paper showing her class schedule. 

“We both have the same classes together, I’ll just walk with you to show you around if that’s fine with you.” Peter said and Nixie smiled,

“Great, thanks!” She replied.

Eventually, they were joined by Peter’s friend Ned who was a bit more outspoken and had expressed his love for computer games. All three of them had the same classes and Nixie was lucky enough to sit next to them in almost all of their classes except for Art, where she sat next to a girl named MJ and Liz.

Because of her world famous father, everyone couldn’t help but look at her and start whispering which made her feel uncomfortable and awkward, but thanks to Peter and Ned she the discomfort and awkwardness faded away as she felt welcomed and appreciated by her two new friends.

When it was lunch time, Peter, Ned, and Nixie sat down and ate their lunch. Nixie couldn’t help but notice that MJ was sitting one table away from them. “Shouldn’t we... Like invite her over here?” Nixie asked the two guys who sat across from her.

“Nah, she always sits there by herself.” Ned answered,

“Yeah but-” 

“I’m just a table away, I can hear you guys loud and clear.” MJ said, she then turned her eyes to Nixie, “And I’m fine sitting here, thanks.” MJ went back to reading her book again.

“See?!” Ned whispered loudly

“So Nixie, how does it feel like being around the Avengers?” Peter asked,

“Well... Steve’s like an old grandpa but you can definitely count on him for some good old timey music, Natasha’s like an aunt to me and she’s extremely cool, then there’s the new people, Wanda and Vision. I haven’t really talked to them but that’s mostly because Vision creeps me out.” Nixie answered,

“Whoa... It must be chaotic when they have missions...” Ned said

“Trust me, it is...” Nixie replied, and then it was time to finally ask the million dollar question, “So, what do you guys know about the spiderman dude?” she noticed that Peter dropped his fork and froze right after the question, but Ned shrugged.

“No one really knows his identity, but I do know he’s pretty cool.” Ned continued, “Why’d you ask?”

“Nothing… I just thought he’s really cool, Moonflower’s better though.” Nixie said as her eyes were fixated on Peter’s reactions to the discussion of Spiderman, he remained frozen, as if he was guilty of something.

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen some of her videos on youtube too. She’s pretty cool.” Peter finally spoke.

“Is she part of the Avengers? I can’t remember…” Ned replied,

“Nah, she’s just roaming around Manhattan, basically like Spiderman.” Nixie answered.

“How’d you know that? Have you seen her before?” Peter raised an eyebrow at Nixie,but she couldn’t answer. Thankfully, she was saved by the bell and they all went to their classes. 

A week has passed and Nixie still doesn’t have information on Spiderman, but she suspects that her friend Peter might know who he is. So one day after school she runs after Peter. “Hey Pete!” Peter was startled by Nixie that he was ready to throw a punch, “Whoa there… If I were you I’d think twice about that.” Nixie said while her hands were raised as if she was ready to block him.

“Sorry, I thought you were a thief…” Peter replied as he scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. 

“It’s all good, I was just wondering if you could help me with my literature assignment. I’ve been struggling with some parts and I could really use that brain of yours.” Nixie asked expecting he would say something like, 

“You know what… I would if I could, but I-I have plans…” Peter stuttered,

“Oh, so where you off to?” Nixie asked,

“Just some part-time job at a… Deli! Yeah, I just got a part-time job at a dei.” Nixie immediately knew that Peter was lying but she went along with it.

“Oh that’s totally fine, I’ll probably just ask MJ. I’ll see you around!” Nixie waved goodbye, 

“Yeah, see ya!” Peter waved back. Once Nixie turned and left, he let out a sigh of relief immediately ran to the subway station to finally start his evening patrol.

***

“Are you sure about this?” Happy looked at Nixie wearing her usual suit who planned to go around Queens as Moonflower in hopes of finding Spiderman and hoping that whoever she’s suspecting is indeed the masked hero. 

“How else am I gonna get information on him? And besides, it’s good publicity!” Nixie teased and Happy rolled his eyes.

“Fine, and if you don’t come back to the car by 10 pm, I WILL LEAVE.” Happy emphasized the last three words and Nixie just nodded as she put on her mask. 

“Alright, see ya later.” Nixie winked and stretched her arms out, thick vines grew on the brick wall that she was facing and climbed onto it to get to the top. She walked around hoping to get a sight of Spiderman but there was nothing. She moved from building to building, until she saw a woman who stood closely next to a man with a ski mask. The man had a gun pointing at the woman’s head waiting for her to open up her bag, and all of a sudden, a string of web sprouted out of nowhere leaving the man unarmed. It was Nixie’s chance, she immediately used her vine and slid down to the bottom of the building and hid in the shadows. 

“Who’s there?” The man yelled as he pulled out a back-up knife and pointed it towards the woman’s neck. “Give me back my gun or she dies!” The man yelled. Then, the person that Nixie’s been waiting for stepped out, Spiderman shot out another web taking the knife from the man and threw a punch at him. The man laid unconscious on the ground and Spiderman stood in front of him with his hands on his hips.

“Not so scary now are ya?” Spiderman scoffed. It was Nixie’s first time hearing his voice and it sounded really familiar to her, but figuring out who he was wasn’t the priority right now as she saw a group of men whom she assumed was with the other guy were cracking up their knuckles and were ready to ambush Spiderman who was completely clueless.

It was finally her moment, Nixie touched the ground and vines with sharp thorns started growing out and wrapped around the legs of the men, one was close enough to throw a punch but before they could even do it, Nixie yelled, “YO SPIDERMAN WATCH OUT!” Spiderman immediately swerved making the other man fall to the ground. It wasn’t long until the other men got rid of the vines so Nixie threw small grenades that would release a pungent odor similar to the corpse flower once thrown at the target and would immediately make them lose consciousness. It released green smoke and once the scent hit their noses, the men dropped to the ground like dead flies. 

Spiderman was already busy making sure the woman went home safely as Nixie tied all of them together with her vine rope. “So… Moonflower eh?” She turned around to see Spiderman.

“Glad we could finally meet, Spiderman.” She replied.

“I must say, those stink bombs are pretty impressive.” Spiderman said as he crossed his arms against his chest.

“I know right?! They’re pretty sick!”,  “The cops are on their way to pick these losers up.” She had a huge smile that seemed familiar to Spiderman. “But I must say Peter, those web shooters are far more impressive than my stink bombs.” She added.

“Well, I mean they did take much work but I don’t think…” Spiderman paused and looked at Moonflower who had a smirk on her face. “Did you just call me…”

“That’s right, Peter Parker.”

[anystalker707]

Paintings and cuddles

Pairing: Gerard Way x Reader Genre: Fluff/comfort Summary: Gerard and reader barely have time to spend together, but that doesn’t really prevent them from having dates in the middle of the night Word count: 1 876

Difficult. That's how it has been. I mean, not like most of the people expect to have an easy relationship with someone who they're barely able to see. While a great part of my work can be done either from my place or quickly, Gerard is so busy that we're rarely see each other. Of course we're always exchanging messages and occasionally meeting each other, but it's barely nothing considering sending messages are useless when it comes to wanting to kiss the other and when we see each other personally, it's not for long even if the times are relatively many. All of that induces us to being extremely needy when meeting up, not to mention the cheesy texts.

