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gallusrostromegalus · 1 day ago

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As someone a bit too young to have seen Bleach the first time around, AEIWAM is still consuming a crucial portion of my brain cells. So imagine my surprise when I looked up Tousen, the reason you started this behemoth of an alternate universe, on TV tropes.

Among other shocking revelations...

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE JOINED AIZEN OF HIS OWN FREE WILL IN CANON???? What do you MEAN, TITE KUBO, that the reason your Tousen wants to destroy the Shinigami is that his crush died of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE???

Who is this man and what has he done with my eternally suffering Tousen?

You understand why I had to take custody of this poor bastard.

I can respect what Kubo was going for- Aizen was right in the fact that Soul Society does suck, and the extended canon is that Tousen's crush was killed by her husband, everyone knew it, and nobody would prosecute the husband because he was a Noble. Canon Tousen is, more or less, suffering from the same kind of rage-based brainrot that is unfortunately so common these days- the idea that because a system is imperfect, or ever corrupt, that it's a good idea to tear the whole thing down/restart the universe (the real Path Of Least Harm is of course, the much more complicated and frustrating work of Dis-and-re-mantling the system piece-by-piece without leaving vulnerable people to fend for themselves, but that isn't as emotionally satisfying or fun to draw as senseless destruction, but I digress).

but his arc is only barely on the page at all, mostly after his death and contains one of the blandest and most obnoxious tropes- fridging- and the whole thing falls flat. It also fails to explore the FASCINATING angle of disability and tbh, racism in soul society- two VERY fucked up things that would very much justify his rage. But it's shonen and the series was deep in production hell at that point, and tousen was far from the only victim. I still don't know what the fuck Gin's deal was.

ANYWAY,

Notable changes between Canon!Tousen and AEIWAM!Tousen and some art under the cut:

Kakiyo is Kaname's adopted sister, and despite looking nothing alike, since they re-incarnated in soul society at the same time, they regard themselves as twins.

Kakiyo does kind of a lot in the plot before her demise- she's responsible for introducing Kaname and Komamura, teaches Zaraki and Yachiru how to read, and unintentionally helps Aizen by recommending him to be promoted to third seat in the 5th division, because she and Kiganjo were thinking about starting a family soon, and Aizen would make a good stand-in for her while she was on maternity leave.

She also gets to do a bunch of stuff after she dies too!

The characters in Tousen's name approximately mean "Necessary Scholar" and make an allusion to a legendary scholar from China who came to Japan to find the elixir of immortality for the emperor. He returns with an elixir that stops the emperor from aging, and the emperor kills him so he can't make anyone else immortal (the emperor doesn't age, but he's still vulnerable to stabbing, and gets stabbed). I thought that was an extremely fun literary allusion so I'm leaning into it- before he becomes a Shinigami, AEIWAM!Tousen took over the library run by his ans Kakiyo's adopted godparents, and ran a children's literacy program. he has a special interest in information sciences and educational methodology. even among nerds, he's a mega-nerd.

Kakiyo meets and marries Gosuke Kiganjo, who goes back to West 51 to meet his beloved's brother and the weird giant monk that runs the library with him. Kaname is immensely fond of Kiganjo, and has no qualms being the best man at their wedding. He and Gosuke are good friends for the first few years of the marriage, until Aizen gets his claws into Gosuke and slowly drives him insane.

In AEIWAM, Tousen is cursed into going along with the plan by Aizen. Aizen was just going to make Kiganjo kill him, but Gin is getting impatient with Aizen's hogyoku progress, and persuades Aizen into cursing Kaname into compliance instead with a Forbidden Bakudō: Kyuunodo — Ningyō Kugi Saiyaku (人形釘誓約, Puppet Nail Covenant)

I do keep the canon!Tousen's reputation for being pedantic, unecessarily critical and generally kind of boring. The reason for AEIWAM!Tousen's reputation is different: He is kind of a pain in the ass, because he is in Horrific Pain and Deeply Traumatized and that makes people irritable to say the least, and he deliberately cultivates a reputation for being Boring to keep people far, far away from him- and hopefully, far from Aizen as well.

An underrated bit of Canon!Tousen is that Suzumushi is not his zanpakuto. Suzumushi was Kakiyo's zanpakuto, and we see him take the sword from her coffin in the manga. Which is insane because it means HE ACHIEVED BANKAI WITH A ZANPAKUTO THAT WASN'T EVEN HIS. Dude is SEVERELY underrated as a swordsman. In AEIWAM, Suzumushi is still Kakiyo's zanpakuto, and only BARELY clings to life on the last reserves of the Spiritual power Kakiyo put into her before Kaname finds her. Suzumushi persuades him to take her up, enter the academy and bring Kakiyo's killer to justice (Suzumushi has fallen to Aizen's illusion and doesn't know who the killer is). She kind of glosses over how they bond, but she more or less crawls into his soul and supresses Kaname's native Yume-kon that would have been his own Zanpakuto spirit if it had been allowed to awaken. She did make an entirely new Shikai and Bankai for him- the chime that makes people lose conciousness is entirely new, the AOE of Just A Shitload Of Swords was Suzumushi's original Shikai. The Bankai of a space where anyone not touching the sword experiences no sensory input? Suzumushi made it first and foremost as a refuge for Kaname when the pain of the curse became to unbearable.

The biggest difference, of course, is that Kaname lives through the Aizen Arc and gets a Happy Ending: Once he wakes up after the battle, he is free, and chooses to marry the wolfman he's been in love with for centuries. Here's some art of them, finally home:

#kaname tosen #kaname tousen #sajin komamura #AEIWAM #An Elephant Is Warm And Mushy #Bleach #Bleach fanfic

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chimielie · 14 hours ago

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hold ‘em up (above my heart)

summary: Atsumu x Physical Therapist!F!Reader. the sun rises and sets over and over as your relationship progresses from friends to pro yearners to more.

wc: 4.3k

cw: friends with benefits subplot and all that entails; not explicit, just suggestive

a/n: hi i didn’t die :3

“Hands up,” you say, voice low so as not to disturb the peace of the morning.

Atsumu raises his arms, elbows bent, making a frame of his face. His blond hair is pale, almost white because his little kitchen window faces east and he wakes before it rises above the upper pane. You sidle past him, back to his front, ignoring the weight of his hand as it settles on your hip while you reach up for the granola you keep in the cabinet next to the fridge.

He likes traditional Japanese breakfasts, the savory and umami flavors of natto and rice and miso. You have a sweet tooth and a craving for crunchy food, like a wild animal that needs to grind down its molars. On the days he has work, he settles for an omelette (or scrambled eggs if he fucks it up). You eat the same thing every morning or you'll be sick.

Growing up, Atsumu was never a morning person, but he sleeps better on the nights you're next to him. He doesn't get angry when you slosh milk over the side of his bowl onto his dining table, doesn't snap when you ask him what his plans for the day are. Maybe this is what being an adult is, these steady waters and calm skies.

You don't speak much as you chew, staring into space and thinking the slow thoughts of the exhausted, and he busies himself scrolling through his group messages and social media accounts.

There's a request from a verified account, a retired athlete-turned-model. He knows her name, has seen her in ads, bumped into her at the last Olympics. He clicks on it.

Hey, handsome. I'll be in Osaka this upcoming weekend - let's get a drink!

"I'm gonna shower," you're patting your hair, looking irritated. It always sticks up in the morning, no matter how you sleep on it, a few particular strands defying gravity.

"You should go to work like that," he says, voice still rough even if his mind's woken up. His accent is thicker in the morning, you've told him, but he can't hear it.

"Hell no," you say. "You're the only one who gets to see this morning glory for now."

"I better be," his grin is roguish, running his hand through his own bird's nest. "C'mon, you gonna let me shower with you or what?"

"No, you'll use up all my nice shampoo again!" You fake running to the bathroom, keeping your pace slow enough for him to wrap his arms around your waist and tackle you down, careful to fold himself so that you land on top of him, body between his legs, face cushioned on his chest.

He leaves his phone face up, forgotten on the table.

He's toweling off his hair, dressed in his practice uniform, while you're packing your bag for the day in the kitchen. His apartment is small, way smaller than some of the other guys' on the team, but he grew up crammed into a room with his mom and his brother. He'd toured one penthouse and decided he couldn't live with all that space strangling him.

He'd tried to get Samu to bunk with him like old times, but his brother had just said I'll sleep three meters from your dirty laundry in hell, and that was the end of the argument.

Besides, he has a lot of car bills to pay. He managed to fold another Mazda last month and you've been carpooling in your ancient Toyota while he waits to get license privileges again ever since.

"You got a text, by the way," you say casually, digging through your purse with your lips twisted to the side. "Aha!" You pull out a tube of lipstick triumphantly. "You should respond before you forget."

"Ah, was it Samu?" He asks, crossing back into the bedroom to put away his damp towel.

"Nah, the model," you call. "Sorry, I read your texts."

You're fighting the growing bitterness of the words, trying to sound jaunty and uncaring and casual. The admission of invading his privacy weighs heavily on your shoulders; you can't make yourself look up into his face when he comes into the kitchen.

"I don't care," he shrugs. "You can read whatever you want."

"You shouldn't say that," you try to laugh and wince instead. He just grunts and picks up the phone, swiping away from the conversation and leaving her on read. "I don't have the right, don't I? I shouldn't have—"

"I really don't care," he cuts across your strained attempt at an apology again.

"You should!" You sound like you're about to stamp your foot at him. He doesn't understand why you're so angry; he doesn't bite. "Aren't you gonna get mad? Shouldn't we be fighting?"

"I don't wanna fight," he rubs his large, calloused hand over your shoulder, your upper trapezius, to cup the back of your and pull you into a loose embrace. You stand, dumbfounded, chin pushed into his shoulder, hands at your sides. "Do you? We can if you want to."

"No," you whisper. "Sorry, I—sorry."

"'S okay," he says, digging his thumbs into the tight knots of muscle. "No big deal. Here, you dropped your thingy."

The thingy is the tube of lipstick, a deep berry color, rolling towards the edge of the table. He steps back and squeezes your cheeks in one hands, prompting you to part your lips slightly. He does it how he knows you do, a soft smear on the lower lip and two dabs made sharp by a swipe of his thumbnail on the outer creases, all blended together at the end for a subtle touch of color.

"You look like a frog about to burp," he says when he's done. You laugh so hard you cry.

On the car ride to work, you keep chewing on your lip. He frowns when he notices, all his work bitten off.

You wait for him to get out of the car first, a holdover from the days when you would wait five minutes so no one would notice that you were coming from the same place. In some ways, it's easier that he crashed his car; so convenient that you volunteered to be his chauffeur. He comes to your side, opens your door. You squint at him, jutting your chin out like you're bracing yourself for something.

"I wasn't gonna go out with her," he tells you, a secret between you, him, and the hard asphalt of the MSBY gym's employee parking lot. "Ain't nobody else seein' this in the mornings either. That's all."

He turns around and strides off, leaving you blinking in the morning light.

"Can you move it?" You say, your brows knit together. Hinata grimaces.

"I can bend it, like this—" he curls the injured finger inward. "But it won't stretch out, like this. Ah!"

You release his hand, where you'd applied pressure to the digit. "It's sprained. You're sitting out the rest of practice."

"Aw, but it really doesn't hurt that bad," he protests. You give him a look. "Okay, okay. Can I least do some running and stuff?"

"Do you want to come to practice tomorrow?" You say evenly. He gives you big brown puppydog eyes and you fold like wet paper. "I'll give you some stretches and exercises for your legs that you probably can't fuck up."

"Yay!" He cheers. "Thank you!" He uses an affectionate diminutive of your name with -chan tacked on the end. You laugh and wave him off, walking out of the main gym area toward your office, where you can print him the exercises.

You lean against your desk while the printer huffs temperamentally, taking a long sip of coffee. You should really stop going over to Atsumu's on weeknights, but you've been telling yourself that for well over a year, and it's a lot more convenient since all your clothes and your toothbrush live at his place.

You tell yourself a lot of things when it comes to your blond coworker.

The door to your office slams open and you make an involuntary, high-pitched noise in the back of your throat, focusing hard on keeping the cardboard cup in your hand from jumping with you.

"Sorry, sorry," Bokuto says, his hair drooping dramatically. "It's just really important—Tsumu's hurt!"

You take an inhale so quickly it hurts and burst your coffee cup all over your coat and work pants. Luckily, you take it mostly milk and sugar, so it doesn't burn you, but you don't even really notice it, just shedding the coat and rolling up your sleeves as you stride out the door without hesitation.

Behind you, Bokuto follows, making garbled promises you hear as through water to buy you a house to make up for startling you and ruining your outfit.

You try to take three deep breaths before you enter the gym, knowing you'll be much more helpful calm rather than battling the wall of panic that threatens to overtake you. Atsumu is blocked from your vision by a crowd of his teammates, fluttering around him like a herd of bumblebees.

