#they're just having a friendly sibling fight

[aspenflame-song]

Langris: You fuckers don’t know about my knife stick. It’s a knife taped to a stick and it’s the ultimate weapon. Finral: Spear. Langris: BLOCKED.

[aroaceleovaldez]

I need to see more demigods who bite. Like jason totally feels the need to bite stuff, and leo half-jokingly suggests getting him a chew toy (like a dog). Nico absolutely bites to show affection, (maybe not willy nilly like jason but still) like just randomly biting people he's close with shoulders or hands because he just loves them so much (jason both bite to express affection and stim)

Anyways petition to normalize neurodivergent people who bite as a form of expressing affection or stimming.

oh absolutely. I actually have a tier list of "which of the Argo II crew & co are most likely to bite:"

Jason gnaws on people to show affection. He is extremely "Everything I love belongs in my mouth and everything I hate belongs between my teeth." He mostly stopped doing it for awhile cause of the whole "being trained to be the Perfect Praetor™" and having to mask a lot more, but he picked it up again a bit when he and Reyna became friends cause she didn't care and then more with the Argo II crew. He definitely hoards chewlery. He also definitely bit Krios real bad when they were fighting, if not outright killed him with his teeth.

Nico is a younger sibling. He has no qualms against biting in fights, any fight, but he does associate biting with fights. Jason tries to friendly-bite him one time and Nico just takes it as declaration of war and they end up tussling for like five minutes. After he gets used to Jason though he picks it up a bit too, mostly just chewing on people's hands. Also I 100% hc that when he was in Tartarus he just went full teeth-and-claws mode to survive. Honestly he bites more in regular combat and even training than Jason does, mostly just cause he's not above fighting dirty. If it works, it works. Also I hc he has sharp canines and is small so he might as well.

Frank's third but only on technicality cause shapeshifting. When he's human he's pretty much equal level to everybody else which is "only bites as a last resort."

Everybody else is pretty on-par with each other but Percy is probably just sliiightly more likely to bite not for any particular reason, he just considers it a valid fight tactic in a pinch (unlike Nico, who just considers it a general fight tactic). Also he got the oral stim adhd vibes. He has a lot of chewlery. They're all sea-themed, of course. Thalia is also pretty equal to Percy in terms of "biting as a valid fighting tactic."

Annabeth is also like. She's less likely to bite than Percy but more likely to than the rest of the crew. It's just a valid battle tactic under certain scenarios to her (and that includes training). She does consider it a low-blow though. She's also definitely got the oral stim adhd too. Lots of chewlery, rip her pencils and pens, etc etc. Her and Percy probably have a shared chewlery collection.

Piper is not the bitey type but she does have little to no formal combat training so yknow, wet cat technique. I do also totally believe she'd also have a chewing stim though. Like yknow how I draw her with the little braid sidebangs? Yeah she definitely chews on those and that's part of why she wears her hair like that. The other reason is that braiding it is one of her other stims.

[devondespresso]

the challenge figuring out a canon-compliant and in-character explanation for The Cheating Thing between stancy and jancy because otherwise both Nancy and Jonathan are so out of character in the Murray scene its extremely jarring. a difficult task but i think I've got something

[arolesbianism]

Shakes the bars of my cage I need to draw soooo bad I need to draw I need to draw let me draw I have to draw I need to draw I must draw (<- has been too sick to be on electronics much and doesn't like doing traditional art)

[tizeline]

Some snippets into Donnie's relationship to his brothers in the Separated AU

So after having figured out that Donnie is in fact their Long Lost Brother, the Drax Trio obviously want him back, and while Donnie is initially excited to find out that he has a bunch of siblings, he's less excited to find out that they're a bit, uh, evil. And they keep insulting April!! How dare they!!! Not to mention, he already has a dad, he doesn't need a new one! So no, Donnie isn't planning on just leaving his current family behind for this new one, and his brothers react to this in various different ways.

As much as Mikey wants Donnie back, Dr. Feelings understands that this is quite the adjustment for Donnie and that he may need some time to come to terms with the fact that he actually belongs with them and not with the humans. Mikey doesn't wanna force his brother to reunite with them, so instead he tries to convince Donnie to come home willingly through various ways. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but AU Mikey is essentially trying to give Donnie a redemption arc like Canon Mikey did with Draxum

Raph, however, sees Donnie and immedietly goes full Protective Big Brother Mode. He thinks the best course of action is to "forcefully rescue" (kidnap) him and and then convince him to stay and be apart of their family. He's can't help catastrophizing about all the way his baby brother is definitely being mistreated by Lou Jitsu and April and all the other evil humans oh NO they have to SAVE HIM!! The only reason he doesn't is because no one else in the Draxum family thinks it's a good idea

And then Leo. I'll go more into detail about Leo's character in this AU at a later dat cuz hhhhhhh but basically, he's still dealing with pretty intense Middle Child Syndrome and the LAST thing he need is another middle child joining the family! Why are all his family members so obsessed with getting Donnie back anyway? He's already clearly chosen the human side so why waste their time on him! .....Now that's not entirely the whole truth, he's kinda ecstatic when he first meets Donnie, except Donnie doesn't seem to care about them any, which... ouch.

Another way to describe their dynamic would be similar to their canon dynamic, a lot of friendly bickering.... except they don't really know each other and are also enemies here so like.... UNfriendly bickering.... which is just bickering lol. They fight a lot, is what I'm getting at.

Anyway you know the family dinner scene with Draxum in season 2 of the show? Yeah, Mikey tries that tactic here too. Like I said, Mikey wants to be patient with Donnie, but he does eventually get a bit tired of Donnie acting so hostile all the time so he starts organizing hangouts for the four of them (attendence is mandatory!)

And poor Donnie, this whole situation is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for him, as you might imagine. Reuniting with your secret lost family is fun for all of five seconds before you find out that they're actually kinda messed up uh oh. A big reason why Donnie acts so hostile towards his brothers is because it's easier for him to just dismiss them as mere enemies that he feels no attatchment to. He's basically being made to pick between this new family and his old one is Not Fun.

[suuuupernovaaa]

nìfnu

nìfnu [nɪ.ˈfnu] adv. silently

Anonymous Request: Can I have a story where it’s Ao’nung x Metkayina Reader who’s deaf and a sweetheart. When the Sullys arrive she doesn’t really interact with them so when they see Ao’nung being kind and protective towards her it they feel confused? Just pure fluff.

Lo'ak leans over and nudges his older sister, Kiri, forcefully on the arm.

"Ouch!" she yelps. "What, Lo'ak?"

He points, and she follows the line from his finger. It leads her eyes to Ao'nung, just a few paces down the beach from them, and he's with a Metkayina girl that Kiri doesn't recognize. She's tall, nearly as tall as Ao'nung, with her long hair pulled back into one large, thick braid. She wears a thin, shiny net over her shoulders, and Kiri notes how pretty it is. It glimmers in the sun. Kiri also notes how, even though Ao'nung and this girl are above walker, they are using the hand-speak to communicate.

"That girl. Neteyam tried to talk to her earlier, but she ignored him. And there she is, being so nice to Ao'nung. Who's an asshole."

