#this has been marinating in my mind for the past couple days

[justalittlelogophile]

🩶💢 Tension 💢🩶

Do you ever think about tension?

The mental and emotional strain between two characters. Where Character A, with something to prove whether to themselves or to Character B, looks up with their chin jutted and their shoulders square and says, “I’m not scared of you.” And Character B, in attempt to protect whether themselves or Character A, gets up close and personal with narrowed but smoldering eyes and all but growls out, “You should be.” … Do y’all ever think about tension?

~Po

[realcube]

WRATH & LUST . t.kei / y.tadashi

synopsis ✧ you hate tsukishima kei. you do everything in your power to make his life miserable but nothing works. now you have no choice but to fuck his best friend

cws/tags ✧ college au , enemies to enemies who screw, cursing, slut-shaming (both ways)

parts ✧ i. ii. iii. iv.

your friends call it 'inexplicable hatred', 'misdirected anger' and 'envy' but they couldn't be more wrong.

your feelings towards tsukishima kei were completely rational in your mind. he carried himself as though he was better than everyone and treated those around him like filth, yet he's still tolerated and his shitty attitude is even deemed charming by some self-loathing girls at your college.

it irritates you to no end how he behaves. too cocksure and too sassy; no dignified man should never act in such a manner, you believe. you could go on about other reasons you dislike him — his style atrocities and his punchable face, to name a couple — but you shan't.

you intended on going about your life, simply hating him from afar as you didn't see the need to stir up petty drama. but he made it impossible for you to do so.

one day he was sat behind you in a maths lecture. the seats are tiered so he is slightly higher up than you are. while making notes, his pen slips out of his hand and tumbles forward, landing somewhere under your desk.

you do the polite thing by making an attempt to search for it, but it is dark under the table you can't seem to find it.

a couple moments pass, and he remarks lowly, "are you just going to stare it?"

white hot rage courses through you at his comment. what ever happened to 'please'? to 'would you mind'? you were about to do him a favour by fetching his pencil and he still has the audacity to be snarky.

fuck that, he can pick up his own damn pen. you leave it alone and try to focus on the lecture.

you make it through the whole thing without him bothering you again, probably using a spare or borrowed pen. once the class has been dismissed, you gather your things and wait for the people in your row to start filtering out so you can leave, that is when you feel a gentle tap on the shoulder.

you turn around and lock eyes with a tan, freckled boy with mousy brown hair, he wears an awkward smile and point to your desk, "excuse me, my friend dropped his pencil and i think it landed under your desk. could you get it, please?"

his voice is meek and demeanour similar to that of a shy puppy, which is why it almost pained you to scoff at him and say, "tell your friend to stop being such a cunt, then maybe."

you rush out of the door, keen to get as far away from those two boys as you can. yet as you leave you hear the blonde's voice mutter in your wake, "what a moron."

after marinating on the situation during the retelling to your friend group, and a group vote, you came to the conclusion that perhaps your response to yamaguchi — you learned his name from one your friends — might have been a bit severe. but in your defence, you were peeved by the comment tsukishima had made prior.

it's as though manners and etiquette are totally lost on him.

ೃ⁀➷

two weeks passed since your last little altercation with tsukishima, and you were proud to say you haven't been involved in any conflict with him since then. mostly making snide remarks in passing or exchanging dirty looks in the hall.

however, that all changed when your professor was late to one of your classes. they expressed in the past that they prefer students to wait outside the lecture theatre when they aren't present, so naturally this caused many people to be clogging the hallways.

there was a long queue of people waiting to enter, you stood far away from the door, while tsukishima and yamaguchi happened to be standing opposite. you couldn't help but notice the outfit tsukishima had on: skinny light brown trousers with a black belt, and a pressed short-sleeve white shirt, that was a bit see-through.

you didn't know much about this guy but from his slightly toned figure, which was made apparent by his choice in clothes, you could tell he does some sort of sport. probably basketball, considering how tall he is, but maybe golf. he acts like a golf player.

lost in thought for too long, your finally yanked out of your own internal monologue by a familiar voice snapping, "what are you staring at?"

you blink, and before you even have time to process what he just accused you of, you blurt out, "has anyone told you that you're dressed like a slut today?"

yamaguchi must slap a hand over his mouth to suppress his burgeoning laughter. tsukishima's eyes narrow at his friend's offensive display, before they snap back to you and he argues, "really? me? i'm dressed appropriately. take a look at what you're wearing."

he motions to your outfit: jorts and a tank top. maybe not the most stylish choice but definitely not as whorish as his attire. "it might be more revealing but still not as slutty as you."

he rolls his eyes like what you said was contradictory, wearing smug smile. he wants you to believe what you said is nonsensical and 'proved his point' but all it does it anger you to no end.

not fond of his facial expressions, you retort, "don't pull stupid faces and play dumb. you're already dumb enough as is, so it isn't a very becoming look on you."

with furrowed brows, he opens his mouth to say something, but you cut him off, "and i can see your chest through your shirt. no one wants to see that!"

"you say that while your tits are out, have some self-respect."

"at least i have tits. you're wearing a short sleeve to show off the muscles you don't even have!"

yamaguchi is thoroughly entertained by this squabble, which is why it pains him to chime in, "uh, tsukki. the lecturer is here, let's go."

as much as he wanted to get the last word in, tsukishima glances between tadashi and the empty halls before he decides his education is actually kinda important and begins to make his way inside the theatre. it was good timing because he didn't have a witty response anyway.

your heart is beating rapidly, though you're unsure why. you gaze at the empty walls for a minute to collect yourself before heading into class as well. you totally won that fight, is what you tell yourself.

ೃ⁀➷

ever since the disagreement you had with tsukishima in hallways of the maths building, what was once comments and glares has escalated to threats and insults being made boldly in each other's face.

despite the fact you ate him up the first time, you've been on a losing streak since then. you feel as though nothing you say gets under his skin anymore.

you've tried belittling his face, his smarts, his personality, his mother but nothing seems to work. you even tried to ridicule his glasses but that didn't work either!

"hey, four eyes!"

"hey, five guys."

what the fuck? you weren't sure if that was a dig at your diet, your weight or your quantity of sexual partners but regardless, you could not let that slide.

verbal abuse wasn't working so naturally the next option was physical. you attempted to trip him in the halls but his legs were so long he stepped over you without even noticing. you attempted to pour milk over him but tadashi noticed and pulled him out of the way. you considered pushing his knees while he was standing in front of you but you realised that if he fell backwards his weight would crush you and you'd probably die.

all of that was so elementary and childish though; high school bullying at best. you need college level bullying. you thought about planting weed in his bag and calling the campus police on him but your friends said that was 'too far'. you thought about leaking his nudes but firstly you don't have them and secondly, he's already walking around college half naked anyway so he likely wouldn't be phased by it.

the hard thing about trying to torture a boy like tsukishima is you don't know enough about him to know what will truly drive him insane. you know he cares about his grades but sabotaging his test scores is beyond your means. he doesn't have any dignity so you can't humiliate him. even if you tried, his little gremlin of a best friend would probably catch onto you anyway.

that green haired boy was just as bad as his handler. always gawking at you to make sure you don't try anything; literally glued to tsukishima's ass at all times — it's so gross. and it gave you the most disgustingly perfect idea.

[lomlhwa]

the silent sea (p.sh)

pairing: siren!seonghwa x marine biologist!reader

preview: strange things have started happening around your boat. you've been out at sea alone for a few weeks, studying whales. but recently, things on your boat have started disappearing and animals have started dying. you can't shake the feeling that you're being watched by someone. or something.

tags/warnings: fem reader, monster cock seonghwa, scales everywhere (i mean everywhere), biting (he has sharp teeth and they do pierce your skin), belly bulge kink, degrading, sadomasochism, he eats a chunk of your leg (it's not fatal), unprotected penetration (wrap it before you tap it), creampie, impregnation

trigger warnings: blood, cannibalism(?), a whole lot of dead animals, it's pretty much not consented cause um siren song

wc: 2.1k

song recs for this fic: bye bye bye by wei, tank by nmixx

a/n: when i posted my yeosang siren fic forever ago, someone asked for a less violent version with seonghwa. so here it is. still slightly violent but you don't die this time <3 (please note that i made up some things about sirens to make the story better. there's a lot of variation in the story of sirens so please don't take my word for anything.)

you wake up to the waves crashing on the side of your boat just as you had for the past two weeks. when you got your marine biology degree, you didn’t realize how lonely you’d get at sea. you go to grab your binoculars and look out into the open sea, only to find that they’re missing. you search for a few minutes before deciding to just use your backup pair.

you hold the binoculars to your eyes and peer out into the never ending water. you see a few fish and the large shadow of one of the whales you’ve been following. it’s a beautiful female blue whale. tracking her size and interactions with other blue whales has been your task for the past few weeks. 

you walk to the other side of the boat to see if you can spot your male blue whale. when you look through your binoculars, you see something floating in the water. you squint, trying to make out what it is. you’re horrified to find that the water around it is red and it’s clearly a dead animal. 

you put on your full diving suit and get into the water, worried about what had happened. you tether yourself to your boat before swimming over. you come to find that it’s a dolphin. you roll it over to find strange bite marks. they’re much too small to fit any of its natural predators. the bites look more like the bite size of a human. you run your finger over one of them, finding that a couple of the teeth sink deeper than others, indicating sharper and longer teeth.

you leave the dolphin where it is, knowing that there’s other wildlife that will use it for nutrition. you climb back into your boat and detach from the rope you’d used to not float too far. you grab your journal to note down your findings. 

the rest of your day is pretty typical. you spot your male blue whale later on in the day, monitoring his interactions with your female. nothing else seemed out of place but the incident with the dolphin never left your mind. what had killed it?

the next morning, you wake up, prepared for more research. when you walk to the side of the boat, you scream. 4 more dolphins have been killed overnight. the closest one smacks against your boat with every crash of waves. you use the net from your boat to catch it and bring it on board so you can examine it.

you find that this dolphin has the same bite marks as the one from yesterday. you assume the other 3 are in the same condition. horrified, you try to figure out what could be doing this. it can’t be a shark, their bites are much bigger than this one. it can’t be any of the fish because their bites are too small.

bewildered, you put the dead dolphin back in the water, leaving it for food as you had done with the previous one. you look out into the vast waters, wishing you could spot something else out of the ordinary that might explain all of this. 

while you’re standing on the right side of the boat, you get a sudden chill that feels like you have eyes on you. you feel like you’re being watched with malintent. you turn around abruptly, only to find that there’s nothing there. you walk over to that side and lean over to see if there’s something hiding. nothing. unnerved, you go to note down the sudden death of these dolphins.

tonight, you decide not to sleep. you need to find out what is causing these animal deaths. what sort of monster is killing full grown adult dolphins with a bite so small? you keep a small flashlight on you and wander around the open space of your boat. you keep the light off so you don’t scare whatever is lurking in the sea. you’ll only turn it on if you hear something. 

for a few dark hours, you hear nothing but the usual sounds of the ocean. crashing waves, whale songs and the wind. but then, you hear the flap of what sounds like a fin. you think for a moment that it might just be a fish, but the contact it makes with the water sounds too big to be a fish but too small to be a whale. 

you rush to click on your flashlight and manage to catch a glimpse of an unusual tail-looking fin. it’s bright orange and highly bioluminescent. it doesn’t look like it belongs to any of the known animals of this ecosystem; at least not to the ones you know of. it appears a couple more times before disappearing. you can see it glowing under the water for a few meters before disappearing into the night completely. 

the next morning, you hope and pray that no more animals have died since you went to bed. you stayed up as late as you could but you did need to sleep. unfortunately, your worst nightmare has appeared. one of your whales is dead. one of your huge blue whales has fallen victim to this unknown creature. this feels like it’s getting revenge on you for spotting it.

you scream and collapse to the floor, staring at your whale floating on the surface of the water. the water surrounding it is dark red. you can see that he’s missing chunks of blubber from his back and sides. “leave my animals alone!” you yell out into the vast sea, wishing that whatever was doing this would hear you. 

you feel that same feeling of being watched again. the thing is listening to you. you can just feel it. “stop killing the animals, they never did anything to you! if you want my attention, just show yourself!” you yell again. 

you hear the water splash before hearing and feeling something crash onto the floor of the boat. fear shoots up your spine, every part of you urging you not to turn around. are you really about to face the thing that’s been tormenting you and the ocean?  yeah, you are.

you turn around and you’re faced with a beautiful man standing across the deck from you. his arms are crossed and his dark eyes pierce yours. you know that he was the one causing the feeling of being watched but there’s no way he could kill a whale. matter of fact, there’s no way he could be all the way out here without a ship.