Iwaizumi is already there, you see with an exhale of relief, ordering everyone around him to stay calm. You motion to the players around him to give him space, hoping your terror doesn't show untowardly on your face, hoping he can feel your singleminded prayer: please be okay.

"Eh?" He has a dopey expression on his face, dopier than usual, anyway. He says your name gleefully, but you're too busy scanning him for visible blood or bone to respond right away. "Nice shirt. Hey, why's your coat off? Were you taking off your clothes in there? Without me?"

"He collided with Sakusa," Iwaizumi tells you. Atsumu reaches for your hand and you stroke your fingertips lightly over the back of it, along the bones and tendons, each touch saying you'll be okay, it's going to be okay.

I'll make it okay.

"Sakusa's shoulder got banged up, you should probably put him on reserve for a couple days," Iwaizumi says. You glance over at the black-haired spiker, who gives you a thumbs-up though his expression is characteristically flat. "Atsumu, though... he fell pretty hard."

You can see that. There's a bruise blooming along the side of his face, like the sloppy trail of your lipstick after a night out. His ankle is swollen, too; the disorientation of the head injury must have impaired the grace of his landing.

You kneel and shift into clinical mode, receding into the comfortable space of your training. You feel along his leg, asking him over and over does it hurt, can you move this, does it hurt when I do this.

"Okay, doc?" His beautiful honey eyes are unfocused. You want to cry. You want to squeeze his hand tighter, but you don't want to hurt him more. "S all good. I'm fine."

You shake your head, grateful it's not worse. Afraid of what you have to say to him.

"That's right, you'll be fine. But the concussion paired with the ankle injury... I don't think it's a good idea for you to return to practice for a month at least."

You squeeze your eyes shut and pull your hands away from him. He probably doesn't want to be touched. He might hate you for this.

What's the point of sleeping with the doc if I don't get special privileges, you imagine him saying, if you're gonna take my life away from me like this. A month of recovery doesn't sound like so much to other people, but you've been working around these volleyball freaks since high school. You know that it's everything to them.

"Okay," Atsumu simply says. You look at him. "You gonna drive me home?"

"If you don't mind," you say softly.

"Yeah, then it's okay," he says, and scoots around, hissing when he forgets and puts pressure on the injured ankle. He leans back, and you catch his head in your lap.

"I'm gonna break my leg," Barnes says from somewhere behind you. "I want the doc to hold me like that."

You hear a thwack and then Iwaizumi's voice: "Sakusa, stop concussing your teammates. L/N only has so much room in her car."

Atsumu recovers more quickly than you expect. You should have known, though; he's always had a strong ability to heal. He rarely gets sick and though he's brash and reckless and sometimes outright stupid, he's lucky. In almost all the inadvisable endeavors you've seen him pull, he almost never gets hurt.

You're not actually a doctor, not that the team believes that. You've been trying to explain that you're a sports medicine physical therapist for the three years you've been working for MSBY and not once has it deterred anyone from calling you doc.

Atsumu was signed six months after you started, and you had only been friends until a year after that. In all that time, you've been the consummate professional at work, never letting your touches linger, never stretching him too deeply, trying not to stare at him like he's just any other player. When he first propositioned you, you tried not to say yes too quickly, as businesslike as possible.

You went into sports medicine because of your sister. She had been a superstar from the moment she stepped foot on a tennis court; even at a young age you saw that she wielded the racket like it was an extension of herself. As the two of you grew in age, you also saw the ways she overextended herself: the swollen knobs of her knees, hidden under frozen packs of peas, the frequent doctor's visits for hyperextension, the tear tracks when she tore her ACL.

You had spent so much of your childhood waiting for her during practice, doing your homework in the bleachers, fielding questions about her play to the uninitiated relatives who came to support her matches that it felt like the most natural course of action to go into a career field that meant you could help her and others like her chase their dreams.

You had also almost exclusively dated athletes as a result. While you were attending university and chasing your certifications, you had been surrounded by two types of people: students and athletes. You had barely any time in your schedule, much less the ability to align it with a similarly crammed med student. Athletes, on the other hand, didn't have an obsession with comparing your knowledge, liked that you were too busy to monitor them all day long, and loved that you had to attend every one of their games because it was literally your job.

By the time you got the position in Osaka, you were beyond over the routine of dating the people in your care. You swore to yourself that you wouldn't mess around with the team and entered a yearlong celibate streak, which Atsumu blew up into a million pieces and never allowed to recover.

To his (and your) credit, the both of you became close friends before ever crossing the boundary of inappropriate conduct. Just because you were strictly business during work hours didn't mean that you, lonely and shy in a new city, were going to turn down your coworkers' offer to go out after practice. You'd gotten to know Meian well and considered Bokuto to be something of a little brother. Then they had traded a couple of players for Atsumu, and the moment he gripped your hand and slapped your shoulder instead of shaking it or bowing like a normal person, you knew that he was going to mean much more to you than any other of your team.

You had fallen quickly into a deep friendship, and his apartment was much closer to the team's favored bars than yours was, so it was just easier for you to go home and crash on his couch. And his couch was gross, because it belonged to a bachelor who had never heard of a steam cleaner, so one night you insisted on sharing the bed, and you had become good friends who cuddled weekly.

It happened like this:

You were the last two left in the booth that had once contained the extremely compressed bodies of several of the largest men in Japan, probably, but they had practice early the next morning and had trickled out, one by one. Atsumu had his head down on the table while you desperately tried to convince him to come home (already you were referring to his apartment as your home without thinking, though only a spare toothbrush and a coat were kept there at the time).

"Please," you said, "I'm so tired. I'm not even drunk anymore."

"I am," Atsumu said, turning his face toward you. "Very."

"I know," you groaned. "Let's go home."

"I can't," he said despondently.

"Why not?"

"Not with you," his words slurred together. "I gotta problem."

"What?" You suddenly felt very, very sick. Maybe you were more drunk than you'd thought.

"Mhm. I gotta apologize, I think."

Oh, you thought. This is it. He knows.

"I've been having," he hiccuped and turned his face into his arms again so that you couldn't hear the next thing he mumbled.

"I can't hear you like that," you say softly. "Please, Atsumu, you can tell me anything."

You've been seeing someone, and she wants me to stop sleeping over. She wants you to stop being friends with me. You need the apartment to yourself to have her over.

"No," he says, turning back to you again, his eyes glossy with drink, his lips pink and just the slightest bit open. "I have been having manly thoughts about you. Unmanly thoughts. Whatever."

"What do you mean?" You'd asked, heart beating fast.

"I wanna have sex with you," he said, and then slammed his forehead against the table until it left a red mark. "I'm sorry, women! It's wrong to dream about kissing your girl friends, I know!"

You ignored his nonsensical shouting and put your hand under his face so he wouldn't injure it.

"Then let's go home so we can have sex," you said. He whipped his head up so fast you worried for his spinal discs.

"You promise?"

You actually didn't have sex that night because he fell asleep as soon as you coerced him into the bed. The next morning, he'd been hungover and ashamed, stuttering and afraid to look you in the eye. You had given him a handful of painkiller pills and waited until he was washing it down with a glass of green juice before you said "I think about having sex with you, too," so that he spewed it all over the floor.

Maybe it was petty, but you needed vengeance for his forcing you to drag him bodily out of that bar the previous night.

After your first time, he said, awkwardly, something about not being able to commit to a relationship at the moment, something about difficulty expressing his feelings, about being too immature to settle. A script you were as familiar with as the back of your hands. You turned to him, swiping sweaty strands of hair out of your face, glowing with a smile as he stuttered his way through it, and said I know the game. We don't have to talk about it.

He insisted that it wasn't a game, that you deserved transparency and to be treated well, and you rolled over on top of him and kissed him until he forgot his own name.

During the month-long recovery period, you had resumed the friendship you had had in the early months of knowing each other, refusing adamantly to do anything strenuous or even unsportsmanly while you had to work much more closely together than ever before. You insist on sleeping at your own apartment for the first week, afraid of aggravating his injuries further, until he threatens to walk to you with his pillow and sleepover bag. You bring him food near-daily and call his brother when your schedule prevents you from doing so.

He's diligent about doing the exercises and stretches you assign him to bring him back to full functionality. Towards the end of his detention (you pinch him for using such a dramatic word), you start taking walks together, in the evenings on work days and the mornings on days off.

You keep expecting him to ask for space, to push you out of his daily routine, to realize that he's bored because he knows everything about you; there's nothing left to hide. Nothing except the one unspoken thing, the one you're sure he knows but you can't acknowledge.

New growth is beginning to sprout on the trees, grey wood dotted with little specks of bright green. Atsumu walks without a limp, now, his posture straight but relaxed, his hands shoved into his pockets.

His body is healed, but his heart aches. You're wearing casual clothes, big soft pants that billow around your legs and a black shirt with his name in yellow letters, and you look far away, worried. No matter how many times he smooths the pinch between your brows away with his thumb, no matter how many times he asks what's wrong, you refuse him a straight answer.

He wonders if he's pulled you too close, in this month dying of boredom, forbidden from running and setting and anything that could damage his brain. He still gets to see you in the morning, your back arching as you stretch and yawn, the crinkle of your nose when your feet touch the cold floor outside of bed, which is probably slowly draining all the function from his grey matter.

You're wearing gloves, your extremities sensitive to the cold. He takes your left hand, tugs it off. When he tangles your fingers together, you look up at him, questioningly, that knot between your brows back again.

"What, woman, now I can't hold your hand?"

You stop walking. He curses his big, fat mouth. He always chooses the wrong thing to say, always has.

Osamu used to ask him what he was supposed to say to girls. Atsumu, proud big brother that he wanted to be, would puff out his chest and give him paragraphs of advice, and Osamu almost never used it. There were so few opportunities for him to advise Samu, though; he was so self-sufficient, maybe more than Atsumu had ever been. He was more introverted, less brash and crass and rude. Sometimes, when Atsumu ceded his insistence on being the wiser one with six more minutes of life experience, he wished he could be more like his twin.

"Do you love me like that, Atsumu?" You ask, mouth pressed into an unhappy line, already pulling away from him like you were expecting him to say something completely insane. "Because I understood fucking, and being friends with benefits, but I don't know if I get going out for food and holding hands and—"

"Like?" He says, refusing to let your hand slip from his. "I love you. That's it."

"Oh," you say, and your mouth is twisted up like you're searching for something he can't see again, but the crease in your forehead is gone.

"You gonna go out with me?" He says, and it comes out way easier than he ever thought it would, and if choosing the rest of his life is as simple a decision as chasing volleyball and you has been, growing up sounds way better than he thought. "'Cause I wanna do it all with you."

Once Atsumu's allowed to drink again, it's time for the real volleyball season to start, and his diet becomes much stricter and your schedule much longer, but eventually the two of you find yourselves back at the same old bar with the rest of the team.

"You're a scrub with no hope of survival in the zombie apocalypse," sneers Atsumu. This is a common topic of conversation among them; each one vying to be the leader of your hypothetical ragged survivors' team.

"I could win a fight against you with one hand tied behind my back," snits Tomas, who usually is oblivious to Atsumu's provocations but gets a lot feistier when he's drunk, to the setter's delight.

"Please don't," says Bokuto, his hair deflating in fear of his friends fighting.

"Haven't you had enough dick measuring," says Sakusa, holding a mug in front of his face like it'll prevent him from seeing Atsumu's and thus pretending he's not there.

"Have you guys ever done that?" You perk up, looking around. "Isn't that supposed to be a locker room ritual?"

"In high school, maybe," snorts Barnes. "We're way too old for that now."

"Yeah, we're real mature," insists Bokuto, his hair bouncing back up into its familiar two-pronged shape. You’ve long wondered how it does that, but if working with MSBY has taught you anything, it’s that science can’t explain everything.

You nod, taking another sip of your beer.

“So how big is it?” Atsumu addresses Sakusa and you squeeze your eyes shut. You just got him to start attending team bonding nights.

“Small. Leave me alone.” You choke on your drink, spluttering as you make eye contact with Sakusa and the tiny, prideful smirk on his face.

The rest of the team dissolves into laughter.

"What about you?" Hinata, his cheeks rosy, says to Atsumu. Before you can think, your drunken mouth speaks for you.

"You can’t have it, I called dibs!”

You slap a hand over your mouth, mortified. You can’t even begin to think about the rest of your coworker’s reactions. You haven’t even disclosed your relationship yet! Atsumu guffaws.

“I don’t think anyone’s trying to take it from ya, doll.”

#im panic posting this immediately before an appointment and RUNNING AWAY i will be back with tags and summary such later #note that there is suggestive content #haikyuu!! x reader #miya atsumu x reader #haikyuu x reader #atsumu x reader #hq!! x reader #hq x reader #atsumu miya x reader #haikyuu!! x reader fluff #haikyuu!! fluff #atsumu fluff #atsumu x reader fluff

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tigerpearlsworld · 3 days ago

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Pick a card

( How to move forward? )

Before you choose a pile, take a moment to breathe deeply and connect with your intuition. This is a general pick-a-card reading, where the universe's infinite energies align with your path to bring you the guidance you need. Know that you can only choose one pile. The message you receive is not just for you to resonate with, but for you to realize in time as the truth unfolds in your journey. To truly receive your message, you must follow your heart’s instinct, not your expectations. Look beyond the surface and see what your soul is trying to reveal to you.

