#this is the first time since middle school i’ve used tumblr for more than just reading one shots

[loveanddeepspice]

𝕋𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖

✞ synopsis:  you've come back to the small town you grew up in for a visit. though your relationship with the catholic church and faith in general have been strained since you were younger, you find yourself drawn back to the church... or more specifically... the new priest... you aren't ready to share your secret sin with him... but you may not be able to help yourself.

✞ pairing: sylus x curvy fem!reader

✞ rating:  18+ (minors do not engage)

✞ cw:  religion (catholicism), priest, lapsed faith, adultery, priest kink, suicidal mention, dead parent, sex, masturbation, drugs (marijuana), mentions of other drug use, drinking (more will be added when/if they arise)

✞ disclaimer: this fiction explores a romantic relationship between a lapsed Catholic and an unconventional priest. it is not designed to be inflammatory or critical. catholic authors were asked to participate in the process. we hope you enjoy it, but we know that these topics can be sensitive, so please skip this fiction if it will in any way offend you.

✞ chapter:  5 / ?

✞ co-authors:  redbriony, confuseddoughnut (they do not have tumblr)

✞ ao3 link:  here

✞ chapter synopsis: a series of risky decisions gets you into more than one kind of trouble.

✞ index: chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4 | chapter 5

Please comment on this post if you want to be added to the tag list for updates!

The next few days were spent in the confines of your childhood home, your bed almost becoming your permanent address as you thought about that kiss. The kindness and how the words expressed resonated with you in a way you hadn’t felt in a long time.  But more than anything, how the kissing Father Sylus had made you feel - the tenderness of it all. But surely you were getting ahead of yourself and even found yourself a little disgusted with yourself over the whole encounter. 

But he had just been so close, too sweet, and his face was so beautiful, and all you wanted to do was press kisses all over him. 

But it’s wrong, isn’t it? 

Something inside you rebelled against the idea for obvious reasons. Any resolve you had would disintegrate when you decided to act or speak on it. 

But then, one evening, Rafayel called. You barely answered in time because part of you was hoping it would be someone else.

“Hey babe, just wanted to check up and see how you’re doing. Haven’t heard from you.” 

You blinked, frozen for a moment as you twisted into a sitting position on your bed. “Fine. What’s up?” 

He chuckled, and you weren’t sure if he was annoyed. You felt slightly upset at yourself for not reaching out when you could have. A normal rekindled friendship typically involves a friend being there for the other, especially after what he revealed to you. But before you could follow up with an apology, he spoke again.

“Nothing in particular. I wondered if you wanted to get some of the old gang together and go up into the woods like we used to.” 

You knew the place he was walking about, the old lumber yard out in the middle of the woods where the kids from town used to gather. It had been a favorite spot to hang out, build bonfires, other illegal shit teenagers liked to do when they wanted to get away from their parents. 

“What do you mean ‘the gang?’” You asked. 

“Well, uh, it’s just gonna be you and me. When I tried to call anyone else from school, they either laughed at me for being back here or didn’t answer.” You could hear his nervous laugh when his words cut off. “Still a small town, and everyone is the same.” 

You couldn’t resist, though. Even if you were a bit too old for that behavior. Reliving your past was one of the reasons you returned home in the first place. “I have nothing better to do, so yeah. Sounds great.” You paused, wondering if you had said the right thing, hoping that Rafayel understood what you meant. “Sorry, I’ve been…not myself lately. Lot’s on my mind.” You rubbed the back of your knee with your fingers before standing, keeping the phone to your ear as you crossed the room to where your suitcase lay open on a chair. 

“I get it.” He responded with a laugh, light and airy in a way that made you smile. “Life is pretty shitty, especially for people like us who - well, you know.” There was a hint of apology in his tone as you heard him open and close a door. “This is the perfect opportunity for me to listen to you now.” 

“I kissed the priest.” 

“Fucking, what? The hot one?” 

You sat on the edge of the bed, leaning forward a bit, a bit shaken now with your admission. Even though you had spoken it out loud, you still felt as if you couldn’t totally come to grips with the situation. 

“Well, yeah. He’s the only one.”  You said, curling your hand around the hem of the comforter. “And I’m also in love with a married man. I’m losing it. This is what happens to people who don’t peak in high school or something!” 

Rafayel said nothing, obviously processing. Then he began to chuckle, which turned into a laugh. Then, he let out the most ridiculous roar of laughter. 

“Wow,” he managed to gasp out after a bit, only to laugh again. You could imagine how his shoulders probably shuddered as they shook and the grin plastered on his face. “Okay, once Talia goes to bed, I’ll grab her car and pick you up. And then you’re explaining this whole damn story to me. Got it?” 

“Got it.” 

“I can’t even comprehend this,” Rafayel breathed after you recounted your tale of how you ended up back home, finishing off with the way Father Sylus had kissed you and the way your panic overtook you. He shook his head, hands clenching and unclenching, brow knitted as he looked at you. 

The two of you sat in Talia's car, parked outside the old lumber yard in the woods. The empty dirt parking lot was bathed in the moon's light peeking through the clouds. The bowl on the dash between you both served as a reminder that some things hadn’t changed and that this was the first place you had smoked weed. 

Rafayel picked it up, fingers curling around the glass as he brought it to his lips. The flick of the lighter illuminated his face in the dark car, shadows dancing across his cheekbones as he inhaled deeply. You couldn’t blame him for his reaction. 

When he passed it to you, you mirrored his actions, feeling the smoke fill your lungs and the earthy taste coating your tongue. You held it in briefly before exhaling slowly, leaning back into the passenger seat. 

“And Xavier asked me out.” You said. 

Your friend’s face contorted in disbelief before he let out a short burst of laughter. “You’re joking, right?” 

“Nope.” You giggled and looked out towards the old building before you, wondering how he could think you were making any of this up. 

“Damn, you have three guys chasing after you, begging for scraps. I bet the doctor has loads of money.” Rafayel clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “This is every girl’s dream! I don’t understand what the problem is.” 

And as if it suddenly hit him all at once, he started to laugh, and the laugh turned out to be contagious. You both soon ended up in a fit of giggles inside the growing colder car. 

“I mean, what am I supposed to do? Ask him to leave his wife?” You huffed. 

“Relax! Think about it. People get divorced all the time.” The high was definitely setting in as Rafayel rested his head on the back of the seat. “And if he’s as hopelessly infatuated with you as you said, he might do it anyway.” 

“Rafayel! That’s horrible.” 

He leaned in and playfully nudged your shoulder, saying, “I can’t help but be honest with you. Who would I be if I wasn’t?” He caught the look on your face and rolled his eyes, flicking the lighter absentmindedly. “Or, you know, you could just call him up and give him a piece of your mind. Maybe that will push him right in the direction of Silver Springs.”

You rolled your eyes and muttered, feeling the familiar laziness creeping into your body. You barely resisted the urge to snort at his suggestion. “The Fleetwood Mac song?” 

“Yeah, Stevie cursed him, you know. Lindsey. In ‘97. Hexed him right on stage in front of everyone. So if I were you, I would call him up and tell him what direction he can shove his thumb up his own ass.” 

You laughed again, shaking your head at Rafayel’s ridiculous suggestion. The pot was doing its job, making everything seem way funnier than it should be. 

“I don’t know, man,” you sighed, sinking further into the seat. “Even if Zayne does leave his wife for me, which would be so wrong, what about Father Sylus? I mean, I kissed a priest, for Christ’s sake!” 

Rafayel took another long drag from the bowl before setting it between you in the cupholder, smoke once again billowing in the car as he responded. “Hey, forbidden love is the hottest kind. And I figure if I’m going to get any entertainment out of this town, it’s gonna be from you at this point. So just call the fucking doctor while I’m still high.” With that, he shoved your shoulder, and you turned and shoved him right back. 

You grumbled as you reached for your phone, unlocking it as the smoke settled around you. You scrolled through your contacts until your thumb was right over the number. It was so tempting, especially with the encouragement of the young man beside you - but you stayed still. 

You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you. 

“Fuck it.” You breathed deeply, heart hammering, and hit the phone symbol. As soon as you heard the first ring, you nearly jumped. 

Why do I do this? A mantra in your mind, like a worm in your skull, beating against the insides repeatedly with a tiny hammer. 

You waited, putting the phone on speaker so the idiot beside you could hear. After a few long rings, you were about to hang up when there was a click. An unfamiliar voice picked up instead of the one you were used to, and the wave of anxiety almost made you dizzy.

“Hello?” Her voice was soft, not as straightforward or bubbly as you had imagined she would sound.

Silent, you swallowed thickly, and along with the fear, you felt the ache settle in once again. The sharp guilt began coiling around you. You looked toward Rafayel, who suddenly looked just as panicked as you. He quickly grabbed your phone, raising an index finger to his lips and giving you a stern look. 

“Hi! Uh, I’m calling about your car's extended warranty!” Rafayel quickly stated, cutting off whatever the woman was about to say next. Then, he turned and threw your phone out of the open window. 

The two of you stared at each other blankly. Then, all the adrenaline hit you at once, and the numb haze obliterated. 

“Oh my God, fuck!” You managed to say, trying and failing to fight the delirious laughter that began wrapping through your body. You barely noticed your vision clouded with tears, and your next laugh came out mixed with a sob. “That was his - and you just - HA! You threw my phone out the window!” 

“Listen, Y/N, I don’t think that was a good -” 

“FUCK.” You kicked the dashboard with your foot, the glove compartment popping open and spilling its contents onto the car's floor. “How could you throw my phone out the window like that?” you cried, turning to glare at Rafayel through your tears. 

He held up his hands defensively. “I panicked, okay? I didn’t want you to do something you’d regret later. That was his wife on the phone, not him! What were you going to say to her anyway?” 

“I don’t know!” you wailed, burying your face in your hands. The high rapidly dissipated, ruined, and replaced by a growing despair. “I’m a horrible person. What am I doing with my life?” 

Rafayel sighed and scooted closer, draping an arm lazily around your shaking shoulders. “Hey, you’re not a horrible person. Do you want a Xanax?”

“No, I don’t want Xanax! Go get my phone!”

“Okay, okay! Just chill out.” Rafayel moved to open the car door but paused, a muttered curse leaving his mouth before he hurriedly attempted to clean up the drug paraphernalia scattered on the console. Then he turned just in time to have a flashlight shone in his face. In all of your agitation, it appeared that neither of you had noticed the other vehicle that had pulled up. 

“Hi, Tara.” Rafeyel greeted the deputy at the window with a thinly veiled hint of irritation as he shielded his eyes with the back of one hand. “Good to see you.” 

Tara looked at him, and then her eyes landed on you and widened slightly, her mouth parting as she put the two of you together. “Really? You’re back home?” 

Tara was only a couple years younger than you, and there was no surprise that this was her chosen profession. You remembered how she used to hang around all the time in high school, staying behind and hoping you’d ask her to hang out to go to a party. Even back then, it was as if you couldn’t shake her, the girl pursuing anything and getting into anything she could think of. 

“So, uh.” Tara leaned over and peeked into the car, leaning her free hand on the window. Perfectly manicured nails and the same cherry red lipstick; her features and skin soft. “What are you guys doing?” 

You started to laugh again, unable to resist the odd delight rippling through you. Rafayel tensed, and his lips pressed together as he looked at you in warning. 

“Nothing, officer.” You answered with a grin. “Don’t you have more important things to do? What’s all we ever did when we came up here?” 

Rafayel slapped a hand to his forehead. Tara scoffed and looked around nervously, as if confused as to how you reached the admission you realized shouldn’t have slipped out of your mouth so easily. Her sudden lack of boldness reminded you of the faux courage she often displayed when she was younger, which was why you were never that close with her. 

As long as you’ve known Talia, she was the type to call the priest whenever something happened. Even though you partially expected it, you were still on edge seeing Father Sylus walking into the tiny police station with her. 

You were sitting on a bench with Rafayel, feeling angry and frustrated, and your high completely came down when the two of them walked in. Your head snapped up at the sight of the tall man next to Talia, looking composed and put together while she looked like she had just taken a sleeping pill. It truly was no surprise to see Talia rushing in to rescue Rafayel from whatever trouble he had gotten himself into. 

“Rafayel.” Talia’s small, five-foot frame was in front of her nephew. “You…” She rubbed her temples and let out a groan. 

“Sorry, Talia.” He held up his hands, which were cuffed together, a bit of a chuckle leaving his mouth as if he thought this was the most amusing thing that could possibly happen to him. 

You averted your gaze again, the memory of the kiss burning in your mind, and you couldn’t bear to look up. A fresh wave of shame washed over you. Talia’s exasperated voice faded into the background as your heart pounded. 

“Come on, let’s get you two out of here,” Talia finally said with a sigh. She turned to Tara, who was seated at the desk nearby. “I’m assuming there won’t be any charges? They were just being stupid, right Tara?” 

Tara glanced between you and Rafayel, conflict flickering across her face. You could see the gears turning in her mind, weighing the social capital to be gained by letting this slide versus following protocol. After a tense beat, she sighed and waved a dismissive hand. 

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s go fill out the paperwork.”

Talia nodded curtly and followed Tara out of the room, and an awkward silence descended, thick and lingering, although you couldn’t pinpoint the cause of it. You kept your gaze fixed on the scuffed linoleum, tracing patterns with your eyes. 

“Hey, Father,” Rafayel said, “What’d Talia say when she called you?” 

“She asked for a ride, said she would kill you, and needed someone to perform the last rites.” 

Rafayel let out a short laugh at Father Sylus’ dry response, but you remained silent, still unable to bring yourself to look at the priest. Your mind kept replaying that moment - the gentle press of his lips against yours. How could you face him now, after what transpired between you? What would you even say? 

“Right.” Rafayel hummed, “Suppose I should thank you then. Potentially saving my soul and all that.” He nudged you with his elbow, “Ain’t that right, bestie?” 

“Yeah, thanks.” You mumbled, only lifting your head when Tara appeared in front of you to remove the handcuffs from your wrists. Talia moved before her nephew, jingling her car keys before dropping them into his hands. 

“Let’s get out of here before I change my mind, Rafayel,” She grumbled. He flashed her a cheeky grin but wisely kept his mouth shut this time. 

“I can take Y/N home.” Father Sylus nodded toward you once you stood and shook out your wrists. Nervously, your eyes flickered to Rafayel, who looked terrified for you for a brief second before mouthing the words, 'Touch his butt.'

A moment later, you found yourself outside the police station next to the priest who had consumed your thoughts since that ill-advised kiss. You shivered in the harsh autumn breeze that cut straight through the light jacket you wore. You risked a brief glance at Father Sylus. He stood without a jacket, radiating heat, and for a moment, you wanted to press against him to feel that warmth. 

You found your words. “I - I can get home on my own,” you said, a bit harsher than was necessary. “I’m an adult the last time I checked.” 

Father Sylus paused at the bottom of the steps and turned around. There wasn’t any tension or hesitation in his tone, just like the other night. He was just genuinely inquiring. “How are you feeling, Y/N?” 

Shivering slightly and wrapping your arms around yourself, you looked toward the man and offered a smile. Your voice had the faintest tremor as you tried to joke, “I’ve been better.” 

Father Sylus glanced at you from the corner of his eye as you fell into step beside him, releasing a little snort at your sarcasm, a gesture that, for some reason, sent a hot rush of awe through you. 

“That’s all right, Y/N.” He said with a sad smile. “We can talk about it later if you want. For now, the important thing is getting you home.” Reflexively, his hand came to rest on the small of your back as he steered you toward the parking lot.

Just the brief caress of his warm hand on your back made your thighs clench. It didn’t mean anything, you told yourself, but your stomach churned as the sweet electricity of his touch rushed through you. 

Stop it, you told yourself. He was just showing you where he had parked. Yet his lingering warmth was flooding your senses. Swallowing thickly, you pinched your brows together and hoped you didn’t actually upset him in any way. 

“Should I be worried?” he asked. 

“About what?” 

“The things you’re into.” 

Stopping, a hard lump formed in your throat, and the entire world fell into a hush. The nearly pitch black parking lot of the police station, the night chill, the beautiful priest that just - was he teasing you, now? 

“Again. I’m in my twenties. Weed,” you snapped, emphasizing the last word, “Isn’t a big deal.” 

His palm felt scorching through your jacket as he closed a hand around the top of your shoulder, squeezing gently. 