“you’re really fucking annoying. all that screaming these past couple mornings has been piercing my ear drums,” he finally speaks. he tilts his head and smacks the side of it, forcing water out of his ears. 

“are you what’s been eating the dolphins? and my whale?” you ask, getting up off the ground. you gesture to your very dead whale behind you. the man nods, shrugging. “i’m not really a fan of the taste of whale but i knew it would set you off, so i killed it,” he picks at his teeth as if he has food stuck in there. “your scream made it worth it.”

“what kind of sadistic fuck are you?” you stare at him, completely horrified at what he just said to you. he laughs at you. finding joy in your displeasure. “what, sea creatures can’t have a little fun anymore?” he walks closer to you, waving his hands in the air as if he’s offended. 

“you don’t look like a sea creature,” you make a confused face at him. he doesn’t have gills or fins or anything that would really scream ‘sea creature.’ he rolls his eyes, rolling up his sleeves. he reveals bright orange scales that go all the way up his arms. they seem to match the color of the strange tail you saw last night. he grins with terrifyingly sharp teething, seemingly sensing that you’re putting the pieces together. 

“what… what are you?” you say, subconsciously taking a step back to go back to a safer distance. “well, let’s list my features and see if you can figure it out with that stupid brain of yours,” he bares his teeth at you. “scales, mermaid-like tail and sharp teeth. take a guess little miss marine biologist.” 

that’s impossible. what he’s describing is fictional. merely folklore. “siren,” you mutter, your voice barely above a whisper. he clasps his hands together in excitement. “ding ding ding! look at your feeble brain go,” his smile has sinister undertones and a new rush of fear surges through you. 

“now, i’m here for one thing and one thing only,” he plops down onto the ground, crossing his legs. “see, sirens can only reproduce with a human, not other sirens. and you, being out here all alone, are the perfect candidate,” your face contorts into minor disgust. “no,” you retort.

“i think you’re misunderstanding. i’m not asking,” he says before he shakes his head at you. he opens his mouth and a beautiful song fills your ears. it is haunting and echo-y in your head. you feel yourself being drawn to him instantly. you’re unable to move at your own free will.

your legs carry you to him on their own accord. despite his mouth closing, the song continues to possess you. you halt in front of him, your body completely limp. you’re only being held up by the powers of his siren song. 

he removes your clothes with an inhuman ferocity. your body is laid down on the ground, completely stripped. he hovers above you having removed his own clothes as well. you come to find that the orange scales cover his whole body. you strain your eyes to look further down his body and find your eyes meeting what was hiding under his pants. it’s basically the size of your forearm. you can already tell it’s gonna hurt. 

he spreads your legs and gets between them, lining his length up with your hole. you want to fight and close your legs, but you’re completely immobilized. he shoves his whole member into you at full force. it hurts so much you see stars. the stretch is enough to make tears sting your eyes. 

“shhh, good whores can take cock with no warm up,” he caresses your face with a gentleness you had yet to see from him. “you’re gonna be my good cum dump and do what i make you.” he lets you adjust for a few moments before pulling all the way out and slamming back in. screams beg to leave your throat but you’re unable to release them.

he pounds into you with animalistic speed. his only focus is on breeding you. that’s the only reason he’s been tormenting you. he’s using your body for continuing his own bloodline. 

out of nowhere he pulls out of you, his high clearly creeping up on him. something in his demeanor changes as he leans down to one of your legs. without warning, he bites a chunk out of your thigh, chewing and swallowing it in front of you. 

“need more stamina to fill you up like the good whore you are,” he says as he wipes your blood off his lips. he shoves back into you before leaning down and digging his teeth into your shoulder.  he doesn’t rip any skin off but he leaves a few deep bites.

his hips stutter and his sharp nails dig into your hips. he pumps you full of his seed. it’s so much that it streams out of you as he continues to thrust into you. “gotta make sure you’re gonna get pregnant. otherwise i’ll have to follow you home for more than claiming my child,” he whispers in your ear. 

he pulls out of you, cum spilling out from inside you and pooling under you. he puts his clothes back on and sighs, staring at you. “your pregnancy will be fast with a siren baby. maybe, 3 weeks? don’t go back to shore until after you give birth or i’ll gut you like i gutted that whale.” with that, he jumps back into the sea. 

you lay there in shock of what just happened. you finally regain control of your limbs and you stand up. you grab tissues to clean yourself up. you put your clothes back on and sit on your bed, wondering how the hell you just lived through that. 

before you know it, 3 weeks has passed and you give birth to a beautiful baby boy. he takes after his father with his orange scales. as promised, the siren returns to claim the child. “perfect,” he says, taking the child from you and heading for the water.

“wait!” you yell. he turns around, looking at you puzzled. “what’s your name? that’s the least you could tell me after i just had your kid.” he smiles at you and jumps into the water. you rush to the side of the boat and he pokes his head above the water.

“seonghwa.”

© lomlhwa 2023

[ncis-best]

Swallow it.

“Y/n run those reports for me” Today was like any other day, Gibbs was getting on your nerves so much that you needed a break. 12:45 came in time to go to get lunch so you got your bag and hit it for the elevator. You press the down button to the car garage, soon as the doors were bout to close a hand slide between them to stop it from closing ( get your mind out the gutter🤭).

Gibbs POV:

I was already running late for lunch, I missed breakfast today so I’ll be damn if I miss lunch. Y/n has been doing so well this week i almost thought about giving her a week off, maybe she needs it. Sitting at my desk I see y/n getting up and heading to elevator, I guess she’s getting lunch. I grab my wallet and keys and follow behind her, by time I got to her the doors was about to close but I was quick to slide my hand in between the doors to stop it,

Nobody’s POV:

The doors slide open, revealing Gibbs. Y/n smiles and slides to the right to let him which he does. The doors closed and silence was meet between them until..

“Hachoo!!” Y/n sneeze echoed through the elevator. “Bless you��� Gibbs replied back while laughing. “Thank you…why are you laughing?” Y/n says with curiosity. “Your sneeze is cute” Gibbs says with a smirk on his face. Y/n felt butterflies between her legs as she smiles at his words. The doors open just in time, y/n damn near through herself out the elevator, she felt so hot standing next to him. “Y/n get a n the car” was all Gibbs said before getting in his truck. Y/n dose what he says and gets in.

Y/n POV:

Why did i even agree to this ugh omggggg. He smells so goo- “you want Chinese?” Gibbs speaks breaking your thoughts, “yeah sure” you say with a shrug.

A minute passed by and Gibbs and you are both at a booth eating and talking about almost anything that comes to mind. You never really felt so comfortable with this man, his smile, his eyes, his laugh all compliments him so well. He never fails to give that shit eating grin.

“Y/n can I tell you something?” Gibbs says while looking at his plate waiting on your response. “Yeah sure what’s up?” You respond back taking a sip of your lemonade.

“Have you ever noticed that your ass is getting fat?” WHAT!!!!!, you choked on your drink making you cough ten times harder, Gibbs gets up and pats your back making sure you’re ok. “you ok y/n?” You can tell he’s worried about what he said. “Yes I’m ok just shocked, I- I- haven’t noticed at all” you lied, you’ve noticed a couple of times, you even twerked in the mirror a couple of times just see if it moves. He looks at you while laughing a little, you smile back while laughing. You swear this man is funny when he’s not in the office. The check came and Gibbs offered to pay for you, you two head to the car and chat for a while when Gibbs gets a call. “Hold on let me take this” he walks off and answers the call, on the other hand you just sat there waiting on him to come back. 2 minutes past and Gibbs comes back, “we got a dead marine” he said while opening your door on the passenger side, “ugh again?” Every time you look up either someone is dead or Tony is flirting with someone’s mom. “Yep again” he says while turning on the truck putting it in reverse. “Don’t worry it will be over soon and who knows maybe we’ll go back to my place” you nodded at that idea, it even made you think of a little more. 

PART 2???????

[cursedvida]

SAD EYES, BROKEN SMILE III (Buggy x F!Reader)

PART II // PART IV

WARNINGS: violence, swearing, Buggy being angry.

N/A: thirth part of this series, it's not gonna be so much longer. I hope you enjoy!

After revealing your ability to knock a guy down with just a couple of blows, your pretensions of going unnoticed within the crew have become quite impossible. You have caught the attention of Buggy, who on the one hand seems quite interested in your skills, but on the other is somewhat suspicious of you. And no wonder, in his eyes you have gone from being a helpless young girl to a killing machine, that has to confuse anyone. 

The day after what happened in the tavern he calls you to his cabin. It's the first time you've been alone with him since you found him that night in the ship's hold. You are very nervous, not because he might blow your cover but because he is so close to you. Buggy is not an overly muscular man but he is very tall, at least two feet taller than you. It was something you hadn't paid much attention to until now. Having him so close to you makes your chest tighten, making you feel ridiculous. 

"So tell me, Y/N.... why hadn't it occurred to you to tell me that you can finish a man off in half a minute?"

Buggy's voice sounds soft, almost seductive. He's using a patronizing tone. You've been watching him long enough over the past few months to know it's his way of hiding an impending anger.

"Do you think i'm an idiot?" There he is, he's just pulled out the genie. He abruptly turns to you and approaches, positioning himself dangerously close. "Tell me, do i look like a joke to you?"

You should be nervous about having to come up with some excuse but actually all you can think about is that you see him as a very kissable person. Obviously, you can't say that. 

"Did you really think I'm gonna believe the story of you not minding important to tell me about your fighting skills?"

"I..."

"Tell me the truth, Y/N. Now."

Buggy comes dangerously close to your face, his nose almost brushing against yours. He must think your nervousness is because he's caught you, but the truth is your heart is going so fast because you're holding him so close and it feels like a sin not to eat his mouth. Every day that passes your desire for him grows and at times like this you find it hard to control yourself.

"Well?" he insists, getting impatient. 

You snap back to reality, you must answer something. You sigh, perhaps the best thing to do is to tell the truth.

"Okay..." you nod, pulling away from him a little. You can't center your head holding him so close, his scent clouding your sense. "I had foster parents, they were Marines. They were working as undercover agents, but they ended up in prison for treason or something. When they were arrested my sister and I escaped, but we ended up as slaves and were bought by a horrible guy who was in the business of training children to sell them as mercenaries in the future. I was one of the best, escaped from there, got my own life and blah, blah, blah..."

You were not good at telling stories but that time you have excelled, you have told it with such reluctance that anyone would say that you are summarizing a very boring novel. Buggy stares at you for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. You don't understand what's so funny, maybe you don't like to make a big deal out of it because your personal traumas have turned you into a kind of emotional robot, but it's not to make fun of other people's misfortunes either. 

"Do you really expect me to believe something like that?" 

Wow, so that's what it is, the truth has seemed too far-fetched for him. Well, good for you. 

"I have to admit, you're a good storyteller. You could use that talent for some show." You stifle a smile, one of the things you like most about that fool is how sometimes he doesn't know anything. "But I want the truth, Y/N, or we'll have a problem."

You sigh. Fuck, that's lazy, now you'll have to make something up. 

"My father was a former marine" you lie "I was trained by him." 

Buggy grimaces.

"Yes, of course the earlier story was much more interesting, it had more drama."

"I thought if I told that my father had been in the Navy you wouldn't want me in your crew" you shrug. Well, in the end a boring, simple excuse was the most convincing. 