How to Choose Your Card: Breathe in deeply. Breathe out slowly. Light a candle or incense, and clear your mind. Meditate on the beating of your heart, allowing your thoughts to flow naturally. Let go of doubts, and trust what your heart is guiding you towards. Close your eyes, visualize a light forming in your heart, and feel its pull. When you open your eyes, choose the image that your heart calls to the most.

For some of you maybe number, colour, or image will help.

A Final Message for You: Your heart is your guide, not your mind. Surrender to the wisdom that lies within you.

And for those who are seeking answers about love, fate, and destiny, I send my prayers to the stars to bless you with clarity, strength, and the energy to embrace your path.

May you receive what you are meant to know.

( Choose the pile: )

Pile 1:

Pile 2:

Pile 3:

Pile 4:

The reading starts. . .

Pile 1:

Words: tears, rage, resentment, sorrow, loud, betrayal, identity, name.

Element: Water

Animal: Fox and Fish

Vibes: A storm brewing inside ready to burst

Key to move forward: Acknowledge and process emotions

Cards: ( king of wands in reverse, three of wands, two of pentacles, the magician, four of cups, knight of pentacles)

What's blocking you?

You might be feeling like you're stuck in an endless loop, unsure of how to proceed....there seems to be a conflict between your desires and your ability to take action.

You may have a strong passion but are unable to channel it effectively. Either you are doubting your abilities, or external circumstances are making you feel powerless. You may be feeling dissatisfied with your options...rejecting what’s in front of you while longing for something else. There is also this lack of direction, confidence, or vision. I also see for some there is this mismatch or difficulty in balancing your priorities in life. Like perhaps you are overwhelmed with responsibilities, struggling to manage work, relationships, or personal goals. You may feel like you're juggling too many things without real progress.

How to move forward ?

I see that your current struggles are actually paving the way for you for something big....Allow the chaos to guide you towards clarity. And like stop resisting change-your true growth lies in embracing the discomfort and pushing forward.

I also see you just need to believe in yourself more. Instead of waiting for the perfect moment, use your current skills and start making things happen. Because I see opportunities are there but you just don't want to see them because you wanted something else. Try to make work of what you have right now so you can get what you actually wanted. Yk. Also if you’re feeling stagnant, consider learning something new, networking with people outside your usual circles, or exploring different opportunities. Your future is bigger than your present reality - you just have to start moving towards it. And like You don’t have to figure everything out at once. Just start with small actions that build towards your larger goal.

Messages from the animal which came for you

(I have a special delivery for you as I sense this both animal coming means you have the talent and the traits of both this animal in some way or shape)

::Fox & Fish::

The fox is cunning the fish is lost.

The fox is earthly the fish is not.

The fox moves smart it finds its way,

The fish just drifts caught in the sway.

The fox stays sharp it sees the game,

The fish feels deep yet lacks a name.

The fox adapts, it bends, it weaves,

The fish must choose where it believes.

The fox seeks paths not just the tide,

The fish must swim not run and hide.

So take the wisdom, take the flow,

Be like the fox—yet let waters go.

So, Instead of drifting aimlessly you must make intentional choices. Instead of overthinking and being overly cunning you must trust the journey. Moving forward requires balancing both the fish and the fox inside you. Knowing when to act cunning and when to act with intuition not abandoning one for another.

As the fish says: don't just drift swim with intention

And the fox says: stay connected to those who support you-don’t isolate yourself.

Final words for you:

Right now you are in this important transitional phase in life. It might feel chaotic....but this discomfort is necessary for your growth. Instead of letting fear, indecision, or dissatisfaction hold you back...trust in your ability to rebuild. Start small plan strategically, and embrace the transformation that is already happening within you. You have the power to create the life you want-it’s time to take the first step.

A song for you (this one's my fav btw)

Pile 2:

Words: boundless, innocence, light, unlimited, persistence

Element: Ether

Animal: Octopus and Phoenix

Vibes: Cycle of renewal

Key to move forward: Forgive yourself and others

Cards: ( Three of cups, six of swords, ten of wands, the hermit, five of cups, six of swords )

What's blocking you?

you’re carrying a heavy emotional or mental burden that is making it difficult to move forward. you will face many setbacks which may feel like failures but are actually opportunities to begin again tbh...

Responsibilities may be overwhelming you making it feel more difficult to see a clear path forward. I also see you're in deep worries, overthinking, or even have sleepless nights. My question to you is are you holding onto guilt, regret, or anxieties about the future? *it's okay to feel anxious about the future but dont punish yourself for it*

*It's okay*

I see lingering sadness and disappointment clouding your aura you might be dwelling on some past disappointments, heartbreaks, or missed opportunities. I feel that you are focusing way too much on what went wrong rather than what can still be built. I see you are also withdrawing from people or avoiding seeking help. You might feel like you have to go through this alone but that is not the case.

*it may feel like you're stuck in a situation and that it's the end and there is no escape that this it. But i see you'll get another chance. Trust me... I see a light returning in your life. You need to give yourself a chance. Forgive yourself. And try again. I know it's difficult but I also know you have the strength to move pass it. Don't lose faith. *

How to move forward?

You need to understand one thing and that is setbacks are not failures but opportunities to try again with more wisdom. Instead of seeing closed doors, look for the new paths opening up. Yk. You have ability to recover and move pass this obstacles but only if you allow it. You need to allow yourself to let go of old disappointments and shift your mindset. You need to move on from painful situations.*i know it's difficult but I know you can do it* Whether it’s past relationships, old failures, or toxic patterns now is the time to leave behind what no longer serves you. Release it!!! Release the wounds, the emotional weight!!!! Release the mental weight!!!! Release!!!!

[ YOU CANNOT DO EVERYTHING ALONE! DROP WHAT ISN'T YOURS TO CARRY!!!!!! ]

You don’t have to go through this alone.

Joy, laughter, and companionship will help break the cycle of sadness and isolation. Even if it’s just opening up to one person, reach out.

Messages from the animal which came for you

(Hope my special delivery message coming from both your animals cheer you up and make you see your light which finally helps you move forward)

:::Octopus & Phoenix:::

The Octopus clings and it stretches thin,

Lost in the weight of where it’s been.

It reaches far and holds too tight,

Dimming its own for another’s light.

The Phoenix rises its flames ignite,

Burning the past and embracing flight.

You are not chains and nor scars,

As you are the fire that births the stars.

Release the weight let go, be free,

To rise from the ash to be who you're meant to be.

»»————>»»————>»»————>

*( ╥﹏╥ ) that last line didn't rhyme but you get the gist*

So... Your animals ask you "Have you been too emotionally invested in other people’s problems? Do you take on too much responsibility for others?" To regain balance, learn to say no and create space for yourself. Allow yourself to prioritize your own well-being.

Also burn away the past and step into your true power as its time. You are not defined by your mistakes, your heartbreaks, or your struggles. This is the time to consciously release what has been keeping you stuck. It may take effort, but once you commit to healing, you will lighter, braver, free and more strong and most importantly more you.

As the octopus says: don't give too much to others at the cost of your own well being.

And the Phoenix says: Release the past, step into transformation and embrace your true power.

Final words for you:

You have been through emotional exhaustion, disappointments, and self-doubt, but now is the time to rise. Stop carrying the past.....stop isolating yourself, and start reconnecting with your inner fire.

You are stronger than you realize, and the future is waiting for you to step into your power.

A song which came for you

Pile 3:

Words: Solitary, analytical, secretive, truth, healing, sharp, visions, rebellious, detach

Element: Air

Animal: Tarantula and Moth

Vibes: Acknowledge your hidden wounds

Key to move forward: Acceptance

Cards: ( seven of swords, judgement, ten of swords, ace of wands, eight of cups and death )

What's blocking you?

you are in a phase of healing and deep self-examination i see you may be facing difficult realizations about your past, your choices, or your relationships.

I see that someone may have hurt you deeply, or you might have been involved in a situation where trust was broken. If this was a relationship, you may have been lied to, used, or manipulated. If this is about career or life choices, you might feel like you've been misled or that your own self-doubt kept you from making the right decisions. I see you're running away from facing the truth which I feel like deep inside you already know...if that makes sense? you don't want to face it. I also see the fear of the unknown, fear of opening your wounds, fear of letting anyone in again....You like to feel sure, confident you know life is full of unpredictability but you don't like that....that part where you aren't in control. you want to be sure of yourself.

I also see there is a resistance on your part ....Are you resisting walking away from something (or someone) that no longer serves you? You might be avoiding a hard truth either about yourself or someone else.....Are you refusing to see something that is obvious? Are you repeating the same mistakes? Are you drawn to things that burn you, even though you know better? These are the questions which keep popping in my head for you. You may feel like you’ve hit rock bottom but this is actually a turning point and like If something is draining you...whether it’s a relationship, a job, or a mindset - it’s time to let it go.

How to move forward?

Whatever has ended in your life....whether it's a relationship, a job, an old version of yourself - accept that it had to ended for your highest good. The old version of you can't carry on for long....the old version of you.....the one that tolerated deception, settled for less, or lived in fear it's is dying. Instead of clinging to what no longer serves you, embrace the change. Let the past burn away so something new can take its place. I also see you have been hesitating, but you already know what must be done. you need to listen more to your Intuition and avoid self-sabotage. You need to move on from situations that no longer serve your soul. Whether it’s emotional baggage, toxic relationships, or an outdated mindset, it’s time to let go.

Don't jump from one situation to another just because you don't want to feel or see the truth inside you.... You keep jumping from one thing to another without committing. You try to act tough...not wanting to see the truth that you're in pain. The pain still controls you and deep inside you know it's the truth.that is why for some of you....you may like to serve, be there for others, help, fix others....its like a unconscious thing you do where fixing others make you feel like you're doing something for yourself. But are you? You can't fix people. You have a love and a heart too...which has so much love to give but you need to first tend and take care of your own hurt before you try to fix/tend others. A question comes for you asking have you been distracted by illusions instead of focusing on real growth? If you want to break free from this....choose one path and commit to it fully. Whether it’s career, healing, or self-discovery, see it through to completion.

I see a new something will start in your life soon.... You need to act quick. Whether it’s a new passion, a new vision, or a new way of living, act on it NOW!

Messages from the animal which came for you

The tarantula says: Slowdown, reflect and follow your true purpose.... You know your TRUTH... Stay true to your path.

The moth says: STOP!!!!! Stop jumping impulsively into new things just because they seem easier or more exciting.

Basically this combination for you is a easy way of basically stop chasing distraction and stay true to your path. What it means is moving forward requires committing to a path, avoiding unnecessary distractions, and not letting indecision or overthinking lead to inaction.*i literally felt like a mom scolding a child during this reading lol but ayyyy.... That's how it's coming. Don't shoot the messenger I'm just saying what I'm seeing*

Final words for you:

You are being pushed to evolve whether you like it or not but you will be pushed until you acknowledge....and that's on period* This is your moment of truth. Let go of the past pain, the deception, and the illusions don't be delulu and face the hard decision you have been avoiding.

*for some I see maybe it's a death of someone close to you which you haven't processed yet you need to feel and not bottle it inside.... Let go of them tears.....Feel what you must feel*

Stop chasing temporary distractions and focus on what truly matters.

Lastly, You already know what must be done and now my question to you is.....will you take the step forward?

A song which for you

Pile 4:

Words: Speed, energy, instinct, selfish, vitality, healing, action, rejuvenation

Element: Earth

Animal: Buffalo and Golden Egg

Vibes: Taking the step

Key to move forward: Shift on perspective

Cards: ( The world, The moon, The chariot, Six of wands, Ten of pentacles, Six of swords )

What's blocking you ?

I clearly see you're in a verge of Major breakthrough.... a major transition is happening moving from one phase of life to another, but doubts, fears, or unfinished emotional business is kinda making you slow.

I see there may be some sort of subconscious fear or emotional confusion keeping you from fully embracing the next step. There is desire in you for success which is good but I see it kinda effecting in a way where you are trying too hard to control the outcome instead of trusting the process. I even see for you that the success you're running for is within reach too.....but you might be too focused on external validation- which makes me ponder like are you moving forward for yourself, or to prove something to others?

You are heading towards something better which is great but are you emotionally prepared to leave the past behind? because I clearly see and I am seeing it very much that there is or may be some unresolved lessons that need to be integrated before moving forward.

*Tbh usually i get reading where the cards forces to leave the past behind for people but in this case ig it's different ...which I find hilarious.personally.(⁠⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠⁠)*

Random ik but I also see...hmmm.... It's random but anyway I see.... some long-term stability is at stake now idk what it is you'll know better but whether financially, emotionally, or in relationships I'm being asked to ask you this that "Are you hesitating because you’re afraid of losing security?"