“Hey now,” He said, making your breath hitch as you stiffened slightly. “It was just a question.” 

You said nothing, simply sliding into the passenger seat of Father Sylus’s car.

A quiet settled between you two in the car, then. All you could do was look out the window at the dark neighborhood and overanalyze every word, every touch, trying to pinpoint exactly how you felt. But how could you even explain that the man beside you gave you the thrill of wanting to do something terrible? Because there had been a moment with him, something that broke the reality of the relationship the two of you had. It didn’t necessarily feel awful, more like an unspoken truth waiting to be expressed. 

You tried to control your emotions and thought process, registering that you were in front of your house now. Just as you were going to say goodnight and grab the door handle, you heard Father Sylus speak. 

“I owe you an apology for the other night.” The quiet murmur was easy to miss, but you did everything possible to hang onto the sound. A mix of breath. You looked back at him, trying to catch his eyes in the darkness only illuminated by the porch light from the distance. 

“I don’t want to make things difficult for you.” He continued, “I’d still like for us to talk.” 

As tempting as it was to open the car door and leave, the ache in your belly nearly overwhelmed you. A terrible, crushing sense of longing settled in. Knowing where the lines were drew a blank in your mind. Where the hell were you supposed to draw the line? Fuck, was this situation genuine, or just one of opportunity? 

“Can I ask an inappropriate question, Father?” You choked out, swallowing the lump of anxiety that wound its way around the base of your neck. You watched as he shut the car off.

“What is it?” He wasn't looking at you, but the hand still on the wheel tightened slightly. 

Inhaling deeply, your heart thumped at an aching speed as you murmured your question, your voice beginning to betray how much he affected you. “Do you kiss a lot of girls?” 

“I beg your pardon?” 

Why the hell did you mean to bring that up? What good would knowing do, even? Right, of course, you would just go ahead and ruin the image of purity - what was the worst that could happen? 

“Well,” You continued, unable to stop yourself but choosing your words carefully, “You kissed me. So, do you kiss a lot of girls?” 

Father Sylus was quiet for a long, brutal moment. You felt sweat bead on your skin despite the car being cool. Clenching your fists and digging your nails into your palm, you try to brace yourself. You hadn’t intended to ask your question so outwardly , but what other way was there to put it? 

“Y/N, you’re trying to minimize our connection,” he said. He took a deep, steadying breath and then rubbed a hand over his brow. “And I can ignore it. I can try to pray for the strength to bear it.”

Then, he met your gaze directly. In the light from the porch, you could see how his crimson eyes tore into you, emotion suddenly exposed and bared. For the second time, he had allowed you to glimpse what was hiding under the careful mask he put on. 

You almost flinched as he touched your knee, his tone dropping. “But I won’t diminish it.” 

You found yourself falling, then, into those wounded eyes. You slid your hand forward and set it over his, the heat from the simple touch making you feel like you had touched an ember. 

Before you knew what you were doing, you leaned across the center console to kiss him, slow and sweet. 

Please don’t push me away.

For a moment, you feel his surprise. However, just before you pull away, he pulls you forward, one warm hand sliding up your back and the other threading through your hair gently, reverently.

You moan softly into his mouth, and his grip tightens slightly. He deepens the kiss, pressing his tongue into your mouth. You lose yourself in the feel of his lips on yours, his hands on your body.

The gentleness he handles you with stokes the fire within you, warming you from the inside and slowly turning into a fever. You long for him to hold you tightly, to show you he wanted you too - you need that affirmation. 

Then his lips grazed the shell of your ear, voice husky and warm. “You’re far too close for your own good.” 

What sort of torment was this? All these words hung in the air that you wanted to say, but none came to your mind except for - 

“Fuck me,” you rasped. Your face felt hot as the words spilled from your lips, driven by the intensity of your want. “Please, I -” 

He silenced you with his mouth, capturing your lips again. His kiss is no less intense and consuming but maintains a level of restraint that a part of you hoped was rapidly crumbling. Your hands move on their own accord, reaching for his belt. 

A hand on your wrist stops you before you can go any further, his skin like silk against the pounding pulse point of your wrist. It was a heavyweight, slowly making its way up to where your heart was beating wildly. 

He’s looking directly into your eyes when he brings your hand to his mouth, kissing your knuckles gently. 

“No here, sweetheart.” His voice is feather-light as he speaks. “Not like this.” 

While he let go of your wrist, something unseen held you in place. But it was only momentarily before the horror of what you had tried to do crashed over you. 

“Oh, fuck, I’m so sorry, I - what the fuck am I doing?” 

With the state you were in, it wouldn’t take much for the well of tears to come. Unable to look at him, you unlocked the car door and pushed it open, nearly tripping on your feet as you stumbled onto the pavement. 

You didn’t look back, fearing falling apart, and slammed the door shut. 

Rather than going through the front door, you circled the house and went up the back porch through the kitchen. Once inside, you walked past your dad in the living room, who was sleeping on the couch with the television blaring and a near-empty bottle of beer within arm’s reach. 

You went into the bathroom in the hallway, shut and locked the door, then slid down onto the cold tile. 

The rejection shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did. No, this was different. Something deep inside, something raw and fiery, made the ache grow exponentially. It was the memory of the touch, the intoxicating mixture of scents. 

Anger clawed its way to the surface because you couldn’t even wrap your head around what you felt. How pathetic, how foolish, how humiliating. 

Clutching the sides of your head, you let out a scream, frustration causing your body to shake. 

You wanted so badly to disappear. 

Did God have a sense of humor or something? 

tag list: @celestialforce @readerxyourbabe

[blizzardheart12]

Descendants 4 headcanon/theory || the Hook family

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking ever since I first watched Rise of Red, and I mean a lot. In recent days, that old middle school mystery I used to ponder about who the Hook childrens’ mother is has come back to haunt me once again. So, after a lot of reliving my past Descendants obsession (and a fair amount of fanfic reading), I came up with this theory— it’s really just headcanons— about Harriet, Harry, CJ, and Red’s parentage. Let me know what you think! This is the first time I’ve actually posted something on Tumblr so we’ll see how this goes lol.

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Captain James Hook and Bridget, the Queen of Hearts

Harriet Hook’s mother is the Queen of Hearts. Harriet and her fraternal twin sister, Red (bear with me), were born shortly after the creation of the Isle of the Lost. During this time, James lived in Wonderland with Bridget and helped command her army while she ruled the kingdom, thus avoiding imprisonment on the Isle. James, who had a passion for traveling, often left to visit with his crew and other villainous friends there by permission of Auradon, which sparked jealousy in Bridget, unbeknownst to him.

When Auradon Kingdom informed the Kingdom of Wonderland that the doorway between their worlds would soon be sealed for good, a massive argument ensued between Bridget and James. James wanted to leave Wonderland and live on the Isle with his crew mates and friends, and he wanted Bridget and the twins to come with him. Bridget was adamant on keeping her throne, however, and she forbid James from setting foot outside of Wonderland. After some time, it became clear that their relationship was over, and Bridget could no longer stand keeping James imprisoned in her territory.

They made a heartfelt agreement that they would part ways, and James left to go live on the Isle, taking Harriet with him. This separation caused the Queen of Hearts to turn extremely bitter, and she never told Red about her sister or father. Because time passes at a slower rate in Wonderland than it does everywhere else, Red aged much more slowly than her sister, so much so that by the time she began to attend Auradon Prep, she was younger than CJ, the youngest of James’s children. Harriet began to age at a normal rate the second she and her father left for the Isle, and that day is often considered to be her birthday despite her having been alive for nearly two years in Auradon-time (she was physically only a few months old though). As a result, she is essentially two years older than her brother, Harry. Try not to think about it too hard.

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Captain James Hook and Sarah Sanderson

Harry and CJ Hook’s mother is Sarah Sanderson. James and Sarah never really had an official relationship, seeing as both quite enjoyed keeping up with their own long lists of love affairs during their time on the Isle. One would say that their blatant disloyalty to each other is what enabled them to get along as well as they did.

It was thought that Sarah maintained a relationship with James not only because he was attractive and a total flirt— not so different from her— but because he reminded her of Billy Butcherson when he was alive, or rather, a version of him from her dreams that boasted a much more unruly personality. Similarly, James found himself drawn to Sarah not just because of her beauty and flirtatiousness, but because she reminded him of Bridget, or rather, a version of her from his dreams where she was still sweet and playful and wasn’t totally blinded by her power.

It should also be mentioned that their relationship lasted a while because without access to magic, Sarah (and her sisters) couldn’t cause James any real harm as that is what usually happened with her unfortunate lovers.

Of the two, James was the better parent. He (mostly meaning his first mate Smee) took sole care of the children since their birth. He was coldest towards Harry yet somehow earned the most admiration from him despite not really warming up to his son until he grew past Peter Pan’s age. Sarah did show a bit of an uncharacteristic affection towards her children when she was with them, but ultimately her loyalty towards her sisters prevailed and she remained rather distant, only visiting with them before full moon rituals (when she didn’t forget, that is). It sounds cold, but she was one of the more caring parents on the Isle, and James was one of the best, personally teaching each of them important skills about survival, fencing, sailing, and literature (Harry never caught on to the reading thing, though, and James didn’t have the patience to make him sit still long enough to teach him).

Winnifred and Mary only knew of Harry’s existence. This is because Sarah is an awful liar and did not do a good job of hiding her pregnancy. Winnie was furious when she discovered this, but because there was no magic on the Isle, she couldn’t do much about it. When the baby turned out to be a boy, she began crafting a plan to get rid of him, but Sarah told this to James in secret and he had his crew steal back the child.

Sarah’s visits with James frequently became more prolonged after that, to the point where her spending months away at a time with him—expecting their daughter— hardly phased her two sisters (they thought unseriously of her and assumed she was off galavanting around with more lovers or searching for potion ingredients). They never found out about CJ and were pleased to see Sarah return not long after the baby was born.

Harry inherited his parents’ flirtatious (and slightly unhinged) nature. He has his father’s dark hair and his mother’s eyes. CJ has her mother’s blonde hair and her father’s eyes. Harry grew up not caring too much about maintaining a relationship with his mother because he felt offended that she always acted colder towards his sister, Harriet. He didn’t think it was fair that she be neglected of attention because she had a different mother— in his eyes, Sarah was Harriet’s mother as well. CJ, however, took a great interest in witchcraft as she got older and began to seek out Sarah’s company more and more with time.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

So, that was pretty much all of it. Hope you enjoyed reading! Ignore the badly edited photo I made, I just needed something relevant😭

[kiy-anna]

Am I Feeling Love?

Part 1 (You Are Here) Part 2 Part 3a Part 3b

Characters: Azul Ashengrotto x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: From the moment Azul Ashengrotto heard of soulmates as a small child, he had a vision of a beautiful life with someone who was meant for him - regardless of what he was or would become…

Word count: 5.3k+

Warnings: Some Yandere elements

Notes: I wanted to thank @yanderloversworld on tumblr for the yandere!Azul w/ Soulmate S/O headcanons/backstory that I saw for inspiring this piece. I’ve never written anything like this before, but I wanted to give my hand at it - especially since it involves my favorite cecaelia character from twisted Wonderland. You can check it out here: https://www.tumblr.com/yandereloversworld/718766985773760512/yanazul-with-a-soulmate-so?source=share

The two songs used to inspire this story:

Am I Feeling Love? (The Thief and the Cobbler/Arabian Knight Soundtrack): https://youtu.be/NXYnClTZ4QY

One Day She'll Love Me (The Emperor's New Groove Soundtrack): https://youtu.be/8Sv3ECj7PdY

***I have an update! Part 2 now Available to read on my side blog @ashensgrotto***

***

I close my eyes and see his eyes

So soft and warm and clear

I dream awake of holding her

I dream that she’s right here

I sense in all his silences

More than his words could say

‘Don’t fight your feelings’ says my heart

A heart I will obey

***

“Azul… we need to talk.”

The sound of his mother’s broken voice pulled Azul’s attention to the larger cecaelia as all eight of his tiny tentacles stilled, each and every one of his appendages dropping an assortment of books, quills, and shells to the grotto’s floor as the silver-lavender haired boy looked upon his mother. The typically confident cecaelian now appeared scared and upset; her pale baby blue eyes were wide with worry and her ruby lips were set in a straight line - her heavy-set body swayed with the current that entered their home while her black-colored tentacles fidgeted nervously, the lavender underbelly of each appendage curling into itself repeatedly before releasing its grip on emptiness.

Azul stood, his own appendages curling inward, “Can this wait, momma? I’m very busy at the moment-”

“I’m afraid it can’t, baby,” his mother entered his room before perching herself on his bed, tapping the seafoam cushion, “come here.”

Azul sat beside his mother, looking down at his hands before looking up at his mother, who watched him with interest.

“Zully… the neighbors have told me they’ve seen you sneaking out at night,” his mother spoke quietly, “and it has been apparently going on for a while - without my knowledge. You and I both know that night is a terrible time to be going out, especially alone - you’re smart enough to know that you could’ve been seriously injured or killed by the creatures that lurk just beyond the reef of our city. Do you know how heartbroken I would be if I lost you?”

“I know, momma… but, I promise I have a good reason!”

“What good reason would you have for sneaking out in the middle of the night?”

“My soulmate.”

His mother looked taken back, her hand reaching to clutch the Nautilus shell necklace that rested on her collarbones as her already wide eyes widened further, “...S-Soulmate?”

“Yes!” Azul’s powder-blue eyes sparkled like gems in a treasure chest as a huge grin spread across his features, “I overheard some of the merkids talking about them at school a few weeks ago - o-of course I had initially thought they were talking about me, since I seem to come up in conversation here and there… but still! Oh, momma! To know that there’s someone out there that is literally MEANT to be WITH ME! Me! Azul Ashengrotto!”

“Zully, now wait a minute-”

“At first the concept did fascinate me,” Azul continued, slowly standing and moving to the opposite end of his room while ignoring his mother’s words, “and what intrigued me more than anything was that my soulmate would love and cherish every last thing about me - not the way the other merkids see me as; a pathetic, fat… ugly crying octopus fry that can’t even excel in studies or athletics. The silly little octo-twerp that’s an ink spiller.”

“Zully, you know that’s not-”

“But you know what momma? Thinking about my soulmate has made the days so much easier, even when I’m getting bullied - I think about them seeing what those other merkids are doing and they put a stop to it, saying things like, ‘Leave Azul alone! He’s not a pathetic little octo-twerp!’” Azul turned to his mother again, his tentacles writhing with excitement, “So, to be ready to meet them, I’ve been working to increase my knowledge - I want to be so powerful like the great Sea Witch herself that my soulmate will know who I am by sight alone! I’ve studied every book I could get my hands on and have memorized every single potion recipe there is available - even learning how to improve its effects and prolong them even! I’ve even studied every law text there is in the Atlantica public library - I have every law memorized word for word.”

His mother sighed, running a hand through her silvery locks, the motions creating little bubbles that appeared as she let out a sigh, “Azul, there’s something you should know-”

“As for the sneaking out,” Azul continued, throwing his hands behind his back as his fingers twisted together while he rocked back and forth on the edges of his eight appendages, “I was searching for my soulmate. I don’t know if they are here in the Coral Sea or not-”

“Azul, please listen to me-”

“But I wanted to see if I could find them. The first few nights after learning about their existence, I was having trouble sleeping - so I started doing a short swim to clear my head. I promise I wasn’t going too far away from the house! However, on those walks, it got me thinking that maybe instead of sleeping, I should be searching for them. There was no better use of my time than to strive for a better life with someone who must sense my loneliness like I sensed theirs…”

“...If they weren’t so rare, baby.”

Azul snapped to attention, his eyes wide, “W-What?”

His mother rested one hand on her knees while the other rubbed at her forehead, “Zully, I know and understand your longing to belong and to have a friend - trust me, I’ve been there. However, you can’t fixate on a single being that you hope to encounter at some point in your life. Finding that so-called ‘other half’ is like - well - like the story of the mermaid princess and her longing to be with a human. It’s a rare occurrence that only happens once in a millennium if not longer. Many times, people - humans, fae, and merfolk alike - often settle for someone they are content and happy with, someone that isn’t their other half.”

Azul stared in shock, inky tears threatening to spill down his chubby cheeks, as his hands balled into fists, “No! No! That isn’t true! What about you and daddy when he was alive?! Both of you were soulmates!”