Kiri elbows her sibling. "To you, he is. He looks like he's being perfectly friendly to that girl. And, I mean, she's very pretty."

"Why are they using the hand speak? They're not in the water."

Kiri shrugs. "How should I know? Stop elbowing me when you want something, Lo'ak. It hurts."

He groans and rolls his eyes, and turns his attention back to Ao'nung and the girl who rejected Neteyam.

--

"How are they adjusting?" I sign to Ao'nung, who shrugs and rolls his eyes. It's no secret that he resents having to teach the newcomers their ways, but I think it's nice. Ao'nung needs to humble himself sometimes, be more like his kind little sister.

"They are slow," Ao'nung signs in return. "I don't want to teach them. It's a waste of my time."

I reach out, pushing on his arm a little. "They seem sweet to me, especially the little one. Try to have patience with them. I would offer to help, but they don't know how to talk to me."

"Yet," he replies, and I smile.

"Yet."

--

Neteyam asks Tsireya about the girl, Y/N, the next day. He's noticed that she only uses hand-speak as well, and wonders.

"She can't hear," Tsireya says. "She's only spoken that way her whole life."

Neteyam could smack himself. He'd taken her silence as harsh rejection, when really, she just wasn't able to respond to him.

"Oh!" he exclaims. "She's, uh, really beautiful."

Tsireya laughs and smiles. "She is, but I wouldn't trouble yourself. Ao'nung has been in love with her for years." She throws a glance to her brother over her shoulder, but he's too busy making fun of Lo'ak to hear.

"Ao'nung?" Neteyam replies hardly, and Tsireya laughs even harder.

"I know. He has a soft spot for her, and her for him. If you want to compete, you'll have to learn hand-speak."

Neteyam shakes his head. She's beautiful, but not worth getting in a fight with the chief's son over. He'll just have to admire her from afar.

--

Though I can't speak, I am very proficient in reading lips. This helps me observe conversations from far away; as long as I have a clear view of someone's face, I can usually figure out what they're saying.

"Ao'nung has been in love with her for years."

That's what Tsireya said, and though she was smiling, it didn't seem as if she was joking. I dropped the plate of fruit I was carrying when she said it.

Is it true? Has Ao'nung been in love with me, and I haven't noticed?

Fruit is scattered all around my feet, and I bend over to begin gathering it again, every interaction I've had with Ao'nung recently playing over in my mind. If Tsireya is right, maybe I have been blind.

Ao'nung has always been kind, and patient and gentle with me. I knew he wasn't like that with many people, but I thought it was most likely out of pity for my condition - not out of love of affection.

A hand reaches out, picking up fruit and dropping it into my basket, and I look up to see Ao'nung himself.

Feeling flustered, I stand up, kicking the fruit basket once again, undoing all my work.

"Are you okay?" Ao'nung signs. I tuck my hair behind my ears, feeling a little speechless. "Y/N, what's wrong?"

"Tsireya," I sign, "she told the new boy, the oldest one, that you are in love with me. Is she just teasing him, because he thinks I'm pretty?"

"He said he thinks you're pretty?" Ao'nung signs back, quickly and furiously, glancing over his shoulder at where his sister still sits with the newcomers.

I shove his shoulder. "Yes! Answer my question."

"Well... come with me." Ao'nung reaches out, grabbing my hand and therefore silencing me, and pulls me away from the beach. We move through many huts, past the fires, and to the edge of the beach, where the sparse forest and rocks begin. Here, we are alone.

"Ao'nung!" I exclaim, breathless. "What's going on?"

He rubs his forehead. "I had a plan, to tell you. It wasn't going to be like this. I'm going to kill Tsireya."

I stand, silent, waiting for him to finish. My heart is beating out of my chest, and my palms are shaking; I'm not sure I could speak, even if I wanted to.

"For a long time, I have loved you, Y/N. I have tried to be more... understanding, and gentle, the way you deserve. But it's hard for me. I wanted to be better, before I told you. Before I asked you to be my mate."

Unable to control myself, I gasp, and bring my hands up to my mouth.

Me, the mate to the next Olo'eyktan? It's unimaginable.

"Your parents approve the match?" I ask.

Ao'nung smiles at me softly. "Of course. When I told them how much I love you, they couldn't object. They believe you will make a wonderful Tsahik, because you are so kind and understanding. My mother will teach you everything you need to know - if you want."

That thought alone is a little overwhelming, since Ronal can be so intimidating, but I also imagine she can be a good teacher.

And really, that doesn't matter. What matters is the way I feel when I'm with Ao'nung; special, adored, loved, doted upon. I feel safe with Ao'nung. I feel seen and most importantly, heard.

"I would be proud to be your mate, Ao'nung. So proud. Of course, I love you."

The smile that spreads across his face transforms Ao'nung from the sullen, anxious, grouchy man most have come to know him as. It turns him into the carefree, light and happy man he is when the two of us are together.

I am proud to make him smile like that. I promise myself then, to make him smile like that every day, for the rest of our lives.

[trulycertain]

I've been thinking about why I enjoy Astarion and Tav (friendship or romance) so much. And I think I've finally put my finger on it: I love that, in a game so much about grey morality and there being no easy answers, this arc is so unabashedly, almost cheesily about the power of kindness.

Astarion's trauma doesn't turn him into a better person. There's no "the cleansing power of pain" here. He was a snotty petty fantasy-racist jerk before he was turned and enslaved, and he's a snotty petty fantasy-racist jerk afterwards.

The thing that makes him want to try listening to his compassion once in a while? It isn't trauma, but Tav and the crew's kindness. No matter how angry he gets with you for being a sappy do-gooder, his approvals tell a different story: despite the front he's putting up, he will fall fangs-over-heels for Tav if they're kind to him about Cazador, if they don't judge but instead offer him compassion. (In Act 3, if Dribbles asks what makes Tav special and they respond, "I treat everyone around me with kindness"? You get approval from Wyll and Astarion.) Karlach doesn't judge him for his days luring but asks with friendly intent if they would have met, if they could have had a drink together, speaking to him like a person rather than a tool; Gale offers him blood after a difficult fight and shares in his jokes about hedonism; Wyll, a noted monster hunter, lets him live and admits later on to being wrong about him. There are so many other instances.

It's incredibly telling that when you're trying to persuade him not to do something utterly inhumane in the name of the ritual, his instant, desperate argument for why he has to do it is, "Other people don't have a heart like you." Ascension is him agreeing with Cazador that the world is dog-eat-dog. No-one will ever be kind to you unless it's a lure, a scheme, softening you up to be used (the way he did for Cazador's targets and later tries to do for his siblings). Compassion just gets you killed. The only answer, the only honest thing, is domination and violence - "the cycle of power and terror".

If he stays spawn and you romance him, he tells you as much, tells you exactly what you did right: "You were patient. You cared." And "You believed in me. You believed that I was enough, just the way I am."

So yeah, that conversation where he says that "other people don't have a heart like you" and Tav counters, "The world can be a kind place," and he responds that "I'll... think on what you say"? I believe he genuinely was thinking on it. And it's why that chat lives in my head rent-free.

[livefastdriveyoung]

Every team has a first and second driver. It is just that not every driver fulfills the role in the same way.