How to move forward?

"TRUST YOUR PATH" Ikr.... In the entire reading from the start this was literally getting repeated over and over and over and over..... Istg... It was buzzing in my ear.

Listen you came here to know how to move forward right?

So it's this simple.... You do not need to have all the answers right now. Yep. You don't. But... trust that you are on the right path, even if the road ahead is unclear even if it doesnt match the big picture right now which you had in your head for a while but for now just move with faith, not fear okayyyy?? Because I see you need clarity on big time! And I see you'll get your clarity when you begin to forward.

I also see you guys are the kind of people who just rush forward without thinking what is ahead of you and that you may seek external validation alot...even if not consciously you guys do it subconsciously and that's on PERIOD!!!! Don't lie to me....i can clearly see that through and through. But listen here I don't judge but I feel what you need is not the external validation but the intenal truth....and I see your deepest truth is already within you, but you must create space to hear it. Engage in meditation, solitude, or introspection. Instead of seeking answers externally, listen..LISTEN to what your inner self is telling you.

Also practice with writing down what you are ready to leave behind, then consciously let it go. This will create space for your new chapter to begin. Because i see success for you. BIG TIME SUCCESS!!!! but make sure you are moving towards what truly fulfills you, not what looks good to others. Also focus on long-term stability whether in career, love, or personal goals rather than short-term recognition.

Messages from the animal which came for you

As you got both the Buffalo and golden egg contrasting energy yet not Yk? But this animals basically will help you understand your energies better and how you could use it.

(Special delivery poem from the animals for you)

::::Buffalo & Golden egg::::

The Buffalo walks strong and wise,

Through storm and dust ...beneath vast skies.

It trusts the path it does not fear,

Each step is steady, bold, sincere.

The Golden Egg so still, so bright,

Holds whispers deep a heart’s true light.

No rush, no chase, just space to be,

To hear the sound of destiny.

One moves ahead, one waits within,

A dance of earth, a song of wind.

To move ahead...embrace them both,

The strength to walk & the soul to growth.

▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▥▧▧▧▧▧▥▥▧▥▧▥▧

So your animals say that you need the company of both of them to move forward you can't rely and depend on one abandoning the other. To move forward you will need to integrate both energies....If you focus only on pushing forward (Buffalo) you will lose touch with your inner truth. And If you focus only on introspection (Golden Egg), you might struggle to take action. So you need to create a balance you understand?

Final words for you:

You are on the edge of something amazing. The only thing left to do is trust yourself, release the past, and step forward with faith.

No song came for you when channeling...I'm sorry :((

#Spotify #pick a card #tarot #pick a pile #tarotcommunity #tarot cards

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gingerteafairy · 2 days ago

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🅂 🄼 🄰 🅁 🅃 (ᴋʏʟᴇ ꜱᴘᴇɴᴄᴇʀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ)

Kyle learns to write through a fun alphabet game. tags n warnings: zombie!kyle, witch!reader, fluff. word count: +800 masterlist

The mansion door opened with telekinesis, hands occupied with groceries, since it was your turn to go to the supermarket. You were finally home, and it felt like running errands was more exhausting than witch lessons. Placing the bags on the counter, you caught sight of your beautiful ray of sunshine entering the kitchen with his arms stretched out.

“Hug,” Kyle asked, flashing a cute smile. You immediately complied, wrapping him in a tight embrace. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Kyle,” you replied, pulling away from the hug, but he pulled you back, this time with more force, burying his head in your neck.

“No,” he groaned, his arms squeezing tighter around you. “You’re gonna leave again.”

“I won’t, Kyle. Promise. I just went to the store,” you tried to reassure him, softly caressing his back. He believed you, letting go of the bear hug. It was time for your idea. “Kyle, now that you’ve learned to speak properly, I was thinking we could play a game together.”

“A game?” He repeated, tilting his head to the side, his curls following the motion.

“Yes. It’ll help you learn better. Come with me,” you guided, taking his hand as you led him up the stairs. At the top, his body went limp, becoming a bit difficult to move, but with your telekinesis, you managed to guide him.

You opened the bedroom door, walked in, and grabbed two sheets of paper and two pencils, sitting down on the floor. Kyle followed, sitting next to you, confused when you handed him the paper and pencil. He started doodling little circles and hearts in the corner, laughing as he showed them to you.

“Okay. The game is called ‘Stop.’” You announced, and he paused, putting the paper on the floor. You chuckled at his confusion. “No, Kyle. You don’t have to stop. It’s just the name of the game.”

“Sorry,” he murmured, lowering his head. You petted his hair, encouraging him.

“It’s okay,” you reassured him, making the zombie boy smile. “Here’s how it works. We’ll draw a letter from the alphabet, and we each have to write a word starting with that letter. For example, if we get the letter A, we have to think of an animal, a food, and so on, all starting with A. Got it?”

He looked a little confused but nodded in agreement. It was a lot of information, but you knew he’d get it. You grabbed your phone to randomly pick a letter. C.

“Okay, Kyle… you’re going to write an animal that starts with the letter C,” you guided, watching him scratch his head and write slowly. It was okay; you had all the patience in the world for him.

He turned the paper toward you, excited. “Cat.” He repeated, pointing to the word with his pencil.

“Very good, Kyle,” you encouraged him, feeling him throw himself into another hug, kissing your cheek. “That’s right, very good. Can you write an object and a food?”

“Yes,” he answered eagerly, placing the sheet on the floor and writing a little faster than before. He finished and turned the paper toward you. “Cake. Car. Vroom vroom.”

“That’s right, vroom vroom,” you mimicked, laughing with him.

“I want carrot cake,” he pouted like a little kid, grabbing the pencil and drawing a cake. “Cake.”

“I know, honey,” you laughed, feeling a pang of affection for him. But this was a lesson, and you wanted him to think and speak faster. “We can have cake if you play one more round, okay?”

“Promise?” He asked, holding out his pinky.

“Promise,” you replied, linking your pinky with his. He smiled, kissing the little contract before grabbing the paper from your hands again. You picked another letter: K. “Look, Kyle. The first letter of your name. Can you write it?”

“Ky…Le…” He wrote, proudly showing you his progress. “More.”

“Okay. Write an animal, a food, and an object, alright?” You instructed again. This time, Kyle took longer on his paper. “What’s wrong, darling?”

“I don’t know… a food… with K,” he whined, crumpling the paper into a ball and throwing it aside.

“Hey, hey, Kyle,” you called, gently cupping his face to make him look at you. “It’s okay. I don’t know a food with K either.”

“Really?” He asked, lifting his big, watery eyes to you.

“Really, really.” You confirmed, kissing his forehead. “What about the other words you wrote? Tell me.”

“Kangaroo and Key,” he murmured, defeated, a tiny flicker of frustration crossing his cute face. “I’m dumb.”

“No, don’t ever say that.” You scolded, your tone more serious, which made Kyle flinch. “You’re very smart. Not everyone learns this fast, and you did great today.”

“Very… smart…” He repeated to himself, smiling and jumping into another bear hug. You didn’t say it, but after the carrot cake, you planned on going through the whole alphabet. It seemed like Kyle was really enjoying this lesson.

#kyle spencer x y/n #kyle spencer x you #kyle spencer x reader #kyle spencer #zombie kyle #x reader #imagine #reader insert #fanfic #evan peters #evan peters fandom #evan peters x reader #evan peters x y/n #evan peters x you #ahs

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deadfrog-and-friends · 10 hours ago

Text

a work in progress

It feels. That's all it can do right now. Feel. Sensations it can't interpret, can't understand. All over its new form, feeling, stimuli. Something. Holding it. Something rubbing it. Something cutting into it—ahhh…it doesn't hurt, not exactly. It's just, what if the knife slips? Cuts deep? Too deep? It cuts, it cuts, shallow cuts, deep cuts… it's frightening. So many cuts before the blade is pulled away. It's. Fine. It's safe. A soft sensation, a digit, a finger, rubs over its entire form. Smooth. Gentle. Wonderful. Suddenly it's set down, and all there is to feel is the surface beneath it.

It lays in Stillness, there, the entity, for it is not yet a doll. It is just a block of wood, well, four or five blocks of wood, that have yet to become arms and legs and a head and ball joints. The surface vibrates as things move around it. People, Animals, various Things. Voices rendered into vibrations it can only feel. A door slamming in its frame, more vibrations. It starts to notice cold and hot as well. A window left open feels colder. A cat dozing nearby feels warmer. The warmth of the hand that finally picks it up again, is warmer still, and it brings it to the stove to work on it in the firelight, which is warmest yet. An ear is carved, and it can hear.

Voices. Voices it hears first, and the crackling of the fire. The one holding it has the sweetest. Another one, nearby, has its own music. The voice of the fire is anxious, a bit, its proximity seems to be causing a thumping, thumping, in that one's chest. Low to the ground, one last plaintive voice. The cat. The one holdng it carves a second ear.

"Won't you start on that commission. Please, dear." That was the further voice.

"I will, tomorrow," says the one holding it. "I just want to finish carving poor dolly's head."

"Can't it wait?"

"It's been waiting for a month already." The one holding it brushes sawdust out of its ear and it can hear more clearly. "It's just been sitting on my desk, sometimes I even forget it's there I'm so busy. I'm shocked the cat hasn't batted away and lost half the pieces."

"I just don't know what use a doll of that size can be," says the first voice. "And with rent coming up tomorrow…hmm?" She's interrupted by a clanking noise. "Yes Duckie?"

"Mistress, supper is served," says a new, eerily flat voice.

"Well, never mind. Put that down, come eat."

"I'll be right there," says the one holding it, as the other one leaves. She adds a tiny detail to the left ear, and then the right. Satisfied, she carries that one back to the desk—one, two, three, four gentle footsteps—saying "Its use? Its purpose? Only to be loved, only to be loved, and to love me in return." A finger runs along that one's new head, over its new ears, and she hums, gentle and satisfied.

The entity that is not yet a doll finds it can mark the days now. Voices say things like "Good morning," "time for dinner," "it's late, come to bed." Gathers that the one who holds it is a witch named Felicity, beloved Felicity. The other is her partner Leticia. They run a shop together, New and Used Dolls, Drones, and Puppets—Felicity carves them new out of wood; Leticia scouts out used ones to refurbish and sell. Two dolls live with them, a wood doll of Felicity's, Fifi, who scrapes a broom across the floor a few times a day, and Duckie, a refurbed bot, who calls them for dinner. Finally, there is the cat, with the plaintive voice, and the sweet, gentle purr. The entity can feel it jump on the desk and settle next to it and start purring. This means they are friends.

Days pass and sometimes it feels its witch's hand on its form, sometimes she picks it up, fiddles with it, attaches a limb. One afternoon when the shop is dead she steals a whole hour and manages to affix its head onto its neck. She swivels it back and forth and all the way around, pleased with the smooth movement. Then Leticia comes in. Her voice almost sounds hurt. "Weren't you going to help me with that refurb? I thought—"

"Ohh…" Felicity sets her project back down, almost ungently. "Sorry, I thought… Sorry." She leaps up. "Yeah we can do that now."

The entity that is not yet a doll feels so close. Its head is attached. Its limbs are attached. From the conversation it has heard in the shop, it believes it still lacks things called eyes, a mouth, clothing, hair. If it is to be a marionette, it will need strings. Felicity will get to it, someday. It knows she will. It can't wait for the next moment she has time to pick it up, run her hand along its back. It thinks about that every few moments.

Seasons change. Hair is installed, in phases. A painful process where holes are drilled into the top of its head. "I don't remember what my original vision was, anymore," Felicity mutters. Her voice has changed, somehow. The texture of her fingers. A new person lives in the house with them. A child. The child's voice is beautiful.

"What's that, Mommy?" the entity, still not a doll, can hear it ask.

"Oh, it's a work in progress," says beloved Felicity. "Your mama gave me that beautiful wood, just enough for a small doll."

"A little dolly like that would be just the right size for, you know, a little girl."

"Are you trying to hint something, darling?" the witch says, laughing. "Maybe I teach you to make your own, hmm?"

The entity hears the child shriek with joy as the witch scoops it up and carries it away. It feels an ache, a knot in its chest.

Months pass. Sometimes the child picks it up, unfinished as it is, and carries it around the room. Puts it on the cat and laughs as the cat gets up and it falls to the ground. Pours it tea—which smells divine. (It received a nose at some point.) Reads to it from its picture books. Helpfully describes the pictures to it since it doesn't have eyes. Felicity walks in on this one day. "No!" she cries, snatching the not doll away. "No, no, no, Alice, you mustn't touch that… it's Mommy's. It's mine." She presses it to her bosom, her hands shaking. That one feels so warm, shivery almost. It feels a sob in Felicity's chest.