Lately, I'm starting to believe Gerard somehow affects on my creativity. A breathy chuckle leaves my lips as I gaze at the half done sketch over the white sheet; I just can't find how to complete it without making it worse or coming to nothing at all and whenever I try to think about a solution, my need of Gerard is everything ends up filling my mind.

It doesn't take me much to notice I've used all my daily creativity quota by now, so I let go of all my art materials, stretching myself with a groan before standing up. My eyes rest once again over the wide sheet of paper, expecting a random idea to show up in my mind - unfortunately, it never happens and I'm left frustrated as going to bed, rather early than usual. Maybe I'll have some kind of inspirational dream? Sure as hell I hope.

Well, perhaps there would have been any chances of getting an inspo dream if I was able to get some sleep in first place, but all I have been doing on my bed is rolling around for the past hours in long pauses between naps and Gerard thoughts. Immediately recognizing it's my escape from another long hour of staring at the darkness of my room, my hand flies to my phone at the moment it vibrates at the arrival of a new notification. Seeing it's a message from Gerard makes my heart flutter.

Gee❤⛓🌹🖤:  Miss u

Me: Miss u too Can I come over?

Gee❤⛓🌹🖤: I was gonna complain it's almost midnight, but I want you too much

Chuckling to myself, I place the phone aside before getting up to my feet; I just bother changing my clothes - into others that are also comfortable, but don't look like they were incessantly used for a certain period of time five years ago - then grab my things to leave. It's not like his place is too far from mine, so a small jog towards there will do. As soon as I reach his place, the cold night air is pleasantly substituted by Gerard's warmth when he throws his arms around me.

"I'm considering kidnapping you and not letting you go for a whole week." I mutter through a chuckle, tightening my arms around him as much as I can, causing him to do the same.

"Sadly, my job would be compromised and I unfortunately need to work if I want to eat something or maintain everything I need." He replies in the same joking tone, placing kisses on my cheek right after. Finally we pull away, but it's just for time enough for me to lean in and lock our lips in a kiss that mixes neediness and relief. We pull away with a last peck placed over my lips before he looks at me with a bright smile, taking my hand in his. "C'mon, it's kinda cold out here." He mutters as pulling me with him, closing the door once we're inside.

"I'm not bothering you, right?" I ask him with a small smile as letting my shoes by the door. "I know I should've asked before and all-"

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head in certain disbelief - I know the exact thought that crosses his mind, don't you know me enough? "I would've let you know." Just one side of his mouth moves when he speaks - the exact way like it does whenever he's being sassy, sarcastic or impatient - while a hand rests over his hip.

"Yeah, but that I want you too much was a reason to get suspicious." Humming, I narrow my eyes at him in a playful manner, watching his defeated face. Muttering for me to come along once more, he takes my hand in his once again and just lets go of it when we're on the couch, so we're able to cuddle. "Being away from you for too long gives me art block." I start, suddenly remembering about today's earlier events while adjusting myself next to him, under the blankets. "I sat for six hours in front of a white sheet and all I could do was nothing."

"I can't say it's easy without you either." Gerard breathes a chuckle mixed with a whine, glancing at me before returning his attention to the TV, setting something for us to watch. "If I didn't see you today, I'd probably go crazy." He furrows his eyebrows while smiling lightly; I slowly shake my head at him, leaning my head against his shoulder. "I'm not joking!" A grin cracks his lips as he turns to look at me, letting the remote control on the other side of the couch. "I wasn't even able to sleep properly!"

"I know you're serious!" I laugh at his reaction. "The same happened to me. Good thing you decided to text me." Because I definitely wouldn't do it, afraid I would disturb him or something.

"Indeed." His sweet tone makes me internally melt, even more when he places his lips over mine once again. Ugh, he better kiss me a lot to make it up for the time he's away. He just pulls away enough to disconnect our lips, still gazing at me with a need that equals itself to mine. "A question." Gerard says rather hesitantly, now with his hazel eyes flickering over my face, hidden twice due to a couple of quick blinks; he continues after I hum questioningly. "Can I... paint you?" A red color makes itself present over his cheeks, intensifying once I smile.

"Can I?" I ask in return, excited about the idea. Honestly, it feels like all the creativity just flows back in my head after his request. In response, I earn from him a shy yes, to what I answer with "Then of course you can."

Seeming happier, Gerard pecks my lips once again before standing up and disappearing in the hall, leaving me watching the TV until he's back with his art supplies - all of them neatly organized inside a paint stained briefcase. He leaves again, to the kitchen this time, but returns quickly with a glass of water. There's a big grin over his face as he sits down next to me with the palette in hands. No words are exchanged to decide where he'll start painting - we simply look at each other and his eyes move briefly to my arm then meet mine with a raise of eyebrows, earning from me a light shrug in response as I move closer, extending my arm towards him.

"So," Gerard starts, dipping the paintbrush in the black paint; it touches my skin and makes me shiver at the cold pleasant sensation. "how was your week?" With the brush gaining a rhythm of taps against my skin, I quickly get used to it.

"Oh," I breathe out, taking a moment to think while half of my attention is still taken by the TV. "it was mostly boring, but had some nice moments." And I start a ramble about how my week was full of suffering for inspiration, boring talks with costumers and a nice art exposition I got the opportunity of  going to, mentioning how he'd love it. He makes some comments now and then and it may sound stupid, but it makes me soft how he cares. By the time I finish talking, his job on my arm is done and dry. "That's beautiful!" I widen my eyes at the roses painted on my forearm, carefully moving my arm so I'm able to take a good look at it.

"I need to do my best, anyways, my canvas is you." His hazel eyes gaze at me from under his eyelashes as he cleans the paintbrush, shyly smiling. I scoff at it, silently asking for the supplies this time. He gives them to me and adjust his position on the couch so his arm can comfortably rest over my lap for me to paint it.

"What about you, hm?" I mix some of the paints on the palette until reaching the tone I've got in mind. "You were over to New York this week, right?" He's midway through his answer when the paintbrush touches his skin, making him flinch lightly and move away. That results in me chuckling while he mutters embarrassed apologies.

His week sounds far more interesting than mine and I don't hesitate in showing that, groaning about how boring my life is when he's done. "Of course not." He answers with a chuckle, pressing a kiss to my lips before finally admiring my work. I tried to do something similar to his drawings, copying all the goth punk style. Gerard playfully pulls on a judging face as scanning my painting, raising and lowering his arm to have different angles of it. "I guess it's good." His dramatic tone makes me roll my eyes, containing a grin that ends up cracking my lips when he admits finding it perfect and places a kiss on my cheek.

While the paint on Gerard's arm dries, we get immersed in another talk and, noticing my sleepy state, Gerard pulls me to lay with my head on his lap. Having him playing with my hair gets me to the edge of sleepiness and I'm able to hear him chuckling softly while caressing my cheek with his thumb. "Hey," He asks quietly, continuing once I hum in response. "can I paint your back?"