Buggy stares at you, weighing whether to buy your excuses or not. 

"Okay, I believe you" he nods. He folds his arms and leans slightly towards you, speaking menacingly "But I hate it when people try to make a fool out of me." 

"I never have ever intended anything like that" Actually at first you did. 

"Are you sure?"

"Fuck, of course yes!" You exclaim, exasperated, stepping completely out of your role. 

Buggy pulls back, confused by your reaction. 

"What, you're offended?" he asks, incredulous "I'm the one who has the right to be angry here!"

"For God's sake, Buggy, stop thinking the whole fucking world wants to fucking laugh at you."

You've never said swear words in front of him before, nor spoken in such a rude manner. It's the first time you show him your true personality and he seems quite surprised. And a bit angry, to be honest. 

"You're obsessed with what fucking people think. Fuck it, people are bullshit." 

"How dare you talk to me like that, don't you know who I am?"

"Of course I know, everyone knows. You love make everyone know" you reply, a bit fed up now "I'm just telling you the truth."

"You don't seem very enthusiastic, maybe you don't like being on this crew anymore."

You fold your arms, he's not the only one who can be proud and stubborn, you've always been known for that too. 

"Maybe not."

Buggy's gaze seems to be on fire with rage. He's really furious. 

"Well, get the hell out then."

"No!"

That really knocks him off his feet.

"No?"

Your tone has dropped considerably, regaining your composure. 

"I'm not leaving." 

"May I ask what the hell is wrong with you?"

At this point in the conversation, and considering that you've already discovered too many cards to give up the game, perhaps it's time to tell the truth. But the one that matters. The stuff about you working as a bounty hunter or that your goal was to kidnap him is not something that seems relevant to you.

You take a breath, take a deep breath and stare at him. 

"I like you" you reply matter-of-factly.

Buggy stares at you as if he has just seen a ghost. He's speechless, that's quite a feat coming from someone who is incapable of shutting his mouth for more than two minutes. He opens his mouth slightly to say something but he can't, he gets stuck. Your confession has completely thrown him off, right now so many things are going through his head that he is unable to manage. 

"I don't care about being a pirate" since you confess, you decide to confess completely "but I like you and I don't want to leave the ship. So stop accusing me like that, it doesn't sit well with me."

Not that it feels too good to your self-esteem to see the horrified look on Buggy's face at this point, but it feels genuinely good. You've finally let it out, you've been holding it inside for so long that it's been a lump in your throat.

"Your .... Eh.... Me?" It's the only thing Buggy finds himself able to utter. 

The idea being liked by someone is not something that crosses his mind often. Buggy can brag about all his exploits and constantly bravado about his abilities, but he has always felt considerably inferior than many of his peers. He knows he inspires fear, terror even, that some of his disciples look up to him but... liking him? Why would you like him? You're quite a bit younger and very pretty. In fact you don't know it, but more than one member of the crew has commented to him once or twice that they finds you very attractive. He's sure it's a ruse or something to confuse him, there's no way you really could like him. 

"Look, I'm not going waste more time, this is a childish conversation" You tell him, once you've made your confession it's like all the nerves and fear have disappeared. You are you again. "When you calm down you look for me"

And then you make the decision to do something you've been wanting to do for weeks. You were taught that if you decide something you have to go all the way, that has always been your character. So you approach Buggy, stand on tiptoe and give him a light kiss on the lips. He stands still, motionless, like a statue. You look into those eyes that enchant you and say:

"I really wanted to do that, I'm sorry." 

And with that said you leave, returning to the deck. Buggy stares at you, static, unable to react. 

What the hell just happened?

[the-fluff-piece]

Hiya, I’ve only just found your blog and I love your work🥰 would you mind writing a bit of a drama (i’m a drama queen🥲)? I’ve been thinking some misunderstanding like zoro being (unintentionally) popular with girls but one being extremely clingy to the point people, as well as the fem reader, think they are a couple. Female reader gets jealous and sad and Sanji comes to comfort her and Zoro sees that and gets the wrong idea and becomes jealous too. But they somehow find out the truth and blah blah romantic stuff confessions etc. I know it’s ridiculous but I live for the drama🥺 thanks in advance and i will understand if you don’t want to do it but I love ya anyway xx

Hiya dear reader,

Thank you for your kind words! I'm happy that you like my style!

I'm sorry it took so long, but I didn't want to post something unfinished XD I hope you don't mind me setting it before the time skip, I think water seven directly after enies lobby is a great location.

Drama is always good and that's a great setup - LET'S DO IT (got a little longer)

👉 masterlist stories

👉 masterlist headcanon

here's

Zoro has no fucking clue

You defeated CP9 and returned together with Robin to Water 7, where the crew got the chance to heal and relax for a few days.

Together, you really showed it to the world government! Well, mostly the big hitters in the crew. Zoro saved you when it came to fighting, not that you minded it. Whenever you were in danger, you knew that he would show up and defeat whatever marine captain or sea monster was trying to kill you.

When you got the key and released him and Usopp from the cuffs, he flashed you a heartmeltingly handsome smile and proceeded to partake in the absolutely ridiulous sword duel that destroyed half the building - and than he fought against thousands of marines.

He really deserved a break. And a thank you. You had been aimlessly wandering through the streets of water 7 to find something for Zoro, a gift to thank him. And maybe show him how much you like him.

Eventually, you decided to get him a Magnum bottle of sake, enough for his big thirst. It was something he absolutely would love.

Pleased with your purchase, you walked back to your temporary shelter in water 7- but your heart almost stopped. You were already so attuned to his appearance, that you could have picked out that green hair in any crowd - Zoro was here. And he seemed to be moving fast. Trouble? That meat head always managed to find a fight, you better help him out.

The gathering crowd slowed you down almost immediately. You squeezed through to see Zoro fighting with some guy, who was no match for the formidable swordsman.

Putting on a real show, Zoro played with the amateur, who poked helplessly at the air as Zoro effortlessly moved around the battlefield. Drinking in the "Oh!" And "Ah!" From the surrounding crowd, a cocky smile spread over his face.

With his two swords crossed, he finally attacked and struck his opponent down with one blow.

The crowd cheered - a very female sounding cheer. You noticed a lot of girls streaming to him. They clung to his arms and praised his strength- what was going on?

A girl shouted: "He got the pantie thief! He's my hero!" In a ridiculously high pitched voice and ran towards a grinning Zoro.

Pantie thief - of course. You rolled your eyes and waited for the crowd to dissipate. And you waited, and waited. One of them seemed glued to Zoro's arm, giggling and throwing her long, blonde locks around.

"Hey Zoro, let's get back to the others" you tried to get him to leave with you.

"Nah. this girl here will thank me with some booze! Just go back without me." He waved you off while the girl promised him all he could drink.

Rolling your eyes even harder, you went back to the crew at the galley-la building and informed them of Zoro's absence.

"Good riddance!" Sanji muttered past his cigarette. "Want an éclair?" He offered, almost in the same breath but with suddenly heart-shaped eyes.

"YES" you shouted, hungry for some kind of comfort after Zoro just trotted off with a blonde haired beauty.

"Stupid mosshead!" You cursed as you angrily shoved the sweet treat into your mouth.

"Yes he is, if he did anything to you I will kick that guy to the moon!" Sanji chimed in.

"No it's okay." You muttered and continued to mope for the rest of the evening.

Hardly able to sleep, you heard Zoro stumble home at dawn, throwing himself into a corner and snoring almost immediately.

You hoped that it was done with that - until the next morning. You heard Sanji shriek in delight as the door opened: "Such a sweet beautiful girl, did you come to see me, my lady?"

You didn't hear the reply clearly, but a high female voice cooed something and you heard a loud thud as Sanji's body hit the floor, an expression of total horror on his face.

The girl from yesterday pranced past you as you knelt down next to the cook.

"It's horrible..." he hoarsely whispered, seemingly near death, "she's bringing the mosshead breakfast. That beautiful lady..." his eyes closed as he sighed the last half-sentence and with it, his will to live (for the moment).

Hot jealousy surged up again. You stomped to the table, where luffy was sleep-eating heaps and Zoro gingerly unpacked a giant sandwich, seemingly made entirely out of meat.

The blonde bimbo had parked her breasts on the table and watched Zoro with a dreamy expression as he wolfed down the sandwich, splattering sauce all over the place.

"Do you like it?" She asked in a melodic voice.

"Yeah, thanks" Zoro answered with a full mouth. He seemed very content. That ass.

She didn't leave afterwards. In fact, she basically moved in immediately, either hanging on Zoro's arm or sitting close to him, watching him with heart shaped eyes and complimenting his every breath.

She eventually informed the somewhat irritated rest of the crew that her name was Silk (while throwing her silky hair around) and that she stayed with Zoro. Since she didn't actually do anything bad and Zoro didn't seem to mind, everyone accepted or ignored it.

"Come on, snookums, it's so crowded here, let's go out" Silk tugged at his arm. "I know a great liquor place!"

"Yeah why not" he lazily followed her as she maneuvered him like a tugboat.

"Snookums?" you stared after them in disbelief.

Nami, meanwhile, died of hysterical laughter.

"Didn't think that a girl could tame him that much. He's totally whipped!" she laughed and slapped your back while you didn't understand the world anymore.

The sake you bought was still in your bag, still untouched. Maybe you should bring it back to the store.

It was evening, Zoro and his girl weren't back yet. You found yourself so irritated that you couldn't sleep, just like Sanji, who sat at the table and poured himself some wine.

As you sat next to him, he silently passed you a glass as well. He somehow managed to get from perfectly coiffed, full of energy and dressed to the nines to unshaven and disheveled in the course of a day.

"I know why I am upset...but what is it with you?" You ask him.

Two bloodshot eyes stared back at you.

"I can't believe Marimo...that filthy brute, with no style and no interest in women has a...a..." The end of his sentence was too much to bear for him, instead he took a nervous gulp of wine.

"And she's so....soo...prettyyyyy" he dragged out the last word like a pre-schooler in a tantrum.

You gently tapped your glass against his: "to us" you whisper.

"To...us?" He half asked and half repeated and he smiled.

One glass turned into two glasses, and like that the bottle was gone. Your only topic: how much Zoro and that girl sucked.

A new bottle was opened, and another. Soon, you didn't find enough things to hate Zoro for anymore, so instead you moved on to different topics. Sanji told you about growing up in the restaurant while you told him a few stories of your own. After the third bottle was emptied, you were both pretty drunk, and you didn't really remember much anymore.

You drifted off to an uneasy sleep, full of Zoro how he made out with the girl named Silk. How they had children and generally shoved their happiness into your face.

"Oi, wake up. Y/n, wake up!" You heard Zoro's angry voice above you as he tapped you with his foot.

"Wha...let me sleep marimo" you answered, swiftly adopting Sanji's language and inflection.

As you opened your eyes, the swordsman's towering frame took up your entire field of vision. With his crossed arms and grumpy expression, he looked intimidating as hell.

You stretched and realized that you had slept on the floor, leaning against Sanji, amidst a lot of pillows. Sanji must have brought them during the night to make you more comfortable. Now that's a man!

When you moved, Sanji's head fell into your lap, still sleeping, and he immediately began purring like a kitten. Zoro grabbed him by the collar and shook him awake.

"What the fuck YOU think you're doing?" He bellowed at his sleepy crewmate.

"Go and have your nosebleed somewhere else, you pervy cook!" He said as he threw Sanji down again -hopefully immediately regretting it because Sanji answered with a fiery kick.

Not even 5 minutes awake and already near a fight, you decided to crawl away to safety and make some tea.

As you set down with steaming cup in hand, you spotted the blonde girl coming towards you, wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Demonstrably, she sighed and commented "what a short night" showcasing her disheveled hair with a pout.

"Uh-hu" was all you could manage.

"You are his crewmate, are you not?" she asked, "how can you live with that manly man on one boat and not fall for him?"

"Yeah, it's a mystery" you answered sourly. If she only knew that you did - and he didn't care.