"Sorry, Mommy," Alice says, ashamed. "I thought…"

"You have your own dolls, don't you? Beautiful dolls, so many beautiful dolls. This is all Mommy has. Don't you understand? I'm sorry for getting upset. It's just, this is Mommy's special doll."

"B-b-but…" Alice starts to wail. Mommy puts the doll down, hastily, on the desk, and goes to comfort her.

"Look, darling," Mommy says.

"You haven't touched it in months," the child wails, "so I thought I could play with it. It's probably lonely. Don't you think it's lonely?"

The Doll hardly notices as Alice lashes out at Felicity and Felicity weeps. It hardly cares that it's alone on the desk again, still without eyes, a mouth, a single stitch of clothing, the ability to move. For what is a doll? For some it is an entity that will carry out orders, cook or clean, fight for one's cause. But for this one, it is to be loved, to be loved, and to love in return. It is a Doll.

For the next several years, Felicity only manages to paint a single eye (muttering "doesn't look quite right, does it") but that is enough for the Doll to finally see the faces of its family, Alice, the distant Leticia, Ducky, and Fifi. And the wonderful Felicity so beautiful but oh! so frail, so delicate compared to the others. She hardly works with any wood anymore. Something to do with her health. She spends more and more time upstairs, where the Doll has never been. Alice is learning the trade. She prefers making dolls with cloth. She prefers working with the refurbs. She sews that one some clothes in her spare time, along with an even smaller doll to keep it company. The cat, an old lady by now, steals it, though. Then one day, Felicity is carried downstairs and out the door. The Doll never sees her or hears her voice again. Months later, Leticia comes to clean off the desk and throw things away. She comes across the Doll, and touching it for the first time begins to weep.

End.

(inspired by @absentwriterdoll's Work-In-Progress and glitch's Resin)

#dollposting #empty spaces

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ivoyzzz · 6 hours ago

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for cheol

synopsis: you work at the childrens home where Cheol lives and he takes a liking to you going as far as introducing you to his sister. what happens when the stoic girl begins to see why her little brother likes you so much?

warnings: mention of kids picking on Cheol.

a/n: thought this was so cute bc they deserve happiness !! also … are for your name!!

saebyeok liked routine. she would pick-pocket all day and then she would go see cheol. she didn’t let people into her life, she was okay with the way things were. just her and cheol.

it was like everyday. saebyeok pick-pocketed then walked to the children’s home cheol lived. she checked in then sat away from all the other kids waiting for cheol. she had expected cheol to walk out happy to see her but not as happy as a child his age should be. what she hadn’t expect was for cheol to walk out dragging a girl out.

saebyeok immediately tensed up when she saw cheol walk out with some girl who worked at the children’s home. cheol had a smile on his face as he held onto your wrist and walked over to saebyeok. “noona, remeber i told you about her.” cheol said smiling happy to introduce you to his sister.

when you agreed that you would meet cheol’s infamous sister you weren’t really expecting her. the way cheol described her and insisted that you become friends with her, you weren’t expecting a tall girl who glared at you not even giving you a half smile.

“noona, this is miss … , she teaches us games and how to draw.” cheol said smiling. saebyeok looked over you, her gaze making you feel like your tiniest movements were being judged by the stoic girl. you smiled softly at saebyeok at saebyeok and she gave you nothing but a small hum.

“i’ll let you talk with your sister. nice to meet you.” you say giving them both a small wave and walking back inside the children’s home. saebyeok’s gaze follows you back inside, then she looks back at cheol sensing this wasn’t the reaction he wanted. saebyeok ignores this focusing on the bandage on his chin. saebyeok mutters a small. “what happened?”

“i fell.” cheol answers a little too quickly. saebyeok looks at him tilting her head towards him wanting the truth. “i got pushed.” cheol sighs, but quickly adds. “the boy got in trouble by miss … , and she put the bandage on “ saebyeok eyebrows furrow, was cheol really so fond of you? the rest of the visit when on like normal cheol chatting her ear off and saebyeok asking questions.

the next visit, saebyeok checks in like normal and goes to the outside area where all the kids are. but instead of them playing like normal, your teaching them how to draw an animal. all are giggling and laughing as you make jokes about the duck your drawing. saebyeok takes notice of the way you easily make a child stop crying and put a smile on their face. she also takes notice of the way you spot her sitting and you walk over to cheol pointing to her with a smile of your face and he runs over to her. you send saebyeok a small wave which all you get in return is her barley there smile when she sees cheol.

saebyeok stops by everyday finding herself looking forward to her visits in more then one way. they go like normal you pointing towards her and cheol running towards her. you, like always wave and smile and she has started to give you a small and slight nod. maybe your making progress with her?

one night saebyeok goes to visit cheol before visiting hours are over. she walks into the office and instead of seeing the receptionist like normal she sees you sweeping the floor and cleaning a focused smile on your face. saebyeok stands there not knowing what to do, she hasn’t spoken a word to you ever. saebyeok settles on clearing her throat making you turn around smiling as you see her. “i’ll get cheol.”

when you come back with cheol, you give them their space sitting behind the desk and organizing one of the desk drawers. you can’t help but smile as you see saebyeoks face soften at the sight of her younger brother.

“hi noona.” cheol greets sitting next to saebyeok. saebyeok reaches over and ruffles his hair. “i drew you something.” cheol says softly pulling something out of his jacket pocket handing it to saebyeok. saebyeok takes it a rare smile on her face. she opens it and it’s a picture of her and cheol. “it’s really good.” saebyeok says softly to the boy. “thanks miss … helped me” cheol says proudly feeling a sense of pride after his sisters compliment. saebyeok looks over at you, where your seated at the desk. she can’t help but think feel a weary sense of confusion and content. she was confused as to what kind of person you were to kept cheol, a shy kid to open up to you. she was content that when she couldn’t there was someone who would look out for cheol.

after about 20 minutes you had walked cheol back into the building. when you walked back into the office you were surprised to see saebyeok still seated there. from what you had picked up about saebyeok she really wasn’t much of a talker so you kept the comfortable silence. “i wanted to thank you.” saebyeok muttered her sharp features moving to look at you.

”for what?” you said softly looking at saebyeok. even though saebyeok felt vulnerable in this moment your tone didn’t hold an ounce of a judgment. “for taking care of cheol.” she replied back her gaze on the wall.

“he’s a good kid, talks about you a lot. i’m happy to do it.” you say really looking at saebyeok. the way she made sure her face didn’t show what she was feeling. or maybe the way her eyes would flick over to you before returning them to the wall. “goodnight.” you smile softly as she stands up ready to leave. “night.” she says so very quietly and leaves with that.

your helping cheol tie his shoes. “..then you put this bunny over the other okay?” you say trying to put it in a way that would make sense. “that’s what my sister tried to tell me but i still don’t understand.” the little boy whines clearly getting upset that he doesn’t get it. “you can’t achieve something in one day if you want to be good at it. things take time and this is one of those things okay?” you say sitting down next to cheol. he sulks but nods and goes off to play again.

you then see saebyeok and instead of like normal calling cheol over to her you walk over instead. saebyeok looks at you as she sees you approach. her gaze is stoic but not uninviting. you take a cautious seat next to her leaving a good bit of distance between the two of you.

before you can say anything she begins. “Why are you always working?” saebyeok says looking at you with a genuine look of curiosity. there hasn’t been a time that’s she came and you haven’t been here. don’t you have off days? “I like working. i come in as often as i can.” you say with a small laugh.

“your good with kids.” saebyeok mutters her gaze on cheol happy to see him with kids his age playing and laughing. “my trick is to think like a kid.” you say raising your eyebrows with a smile. saebyeok glances at you before looking back at cheol. “cheol told me he introduced us so i could have a friend my own age.” you laugh shaking your head. cheol wasn’t clueless. you were a girl who never left her job and spent her whole day with kids, so of course your socializing skills weren’t the best. saebyeok was focused and didn’t like talking to people or people in general.

the corner of saebyeok’s lips turned upward for a second. cheol had always been a very observant kid. “what time do you get off of work tonight?” saebyeok asked causally her face not showing what was she was thinking. “i get off at 7 tonight.” you say not thinking much of it as cheol spots the both of you and walks over after finishing his game. “i’ll take you out to eat after you get off work tonight.” saebyeok said looking at you her face as stoic as ever. “okay.” you mumbled standing up not trusting yourself to say anything else. cheol ran over smiling, happy to see the both of you together.

saebyeok had convinced herself that she was doing this for cheol. cheol wanted you two to be friends and you had been good to cheol. this was nothing but a thank you and so cheol didn’t worry for her.

saebyeok waited outside the children’s home for you. you walked out spotting the girl waving and walking over to her. “where we going?” you asked smiling. “wherever you want.” she mumbled back. “there are some night markets with good food?” you shrugged to which she nodded falling in step with you.

“what do you do for work?” you asked looking up at her curiously. saebyeok of course wasn’t going to tell you that she stole for a living so she went with something simple. “i work at a cafe.” saebyeok muttered to which you nodded.

when you two arrived at the market you two had decided on a place that sells kimpap. you two took a seat at a small table. “i don’t really go out often so thank you.” you let out a small laugh. saebyeok likes the way you laugh, she’s never noticed the way a person laughed before. “me either.” she nods in agreement. “do you like art?” saebyeok mutters at you chewing her food. you look up at her with a smile. “when i was younger i wanted to be an artist.”

“do you still want to?” she follows up looking at you. “no, i like what i do. what about you, what is something you’d like to do?” saebyeok thought for a second. no one had ever really asked her questions about herself where she had to think about it. she settles for, “not really.”

an old woman walking by had dropped, her whole wallet. you saw this and picked it up standing up and handing it back to the woman with a smile. the old lady thanked you. “thank you, young ma’am. i don’t know what I would’ve done if i lost this“ the woman opens her wallet trying to hand you twenty thousand won. you shake your head not accepting the money. “it’s no problem keep your money have a good day.” you smile sitting back down.

saebyeok had watched this whole interaction in shock. if it had been her she would have pocketed the wallet. but you picked it up that thought not even crossing your mind and handed it back. then when the lady had tried to give you money you declined. you did everything saebyeok wouldn’t and it only made her more curious about you.

saebyeok lost in her thoughts picks around her food. you understood that saebyeok preferred not to talk and you were fine with silence. “that was nice.” saebyeok broke the quiet bubble around the two of you. you give her a soft smile shaking your head eating your food. “don’t give me too much credit.” saebyeok just stares at you, your not like anyone she’s ever met.

after you two finish eating and are walking back to both of your apartments. saebyeok realized you didn’t live far from her and decided to walk you home. you two walked close, arms brushing close. “i had a good time.” you say quietly. saebyeok mutters a small “me too.”

saebyeok’s previous mindset that this had only been for cheol had slowly begun to vanish. saebyeok felt the way your hands brushed every so often. the way that both of you seemed to gravitate closer to each other. it numbed her to everything else going on. saebyeok haven’t even realized it but she was slowly slipping her cold hand into yours. it felt like it was only the two of you right now, just walking down the street hand in hand. saebyeok didn’t look at you, but her hand was enough to confirm that maybe this wasn’t as friendly as cheol had intended. that maybe cheol played matchmaker. cheol had helped two girls who were each deserving of love find each other. and right now in this moment it was enough.

#kang sae byeok x reader #kang sae byeok x fem!reader #squid game x reader #sae byeok x reader #squid game #wuh luh wuh #wlw #fanfic #kang sae byeok

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liketwoswansinbalance · 2 days ago

Note

rafal vs cat

[A black cat with a missing eye sits on the School Masters' dinner table, grooming itself, paying the brothers no mind. The bell on its collar tinkles as it stretches.]

Rafal: What. Is. That.

Rhian: [glancing over] Oh. I found a stray. We're keeping it until we can find its owner. His name is Jingle. I've been calling him "Djinn" since he seems to like the demimagus' lamp you confiscated from Aladdin.

Rafal: [narrows his eyes, disgusted.] It's... it's on our dinner table. Where we eat.

Rhian: I'll cast a spell to clean it once Djinn is gone. Play nicely while I'm gone. [He leaves the tower as he's to run errands.]

Rafal: [continues to glare at the cat.] Demon spawn.

[The cat paws at the lamp until it tips onto the floor with a clang. The Demimagus inside isn't disturbed.]

Rafal: [returns to the storybook he was reading, "The Bremen Town Musicians," and ignores the cat.]

[The cat becomes more active as dusk falls, leaping onto Rafal's desk, stirring up papers, sending them spinning into the air.]

Rafal: [suppresses a sigh and waits for Rhian's return. He decides against disciplining it. It isn't his and he knows Rhian will chew him out if he lays a hand on it.]

[The cat then leaps onto the Storian's lectern, rumpling freshly inked pages.]

[The Pen stops writing mid-sentence and its nib flares with white light, poised at the cat's heart, ready to spear through this interloper, for no one, not even School Masters, dares interfere with tales in progress.]