"Sounds awesome." I grin, thinking about how wonderful it may feel. As soon as I've got my top bare, I lay over his lap, facing down, with my head over a pillow and in a way my stomach is right over his lap so he can easily reach my whole back and I'm comfortable. Wow, fuck, having my back painted almost feels better than having a massage on it. He chuckles lightly at the pleased hum I release, making me smile.

It's simply amazing how he paints precisely, with a light hand and is extremely careful at what feels like the details. Even if the brush tickles lightly, it just happens when there isn't much paint on it, but feels extremely pleasant when he passes the brush over the skin after dipping it in paint once more. I wouldn't complain about having more nights like this. Soon, the moment's comfort pulls me at once to fall asleep.

[mustangsgloves]

Korrasami Secret Santa 2020

WOW I am late, sorry! 

@spikings the world has been crazy....you asked for something gym related, and this is what happened. I still have one last part of this I want to write, but for now, here it is: (AO3 link)

Pt. 1 - Pt. 4 (of 5)

falling for you - or the four times Korra didn’t act on her feelings for Asami, and the one time she did (while sparring)

1.     “I was hangin’ with you and then I realized”

Two words cut through the silence in the young CEO’s office. “Let’s spar.”

The water Korra was disinterestedly manipulating into different shapes almost fell to the ground as she suddenly turned to look at her friend. She echoed, slightly confused, “let’s spar?”

Asami’s eyes were already on her, blueprints detailing upgrades for her electric glove forgotten on the large oak desk in front of her. A small smile crossed her face as she leaned back into her chair. “Yes, let’s spar. That is what I said.”

“No, yeah, I mean…I heard you, I just…” Korra faltered.

“What’s wrong?” Asami smirked. “Worried I might beat you?”

Korra glared at her, but it held no heat. “No, that’s obviously gonna be your concern.”

“Oh, so you agree that I should be worried about beating you?” Asami laughed.

“That’s not what I meant! You…I – ugh.” The Avatar shut her eyes. “Forget it.”

“Korra,” Asami countered gently. “I’m just teasing you.” She paused, and Korra didn’t have to meet her gaze to know the look of concern her friend was giving her. “I was just thinking maybe it could do you some good to get moving instead of sitting here and waiting for Tenzin to get back and tell you what Unalaq is planning next.”

Korra sighed and focused her attention back to the water before replying. “You’re probably right,” Korra said. “It’s just, I hate sitting here, just…just waiting, when I should be out there stopping my uncle from starting whatever sneaky plan he has in the works!” The liquid curved into small cylinders of ice, each sharpening to a deadly point before flowing back to a fluid sphere.

“I know…or at least, I can imagine,” Asami paused, watching as Korra impatiently tossed the sphere from hand to hand. “But I do think some physical activity might help you feel better – I know it works for me.”

Korra shrugged half-heartedly, “I guess it might help.”

Asami was determined. “Tenzin will be back soon. This way you will hopefully feel better and then you can act more assuredly no matter what news he brings. I know it’s no bending arena and I’m no Bolin, but my dad…” she tapered off. Korra turned her attention back to the engineer.

Clearing her throat, Asami continued. “Well, my dad made sure to include a room for martial arts training and practicing in this building because I took lessons as a kid. That way, when he was at work and I was here too, I could practice. It’s not a bad place to work-out, I mean, there’s a sparring mat and some gear.”

Asami chuckled sardonically before continuing, “but I guess looking back now, it’s pretty obvious it was all just a ploy to keep an innocent child out of whatever diabolical plots he was part of at the time.”

Korra returned the water to the empty vase on Asami’s desk – thinking fleetingly that the huge office room could do with a little bit of cheering up, maybe with a few moon-lilies in the vase – before voicing her decision.

“Let’s do it,” Korra said, offering a hand to Asami who had retrained her gaze to the blueprints in front of her. Asami looked up, and her eyes reflected the same push and pull of anger and sadness that they always seemed to whenever she thought of her father. “Just the two of us, no Bolin necessary.”

Asami took her hand and let herself be gently guided from her chair. Her eyes flashed with a familiar mirth, and Korra could already feel the tension in her body receding. “No Bolin necessary?”

“Nope,” Korra proclaimed proudly, giving Asami’s hand a squeeze before releasing it. “I love the guy, but he and I are decidedly not good sparring partners. And besides…” She glanced at Asami. “I have a feeling you and I are going to be just the opposite.”

“I do too,” Asami said with a smile. Pausing only a moment to seemingly collect herself, Asami started towards the door. “Well, follow me, Avatar, and I’ll show you what a true master of the martial arts can really do.”

Korra grinned, and the rest of her anxiety and apprehension seemed to fade away in the same moment. “Alright, Ms. CEO. Please, show me the way.”

There was no doubt that Tenzin would only bring bad news about Unalaq, but at least Korra could pass the time in an enjoyable and productive way – kicking Asami’s butt at hand-to-hand combat.

Or so she thought.

--

           It only took about two minutes before Korra realized that their sparring match was not going to be an easy win. True to her word, Asami proved to be an extremely talented martial artist: dodging, weaving, and landing blows that most other opponents (such as Bolin, who, as lovable and talented as he was, could notkeep up with Korra on the mats) wouldn’t be able to.

           “I have to admit,” Korra huffed as she dodged a particularly powerful punch from Asami. “I’m impressed.”

           “You almost sound surprised,” Asami countered as she ducked in turn, keeping her wrapped hands up to protect her face. “You aren’t still thinking of me as a prissy, helpless little girl, are you?”

           Korra paused just long enough to accidentally let Asami land a kick to her side.

           “Oof,” Korra grunted, widening her stance to regain her balance. “Definitely not, but I didn’t anyways. You proved the contrary very early on.”

           “Glad to hear it,” Asami managed as she barely blocked a quick combination Korra threw.

           “In fact, I think you underestimate yourself too much,” Korra continued. She dipped her body weight forward and moved past Asami, forcing the other girl to switch up her stance and landing a punch on Asami’s shoulder along the way. “You’re pretty incredible.”

           “Nice one, and thanks,” Asami said, only taking a brief second to acknowledge the blow, “but are you sure aren’t just saying that because I’m kicking your ass?”

           Korra snorted and threw another punch, which Asami dodged easily. “Kicking my ass? As if. I’m not even trying that hard.”

           Asami’s eyes glinted with a spark of mischief that Korra hadn’t seen since the day the engineer had taken her on the racetrack. “Oh no?” she countered. “Let me make this a little harder then…”

           Faster than Korra could follow, Asami dropped herself to the ground and rotated her legs around her in a sweeping arc that caught Korra’s ankles and forced her own legs to give out from underneath her.

           The Avatar hit the ground with a resounding thud, and only moments later, Asami had her pinned to the mat. All of the air seemed to leave Korra’s lungs as she looked at Asami’s bright emerald eyes and the small smile on her face. Both girls were breathing heavily, and a faint sheen of sweat covered their faces. Korra found her heart racing, which made sense after sparring, but it felt different than usual, a little more…nervous? She shook the thought as Asami’s weight shifted off of her and she moved to stand up.

           “Kick my ass, huh?” Asami said as she offered a hand to help Korra up.