At Aston Martin we know Fernando is driver one. He is the more experienced driver, and right from the mouth of Lawrence Stroll himself, was brought in to make Lance a better driver so he could one day be the first driver. He does media, he's funny, and he also clearly has a mentor/mentee relationship with Lance.

I call this the mentor/mentee set up

At Mercedes, we know that Lewis is Driver one. Based on titles certainly, age almost definitely, and also because he is Lewis Hamilton. Until February, and even after, when you think Mercedes, you think Lewis. He is their better driver. He won six championships with them. He's stayed longer than most drivers stay on the whole grid. It is his through blood, sweat, and tears. George is the prince, he's set to inherit, potentially (BTW TORGER, I would like a word), and has a lot to live up to. Comparisons are hard, especially when the first driver is Lewis. I think that it's a forced proximity set-up, but they are friendly. Mostly off the track because on track they do not have their greatest moments.

I call this the King/Heir Apparent set up

At Red Bull, we know that Max is Driver one. Aside from the championships, he is just too fast. Every time one of the other drivers who drove alongside him was brought up to Horner or Helmut (YIKES to both), they would compare where they raced to Max. It is unattainable, and isolating. Until Checo. Checo didn't think he was going to be able to drive after BWT. He didn't have a contract, he was a middle of the pack driver, Mexico's son, and his story was supposed to end there. The Red Bull contract was a dream, but for all of the weird behavior some of y'all have with him (again, he's had his problems but the racism and idiot syndrome some apply to him is also NOT OK) he's not an idiot. He knows he's on a limited contract, he knows he's no spring chicken. Hearing him talk about next year, he knows he's very likely out of a contract. But he doesn't let any of this impact his relationship with Max. They are teammates, Checo will do what is best for the team. Max's whole world is predominantly driving. Checo has more of a balance, and in some ways, allows Max to be young.

I call this the Sibling set up.

At Ferrari, Charles LeClerc is Driver one. He is il Predestinato, the second coming, Monaco's prince. He can do no wrong. Carlos Sainz is the second driver. In spite of the fact that he got dropped from the team, in spite of the fact that he has won them two races, he is the one that is being pushed out. But he and Charles are friends, and teammates. They've driven together for several years now. Ultimately, while Carlos has done most of the heavy lifting on his side of the garage in terms of strategy and driving, he is also the one who knows when to walk away from the fight, when to stop letting yourself get hurt by the team that should be defending you. For Charles, Ferrari is a promise to Jules, to his father, to himself. He cannot walk away. In some way, Carlos can. That's why he makes the good second driver. The second in command is the one that sees the whole picture, including the first in command, because they never look at themselves.

I call this the friends/us against the world set up.

At Mclaren, driver one is Lando Norris. An indefinite contract, the sponsors, the adoration, Lando is the golden child. But Oscar is too, sort of. They're both young, both incredibly talented. But they're young. They're doing this together. McLaren went from disaster to top of the pack last season, and they're both on this ride together. I think McLaren is going to do whatever it takes to get Lando his win, but then I think they'll split 50/50. What will happen then, I don't know.

I call this the to soon to tell set up

At Williams, Alex Albon is so clearly driver one. Last year, he scored the majority of the points, they signed him for an extended contract, and they're desperate to keep him for 2026, when the car is supposedly going to be insane. Logan is the second driver. Alex wants to be the mentor, and to some degree he is. But Logan's narrative from last season to this season has shifted dramatically. Less and less people want to see him gone, they like the American. Williams renewed him. Whether because of sponsorship or genuine interest in his improvement, I don't know. But, in the last two races, they have managed to tank Alex's reputation, and boost Logan's. You don't publicly destroy your second driver's confidence, and career potential so publicly and walk away clean. We've seen it with Red Bull and Pierre, and Alex. Both times, those two drivers walked away with insane support. Logan is now receiving the same, but I wonder if it is going to make a difference. I think that Logan talking about what is best for the team is what is keeping him going, but if you watched the newest Team Torque, you can see fatigue and some tension between him and Alex. I don't know if it is jet lag, or work, or stress, or damage to the relationship. But this is a driver relationship on a razor wire.

I call this the Icarus set up

At Alpine, it is Pierre. He gets away with murder, at least by the team. Esteban has certainly mellowed a little, but he calls Pierre out still. However, they are both miserable with the car this year, so I think they are probably commiserating. The fact they can work together after years of rivalry and blatant hurt between the two is interesting. I think that both of these men have racing above all on their heart, and they will do whatever it takes to stay there. So for now, they suffer in the car, and they are colleagues.

I call this the "there's no other choice" set up (aka forced proximity)l

At Visa CashApp, there's currently a power struggle. Daniel is Daniel. He's been second driver for a few years, he's been third driver. He's got the popularity, though it is waning, and more importantly, he's got Christian Horner's support. That, plus the fact that the team talks about Daniel's presence being about helping them improve, makes him sound like first driver. Except, Yuki has been First driver for years. He's the one who stayed through the revolving door of drivers. This is his team. Honda pays the majority of his salary. So when you bring someone in, someone who doesn't even want the seat as much as he wants the Red Bull seat, the seat that should be yours, you're not going to go down without a fight. It creates this weird tension, but then Daniel is like "I know how lucky I am to be here, I'm focused on driving here," and is already being threatened with losing the seat like Nyck was, and Yuki realizes he might never get the Red Bull seat. So you have these two guys who are fighting for the same thing, that doesn't want them.

I call this the Alone Together set up

At Sauber, it is Valtteri. He has won gps, he's former Mercedes, who used to come second usually only to Lewis. He's funny, older, a weirdo that people love and feel they know. Zhou is younger, he's dealing with the pressure of being China's only son, and the higher expectations of him. Valtteri helps keep him young and focused. He's been through the wringer, and he's teaching Zhou that it is not going to be what breaks you.

Also Mentor/Mentee except the mentors are nuts in a different way

I don't know what the hell is going on at Haas.

[a-whisper-in-the-forest]

Dinner

Part 1 (Happy)

Villain follows the Child to a nice neighborhood in the city. Nothing crazy expensive like the Villain's penthouse, but comfortable. It looks very different in daylight. They hadn't even noticed the little park next to the apartment complex before. It probably wasn't illuminated at night. “This way!” The Child says cheerfully. They have been practically skipping the whole way. Villain sees the door that leads to Hero's apartment. Why did they feel nervous? They have been here before.

The Child opens the door and the smell of a warm dinner hits their nose. They both come inside and take their shoes off. The Child immediately grabs Villain's arm and drags them to the kitchen. “Sibling, look who I found!” Hero is standing in the kitchen, their hair still wet from the shower. They're wearing sweatpants and a bandage is visible under their sleeve. “Oh, Child, please. No more rabid street animals,” Hero says, exhausted. Their voice lacks their usual enthusiasm that make their fights so much more entertaining. “Ouch….” Villain huffs. “That's not really friendly, is it?”