She continued to talk about something, but you decided not to listen. Instead, you focused on the fight going on outside now, where Zoro and Sanji shouted insults at each other.

"You hurt her feelings! I cannot ignore that!" Sanji screamed. "FLAMBÈ SHOT!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, STUPID COOK!" Zoro answered among loud clashes.

Your head was aching too much, there was too much noise. You excused yourself and went outside - away from the fight - and sat at the pier. It was calm here. Just faint noises of fighting were in the background.

You thought about how childish those two were, always fighting about something. But you were one to talk, you were childish as well. Zoro or Silk had no way of knowing that they hurt your feelings. At least Zoro deserved an open apology. And his sake.

You sighed, already playing the conversation in your head. The waves crashed against the pier, it was really calm.

Too calm.

When you returned to the building, both Zoro and Silk were gone.

Sanji was at the stove, making breakfast.

"Zoro stormed off" he said flatly. "And Silk-chan followed, of course."

They didn't return for the whole day. Dusk came and there was still no sign of them.

It got late, evening turned to night and Zoro was still gone. It was time to have a talk, to let him know how you felt, and to clarify where you both stood. You packed the sake to finally give it to him and be the friend he deserved.

You made your way through the bustling streets of Water 7 once again, aimlessly walking and hoping to find Zoro. It was a lively city with people sitting outside and laughing late into the night. You didn't see the green hair anywhere, maybe they've gone to her place.

Your feet have taken you away from the people in the streets to side alleys, where everything was calm and dark. There were lots or piers looking out to the water where crews loaded and unloaded goods.

With relief, you spotted Zoro sitting on a wooden barrel near the water's edge, alone now, with an empty bottle of sake beside him. His expression was more somber than before, and he seemed lost in thought.

Taking a deep breath, you approached him, determined to have the conversation you had been avoiding. As you got closer, Zoro looked up and met your gaze, and you could see a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Hey," you said softly, taking a seat beside him. "Mind if we talk?"

Zoro blinked and then nodded, a serious look on his face. "Sure, what's on your mind?"

You swallowed the lump in your throat and decided to be direct. "I am really happy for you, Silk seems to really like you." You paused, unsure where to go next.

"And I hope you're happy with the cook" he snorted.

"What?" You asked, surprised.

"The cook. And you. I wouldn't have thought..." His voice trailed off and he took the bottle again. Remembering that it was already empty, he threw it into the sea with a sigh.

"That goddamn cook with his nice words..." Zoro mumbled angrily.

"I am not with Sanji, silly" you told him.

"But you slept together...! On the floor!" He stuttered.

"We just fell asleep, nothing more." You said.

"I...I'm not with Silk either." He rubbed his head, "in fact, she was kind of unnerving."

"Than why be with her for days?" You asked.

"You know, it was nice to be appreciated for once. Silk gets it. You always call me stupid or silly." He shrugged.

"You stupid mosshead, everytime I call you stupid I mean that I like your stupid!" You rummaged in your bag for the Sake, "it means that you're adorable and cute and so, so unbelievably, awesomely stupid! And I do appreciate you. You save me all the time. I bought this for you, as a thank you" You gave him the extra large bottle of Sake.

Zoro's brows furrowed as the gears started turning in his head. "I didn't realize... I mean, I didn't think...why did you never say so before?"

"Don't know. You never really cared about anything besides swords and fighting." You shrugged.

"I...I do care, I just...I'm not so good with words." He held the bottle in his hands like he didn't know what to do with it.

He swallowed and looked at you. "You know, I think you're stupid, too. Really silly. The silliest person I've ever met." He laughed and you chimed in.

You felt a rush of relief and happiness wash over you. Maybe Zoro wasn't as clueless as you had thought. Perhaps he had his own way of expressing his feelings.

"Just to be sure...stupid means I like you" He whispered and invited you to sit with him. When you hopped on the barrell, he put his arm around you.

As you sat there by the water's edge, the two of you talked late into the night, sharing stories, laughter, and sake. The noise of the world around you faded into the background as you discovered a deeper connection with Zoro, one that went beyond the chaos of battles and adventures.

And in that moment, you realized that sometimes, the most meaningful conversations happened not in grand gestures, but in the quiet moments shared between two people who cared for each other deeply.

-----

Epilogue (because I don't want to leave Silk's character as the only evil female catty villain)

Zoro and you eventually made it back to the company house and shocked everyone, first and foremost poor Sanji, with your new found closeness. It would be a long road until you could say the l-word to each other, but whatever your now relationship was, it was good.

It would still be a few days until you could sail from water 7 and you enjoyed the commodities of the city, walking through the busy streets, window shopping.

A store with beautiful cloth caught your eye and you entered. You looked at the exquisite goods when you heard a shop clerk approach "can I help you?"

"No I'm just look-AHHH" your voice and face must have derailed when you found yourself looking at an equally shocked Silk. A moment of awkward silence followed where you saw that her eyes were swollen and she looked really tired.

"Uhm, hi Silk, how are you?" You stammered.

"You know. Not so good" Silk looked unnerved. "What do you want?"

"I didn't know you worked here" you were caught off guard. But now that Zoro was with you, the anger against her seemed childish and mean.

"I'm Sorry if I was mean to you before" you said, surprising the girl, "I was unfair."

"No, don't. I was...overreacting, too. I'm sorry" She said thoughtfully. "He didn't stop talking about you. Really annoying, like he was hung up on you. That's why I was so pushy" Tears pooled in her eyes again.

Helpless, you tried to comfort her.

"Don't...he's just a stupid, stupid man" you told her.

"I know. That's why I liked him" she said, voice breaking.

You guessed that you weren't the best person to comfort her now, so you decided to leave.

"I'm Sorry. I should go now" you said.

"Yeah. Bye" She forced a smile and waved.

[celluceta]

✭ Law, Bepo, Penguin, Shachi & Ikkaku finding out you like Vocaloid + headcanons ✭

Hi there! Here are some silly headcanons I've been thinking about the past few days. I've been listening and drawing Vocaloid a lot lately and this idea popped in my head, so I hope you like it!! A good friend of mine helped me with this💚

Please keep in mind that english isn't my first language so there might be grammar errors🫠

I had a lot to write about Law and Bepo...

Also I won't be talking about UTAU that much since I'm not very familiar with them,,, sorry.

🎐Please keep in mind these are MY headcanons! If yours are different, that's perfectly fine! Feel free to drop them in the comments if you want🎐

⭐Gender neutral reader⭐

Law

Ok so I headcanon there is a common room in the Polar Tang, with a couple of long sofas and where every member of the crew has their own little space somehow, like walls covered in posters and shelves filled with, books and even plushies of marine animals and their hobbies.

You were spending one morning there, listening to your favorite Vocaloid playlist in a den den mushi (you know, like the ones that appear in film red) when Law arrived, looking for a medicine book he didn’t have at his office.

Normally he would have just walked out the room, but as your den den mushi started playing Tokyo Teddy Bear, his eyes couldn't help but rush to look at you.

You noticed it and glanced at him as well. As your eyes met, he quickly looked back, grabbing the book and heading out the room.

"You like Vocaloid, captain?"

It took him a few seconds to answer before leaving you there. "Why would I do? It's a waste of time".

You were confused but didn't think much about it.

Until a couple of days later, when you walked past the door of his office and heard something familiar...

"Shinkai shoojo mada mada shizumu"

You couldn't believe it. You opened the door and looked at him with a smirk on your face, meeting with his shocked, flushed red face.

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" He shouted at you before you left the room giggling, hoping you wouldn't tell the rest of the crew.

He's not the biggest fan, but since Bepo is, he ended up liking a few songs. He would never admit it out loud though, he thinks it would ruin his image.

I can't stop thinking he listens to the most edgy Vocaloid songs... . ...

You know, Lost One's Wheeping, Ghost Rule, Aishite Aishite Aishite and more.

Definitely enjoys Kikuo more than any other vocaloid producer. Also Wowaka.

Nobody knows about this, but he knows the whole lyrics of The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku.

Bepo

Do I have to say it?

Seriously, do I have to say it?

This guy's OBSESSED. He's been listening to Vocaloid for years.

Maybe even before leaving Zou.

Everyone in the crew learned about Vocaloid thanks to him, so when he discovers you also enjoy it, he'll go so excited you'll get trouble understanding what he's saying. You'll see his eyes shining as he's speaking.

One day, on a karaoke session they decided to have not so long after you joined the crew, he started playing Ring no Shitensi.

"Oh, I know this one!"

And his sprakling eyes rapidly landed on you, his lips drawing a bright smile on his face.

He runs into you, not midning the music still playing as he holds your hands and starts talking to you so fast you can barely understand him.

You glanced nervously at Penguin and Shachi for a moment, and they just lifted their thumbs, telling you it was normal.

His favorite producers are definitely Mitchie M, Kinoshita and Livetune.

No matter how many redesigns Miku gets, he'll always prefer the first one.

He knows all the producers mentioned in Kagamine Let's Say the P Names. All of them.

He's one of those people who blast christmas music once it's October 1st, but instead of Mariah Carey it's just Snow Miku songs.

He has a space in his room dedicated exclusively to his lightstick collection, and he knows all existing choreographies from the concerts.

Obviously, in their karaoke sessions, he'll just sing Vocaloid (and Uta) songs.

He has dragged Penguin and Shachi with him, and the rest of the crew knows the lyrics of at least one song or two. Knowing about Vocaloid is inevitable when he's around.

When he discovers a new song Law might like, he eagerly shows him. Law always says he's not interested, but he ends up listening to it on repeat when he's alone.

And he's just as obsessed with UTAU as he is with Vocaloid.

Penguin & Shachi

I feel like instead of them reacting to you, you'd react to them.

Like, again, on a karaoke session, you'd see how they sing along with Bepo, and that just surprises you.

"I didn't know you guys liked Vocaloid!"

"You never asked" They said to you with a playful smirk.

They are glad you also enjoy the music, but don't mind as much as Bepo. Shachi would maybe express it better than Penguin.

Sometimes they join Bepo with the lightsticks, specially if he's playing classics as World is Mine or Luka Luka Night Fever. They ended up learning the movements from watching the bear.

Huge. Deco*27. Fans.

Also they enjoy a couple of Mitchie M and Neru songs, but leave the edgy ones to Law.

Would have a whole discussion over what Miku's voicebank is better on a daily basis.

"V4 pronunciation is way better, man"

"Yeah but it doesn't sound as robotic as V2. What's the point of Miku if she doesn't sound like a robot?"

Shachi's a Rin fan while Penguin prefers Len. Sometimes they tease each other like little kids over who's better, but at the end of the day they both enjoy the twins.

Not that much to say about these guys, just average fans.

Ikkaku

(so sad there aren't more GIFs where Ikkaku appears😭 but this one's fire anyways)

Short because she doesn't really care about Vocaloid that much.

She would be like "Oh that's cool" and continue what she was doing. She just doesn't care at all.

Definitely the most chilled listener among all of them.

V Flower and Gumi. That's it.

She doesn't listen to Vocaloid that often, just from time to time when she remembers they exist.

At first she was like "Wth are they doing..." whenever Bepo, Penguin and Shachi danced with the lightsticks, but now she's gotten used to it.

Has no problem listening to Bepo talk about Vocaloid for quite the long time.

But the bear made her hate Snow Miku songs. She wouldn't have if he didn't played them on repeat from October until the next one is released.

She actually enjoys some of the classics.

Specially Magnet.

You know why... 🧡🤍🩷

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Feel My Face

Author's notes: Alpharius in Living Water AU

Past =-= Next

Warnings: none that I can think of. Let me know if I need to add anything

Summary: Zariel and hisbrothers are slowly rebuilding lost trust

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams,

Tagged continued: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k, @ms--lobotomy @bispecsual @thevoidscreams

Tagged continued: @i-am-a-dragon34, @gra93fruit-blog

“I think,” Mara says after listening to both sides speaking and watching them all. “That Lana should get the choice on whether she stays ‘bonded’ to you five. Unless something happens and for the good of the Colony, it’s better to have your lot leave… permanently.”

