#to clarify I’m not gonna go interacting just bc they interacted first I just. get annoyed by it

[otter-pup]

can men dni blogs maybe not interact with me. like. y’all are the ones who don’t want me interacting with you why are you here

[cassiopeialake]

ok after thinking about it a bit here’s my pitch for an abbott/sunny crossover since that seems to be what we’re in for

Title: New Uniforms

Logline: After Abbott's new uniforms are misprinted, Melissa is forced to call in one of her shadiest connections - but it may end up costing her more than she bargained for.

Outline:

- the school gets new uniforms for the kids but there's a misprint and the shirts say "ABBORT" (tbh the whole pitch is based around this. i just find it very funny. i hope they do smth with abbort elementary at some point)

- they scramble to find a solution but the district won't give them more money. they need someone with an embroidery machine who'll let them use it for free

- melissa knows a guy who's into some real shady stuff, he used to run a sweatshop in vietnam. probably has a couple machines still lying around.

- she and janine (and maybe a few others idk) set up a meeting with the gang. however unbeknownst to them the gang kidnaps them (mac thought this was a kidnapping/squeezing the teachers for money kinda deal. dee: you idiot, they're teachers they have no money!)

- they're "interrogated" for a bit

- it's revealed that mac and charlie went to liberty elementary (the rival school) and they gain some respect for the abbott teachers bc "those abbott kids were tough, man! took a few more punches than it usually does to knock them down!"

- frank appears and they get to negotiations. he'll fix the mistake for them, but there's a catch

- the gang (specifically dennis) wants the leftovers from the seventh graders frog dissections. the teachers are grossed out so he clarifies it's "not sexual" and the teachers are like...well those frogs were just gonna go in the trash anyways...

- the deal is made and the gang starts working on the shirts, we get a cameo from sewing charlie ofc

- however when the teachers come back in a week to check in on the finished product we realize that they "fixed" the spelling mistake by removing the extra B and spelling "ABORT ELEMENTARY"

- something something plot happens to make them fix it (melissa has dirt on frank that she threatens or something idk. she dangles a frog in front of a salivating dennis)

- at the end they go back one final time to pick up the finally correctly spelled shirts

- we find out that mr johnson knows charlie through the janitorial network, they compare rat bashing sticks, etc.

And that’s the episode (or at least the A plot)! I missed a few of the teachers and how they would interact with the various characters but i think that wouldn't be too hard to put in at the end or just add more characters in the scene where they first meet. like ava for sure needs to go toe-to-toe with the gang

but yeah that’s the pitch - tbh i’m quite proud of this only because i feel like it’s pretty realistic, like i wouldn’t want an over the top crossover with the characters fully intersecting lives or even sets, i feel like the idea of skimming into this underbelly of philly but then immediately getting out suits the tone of abbott better. i think also this should work for anyone who hasn’t heard of sunny before or isn’t familiar with the characters.

[monobmp]

No I completely understand… there’s a lot that could be done with canon that could be really interesting… and I know exactly what ur talking about when it comes to the awkward social interaction margarita LIKE ITS SO PAINFUL IN A GOOD WAY sinks my teeth into them and shakes them around. I think why Bill is so out of pocket with the kids is that they don’t have as much uhh how do u say it.. like they’re kids and no one outside of the know would believe them.. but also like they don’t have the adult brains that go “I’m just gonna ditch this and run as far away as possible” if that makes sense??? Like an adult typically has much more resources. I think Bill was also just genuinely invested in keeping up appearances at first and see how far he could sink his claws into Ford… I always thought that Bill would have a very far removed POV on human socialization and use it like a reference guide on how and what buttons to push, which is really fun bc my major uses a similar perspective to examine human social behaviors

Also I understand the Ford dislike bc I’ve been down bad for him since middle school but dear god he’s an asshole basically for the entirety of the show. Legitimately the only person he’s consistently nice to is Mabel, which to me is interesting when you put that next to his interactions w/ Dipper before weirdmageddon. I suppose it clarifies that he doesn’t really have any disdain for people who aren’t like him, just some really outdated beliefs. But it’s ok I can fix him

There is!!! It's just I'm not really much of a writer though, unfortunately, I love consuming the content, but it's hard to think of suitable content yourself 😔 it's tough 😭😭😭

And YEAH that honestly makes sense. It's giving "I'm the creature your parents warn you about if you don't brush your teeth before going to bed" but no physical harm, maybe just trauma though.