           Korra grinned and accepted Asami’s hand. “Apparently not,” she replied as she stood. “You might have actually beaten me there, Sato. Not a lot of people can say that they bested the Avatar.”

           Asami laughed as the two walked towards the storage compartments to put away their gear, and Korra felt lighter than she had in days.

Their suspicions had been correct – they were the perfect sparring partners.

2.     “I didn’t think it was true, I was surprised”

The next time Asami and Korra sparred felt very different from the first, but Korra chalked it up to the fact that she had just lost her connection to all of the past avatars. Not to mention the fact that she’d turned into a giant blue spirit and beat up her uncle, from what Bolin had explained to her a few days after Harmonic Convergence.

“Spirits, it was crazy!” Bolin had exclaimed. “Like, I knew you’re good at bending, obviously, being the Avatar and all, but man. Your hand-to-hand combat skills are better than I thought! It was, wow…it was just, blam and pow and then smack and then Unalaq just like, disappeared into a shiny light! I mean, how cool is that?!”

           “Bolin,” Korra had replied, only slightly exasperated. “Weren’t you still in the spirit world when this happened?”

           Bolin had blushed and admitted, “well yeah, but I filled in the rest after the giant blue version of you went after Unalaq…and besides, my little bro Meelo filled me in! He told me everything he saw from Air Temple Island.”

           “He’s not your brother, Bo,” Korra had said with fake sternness. “He’s way too gross.” The two had continued to bicker during the rest of their celebratory dinner downtown with Mako and Asami.

           Now, almost a month after the fight, Korra finally felt up to trying something for stress-relief instead of dwelling on her severed connection, practice bending drills repeatedly, or spending an entire day trying to move the ridiculously stubborn spirit vines that had popped up around Republic City. Thinking back to just a week before, when Asami had attempted to teach her how to drive, Korra smiled. Finally, she knew exactly what she needed to do to keep herself busy. Grabbing her glider, she shouted a quick goodbye to Pema, who was bouncing Rohan on her knee in the courtyard and launched herself off of Air Temple Island towards the city.

           It only took Korra a few minutes to reach the Future Industries tower. Landing with ease on a wide ledge, she folded her glider and knocked quickly on the expansive windows she knew led to Asami’s office.

           “Korra, hi,” Asami greeted her warmly as she opened one of the large frames to allow the Avatar into the room. “Is everything alright?”

           “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Korra replied, watching as Asami closed the window and moved to stand next to her desk which held a recently filled vase of fresh moon-lilies, courtesy of Tenzin at the request of the Avatar herself.

           “Well, you usually don’t just show up at my office in the middle of the afternoon…” Asami explained. “Not that I’m complaining, it’s a welcome change from the boring meetings I’ve been in all day but…”

           “Are you busy?” Korra asked, suddenly feeling very embarrassed of her random visit. “I mean of course you’re busy, you’re the CEO…I can go! I can easily go and just let you keep doing your stuff, I just thought…well…maybe you could use a break? Or something, I –”

           Asami quieted her with a brief touch of her hand on Korra’s shoulder. “No, don’t go. You caught me at a good time. Besides, you’re right, a break sounds nice. What did you have in mind?”

           Korra gave her a crooked smile. “Well, I was thinking we could maybe spar? I know we haven’t since we did a few months ago, but with everything finally settling down…it could be a nice way to unwind.”

           Surprise filtered across Asami’s face momentarily before it was replaced with a small smile. “Back for a rematch?” she asked good-naturedly.

           “I don’t think it’s going to be much of a match,” Korra retorted. “Pretty much all I’ve been doing is practicing and mediating, and it seems like you’ve just been cooped up in here.” She gestured vaguely around at the office.

           “You don’t learn, do you,” Asami said with a teasing tone as she pushed in her chair and began to make her way around the large oak desk.

           “Actually, I’ve been told I’m a very quick learner,” Korra shot back.

           Asami laughed – a full, happy laugh – and a small fissure of electricity seemed to jolt Korra at the sound. She pushed it aside, writing it off as relief and excitement at hearing Asami laugh after everything that happened with her father and now Harmonic Convergence, too. Korra couldn’t imagine that spirit vines popping up all over a city in which you’re the CEO of the most prominent technology and industry business would be an easy thing to deal with.

           “Well, for a quick learner, you should’ve learned to not underestimate me twice,” Asami countered, motioning for Korra to follow her to the sparring space.

--

           It turned out, that Asami was once again right – for the most part. The first few blows the two girls exchanged were well-matched if not leaning in Asami’s favor. But Korra could feel the anxieties and fears she’d been harboring since Harmonic Convergence beginning to seep out of her subconscious and into her limbs.

           Asami threw a punch but hit nothing but air, Korra having swiftly sidestepped and instead driving a solid hit into the taller girl’s abdomen. Asami inhaled sharply but quickly retaliated, spinning around and delivering a sweeping kick to Korra’s side. Korra grunted as she was forced to stumble to the side. She tried to suppress the “fight-or-flight” reaction she could feel growing in her gut as she and Asami stepped back to circle one another, each with their hands held up defensively in front of their chins. This is Asami, Korra told herself, not Unalaq, not some giant spirit of darkness…she’s your friend. This had never happened before, at least, not the last time they sparred or any time more recently that Korra had practiced with Bolin or even Mako. She shook her head in an effort to rid herself of the thoughts before offering Asami a small smile.

           “Ready to give up yet?” Korra asked, trying for a confident air to assuage the doubts in her mind.

           Asami just chuckled. “Well I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but I actually landed the most recent hit here so, I think I should actually be asking you that.”

           Korra frowned, “are you always this infuriating?”

           Asami shrugged and replied, “not always,” before stepping forward and striking quickly.

           But not quickly enough.

           Korra ducked and sidestepped, grabbing Asami’s wrist as it sailed past where Korra’s shoulder would have been. Using Asami’s own weight and momentum against her, Korra twisted to then flip Asami over herself and onto the ground. Korra quickly followed and straddled Asami, effectively pinning the other girl with her hands above her head.

           For a moment, neither girl said anything, and suddenly Korra felt as though this was their first time sparring as she remembered being in this exact same scenario which was only now reversed. Their breaths mingled and Korra was abruptly taken aback by how close their faces were – it wouldn’t take much to just lean down and…wait, what?

            In her split-second of hesitation and confusion, Korra flashed back to her battle with her uncle and was bombarded with memories of the way Vaatu had pulled Raava out of her with surprising and disturbing ease. The proximity then was just a little farther away than Korra was to Asami now…the brief second of panic was all that was all it took for her to hastily push herself off of and away from Asami, who promptly sat up.

           “Korra?” she asked gently, still breathing heavily. Instead of shock and something else on Asami’s face that Korra had seen but not quite understood, her features now held concern and curiosity. “Are you ok?”

           Korra could feel the adrenaline coursing through her as she tried to take a few deep breaths…in…out…in…out…in a calming pattern just like Jinora had taught her months ago after Korra had a particularly vivid nightmare about Amon and found herself hyperventilating when she awoke. Vaguely, she registered, and appreciated, the fact Asami hadn’t said anything more and was simply sitting calmly about a foot away. The engineer alternated between glancing at Korra and down to her lap where she was absentmindedly wrapping and unwrapping the coverings of one forearm and hand.