Hero whips around, a horrified expression plastered on their face. “Hi, darling,” Villain says with a smug grin on their face.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Hero yells out, pointing the spatula in their hand at Villain. “I invited them over for dinner!” Child gleems as they start taking plates out of one of the drawers. “Why? You know that's Villain right? The bad guy I warned you about?” Hero's voice is going so high that only dogs are going to be able to hear it in a minute. “Yeah, that's Villain. They helped you, remember?” Child says innocently. They truly don't see anything wrong with this. Villain finds it adorable. Hero lets out a deep sigh. “Child, please don't tell me that when you asked me how to thank someone and i told you to cook them some food, you meant thanking Villain?”

“Obviously, who else would I thank?” The Child says, having moved on to putting the glasses on the table. “Oh my god…” Hero sighs, pinching her nose bridge. “Oh my god…” They have to lean against a counter. “Did I teach them nothing?” Villain decides that that's enough panic for the Hero in one day. Their fight already took a lot of energy. “Not to interrupt your self-loathing, darling. But to their defense, I already knew your adres and they are following your advice, so you did teach them something.” Villain takes a step forward. “I was just a bit worried about you so I decided to come along, I can leave as fast as I came in.”

“No!” The Child yells out across the room,“Please don't leave!” Hero sighs again as a response. “Okay, they can stay. But only for dinner.” Hero points a finger towards Child as a warning. They shriek and drag Villain towards a seat at the neatly set table. Villain sits down and watches as Hero brings out a casserole and puts it on the table. Meanwhile Child pulls out a tablet and starts looking for a cartoon to watch.

“It's not made by a private chef, but it'll have to be enough,” Hero says as they sit down across the table, right in front of Villain. “Oh, I fired that chef ages ago. Too much caviar for my taste,” Villain remarks nonchalantly, “That and the poison they wanted to slip into my food.” Hero almost spits their drink out. “They did what?”

Villain shrugs, “I always have to be careful with who I trust. And don't worry, they are dealt with.” Villain stuffs their mouth full. They can't really make out what it is Hero cooked, but it’s still good. “That must be horrifying,” Hero says, taking another bite.

“What?” Villain cocks their head. It was just an assassin from a rival villain, nothing too dangerous. Worse things have been sent their way.

“You know, worrying all the time about not getting killed,” Hero continues. “Well, my dear Hero, I'd rather be dead than locked up in a cell,” Villain answers, “I'm more scared of you than some spy that can't tell his poison from his tea.”

Hero looks shocked. “You're scared of me? You?” Villain takes a sip from their drink, taking a minute to gather their thoughts. How were they going to explain this? “Not necessarily you…but what will happen to me if I get caught,” they answer, picking their fork up again to eat some of the mystery dish. “When,” Hero answers. Villain looks up from their plate. “If,” they counter. “I will catch you one day,” Hero says, a glint of confidence and determination in their eyes. “Oh, but I'm right here, darling.” Villain leans forward while placing a hand under their chin, “Yet you've done nothing about it.”

“That’s because there are children at the table. We have to keep it civil.” Hero says back, leaning forward over the table as well. Villain glances over to the child who's deeply invested in a cartoon on their tablet. “Please don't tell me you're one of those tablet-parents that push a screen towards their child as soon as they make a sound.” Villain gestures towards the Child with their free hand. “One, I am their sibling, not their parent. Two, they have a very strict screen time. It blocks everything as soon as their timer is up,” Hero answers, looking at the Child. “Seems excessive. They seem smart enough to know what's good for them,” Villain says as they lean in even closer. “You both are pretty smart. But unlike them, you don't know what's good for you.” Hero answers, mimicking Villain's movements. “Mmmh,” Villain purrs. “And what is good for me, my dear Hero?”Hero turns to the Child. “Child, don't you have some homework left to do?”

“But…” Child starts to protest but a stern look from Hero quickly shuts that down. They slowly leave the table and pout all the way to what seems to be their room. “So… Why are you really here?” Hero asks Villain, playing with a bracelet around Villain’s wrist. “Child said you've been sad the past few weeks and only cheered up when I left.” Villain says looking in Hero's eyes. They saw an emotion they hadn't noticed before. “That Child worries too much about me,” Hero answers, “But it is true. Work has been a real pain in my ass recently.”

“I could take a few out for you, lighten the workload and all that.” Villain moves their free hand to hold the Hero's empty hand. “While I appreciate the offer, I'm going to have to decline. I can handle myself,” Hero answers, looking Villain in the eyes. “Oh, I am sure you can, darling,” Villain says as they let go of Hero's hand and move to stand up. “I think I better get back. It's starting to get late and I still have some henchmen to beat in Mario kart.”

As Villain moves to walk through the door, they turn around one last time. “If you ever need anything. A favor, money, a good talk. Know I will always be there for you, darling.” They move forward to land a soft peck on Hero's cheek. As soon as the light touch was there, it disappeared. Hero watches as the Villain leaves and desperately tries to suppress the butterflies in their stomach.

Hi! Since a few people asked, here is a second part to 'Happy'! I hope it lives up to your expectations since I have exams and have to write during breaks. (If you see any spelling mistakes, no you didn't :) )

Btw, feel free to make any requests in my asks!

( @demetercabingreen-thumb, @ghostlyexpertlight and @ekira17 asked for a part two) (I can untag you from the post if you'd like, just let me know)

[llamagoddessofficial]

Hello hello! This is Relating to the prison au and the idea suddenly came to me but how would it differ if the mc was a a lot younger like an intern? I tried searching more if it was even allowed to be a med student intern in a prison but I dunno I just thought it was a neat idea, like if she appeared like an optimistic platonic younger sister more than a romantic interest? Aaaa sorry English isn't my first language I hope the idea got through ^^'

I want to congratulate you, anon... you're the first person in a long time to ask something related to prison au that has never been asked before!

Sans: Unfortunately, he'll be even worse. More manipulative, more possessive... more evil. With an older Mc he might see her as easy to manipulate, but he still absolutely views her as her own person- he'd do bad stuff but he (at least) would still respect her opinions and choices. When she's young, he does not respect her opinions and choices. She's just a kid who doesn't know better, someone who needs him to make the big decisions on her behalf.

The worst part is, once he attaches, he sees her like a little sister. It really fucks up his mind- all of those messy, dark, painful feelings about Papyrus, all that unresolved grief from losing one younger sibling... he doesn't care what happens to anyone. Or anything. So long as he doesn't lose any more family.

He's kind to her; oh-so-kind, a sweet and goofy older brother figure who makes terrible puns and chats to her for hours about her favourite videogames. But he's a terrifying empty creature, and he's absolutely going to use her youth and inexperience to his advantage, to make her trust him more than everyone else. Nothing is off the table.

Red: Red adores her. Much like Sans, he ends up in something of a 'big brother' role- the difference is that Red's connection with her is a lot healthier and gentler, with a decent amount of friendly 'fighting' (tossing harmless insults at each other). He turns into a different person around her; he minds his language somewhat, he manages his temper better, although he teases her his teasing never has any venom and he'll drop jokes that upset her. He was built to be a big brother, and he misses his Papyrus a lot- it feels good to have a bond like that with someone again.

(Speaking of Papyrus- he loves Mc too. He sees the effect she has on Red and he absolutely wants to encourage the positive growth. Also... he always wanted a younger sibling.)

Red makes jokes about giving her contraband or getting her in trouble, and her presence in his life has put her firmly on the inmate no-touch list. Red may be a criminal, and he may associate with people who have done terrible things... but he reserves the worst of the worst punishments for those who hurt kids, and his family. Let alone both.