The whole squad of alpha legion space marines stare at Lana, expressions of painful hope and worry plain as day on their faces and she thinks about the choices before her and closes her eyes for a moment or two.

“I think,” She says, licking her lips a little as she chooses her words with care, “That I’d like to get to know each of you all over again. Start off on the right claw, so to speak, before making permanent decisions.”

The squad of Alpha legion troopers agree to this, even if it makes them nervous, while the squad of Primaris Marines scowl, not liking the choices made, but aren’t going to say anything for or against it.

“We could help to chaperone, if you’d like?” Jophiel says, almost singing to Lana. “to make sure that they don’t try anything.”

Mara clacks her claw into the ground, drawing everyone’s attention, “Since that is Lana’s decision, we will give you another chance, but our requirement still stands. Approach with honesty and as your true selves, unless a disguise is requested or is required in an emergency. We do not appreciate being lied to... If you and your brothers can't manage even that, then you must leave.” Her words are solemn and heavy. 

“We agree to your terms,’ Zariel says with a solemn nod. He hears over vox coms the sighs of relief from his brothers. This is going to be difficult, but worth it. It’s rare that their kind of Astartes gets this kind of second chance. He’s not going to waste it and will do his best to ensure that his brothers comply as best he can.

The Scout-lings continue to make faces at them. Goodness, they are young which makes Zarius wonder where the fuck their babysitters, he means Scout Sargents are. He notices when the Blood Angel sends a message through text vox with a complicated emotional expression on his face that he can only partly decipher. Then he gently pokes the pair of Scout-ling Black Templars and says, “I think you should send a message to Arnault and Roland that the Alpha legionary issue has been resolved for now.”

Ramiel and Cedric make faces at him but do begrudgingly comply with his understandable request. For now, they will back off and wait for a call for aid, should the Gannet Harpies request or require it. Still, it's something that they will keep in mind, Ramiel gently tugging at one of Claude's arms as they say their goodbyes to the Harpies, heading back to home.

Zariel notices over the next few months that the Scout-lings always come in pairs now. They are respectful, and slowly, their personalities are revealed to him and his brothers over time. Some of the Scout-lings will talk with them, but a couple of them are aloof or hesitant to approach or speak to them. Per military politeness, if they are directly spoken to, they will speak back.

For some reason, the Scout-lings Raven Guard is very, very quiet around them. He speaks as little as possible to them. He's avoiding them like they are Plague Marines, which is rude, if somewhat funny at the same time. Occasionally, Orlys or one of the younger Alpha Legionaries in the squad will playfully chase Claude around. 

Until his battle buddy realizes what they are doing, and then they usually get rammed into at full speed by one of the Black Templars. Or pounced on by the bitey bastard of a Blood Angel. The little Ultramarines was with his very long ribbon tail and tried to lecture and scold them.

Zariel, the Apothecary-trained of the Alpha legionary squad, was eying the young Raven Guard assessing the younger space marine as the Scout-ling was helping to chase down prey fish with the age-mates in the Harpy Colony. He's purring softly as he nuzzles into Lana. It6's nice to relax and laze around for a bit. He closes his eyes briefly when Lana gently strokes the skin along his side, gently scratching him with her claws. As she helps him get some loose skin that are coming off to release.

“Are you plotting something?” Lana asks him, feeling the way Zariel's powerful frame shifts a little as he cuddles her.

“Always, love,” Zariel he responds with easy truth and a cheeky grin.

She hums a little and lightly scratches more of his tentacles, “anything in particular?”

“Oh, Just going to assess the spatial awareness of youngsters,” he says with faux-innocence. 

Zariel's teal eyes spark with mischief, and she chuckles a little before asking, “Why do you chase poor Claude around so much? You and your pod do it to him the most.”

“He's fun to chase,” Zariel says with a cheeky grin.”The other Scout-lings allow some physical contact in regards to sparring and play fighting. Claude doesn’t, not with us. His fellow Scout-lings yes.”

“You could respect his boundary,” Lana pointed out.

Zariel hums as he tilts his head a little as he thinks about that statement. He responds with, “it's much more fun to play-chase him instead.”

“I think his patience with your pushing will break one day,” she warns, “and you might not like the response he gives you.”

“I have survived snapping Responses from astartes far older and more dangerous than him,” Zariel says, not quite dismissing her words.

“If I'm right,” informs him primly as she arches an eyebrow at him, “I will say ‘I told you so’.”

“Deal, Lana,” Zariel says as he nuzzles into her as he buries his nose into her neck, pressing a light kiss to her pulse point.

Which has her squawking at him, her face flushed red, and she pinches and pulls one of his cheeks in retribution for being a bit of a horny brat in public.

[deeptrashwitch]

A Haunting Past (Part 16)

Here we go with another chapter! As usual, shout out and a thousand thanks to @islandtarochips for being my beta reader 💖💖

Enjoy the chapter!

Taglist (just to show :3): @alypink @snootlestheangel @islandtarochips @raresvtm

@cynicvice @midnight193 @mutantthedark @justasmolbard @welldonekhushi

@tapioca-milktea1978 @imagoddamnonionmason @stargazing-sapphire2 @milkteaarttime @blacktacmopsi

@maymaylyn @thatonesillyducko @seraphiixiao @me-is-confused @gunnrblze

Tw: Panic attack

Days passed and Alicia just waited for Wraith to figure out who the number belonged to. It was something that never completely left her mind. To the point she started to write some of the plans she had in her notebook.

That just made her wonder once again. Who? It didn't make any sense, she couldn't really think of someone that would betray them that way. And even then, why stay in the Marine Corps afterwards?

It was stressing her out very badly.

And now, night after night, she woke up covered in a cold sweat and running to the bathroom to puke. All that was happening made her memories even worse. The nightmares were so recurrente that even the others were noticing her eye bags. Even Jackson tried to convince her to take another time off, even try using sleeping pills.

If only he knew…

She has been taking pills since a long time ago but they didn't work. Never completely. And less now.

“Ugh…I need to end this soon so I can sleep.” She murmured to herself one day when blood started to drop from her nose while she did paperwork.

After a couple of days, she just tried to focus on her work. By the afternoon, she went for a glass of water while she was already prepared for another restless night. That is until Wraith walked inside.

“Do you have the information?” Alicia asked without looking at her fellow comrade.

Wraith stayed in silence for a second, almost like she was doubting. “I do.”

“Let’s hear it then.”

Alicia turned around, just to see how Wraith from all people looked at her with sadness and pity. She raised an eyebrow but waited for her to speak. Soon Dominique sighed and spoke, trying to avoid any eye contact for the first time since they met.

“The numbers…it belongs to a Raider.” Wraith started to say.

“Okay, we knew that much.”

“The thing is about who that Raider is.”

“Who is it? Someone from the Sixth? Maybe another black operations team?”

“I'm sorry Alicia.”

Alicia frowned. “Why are you apologizing? It starts to worry me.”

Wraith just gave her the folder with the traitor’s identity. When Alicia opened it, the first thing that she saw…was a well known face. One that she saw not so long ago.

Oliver.

Fucking Oliver Reyes.

“You’re joking...” She whispered, trying not to throw the folder to her face. “You’re joking!”

“I wish I was, but I confirmed…”

“It can’t be! He was one of us!”

“Alicia, breathe. Please.”

But Alicia wasn't hearing her anymore. She just felt how everything was destroyed and disappeared around her, all the plans she made. Everything that she had created to make sure her team was SAFE and getting the job DONE. But everything went sideways BECAUSE of that one person who she trusted the most.

Not long after, Alicia was starting to have trouble breathing while she kept asking in her mind for the reason.

At some point her legs gave up as she fell to the ground. She couldn't hear anything other than a buzzing in her ears. In just a second the world was moving so fast that she felt like it stopped for a second.

Alicia couldn't believe it.

She never thought about the possibility of Oliver being the traitor. But now she learns that he sold them. He gave them to hell on earth.

“He was one of us…” She whispered, crying uncontrollably.

She could see how the boys barged into the kitchen and how Luke argued with Wraith, but it was surreal. Almost like she was in her body but at the same time she wasn't. There was no other sound than the buzzing. And suddenly, she felt like she started to laugh.

Alicia passed a hand through her hair while she laughed and cried. Completely desperate. Unknowingly to her, she looked like she had lost her mind. Then she covered her face with the same hand, still crying.

She couldn't believe it. For a second she wished it was just a nightmare.

William. Richard. Kate. Jason. Sean. Arthur. Leo.

All of them were dead because of Oliver.

She went through hell because of him.

And yet, she couldn't understand why. Oliver was like them. He was part of the 267 too, they trained, fought and survived together.

Why? WHY?!?

While she felt a pressure over her chest and her vision started to darken, her mind just repeated a single thing. It was his fault. All of it, all of the pain, the nightmares, the blood shed. It was him.

At some point she swore she saw Jackson kneel beside her, with a worried expression. But she couldn't be sure, because something snapped inside her and she fell unconscious.

Hours later she woke up with a groan, feeling her body weight a ton. To her surprise, Jackson was sitting behind his desk simply doing his paperwork while Luke napped near him. It was the first time she ever saw them so…peaceful around each other.

“...Why aren't you killing each other?” She asked, trying to feign a smile while straightening up.

Jackson stood up and stopped her from moving. “Don't.”

“Jackson-”

“No, Origin. This time DON’T.” He said seriously. “You had to be sedated.”

“What?”

“You had a full blown panic attack. It was so bad I had to sedate you to stop you from hurting yourself.”

Alicia sighed tiredly before laying her head back down. “Damn it.”

“I haven't seen this since we met and even then it wasn't this bad.” Jackson said, now looking at her with worriedness. “Are you really okay?”

“... I'll be.”

Jackson sighed and shook his head. “I don't believe that. This time I can see how much it’s affecting you.”

Alicia just raised an eyebrow before looking at her hand. She saw an IV connected to her arm. After that, she looked at Jackson again.

“So now what? I assume Wraith told you why I had a panic attack.”

“She did. And we spoke with all the team-”

Luke looked at her, already awake. “We’ll help you to find Reyes, no matter the time it takes, but under one condition.”

“Shoot.”

“You go with us. Not on your own.”

Alicia was completely in silence after hearing Luke’s request. Before she could even answer, Wraith had walked in. There was no need for another word before Alicia raised her hands.

“I know what you will say.” Alicia said with a sigh.

“You won't be in this.” Wraith ordered coldly. “This time the CIA ordered it, it's above you and me.”

“What?! But Alicia's the one-!” Luke tried to intervene, just to be interrupted by Alicia's hand.

“It’s fine, still, thanks for offering to help me, guys.” Alicia said before looking at Wraith. “Who takes it?”

Wraith shook her head. “I can't disclose it, but they know your clash of interests.”

“Do they think I’ll do something stupid on duty?”

“Most likely.”

Alicia looked at her jacket, that was over a chair, before moving to take it. In silence she looked for something and stripped it. She gave it to Wraith, who raised an eyebrow when she saw Alicia’s captaincy badge.

“Alicia-”

“I have too much to lose to risk it like that.” Alicia said, surprisingly calm.”Here, keep it until this is ended, I won't be the Captain for now.”

Wraith grabbed it with a frown. “I expected you to be furious.”

“I am, but I won't risk my people.”

“Right…”

Alicia looked at her tiredly. “I'll be on leave, call me when you find him. I need to speak with him.”

Wraith doubted for a second, but then she nodded with a look of pity. “Where will you go? To Las Almas?”

“...No, I need time alone.”

Wraith nodded and soon she took Luke along to ask him to fill her role in the meantime. All while Jackson looked at Alicia in silence, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m actually surprised by your reaction.I thought you’d go full psycho hunting Reyes.”

“Nah…you know I can’t.”

Jackson sighed and nodded. “Guess you’re right. Anyway, call me if you feel sick, okay? For now, I’ll go see what I have to do. Now that Luke is the leader temporarily.”

“Good luck, kid.”

“Mhmm.”