           When Korra finally felt as though she once again had a handle on her mind and body, she sighed, “I’m sorry, Asami.”

           This just seemed to shock Asami once again. “What?” she said incredulously, “you don’t need to be sorry!”

           Korra trailed her hands down her face, heat blooming in her cheeks. “I’m sorry I lost control and that you had to see…that.”

           Asami regarded her for a moment, before gently placing a hand on Korra’s bicep and silently willing her to meet her gaze. Asami’s eyes were gentle, and Korra suddenly felt more embarrassed by her embarrassment than anything else, which was a far more ridiculous situation to be in and sounded like something Bolin would get himself into.

           “Korra,” Asami began. “You…” she trailed off before gathering her thoughts and trying again. “Okay, two things. One, you didn’t lose control, at least as far as I could tell,” she smiled slightly and continued. “All it seems to me is that I just got my ass kicked by the Avatar.”

Korra offered a slight smile and small laugh at the comment.

“And two,” Asami continued, with a renewed glint in her eyes, “don’t ever apologize to me for something like that – unless you purposefully do something to hurt me, which –” she gave Korra a pointed look that said let me finish as the Avatar opened her mouth to object. “Which, I know you’d never do – you never have to apologize to me.”

“Alright,” Korra agreed, finally feeling the rest of the adrenaline and the embarrassment begin to fade. “And what about if it’s by accident?”

Asami quirked an eyebrow. “Well, if you hurt me by accident…I guess it’d be more of a case-by-case sort of thing. I’m sure we could draw up a contract.”

“You’re a good business-woman,” Korra chuckled. “And an even better friend.”

Asami smiled, fully this time. “A woman’s only as good as her partners,” she replied. “And I’m lucky to have an incredible one right here.”

“You’re a sap, Sato,” Korra said as she stood up. She offered Asami her hand – as it seemed they did at the end of every sparring match, or at least the two they’d had. The other girl took it firmly, and Korra felt the increasingly familiar jolt of electricity course through her body from the contact. If she didn’t know better, Korra might’ve thought that Asami’s electric glove was on her hand. Realizing she’d been staring at their clasped hands, Korra blinked and shifted her gaze to meet Asami’s eyes – emerald green, sparkling, and filled with a little bit of that mystery expression from earlier when Korra had had her pinned.

A beat of silence passed, and then Asami spoke as she dropped Korra’s hand. “Well, it takes one to know one, Avatar.”

Just like the last time they sparred, the two moved in tandem to return the equipment and clean the mats.

“Are you up for lunch?” Asami asked. “Bolin and I talked about it the other day and thought maybe the three of us and Mako could grab some today – maybe your favorite noodle shop?”

Korra grinned lopsidedly. “Do you even have to ask?”

3.     “I didn’t wanna believe my feelings for you”

           “No bending this time,” Asami warned good naturedly as she and Korra circled one another in one of Zaofu’s many courtyards.

           “Ah, yeah…” Korra smiled sheepishly, briefly bringing up her right hand to rub at the back of her neck. “Sorry about that.” A few days before, the two had been sparring in the Queen’s garden while they were waiting for news either about Kai, or Mako and Bolin. Korra had accidently gotten a little too riled up as they had discussed the Queen’s plan and used airbending as she had kicked the pad in Asami’s hand, which added a lot of force to the move.

           Asami hadn’t been too worried about the mistake, airbending luckily wasn’t as outwardly harmful as say, firebending, which was still something that Asami liked to avoid. Being good friends with Mako and Korra and seeing the good that firebending could do definitely helped with her opinion on the element…but it wasn’t that simple. Every once in a while when she saw firebending, Asami would randomly flash back to the day her mother was killed – not a happy memory, but trauma tended to stick with you like that.

           Shaking the thought out of her head, Asami smiled at Korra reassuringly. “It’s alright, it’s not like you hurt me.”

           “Well, I’m not trying to have you write up a contract, that’s for sure,” Korra responded playfully.

           Asami grinned and with impressive speed, lunged forward to land a quick combination of punches against Korra’s strong stomach and diaphragm. Taken by surprise, Korra had no time to block or sidestep, and stumbled backwards with an oompfh.

           Coughing as she regained her breath, Korra looked at Asami with wide eyes.

           “If I didn’t know better,” she managed. “I’d say you were trying to get revenge.”

           “Who me?” Asami asked innocently, though the spark in her eyes suggested she knew just what she was doing. “I hate to break it to you, but if you think that was revenge, you’re sorely disappointed.”

           “Hold on, what’s that supposed to mean –” Korra began before, once again, Asami rushed her.

           This was not Asami’s usual sparring method, Korra thought fleetingly as the two fell to the ground. Far from the norm of well-calculated and precisely placed hits she usually favored, Asami was going for what Korra would argue was more of the Bolin method – intense, sudden, and very physical approaches.

           Luckily, the patch of grass they’d decided to fight on was forgiving, and their fall was softened. Korra somehow managed to come out on top after the two tumbled past one of the metal sculptures that Huan had showed their group after their arrival the day before. Korra straightened, straddling Asami’s waist and frantically trying to pin down the taller girl’s arms. Asami obviously knew what Korra was going for. Right as Korra managed to grab her wrists, Asami laughed and arched, sending her hips, legs, and subsequently Korra hurtling up and off of her.

           Korra allowed her momentum to carry her forward, tucking into a roll and then getting back on to her feet. She took a few steps forward before raising her arms up defensively to her face and turning around to face Asami once again.

           The other girl was already standing, ponytail beginning to come undone and smirking slightly. Asami blew a puff of air towards her forehead in an attempt to clear away the strands of hair that threatened to block her vision.

           “Alright Sato,” Korra huffed. “If that’s how you want to play it…”

           She charged forward, but thanks to the distance between them, Asami had plenty of time to simply step aside to dodge Korra’s rush. Korra whipped around and managed to place a hit on Asami’s back as she leapt back to avoid Asami’s sweeping kick. They continued in this pattern for a few minutes – Korra stepping back to get out of Asami’s range as she continuously aimed kick after kick at the Avatar. Suddenly, Korra found her back pressed against one of the few trees in the metal city. Of course, she thought to herself sardonically.

           Asami changed tactics and lunged forward to try to keep Korra pinned against the tree. Korra shifted against the trunk and used her arms to brace Asami’s shoulders back as she considered her options.

           This was decidedly the least spar-like sparring match they’d ever had.

           “What made you decide to go full on wrestling today?” Korra asked as she grit her teeth. Asami wasn’t much bigger than she was, but their height difference gave Asami a distinct advantage as she pushed against Korra.

           “Eh,” Asami shrugged. “I thought I’d change it up, especially since Lin thinks that even Zaofu isn’t safe enough for you. If there’s a bunch of crazy benders out to get you, I might as well try to help keep you on your toes.”

           “I appreciate the sentiment,” Korra responded as she resisted harder. “But I can’t believe Bolin isn’t seeing this – I mean, he’ll never believe me when I tell him you went full on wrestler-mode – he totally thinks that’s just his thing.”