She's been adopted by the mob.

Skull: Skull's intense feelings about Mc in the prison aus aren't really specifically romantic or platonic in the first place. It's his Soul crying out for love and connection after so long alone. They're just Skull Feelings- so a platonic Mc would see the same degree of insanity, desperation and clinginess from our darling cannibal as her older nurse counterpart.

But... I think he would be a bit better with her, overall. Mc being noticeably younger, in his eyes, makes her more 'fragile'- both emotionally and physically. That nagging thought of i need to be careful and responsible would centre him a little more, make him more aware, gentle and slow. In the same way he wouldn't want to frighten a small child, he doesn't want to frighten her; he moves like hes trying not to spook away a small animal. He'd be better at smiling.

... He would still get moments where he can't help himself. Moments where he snaps out of restraints and grabs her, moments where he attacks other staff for getting too close to her. But he tries.

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Okay, since Pride is fast approaching, and all the Hot Takes about who should and shouldn't be allowed at Pride, and "family friendliness", and whatever have started. And we're in a time of unprecedented legal attempts to imprison, persecute, and kill us, I'm going to expand on my comments on a different post:

A whole lot of people willfully misinterpreting "kink at pride" as some kind of live sex show on a float, and not people in leather and masks and pasties and thigh-highs and walking just a step behind their partner.

Whole lot of people completely ignoring the place that the leather community, and kinksters have in the early days of the gay liberation movement. And we would be literally nowhere without trans people taking up the fight for all of us. Nowhere.

Whole lot of people putting their hands over their eyes and covering their ears to avoid having to see the mile high writing on the wall that says "you're next".

Respectability politics has never gotten us anywhere where we're safe. Anything other than a united front is going to get us all jailed and murdered with the state stamp of approval. So regardless of how you feel about how "normal" puppy play, or leather daddies are, guess what, they're part of your community, so bite your tongue and fucking kumbaya, because as far as other people are concerned you are no different than they are.

Shut the fuck up about "normal", because as far as the people making the laws are concerned, we're all an aberration and they want us all out of the fucking parade. Sit down and read some history; this isn't new, this isn't their first time making us illegal. Right now, they're targeting drag queens and transgender folks, and they are doing their best to turn their existence into criminal acts, so that they can be put to death. That's happening, right now, everywhere. And again, you, in your cute little subtle rainbow T-shirt and khakis? You're the same as those "dangerous queers" that are being legislated against. You're going next on the list.

Stop helping them sign our warrants because you're uncomfortable with some fucking leather straps; the cops will be happy to round you up, too, in your business casual queer attire, when they're done with the kinksters and the drag queens and our trans siblings. And then, we'll be without some of our loudest and most passionate voices in the fight, because you didn't like their god-damned outfits, or their fucking pronouns, and you let them be taken away for the sake of "normal".

Shut the fuck up.

[gemini-sensei]

Thinking about Lawrence!Reader who ends up pregnant before the first All Valley Tournament.

She lives with her dad and goes to West Valley High School, though she can't say she's all that close to him or likes going to school. More often than not, she's picking her dad up off the floor after he's drunk himself into a stupor and made a mess of their apartment. The only thing she likes about school is it gets her out of the house and she has friends there. She's a nice student, gets the grades she needs to pass, but she otherwise doesn't care. What she really cares about is being on the cheerleading team and being active, even though her dad doesn't think cheerleading is a sport.

She meets Miguel before school starts and they form a friendship, but when her dad opens up Cobra Kai, she isn't interested in joining. She already has cheerleading, she doesn't need anything else. So, she watches from the sidelines. Along the way, she becomes friends with Eli and Demetri. They were already aware of one another before but she really gets to know them now unlike before. Demetri can't believe a cheerleader - pretty and popular - is talking to him while Eli just keeps his head down because Reader is so pretty and he doesn't know how to talk to her.

While Miguel is busy learning karate and her dad is trying to get more students to join, Reader is gearing up for all the football games she has to cheer at. Being on the cheer team means she is also friends with Moon, who is super nice when Yasmine isn't around. They have fun times together practicing their routines and making up new cheers for particular games. They're actually really close but could be closer if Yasmine wasn't in the picture or if she was just nicer.

At the homecoming football game, she is cheering and having a constant flirtatious conversation with a quarterback from her school the whole time. When West Valley wins, everyone is so excited. Moon's supposed to drive her home, but they end up going out with some of the other cheerleaders and football players to celebrate. That quarterback she's been flirting with all night makes a move and they end up in the back of his car. He drives her home and she thinks she's made a love connection when the football player has no intention of calling her after tonight.

A few weeks later, at the Halloween Dance, she's having so much fun with her friends. She's kind of going back and forth between her cheerleader friends and Miguel and his friends but no one really cares. Reader is so free-spirited and friendly that no one questions is. All night, she's trying to get her friends (Eli & Demetri) to dance with girls, trying to hook them up with some cuties. All the while she's forgotten her hookup with the flirty football player because if he didn't see what was right in front of him, it was his loss.

However, halfway through the night, she starts feeling sick and rushes to the ladies restroom to puke up her guts. After a while of being in there, Moon and Yasmine find her and actually help clean her up. Reader passes it off as it must have been something she ate and Yasmine tells her that the school buys cheap snacks for these dances all the time. They go back out to party and have a fun time, Reader thinking Yasmine isn't so bad - she has her good moments at times. She has a great rest of her night until she learns that Miguel got beat up in the locker room.

She blames her dad for not teaching Miguel when and where to pick a fight. They argue over it and she tells him to screw himself because she's known opening up this dojo was a bad idea. It sparks more arguing and she ends up leaving the apartment for the night because she doesn't want to be around him. So where does she go? To her trusty half-brother Robby, of course.

They bad-mouth Johnny all night and smoke weed. They don't hang out as much as they used to when they were kids but Reader and Robby have an okay sibling relationship. She'll go to him whenever she needs to get away from Johnny and he'll call her if he's ever in a jam. They have each other's backs no matter what.

It's while she's staying a few days with Robby that she finds out she's pregnant. She realizes that she missed her period by a little more than a week and finds a pregnancy test in the bathroom, which sparks her fears. She takes it and it comes back positive, scaring the crap out of her. She's a teenager with a deadbeat single dad, a half-brother who hates their dad, and no mother figure to look to for any advice. She doesn't wanna talk to Shannon about it because while she's Robby's mom, she's not all that present; so, she hides the pregnancy as much as possible. She isn't showing yet, so it isn't that difficult but she's not thinking ahead. All she can think about is right now and in the moment, she's scared.

However, keeping the secret is hard. She's constantly tired from cheer practice and going to school. Her cheer coach sees it and gives her a talking to because they have a competition coming up. She promises to be better and Moon offers to help her relax, but it isn't going to help. Reader is stressed out of her mind and totally freaking out on the inside. While her and Moon are hanging out, she finally lets it out that she's pregnant and doesn't know what to do. Moon's hippie-dippie lovely mother overhears and comes in to help. She offers to take Reader to the doctor to get everything looked at and she agrees because she's not been to one yet - fearful of the costs and her dad finding out and a whole slew of other things.