“No we weren’t… At least, I don’t think we were,” Azul’s mother came forward, resting a hand gingerly on her son’s shoulder, “Anyone can be happy with or without their soulmate, Azul. There’s no reason you should go to such lengths to be with someone who may not even exist. You may not even meet them in this lifetime, either…”

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Azul pushed her away, anger bubbling up as his tentacles writhed in anger, his vision becoming blurry as ink spilled down his face as he snapped at his mother and guardian, “HOW DARE YOU!? You DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT the CONNECTION BETWEEN SOULMATES! THEY FEEL AS I FEEL! THAT CONNECTION IS WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE!! An UNBREAKABLE BOND that CAN NEVER BE SEVERED!! And how DARE you CHEAT on your OWN SOULMATE!”

“Azul! Now wait a minute!” his mother raised her voice, “I’ve been around the bend a few more times than you have and know about these sorts of things. I WILL NOT ALLOW this behavior to continue in my house!”

“Fine! Then I’ll leave!”

“Azul! Where are you going?! Azul!!”

But the little cecaelia was gone, swimming as fast as he could away from his mother’s typically loving embrace. 

‘How could she?!’ he mind was running as he sped up to get further and further away from his home, ‘How could she say that? Why momma… why?!’

He was sniffing hard when he arrived at his hidden octopot, big ugly fat tears of black rolling down his chubby cheeks while mucus dribbled down his nose, running into his open mouth as he gasped out big grotesque sobs. He pulled himself along enough to climb into the pot, his appendages pulling him into the confined space as comfort slowly surrounded his shaking form. One tentacle came forward, wiping at the tears in his eyes as Azul allowed his hearts to calm down. 

He wrapped his arms around himself as he looked out into the darkness of the Coral Sea; the pale moonlight reflected off the caverns that surround Azul’s hiding spot, the water growing colder and colder with each passing hour as several sea creatures passed over - not that Azul noticed though. Normally, he would have been interested in what creatures came out at night - but the words his mother spoke forced a jolt of pain on all three of his hearts.

“You can’t fixate on a single being that you hope to encounter at some point in your life,” her words echoed in his mind over and over, “Finding that so-called ‘other half’ is like - well - like the story of the mermaid princess and her longing to be with a human. It’s a rare occurrence that only happens once in a millennium if not longer. Anyone can be happy with or without their soulmate, Azul. There’s no reason you should go to such lengths to be with someone who may not even exist…”

‘What if she’s right?’ he thought, his tentacles tightening around his body, ‘What if I never find them? What if they think the same way she does? What if… what if they’ve already been taken from me?!’

His eyes narrowed as a darkness slowly filled them, glaring out into the cruel twisted world from the darkness of his octopot. No, even if his soulmate was already claimed he would’ve known - he would know if they were, he’d felt it; the tangling of another soul within his if his other half were to be mated to another without his consent. However, that hadn’t happened yet.

…for now.

Azul curled deeper into himself, his thoughts growing darker and darker as he made plans to continue his search for his other half; his beloved soulmate. He wouldn’t give up the search, even if he died trying. He wanted to see them; see what they looked like and to hear their sweet voice, to feel a sense of belonging… to protect what was rightfully his.

***

I'd never imagined before that the world could be turned on its head

I'd never have thought to be here in this place

I'd never have dreamt that in love I'd be lost and so easily led

I guess I was caught by that hint of a smile on her face

***

“Azul-chan, are we almost finished here?” a figure on the cecaelian’s left muttered, “I’m bored.”

“Floyd,” the figure on Azul’s right spoke up, murmuring and pressing a finger to his lips, “There are still some students that need to be housed. Just be a little bit more patient.”

“Speaking of which,” Azul eyed the two carefully, “Any news from our sources, Jade?”

“It’s rather difficult to track down something when we ourselves don’t know what we’re looking for,” the second figure - Jade - answered softly, “A description usually helps in these circumstances, Azul.”

“Perhaps,” the cecaelian shrugged indifferently, “however, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I’m looking for, myself.”

The two second-in-commands looked at each other, confusion crossing their features.

Ten years had passed slowly since that terrible day when Azul’s mother planted the first seeds of doubt into her son’s head, her chiding and the doubts never leaving him completely. However, that did not stop him from continuing his search for his other half - exhausting himself beyond belief. By the time Azul was twelve - nearly five years following his discovery of the existence of soulmates - he had searched every crevice of the Coral Sea with no luck; it was also around this time that he met the Leech twins - Floyd and Jade. 

Jade was the oldest of the two by a few minutes and was very resourceful as well as very soft-spoke and courteous; his younger brother, Floyd, on the other hand was unpredictable due to his mood swings - he could be interested in one thing one minute and grow bored of it the next. The two moray mers had come across Azul during his younger days when they were in the same class together, watching with awe as his eight appendages hovered about his hidden grotto, writing inscriptions on shells and flipping through pages of grimoires. Originally, they weren’t sure what to make of him, but now that they knew about his capabilities from stories they heard about someone granting wishes for a price - the two were now invested in keeping Azul close to their sides.

And vice versa.

Eventually, the question of why he was doing it came up; Azul took the time to explain the story about how he had first learned about soulmates and how he had been searching the past five years for his, eventually coming to the conclusion that his other half was nowhere in the Coral Sea.

“I have searched every nook and cranny of these waters and have yet to find them,” Azul explained, pouring ingredients into a cauldron as he spoke, “Thus, I’m ‘using my resources’ to spread out the search for my other half.”

“So, some of your deals include gathering any information about a particular person whom you’ve never met nor spoken to?” Jade asked, very intrigued by Azul’s train of thought.

“Hah… sound boring,” Floyd chimed in, reclining atop of one of the rocks in the grotto.

“It’s more interesting than it sounds,” Azul answered, popping a cork off a bottle and dumping the contents into the cauldron as the liquid turned from pale pink to eerie green, “besides, the sooner I find them, the better off they’ll be. However, the problem here lies that if they’re not in the Coral Sea - then where are they?”

Neither of the twins could supply an answer.

It was also around this time that Azul’s appearance had also changed. Baby fat melted and hardened into muscle while his gut and belly dissolved into toned skin, chubby cheeks evolved into high cheekbones; his face sharpening into arched brows, thin lips, and a pointed nose - though his eyes, now filled with knowledge and pride, remained the same. Gone was - in Azul’s opinion - the fat crying octo-twerp of his youth as a handsome, defined sea witch stood in his place; a perfect figure that his soulmate would be proud of once they set sights on him.

The dramatic weight-loss and muscle built scared, not only Jade and Floyd, but also his own mother - whom he did speak to on seldom occasions due to her connections as the owner of the Atlantica Grotto Bistro, which was slowly becoming a local hot spot and where Azul worked full time as a waiter and assistant manager. It was also where he would lure unsuspecting victims - mainly those from his youth or clients with means - into signing his newly-perfected golden contracts, sealing their powers away for his own in exchange for whatever it was that they wished for. Of course, Azul’s mother never suspected a thing about her son’s side business - now a bit preoccupied with the courtship of an older squid mer who had slowly made a presence in her life as well as teaching Azul the fundamentals of building his own business.

When Azul, Jade, and Floyd reached the age of sixteen, they were invited to attend Night Raven College - a boys’ prestigious school for young mages. Azul’s mother had been proud of Azul’s accomplishment and Azul, himself, was secretly thankful that he would be given the chance to explore a different world versus hearing things through the grape vines from his sources. It was during his first year of attending that he made a name for himself, following practically in his mother’s and the Sea Witch’s footsteps; he was now the headwarden and the owner of the Mostro Lounge that his dorm - Octavinelle - operated on the school property. He also was the student others went to when they needed help or had a wish that only he could grant. Jade and Floyd both helped as well, taking his place into luring potential clients into his clutches.

Now, the three of them were entering their second year at NRC - and Azul was barely hanging on by a thread. For the past year on land - thanks to the potion he created that would allow himself, Jade, and Floyd to attend the school as humans - Azul had used his network of informants to extend his search for his other half.

He never forgot the promise he made to continue his search for his soulmate - the contracts were just a starting point to his grand scheme for searching for the person who would love and cherish him as no other could. By building a name for himself, Azul essentially had been given enough money to spend as much as he pleased for information about any leads and his extensive network of informants were at his beck-and-call should he need them to snoop out any potential tips he heard. He had cleared out both Harveston during winter break the previous year and the Queendom of Roses as well as the Shaftlands the previous summer before he was summoned to return to Night Raven. Sunset Savanna would be next on his list during the winter break this year and he would attempt Briar Valley over the summer.

But even that wasn't soon enough it seemed.

Azul’s spirit was practically crying out with each failed search, lead, and tip - nearly to the point that his soul was exhausted and he found himself hearing his mother’s chiding words in his inner ear again. But he was stubborn - incredibly so; and he made plans before leaving his home city again to extend any knowledge to him from outside the school’s barriers.

Azul sighed as the last first year was placed into their dorm, forcing a smile as he addressed his new students, crossing his arms over his chest, "New students! I congratulate you on your achievement. As the dorm head of Octavinelle, I am honored to have the opportunity to support you in what I hope will be a fulfilling campus experience.”

"Hey, does anyone know where the headmage went?" Azul arched his brow as the dorm head of Pomefiore, Vil Schoenheit, spoke, “He disappeared midway through the ceremony…”

"Some headmage he is," Idia Shroud, the head of Ignihyde, grumbled from his tablet that hovered in the chamber.

"Maybe he had a tummy ache?" the ever naive dorm head of Scarabia - Kalim Al-Asim - asked with a shrug.

The doors burst open as the head mage himself appeared, shouting, "I most certainly did not!"

"Ah, speak of the devil," Riddle Rosehearts, the dorm head of Heartslabyul, grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If you must know," the headmage continued, pulling a cloaked figure along with him, their slender wrist tight in his grasp, "I was searching for the new student who failed to show for orientation. Come along, you are the only one who hasn't been assigned to a dorm - step up to the dark mirror and be quick about it. I'll hold onto your weasel."

Azul watched as the headmage pulled the figure along, causing them to stumble slightly, before he released them. The cloaked figure lifted their head, taking a tentative step towards the mirror as the headmage held tightly onto another being - a little gray cat creature with burning fire in his ears with eyes wider than saucer plates. Something about the shy figure had drawn Azul utmost attention as they stood before the dark mirror.

“State your name,” the mirror spoke, its voice deep and dark.

“I’m (Y/N),” you spoke, so quiet that everyone had to strain to hear them.

“(Y/N)... The nature of your soul is…” the dark mirror hesitated, narrowing its pitch-black eyes before announcing, “...unclear to me.”

“What did you just say?” the headmage crossed his arms over his chest as a murmur rippled through the crowd.

“I sense no magical power from this one,” the dark mirror answered, voice grim, “Soundless. Colorless. Shapeless. Utterly vacant… Therefore, no dorm would be appropriate.”

With his final answer, the headmage let out a cry, “Are you suggesting the black carriage went to recieve a person who cannot even use magic?! That is absurd! The student selection process has not erred once in its century of existence!”

As head headmage continued to squawk in surprise, Azul nearly felt his heart stop in his chest when you looked in his direction.

As soon as your eyes locked with his, Azul knew.

His soulmate was here.

You were a pretty (h/c) with tints of (f/c) weaved into locks that framed your soft features hidden under the black and gold hood of the ceremonial robe you wore, the exotic eyes of (e/c) filled with wonder and surprise - with an underlying hint of fear, likely due to the shock of being called ‘abnormal’ by a piece of looking-glass. You looked about a few inches shorter than him - a perfect height for him to rest his chin upon your head - as a pleasant pink painted your cheeks, turning them into red delicious apples that tempted Azul to take a bite, and your jaw dropped slightly, lips parting with surprise. 

Azul knew that you could feel the strong connection between your two souls - the pull he had searched the past decade for finally presenting itself in the shape of you. He found himself unable to look away, staring at you with quiet longing and lovestruck clearly written across his features.

“Azul?” Jade snickered, “What is-”

“I think octy just found what he was lookin’ for, Jade,” Floyd snickered, his eyes shifting between the startled first-year and their lovestruck boss.

“I quite agree,” Jade’s voice came out sickly smooth as his eyes shifted between the three of them, “this has just gotten interesting…”

Azul hardly noticed though the twins’ snickers in his ears, his thoughts were already running wild with ideas of how he wanted to spoil you - his found other half, his precious mate. 

The problem now was that you were a non-magic user and a female to boot - nevermind that you had just been put on display like an exotic animal. The whispers that echoed in the chamber forced you to look away from the lovestruck second-year, your body quivering with fear and unease as he himself was brought back to reality.

‘How DARE they insult her while in my presence?’ Azul felt a growl bubble up in the back of his throat, his pale blues shifting from the crowd to his mate to the headmage and back again as his hands curled into fists under the sleeves of his cloak, ‘And how DARE the dark mirror put (Y/N) in this situation!’

“Headwardens,” the headmage’s voice echoed in the chamber, silencing every whisper as he took control of the situation, “please escort your students back to the dorms as the orientation is now complete.”

“What about (Y/N)?” the voice of Coach Vargas spoke up, “Surely you are not expecting someone like her to remain here?”

‘And you’re first on the list of people who will suffer my wrath for saying something so hostile to my mate,’ Azul thought, thinking of what the best way would be to attack the coach indirectly.

“This is a most unfortunate turn of events, yes,” the headmage agreed, tapping his chin in thought, “Due to you being female and that you are a non-magic user, I’m afraid I cannot allow you to attend Night Raven College. You seem like an amicable young lady, however this is an all-boy’s school and I cannot admit a student - male or female - with no magical ability. But fear not, the dark mirror will see you safely home.”

‘NO! You CAN’T!’ Azul was barely holding himself together at this point - he had just found his soulmate and now the world wanted the two of them to be separated forever?! He would not allow it! 

Before he could act on impulse, the mirror’s deep voice echoed in the chamber, “There is no such place.”

“What?!” Crowley squawked again as murmurs rose from the crowd yet again.

“There is no place in this world where this soul belongs,” the dark mirror answered again, “None.”

“H-How can that be?!” Crowley asked, his hands shaking with an inner rage, “My, but today is a veritable cavalcade of impossible phenomena! This has never happened throughout my long tenure. I must confess I am at something of a loss.”

Azul could sense the sadness radiating from his mate as well. Were you disappointed that you couldn’t return from wherever you had come from? And if so, why would you want to go back if now you knew of his existence?

Perhaps a little persuasion was needed…

Azul smiled darkly, before taking a step forward, clearing his throat, “Headmage Crowley, I understand that all of us are at a loss of what to do with our strange guest - however, may I offer a solution to our little problem?”

“Master Ashengrotto,” Headmage Crowley crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m not certain what you mean. We must send (Y/N) back to where they came from.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Azul countered, shrugging while keeping his eyes trained on the headmage while he faked a painful look, “It is easy to return us to our homes, but we have no idea where she comes from - or if we can even get her back.”

“T-There must be a way though… right?” you spoke up, your eyes pleading with Azul’s.

“I hate to agree with Azul, but he’s right,” a tan-skinned, dark-haired figure spoke up, “If this herbivore is from another world entirely, the chances of getting them back are slim to none.”

“Leona is quite right on the money with that one,” Vil answered with a nod.

Azul smiled, knowing that the ripples of shock and disbelief were now falling onto the headmage for being incompetent in dealing with this matter. He couldn’t turn (Y/N) away now that Azul had spoken up with two additional dorm heads also taking his side.

“What do you propose then?” Headmage Crowley asked, eyeing the headwarden of Octavinelle uneasily.

“Octavinelle, as I’m sure you remember, has plenty of rooms for rent,” Azul answered, turning to (Y/N) with a reassuring smile, “As the dorm head, I will gladly take (Y/N) into my dorm where she can stay during her time here. If she’s agreeable, she can work within the Mostro Lounge to pay for a place to sleep and to have food in her belly.”

“I’m not sure, Master Ashengrotto…” Crowley spoke, rubbing his chin with a clawed gloved hand, “a single woman in a dorm filled with boys is highly improper…”

“Improper would be the term used for the predicament your so-called black carriage put you in,” Azul snipped, his eyes flashing dangerously at the headmage, “Besides - the rooms we rent are on the opposite side of the aquarium in our dorm, quite a ways away from the rooms the dorm members reside in for that particular purpose. We also have security within our dorm and I’m usually the one to deal with matters of… problematic nature.”