The medic walked out of the medic bay while Alicia kept the calm expression, until he disappeared from her sight. For a second she stayed like that, then her expression changed to a deep angered scowl and clenched her hands until her knuckles became white.Still without saying a word, she grabbed a second phone hidden in her jacket to message someone.

[We need to talk. Soon.]

[nancypullen]

I Was Almost On CNN

It's been a day. Living in Dogpatch has many drawbacks and for the most part I have adjusted. I've been looking for a certain food item, nothing fancy, and haven't been able to find it. I'm not searching for white truffles or beluga caviar, just a freakin' carton of peppermint ice cream. Let me explain. I'm a granny, and for decades I have put Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners on the table. All of the family favorites, mostly southern recipes, make an appearance. The table groans under the weight of all the casseroles and we groan after we eat all of that buttery, rich food. Last month as I cooked our Thanksgiving feast, I was not having as much fun as in years past. I kept looking at the massive amounts of not-so-healthy foods and just felt icky. My family, however, is sentimental about the traditional meal. So I cooked for two days, put it on the holiday table, and the meal was over in 25 minutes. I'm not saying it wasn't appreciated, my family is very kind about that - but it took longer to clear the table and load the dishwasher than it did for the meal to be consumed. Just one more reason to make a change. A couple of days after Thanksgiving I declared that our Christmas dinner would not be the same old stuff. The menfolk looked at me like deer in the headlights. It wasn't until I said that maybe I'd make a brisket that they relaxed a little. Did they think I was going to put a platter of PB&J on the table? I told them that the sides would be greatly reduced because we don't need all of the carbs/butter/sugar/name a poison. Sure, they'll miss the sweet potato souffle covered in brown sugar and pecans, but they'll thank me later. I'm keeping the hashbrown casserole for two reasons - it'll go great with the brisket, and they'd really miss it. I'm going to add some maple bacon brussels sprouts, and a sheet pan of ranch crescent rolls. . I'll marinate the brisket overnight and cook it slow in the oven on Christmas day. That's it. It's an embarrassingly simple meal, and about a week ago I started feeling guilty. I mean, really guilty. Those old holiday meals made my family happy. They expect those twice-a-year dishes from me. I just ripped those traditions to shreds because I'm tired.

I was swimming in that guilt when I realized that although I've got brownies, sugar cookies, etc available - I'd made no plan for a dessert after Christmas dinner. I am failing at every turn. That's when I decided that we'd have a dense, dark chocolate cake...and peppermint ice cream. I've done it before and it's a delightful, wintery, holiday dessert. Easy, simple, winner! Until I started looking for peppermint ice cream. In the past *cough*not here*cough* I'd drive 4 miles to any number of fine grocery stores, pick up a carton, and toss it in the freezer until needed. Not here. In Caroline County people act as if they've never heard of it. Today I dragged Matt with me and drove the 30 minutes to Easton because according to their website Harris Teeter had some in stock. They lied. I looked at every freezer shelf and even the seasonal end cap freezers. No dice. Another phone consultation showed that Target had 4 in stock. They also lied. Mind you, this hunt involved searching for parking and working through crowded stores because it's the 23rd of December. Normally I wouldn't be caught dead in a store at this stage of the game. It would have been easier at this point to just choose a different flavor, but nothing else would have the same festive flair. I considered a carton of black cherry but I just couldn't give up. Another phone search revealed that the Giant supermarket across town supposedly had peppermint ice cream. Off I went. I was not feeling optimistic. In my head I was feeling the burden of my family's expectations - I'd already torpedoed their normal Christmas meal, then I'd chosen to take the easy way out on dessert as well. I'd promised peppermint ice cream and I would die trying to make that happen. I'll add that I am tired, I have a lot to do the next couple of days, and I JUST WANTED THIS ONE WIN. We pulled into a parking spot at Giant and I looked at Matt who had been cheerful all day (this quick trip had turned into 3 hours), and I said, "Just warning you. I'm this close to a melt down. If they don't have it I might turn into that crazy customer that starts pushing over displays." His eyes widened for a second and then he grinned. Deep down, he knew that I wouldn't do any such thing. But he'd also get a kick out of witnessing it if I did. We walked to the back of the store to the freezer section and began our search. Various vanillas, so much mint chocolate chip, butter pecan, Oreo, Snickers, pistachio (my favorite!) and just as I was suggesting that maybe I could just buy vanilla and crush up candy canes to sprinkle on top - Matt spotted it. Not a carton, but four of those pint-sized Häagen-Dazs containers of peppermint ice cream. I started hemming and hawing because buying four pricier pints was not my plan, and that's when Matt scooped them all up and said, "I'm buying them." I think he was over the whole issue. Fair. Especially after I'd said I might go postal in Giant. So I grabbed a carton of neopolitan for the grandgirl and hurried to check out. Matt was already in self-checkout and we met at the door. I felt awful that he'd paid for the ice cream (I'll sneak cash into his wallet) and then felt like a big baby when he whipped out the latest copy of Southern Living. I'd reached for it earlier and then decided I didn't need it because it would be full of recipes that it's too late to include in my plans. He was sweet enough to surprise me with it. Four pints of Häagen-Dazs and a magazine kept me off CNN. There will not be a feature story of a crazy woman flipping shelves of candy canes and poinsettias in a small town grocery store in Maryland. It's a Christmas miracle. I did this to myself. I changed the tradition, my stress is self-inflicted. I'm was so worried about Christmas not being perfect for my family that I forgot how sweet they are, and what's important. I could serve Beanie Weenies and we'd still laugh around the table. I could have chosen any flavor of ice cream and our

 holiday would still be merry. I'm surrounded by kind,loving people who would really prefer that I stop stressing over the little details. That should probably be a goal of mine for 2025. What's that old saying? It's not what's on the table, it's who's in the chairs. Looking at it that way, our Christmas is already perfect. I'm one lucky duck.

From me to you, whatever has your shoulders up around your ears and your teeth clenched. Let it go. None of it will matter in a year. The people who love you will keep right on loving you, and those who don't...well, who cares? Take a deep breath and thank your lucky stars for the good people in your life. What a gift.

Stay safe, stay well, stay sane. XOXO, Nancy

[glowinlemon]

hi, hope you're well! I like your hot takes about corazon, you get him. now if you would please, what are your fic recs for stories with law & corazon (not shipping them ofc) (side note, i'm listening to the new bad bunny album as I write this and I can feel in my soul that corazon would love his music, I just know it) have a nice day!

Omg, hi! This is my first ever ask and I’m so happy to see it!

Be warned, I’ve got like 50 Corazon fics I’ve that permanently live in my head, so I really hope you like my recommendations (I also definitely agree abt Corazon liking Bad Bunny)

Accidental Adoptions by swaglittlesystem

A rlly good fic where after snatching up Law, Cora decides to steal Dellinger away too. From there he slowly accumulates more and more traumatized children as he runs from Doffy. I think he has by now adopted X Drake, Law, Dellinger, all of the Vinsmoke siblings, Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, and it looks like he might wind up snatching Baby 5 too? Oh! Also there’s a sprinkle of CrocoCora! It’s a little out of character, but the idea of Corazon being a magnet for every traumatized child in the series is hilarious. (Not finished)

The Apocalypse is Here to Stay by Zenithyl

Cora and Doffy centric where after Luffy has become the pirate king and stuff the world government falls apart. Cora has survived and been working as a marine for the past while, watching Laws career from afar. After the gov fails, Impel down gets abandoned and falls into disrepair. Roci decides to break out his brother and still keep him prisoner, just in such a way that he is the warden as he tries to keep his brother from destroying what’s left of the world. It’s not finished but does a really good job of showing the delicate balance of dangerous and kind that makes up Corazons character. There isn’t any Law, but it does such a spectacular job of portraying both of the brothers that I felt like it deserved to be included. (Not finished)

The Man Born of No Sea by HyperbolicReverie

Corazon fic with no romantic interest but it’s still sooo good! One shot where after Doffy leaves him as a kid the embodiment of the sea finds him and leads Sengoku to him. As Roci gets older he becomes friends with her, and eventually she ends up caring for him more than she has any other mortal for the last like 500 years. They become besties and by the end she’s become an almost maternal figure. Super good and so so heart breaking. Doesn’t rlly include TOO much of Law but he’s there and the fic is truly amazing.

Winter by Mr_Crowsnest

Awwwwgwsgsgh SO SAD. Law comes to the family believeinv in Santa/Christmas and he introduces the concept to the other kids in the family who all ask Doffy and Rosi for gifts from Santa. Super heart warming stuff where Law gets to still be a kid no matter how much the world has hurt him and the brothers exchangeinv heartfelt gifts. The author is a monster and than also includes a thing of DOFFY KILLING ROSINANGE LIKE IN CANON. MY HEART. AGH it’s a one shot but it hurts like a gunshot:(

like a faucet by battybatzgirl

Ok so it’s a one shot during Cora and Laws time on the run together. Basically, Law wakes up with a raging nose bleed and goes outside of their hiding spot to try and find something to stop it with. Cue some thug threatening him and Cora walking in on a scene where Law is all bloody and some guy is threatening him. Cora goes mama bear. Fast forward a couple minutes and a nice lady has let them inside to clean off and they talk it out. Super touching and sweet + a nice look into their time on the run.

This is basically all that comes to mind rn, but trust me when I say that I’ve definitely just forgotten like 80% of all the gems I’d like to recommend.

Hope you have a wonderful day<3

[blackcherryvelvet0909]

Hello all

First off, I want to apologize for the abrupt hiatus I took. I'll be the first to say I shouldn't have been constantly scheduling stories like that. In a way it was a ploy to try to get me energized and continue writing; as someone who's always planned things out, it seemed like the thing to do. Well, this time it didn't work out and I ended up driving myself into the biggest burnout hole I've ever been in. Combined with that was the stresses of the job I had. The work environment was INSANELY toxic, to the point I had to quit back in March. My boss made me choose between seeing my brother - who is a marine - off the day before he set out to sea or keeping my job. Of course, you can guess which I chose. With the state of the world, my brother could very well die out there; that day could have been the last I'll ever see him, if we're being realistic. That added onto the mistreatment I was facing concerning my disability and I was OUT. I've felt so much better these last couple months. Not everything is peachy keen, but I'm mentally and emotionally better now. My physical well-being has taken its toll due to the work they had me do (which they weren't supposed to, but what's done is done), but I'll cope. All I know is that I really want to get back into writing again. But this time I won't be planning things ahead or setting strict, near impossible deadlines for myself. For once I'm going to be nice and easy on myself and not be a perfectionist, lol. The fact that I've made the decision to pursue my dream career as a librarian (very nervous, haha!) will really force me to be gentle with myself and take my time writing. Again, I'm really sorry for leaving y'all hanging for so long. There will be more stories soon, the top of the agenda being the conclusion to my Beach Episode mini series. It'll have been a year since I started it next month (June), so I hope y'all are ready for more summertime shenanigans! In the meantime, I'll try and post some past pieces I've yet to post here. Given the current events of Chapter 7 in Twst, I hope you'll enjoy them! And one other thing: I'd like to introduce y'all to a certain project that's been in the works for almost two years now. It started off as a silly little presentation, but it slowly grew into one of the most complex set of stories I've ever written. This fandom has consumed me, lol! Fair warning that it will be darker than some of my other content: Chapter 7 levels of dark. Warnings will be posted onto the series' parts accordingly. For those who don't mind spoilers for Chapter 7, who already know the story thus far, and/or those who like a little AU action, I humbly present:

An alternate history AU featuring our beloved General Lilia Vanrouge and my most cultivated Twst OC, Persayis N. Siofra. A good few of you expressed interest in my characters in the past, so for those who don't mind dragging out the box of tissues, I welcome you to this story. It is a slow burn - a sorta one-sided enemies to lovers arc (the enemies part being the one-sided bit). I hope you'll join me for the ride. Who knows, if this becomes popular, I might just create a silly little crossover story featuring this au and the canon; a more light-hearted fan fair for those who will not be joining us. I do understand you all need context on Persayis and her pairing with Lilia before continuing, however. So, over the course of this week, maybe a bit this weekend, I'll be posting installments of her story via that presentation I mentioned earlier. You'll be the first to see it outside of some friends of mine, so I'm a tad nervous, but I hope you'll like it. In and out of Twst, Persayis is one of the best characters I've ever written. She's the favorite child right now, haha! Like the AU, Persy's story is Chapter 7 levels of dark, so be prepared for that if you're going to dive in. For those who love angst, you might want to stick around for this one. That is all I'll say for the time being. As I said, I'll be taking it easy on myself, so no strict deadlines. I'll be posting when I feel like doing so nowadays - the stories come when they come. I thank you all for your patience and understanding, and for sticking with me despite my absence. To think I have nearly 300 followers...I could never have dreamed! I hope I can continue to make y'all proud. Until the next post!