           “Well,” Asami said, bringing her face closer to Korra’s, who’s heart rate unexpectedly skyrocketed. “There’s a lot that Bolin doesn’t know about me…including how I fight.”

           On the last word, Asami let her lips brush Korra’s cheek before she abruptly stopped pushing against the Avatar, who was still returning the pressure, and stepped aside. Korra lurched forward and Asami, ever the innovator, grabbed hold of Korra’s wrist and used the shorter girl’s momentum to fling her away. Korra toppled to the ground, shock from Asami’s trick and the loose gravel keeping her from finding her footing in time.

           Korra moved quickly to try to sit up, but Asami moved quicker. Before the Avatar could even fully prop herself on her elbows, Asami was on her. She swept Korra’s arms out from underneath her and kept her hands firmly on her wrists, causing the Korra’s back to hit the ground. Still straddling her, Asami moved Korra’s arms to above her head, fully pinning the Avatar on the ground.

           Asami leaned down ever-so-slightly, but even with that slight movement Korra could’ve sworn her heart stopped. Why, she didn’t know, but it was all she could do to remind herself to breathe again. For a split second, Korra thought she saw Asami’s bright eyes flicker downwards away from her own, but she chalked it up to her shock the situation, and the fact that as soon as Asami’s lips had brushed her cheek, it seemed that they were all Korra could think about. Despite her attempts to calm herself down, Korra could feel the blood rushing to her face. Get a hold of yourself, Korra thought to herself impatiently.

           The CEO had different plans. She brushed her cheek against Korra’s in a painstakingly slow manner as she leaned even closer to be able to whisper near Korra’s ear.

           “Don’t forget to tell Bolin exactly how I beat you,” she said quietly. Korra’s heart seemed to stop again. “I hate to say it, but I have to agree…I have a feeling that he’s not going to believe you.”

           With that, Asami rocked backwards off of Korra and stood up, brushing off the gravel and dust from her clothes. She turned away from Korra and began to walk back to the Beifong estate, before pausing briefly and looking back at the Avatar, who remained frozen on the ground.

           “That was fun,” Asami said, a familiar, sultry look on her face – the same one that Korra used to hate whenever she would see it aimed at Mako during pro-bending matches. “We should do it again sometime.”

           Korra sat up more fully and opened her mouth to say something – anything, preferably clever – but found it as dry as the gravel dust in her hair.

           Asami laughed, flipping her hair that had long since come undone, and sauntered up the steps.

           Korra gaped after the other girl, willing the heat in her cheeks and the butterflies in her stomach to subside. Don’t make it weird, she chided herself. She’s your best friend…Still, Korra found herself at the mercy of her nerves, which at this point, were beginning to fray. She hurriedly stood up and dusted herself up.

           “BOLIN!” she shouted as she ran towards the guest house where the earthbender was supposedly napping. He’d have time for that later, but all Korra wanted right now was to explain, and try to understand, what in the world had just happened.

4.     “maybe it’s better if I just try to conceal the truth”

Asami sent Korra enough letters for her to be able to catch onto what the engineer was willing to talk about or not…and for the longest time, Asami would not mention anything about sparring. It felt as though Asami viewed it as this sacred thing, something that the two of them did, that they could do, only before Korra was poisoned by the Red Lotus.

At first, Korra didn’t notice it. Asami would talk about her day, mention the projects she was working on, the boring meetings she had to sit through, the frustrations of dealing with Raiko, and the pleasant dinners on Air Temple Island that would subsequently be followed up with a “everybody misses you” that never felt guilt-ridding, only sincere and understanding. Asami would mention Mako’s detective work, bring up Bolin and his antics as well as Opal, Jinora and Kai’s escapades with the Air Nation, and even relay that Yin and the rest of the boys’ family were in good spirits and health. She would reminisce in the way that only she could without causing Korra to feel bad and talk about the way they had managed to get out of the desert on their makeshift sand-sailer – “I’m telling you, Korra, sometimes when business seems bad, I really do consider prototyping one of those sand-sailers. I think there’s some real potential for them in the Earth Kingdom markets!” – and optimistically discuss how they would have to go to Narook’s Noodlery when Korra returned to Republic City, when she was ready. Asami didn’t push or rush her.

           But Asami never mentioned their sparring matches, not when she spoke of fond memories, or even when she wrote about what they would get up to once Korra was back. Korra was embarrassed to admit that she only picked up on this fact after about the fiftieth letter she received from Asami, about eight months into her absence in the Southern Water Tribe. A few times after she noticed this, Korra would sit and wonder why Asami wouldn’t bring it up. Each time, she couldn’t help but conclude that it was because that when Asami had last seen her, Korra hadn’t been able to move her lower body at all. It must’ve been that Asami was sparing Korra from the pain and embarrassment of thinking about when she could move, and so out of the kindness of her heart Asami had decided to omit any fond memories of their sparring sessions. It wasn’t like sparring was something that wasn’t memorable or a common occurrence – especially after Harmonic Convergence and even up to the day that Korra was poisoned, the two girls had sparred quite often. The two of them were so evenly matched that sometimes they could continue for almost an hour without either making much headway.

           But finally, after almost a year passing since she’d left Republic City, Korra finally wrote Asami back. She told Asami how she was sorry for not writing sooner, it was just that she needed time to figure everything out, but she missed Republic City a lot (and her, but Korra was too nervous to include that, for some reason). She asked the CEO to not mention her response to Mako or Bolin, and it wasn’t that Korra wanted to hurt the brothers’ feelings, it was just that it was easier to write to Asami about this stuff. Korra explained how she’d done extensive healing sessions with Katara and was now well enough to not only be walking around by herself, but also get back to bending. She wrote about how she’d first practiced water with her father in the weeks soon after she’d regained her mobility, and then fire, earth, and air later on her own. Finally, at the end of her letter, Korra wrote:

I’ve also really missed our sparring sessions; they always make me feel better. I hope you’ve found another way to keep yourself occupied. When I’m back, I’ll kick your ass, Sato.

She’d debated for a few minutes whether she should add anything more, or just sign off before decided to simply add:

           Thank you, for writing.

           Yours, Korra

It felt awkward, and it didn’t feel like enough, but Korra had figured that nothing really would at that point. What are you supposed to say after you’ve been gone for a year with no contact?

--

           It wasn’t like they had all the time in the world to mess around once Korra finally returned to Republic City, but Korra intended to make good on a promise she’d made to herself: after being gone for three years…she definitely owed Asami a sparring match.

           After the chaos of their lunch-turned-rescue mission for Prince Wu, Korra and Asami finally found a small chunk of free time in the old Sato mansion, where Wu was staying with Mako and Bolin’s family. Mako had tried in vain a little earlier to try to show Wu some self-defense moves, but he had left the room not even half an hour later grumbling about how Wu “wasn’t even trying” and “couldn’t even hurt a fly,” which Korra interpreted as almost sounding endeared with the odd Prince, but she was smart enough not to say anything to the firebender as he stalked down the hall. She and Asami watched him retreat with Wu and Grandma Yin (for some bizarre reason) following shortly after. After they had disappeared, Asami turned to Korra, who had just been working up the nerve to suggest a match.