“Perhaps, however-”

“Consider it one less problem on your plate as well. If (Y/N) is brought to my dorm, I will take full responsibility for her - and I might be able to find a way to get her home in the process as well.”

“You what?” your eyes widen with hope, your hand reaching out and clasping the edge of his robe.

“I have an endless network of resources at my disposal, my dear - I can likely find you a quicker way to get home than you can with anyone else here,” Azul answered confidently, thinking, ‘Though you won’t know that since I found you. I’ve searched high and low for you, I’ll be damned if I let you slip from my grasp so easily.’

“Very well then,” Headmage Crowley let out a sigh, “(Y/N), are you agreeable with staying with the Octavinelle dorm and working at the Mostro Lounge until Master Ashengrotto can find a way to return you to your world?”

“Of course! Thank you so much, Mr. Ashengrotto!” you beamed with joy.

“Azul,” the dorm head answered with a nod, “please, call me Azul.”

“Azul, then.”

The human-cecaelian smiled sweetly at his soulmate and offered an arm out, his hearts practically bursting with joy when you slipped your own arm through his - the two of you now link together via soul and side by side.

***

Azul brought you to the Octavinelle’s renting dorm after ordering Jade and Floyd to start the welcoming party for the first years as well as to get them ready for tomorrow night.

“Do what you need to do,” Azul smiled at the two.

“Of course.”

“You got it, boss!”

When the two of them were out of earshot, you looked up at Azul, “Thank you so much for your help back there. I wasn’t certain what was going to happen if you hadn’t stepped in.”

“Likely the headmage would have thrown you out of the college and left you to fend for yourself,” Azul smiled, “but I, on the other hand, would never allow something so pitifully disgusting happen to you.”

You giggled, the sound pulling on Azul’s heartstrings.

‘She’s here, she’s real,’ his thoughts quickened as the two continued their leisurely pace, ‘I knew that she was real, that she and I would meet. It will only be a matter of time now - once she confesses her feelings for me, I will make her mine.’

The two stopped outside one of the doors, Azul pulled out a key ring and unlocked it before ushering his soulmate inside.

“You can stay here,” Azul answered, peering around and wishing that it was cleaner than it was now, “There’s spare blankets in the closet in case you get cold during the night and fresh towels in the bathroom. I’ll have Jade or Floyd bring you a spare pair of clothing since you’ve brought nothing with you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to…”

“I insist,” Azul answered, “What sort of host would I be if I didn’t provide the best service?”

You giggled again, your smile even wider, “Well, thank you again Azul.”

Each time you spoke his name, Azul’s heart gave a leap of joy. 

He coughed, blushing slightly, “W-Well then, should you need anything during your time here, just let me know.”

“Of course, but - may I ask a question?”

“You already have,” Azul  snickered at you.

Your pout was adorable that Azul burst into laughter before you asked, “Why were you willing to help me? A complete stranger?”

“I have a gift for sensing someone in need,” Azul answered, his grin spreading wider over his features, “I have helped many poor unfortunate souls in my short lifetime and intend on continuing to offer my services in exchange for something.”

“What sort of payment?”

“Depends - but it isn’t something you should worry about. I like to keep a few things in my personal life private - regardless of my relationships with other people.”

“Of course, I can respect that.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” Azul reached out, pushing the hood down and stroking your  soft hair gently, “Why don’t you rest now? I have to attend the welcome party for the new students and make sure no one is destroying anything in my absence. I will have Jade or Floyd bring you something to eat in a little bit along with that fresh change of clothes. Tomorrow, we’ll discuss our contract.”

“Contract?”

“I always have my employees sign a business contract before they begin work - regardless how long they work in the lounge for,” Azul answered, “It helps to have things in writing when dealing with problems later down the road.”

With a nod, you grinned, “Thank you again, Azul-san.”

The cecaelia couldn’t help himself as he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to your forehead before pulling away and leaving his other half to stare at him in shock and surprise. 

When the door clicked behind him, Azul pulled the keyring out and locked the door to prevent anyone from entering and you from leaving. His eyes gleamed menacingly in the low light as a black gloved hand stroked the doorframe gently.

‘At last… you’re here with me, my precious pearl. Forgive me, but now that I have seen you… I can never let you go…’

[andheresthething]

I Got So Fucking Romantic, I Apologize

Summary: Cute lazy morning (afternoon) with Nightowl.

[No use of y/n] [Lazy Mornings] [But it's really 2 pm] [Cuddling & Snuggling] [Kissing] [Love Bites] [Pet Names] [Dorks in Love] [I cannot stress it enough you act like teenagers in love] [Implied Sexual Content] [You're smaller than him] [Established Relationship]

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Notes:

I recently played Blooming Panic and absolutely fell HARD for Nightowl. This is the first time I've ever posted any of my writing and it's been a while since I've written at all so this will probably be rusty. I might write more (could make a spicy follow-up) if people like this one, though it might be delayed because carpal tunnel is a bitch.

Gender-neutral reader for yall :)

I wrote this while listening to my character playlist for him

Reposted from AO3

Also, I haven't used Tumblr since MIDDLE SCHOOL so I apologize for things being strange to the platform

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Rays of light shone through the drawn blinds of the bedroom you and Nightowl shared. The small beams laid across the two of you sleeping well into early afternoon. You slowly blink and let out a yawn, taking a moment to come into the conscious world.

Once your eyes adjusted you finally get a look at the blonde sleeping on his side next to you. His chest slowly rising and falling and an arm draped over you. Lips slightly apart, just enough to show a sliver of his front teeth, and his neck and collar bones covered in spots that ranged in shades of purple. Though a familiar sight for you to see each day, it never grew old. Each day, without fail, your heart would flutter the same way it did when you spent your first night together. You cracked a smile, just watching and waiting for your partner to wake.

Sometimes it was still baffling to you that clicking on a discord invite led to this. How fast everything moved between the two of you was unexpected, but not unwelcomed in the slightest. You recall all the nights the two of you would spend up, talking about anything and everything until you fell asleep. Nightowl would follow shortly after, but would never hang up the call. Some of the time right before he’d turn in as well, you were just conscious to hear him say, ‘I can’t wait until we can do this in person. Goodnight, Cutie. Sweet dreams.’

Your smile grew thinking about those early times of your relationship, though soon enough you were broken from the little daydream with the feeling of Nightowl lifting his arm off of you, stretching himself awake with a yawn.

“Mornin, sweetheart,” you said as he lowered his arm back to hold you. He sleepily smiled, then placed a light kiss on your forehead.

“Good morning, cutie,” he smiled, “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

“Impossible, plus I lost myself in thought, so I doubt I would have noticed an hour going by.”

“Care to indulge me?” Nightowl asked while moving his hand to hold yours.

“I was just thinking about our old late-night calls before I got to move in with you and how sometimes when I was half asleep I’d hear you say how you couldn’t wait for this to happen for real and wished me goodnight”

Nightowl squeezed your hand, eyes lighting up slightly. Your little story seemed to help wake him up from his groggy state, “Awe, I love you getting all sappy and nostalgic on me first thing in the morning, cutie.”

 “I always felt all stupid and happy whenever I heard it.” 

“You know,” he scootched as close as he could be to you without being completely on top of you, “I did it every. Single. Night.” he hummed, peppering a kiss on your face between every word, and you giggled with each one.

“Really?”

He put on a serious face, sharply nodding, “Without fail. I still do actually. Granted, I’ve changed that first part a tiny bit considering you’re now actually here with me, in the flesh.”

“Awe, sweetheart, you’re literally the best. How’d I get so lucky?” you reached to hug him. Maybe a bit too enthusiastically, though, as you managed to push Nightowl over on his back and put yourself on top of him, burying your face in his neck in the process, “Seriously, I could have never imagined having someone who does stuff like that for me all to myself.”

“ You can’t believe you have me all to yourself?” Nightowl laughed, “I should be the one saying that. I was such a hungover ass to you after knowing you for, like, five days, and you still wanted to be with me after that night. You’re the one here that's the best,” he refuted, placing a kiss on the side of your head, “To have someone as precious as you makes me the lucky one here, darling.”

“Mmm, I’d have to disagree with you.”

  “Incorrect and unfactual statement.”

You lifted yourself enough to meet your eyes with his, “As much as I’d love to continue this to prove I’m, in fact, correct on this matter, I think I’m a little too tired to try.”

“So what you're saying is that I win?” he said with the biggest shit-eating grin. You groaned at his playful antic and started to push yourself up, now straddling his lap as he still laid underneath you, which also effectively pushed the blanket once covering the two of you off and behind you. 

“Sure, you win, dumbass. What shall your prize be?”

“Can it be anything?” he said excitedly.

You knew you might regret the answer you were going to give, but went through with it anyway, “Sure, anything you want, sweetheart,” with that, you sealed your fate.

“Hmm, what a tough decision to make,” Nightowl exaggeratedly pondered while pushing himself back slightly to be able to sit up with his arms supporting him from behind. You also moved so that you were sitting in his lap, legs wrapped around his bare lower waist, and brought your arms around his neck. Your arms sat on the soft fabric that was the straps of his crop top, “The possibilities are endless, cutie. How could I ever just choose one thing?”

You giggled at his complaint, “You better, the offer is going to expire soon. Then you just get bragging rights.”

“Oh, how cruel! How could you?” he moved his arms from behind him to hold your hips.

“I know, I’m such a horrible person,” you said, matching his sarcastic and playful tone.

The two of you stayed like that for a moment, you took the time to admire his face. The small beams of light highlighted his softer features. They made his messy hair shine and his brown eyes sparkle, revealing all the little flakes of different shades that resided in them.

The light also reflected off of his cartilage piercings. Nightowl had a bad habit of not taking out his earrings before bed. No matter how many times you reminded him, he always forgot. It wasn’t the end of the world that he didn’t, though. At least he remembered to take out his statement piece each night.

In that time, Nightowl did the same, soaking in the sight of you. Hair just as messy as his own, a stupid wide smile, and a pair of beaming eyes staring into his own. But your shirt, God it was killing him. It was one of his own that you’d steal regularly to wear almost anywhere. While purposefully somewhat oversized on him, you were swimming in it, allowing your neck and collar bones, covered in marks (courtesy of him), to be exposed. Maybe it was his somewhat possessive nature, but the mix of the shirt and hickies fogged his mind with a myriad of thoughts ranging from wholesome to extremely sexual.

“Have you made a decision yet?” your words snapped him out of his short, albeit very vivid, daydream, “Or are we just going to settle for bragging rights?”

“Nope! I’ve come up with my prize.”

“That would be?”

“One super lazy, stay-in-date day complete with stupid horror movies and possibly some more… intimate affairs later on,” he paused, “Please.”

You pretended to think it over, despite the arrangement of this prize. While you, of course, got tasked with a pile of work for the weekend, you couldn’t care less about it. Getting ripped by your boss on Monday would be worth it, especially with the not-at-all-subtle proposition for later in the day. Knowing Nightowl though, it would probably come way sooner than nightfall. “You, sir, have yourself a deal.”

You gave him a small peck, but Nightowl being Nightowl, was having none of that. He immediately put his lips back on yours, tightening his grip on your hips. While it took you slightly by surprise, you gladly accepted the act, kissing him back. Quickly things became heated, pulling each other closer, the movement of your lips becoming desperate. Your hands drifted to his hair, lightly grabbing at it, which Nightowl responded to by letting out a small moan into your mouth. That noise of his set you off, eager to continue the sudden act of intimacy. 

Unfortunately, as quickly as it picked up, it stopped. Nightowl pulled away and loosened his hold on you, causing you to let out a small whine of disappointment.

“As much as I don’t want to stop this right now, cutie, I’m starving for some actual food, not just you.” 

You let out a chuckle, arms going back down to rest on his shoulders, “You’re such a tease.”

“Says the one wearing nothing but my shirt,” he flirted, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face once again. “Looks great on you, by the way. Makes your ass and thighs look fantastic. Especially your thighs.”

“I do, in fact, have something on under, mister,” you retorted, “But if you’re that hungry, I guess we could go scrounge up something, but by we, I mean me. We both know you can't cook for shit.”

“Ouch, that one stung.”

“It’s not that bad if I like cooking and you like eating it. Plus, you get to stare at my thighs all you want while I do so.”

“A win is a win,” he lifted one hand off your hips to cup your cheek. “Shall we then?”

“To the kitchen!” you giggled. 

Nightowl gave you one last kiss on your forehead before putting his hand down, allowing you to get up off of him and the bed. He followed suit, loosely holding your hand. With that, you led the way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to start your long date day at 2 pm.

[absolutebl]

Hi ABL! I’ve just watched Our Dating Sim and The Promise and like a lot of people I adored ODS and wasn’t as keen on The Promise… thinking about it though, they have a very similar premise, one guy kisses his friend, panics and runs away and ghosts him for 7-10 years… the abandoned friend is traumatised by this and is very happy when they reunite, and the one who ran away never really has to grovel to get him back…

Why do you think this worked so well in Our Dating Sim and fell flat in The Promise?

They the same premise - Why do we like Our Dating Sim SO MUCH better than The Promise?

Two BLs, both alike in premises, in fair Tumblr, where we lay our scene, from ancient pining trope to new romances, where sunshine gay makes chaos gay unseem(ly).

Couple of answers.

Time span of existing relationship: ODS set them up as first loves in high-school, but has them start & end in high school. So they didn't know each other well, just fast & intense as teens. The Promise gave us a long friendship since middle school through to college. So when Phu runs away he should have know better: himself, his friend, and their relationship. This makes his character disengeuntions and mistrusting at best, stupid at worse.

Depicted personality of characters: Our artist nerd Lee Wan is clearly closed-off and geeky. He gets rejected (he thinks), forced to move house, and then a death in the family as a 1-2-3 punch. Plus we understand that his personality is to retreat under those circumstances. Phu's personality is more open, he is in the service industry, for goodness sake! He runs away and removes himself from the situation why? Doesn't make sense for his character. And then he lies about it!

The LIEING: Phu lied about where he went and what he did for 10 years. 10 YEARS! ALSO he made OTHERS lie for him. Lee Wan ran away, ghosted, and disappeared but he never lied about it. In fact, his webtoon could be construed as a cry for help, designed to find, exactly who it needed to find, KiTae.

The support characters: Nan is given tons of options in lover who are NOT Phu, options that seem better than Phu (who are better - more earnest, more forthright, more communicative, more open). Neither of the boys in ODS are ever given alternates. The narrative is telling us that they are meant for each other from start to finish.

Character growth: ODS dealt with the resulting fall-out of KiTae's abandonment issues (issues that are the result of Lee Wan's running). It shows Lee Wan realizing what he did and the damage it caused. It shows Lee Wan choosing to stay this time because he has learned and grown as a person and as someone worthy of KiTae's love. Phu never grew.

I had another one but I forgot what it was...

[fluffansmut-old]

Like you haven’t done that

Summary: You’re the second Byers child and the middle sister in the Byers trio. Most of the time your brothers are great, but when you start to sneak around, dating Eddie Munson and planing r-rated activities with him, your big brother suddenly becomes more annoying than ever.

Even though you’re not doing anything that you know that he hasn’t already done himself.

Content warnings: Eddie x Byers!reader, protective & annoying Jonathan, the Byers kids (including reader) have daddy issues, mentions of sexual activity, mentions of birth control options, hickies, slightly awkward sex-talk.

A/N: realised I hadn’t posted this to tumblr, and since it’s all out on AO3 already I’ve decided to drop all three parts on tumblr right away.

Word count: 4227

AO3 | Masterlist

Part 2 - Part 3

It was friday morning in march-85.

You were sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast with your brothers this particular morning, when the phone rang.

Hoping it to be who you thought It were you sprung out of your chair to answer.

“Why is she so eager to answer the phone nowadays? Will asked Jonathan who shook his head in response.

“No idea, but something is definitely up.”

You answered the phone.

“Byers”

“Hello sweetheart” you heard on the other side.

“Hi babe”

“I was just calling to ask if everything is arranged for tonight or if I need to kick Wayne and his poker buddies out of the trailer for the night” Eddie said, you could hear in his voice how excited he was.

“It’s arranged, Will is playing DnD at wheeler’s, Jonathan is studying at the library with Nancy and mom is working late so she won’t be home until at least 11.30.” You confirmed.