[katatty]

Recap: Strangetown Round 5 (Summer) - part 1

Strangetown has seen something of a housing boom lately, with new developments springing up all over town to provide places for new graduates to call home. Some would call Strangetown a “boring” place to live but the government-funded ShinyThings Lab makes it a hub for scientists across SimNation. And it’s the safest it’s been in some time - over 6 weeks since the last missing sim report!

The round starts with Nervous and his son Riley. They're quickly joined by Pascal (the baby's father) and Tycho! Pascal worries about Nervous, looking after a baby in this big house all alone...

Nervous ends up quitting his job in the criminal career, since he doesn't really need the money anymore. He's a little uneasy about it, though...

Tycho grows up into a knowledge sim! He’s an genius night owl with the science hobby who likes staying up late watching the stars. Good luck waking him when he sleeps in all morning the next day, he’s a heavy sleeper! He’s also kind of over-emotional, a trait he definitely didn’t pick up from his stoic father.

Constant visits from family and constant childcare have Nervous feeling overwhelmed and agravated - sometimes everything is just too much.

Tycho ages Riley up, and sets about teaching him to talk right away. It will be so nice having a little brother he can actually hold a conversation with!

Tycho gets some lunch with some friends from Pleasantview - Mia Broke and Oliver Goth. They talk all about their haunted houses with dark histories...

That's all - but they were really fun to play! More functional as a household than I was expecting. It’s nice seeing Nervous with a family, even if it’s a bit of an unconventional one.

Next up: the Lola-Curious family.

Ajay and Lola are one of those couples that got together “off screen”. I wasn’t explicitly trying to get them together, but once they were friends ACR took over and they autonomously went steady, so I just decided to merge their households since I felt like it made sense for them (and partially because I find Ajay’s family boring to play on their own, haha.)

School’s out for summer, but the kids have summer homework to catch up on before they can start enjoying their freedom! Ajay and Lola are very strict on this.

Then, quickly, Lola finds she's expecting! It's a bit of a suprise since she and Ajay hadn't really talked about kids, but he's on board.

Testee was initially worried she was going to be "replaced" by a new baby, but Lola is quick to reassure her.

The baby is born and named Esme! She’s got Ajay skintone but inherited her mother’s alien eyes - I think she’s the first sim with that look to be born in my game!

Then, it's Testee's birthday!

Testee grows up into a popularity sim in pretty pink dress. She loves nature, being outdoors, and dreams of someday seeing the ocean and maybe studying marine life, checking out hot sims in swimwear, perhaps even becoming the hand of poseidon? She’s a big fan of the supernatural, too, and very interested in her alien roots (perhaps one of the reasons she feels drawn to creatures of the sea, alien in their own way?)

She’s a little absent-minded and her difficult history can make her over-emotional at times. She likes unemployed sims and is turned off by hard-workers, I’m guessing she’d prefer not to have to compete with work for attention in a partner like she does with Ajay and Lola.

She heads to town for the customary teenage makeover and, when she gets home, has an important chat with Lola about her past.

Another pink-loving alien is next, Stella Terrano and her fiancee, Klara Vonderstien!

They want to open up a coffe shop/bakery together someday, but need more money first! So Stella takes a job in the medical field, while Klara picks up a job in journalism.

They also pick up a kitten named Saturn!

Klara, though, has worries. Not long ago, she had a spontanious drunken hookup with her longtime crush, Blossom Moonbeam. She knows she needs to be truthful about it if she wants their marriage to work...

But Stella takes it better than expected! She does request a "free pass" in future though, in the interests of fairness... we'll see how that works out for them.

They're mostly pretty chill and laid back tro play.

Before long it's wedding day! Aside from a jerk-ish waiter at the diner, it goes off without a hitch.

Stella and Klara are now the Terrano-Vondersteins, officially! Both of their names were far too cool not to keep. (Their tags will remain the same, though.)

Stella meets Testee, who has a few questions about their home planet...

and that’s Stella and Klara all done! I was half thinking I might break them up since Klara did cheat, but they seem so besotted with each other I didn’t have the heart. Hopefully that’s all in the past now, like Stella said.

aaaaaaaaand it looks like I've hit Tumblrs new "image limit", so stay tuned for recap parts 2, 3 & 4 🙄

[icecreamisbetterwithafork]

Happy September!

Things are certainly popping. The change of seasons is creeping in, and it is officially my favorite time to be home! End of summer, heading into fall, brings us San Diegans our true local summer. The crowds have gone home, the ocean is still warm, and the sunsets are fire.

The family and I have just returned from Yosemite, where we spent the last 3 weeks connecting with friends and family, soaking up nature, unplugging, slowing down, staring at the stars, swimming in the lake, fishing off the dock, wakeboarding, drinking the most amazing Mexican mochas from Mountain Sage Coffee Shop, making dinner together, gawking at El Capitan for the umpteenth time, swimming in the Merced, and paddleboarding on the lake—Jacko even got on the SUP! Though chaotic and full of ups and downs, it was just our souls needed before the new school year.

It took me almost 40 years to visit Yosemite, and it's become one of my favorite places to take Kylo. It also brought me much joy to witness my dad, in his mid-70s, take in the view of the valley for the first time. It truly is a magical place, and anyone who has ever visited can't deny it. While in Yosemite, my baby boy turned 9, and my new song, "Kylo's OP," was released into the world a few days later. As I was reflecting, I realized that some of the lyrics in that song came to me when I was driving back from Yosemite last year:

Everything that you believe, has already planted a seed, wow

Watching it all come to be, apples not far from the tree, now

A little full-circle moment for you! Now that we're home and the kiddos are back to school, I am looking forward to diving back into the garden—literally and figuratively—and working on finishing up a bunch of new songs that have been marinating. This process has been such an interesting one. Many of the songs were born in a day and are about 75% complete, but the final pieces have yet to reveal themselves. Patience is the name of the game in this case, and it has been a good lesson for me to practice once again letting go and trusting the process. I know the songs will "get done" when they get done. It's taken this long, so what's another little bit? I know I can never force it and have always felt that I would rather let the inspiration hit naturally than try to force it. Sometimes it seems like songs are just waiting for one more experience that leads to a thought or bridge that ties it all together. For instance, I saw Krishna Das this past year with my mom, which inspired the line in "Kylo's OP": “Everything that you believe has already planted a seed.” That took almost a year to come after the initial birth of the song. Either way, I can tell you this: I am sitting on a lot of new music and exciting projects that I can't wait to share with you over the next year.

So far the last couple of months have brought us:

A most beautiful song i had the pleasure of joining my friend Leonardo Prakash on, Bobby My Friend: listen here!

And my latest release, Kylo’s OP, out now: listen here!

So many of you have asked me what the "OP" stands for. Here you go: When I first met Trevor Hall in person, he was traveling with a mini synth from Teenage Engineering called the OP-1. He shared that many of the samples on his album IN AND THROUGH THE BODY and the intro song “blue sky mind” were created on the OP-1. Intrigued, I bought one and started trying to figure out how to use it—though I still haven’t completely figured it out! Fast forward a couple months later i went to Trevors studio in Colorado for the first time, I brought my OP-1 hoping to get some hot tips.

In the meantime, I always take little field recordings on my phone while hiking or out with Kylo, thinking they might be cool to use someday in a song. In this case, I had a recording of Kylo ringing his bike bell in a tunnel, and also a reel of him saying “hey mom” a bunch of times. Story of a mom’s life, right? #HEYMOM! MOMMMMM!

In the process of trying to show me how to use the OP-1, Kylo’s OP was born, using the samples I had taken and then importing and manipulating them with the OP-1. Trevor titled the song “Kylo’s OP” as a placeholder, but it just kind of stuck. I was curious about what the OP in OP-1 stands for, and when I Googled it, I found that OP is short for Opus.

In music, the opus number is the "work number" assigned to a musical composition, or a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's publication of that work. Opus numbers are used to distinguish between compositions with similar titles; the word is abbreviated as "Op." for a single work.

It seemed appropriate, and kind of random but cool, to leave it as Kylo’s OP, being that it’s the first song with his little voice going out into the world for the first time. <3

It also made sense to me to release this as the first song in a long while, because these last 9 years have been dominated by being fully immersed in motherhood while simultaneously being pulled to create. When I realized this song is literally me trying to be a musician and a mother wrapped up in a song, it made me laugh. Mothers know—the minute you try to do something for yourself, it's like your little one senses it and suddenly needs your attention! This song is the marriage of the two, also reminding us to stay curious, childlike, and remember to tap into that purity and time in your life when you were younger and didn’t have the weight of the world and all its responsibilities on your shoulders.

Before we grew up, and had places and people to be.

Of course, this is what it means to me, but I’m always curious how it lands and what it means to the listener—so if you have any insights to share, I always love hearing them. :)

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the bounty of September, Virgo take-over, and the change of seasons in bloom.

Xo,

TP

[sol-consort]

I didn't expect the Thane post, i even forgot my og ask, but by chance, I saw it scrolling through my homefeed (which i dont often check bc im not super active on tumblr) and omfggg, the scream I scrumpt. What a happy suprise! We Thanemancers got fed GOOD. Thank you. My heart feels healed. Now, I will need to invest in creating a time machine, clone you, and send your clone back in time to work on me3. Perhaps make a whole army of clones to make each clone work on the writing for every romance. The Kolyat inclusion is peak. Thank you for not forgetting Kolyat, he really is so inportant to Thane. Geniunly made my entire week. I want to print your post out and chew on it everyday. Thank you!

🫡

I felt bad for taking so long because the chances of the original requester actually seeing the finished fic got more and more slim by the day.

And by some twist of fate you actually end up seeing it!! Even though I only started being active again a couple days ago?? Even though you rarely open tumblr??? The fact it was on your homepage rather than you specifically looking for stuff on the Thane x Reader tag???

I'm beyond happy <333

Most of all, I'm really glad you liked it! That fic might not have been the most intricate vocabulary wise, but god, it drained me creativity wise, having to come up with scene after scene, second doubting myself, erasing and rewriting.

I will never underestimate storyboard writers and script makers after this. It felt like a world champion boxing match where I only managed to win by an inch. Damn that story got hands.

I had to scrab the whole Party and Identity Theft II mission stages because words wouldn't register in my brain anymore. Maybe in the future I'll go back and add them, but for now I'm clinging to my beloved short drabbles.

Then there was this whole letting it rot in my draft for months out of petty bc I thought no one was reading my stuff either way, what's the point in posting it– I got upset at the idea I spent so much effort on one story only for it to possibly end up never read by a single person.

I tried not to gloss over Thane's condition or his impending doom. I didn't want it to be a full escapism–which is ironically my ideal style–but a proper sweet goodbye, a final dance, the chance to experience life by his side a little bit more, a small extension on the deadline before the curtains fall.

And I wanted Kolyat to share the spotlight as well, he deserved so much more. Shepard was there during the confrontation, aware of it or not, you were a turning point in his life as much as his father finally stepping up to take full responsibility for his past actions.

Kolyat and Grunt being best friends came out of nowhere tbh, at that point the characters had a mind of their own. And it hit me, Kolyat grew in the hanar world, it's mostly oceans, he must have gone to swim a lot, he definitely knows about the aquatic life.