Moon's mom and Moon tell Reader that they won't tell anyone, her secret is safe with them, and they offer their home to her as a sanctuary if she ever needs it. Moon knows Reader's life is tough with a dad who's barely paying the bills and keeping the fridge stocked, but she never says anything about it. Reader thinks Moon is probably one of the only great friends she has.

Things are going great for a while; her dad is so preoccupied with teaching karate that he barely notices any changes in his daughter. It's easy to keep the pregnancy a secret, then she learns Robby is working with Mr. LaRusso and that's a bad idea, which she tells him as much. While they're arguing about it, she accidentally lets it slip that she's pregnant and doesn't need the stress of him trying to irk their father on her shoulders. They stop arguing and talk about the more serious issue at hand, Robby wanting to make sure that his sister has everything she needs, but he gets mad when he learns that some jerky football player did this to her and doesn't want her. He cools down a bit when she tells him she doesn't want anything to do with that guy but he's still peeved about it.

And, of course, as time goes on, she can't hide it anymore. She starts showing after a while and people start teasing her. She ignores them, she's got thick skin so she can, and goes about her days. She's just trying to make it through school, which is a lot harder without cheerleading since she had to quit the team. The only thing she has at school are her friends, but they quickly become absorbed in the karate bubble and all she's left with is Moon and Yasmine - which isn't a bad thing but she misses her guy friends.

Moon is so happy about the baby while Yasmine is kind of squeamish about the whole pregnancy. It definitely weirds her out when the baby starts to move and she can see or feel it. She's like "That's so fucking creepy" and Moon is like "It's so beautiful, what are you talking about?" Their dynamics with Reader are so wholesome, surprisingly so since she and Yasmine are weirdly friends now. They dropped Sam and took up Reader as their third. Yasmine won't admit that they're friends for a while but she's definitely protective over Reader.

When Johnny finds out, like actually fucking sees his daughter showing because she can't wear baggy ass clothes anymore, he's livid. Like Robby, he wants to punch the guy that "did this to her" and teach him a lesson, but it devolves into another argument because he's just now realizing all of this and he hasn't been paying attention to her. He starts going on about how she's supposed to be more responsible than him and she starts crying because no, she isn't, he's the adult, the parent, the one who should have been there for her when this all started. instead, her friend's mom is the one paying for her doctor's appointments and buying her maternity clothes and helping her figure out how to be a mom. It's bullshit and she ends up packing her things and leaving.

On the way out. Miguel catches her and asks her if everything is okay. She yells at him that no, everything isn't okay. She's pregnant, her dad sucks, and he along with all their other friends have seemingly forgotten she exists. He feels bad and wants to make it up to her, but she tells him to save his apologizes for someone who actually gives a fuck. At about that time, Moon pulls up to take her back to her place and she leaves.

With Moon, she's able to relax more and have fun. They're still teenagers after all and that's all they want to do is have fun. So when they are planning Yasmine's birthday party, they're just thinking of themselves and having a nice time together as friends. Kyler and Brucks are around and that's whatever, she can ignore them. They, however, cannot ignore how big she is. Brucks touches her belly without asking while riding in the car and she almost breaks his hand (just because she didn't join her dad's dojo doesn't mean he never taught her how to defend herself) and Kyler keeps away from her after that display.

And when they get to the canyon for the party and see all those people already there, Yasmine is so upset and worried that her party is ruined. Moon and Reader assure her that just because they're all "nerds" doesn't mean it can't be a fun party. Only for Kyler and Brucks to leave them with a beer cooler and one blanket because Miguel scared them off. Moon and Yasmine help Reader down to the party and they end up having fun, at least Moon and Reader do.

Reader is mostly sitting on a log near the bonfire because her feet and back hurt, but she's having fun. Someone is always bringing her a fresh soda so she doesn't have to get up and it's nice of them. Then Hawk sits beside her and he's brought snacks to share with her. They talk for a while, catching up since they haven't hung out in a while, but before she knows it, he's holding her face and leaning in for a kiss.

She stops him and asks, "Are you sure? I mean... about me?"

"I've had the biggest crush on you for so long, Reader," he tells her. "I'm sure."

And they kiss and it's sweet, soon to turn a little hotter when they start making out like no tomorrow. He holds her gently, one arm around her waist while his other hand is on the side of her belly. They're having the time of their life just getting, uh, more acquainted than ever before. She feels so special because the last guy she was with only wanted to hook up with her and, after getting pregnant, she thought surely no one else would want her. But with the way he's kissing her and whispering to her how pretty she is and how he doesn't care that she's pregnant, she can tell that Hawk means it. After all, he was this really sweet, cute guy before the mohawk. Why wouldn't he mean what he says?

They're hanging out the rest of the night when Sam and Robby show up. Reader has talked to Robby a few times since telling him she was pregnant, but she had no idea that he was friends with Sam, aka Miguel's girlfriend. It sparks a how jealous rage from Miguel and she feels the need to go stop him before he does something stupid. Because even though he hurt her feelings, she knows he's a good guy. Well, only for him to try hitting her brother and she tries to get in the middle of it, which only leads to her getting pushed. But Hawk and Robby are there to catch her before she can fall and the whole thing sobers up Miguel in a second and he's apologizing to her profusely. She gets in his face and plainly says "I hate drunks" before walking away.

Instead of leaving, Robby and Sam go to check on her. She isn't hurt physically and the baby is okay, she just wishes her friends were acting like normal fucking people. Hawk is by her side and she feels like all three of them are fussing over her. She finally just tells them that she wants to go home, so where's Moon?

Moon and Yasmine are dancing together somewhere in the crowd but when they hear about what happened, they are immediately going to Reader's side. She's almost in tears and they decide it's time to go. Robby wants to go with them and Sam is unsure of what to do, so she leaves to. Hawk wipes away Reader's tears and tells her goodnight before she gets in the car to leave, promising to call her later since he's one of the people who started the party, he feels like he has to stay until it's over. He feels bad for not leaving with her but she tells him it's okay but that he better keep his promise.

When he does finally get home, he calls her but thinks she'll be asleep. She's awake, eating cake and ice cream with Moon and Yasmine. They talk for hours until he has to go to sleep because the tournament is tomorrow. She tells him she'll be there even though her dad is gonna be there and he tells her that he'll win the whole thing for her.

She has no idea of Robby's plans to be there or even compete. Or how that might cause more problems than she ever imagined...

[idk-how-to-name-it]

POOKIE CAN YOU DO ROBERTSKY FOR THE SHAPE THINGY???😍

YAAAAAY ROBERTSKY MY FAVVVV!!!

Also, I'll compare him with Albertsky, cause they're connected in some way.

First...

Definitely friendly and calm dude. Like..WHERE'S YOUR SHARP AND EDGY SHAPES, DUDE??? WHERE ARE THEY??? I doubt the he is able to harm anybody(The fights between him and his brother don't count!!! It's the thing that many siblings have got. I say this as a person who is not the only child in the family)

Also, the palette! Yellow is the dominant colour, which is bright and positive. Can't help, but associate Robertsky with something kind and warm.

Oh, and HIS FACEEEE...

I think he's also awkward. Just...Just look at it. Don't you feel???