You and Eddie had carefully planned out the whole thing. The two of you had been trying to find a moment to yourselves, a moment to have sex and not worry constantly about being quiet or interrupted. (Or caught for that matter, Joyce didn’t know that you were sexually active or with Eddie for that matter)

so now when all the people living in your house were otherwise occupied, you jumped on it.

“Great, then I’ll se you at school gorgeous.” Eddie said, you could clearly visualise the smirk on his face.

“See you, babe, I love you” you said.

“Love you too.” Eddie replied then the line when silent.

When you turned around to return to your breakfast you were met by your big brother, who was leaning up against the wall giving you a pointed look.

“Who is babe?” He asked.

“None of your concern” you replied, walking towards the table.

Jonathan was of course not ready to drop it there.

What do you have planned that mom doesn’t know about?” He asked. Sitting down across from you at the table again.

“It’s nothing Jonathan, nothing.” You said, trying to put an end to the conversation. You didn’t want Will to hear you argue.

“Okay well if it’s nothing, then why are you telling babe that you are home alone tonight? I thought you were gonna study with Stacy?” Jonathan said, calling your bluff.

“First and foremost, I am too, going to study with Stacy tonight. But stop eavesdropping on my phone calls! Is nothing fucking private in this house anymore?” You exclaimed as you rose from the table and put the bowl and spoon in the sink.

“Don’t swear infront of Will, and I’m not buying anything so tell me what you are up to.”

Will who still was stained since your parents divorce hated fights in general and tried to help.

“Hey Jonathan it’s okay, Dustin says shit all the time, I’m used too it?”

“There see, he’s used too it.” You said

“And besides, you aren’t my parent and you cannot tell me what to do!”

Jonathan huffed.

“I am still one and a half year older than you” he said.

“I’m riding my bike to school today” you said, refusing to have this conversation continuing on all the way to school.

You ruffled Will’s hair when you passed his chair and shot him a

“Have a good day kiddo” before you walked out the door.

The first time you saw Eddie that day was when he walked into the cafeteria as you were walking out. He grabbed your arm and spun you close to him.

At first you got a little frightened but when you realised that it was Eddie you smiled. He pressed his forehead against yours and you locked eyes with his soft, dreamy ones.

“Hello gorgeous” he said.

“Hello handsome” you replied and kissed him.

“I can’t wait for tonight” he said. ”the thought of what we are about to do later has been consuming my mind all day”

“What are these thought consuming ideas of yours ?” You asked.

His eyes grew impossibly wider with lust and he said,

“I don’t think those words are appropriate on school property” he said with a smirk, teasing you.

“Are you really one to talk about what’s appropriate, you know since you´re known for trampling all over the tables in the cafeteria when it suits you.”

His smirk grew even wider when you called him out on his bullshit and then he leaned in closer and whispered,

“Let’s just say; I want to ravish you” he said.

“Oh please do” you replied. Giving him a kiss.

“You want a preview?” He asked, and before you even thought it through you nodded and said;

“Yes!”

Right where your collarbone meets your neck he gave you a hickey.

When he pulled away you heard him gasp a little.

“Holy shit, sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean to make it so obvious.” He said and ran his fingers over it.

“Is it really big?” You asked, now slightly nervous about the questions that your brother would have for you.

“Bigger than I was going for” he said.

“I’m sorry sweetheart”

“It’s fine, I just gotta hide it from Jonathan” you said.

You gave Eddie a goodbye kiss for now and you parted ways, he went into the cafeteria and you and Stacy went towards to the bathroom to try and cover up the hickey.

On the way there you did a quick search of the surroundings, just to make sure Jonathan weren’t watching.

What you didn’t notice was the king of Hawkins high himself, that saw the whole thing play out.

And when Steve later met Nancy and Jonathan outside of science class things didn’t go as you planned.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” He said, smiling at the pair.

“Nothing much, just trying to get through this school year.” Nancy replied with a small sigh, gesturing towards the pile of paper she had in her arms. “How are you?”

“Same, just trying to survive until graduation. “ he said, and then he remembered what he witness earlier “Hey Byers, I saw your sister with that Munson kid before, when did they start dating?”

The question threw Jonathan a little... he wasn’t stupid, he knew that babe most likely were someone that you were in fact dating? But, that it was Eddie Munson made him feel uneasy.

“You aren’t fucking with me now, are you Harrington?” Jonathan asked.

“Wait you didn’t know?” Steve said, slightly surprised.

“Are you positive that it was Eddie Munson?” Nancy asked sensing the tension from Jonathan.

“I’m certain , that cult like t-shirt that he always wears, leather jacket, and jeans vest, cos apparently that’s something you can wear at the same time. “ Steve said, describing the eccentric kid they all had seen in the cafeteria countless of times before. “It was him.”

“And you are sure that it was my sister?” Jonathan then asked.

“Yes, I have seen your sister before, she wore this patterned blouse this morning right?” Steve said, starting to describe the blouse. “Light blue with geometric shapes on it in pastel colours?”

“Yeah” Jonathan said, remembering the blouse from breakfast.

“Then I’m sorry my friend, but it was her too.” Steve said, giving Jonathan a sympathetic look.

You had successfully avoided your big brother during the whole school day and was more than satisfied with that when you hopped on you bike again that afternoon.

Your mind was only focused on preparing for Eddie’s arrival later.

When you came home you dropped your bag by the door and took a deep breath, enjoying the silence.

You organised you room a bit, ie, shoving junk and old stuffed animals into the closet.

You straightened up your bed a bit, not that it still would look like that at the end of the night but still.

Right then and there you realised that you didn’t have any condoms…

Sure it was Eddies responsibility to bring some, but you didn’t want the night to be spoiled even if he forgot them.

You weren’t on any birth control, simply bc that required a signature from a parent, and taking that up with your mom was a no go at the moment. You thought about it for a moment, then an idea popped into your head. Jonathan might have some…

You walked into your brothers room and headed straight for his nightstand, but as you pulled out the draw you only found this old photography magazine. You cursed a little under your breath, couldn’t he just have some condoms you could steal without his knowledge?

You checked the pockets of some of his most worn clothes but only found nickels and gum wrappers.

His desk draw wasn’t any successful either.

”How can he not have any condoms?” you thought, and returned to the nightstand, you picked up the magazine to check underneath it. It was then you hit the jackpot, out from between the pages fell condoms, onto the floor.

”That sneaky little shit” you mumbled and picked up two condoms, putting them in your pant-pocket. As you bent down to pick up the rest you suddenly heard a very familiar voice.

”I knew that you were fucking lying” Jonathan said. You jerked at his words just dropping the remaining condoms and the magazine right back into his nightstand.

”He can’t even bring his own fucking condoms?”

”I have not clue what your on about?” You said, deciding that denial was the way to go with Jonathan. You began to walk out of the room but Jonathan grabbed your wrist making you stay.

”I´m not stupid if you think so, I know that its drug-dealer-cult-leader Eddie Munson who you are planning to sleep with.” Jonathan said, getting properly worked up about it all. ”And its obviously him that also already branded you like cattle.”

He pointed towards the hickey by your collarbone.

”You are such a fucking idiot, you don´t even know him! ” you spat, jerking your hand free from his grip. ”And its not like you haven’t done the exact same thing.”

”Don´t bring me into this” he responded. ”You are the one to make stupid mistakes”

Your blood was boiling and you wanted to slap your brother across the face.

”You are the stupid one, going around judging people on what other people say all the time.” You said, getting really defensive over Eddie. ”Weren’t we just the freaks,huh? When Will went missing? We were the zombie-boy-siblings for about a year Jonathan”

”That was totally different and you know it.” He said.

”How exactly is it different?” You said.

Jonathan stumbled over his words, not really sure of what to say.

”Its not worth explaining to you” he landed on.

”You are such a dick, do you know that “ you said, walking out of his room.

”I want my condoms back.” Jonathan then said.

”They are all in your nightstand.” You replied, walking towards the kitchen.

”I saw you putting some in your pocket, I’m not stupid, hand them over” he said.

”And what will the outcome be of that?” You asked him, ”do you think that you can stop me from having sex just because you take away the condoms?”

He huffed.

”You are really stupid, you really would have unprotected sex just cause the contraception just isn’t right the beside you?” He said.

” I´ve heard the pullout method is effective or what do you say picture-perfect-big-brother” you spat at him, knowing full well what he and Nancy did at Murray Baumans house about 3 months ago.

”What are you talking about now?” He said, playing innocent.

” Cut the bullshit, you know that I talk to Nancy right?” You responded.

“First and foremost that is none of your business, and it’s not what we are discussing here?” Jonathan said.

“I thought unprotected sex was exactly what we were discussing?” You shot back.

Before Jonathan could reply your fight got cut off by your mom coming home with a pounding migraine.

“Hey, hey,hey” she shouted and then held a hand to her head. “Who is having unprotected sex?”

You quickly pointed a finger towards Jonathan as he did the same towards you, just as when you were kids.

“Okay, you two sit down, and don’t speak a word until I’m back.” Joyce said and pointed towards the couch.

You and Jonathan started to bicker about calling each other out as you mom went towards the kitchen.

“I said not a word!” She snapped at you, as she grabbed a hairclip from the table, putting her hair up.

You and Jonathan shut up quickly after that.

Joyce had looked forward towards a quiet house with only you and Stacy home so she could rest, but now she had to give a improvised sex talk to her two teenagers.

“Let’s have them close in age Joyce, they’ll have so much FUN together” she muttered, imitating Lonnie, whilst she was rumaging around trying to find painkillers.

Of course there was some truth in what he had said, you and Jonathan could always depend on each other to look after one another, which sometimes was nice and sometimes ended up in situations like this.

It drove Joyce crazy, the way the two of you never could leave it, she was just happy that both of you took it out on each other and both considered Will to be your favourite sibling, since Will would take fights so much more to heart.

“So, one at the time please explain why the two of you are fighting?” She said as she sat down on the table opposite you.

“Well for starters, she’s lying to you” Jonathan blurted out pointing at you.

“Oh c’mon for fucks sake” you said.

“Mind your language a bit please, now is this true ?” Joyce said, searching your face with that concerned mom look that you hated.

“Jonathan is totally throwing me under the bus here and it’s so unfair” you replied, hoping to shift blame.

The problem with your brother was that he knew every curveball you had and had learned how to easily dodge them.

“You didn’t answer the question?” He taunted.

You gave him the finger when your mom looked away and then you said,

“I’m not lying more than Jonathan is?”

“I’m not lying, she is.”

“Okay okay, quit bickering” Joyce said, shutting you both up. “I do not care who is lying and by the looks of it you both are, now what brought on this whole unprotected sex discussion?”

It was like a lightbulb went off over your head, and then you turned towards your brother.

“You want to tell her of should I?” You said putting your hand in your pocket.

Jonathan who had enough of your bullshit didn’t think before blurting out

“She stole my condoms to go have sex with the school drug dealer”

“Well Jonathan had unprotected sex with Nancy at a strangers house” you shot back, if he could play dirty then so could you.

“You are freaking unbelievable, how is that relevant at all?” Jonathan said.

Joyce was overwhelmed to say the least, these were sides of her children (and Nancy Wheeler for that matter) that she never expected to see.

“Okay I’m gonna need so much more information to make this make sense.” She gave you and Jonathan this maternal look that you had seen a thousand times before. It was best for the two of you to tell the truth.

“If I’m gonna say anything I want him to shut the fuck up whilst I talk” you started, glaring towards Jonathan.

Jonathan was about to protest when Joyce cut him off.

“Dial down on the cursing and the tone please” she first scolded. “But you do make a valid point, now Jonathan, let your sister talk”

Jonathan thought about protesting again but decided against it, since it probably wouldn’t help.

“I’ve met this guy…his name is Eddie, and despite popular belief” you said, shooting a glare towards Jonathan, “he is actually the sweetest man I've ever met. He is kind, considerate and I feel very safe with him.”

Jonathan who at this point didn't believe the sincerity in your voice rolled his eyes at your statement, but kept quiet.

“Okay…” Joyce said choosing her next words wisely. “He sounds lovely… but what worries me is the talk about drugs, has he ever offered you drugs?”

“He never has” you said triumphantly, looking at Jonathan before returning your eyes towards your mom.

“Has he ever dealt drugs with someone else in your presence?” Joyce asked.

You shook your head, cause sure people pulled him aside in school whilst you were in earshot but he always dealt the actual drugs in the woods by the school, and you weren’t there.

“Is he even like.. uhm high in front of you?” Joyce asked, searching your face for any indication of insincerity.

You pondered the question for a moment… It wasn’t like Eddie was high most of the time, it was more of a business than a hobby to put it that way. But sure it had happened once or twice that you surprised him at the trailer park, to find him with a joint in between his fingers.

“No, he isn’t” you responded.

“Then there isn’t much more I can ask from him, in that department” Joyce settled on.

Jonathan wasn’t satisfied with the fact that your mom was willing to drop the drug dealing after that conversation, he cleared his throat to say something, but was only met by a held up finger in front of him, telling him to keep quiet.

“Now honey, I assume that you are planning on sleeping with this Edward? It was Edward right?” Joyce asked, calling you by the nickname she had for you since you were a kid.

You blushed at the question, wasn’t it obvious?

“You can call him Eddie, everybody does” you first corrected. “But yeah…”

It was strange to admit it to your mom. It was even strange to say it out loud.

“Can I ask if you’ve ever done anything of that nature before?” She asked. Blood drained from your face, you didn’t want to admit any details in front of your mom and brother.

“No details necessary, just yes or no” your mom added and put a hand on your knee.

You thought about you and Eddie, about hickies, handjobs and fingerings, about Eddie’s hands on your tits and that time you came from grinding on his jean-clad thigh.

“ uhm, yes, but nothing too intimate so to say” you settled.

You mom nodded, then she turned towards your brother for the first time in a while.

“And am I right to assume by the conversation that I walked in on that you and Nancy are sexually active?” She asked.

You snickered silently,because finally it wasn’t only about you.

Jonathan pushed you slightly in the side with his elbow to shut you up.

“Yes, you are” Jonathan said, searching the wall in front of him trying to avoid looking his mother in the face as he answered the question.

“Okay, the two of you, let’s talk about protection” she stated going into this educating version of herself that you both hated.

“Mom, c’mon, we know already” Jonathan muttered, you saw him turning red in the face.

“Um no, we are discussing this” Joyce stated. Just as she was about to continue the door opened and in came the youngest Byers sibling.

“Hi Im just gonna grab my Dn… are both of you in trouble at the same time again?” Will asked, looking at both his older siblings. Who both looked flustered and ashamed.

“Why do you assume that they are in trouble?” Joyce asked. Taken a bit by suprised at Will´s question, was it really that obvious?

“ mom, your sitting on the coffetable, plus you have your hair up, you only put you hair up when you´re annoyed.” Will stated.

“Kid is good.” you said, smiling slightly at how observant your little brother was.

“They are in fact in trouble, but it's nothing that you need to worry about” Joyce said smiling at her youngest. “Go get your things. “

He ran off towards his room and your mom turned back towards you and Jonathan.

“Now where were we?” She said, “oh, yeah, Birth control is mandatory. It’s not up for discussion, I don’t want grandchildren yet and I promise you guys, non of you wants an STI”

“I think she’s talking to you” you said to Jonathan.

“At least I have condoms in my room” he muttered, “it`s more than your shitty boyfriend has.”

“Jonathan Byers!” Joyce said sternly, shutting your brother up.

“I just wanna add for the record that i didn´t borrow condoms from Jonathans stash because Eddie wasn´t planning on bringing any.” you said, defending both yourself and Eddie. “ I did it because I didnt want to be left without, incase he forgot, or it broke or something.”

“That was a very mature decision honey and I think it shows that you´re mature and responsible.” she said. ”although please ask your brother before going through his drawers and stealing things from him”

“Mkay, then” you said and rolled your eyes. You were nowhere near apologising to Jonathan.

“We can also look into contraceptive pills if that is something you might want” she said looking at you, hand on your knee.

“And if it ever comes up for discussion between you and Nancy, I want you to tell her that I will help in anyway I can, I’ll talk to Karen with her if she wants to.”

Jonathan simply nodded, and considered telling her about it.

“Now want to talk about consent” Joyce continued on, looking like she was mentally checking things off the “sex-talk-check-list”

“Once again mom we know, okay?” Jonathan groaned.