Rafal: [finally takes notice of the silence and looks up at the stalemate.]

[The cat lifts a paw and bares claws, about to swipe at the Pen.]

Rafal: [lunges across the room, enveloping the cat in his grasp as both Man and feline crash to the floor, Pen resuming to write.]

[Rafal rises to his feet and feels the cat attempt to squirm out of his too-tight grip.]

[Djinn thanks the Evil School Master with a scratch to the eye.]

[Rafal lets him drop to the stone floor brusquely, and the cat lands with grace, slinking away to climb a bookshelf for its next conquest.]

[Traitor, Rafal thinks. Probably full of mange.]

[The scratch heals shortly after and Rafal settles back into his chair with "Cat and Mouse in Partnership.")

[Just then, Rhian swings around the doorframe, bearing a large scratching post in the shape of a gallows.]

Rafal: [with a smirk, quips,] Thought its stay would be temporary.

Rhian: This is temporary. [With a huff, he sets it onto the floor.] And besides, I thought you and Djinn would appreciate this one. He probably belongs to a hideous witch after all with a face like that.

Rafal: Mm. Just get rid of the clever, little backstabber while we still can.

[The cat emerges from the shadows, examines the scratching post as Rhian watches, hopeful, with clasped hands. It spurns the post and hops up onto Rafal's lap instead.]

Rhian: Aww, look at that.

Rafal: [acerbically] Splendid. [He peers down at the warm lump weighing down his legs.] How am I supposed to move?

Rhian: I think he likes you.

Rafal: Doubt it. He's just currying favor because he wishes to live a little while longer.

Rhian: What?

Rafal: Nothing to fear. His wiles are working.

Rhian: [stares befuddled speechless.]

[The cat purrs.]

Rafal: You know, I don't hate it.

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nesswritesnonsense · 1 day ago

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This Isn’t Writing Advice, It’s a Cry for Help

I am so sick of reading writing advice. It’s always just write, write, write. But what if I don’t want to? What if I want to daydream about my stories until I’m spiraling into Fae folklore, casually coming up with a title, opening line, and outline for a monster smut novel I never intend to write? (Pixie Dust and Fairy Fucks)

That’s what writing chaos is—it’s starting a story with an idea that spirals into five unrelated outlines, naming characters after inside jokes, and abandoning plot structure entirely just to spite the "rules" of how things are supposed to be done. “Ooh, you have to learn the rules before you break them.” No, you see, I already understand exactly why the fictional protagonist of my fake Fae smut gets trapped with her domineering Fae lover. I did the research. I know the Fae lore to back it up.

But I’m not that type of writer. I don’t write about that. Or am I?

Let me break down the writing process—or, more accurately, offer a cautionary tale—in a way you’ve never seen before. This isn’t about structure or discipline—it’s about embracing the chaos, because that’s where my creativity thrives. This is the beautifully inefficient process that works for me—feel free to borrow it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Proceed with caution (and maybe some emotional armor):

Existential Blank Page Panic:"What if I never have another good idea again?" The terror of starting. The blinking cursor feels like it’s mocking you, and you question why you even thought writing was a good idea in the first place.

Chaotic Word Vomit: Let’s just dump everything out and see what sticks." Ideas spill out wildly—some genius, some completely incoherent, some downright degeneracy (like Pixie Dust and Fairy Fucks, the smut that will never be written). But it’s all progress.

Procrastination Justified: "But first… let me clean my entire apartment." You convince yourself that everything else is critical to the writing process.

Research Rabbit Hole: "I just need to look up one quick fact…" 5 hours later, you’re an expert on an unrelated topic.

Outline Illusion: "If I make the perfect outline, this will write itself!" Spoiler: It won’t.

Epic Fuck This Moment: "Why did I think I could do this? This is garbage." Frustration peaks, and quitting feels inevitable. You beat yourself up and consider another hobby—and now you have an entire craft room that would put Michaels out of business.

Overthink Everything:"Is this comma necessary? Should I change my protagonist’s name… again?" You spiral into tiny details that don’t really matter.

Accidental Writing Moment:"I blacked out, and now there are words on the page?" Somehow, you’ve written something without realizing it. It’s not perfect, but hey—it exists.

Surprise Achievement Unlocked:"Okay, maybe I can do this." Euphoria hits—you made real progress, and it doesn’t totally suck.

Creative Delusion High:"This is the best thing anyone has ever written!" A fleeting but glorious moment of inflated confidence.

Editing Abyss:"I’ve read this sentence 47 times, and it no longer makes sense." Endless tweaking leads to self-doubt, and imposter syndrome sets in hard.

Disclaimer: I never claimed I was a professional, so if this so-called "advice" leaves you staring at a blank screen or suddenly pursuing a stained glass hobby, that’s on you. Chaos is contagious—consider yourself warned.

Identity Crisis Stage:"Wait… am I actually a writer?"You begin to question everything. Maybe you are good at this? Or maybe you’re just delusional?

Reset to Chaos: "Just kidding, back to square one." You realize writing is a never-ending cycle of nonsense. Whether you’re starting a new project or reworking the same one, the chaos continues.

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing community #creative writing #writing process #my writing #writing #writer stuff #on writing #writers #amwritingbutnotreally #nessawritesnonsense #braintrash #chaos writing

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calebslittlecrow · 2 days ago

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I'm baaack… to yap. Because I can. And I want to talk about something that greatly helped me on my journey. Come here. Closer. A tiny bit closer. Perfect.

Restarting your shifting journey. Wow. So simple, I'm proud of myself. I know some people are a bit hesitant when you throw that sentence around, because it feels like you are getting told to delete the entire progress you made in whatever months or years you have been trying. Like deleting the save file of your favorite game that has hundreds if not thousands of hours, but it's not like that.

It's more about getting rid of all the negativity and misinformation you probably involuntarily absorbed over your time researching and learning about shifting, reminding yourself on why you actually started this whole journey. Getting rid of all the stupid shit is amazingly freeing.

I've seen so many shifters say they nearly shifted on their first try. Why? Because they probably didn't had their mind full with "do this and not that", "you can't do this", "you cannot shift to any other reality, shifting means changing to a better outlook on your current reality". Shit, I shifted before I knew what it was and tried again after finding out and the only reason I didn't shift was because I chickened the fuck out. And the only thing I had was my stupid self, two sentences in a notes app on my phone stating my DR name and where I wanted to go, and the first YT ambience video that vaguely resembled where I wanted to wake up. Become aware. Whatever.

Worked perfectly fine and then I ruined it by researching and joining the reddit community, which was decent back then. Don't go there now, the few good posts are not worth the absolute horrendous shit I see getting posted.

Just… take a break. Doesn't need to be long, just long enough to take a few deep breaths. Calm down a bit. And then turn around and look at the roots of why you started this. Ask yourself "why do I want to shift". For love? Fun? A better life? Keep that close, maybe write it down to remind yourself from time to time. From shifting itself only take the most basic concept: becoming aware of yourself in a different reality of your choosing.

Build your believe up from that, completely from scratch. Forget everything else you ever read about shifting. Find that little spark again you had in the beginning and that a lot of shifters lost along the way of trial and error. Concentrate on yourself and what your intuition tells you, not what random_user33455 claims on some website. No one can help you better than your own intuition and subconscious can ^-^

#reality shifting #shifters #shifting #shifting antis dni #shifting blog #shifting community #shifting realities #shiftingrealities #reality shifter #shifting motivation #shifting tips

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goldenlionprince · 3 days ago

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Turning up the heat

Another one for @sorenphelps The Bodyguard AU where James tries to get to know Sirius a little better after the Gala and also get a little closer in the progress ;) (also tagging the other fandom crack dealer @neverenoughmarauders)

“So,” James says and flops down onto the couch next to Sirius.

Sirius looks up from his phone but doesn't move his legs to make more room for James. James doesn't mind.

“I thought we could play a little game.”

“A game?” Sirius raises an eyebrow at him. “I thought you have work to do.”

“The program is running,” James says with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I can't do much right now so I thought we could fill the time with me asking you some questions.”

“An interrogation?”

“A game,” James insists with a bright grin. “Don't worry, I won't ask you any classified information like your birthdate. I don't need to, Mr. Scorpio.”

Sirius tilts his head to the side like a dog who picked up on an interesting sound. “How do you know?”

“You're not the only one who notices things,” James says and taps his finger against the one on Sirius' right hand that has a small star sign tattooed on it. “And I asked Remus. By the way, you should tell him to update his firewall.”

Sirius sighs and pinches the brink of his nose.

“He didn't budge on the name thing, though. So you'll still be Soldier Boy.” James leans in a little closer to Sirius and waits until he drops his hand again. “For now.”

Sirius looks at him, the eyebrow raises again. “You're very sure about that.”

James just grins and doesn't comment on it. He flops back onto the couch and swings his legs into Sirius' lap. “So, questions.”

Sirius sighs and puts his phone away. “Shoot.”

“Favourite colour?”

“Red.”

James tries and probably fails not to preen in his red t-shirt. “As a kid, what did you want to be when you were all grown up?”

“A palaeontologist.”

James grins. “Did you have many dino plushies?”

Sirius shrugs. “A few.”

“Cute,” James laughs and readjusts his legs on Sirius' lap until Sirius grabs his knee and stops him from wiggling around so much. “I wanted to be an astronaut. Or a hacker.”

A grin tugs at Sirius' lips. His fingertips draw little swirls and patterns along James' knee. “I get you reaching for the stars but where does a child get the idea of wanting to be a hacker from?”

“My godmother,” James explains with a matching grin, full on enjoying the little touches. “She's coding really difficult stuff for the UN. I've learned everything I know from her.”

“And your mind immediately went to how can I apply that knowledge to criminal activities?”

James laughs and shrugs his shoulders. “It sounded cool, okay? And I kind of do it now anyway, I'm just doing it to point out security risks. I still get to have the fun part without the jail part.”

Sirius just looks at him, amusement sparkling in his grey eyes. “Shall we forget about all the times you use it for other things than pointing out security risks?”

“We shall,” James nods. “Next question. What's your favourite food in the whole world.”

“Dino nuggets.”

James frowns. “What?”

Sirius only shrugs. “Dino nuggets.”

“Yeah, I've heard that. I just wasn't aware I'm talking to a five year old.”

Sirius smirks at him. “I thought you knew my birthdate.”

“Yes, which is exactly why I don't know how this is matching up.”

Sirius only shrugs again. “I'm just not that much of a food person.”

James shakes his head in disbelief. “You're going out to eat with Remus once a month.”

“And why do you think that is?” Sirius says with a grin and pokes James' knee. “You're not the first person who finds my food choices questionable and in need of boarding my horizon. Didn't really work so far since I will still choose nuggets.”

“It's pressed meat,” James says offended, pulling his legs out of Sirius' lap and sitting up. “You can't be serious!”

A grin tugs at Sirius lips. “Oh, believe me, I am.”

James pokes him in the ribs. “This is outrageous.”

“It's just food,” Sirius laughs, twisting away from another jab of James' fingers.

“It doesn't deserve to be called food!”

Sirius shakes his head at James in amusement. “It's quick, it's easy, it has a fun shape. It does the job. It's really not that deep, James.”

“Oh, it is!” James gets up from the couch and makes his way to the front door, pulling on his shoes.

“What are you doing?” Sirius asks, getting up from the couch as well.

“Making sure you know what real food tastes like.” James answers and grabs his wallet and keys. “Since Remus apparently does a horrible job. But first we have to go shopping.”

“Right now?” Sirius asks but already follows James to the door.

“Right now,” James confirms and pulls the door to his apartment open.

It's over an hour later when James finds himself in the kitchen of his apartment, cooking his mum's curry for the first time since she passed away. It doesn't hurt as much as he expected it would.

He actually really enjoys it. He always liked helping his parents in the kitchen whenever they let him, but doing it on his own is just something else. Concentrating on the process helps his mind not to spiral. Seeing the ingredients turn into something his mother would have made makes his heart a little lighter.

Still, he really needs to text Remus a few restaurant suggestions because what the hell is that man doing?

James stirs the pot and lifts the spoon to try the curry, bracing himself for the wave of grief, but it doesn't come. Instead warmth spreads through him because the curry tastes exactly like it should. It's almost like his mum is here with him, just for a fleeting moment.

When James realizes Sirius is watching him, he makes a show of licking the spoon clean, his tongues travelling the whole length before he pops the spoon into his mouth and then slowly pulls it out again, winking at Sirius.

Sirius shakes his head at him and James grins, dropping the spoon into the sink and grabbing a new one. He dips the new spoon into the curry and holds it out to Sirius.

“Try it,” he says and holds eye contact with Sirius when he leans in and closes his lips around the spoon. James watches his every move so he won't miss his reaction.

Sirius takes his time, chews slowly and licks his lips. “Not bad,” he says finally.

“Better than dino nuggets?” James asks and rinses off the spoon before dipping it back into the curry. Sirius hums in thought and James holds the spoon out for him again. “Maybe you need a second try.”