Even though he maybe can get unhinged. It is only sometimes, if not occasionally...At least he is not as unhinged as his brother...Wait, didn't I told you one thing about Albertsky??? Well, he may appear as calm and reasonable person, but he's just hiding his true colours...

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah...Even though this sharp shapes are not dominant, his spikey hair catches the eye.

BTW, HAVE Y'ALL NOTICED ONE LIL' DETAIL??????????? I MEAN...

THIS. I LOVE IT. I LOVE THEIR DESIGNS SOOOOOO MUCH.

[capybonara]

I come with more Sardon doodles because I wanna talk more about him and I'm having so much fun drawing these guys (you gotta be the cheerleader for your OCs!)

As stated in a previous post, hes the largest and oldest sibling out of six (Cironus, Kaska and three unnamed siblings). He's based off the wild orca who goes by Chainsaw due to the unique scarring on the dorsal fin!

Unlike Cironus and Kaska who are bards, Sardon is an orca pugilist! Orca's hunt by causing blunt force trauma on their prey so basically Sardon just solves most things with his fists! As I write this I missed the opportunity to make a Shoryuken joke with him hunting the lizalfos OH WELL

I also mentioned that I'd like to pair him up AND give him friends in general! This may or may not be an excuse to draw people's ocs and be part of a community again. People asked what his type is so allow me to info dump BELOW A CUT

HI THERE :D

OKAY SO

Sardon was a runt when he was a child but his mother, aunts, and grandmother protected him and kept him well fed. As he grew he became very rowdy, as a way to fight back from being picked on and to establish a position among his peers. When he was big enough, he found he enjoyed fighting/hunting monsters and then it kind of became a job for him. In a similar way that Kaska visits kingdoms and areas to see if they're welcome to stick around, Sardon goes around areas where his family plan to rest at and clears out any monsters.

Bloon Moon events are something he looks forward too because it means he can go hunting all over again!

But despite his job and rough childhood, Sardon is usually very quiet and reserved. His size and scars tend to have people make assumptions about his personality and so they steer clear. He's a bit jealous of the way Cironus and Kaska can make friends so easily, and it's why he likes hanging out with them so much. Their presence makes him look slightly less intimidating and he may be picking up pointers on how to socialize.

He's very supportive of their endeavors, and he's an excellent listener. When he's not picking fights, he'll be babysitting the young orca children and letting them talk his ear off. He's playing wingman to Cironus, getting lost in discussions with Kaska regarding kingdom politics. Sometimes they need an extra voice for their music and while Sardon doesn't play an instrument, he has a beautiful baritone!

When it comes to courtship, he's been extremely awkward so he gave up for a while and focused on his monster hunting work. He's been pressured by his mother and grandmother about courting since Sardon was a prime candidate for siring more healthy orca children. There isn't much prejudice against seeing those from other races among the zorca, but he knew it had to do with being a first born son.

Still, the idea of companionship is appealing. He has an appreciation for all races in Hyrule, and the same goes for his romantic preferences. He's more familiar with zora because of his family travels but he's run into others on land enough to have a respect for them.

When he's accompanying Cironus or Kaska, they help lower his defenses; he smiles more, he's making jokes with them, and he's able to read the cues from his siblings on who is friendly or not. But he knows he can't always tag along with his siblings and use them as a buffer.

When he's on his own, he tends to freeze when he encounters others, either in water or on land, and he's at a loss for words. To anyone else, he looks like a monster himself. And it eats him up inside because deep down he still sees himself as a trembling orca child. And he questions himself a lot. Did anything about him really change for the better? First being seen as a sardine to something considerably worse 😭

[total-drama-brainrot]

Noah is canonically the youngest of eight sibling. Eight.

You don't grow up in a family that large, as the youngest and therefore the favourite victim, and not have a super casual relationship with touch.

This guy is light enough to be literally blown away by a strong breeze; if you think even for a second that his family didn't take turns carrying him around like a briefcase and abducting him from whatever he was doing into a Family Pile™ then you're objectively wrong.

(You also can't convince me that he wasn't spoiled rotten as the baby of the family.)

So frequent platonic touching is pretty normal for him, expected even, and he tends to be more tactile than his personality or demeanour would suggest.

He gives Owen side-hugs and pats on the arm every time the two interact, and wilfully flops himself onto Eva whenever he's overwhelmed and wants the company of someone comparatively quiet (she always uses it as an excuse to carry him to the gym and encourage him to bulk up, though it never works). He tries to tire out Izzy's boundless energy by play-fighting and grappling with her (much to his chagrin) despite him essentially ending up as her glorified chew toy, and often times passes out due to being a stick insect in human form.

It's unexpected, just how casually clingy he is to the people he trusts/likes.

But you know who isn't used to physical contact?

Cody E.J. "my parents forgot my birthday" Anderson

This wet noodle of a boy bigs himself up as a ladies' man and a hot commodity but wouldn't know what to do with himself if someone held his hand. The concept of affection of any kind is so foreign to him, especially positive physical contact- I wouldn't be surprised if he could count the amount of hugs his parents had given him on one hand.

And this is backed by his canonical desperation for acknowledgement! Every time he pursues Gwen, even when he's directly shot down and sometimes harshly rejected, he still tries to win her affections and festers the delusion that she likes him. After all, everyone who's supposed to care about him does the same! His parents, 'friends' or lack thereof, ect.; they all ignore/rebuff him so it must be a sign of endearment.

Additionally, he sleeps with a stuffed emu at the ripe age of 16/17- as stated by Sierra, which he never denies (not that there's anything wrong with that, stuffed animals are top tier imho). You know who else sleeps with stuffed animals? Touch-starved people.

Cody is incredibly attention-starved, touch-starved and, post World Tour, in all likelihood somewhat touch-averse- at least when it comes to other people initiating contact.

To elaborate; Sierra is constantly breaching his personal bubble non-consensually, which would inadvertently condition anyone into being at least a little haphephobic, but Cody himself is more than happy to instigate contact with people he trusts (i.e. hugging Alejandro when he protects Cody from Sierra overnight in Rapa Phooey!).

...See where I'm going with this?

We see these two cuddling twice in canon; once in the Awake-a-thon and again in the Celebrity Manhunt. Once is happenstance, but twice indicates a pattern or coincidence but I'm going to gloss over that for the sake of this post.

Plus, with their consistent proximity during Action, they had plenty of time to form some type of relationship be it friendly or more.

(Wouldn't you want to at the very least get some closure from the guy who kissed you/you kissed for the world to see? It would be awkward to completely ignore each other, and they literally shared a cabin at one point so it's not like they were strangers either. So of course they're at least cordial from Action onwards.)

Then, as Noah becomes more comfortable around Cody, his tactile tendancies come to play.

Cody, predictably, reacts skittishly at the alien phenomenon known as friendly touch and tries to play it off to preserve his cool-guy image. Except Noah's not falling for it. He's observant, if emotionally illiterate, and watching the guy you just backpatted in greeting jump five feet into the air and screech like a falcon is a flashing red alarm for even the most empathetically challenged people.