“Well good, that’s good” Joyce said. “Because like birth control it’s mandatory, I don’t want you to feel any pressure to do something that you don’t want to, no matter how big or small it is, and I don’t want you to pressure anyone into anything”

“I just wanna say if I ever find out that Munson has pressured you into doing some freaky shit then I swear to god I’ll beat him with my own hands” Jonathan said and your first instinct was to slap him, but since that would only land you in more trouble with your mom you decided against it.

“I can’t believe you” you said, “how can you even say that? It’s so unlike you to judge someone so hard with even knowing them”

Neither Joyce nor Jonathan had any chance to say anything because right after your outburst, there came a crash from your room and a very familiar,

“Oh shit”

“Speaking of the devil” Jonathan said with an eye roll.

“Shut the fuck up.” You said.

“Jonathan, that is quite enough” Joyce said, giving Jonathan a stern look. “Honey, go tell Eddie to wait in your room whilst we finish up here” Joyce said and you rose from the couch.

In the doorway to your room you saw your little brother staring wide-eyed at the long haired man who was busy putting all the cds he knocked down back.

“Hey babe” you said which made him look up.

“Oh I’m sorry sweetheart, I tried to be discreet and ended up being the total opposite.” He said smiling at you, then he turned his attention to the younger boy who stood next to you clutching his campaign to his chest.

“And this must the younger-brother-Byers?”

“Uhm yes, I’m.. Will” he said, turning a little shy. He then turned to you and you spotted that curious hint in his eye. “What’s hellfire club?” He whispered trying discreetly to motion towards the shirt Eddie was wearing.

“Ask him.” You said, knowing full well that Eddie would enjoy both answering the question and your brothers reaction.

“Will this is Eddie” you said, taking a step into the room, coaxing Will to join you. “He is the absolute nicest. And you can ask absolutely ask him what you asked me”

“What’s hellfire club?” Will asked, blushing slightly.

“It’s only the coolest club at Hawkins high” Eddie said, looking very proud. “We play DnD, and I’m the dungeon master”

You immediately noticed that spark light up inside of Will.

“You play DnD?” He asked, voice high pitched and excited.

“Live for it kid” Eddie replied. “I take it as you do too?”

“Yeah, I actually planned the campaign we are playing tonight” he said, looking at the things he was holding.

“Oh no way, can you show me?” Eddie said and took a seat on your bed. Not two seconds later Will was sat next to him.

“I just came him here to tell you that we are totally busted and mom asked me to tell you to stay in here whilst she finished up the most embarrassing mom-talk I’ve ever received.” You said to Eddie.

“Yeah, yeah go be embarrassed, I don’t have time for you right now” he said and shifted his focus back to Will who already started talking about the campaign.

You smiled as you returned to the living room, at least one of your brothers liked Eddie.

[soll-amca]

Do you have any Alessi headcanons for someone desperate ?🫣 Too shy to come off anon to ask ..

uHHHHHHHH MAYHAps :) Thank you for the ask! I’ve been dying to write for awhile :) !

I legit don’t know what I have and haven’t posted yet since I haven’t been on tumblr for a hot minute but uhhh uhhhhhhhh. There’s lore-dumps near the top, but it gets better near the end I promise

Obligatory song for my headcanon posts. There’s no specific reason for this song, it’s just a banger, and I’m also trying to be very normal about Walid Toufic and not put his music for every single Alessi post

Alessi’s of Lebanese-Armenian descent, but extremely estranged from his Armenian roots due to internal family issues — mostly his father facing scorn from his intolerant side of the family for marrying an Armenian woman. Despite this, Alessi was very close with his mother and, even as a grown man, regrets not learning more from her. Of course, he’s never going to admit this, no matter how obvious it may be that he tries to pick up parts of the Armenian language and culture 

Alessi was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1951, but was eventually forced out due to a civil war in 1975. Though, what gave him the final push to leave was a falling out with his siblings. With both their parents gone, his sister going off to a loveless marriage, and his brother wanting to join the war effort, Alessi loses control of Sethan during a confrontation and turns them into children. This ends up as a strange, happy accident as he would try keeping up the charade for a few days, exploiting their memory being reverted to fake a “happy family” in an effort to keep the last remnants of his old life from slipping away 

Things end horribly for Alessi as his siblings eventually find out and oust him from the home they all grew up in. With nothing left for him, he leaves and dedicates himself to mercenary work throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa to keep himself afloat

With fourteen years under his belt by SDC, Alessi’s considered one of the best in the region. And since he’s well-traveled, he’s proficient in a majority of the Arabic dialects, so nine times out of ten, nothing got past him in Dio’s mansion regardless of where the other assassins were from

The joke is that most Arabs don’t understand North Africans, but everyone can understand Egyptians, so whenever Alessi wants to phase out of a conversation, he’ll slowly change to to a dialect that’s “further out” and difficult to understand despite Levantine being his first

Since French is a secondary language in Lebanon, much more prevalent during Alessi’s time in schooling, and especially North Africa for mercenary work. He knows enough to get around like the basics, but can’t read or write for shit. His little brother was easily more fluent than him, so he has a weird sort of resentment yet fondness for the language. Whatever French he knew definitely came back when he was chasing around Polnareff in the Sethan arc

Very, very curly hair, but he doesn’t take care of it. Back as a kid, when he had his mom, she would help him and he was basically a puff-ball, but as an adult, he doesn’t have the slightest clue on how to style it while also maintaining his hair. If you catch him when he just wakes up, or immediately after a shower, it’s seemingly perfect but then he’ll proceed to douse himself in a can of hairspray 

The gun he uses in SDC isn’t his, it’s his late brother’s. But going into that right now on why and how he even got it should be it’s entirely own post so —

Any endearment at all related to babe/baby will have him throwing up in his mouth. It’s one thing to mention a child, it’s another to somehow relate it back to HIM. Honestly, Alessi doesn’t read as a “habibi” person to me, he’s too bitter to be a “habibi” person. Albi and eini come much more easily to him as petnames to call someone

He’s a sucker for trashy American television. He used to think he was above it, but now if you leave him alone for long enough, he’ll put on TLC and binge whatever’s on. Although back home, he had a thing for spaghetti westerns even if they were horribly dubbed in Arabic

Adding to the Western trend, he was super into Lucky Luke comics as a kid. Since they were really popular in the Middle East, and the translated ones were produced in Egypt. It’s definitely not a stretch that during the 80s and SDC, his grown, mercenary ass sat down to watch cartoons of his favorite cowboy. Would Alessi hog the mansion’s TV to watch Lucky Luke? Perchance. Would he stay cooped up in his Luxor hotel room to watch it? Also perchance

Tintin was popular, too, but I think I need an outside opinion on that. If a Tintin person could come back to me about this please help

Hol Horse fascinates him. Not in an admiration sort of way, but a “holyshit a real cowboy” sort of way. To Alessi, it’s like Hol crawled out of his family television and old comic books

I don’t know who it was, but I want to say back in like,, 2016ish one of the original Dio’s Fuckhouse blogs had a headcanon that Hol was actually from New England or something, but basically nowhere near “the Wild West” or even the South. So the image of Alessi being interested and asking him stuff while Hol Horse is just,, sweating bullets because he’s not a “real cowboy” is hilarious to me

Because of what happened with his sister, Alessi’s very standoffish when it comes to love. He’ll take any chance he can get to mock touchy couples and heckle anyone that he thinks is getting “too intimate” in public, but I think we all know he’s compensating for something

But the moment someone touches him or is very direct about making a move, he flusters and doesn’t know what to do with himself. Cheesy pick-up lines will only embarrass him and he can’t tell whether or not you’re making fun of him

Having gone through wide extremities of emotions when he was younger, and then having to suppress them all as a mercenary, Alessi wouldn’t understand sensitivities. Especially since he’d have to adopt a pragmaticism in his line of work to keep himself alive — and arguably sane. He’d get confused over someone being upset over an inconvenience that isn’t “up to par” to what he went through, but at the same time fly off the handle at small things happening to him since he bottles up all his emotions

If someone cries around him, he falls into the routine of having this initial frustration, stuffing it down to not make things worse, and eventually follow through with a weird shoulder pat — sorta like “there, there”. After that, he’s clueless

[digiblueslush]

Hello everybody!

My names Rory, and I’m back on tumblr for the bajillionth time and rebranding for the bajillionth time (seriously why did I ever leave in the first place, I love yall)

Anyways… here’s my whole spiel about who I am, what I do, etc.

^^^ where I post from lolz. Anyways, here are the basic stats

Name/what y’all can call me - Rory, Cyber Rory, idk anything else just not any of my old names if you know them

Age - 19

God what else do you put in these OH OMG

Pronouns - irl they/them, online they/it (and ask about neos if interested)

Sexuality/gender identity - i identify as bisexual, abrosexual, and gender-fluid (please do not use he/him or she/her even if I say I feel more masculine/feminine, they/them is always preferred)

What’s my deal - I’m an artist! Previously I never really posted my own stuff, but now I want to start doing that. Obviously I’ll still repost things I like, but it’s not gonna be my whole page lolz. I started taking my art more seriously since I switched my major from marine bio to a double major in art and psych (physics and chem are too hard) I’m currently not in school (I had to withdraw during the middle of my first semester due to mental health issues, but I’m going back this fall! So excited!!)

What kind of art? - glad you asked. Im really into Frutiger aero and cybercore at the moment, so that’s what I usually base my art around, but I really don’t have one set style/“aesthetic” in my art. I go in between Frutiger aero, cybercore, y2k, scene, mizuiro, and basically anything else that I can sneak the color blue in

Other fun things about me

Music I’m into - I don’t mean to be one of those “oh I’m into everything” kind of people, as it’s not fully true, but it’s true like 90% of the time. My favorite genres right now are metal core, emo, whatever Ayesha erotica, millionaires, and slayyyter are, and ambient instrumentals (more specifically cybercore ambience and the little big planet soundtrack) I will not listen to most country, and pop music is very hit or miss, but other than that I usually like everything else. Specific bands I’m into include bad omens, mcr, motionless in white, spiritbox, and pierce the veil

Shows/Animes I’m into - hot take but I really don’t like to watch tv *gasp* I know I know, but it’s so hard for me to start new shows and keep watching them, especially if episodes are longer than 20-30 mins. Even with anime I have a hard time watching shows that I wasn’t into over a year ago. I’m really into JJK, Haikyuu, Yuri on Ice (rip), the aquatope on white sands, and tbhk

Other things I’m into - just gonna dump them all here lolz. Blues clues, Winnie the Pooh, stuffed animals (NOT squishmallows, hot take sorry) deltarune/undertale, sally face, Fran bow, project sekai (forgot to put vocaloid in music lolz), and the ds and Wii era Nintendo

ALMOST DONE

I’ll be setting up either a card or a link tree hopefully soon, but I’m also on TikTok (regretfully) and instagram, both are @/cyber.rory13 if y’all are interested. Eventually I hope to open up commissions and/or a sticker and print shop, but for now I’m waiting til I have more traction on my socials as shops cost money, and I’ve been unemployed since October (starting work in may tho!) so I don’t want to make that investment quite yet. Commissions however, I’m open to the idea of them, so if you are interested feel free to message me and we can talk about details there (they will have to be digital or traditional transferred to digital). And finally, the moment like one of y’all has been waiting for, some of my actual art!

Digital

Traditional

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy, my page is a safe place and feel free to reblog really engage anyway if you’d like to be mutuals! Slay queen!!

[cctinsleybaxter]

2023 in Books

I need to stop bragging that I’ve got this reading thing all figured out, because man if 2023 wasn’t a year of terrible books. I liked less than half of the 37 I read and nothing quite gripped me in the way it has in years past… but to put it more optimistically I liked a full third of what I read, and the ones I liked best were a fascinating and unexpected silver lining. Without further ado:

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, trans. Brian Hooker

Tell this all to the world- and then to me. Say very softly that… she loves you not.

I read a couple of plays this year for the first time since college and liked them fine, but there’s a reason this has been adapted five million times. Everyone go watch Megamind right now.

Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand

Of all the found footage-inspired horror fiction I’ve read this one makes the best case for existing in its chosen medium, as a 70s UK folk rock band are interviewed about the summer they spent recording what would become their final album [thunder crashes.] It reminded me of a Tana French mystery in its language and ability to make space feel lived-in; the character writing is so strong I realized that at some point I had stopped checking the interview headings to know who was speaking. Hand unfortunately distrusts her audience to read between the lines at a few crucial moments (and ruins what would have been a perfect ending and a deeply affecting scare by gilding the lily, or, in this case, photograph), but I love that she went from seemingly by-the-numbers American YA fiction to a meticulously-researched and truly unique horror novella. Puts other writers working in the genre to shame.

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin

Reminiscent of the best kind of TCM suspense thriller (and was adapted into one), but could only exist as a book for the kind of narrative tactics it employs. Levin is brilliant at setting and character; I think any one of his contemporaries would have leaned into archetypes for this sort of story, and he instead distinguishes his proper nouns in subtle, clever ways that lend them the weight a noir needs. Can’t wait to read more of his stuff!

All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva

I’d like to know why this anthology got hit with what a friend has termed a pottery barn throw pillow cover + a ‘the tiny things we know to be small’ title, because the eponymous story isn’t even called that! It’s just The Names They Used for God, and is, appropriately, about two women kidnapped by a religious extremist group. High risk-high reward; I think taken at their base premise the stories could have been insufferable and are instead strange, compelling, and fantastical. There’s a methodicalness and, I don't know, lack of whimsy? to them that’s unusual for fantasy, but also an absence of any one goal or moral in the way Le Guin speaks so highly of. It made me feel the way I did reading and adoring Kelly Link in middle school, and Sachdeva has a much different style that I guess works all the better on adults. My favorite was Robert Greenman and the Mermaid.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Lauren Hillenbrand

Someone recommended this to me via Tumblr anon over five years ago, so let me start by saying if that was you I’d like to thank you properly! This book rules! It was written in ‘99 so falls prey to a very specific kind of jingoism, but the mechanics of that are interesting in and of themself. Seabiscuit the animal is a lens through which to view turn-of-the-20th-century America written from the precipice of the 21st; his story told through the expertly-researched biographies of his owner, trainer, and jockey. Hillenbrand is not only a good pop nonfiction historian, but has been a sports writer since the 80s and I never imagined the genre could be so thrilling as I did reading her work. Horse racing is insane and no one should be riding these things btw.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

It was one of the great livery-stableman’s most masterly intuitions to have discovered that Americans want to get away from amusement even more quickly than they want to get to it.

Wharton came from old money New York*, was deeply disillusioned with it and pined for rational (i.e., even more insane) social and political scenes, had myriad thoughts about women and gender relations, and held a love for interior design. I learned all of this after reading but it’s apparent on every page; deeply funny and perceptive, fantastic use of language, the moments where it lost me completely nothing if not interesting. What sticks with me the most are a flair for the operatic and an ability to voice both the feeling and consequences of losing oneself to imagined scenarios. Read the pink parasol scene.

*Ancient Money New York; the saying ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is apocryphally attributed to her father’s side of the family

Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl by Jonathan S. Slaght

We’d return to our camp to huddle in the freezing tent and wait for our owls in silence, like suitors agonizing over a phone that never rings.

One of the better pieces of science writing I’ve read in a long time, as Slaght frames rural communities as a quintessential part of ecology rather than a barrier to it. His style is amiable and matter-of-fact (sometimes overly so; the amount of metric GIS directions, help), but he's super engaging and clearly holds just as much compassion for people and history as he does animals and natural landscapes. The Blakiston’s fish owls he’s studying are described as unreal, with hoots so low and quiet it sounds like someone has thrown them under a blanket. You can listen to them here.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Took my breath away and surprised me in a way a book hasn’t in years. I'd read Clarke’s 2004 novel when I was maybe fourteen and had vaguely positive but mostly neutral memories of it, and Piranesi being sci-fi-fantasy that came recommended by Tiktok had me very dubious. I ended up devouring it in the way I haven’t read books since I was fourteen; more of a mystery than the suspected high fantasy, with characters I would do disservice to in trying to describe in brief. While the mystery isn’t difficult to ‘solve’ (I’d argue the book also skews young!), the story ends in a way that’s both deeply unexpected and in the only way it could have.