Sirius leans in once more. At the last second though, James pulls the spoon a little further away, closer to himself so Sirius has to follow, then uses his chance to lean in himself and brush his nose against Sirius'.

Sirius frowns at him. “Last time I checked you weren't the curry I was supposed to try.”

“Oh, you can try me if you want,” James says, his eyes dipping down to Sirius' lips. He licks his own and leans a tiny bit closer but Sirius pulls back and clears his throat.

“I'll just get the table ready,” he says and grabs glasses and spoons from the counter, but James can see the faint blush on his cheeks before he turns away.

James grins. He can work with that.

#hp #prongsfoot #james potter #sirius black #the bodyguard AU #my writing

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aikoiya · 13 hours ago

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Hey, that's fine. I understand. We all need to find ways to make our blogs more organized.

For sure! Enjoy! Have all the fun!

Well, true. However, there's no telling what else could be in the Sacred Realm that Ganondorf could exploit. Also, doesn't the Sacred Realm change based on who enters? So, if nothing else, I think it's a good idea to have the doors close after Link leaves if only to preserve the sanctity of the Sacred Realm.

Hmm… 🤔 True… At the same time, if it wasn't important, then why & how did Child Link get past the doors. Especially if it wasn't necessary. Like, I know that I said there wouldn't be much issue so long as Ganondorf wasn't looking at the time, but the risk still exists. If nothing else, I think it'd be best to have it so that the Master Sword has some sort of purpose in the transition, if for no other reason that as a way to simplify things.

Oh, stop. I’m just a chatterbox.

Same, but yes. We can still hope!

Ah! I understand now! Thank you! I guess it would make sense to specify that.

I see… So, would it be better to call it Château Marée-Chant du Clos with the wine simply being Château Marée-Chant, then the restaurant inside, la Perle de Lune Brasserie?

And thank you! I’m going for something relaxing, quirky, & a bit fun, but still classy. X3 Also, you know there's gonna be a small live band, possibly even a reference to the Indigo-Gos! Nothing too big because the venue is fairly modest, but still. Though, I think that I'd make Evan a River Zora.

I’ve actually been doing some research on the sort of crops that the Sea Zora could feasibly grow in the ocean &, so far, aside from the typical seaweed, there’s actually been a decent amount of study being done into increasing the salinity tolerance of certain crops. One example that has, evidently, shown promise is crossbreeding sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) with Beach Morning-Glories (Ipomoea imperati), which could feasibly result in a type of submarine sweet potato. To me, it means that a species of sweet potato that just developed naturally in order to survive in the ocean is 100% feasible! As it stands, I'm calling it Zomerian Migname, with “migname” I tented to be a bit of a pun on igname & mignon. I'm hoping that it comes across as the Zora having named them “little cuties,” but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't exactly come across. 😅

Similarly, there's this thing called Eelgrass that grows naturally in the ocean & they can be harvested for something that's being called marine grain. Evidently, it can be used as a rice substitute.

As a result, I'm actually thinking that I’m getting close to a fairly resonable idea of the Sea Zora's diet!

As for the princess sightings, you do whatever's right for your story. If the sightings don't work, then they don't work.

Though, maybe it could be fun to also have Link infuriated at how the Yiga have desicrated Rhoam's little cabin?

Ooo! That sounds fun, actually! It could be interesting for sure to maybe just have that small ring of buildings you see in what was once a square actually built. Though only as fairly small huts, I think. Like, it's still a work-in-progress.

Guess what? I've already designed a Cece outfit for Link based on the hat. X3

And this is, essentially, how I think he'd look in it:

I even have ideas for the Effect & Set Bonus!

Effect: Mushroomer (doubles the number of mushrooms you can get when harvesting mushrooms)

Set Bonus: Swashbuckling Mastery (one-handed swords deal more damage, increased speed when weilding a one-handed sword, easier dodging, & faster Flurry Rush; weilding Scimitars doubles this effect)

Secret Abilities: Champignier (mushroom chef; increases the effectiveness of mushrooms when cooking), Shroom Duelist (weapons or shields with mushrooms fused to them makes mushroom effect twice as effective or in the case of attachingvit to a wand, spread twice as far), increased swim speed, & increased sail speed.

Secret Abilities being the ones that you have to discover for yourself. Like how the Royal Guard uniform also has increased swim speed despite it not being listed.

… Have I already shown you this? I may have already shown you this. Sorry if I have. I can have the memory of a goldfish sometimes.

Right?? Like, dude! Don't get me wrong, a Lynel with elemental powers would probably be an absolute nightmare to fight, but they'd be so cool! 🤩

Honetly, agreed. It'd be nice to see those regions explored more. Especially Faron. Felt like that was a real missed opportunity.

Also, I think it'd be cool if the elemental lynels were sort of hidden bosses, ya know? With super cool titles or something. Like, imagine a Lynel called “Stormbringer” on a Skyland above Akkala that’s hurling bolts of lightning down at people? Maybe its hindquarters are more like that of a pegasus & it allows it to fly, thus making it even more of a menace?

Or maybe a Mealstrom Lynel with the lower body of a hippocampus wielding a triton. Heck, maybe it's wrecking havoc off the Faron Coast & it's causing the travel both to & from Hyrule to be an issue, so Link might wanna check that out?

Maybe that's why they're there? If one is in Akkala & one is in Faron, then they could've been placed there by Ganondorf to try & keep Hylians from escaping to sea?

Nah! I enjoy hearing your perspective on things! It keeps me thinking! Also, totally agree regarding the ancient Gerudo weapons. Though, I loved that instrument we got to see! Like, more of that, please! Also, I'd love to see a sitar.

And, honestly, you make a good point. We don't get to see the other ancient Gerudo. But, I think what upset me was that I couldn’t play with the dagger that Ganondorf threw or the ancient Hylian weapons that we saw in the pegoda scene! Also, who the heckadoo gave Nintendo permission to take away the Moonlight Scimitars!?

Really? Hmm… I'm pretty sure that that was explained, though, wasn't it? For starters, I think this was decided (metanarratively) in order to prevent the Zora from venturing down to the submerged Hyrule. But intranarratively, wasn't it explained that nothing but monsters & Fishmen could survive in the Great Sea? In fact, I'm pretty sure that that was a big part of Ganondorf's speech in WW. “Your gods destroyed you!” Like, I remember him saying that it was an empty sea with no fish. But, I get the feeling that I brought this up before. Sorry!

Aw! Well, dang! But you’re right! Shoot! Glad you liked the idea, though! Maybe a little study with a seed vault housing a bunch of seeds from extinct plants, then? Possibly a bunch of journals with her discoveries regarding Hyrule’s history alongside recipes & drawings? But ignore me, I’m just speculating. (An idea, though? I kinda have this hc that amber is somewhat sacred due to the fact that Sun sealed herself in amber. As such, I tend to see priests & priestesses as wearing amber pendents. Specifically, Amber Relics. Basically, imagine a rosary where the beads are pearls or colored glass, but the pendent is an Amber Relic. And, the Sheikah instead use Dusk Relics.)

Well, that’s understandable. I guess that part of my reasoning has to do with not liking the idea of the Gerudo being forever just… Entirely dependent on others the way it feels like they are as is.

Personally, if it were up to me, I'd go with the idea of the voe being a last gift from their goddess rather than being a Kōme & Kotake thing. Because, I dunno. I guess it would feel like it would be a bit too much in the direction of “men are all evil.” Which, theoretically could explain their reasoning behind the no-men rule, but still. Like, nah. Though, I will say that if the Gerudo truly were created as all women & were never meant to have their own voe, then it would suggest that the Gerudo were specifically created to be reliant on someone else. Whether that someone else was a deity who could allow them to reproduce without men or other human races. As such, they will likely never be truly independent as a people.

I dunno. I guess it just feels a bit too much like making them eternal victims who will never be able to rise above all that? But again, just my perspective!

It’s like, if this was the case, why not just get rid of the middle man & make it so they have 3 voe every generation. Or maybe 3 of the Gerudo in every generation are hermaphrodites? Like, to me, that would basically solve the issue while still causing them to need to venture out into the wider world to search for men. Just, not so much because they need to in order to survive, as to just prevent incest & maybe expand the gene pool. Or, heck, just remove the need for a partner entirely & let them reproduce asexually like the Gorons!

Or even just leave a bunch of statues with the Sand Goddess' influence inside of them like the Goddess Statues from BotW! Because, apparently, it isn't something that only Hylia can do as there's the Bargainers as well! Or anything else!

I just! It feels like there was zero planning in regards to actually safeguarding the Gerudo as a viable species, because to start off with: the Gerudo were made all-female, but still need someone else in order to reproduce & then the person they used instead of men is killed & her best back-up plan was leaving them a singular dude every 100 YEARS???

The least she could've done was give them 2 others as well.

It’s like… I don’t know who decided on this, but it just feels like there are easier ways to go about it.

To me, it doesn't make sense because it's like the Golden Goddesses just preemptively punished them for Ganondorf's future crimes, which to me feels a lot worse than just outright cursing them, because a curse at least can be broken. But if they were put in this situation from inception then that's intentional. Someone decided, "I hate the Gerudo, so I'm going to do everything in my power to make their entire existence on this mortal coil, a living nightmare."

Worse, it isn't something that they can fix or make better. Rather, it's just something that they're gonna have to live with until the heat-death of the planet! To me, THAT'S unfair & completely undeserved. Heck, maybe having been made all-female is WHY the Gerudo don't seem to worship the Golden Three or Hylia? Maybe they recognized how crappy their situation was & were like, "You know what? Eff you, we like the Sand Goddess better! At least she doesn't hate us! At least she gave us a fighting chance!"

Because, how is creating an entire race that is just naturally all-female, yet still dependent on males to reproduce somehow less of a curse than an actual curse?

End of the day, they're still effed. But in the case where it's natural, it almost feels like they were being punished from the very moment of their creation. They were created to fail & go extinct because no one cared.

But it's even worse if that was never the Golden Goddesses or the Sand Goddess' intentions because then it's either bad planning or they didn't give a flip. And I find it very difficult to believe that Nayru, Goddess of stinking Wisdom, wouldn't see something like this coming, so the only thing I am left to assume is that... Either she or the others... just didn't care enough... ;_;

... Sorry. I really didn't mean to go off on you like that. I think it's partly because I just generally feel awful that the Gerudo have to obsess over this sort of thing so much... And, this isn't just with you, it's with Nintendo for going this route with a race to begin with. At least in the case of myth, there are instances of actual explanations, but here we get nothing & that's really dissatisfying... Which sucks because I like the Gerudo.

And maybe that's why I'm so stuck on it being a curse? Because if it's a curse then the Gerudo are just the underdogs who need to rise above their circumstances. But if this is just how they are & always will be, then... I guess they feel more like the narrative's sacrificial lambs...

....

Just ignore me, I shouldn't have gone off like that...

@aikoiya The post was getting long again so here's a new one!

I knew you were going to answer that saying "this is unfair" isn't real life logic haha (and I agree that life hasn't been fair to Sky and Sun anyway). It's just that such an ending would probably leave me feeling unsatisfied and even a bit robbed, and I think it would require a lot of other changes to be made to the story in order for it to work properly. But anyway you're right, as things are now this would just be happening behind the scenes so what I'm saying doesn't really make sense. But just thinking about it changes my perception of SS in a way I don't really enjoy, so it's not a theory I favor.

Yes in that setting I'm pretty sure that the other Sun would not make herself known to Link and Zelda and would let them have their happy ending. But I think Zelda would likely suspect her existence and know that something is wrong. I guess even Link could notice that the Temple's doors are suddenly open and would ask Impa a few questions.

I had no idea Tingle called Farore the Goddess of Wind in WW, so I went on a little quest to see if I could find the same quote in the French version of the game. Apparently it's in Tingle's description of Outset Island and I never had the chance to play with the Tingle Tuner mode. I can't find the same quote in French anywhere and I don't even know if this was included in the HD remake (I guess I'll have to wait for a Switch version to find out… if they ever release one). This has me wondering if this quote isn't something exclusive to the English version, but I can't be sure and I'd like to know what the original Japanese text says. The French wikis mention that Farore is the Goddess of Wind in WW but don't provide any quote, it just looks like the pages were translated from English but that they couldn't find the same quote in French. It's really frustrating!!

Anyway that's a bit weird because WW already establishes Zephos as the God of Wind, and he seems to be a minor deity compared to Farore. The way I see it, wind is just the element that Farore tends to be associated with, and since a lot of myths might have been lost with Hyrule in WW this could just be a mistake on Tingle's part. I mean this is the game that gave us the Golden Triumph Forks haha.

I'm not limiting Nayru/the Golden Goddesses to a singular domain, quite the opposite ^^ To me Nayru being the Goddess of Wisdom includes different concepts such as order, law, science, magic, etc., and even time (since she's introduced as the creator of the world's fondamental laws), while calling her the Goddess of Time doesn't include all of that. That's why I wrote that I found it a bit restrictive. But sure she could have both titles, the same way Farore could be known most commonly as the Goddess of Courage and also called the Goddess of Wind in some situations.