Eventually, Noah gets Cody to divulge his issues with human contact and offers his assistance to the brunette. If giving his pal a hug every now and then, and letting him in turn initiate whatever he's comfortable with, would help him overcome his rocky relationship with touch then Noah is more than happy to oblige. It's not like it's out of the norm for him, so he doesn't mind at all.

Then, gradually, Cody loses his touch aversion.

But a lifetime of isolation won't be magically cured that easily, and he finds himself craving Noah's embrace more and more. Again, the taller of the two is content to give him what he wants. Their agreement evolves into the duo napping together and feeding into Noah's sleep-hugging habit, or just spending quality time in a heap of pretzeled limbs under a weighted blanket.

(Whether their relationship is platonic or romantic is entirely up to interpretation, though I'm partial to the two being friends who are just Like That since it allows for the funniest potential character interactions. The bromance is real.)

That's as good a place as any to end the post, before I end up writing a whole drabble.

[cheezeybread]

I feel no matter the character development, Kalim is still gonna struggle with doing what needs to be done to protect his family from everybody who wants him dead. I headcanon that his obliviousness is his coping mechanism for all of this and that he is in fact just as observant as Jamil, but that won't really be enough for this sunshine to face the evils of the Scalding Sands. So could I request Kalim with a lover who is just an absolute badass. As in before coming to twst they were the child of a diplomat/politician, so they're already very aware of how messy things can get and have no qualms about hurting the people who hurt them first. With Kalim and other loved ones they'll be cheerful and playful, but with enemies they go full maverick.

Specifically I'd like a oneshot of Kalim taking his lover to visit his family and papa Asim is asking them what they could provide for the family (since unfortunately they can't just let anyone marry into the Asims cause they're so rich and so powerful). All the s/o asks for is one month. They spend their vacation chilling with Kalim, bonding with his siblings, and chatting up fellow nobles.

Cut to one month later and the reader dumps this mile long report of every single person that wants them dead, all the evidence compiled against them, and plans for how they could be "handled" lethally or non-lethally. What was that they did in that one month? Create the Asim equivalent of the FBI and get dirt on just about everybody. They grew up in a modern day equivalent of the Imperial Chinese Court (meaning plots, scandals, endless assassinations, and just sooooo much drama), the Scalding Sands is like child's play for them.

I'm all for Kalim being more self-aware than people give him credit for! I mean, come on, he may be a silly little guy, but I believe 100% that he's choosing to be that way on purpose as a coping mechanism! I do the same thing, honestly.

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰ ───

The head of the Asim household could be very imposing whenever he wished to be.

It threw you off guard, at first.

Kalim had been telling you about how great his father and mother was ever since he first proposed the idea of you coming with him over the break, saying how fun it would be, and how much his parents were looking forward to meeting you. He had hyped up the trip so much, emphasizing how nice and kind his family was. As soon as you walked through the door, you saw firsthand how right he was.

His mother embraced you with open arms, quite literally, wrapping you in a bone-crushing hug that would make Floyd jealous. His father slapped you on the back with the same bright, sunny smile that Kalim had- the same smile that first made you fall in love with his son. And the kids, by the Seven, the kids! The older ones were friendly and kind, but stepped away after initial greetings. But the younger ones were hyper and jumpy, all hopping in your arms and fighting for your attention. Even the youngest of them all, a small toddler who could just barely walk, managed to waddle up to you and tug on your pants until you picked him up.

Kalim was very pleased by all this, to say the least.

But then Kalim's father asked to speak to you in private, assuring your boyfriend that it was only to get more acquainted with you. So you had no unease about following the large man into a well-decorated room. As soon as the door was closed, the bright smile adorning his face vanished, replaced instead by the hardened, weathered look of a man who has seen horrors beyond comprehension. Or, at least, that's the vibe he gave off.

"I'm going to give it to you straight, Y/N," He said softly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at you with a calculating stare "In this family, there are...a great many dangers. I can't count the times my life has been in danger, and anybody who enters our family needs to be able to not only protect themselves and their spouse, but any potential children. I've had to kill men with my bare hands in these very halls...men who wanted to hurt my wife, my children."

He put a calloused hand on your shoulder, and you felt your stomach drop with a sudden well of nerves "I need my son to be protected, and I know that he can protect you, but I need to know that you have a...special skill set, let's say, to keep him alive and well."

At the end of the month, he said after a long spiel of the family's history, he expected to be shown what you could provide to the family and their wellbeing. If you did so, he promised, he would accept yours and Kalim's relationship with not only his blessing, but with the pride and acceptance of the entire family. Although, of course, you shouldn't speak of this conversation with Kalim, lest he attempt to help you in this endeavor.

After speaking with you, the bright and cheery look returned, and the two of you walked out of the room.

After the two weeks of break were over, you and Kalim (unfortunately) had to go back to the NRC campus, but you continued on in your personal endeavor. Two weeks after that, you nagged Crowley to give you permission to go back to the Land of Scalding Sands.

You stepped through the mirror with a sense of purpose, a thick folder stuffed with paper held protectively under your arm. To the house of Asim you went, requesting an audience with the head of the house to the guards standing outside. It took a while for one of the guards to go inside and fetch Mister Asim, all while the remaining guard kept his gaze fixated on you. Like you were here to hurt the family or something.

"Ah, so you've returned!" Greeted Kalim's father, ushering you to join him on the other side of the gates. At his approval, the guard opened the entrance, and you stepped inside gratefully.

"So," he began, placing a hand on your back as he began a slow walk around the estate, you assumed for privacy reasons "Tell me what you've brought."

"Let me first begin, sir, by telling you something that Kalim apparently forgot to mention that my family understands the plights that your faces. My father was a politician in his prime, and although he is retired at this point, his opinion still holds a great influence on those in higher positions of authority," You flicked a finger over the folder under your arm "As such, those who'd like to be rid of his influence, or simply disagree with the values he upheld while in office and the policies he enacted have had a great effect on the lives of me and my family. Homicide attempts were not uncommon growing up, although we didn't have the pleasure of being able to afford such high security," you chuckled, sticking a thumb back towards where the guards at the entrance were. You glanced over at Kalim's father, hoping to gauge some level of his emotions. But his face was unreadable.

"As such, I've gained some valuable skills to keep myself alive, and ones that may come in handy for yourself, as well, sir," You held up the folder, allowing him to take it.

As he flicked through the pages in the folder, his eyes narrowed, and his mouth opened slightly "What..is this?" he asked, although he feared that he already knew.

"I was in this land for two weeks, sir," You said, your voice gaining more confidence by the minute "During that time, I went out to eavesdrop and peruse through the marketplace. You know how much gossip is spread there-? Anyway, I learned of some names of those tossed around, claiming threats that didn't sound like they should be taken idly. Those who had plans set and in effect to take the lives of the Asim family."

"But these aren't just their names-" He started.

"I had two more weeks, if you recall," you interrupted, giving him a satisfied smile "Two weeks to find suitable...eh, let's say... punishments, for those listed. Ways to easily dispose of them without causing panic to the public nor cause any undue distress on their own families. As well as methods of getting them to talk and divulge information on any more conspiracies against you."

The head of the Asim household took a few more minutes to look through the papers before he began laughing, a deep, hearty sound. He looked up at you with a genuine smile, nodding his head gratefully.

"Welcome to the family, Y/N."