           “You mentioned something about sparring,” Asami said, “in your first letter back.”

           Inexplicably, Korra felt heat rise to her cheeks and fought down the urge to rub her neck as she tended to when she was nervous. “I did, yeah…” she managed. “I did mention sparring.”

           Asami looked at her with vague curiosity and a slight, amused smile. Asami’s face was a little more angular than it had been three years ago, and her eyes, while still young and bright, held more sorrow and exhaustion now too. Korra couldn’t help but notice the way her new hairstyle made her look older, and more mature…which, granted, she was. With a start, Korra realized she was staring and not listening, but it was a moment too late.

           “…so, do you want to?” Asami was asking.

           Korra blinked.

           “Sorry,” she offered. “I, was, uh…I got distracted. What did you say?”

           For a moment, Asami’s cheeks looked flushed, but Korra assumed it was a trick of the light.

           “That’s okay,” Asami replied. “I was asking if you wanted to spar, since, well…it’s been so long.”

           Guilt flooded Korra at Asami’s words, despite it being obvious that the CEO had no bad intentions. It was anything but accusatory…the gentle way Asami had said it suggested that she too was sad about the missed opportunities of the past three years. Korra swallowed her wave of emotions and gave Asami a small smile, all previous awkwardness forgotten.

           “I did tell you I’d kick your ass, didn’t I?” Korra said.

           Asami just laughed.

--

           It was almost like no time had passed. The two exchanged blows for almost fifteen minutes before Korra gained the upper hand. With a few well-placed punches, Asami tapped out, giving the first round to Korra.

           Ten minutes later, round two went to Korra as well after the Avatar used the trick she’d learned from Asami three years before of sweeping her opponent’s feet out from under them. Asami was oddly quiet, more focused than she had been at the restaurant or even earlier in the day, and a lot less physical than the match they’d shared in Zaofu before the Red Lotus had showed up. It didn’t necessarily feel like a bad quiet, but Korra could tell that there was definitely something on Asami’s mind that was causing her to fight differently.

           “Round three?” Korra asked Asami, trying to get a better read on her. “I’ll give you a chance to show me you didn’t actually let up on your work outs while I was gone.”

           That got a smile from the other girl. “You’re on. Can we take a quick break first though? I’m a little tired.”

           The two sat down and drank some water. Korra let the quiet of the room continue for a minute or two before she broke it, her nerves getting the better of her.

           “Are you mad?” she asked Asami softly, not looking at the engineer.

           “What?” Asami responded. “Am I mad?”

           Korra just nodded.

           There was a pause, and Korra felt her heart sink before Asami continued.

           “No, Korra,” she said. “I’m not mad.”

           Korra lifted her gaze to look at Asami, who was staring ahead thoughtfully.

           “I’ve just got some things on my mind…” she turned to give Korra a small smile. “It’s nothing bad, though. Just something that I’ve been thinking about more, lately. I’m okay. It’s just a lot, you know? You’re finally back, and I’m so glad…it’s just going to take a little adjusting.”

           “Yeah,” Korra replied. “That makes sense…and for the record, I’m sorry…when we’re both ready and we have more time, I’d be happy to talk more about everything, if you wanted. For right now, I want you to know I’m glad to be back, too. I’ve missed this…I’ve missed you.”

           Asami softened. “I’ve missed you too. And yes, I’m sure we can talk about it another time when we don’t have to prepare to fight a dictator and save the world.”

           Korra laughed. “I sure hope we get a break soon, all of us. Besides, then I’d have more time to keep beating you in these matches.”

           Asami snorted and got up, walking back towards the mats. “You always do this, you think you can actually beat me,” she joked.

           Korra set down her water and stood up. “Oh, so you’ve just been letting me win today?”

           Asami’s features took on a familiar air of mischief and confidence. She raised her hands up into a defensive position and smirked, the tone of next words sending a jolt of heat to Korra’s stomach.

           “Why don’t you come and find out?”

           Korra exhaled, and walked onto the mat, squaring up to the taller girl once she was close enough. Trying for a similar air as Asami’s, Korra channeled every ounce of confidence she had into a smooth response. “All right, Sato. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

           Asami wasted no time in going on the offensive, forcing Korra to duck and weave to avoid getting punched. With the ebb and flow of the blows they exchanged and the fluid motions of their attacks and defenses, the two almost seemed to be dancing.

           “I’ll admit it,” Korra huffed as she landed a kick. “You’re just as good as you were three years ago…if not better.”

           Asami smirked. “I know.”

           Korra grunted as a blow landed on her stomach. “Then did you just let me win those first two rounds?” she managed.

           “No,” Asami replied, dodging so Korra’s fist missed her own abdomen. “I’ve never let you win when we spar, and I never will…you always underestimate yourself, don’t you?”

           Korra shrugged and jumped back to avoid Asami’s swift kick. “It’s possible,” she admitted.

           “Have you ever let me win a match?” Asami asked, blocking Korra’s punch by making an ‘x’ with her forearms.

           “Nope,” Korra said.

           “Not even in Zaofu?” Asami pressed.

           “What do you mean, not even in Zaofu?” Korra asked, lunging forwards to force Asami to retreat a few feet.

           “There were at least two times during that match in the courtyard when you should’ve beaten me,” Asami explained. “Why didn’t you?”

           Korra tried her best to simultaneously avoid Asami’s offensive blows and remember back to Zaofu…they had been sparring in one of the courtyards, there wasn’t a lot of grass, or trees – Korra felt her face flush as she remembered the way Asami had…well…distracted her at the tree, and then once again on the ground. Butterflies reanimated in her stomach.

           “That doesn’t count for anything,” she scoffed, throwing a combination punch and ignoring Asami’s searching gaze. “You…cheated.”

           Asami caught Korra’s wrists and twisted them, forcing Korra to remain still as the CEO stepped forward, so they were almost chest to chest. “Oh, I cheated?” her voice suggestive.

           Korra glared at her and tried to free her arms, but for the moment, they were fully stuck. “Yes,” she replied dryly. “You cheated.”

           Asami stepped forward again. “And how exactly did I cheat?”

           Korra swallowed, all too aware of the height difference between them and trying in vain to ignore the pounding of her heart. She growled in frustration. “You distracted me!”

           Asami raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying herself, which only served to frustrate Korra even further. “I distracted you?” Asami repeated. The corner of her mouth twitched, as if she was fighting down a smile.

           Korra twisted and freed her arms, quickly grabbing Asami’s right one instead and pinning it behind the taller girl’s back. Instead of turning Asami so that they would face each other, Korra pressed forward against Asami’s back and kept her arm there. It was a much harder position to get out of, and if Asami now couldn’t see her blushing face, well, that was just an added bonus.

           For a moment, Korra debated how she should reply, before she decided it’d be best to conceal the full truth. “Maybe,” she managed, which didn’t sound very convincing but also wasn’t as vulnerable as a ‘yes.’

           “Well,” Asami said softly, still facing away from the Avatar. “Did you ever consider the fact that I fully knew what I was doing?”