What if I give him an interest in marine biology? What if that's what he's persuing in his study in uni, hanar granted him a fully paid scholarship—another bittersweet benefit he got handed in exchange for the ruthless job his father took—while working a part-time job himself, living in a modest apartment and leading an independent life.

But Kolyat is a loner. He has no friends, no significant other, or even pets. Which causes Thane great concern, Drell society values finding a parter a lot. Maybe that's why Thane moved into his apartment to help make him feel less lonely and subtly push him into making friends. Blaming himself for Kolyat's antisocial nature.

So, with Grunt being very fascinated by sharks, a massive extrovert, a natural leader personality, zero hesitation to speak his mind and aim for what he wants. He makes the ideal friend for Kolyat!

-

The wedding imagery and symbolism in the casino stage are my absolute favourite details. Part of it was because I saw a mod for "wedding dresses" back when I was playing ME2 for the first time, scrolling through the mods page for a nice looking dress to use in the casino mission.

Writing Thane's distraction lines was fun ngl. One scrapped line was about him walking up to a human security guard, mentioning how he's actually dating a human and wanted to get some advice on how to woo you and act, what do humans consider romantic?

But then I remembered Garrus has a similar line, just a little more sexual and I didn't want there to be repetition.

Thane didn't seem like the type to hit on the security guards like other characters, even as mere pretend. He's too devoted to his partner for that. Half of his lines were genuine, wanting to hear about the human's family back on earth as a way to help them vent.

-

Lastly, you're so kind <3 Thank you so much for your sweet words fosjofjskfks It made me so happy to receive this. I never expected it, which made it just more sweeter.

100% on board with the whole cloning thing, it should've been me on that ME3 writing board! I would've given Cerberus justice I swear! I would've kept Thane alive by the sheer power of love...maybe some prothean magic too.

Like you receive an email for him stating his concern for Kolyat getting into trouble again, he's been coming home more and more late each night. He asks you to investigate, you oblige.

First stage is following his son through the Citadel stealth style, exactly like Thane Loyalty mission in ME2. But it's much shorter and ends once you see Kolyat board an unmarked spaceship.

You follow him, ofc, try to confront him. He's surprised by your presence but then expresses relief rather than acting what you'd expect from someone caught red-handed.

He explains he read in an asari research paper about a prothean technology that could possibly help repair damaged organs, or at least prevent them from degrading even further. But the research has been abandoned since the war and developing biotics took priority.

Kolyat informs you that he's been investigating and managed to get a copy of the whole unedited first draft of the published paper. Some scrapped information in it were apparently the theorised location of the prothean artifact.

He's going there to retrieve it, with or without your help...but he'd be very thankful if you came. He doesn't know how to uh...hold a gun you see, some skills don't pass down in genetics.

You can agree - Thane lives, Kolyat lives

Both of you go there and you can pick only one other teamate. Kolyat is a bit of liability, but bringing him along opens shortcuts and grants you so much lore about him, his late mother, and Thane's past self. It is Kolyat's loyalty mission in a way. You gain the hanar Marine biology branch as a war assest afterwards. You Gain Thane as a new recruit.

-

You agree, but demand he doesn't come along - Thane lives, Kolyat dies.

He went behind your back and boarded a different shuttle, without the Normandy abilities...the ship barely makes it into the atmosphere before the prothean technology defences shoots it down.

Thane is very visibly depressed and apathetic for the rest of the game. You gain Thane as new recruit.

-

You refuse and demand he hands you the papers - Thane dies early, Kolyat lives

Plays out the same in canon. You gain Prothean research papers as a war asset.

-

You refuse - Thane dies early, Kolyat dies

Same as canon but no funeral this time since Kolyat isn't alive to make preparations. You don't gain anything.

-

I imagine the mission to be your run of the million clearing out a base, etc. Maybe throwing in some stray collectors who were hiding their for old times sake? Bringing Javik and Lara gives unique dialogue, but you can't bring both unless you sacrifice Kolyat.

Bringing Javik informs you early that this technology isn't a miracle maker and doesn't magically fix organs. It simply delays the inevitable a little bit. It grants the sick a short extension on their lifespan, the pain mostly disappears, their health is restored...but it's a mirage. Nothing in reality changes much, placebo is hell of a thing.

However, despite you telling Thane about the placebo, it still takes effect. He makes the most of his time, realising he doesn't want to spend the last of his moments in a hospital bed.

But if you don't bring Javik, then you never discover that fact, which makes the eventual death scene when both of you realise his health is still deteriorating, much more painful.

-

Ik you're joking about the munching thing, but if you want to save a copy for yourself or just to keep in your files and reread, then I'm more than okay with that. In fact, I crossposted the fic to AO3, which natively lets you download it in any format.

[atinylittlepain]

2024 Jan 14th

THE ARCHIVE

Captain's Log is a weekly dispatch from yours truly. New issues will be up every Sunday, with a smattering of whatever has been marinating for me that week. Book recommendations, grief thoughts, music, art, wranglings with writing. We'll see! But my guarantee to you is one new issue, every Sunday babyyyyyy

{ If you enjoy Captain's log, consider sharing it, leaving a comment, or a little tip. }

In this issue:

meditations on writer's block

The Lost Month of the Lost Months

Two (2) book reviews

One (1) soup recipe

I hate writing! (I love writing)

Some of you have heard this story already, and for that I apologize. For the rest, I entered college four years ago with the full intention of being a creative writing major. I was going to write the Next Great American Anything. And then I took the first two courses of the major, an intro to literary theory and an intro to poetry class, and by the time I was done with those two classes, I no longer wanted to be a creative writing major. Blunt force scalpel, prying apart the jaws of words and work until all we were left with was loose teeth and gummy mush. 

And because I was eighteen, and very angry all the time I did the very angry all the time thing of turning up my nose and stomping in another direction. I didn’t write, not counting APA-style papers, for three years. 

To cut this story short, a constellation of events were strung together in the last year to make it very necessary, very crucial, for me to write again. So I did, and I wrote a lot, and most of it was bad, and some of it was good. It wasn’t difficult to keep writing. I would finish with one idea and leap over into a new one with little effort. I would start things with little worry for whether I would finish them, because I always did. Now, as we inch further into the new year, this is no longer the case.

Writer’s block always seemed like such a bourgeois phenomenon to me, someone who mostly sees writing as manual labor, as muscle and will. I didn’t get blocked because writing wasn't an optional thing, until I did get blocked, and writing has since become a despondent wife lingering in my doorway, bemoaning my neglect. 

And believe me, I have fought against this new development tooth and nail. Renouncing fic because I thought it was getting in the way of other writing, picking fic back up because at the very least, I could write it, if nothing else, then renouncing fic all over again. Threatening another three year writing death, then limping to my friends with my tail between my legs asking them if they really (really?) thought I was good enough to keep going. And throughout all this fighting, all this squirming and prickling, very little writing got done. 

When you read articles asking writers what they think about the dreaded block (as I did with all the rigor of a hypochondriac consulting WebMD) they tend to scoff, turn up their perfect writer’s hands and flick the thought away. And for the longest time I thought this was only a sort of peacocking, a tough guy, too cool for school flippancy because they’re so great, so brilliant that they never even consider that they could be blocked. But I recently read another article (yes, it has gotten that bad) and I realized that it wasn’t that these writers don’t believe in the block, just that they call it by other names. Time to rest, time to read, time when the idea is there and gumming up into something more real, more realized in the mind. In this way, writing becomes a kind of muscular expanding, and subsequent contracting. I’m not blocked. I’m just contracting, curling up close and tight around a couple ideas that could be next.

I’m reminded of this past July when I was working on my first novel. A good day was five thousand words, and a minimally decent day was a cool thirty-five hundred. These days, if I can sit down and get a good five hundred, it’s the greatest mercy. And I do realize, for the record, the irony of this, writing about how I’m not writing. Humor me.

Currently, there are three ideas for three different novels I’m letting work between my teeth. When I got home after traveling for New Years, sodden and weak and wan, I lurched forward into one of these ideas with a zeal that tore the whole thing to pulpy shreds, a new wound to nurse. So now, mostly I’m reading, and doing some of this writing that isn’t really writing (don’t tell anyone). And finally, I’m not fighting it, as much. The time to expand will come, eventually. For now, everything else is a gift. 

Reading Dispatches

I read two books this week. One I liked, and one I didn’t.

Really, truly, I wanted to like Bad Fruit by Ella King. A few friends recommended it to me, and it’s certainly got that trendy femme-tesque aesthetic going on. Promising at first - a crazy mother and her mandatory rituals, familial trauma being passed down through visions, spoiled juice, a fuckass father in a recliner, and an older man with the disposition of a golden retriever - but the writing fell flat. Outside of the main character, an eighteen-year-old who acts as her volatile mother’s pet doll, all the other players felt half-drawn and underbaked, much like the plot. Sadly, I would not recommend this one.

I always get existentially bummed when I finish a disappointing book, but My Husband by Maud Ventura was a zippy little upswing, exactly what I needed. Think Stepford Wives meets The Golden Notebook - a stark and unblinking examination of the ends one woman takes to maintain her marriage. It contradicts itself at times, as it perfectly should, and demands a careful reading to pick through all of the woven neuroses of the main character, who is only named in the epilogue. And the epilogue is a perfect turn of the blade. A good one, a short one, and I can see myself revisiting it to pick up things that I missed on the first read. 

The Lost Month of the Lost Months

We’re in the bottleneck of it now. That disorienting time where you can still smack the taste of Christmas in the back of your mouth, but we’re already halfway through (!!!!) with January. The snow is gray and crusted over, if there even was any this year, and the airports have emptied out, family back wherever they come from. January, my friends, is the Lost Month of the Lost Months. We have reached critical mass for Lost Months, which is both bad news that we are in the thickest, soupiest muck of it, and good news that there is an end, just maybe not in sight, yet. 

I have no advice, no sage words to make this suckfest better. This is simply a public service announcement from me to you that I’m in the suckfest with you, and I’d bet money that all the rest of us are too. A reminder for who needs it, these are the Lost Months! If you make it to February, you’ve done great! Promise! Nothing else matters. There is no failing in the Lost Months, just doing the best we can. 

The only good thing about January, of course, is that it’s national soup month. In my clinical opinion, soup does help during the Lost Months. Here is a recipe that I make frequently during this time of year and have perfected over many years of getting perpetually sick with something snotty and achy and undefined from November through February.

CHICKEN SOUP THAT PROMISES NO MIRACLES BUT TASTES PRETTY GOOD

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ of an onion (you can do the whole thing, but I don't like onion very much)

5-6 carrots cut into thick coins

3-4 celery stalks diced

8-10 cloves of garlic minced or chopped (up to you)

1 tsp of salt 

A two-inch knob of ginger finely diced (optional, but i like it)

About a ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes (more or less, however spicy you like it)

1.5-2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts of thighs or a mix

6-8 cups of low sodium chicken broth (6 = more stew-ish; 8 = more broth)

1 parmesan rind ( if you don’t have this, you could also put in a big spoonful of miso paste and dissolve that in the broth, also this is optional but is a nice little touch)

3 fistfuls of spinach roughly chopped (optional for health)

1 bunch of parsley, just the tops of it, chopped (also optional)

1 Half to a whole lemon

Instructions

Get a big pot, heat the olive oil in the pot over medium-high heat

Add in your onion, carrots, celery, and salt and cook for 5-7 minutes until everything is looking a little softer, stir occasionally

Add in your garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes and cook for another 1-2 minutes, stir frequently

Add in your broth, chicken, parm rind (or miso) and bring to a boil - then cover and let simmer for thirty minutes

At thirty minutes, pluck out the chicken and shred it with two forks or, like however you want to handle that - take out the parm rind (if using) and add the chicken back in

Add in your spinach, parsley, and lemon juice - taste and season as needed

TO SERVE: I like to do mine over a little rice with some parm on top - or, can’t go wrong with a grilled cheese (with pickles, love you, try it) on the side

Enjoy your soup and take heart that you have lunch or dinner for the next few days made