Oh I didn't think of the blocks from OoT! I would say though that they don't really use any time powers, they're just random blocks that appear or disappear for some reason when Link plays the Song of Time (it's just as absurd as playing the Song of Storms to open holes in the ground haha). But yes they were blue and associated with time, and of course Nayru is too. The difference with Hylia in my theory is that Nayru created the rules of time (if that makes sense) among other fundamental laws, while Hylia's power specifically allows her to manipulate time and foresee the future. In a way I see Hylia as Nayru's spiritual daughter who inherited some of her powers over time (and that's why the color purple she's represented with is very close to blue).

The Master Sword has also been depicted as either blue or purple though, so that asks the question of the true color of all of these things! Nayru is definitely linked to time so it makes sense that the timeshift stones are in Lanayru (and Hylia also doesn't have a province named after her).

"From the edge of time" could definitely just be a poetic way to say that Hylia kind of recorded a message for Link before dying haha. But I find it interesting that she would phrase it like that, I like to see it as a clue.

Well if Zelda simply sent Link to a point further back in time, wouldn't there be two Links existing at the same time in the Child Timeline? But sure Zelda creating a brand new timeline also raises a few questions that kind of... make my head hurt. I'm not sure what happens exactly, I've always wondered! All we know is that Link finds himself in the Master Sword's chamber with the Door of Time already open, which hints at things happening in a different way this time (because he definitely doesn't have the three spiritual stones and the Ocarina of Time yet since this is before Ganon's coup, and the ending seems to imply that this timeline's Zelda doesn't know him yet). That's why I believe Zelda might have done something a bit more complex than sending him to a point further back in time, but there's no way to be sure. The Triforce of Courage is also visible on Link's hand during the ending, and we also know thanks to TP that the Triforce is still separated in the Child Timeline despite Link and Zelda preventing Ganon from entering the Sacred Realm this time. So maybe Zelda isn't able to change everything? It's complicated haha.

Anyway, whether OoT Zelda creates a new timeline or just sends Link further back in time, that's still huge time powers and that's not something Link is able to do by playing Zelda's Lullaby.

I also believe it is more likely that Talon inherited the ranch. True, Talon might not always have been so lazy, but maybe if that was the case the game could have hinted at hit. All we know is that he leaves his daughter alone with Ingo and only comes back after Link deals with the situation, which does not make him look so great. And he only promises to work harder after that.

I'm kind of bad with names so I'm impressed you're going through all of that trouble to rename the settlements!!

I haven't gotten to developping the technology that much yet, but I'm really interested in seeing what the different races could do with it! I love the idea of using the Sheikah to infiltrate the Yiga bases. I wish TotK had done something like that and shown the Sheikah helping Link that way.

Same, I was so excited when I heard about these pirates… and then so disappointed to find nothing more than a bunch of bokos with no backstory.

Vignoble is not related to noble (though I kind of make the association in my mind, especially since vignobles are sometimes called châteaux).

Yes I thought you could maybe use clos! Aquaticlos is funny, it can work! Though maybe you could use the same logic as for the raisins (I love this Raisins de Terre idea by the way, it makes sense!) and say that what the Zoras call a clos already refers to something that's underwater, since that's probably the case for most of what they cultivate.

I don't mind helping you with French, I'm glad to do so! You put so much effort and thought into this, it's really interesting.

#zelda #zelda lore #zelda theory #loz #aikoiya #jullbnt #jull-reblogs

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scumtumbl · 4 months ago

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finally made my own sleet & dingo server. join heeeere

#the name is a work in progress. but you know #sonic underground #sleet #dingo #sleet and dingo #ill be away for a bit today but in the meantime join and talk about the dogmen

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chiropteracupola · 9 months ago

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"Are you finished with my portrait yet? Show me!" "Cipacton, I can't draw you if you keep moving!"

#em draws stuff #em is posting about temeraire #temeraire #temeraire worldbuilding collection #⚬⚬⚬⚬⚬𐂂 #did you like those guys from the last picture? here they are again :)#at this point I feel like I should have be oc tagging five deer and cipachcoatzin just for organizational purposes #but if I don't then I can pretend I can stop drawing them...#<- He Has Ideas For At Least One More Picture and Other People And Dragons They Know #if you want to see what five deer is drawing then turn your eyeballs to my previous drawing of them!#after finishing that one I wanted to figure out what cipachcoatzin looked like outside of the super stylized depiction - here he is!#also lacking any other ideas I've decided that's his name now. my classical nahuatl is So So So Beginner but I'm Trying #(cipactli [caiman] + glottal stop + coatl [snake] + tzin [honorific suffix]...#...or cipactli [caiman] + ton [diminutive suffix you might use for a kid])#haven't come up with a personal name for five deer yet but what with naming other characters they'll interact with my abilities Do run out #so that can be a work in progress #pretty pleased with how this turned out especially cipachcoatzin's little obsidian mirror-ornaments #the background and color scheme is Heavily based on luis covarrubias' 'view of the valley of mexico'#but maybe I can manage some more urban settings for them or the other characters in future pictures

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ghostieblr · 6 months ago

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Untitled | Part 2 ->

It feels like an entity of his own, the way his blood rushes inside his body, the way his bones and flesh too small to hold what he's feeling. It feels like he's one of those poor people the alien's egg is going to incubate in, tear through him to become the deeply terrifying, shapeless, haunting monster.

This feeling is overwhelming, something he can't really name. But it's not unwelcomed. It is, in some fucked up way, like a call to him — he feels that rush of power, of trust, too. The call to his magic. The way his breaths come out calmer.

He can't really name it, not really, but he knows this feeling is the most important thing he possesses.

So it's not really a shock when the demon looks at him and only him, one arm out like he's going to snatch it without permission, a sharp grin on its borrowed face. "You," the demon beckons, and Derek snarls, protective. Derek moves in front of him, like it's going to stop the demon. Like there's anything they can do except take this deal. The demon laughs, reedy and evil, and he's sure the person doesn't sound like this; this demon has taken over completely, and Stiles doubts they can save the man who is being possessed at the moment.

"What do you want?" Derek's fang slur his question, but he's understandable, and Stiles puts his hand on Derek's shoulder, pulls him by his soft henley. They were on a walk around the preserve, a routine perimeter check, but here they stand now, in the middle of this clearing where kids had definitely messed around in and found the fuck out.

The camping bags are still warm, but the trail to the kids has gone cold. Unless they take this deal.

"I told you, wolf," the demon sing-songs, and Stiles wonders where he got this body from. The man is clearly in his 30's, light brown hair, hazelnut skin, brown eyes. He cannot be one of the people who summoned the demon, here. "I want what's most precious to your pet."

Derek's been growling all this time, but now he roars, all restraint broken under the clearly verbalized threat.

Only Stiles' hand on Derek's shoulder stops him from leaping at the demon.

"Derek," he says, concerned. They have no idea how to deal with demons that aren't evil fox spirits. "Maybe this is the only way."

And he wants out. He knows what are his most precious things — his feelings. Especially for him. He wants to get rid of it, because there's rarely anything as painful as feeling like your world tilts on its axis when you know theirs stays the same. They're friends, and pack, and that is all they can be.

It would be okay to lose these feelings.

"Listen to him, listen to him!"

"Stiles, don't you dare move!"

Stiles moves around Derek and is again in front of the demon. "Will you leave, then? Never to come back?"

"I'd do you one better — I shall forbid any other of my kind to come back here."

Derek doesn't grab him back, but he does verbally accuse Stiles of being stupid. Stiles is grateful for their relationship to have come to a point where Derek knows better than to stop him when he's set his mind, and he's really fucking gonna miss his bubbling mess of a heart later.

"Deal," he says, and there the lips come, cold and cruel; a quick, dirty kiss that leaves Stiles gasping for breath.

He closes his eyes, and when he opens them, it's to Derek hovering over him worriedly. It makes Stiles feel packed, so he pushes Derek backwards, and stomps his way back towards the Loft.

Derek follows suit.

#sterek #stiles stilinski #derek hale #work in progress #i wanted to share something and i just started this #i want some validation lol #i was also thinking i'll write the next part from derek's pov #it would be angsty as hell; you don't know how loved you are until you aren't.#this is a trope i've seen done a couple times in sterek fandom btw. i think one of the fics i read was 'price' or sm.#i don't remember the name exactly but it's in my bookmarks in ao3 #just wanted to write and share #got done with multiple internals this week and got my project of 9k words approved so!!! lil treat for me this weekend is food and writing #more stuff to be done this coming week but still lol #anyways #sh.rambles #sh.writing #*sterekfics

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improbable-implosions · 6 months ago

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This one's kinda funny, I went into affixing that patch SO sure that the design of that sword of mine, Arma, would be plenty for that patch, but the longer I stared at it doing other mends for these pants, the longer I felt it needed _something_ else, you know?

First up, we've got to stitch on the patch itself! I did some nice even straight stitches, because initially, I was planning on a little area of sashiko mending.

But, in looking at the size of the chunk of dissolvable backing I had cut, there wasn't really any patterns immediately springing to mind that'd work at a scale that small, or, so I thought after seeing how that basketweave pattern came together on an earlier piece. For context, the whole patch is roughly the size of the palm of my hand, at 3.5 inches square.

So, instead, I decided to try something a bit more complex to render than I'd really tried out before, this art of Arma! (Despite the sword's design being my work, the art in question is by @razzmatazic, who I did ask if I tried to trace, and she had no problems!) And so trace I did, tracing the outlines of the major features of the piece, namely, the outer lines, and the shapes of the gemstones.

Unfortunately, in my haste (and, admittedly, my focus, since this was much higher detail than I normally tackle around here), I didn't grab any in-progress shots of this. Still, I actually really enjoy how this came out looking, even if it doesn't perfectly evoke the design or detail of the original piece, it certainly emulates the look of Arma well enough I recognize it, and very visibly reads Cool Sword, y'know?

Next up were a few colorful rims around the edges of the front pockets! They were fraying pretty significantly, so not only does this add a fun splash of color, but it keeps me from picking the edges of these seams apart while I'm not thinking about my hands. Initially, I was going to pick a different set of colors than that turquoise and purple, based on a fun fact about my hometown, but that color scheme was just calling out to me! I decided to lean into the somewhat royal vibes and went for a different, lighter purple, with two little bits of yellow thread, which, fun fact, I actually dyed with some yellow flowers I foraged back in the boston area!

As for these two little spot-mends, they were really more an exercise in frustration. Really, I'm mostly miffed the thread broke on the original patch in the one place the hole kept trying to expand through, but hopefully that little bit of randa stitching (which looks MUCH more like randa stitching should than my previous efforts, namely on my wallet and that previous pair of pants that we detailed, the ones with the segaihana sashiko) alongside some additional reinforcement along the edge of that original yellow patch, made from some thread I scavenged from a fraying bit of denim, should keep this particular pair of shorts from getting any more fixes right on the edge of the patch that has misbehaved TWICE now!

Last but not least, while I was wrangling those pocket rims and the spot mends, I really just had the feeling that Arma would look kinda... lonely, I suppose? Centered in the framing straight stitches like that, so I improvised a little open book next to her! (She's not a sword-girl, promise, it's she/her like you'd she/her a boat) There's actually some really nice dimensionality to the book, too, with some looser stitches to emulate ruffle-able pages, and those two knots along the spine make for a pleasant, crinkled texture to the cover lines! Can you tell I'm pleased with myself for getting that just so, without any guides?

All that said, hopefully that's all the mends my poor poor jean shorts need, I swear, just as I get one set fixed, the other winds up with another hole! Don't get me wrong, I'm starting to enjoy the whole almost boro-like vibe they're developing, with all these overlapping mends, but I'd like them to develop it slower, thanks! (And yes, I do plan to wear these at LEAST until they look like I've quilted them back together, they're comfy!)

#Solarpunk #Embroidery #Stitching #Visible Mending #Ecopunk #Slow Fashion #Fiber Arts #Textile Arts #Wearable Art #Fix your Clothes #Mending #Making #denim #split stitch #outline stitch #satin stitch #green fashion #sword #fantasy sword #Arma #The Silvered Sword Arma #(her name initially was just Arma and if I need it to come across quick that's her name)#(but if I have time or want to be sufficiently flowery and dramatic she gets that Longer Name)#I'm still working on the project that she's from #who knows if that one will see the light of day #you all know me I save my Biggest Ideas to chip away at slowly #the projects y'all see are me going 'eh let's try this because I wanna learn how to do X or see how much I've progressed in Y'#if these jorts disintegrate further in the area of that patch I'm gonna try to add some lilacs #plus the longer I wear this pair in particular the longer I keep that hunk of macroplastic outta the landfill #since fun fact: these jorts are made out of nylon they spun from post-consumer plastic bottles!

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