           Korra felt her grip on Asami’s forearm instinctively loosen before she tightened it again. “What, distracting me to cheat?” she asked, “or cheating to win?”

           Korra felt Asami’s body tense up a second too late before the other girl had easily swapped their position, rendering Korra immobile with her arm tucked behind her back. Asami held her there, pinned closely.

           “And here I thought you said you were a fast learner,” Asami joked before trailing off. There were a few beats of silence. Korra shuddered as Asami’s hot breath puffed against her ear as the taller girl continued quietly, almost uncertainly. “Korra, I…the thing I’ve been thinking so much about is y–”

           Korra felt as though her entire body was on fire. What Asami might be suggesting…no, it couldn’t be…Korra had fought down those feelings for the past three years for spirit’s sake…was it possible that Asami, well…returned them? Was there a chance that they both wanted the same thing? Because if Asami wanted what Korra wanted, well –

           Korra panicked…and promptly flipped Asami over her shoulder and onto the mat where she landed with a grimace and a grunt that sounded a lot like “you.”

           As Asami lay on the ground in front of her, Korra took a few steps back, both to properly resituate herself to continue fighting and also to try to clear her mind. How was it that it always seemed to be during sparring matches that she and Asami had some of their most intense discussions? A voice, sounding strangely of Katara’s, responded quietly in Korra’s mind: your body will reflect your emotions and your emotions will reflect your body. Korra huffed and tried to ignore the response, which she was pretty sure was a reminder Katara had repeated often when first teaching Korra waterbending. It didn’t even make sense, it was just more of the philosophical mumbo-jumbo that Tenzin was always telling her…at least that’s what she would’ve thought three years before, but now, well – now it made sense. Of course it was during sparring matches.

           Coming back to reality, Korra looked down at Asami, who was gazing up at her from the ground with an expression full of incredulity mixed with embarrassment. Korra felt herself panicking, and in a desperate effort to steer their conversation back in a safer direction, she blurted: “why didn’t you ever mention sparring?”

           Asami just blinked owlishly. “What?” she managed.

           Korra fidgeted with her wrapped forearms, this was decidedly not a safer direction. “In your letters,” she explained. “You never said anything about our sparring matches – which is completely fine, I just…” she sighed. “Why not?”

           Asami looked at her for a moment before standing up and taking Korra’s hands with her own, effectively pausing Korra’s anxious fiddling. “Honestly? I didn’t know how to bring it up, I mean…you had so much going on when you left and I didn’t want to add any stress,” Asami huffed, absentmindedly brushing her thumb along Korra’s knuckles in a surprisingly calming manner. “Really what it was is that I missed it too much. I couldn’t handle you being gone and remembering how much I enjoyed getting to spend this time with you. I’m sorry.”

           Korra gave Asami a sad smile. “Don’t be sorry, ‘Sami,” she squeezed the CEO’s hands. “I missed it a lot, too, probably more than I’m willing to admit.”

           Neither girl spoke for a moment, before Asami broke the silence. “I know you said don’t apologize, but I am sorry that our sparring conversations always seem to go this way.”

           Korra’s smile was brighter this time as she chuckled. “I was just thinking that, but not in a bad way!” she clarified as Asami’s eyes widened. “It reminded me of something Katara would tell me when she was first teaching me how to waterbend, ‘your body will reflect your emotions and your emotions will reflect your body,’ which I used to think was stupid, but honestly makes a lot of sense now.”

           “It does make sense,” Asami nodded, before smirking slightly. “So that explains why the Fire Ferrets’ performance plummeted after Bolin saw you and Mako kissing, right?”

           Korra shoved Asami’s shoulder playfully, glaring at the taller girl. “I really regret telling you that sometimes,” she sulked. “But, yes, that would be an example of it, I guess.”

           “And you judo-flipping me a minute ago was what, then?” Asami asked.

           Korra choked on air. “W-what?”

           Asami took a deep breath. “Well, I was admitting that I’ve been thinking about you a lot and then it seemed like you maybe panicked based on that brutal flip that ended with me on the mat?”

           “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Korra scoffed, trying to ignore her increasing heartrate.

           “No?” Asami asked, gentle and a little nervous. She carefully extracted her right hand from Korra’s grip and brushed a few stray strands of Korra’s short hair back behind her ear. The Avatar gulped.

           Pull it together, Korra admonished herself. I can be smooth…I think. Steeling her nerves, Korra brought her free hand up to lightly grasp Asami’s right wrist, holding the girl’s palm against her cheek. Korra turned ever so slightly and brushed her lips against Asami’s palm, watching with pride and amazement as the engineer’s eyes fluttered closed at the contact. Finally, Korra let herself think back to some of the most notable moments of some of their previous sparring matches: the jolts of electricity from Asami’s touch, how flustered she would get at close-contact with the taller girl, the way she had completely given in to Asami’s distractions in Zaofu, and most importantly…the growing realization over the past few years that she wanted to kiss her best friend.

           It was about time she did something about it, what, with the impending doom of Republic City and a dictator quickly approaching. Three years had been too long already, why wait now?

           “Asami, I…” Korra trailed off as Asami’s eyes opened and met hers, warm and inviting. Korra swallowed, and Asami smiled softly. “Can I ki –”

           “KORRA!” Bolin’s voice shattered the moment with even less grace than Ikki’s question to Asami years before at Air Temple Island: “did you know Korra likes Mako?”

           The two girls jumped apart as if they’d both been electrocuted, which – with Prince Wu running around the Sato mansion trying on random clothing, including the retired electric gloves – was entirely too possible.

           Bolin rounded the corner into the sparring room a second later, barreling in at top speed.

           “Bolin!” Asami recovered first. “What are you doing! What’s wrong?”

           Korra just glared and tried to settle the heat of annoyance and disappointment in her stomach. “Bolin, I swear to the spirits if this isn’t good I’ll –”

           “Mako just got back with our big special delivery of Narook’s noodles! There’s enough for all of us, even Grandma Yin and the extended Mako-Bolin fam! I just thought I’d let you guys know,” the earthbender explained excitedly, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room.

           Korra growled. Asami put a calming hand on her shoulder.

           “That’s great,” Asami managed a smile. “We’ll be right there.”

           Bolin grinned, offered two thumbs up, and raced back out of the room, off to alert the next unlucky group he’d intrude upon.

           Asami slowly turned to Korra. “Well, I guess we did talk about getting Narook’s once you got back,” she offered, fighting back a wide smile.

           Korra groaned, dragging her hands down her face. “I cannot believe him sometimes.”

           Asami laughed, loudly and fully, and bent down to kiss Korra’s cheek. The Avatar flushed.

           “C’mon Korra,” Asami offered her hand, and Korra took it immediately, lacing their fingers together. “Let’s go get some food before Bolin and his cousins eat all of it.”

           Korra allowed herself to be led out of the room despite her disappointment. Yet this time, Asami’s hand after a sparring match finally felt different. No matter what happened in the next few days with Kuvira and her Earth Empire, Korra was excited. She and Asami had plenty to talk about, maybe over their own dinner date at Narook’s.