Honorable mentions

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, trans. Peter Washington

[Jigsaw voice] Every man has a devouring passion in his heart as every fruit has its worm.

I spent so much time running my mouth about this one on Tumblr there’s really not much left to say. I think it’s a work of genius that was physically exhausting to read, and I’m sticking it with the honorable mentions mostly because I remember The Three Musketeers being the better book. If you want to read Dumas- and you should- start with that one.

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

I would’ve liked this more had I read it in my late teens/early 20s, but I still think it’s pretty good and would absolutely recommend to anyone in that age bracket. Things that normally annoy me about philosophical first-person lit fic didn’t matter under the weight of Jon’s narratorial voice. He reminded me a little of Lynda Barry’s Maybonne in his understanding and depictions of community and family; his stream of consciousness letting contradictions sit rather than trying to explain them away (Whitehead also makes sex very prosaic and pretty-sounding while still being frank and gross about it, which is a rare talent!)

The Seeds of Life: From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Sharks' Teeth to Frogs' Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come From by Edward Dolnik

This one fell in the rankings because the writing isn’t my favorite (think early days Vulture article rather than NYT), but I cannot stop referencing it in conversation. I want to read the whole thing to people and make them understand how truly unfathomable it is not only that every one of us is the product of 1 sperm and 1 egg, but that anyone ever figured out how that process works. When Western Europeans first started using microscopes they studied water; there were gross little bugs in there to watch and enjoy, so when semen was revealed to have its own bugs no one was shocked, but they also weren’t impressed. We would not see one enter an egg until EIGHTEEN SEVENTY-FIVE.  

Killer Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh

The Malaise of First Night Nerves had gripped Peregrine, not tragically and aesthetically by the throat but, as is its habit, shamefully in the guts.

Has made it into my top 5 favorite Inspector Alleyn mysteries. I’m not keen on Marsh’s theater settings (and there are a LOT of them), but a convoluted setup made this one all the more rewarding. The final revelation as to a point of blackmail is visceral and bizarre in a way I haven’t seen from her before.

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

We all have dirty hands; we are all soiling them in the swamps of our country and in the terrifying emptiness of our brains. Every onlooker is either a coward or a traitor.

Best read in conversation with other writers, I wouldn’t recommend Fanon as the end-all-be-all introduction to communist and socialist thinking (the fact that he inadvertently describes what was going wrong with the USSR at time of writing is fascinating), but he explicitly invites that conversation and the value and impact of his work really can’t be overstated. Our points of disagreement tend to be in regard to nationalism, not his condonation of violence.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Fascinating to see how Austen was thinking about relationships near the end of her short life. I laughed to see the idea of preferring your brother-in-law’s family to your own was back in full force from my own favorite Emma, as well as an eleventh-hour ‘maybe I should ship the villains??’ My biggest issue is that, like Emma, Persuasion is written in third person limited narration, but Anne is fundamentally Good™ so doesn’t need to learn anything about herself or the world; critic Bob Irvine points out that she and her dashing, misogynistic sailor are beset rather than changed by it. That said I love a people being beset by people (concussed temptresses) places (Bath) and things (cars), and Austen's writing style is really firing on all cylinders here.

[inexplicablymine]

IM ATTACKING YOU RIGHT BACK 🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️ how did you get into fandom/writing fic and how do you come up with inspiration for fic ideas? is there a specific place or time of day that strikes you?

Ahem… BUCKLE IN FOLKS this is a long af answer but I have the time. So sit down with your popcorn. Lola this all your fault 🥰

How did you get into fandom: I have (brace yourselves) read in fandom for over 15 years before participating in any way shape or form outside of just enjoying it from the comfort of my screen. I read or watched something many moons ago and said I want more and tada I was initiated. But I stuck around for so long because of the sheer creativity, and talent, and ingenuity of people globally to come together and say “we want more and if you won’t give us more we will do it ourselves.”

I was that reader that lurked with guest kudos and left random inane comments from accounts you could never trace back to one place. When I mean read I mean… if I did have an AO3 account or an ffnet account during that period of time, the sheer number of works in the history would be of concern to everyone.

How did you get into writing fic: As for writing in general, I have a stack of journals I’ve kept since middle school, and an itch in my fingers that feels like I am broken if I am not writing. From the minute I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up “author” was the answer and it’s always sat at the back of my subconscious like one of those rocks in the bottom of your shoe. There are too many stories rattling around in my head that want to get out, but I took a break for 8 years of writing anything except my journal entries because the world can be a cruel place.

I started writing again just this year in June, and it was really a case of “write the things you want to see in the world,” + it’s time to get back on the horse + the thirst to participate more than just sit on the outside peering in at the inside jokes of chapter end notes and tumblr links I never clicked on. I joined a single discord, had a breakdown, and bon appetite here we are 3 months later with an actual AO3 account, a Tumblr, and a WIP list that is at least 15 works long 4 of which are 25+ chapter outlines.

(This truly was fueled by an idea I had this March for a RWRB full length mystery novel law-case thriller that I could NOT get out of my head, it now has 37 chapters outlined and is getting written this fall/winter to be posted next year)

Where does your inspiration come from: My inspiration comes from everything everywhere all at once. (Not meant to be a reference but it was too good not to use). A not so succinct list of places I’ve found inspiration:

the truth is stranger than fiction: my first day post for FirstPrince week is a “there was only one tent” situation that actually happened on a camping trip this summer. I screamed internally the entire time it was going down.

Songs: I could never write while listening to music except I absolutely will imagine storylines from it. The song Delilah by Mikolas Josef and Mark Neve is going to produce a smutty RWRB one shot of a ski weekend hookup

Co-Authoring: I am currently working on two different co-authored fics. One with @celaestis1 that was just us lovingly yelling at eachother in the DM’s until an outline was made and now every chapter we write makes me more and more giddy. The other is a RWRB x PJO au with @read-and-write- and @userd0esn0texist that is genuinely the most ridiculous fun I have ever had plotting. There is a full blown super six prophecy y’all are not ready.

Prompts: my first two works ever (ever!) were based off of the same prompt for a gift fic exchange. “Don’t look at me I thought we were getting ice cream” (you can read the results of that prompt here or here) I’m participating in @thebrownstone FirstPrince Week which has 7 prompts and @halloweenhuh with two different prompts as well. Sometimes it’s the best way to get the juices flowing.

Asking for it: if someone asks “hey is there a fic that does this” and I haven’t found it, it is really easy to think “hmmm but maybe I could write it” and then the dominos fall and I’m stuck with a problem of my own creation

Fulfilling a need or gap in the fandom: honestly, my current WIP I’m posting is an Ace!Alex fic because well… we need more ace fic in general, but also more ace fic that is happy, and positive, and loving. I love a good whump fic as much as the next person, but sometimes you just need some serious fluff. (Also my first two fics are Demi!Alex so maybe I have just stumbled into this on accident though many of my upcoming fics differ from this pattern)

I want it I got it: truly most of my WIP’s started from a “wouldn’t it be funny” idea that then morphed very quickly into an out of control spiral in my notes app.

Betas: the backbone of fandom and honestly the people who help me take incoherent ramblings and make them something readable. So many amazing ideas come from betas leaving comments in my gdocs and for that I am forever thankful

Is there a specific place or time of day that strikes you?: HA I uhhhhhh will wake up in a cold sweat at 4:37 in the morning with a fic idea, I’ll come up with one walking to work, I’ll get an idea standing in like for groceries. Genuinely my notes app is always open. All of the random ideas I get from a line, to a more fleshed out plot idea go into a note or the matching doc called “table scraps” and then if they evolve from there they get their own note or document for them.

First 🧚🧚 Nice Ask Day 🧚🧚 answer and I can’t wait to ask/answer more

[distinguished-slacker]

I believe I am not speaking only for myself when I say this, but it gets annoying when people from Twitter take screenshots of the OnS posts here and bring the conversations to Twitter where they know they will get more visibility and shared opinions since most of the fandom is over there.

We are like, the same 20 people over here. We don’t bite. We may have different opinions but we are not irrational and unable to hold a civilised conversation. If you see a post you don’t like, you could try to chat with the one who posted it before jumping to conclusions and add fuel to the fire with your Twitter mutuals. You could at the very least be upfront about it instead of doing it behind our backs. Otherwise, we won’t know unless we happen to run into it on Twitter, which btw happens to me a lot because I follow people who in turn follow the kind of people who make these posts, so I get it recommended on my timeline.

Yes, I could just hit the ‘block’ button, but it doesn’t sit well with me to know we are just 20 people and the people over Twitter may be talking about the posts me or my friends made without knowing about it. What kind of defence we could have, being 20 people? On the other hand, there are lots of people who share the same opinions as you on Twitter. It won’t hurt you to hit the ‘block’ button here because at the end of the day, what we really say here won’t have a big effect on you. But what you and your numbers say about us will affect us. Especially if you already did this more than once, doesn’t it mean you are going into Tumblr and actively looking for posts which to rant about in your platform because you know you will find those kind of posts here?

I don’t want to be told by anyone to stop reading the manga I’ve invested 8 years of my life, basically my entire adolescence, just because I lost interest on Mika, Yuu and MikaYuu. Note that it’s “I lost interest on”, not “I am not interested on”. I am not a hater, what I say comes from a place of disappointment, and the disappointment comes from a place of love that used to be here. I loved Mika and Yuu. I even wrote fanfics of them in Wattpad back during my middle school years like the crazy teen super obsessed with these two boys I was, and I haven’t even taken them down because of the nostalgia despite my embarassing writing skills. I am actually jealous of others who despite the direction the story took, they still ship mikayuu hard as the first day, because they are able to enjoy what they get far more than me. But does it mean I am not enjoying the story at all? Of course that’s not the case. I love it a lot. It’s actually the only series where I actively involved myself this much. I may not have the same interest for the mcs’ love story and their antics, but I want to see the rest of the elements of the story and how it ends. “stop reading it” stop using that sentence when you barely know the person you are telling that to, whether it is someone who has been with OnS for 8 years or 1 year. It’s just harmful.

If you check old posts of the people here, you will see more than what meets the eye. If a post here had a sarcastic tone or something, it is probably not serious and you might actually have a nice, sensible chat with the OP. If you don’t get why we don’t like mikayuu, just ask. If you don’t get how we can still read this manga despite not liking mikayuu, just ignore us. I don’t want to start a fight. Just ignore us, please. I don’t want me or anyone in this small Tumblr OnS fandom be criticised every single time one of us displays discontent about an aspect of the story.

And just in case, I am not talking about the mikayuu fandom in general. Just some people.

[alittlefrenchtree]

Get to know Me!

I'm a bit late but I've been tagged by @lfg1986-2 and @meraki-yao. Thank you, lovely people, for giving me a chance to talk about me (my favorite subject 🤓) 💜

Part 1: 

Last song: Spotify says Lips on you - Maroon 5 

Last film: High Strung, sadly 🥶

Currently reading:

Books : A biography of George Villiers and a French novel called Le dit du Mistral by Olivier Mak-Bouchard.

Fanfic : just starting the poem you make of me

Currently watching: a twitch stream on Lethal Company

Currently consuming: there is half a cup of cold black ‘winter granola’ tea to my right.

Currently craving: for old straight white men to do their job and do it correctly. And a rwrb sequel. And 3 to 5 post-canon fics in which Henry is forced to become King and he has to navigate his relationship with Alex at the same time.

Part 2:

1. Were you named after anyone? I don’t think so. I should have been named something else but friends of my parents had a child before I was born and named it that way so they changed their mind for me.

2. When was the last time you cried? Every time Alex and/or Henry is/are even slightly unhappy in a fic these days, so all the fucking time.

3.  Do you have kids?  I’ve adopted a 22-year-old Timothée Chalamet back in 2018 who has giving me enough headaches since then to feel legitimate to call myself a parent. (No, and I don’t want any).

4. What sports do you play/have you played?  I’ve played basketball for 7 years between 7 and 14. And Muggle Quidditch a few times as an adult 🤓

5. Do you use sarcasm?  In French, all the time. In English, it’s more delicate. 

6. What’s the first thing people notice about you?  How terrifying I am.

7. What’s your eye color?  Brown 

8. Scary movies or happy endings?  I still don’t get the point of most scary movies so I’m going to go with happy endings for now (ugh). But one day, I’ll understand scary movies. That the only thing about cinema that remains mysterious to me.  

9. Any talents? Being terrifying. I can write. And cook ok. 

10. Where were you born? Val-de-Marne, France. (Stayed there less than a week)

11. What are your hobbies? Reading. Writing. Playing video games. Watching people play video games. Watching tennis. Spending too much time on Tumblr. 

12. Do you have any pets?  My family has a cat who answers to no authority but mine (sometimes)

13. How tall are you? 159cm which apparently means 5’2” (I’m pocket sized)

14. Favorite subject in school? Depends on the year I guess. In middle school/junior high probably Maths, Biology and Sports.

 In High School probably Biology but then I kind of dropped it so German class because I was good at it at the time (I forgot everything tho) Literature and the idea of Philosophy. 

In college— I took a course where the thing to do was writing profiles and I love it so much it has kind of floated as a possible career for a while. Still does sometimes. I also took a course in a psychology department about social psychology I liked a lot. I had a lot of courses I liked actually but I remember more about the professors than the actual subject.

15. Dream job?  A writer living in Paris? Not in Paris actually, but I’m a basic bitch and and writing is like breathing to me.

Thank you again 🩷

[cyncerity]

Hi, I absolutely love your store shifter au and it gave me so much brainrot!! I’m borrowing a friend’s account for the moment because I can’t have a tumblr. Anyhow, I just wanted you to say that even if I can’t interact, I absolutely love all your ideas!!! If I understood the lore right, I would assume George is Sapnap’s younger brother and whatever traumatizing experience caused Sapnap to shift also took George away from Dream when they were young. Will Dream and George ever meet in person and if they met as tinies, would George realize it was Dream and what would he think of Dream having the pendant/braid? How would Tommy learn Dream was a shifter, and if one of them was tiny when that happened how would they deal with/would there be a language barrier? And how does Dream learn to shift back? This is much longer than intended, sorry. Feel free to answer parts of it or none of it, I just wanted you to know you’re wonderful!! And if this ask isn’t long enough, then here’s some writing prompts -a friendly admirer

“I can’t believe it.”

“What?”

“My clothes. They just look so, so…”

“Yeah. Hard to believe we even fit that size, right?”

“It’s crazy.”

xxxxxx

"Wow"

"What?"

"Nothing... I'm just not used to

seeing you from this angle.”

"Yeah, I guess it's usually the

other way around.”

This is literally one of the most personal asks I’ve ever gotten solely for the fact that how you described being on tumblr is exactly how I was

I wasn’t allowed on tumblr, so i’d wait till everyone in my house was asleep and then pull out my middle school ipod as a burner device, look at g/t posts for an hour or so, then delete the google tabs i’d pulled them up on and fully shut down the ipod and hide it.

I lurked in this specific community for about a year, then lurked with an account so i could send asks for about another half year until i caved and got the app without parental permission lol (my dad had seen how tumblr was before the bad bots started to get banned so he honest to god thought this was one of those kinda sites but hes chill now)

suffice to say i completely know where you’re coming from and I love you for it 💖

Even if you can’t like my posts or have an account, just coming on here and saying you like my content is so awesome and it absolutely means the world to me 💕✨💖

As for you’re thoughts on the lore (and thank you for sending so many questions I love when this happens):

You’re getting close >:)

Sapnap doesn’t have any siblings, but as I’ve mentioned before (i think), Quackity does! And the event that sparked Sapnap’s shifting was similar to what got George taken in the first place (which could definitely be a reason that it was distressing enough to cause him to shift 👀), just on a larger scale and at different times. George was gone well before Sapnap became a shifter.

As for more on George, i’ll limit myself to what I can say cause there’s so much I want to write for him. At some point it’s my goal to write a story for him as a sort of interlude of the “dream shifted for the first time” story (there will be more parts! I’m working on them! Ngl this ask kinda made me realize how much I wanted to finish the second part of that) and have him fully explained there.

But I can tell you that Dream and George will meet in person! I can’t tell you if Dream will be tiny when they meet, cause you don’t even know for sure what species George is yet, but i promise the boys will meet! Will George know it’s Dream when they meet and vice versa? Who knows! That’s for me to know and you all to find out later >:)

Tommy won’t learn Dream is a shifter for a while, since Dream is stuck at the store. It also takes a bit of time for a new shifter to shift back to their normal size, since they’ve been repressing their capabilities for so long, their body has to stay at the opposite size to get used to it initially. Dream will be able to shift back at some point, but not without some help :)

And now that you mention it, there definitely could be a language barrier, and that could make things really interesting 👀 (im imagining Tommy seeing Dream tiny for the first time at a loss for words and Dream frantically trying to explain what he is but obviously Tommy already knows, so Tommy starts talking about being a shifter himself and he can’t hear Dream’s absolute shock and confusion at this information and can answer none of his questions)

And the writing prompts, YES, i am IN LOVE WITH THEM

If i don’t write specific things for them, they will be put into the next few stories for this au because they are such good ideas oh my word

and as a treat because i loved answering your questions and it made me really happy to get an ask that hit so close to my own experience here’s some miscellaneous Store Shifter drawings from my chorus class, just for you bestie 💖

i have so many of these for so many aus you don’t even know the half of it

[activatebutterflyshield]

The thought has struck me that I have an odd written accent as well as an odd writing style.

I can affect an odd spoken accent too, but it’s much more obvious when I write. I know mostly what has caused me to write in such a way, since if there’s one thing my brain is almost always capable of, it’s unnecessary dissection of anything I observe.

Part of it is my greater than average for my area and general age consumption of Commonwealth of Nations media. I use this term to describe mostly British online media, but some Canadian and Australian is included as well. This started when I was young, later elementary years, think 4th-5th grade, when I was introduced to British Minecraft YouTubers. I do often joke that I was raised by the legendary stampylongnose, but he truly was a major source of entertainment once I learned how to tickle the household computer into showing his videos. I’ve continued to consume British media, from YouTubers like Tom Scott to BBC news to shows like Taskmaster.

Another part is probably my, quite honestly, strange literary experience. I often point to my first reading of Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October as the inciting incident. For some reason, that thing was in my middle school library. That and other military techno-thrillers gave me a tendency to over describe and write in run-on sentences. Related is perhaps my gentler but no less impactful obsession with dense fantasy. Looking at you, Brandon Sanderson. Let’s just say that Mistborn re-wired my brain some and the Stormlight Archive is continuing to do so. Although the other primary culprit is Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time. I’ve got a lot of flowery language and colorful expressions at the ready for any circumstance.

Then there’s the music. Referencing this Venn Diagram, I’ve got a love of fantastical metaphors married to folk-ish rock-ish tronica-ish string-y dramatic music. It doesn’t help that I’m rather good at memorizing songs after listening to them for around a month, or less if I’m trying. So those metaphors and melodies are pretty much always clacking around my brain if not actively playing in my headphones. Exact quotes of, if not paraphrases of, these songs often work their way into my writing and speech.

Lastly, there’s my sense of humor. I’ve got a motley, patchwork one that includes quite a bit of English deadpan mixed with the strange stuff we consider funny here on Tumblr and topped off with a sprinkle of being overly verbose and sarcastic rightfully earned from my time on Reddit. What I might call jokes are probably best summarized by this little paraphrased jest with a friend on the floor of a hallway around 6:00 in the evening. For context, we were both semi-high on adrenaline, so it might not be word for word, and I consider myself LGBTQIA+.

“These gummy bears taste fruity.”

pause

“Like the gays.”

“PFFFFTTT—“

So there you have it, reader. My personal analysis of why I write like the gen z love child of a British person, a library addict, a folk singer, a recovering Redditor, and a current Tumblrite. I’m 3/5 so far.

[atths--twice]

First meetings, dinner, and some conversation. ❤️

Chapter Four

Melissa Scully, or Mel as she preferred to be called, was easy to talk to and incredibly funny. She had a quick wit and sometimes it took a second for Fox to get her joke, but when he did, he could not help but chuckle.

She was more straight laced than Dana, her style of clothing leaning toward a more sophisticated fashion. Designer jeans, shoes, and a handbag, showed she had exquisite taste. Unlike many women he had known in his life who shared the same style, for her it seemed effortless and without thought of being seen as above anyone else. She wore it all with an air of ease and grace.

She seemed to bring Dana out of her shell a bit more, engaging her in conversation and laughing over inside jokes. But then there were moments when he saw Dana falter and pull back, a frown tugging at her eyebrows. When she did, Mel would touch her hand, or look at her and smile, drawing attention to something on the table or in the room.

She’s grounding, he thought as he watched them, Dana nodding with a slight hint of a smile as Mel rubbed her back.

He remembered the term from the therapy sessions he had gone through when he was in middle school.

Angry over his parents divorce, he had gotten into fights at school, refused to do any schoolwork, and became a problem in his classes.

One of his favorite teachers, Mrs. Stuart, had brought him to a meeting with the school counselor, kindly explaining how she was worried about him. He had acted nonchalant, shrugging often as if it had not bothered him, but hearing the worry in her voice had hurt him exceedingly.

Letters had been sent home and therapy sessions began not long after. He had hated them at first, not speaking at all and wasting the entire hour.

But once he had actually spoken, opening up about how he had been feeling, he found that it did help with his anger and anxiety. He continued seeing the same therapist until his sophomore year of high school.

“When you’re overwhelmed, when you feel an anxious moment coming on… stop,” his therapist had said. “Stop where you are and breathe. Look around you. Find three round objects. Then breathe. Or think of the names of dog breeds. Count backwards by fives, whatever helps you in that moment… then breathe.”

It had been a long time since he had felt that level of anxiety. But even without realizing it, he had been using those techniques in his day-to-day life.

He would name the parts of the camera in his head. Baseball teams in order of preference. Recite little songs he had learned as a child.

Her big cardigan, he thought suddenly, realizing that she was using it more than as a way to cover up. It was something she could touch, something tactile for her to implement when she became anxious or overwhelmed.

He drew in a quiet breath and let it out, anger on her behalf rising to the surface.

Fuck Tom and fuck any man or woman who caused a person pain and suffering. Especially to that level.

“Any room left for dessert?” the waiter asked as he approached, smiling far too happily, but providing a much needed distraction.

“Uhh,” he said, knowing he did not want any dessert. “I’m… Dana? Mel? Any dessert?”

“Oh, none for me, thanks,” Mel said, smiling at the waiter. “Dana?”

“No, thank you,” she said quietly and Mel smiled as she squeezed her hand.

“Just the check then,” Fox stated. “Actually, could you just charge it to room 511?”

“Certainly, sir,” the waiter said, nodding and walking away.

“Well,” Fox said, laying his napkin down and standing up. “It was a pleasure having dinner with you both. As I’ve been here to this resort many times, may I suggest taking a walk around the grounds before you turn in?”

“Yes, I’d like that,” Mel said, standing as well and picking up her bag. “Come on sis, let’s go see how the other half lives.”

“As if you couldn’t afford to get married here,” Dana scoffed as she stood up, rolling her eyes as she stepped back and pushed in her chair.

“Oh, we could now, but we’re already married. Opportunity missed,” Mel said, shaking her head in mock sadness as she looked around the lavishly decorated room.

Dana caught Fox’s eye and she shook her head with a slight smile and he felt the anger and annoyance leave his body. He smiled back and nodded.

The waiter brought over the invoice and Fox signed it, gesturing for Dana and Mel to walk ahead of him as they left the restaurant.

“Well,” he said with a smile as they reached the lobby. “I’ll leave you two to it. Enjoy your walk and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You’re not coming with us?” Dana asked with a frown.

“Yeah, what?” Mel asked, shaking her head. “You’re the one who suggested it to us.”

“Oh. I was meaning the two of you would like…” He looked from one to the other as they stared at him, not budging, and he laughed softly. “Okay. Yes, I can join you.”

“Good,” Mel said, taking Dana’s arm as he put his hands in his pockets and walked beside them.

It really was a beautiful resort, especially at night. The lights were soft and placed strategically around the grounds, adding to the ambiance. There were many places to sit and relax, large fire pits lit that allowed for a pleasant moment to talk.

“You know,” Fox said, pointing as they approached one of the fire pits. “They sell these little kits to make s’mores over the fire. Everything you need to make a single s’more.”

“Really?” Dana asked with a smile.

“Yeah. Would you like to do that?”

“I would, yeah. Mel?”

“Sure,” she agreed with a smile.

They walked over and spoke to the woman selling them and got one each. Claiming a spot, Dana began to open her small kit with an excited hum.

“Oh,” Mel said, handing Fox her bag and shaking her head as she looked at her watch. “Dane, I just remembered that I need to call Ryan before Layla goes to bed. I said she could stay up until I called and I’m sure she’s getting tired by now.”

“Oh, we could wait for you.”

“No, that’s okay, babe. You stay and I’ll see you back in the room.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely sure.” She smiled and nodded to them both. “Goodnight, Fox. Thank you for dinner. It was nice to meet you.”

“And you. And you’re welcome.” They shook hands and then she hugged Dana before waving and walking into the hotel.

“Well,” Dana said, holding a marshmallow in her hand. “I guess we’re on our own.”

“Looks like it.” He smiled at her and she nodded as she exhaled a breath. “So, how do you like your marshmallows toasted?”

They sat down, discussing marshmallow toasting preferences and before he knew it, a quick glance at his watch told him an hour had passed.

“Wow,” he laughed. “Time really does fly sometimes. Are you ready to head up? We have an early start tomorrow.”

“Last one,” she said, placing a marshmallow on her stick and then holding it above the fire.

“Here, I’ll get the rest of it ready for you.” He unwrapped the chocolate and laid it between the two graham crackers, watching as she took her time to perfectly toast her marshmallow. “I like that you take the task so seriously.”

“If you want the marshmallow to melt the chocolate, you gotta take the time to do it right,” she said, turning her stick as she nodded.

“And you’re not feeling like you’re on a sugar overload after the last two s’mores you’ve had?” he teased and she shook her head.

“No such thing.”

“Okay,” he laughed.

Soon, her marshmallow was done and he held the graham cracker steady as she placed it on top of the square of chocolate.

She took the s’more from him and squeezed it slowly, the chocolate indeed melting slightly as she took a bite. The marshmallow squished out the sides and she hurried to eat it before it dropped to the ground.

“It’s puhfahc,” she said, her mouth full.

“Good,” he said, laughing again as he held up some napkins, silently asking if she wanted them, and she nodded as she took another bite.

They walked as she finished her treat, him carrying one of the bottles of water that had been offered, along with the napkins.

“That was so much better than any dessert in a restaurant,” she said, taking the water bottle from him and taking a long drink. “It’s simple and yet so delicious and satisfying. Makes you feel like a kid again, you know?”

“Yeah,” he agreed as they stepped into the elevator.

She wiped her mouth and her hands, getting one of the napkins a little bit wet to do so. Finishing off the water, she threw it into a recycling bin as they stepped off the elevator.

They were quiet as they walked to her room, which was down the hall from his own, but she stopped him before they reached the door.

“Thank you for tonight. For letting my sister stay and treating us to dinner. It was kind of you. Not that… not that you usually aren't. I just meant…” She sighed and shook her head. “I appreciate it. That’s what I’m trying to say.”

“You’re welcome. More than welcome.” He smiled and she smiled back, though it did not quite reach her eyes. “You go in and get some sleep- if you’ll be able to that is, after all that sugar.” She exhaled a soft laugh and nodded. “Do you want to meet for breakfast? Or would you rather eat before we meet up?”

“I think I’ll go down to the coffee shop and then bring it back here to eat while I’m getting ready.”

“There’s no need to go to all that trouble. Just order something up to the room.”

“I can’t do that,” she said, frowning as she shook her head. “That’s… no, I can’t do that.”

“You can. Whatever you’d like. There’s a menu in the room-”

“I can’t, Fox,” she whispered, looking down at the floor. “It would be…”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he said quietly, touching her elbow briefly. “But please don’t hesitate because you feel I wouldn’t want it. You’re here because you work for me. I mean with me. You need to eat before you do said work and there is a kitchen downstairs waiting to fill that request. Considering our early morning departure, it's easier and makes more sense to have it brought to you, to us, rather than leaving to get it.”

She raised her head and looked at him for a second before she drew in a deep breath and nodded.

“I still feel like I shouldn’t do it. But, okay. I will,” she whispered and he smiled.

“Your sister as well, if she wants anything.”

“No. I agreed to the order for me,” she said, shaking her head. “But I won’t-”

“Okay,” he said, putting up his hands and chuckling softly. “Okay. You win.”

She nodded and licked her lips, stepping forward and continuing to her room. Taking her card key from her pocket, she looked at him and sighed.

“Thank you again. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Bright and early. With a full stomach.” He raised his eyebrows and she smiled.

“Yes.”

“Good. Goodnight, Dana.”

“Goodnight, Fox.”

She put the key in the reader and the light blinked green. Pressing the handle down, she opened the door and stepped inside, smiling again as she closed it. He waited to hear the lock turn before he continued down the hall and around the corner to his room.

Tomorrow would be long and tiring by the end of it, so as soon as he entered the room, he began to prepare for bed.

Lying down, he smiled as he set the alarm and turned out the light. He thought of Dana as he drifted off to sleep, remembering the intense look she had as she toasted her marshmallow and the happiness in her smile when she then bit into the gooey s’more.

[valentinesweetheartspecial]

I don't go here Do tell us about the gay ones in the top left

Maybe you will have to go here when Kimisute drops in the summer 🙇‍♀️ Nah joking. I’ll osmosis all the good stuff to my beautiful tumblr audience on my own. I will now give a brief summary of the gays in the top left ❤️

Epsilon Phi, stylized as εpsilonΦ, are the fifth and final band of AAside (kimisute is gonna add another band so I’m just talking in AAside terms). They’re made up of one middle school student and 4 high schoolers, making them the only band in AAside to have minors! Formed by Shu Ujigawa at the request of his father, they’re a edgy techno-rock band whose songs are entirely written and produced by Shu, with some brief exceptions such as Egoistic Sai Phi, I’m Picking Glory, Heroic, etc. As of now, they only have one album out, Friction, which has pretty much all of their songs. The album cover looks suspiciously like a ripoff of Perfume’s LEVEL3 lmao. They have a mascot that’s an axolotl that’s kind of a bitch

I’ll now introduce all the members❤️the boys that make epsilon the dysfunctional band that it is . Uh this will probably be long so readmore again

Next is Haruka. Already wrote about him. He is their guitarist and vocalist and a guy . Here’s my fav card of his isn’t he so cool

Next is Kanata Nijo, the ever infamous twin brother of Haruka! He’s Epsilon’s bassist and most socially adjusted member, but far from being the most normal. He’s an all-around fun guy, and is popular with his peers, but doesn’t have any particularly close friends. Kanata is completely dedicated to Haruka, and seemingly goes out of his way to make his life a living hell. He blames Haruka for their separation, and claims that the reason he makes him suffer is because Haruka was the one to pull away from him in the first place. It’s clear and even stated in-game that Kanata’s sense of self, which revolves around Haruka, is fragile and almost nonexistent, and when challenged leaves him completely defenseless. Kanata’s marketing is some of the worst I’ve ever seen and it’s kind of sad because it make him seem like freak bait, and boy did it work (shudders). He is so close to being gyaruo take the step Kanata. Do it. Yeah he’s kind of ugly in AAside this card is fine I guess

Next up is Tadaomi. I will be brief since I want to write about him for Kiara’s ask. All I will say is that Tadaomi is a FREAK who plays the synthesizer and he might be the most fucked up epsilon member. Here’s two cards of him having a #girl moment

The final member is Reiji Karasuma! He is in his 3rd year of high school, Epsilon’s drummer, and Shu’s personal assistant 😭 he’s in never ending hell. He is polite and appears to be rather a rather mature young man but just like the rest of Epsilon he is insane. He hates Shu more than anything in this world even when he has to go along with anything he says and is often wishing immediate death upon him. He’s absolutely using the band to take revenge for his family, who was ruined by Shu’s father’s company (iirc). I’m not sure how he’s going to do this Lmfao good luck reiji I guess. Yeah I’m not super informed on him if you wanna read about reiji i know a good twitter user who posts about him all the time. Look at this stupid shirt he’s so funny. Btw in Kimisute they chopped his long hair side Rip but also Thank you.

I hope you enjoyed this brief look into Epsilon! If I had to recommend one of their songs and it couldn’t be Orthros I’d probably go with re:play. Yay