And Bill keeping up the "muse" appearance 💕💕💕💕💕 I still find it crazy Ford calls him "My Muse" and had all that Bill memorabilia 😭 ALSO I really like the idea of him using memories as a reference guide for human socialization, even if he doesn't fully get it. I love it a lot actually, I love learning an outsiders perspective on understanding human mannerisms and dissecting the deeper meaning of it. Like sure he's a little freak in a human POV that aligns dead rats into Ford's name for his birthday, but that means a lot to Bill in his own way, right? Smiles

I DON'T HATE FORD ANYMORE, I'm no longer a young idiot that didn't have the concept of media literacy and can understand more on why Ford was so mean </3 but also he was like, gone from human civilization for 30+ years and was being chased by a triangle for that entire time. Just give grandpa some time to get adjusted again 😊

[bobtheacorn]

What is the difference between leoichi and leosagi? So many people are being annoying about tagging them when they’re the same!! I don’t get it!

I contemplated not answering this when I got it the other day, but I’m bored and I’m thinking so I’m gonna pretend it was sent in good faith and not for drama’s sake. Here we go!

I don’t know why I got this ask when I am just now beginning to rummage into TMNT and Usagi Yojimbo myself, but I’ll do my best to clarify things because quite a few people are understandably upset about the cross contamination of said tags and I was also a lil confused about it.

Leoichi is the ship name for Leo (mostly Rise!Leo) and Yuichi Usagi (first name/last name).

Leosagi is for Leo (mostly 03!Leo) and Miyamoto Usagi (last name/first name).

Technically, kind of, they are both “leosagi”. HOWEVER, the spirit of ship names usually uses first or given names of characters and rarely surnames, and Leonardo/Usagi has been an active crossover relationship for literal decades (every iteration of Leonardo (except for Rise) has had one or multiple canon interactions with Miyamoto Usagi), whereas Leo/Yuichi only recently spawned from the airing of Netflix’s Samurai Rabbit.

So the difference is…. Pretty obvious, actually.

People (OG Leosagi shippers or ppl who just love their dynamic) are “being annoying about it” because Yuichi fans sprung up like an ant colony in the yard and are coming into THEIR house and shoving some guy they don’t know or care about in their faces, claiming it’s a “crack ship” with only fan-made substance instead of a well-established, canon relationship. They feel like they’re being routed out of their homes by a bunch of rowdy teens and when you’re a cranky old fandom dweller like me, I know that shit can get real annoying real fast.

When you make content for Yuichi and toss him in the leosagi tag, you are wrong. Full stop! You are wrong and you are using the tagging system wrong and maybe it came from a place of genuine ignorance and that’s ok because we are all learning new things every day, but there is no reason to double down or throw a tantrum when someone brings it to your attention and asks you to knock it off. It isn’t ‘stupid’. Berating people who ask you to kindly tag ‘silly fictional characters’ and other things properly is stupid.

Tags are there for your BENEFIT.

The system literally breaks down if you don’t tag things properly. It’s the crux of tailoring your online experience. It’s literally how you avoid seeing things you DON’T want to see; and how you actively find things you DO want to see. It’s, frankly, what makes tumblr and AO3 the most user-friendly platforms on the internet right now.

Using “leosagi” as a blanket tag for both ships on your own blog is usually fine (I do this to some degree but now I’m considering going back and retagging things bc my own tastes on the matter have changed) but for Original Posts, please remember that only the First Five Tags on tumblr will go live in searches across the platform and tag them separately just to be fucking polite.

Act like y’all were raised to be decent.

[pjthewitch]

some updates to be made

- i’m in a committed longterm relationship with a cool sexy and cannot stress this enough REAL thembo yay

- moved out of my abusive home summer 2021, moved apartments twice since bc bad luck with roommates, but roommate number 3 is cool, plus me and my thembo are gonna start saving to move in together yay

- my first spirit companion (A) turned out to be a scam (figured that out when after 2 years and 4 other companions i still could not feel or interact with that one, and i check up on the blog and discover some red flags that i wasn’t experienced enough to recognize before) oh well, growing pains and all that

- i am not too disabled and chronically ill to work.  no idea what’s going on because there are no doctors taking patients in my city.  guess i just have to hope i’m not dying.  good news is, i’m only a part time crutch user now!  probably going to need a wheelchair eventually because my whole body is weak and in pain now, but until i can get my health sorted out, crutches are doable.

- my partner taught me that there’s actually a term for my belief system (i forget what the term is, but if anyone curious, my stance is that all deities are real as long as there are people who believe in them.  i would like to also clarify though, that i don’t support the appropriation of closed practices and cultures.  just because they’re all real, does not mean they are all for you *cough*white people and wiccans*cough*)

- i’ve been learning about the bible on my own a deconstructing a lot of my religious trauma (still think priests are violently sexy though rip, i guess you could say i have father issues ;) )

- my apartment is super fucking cursed bc of my roommates ex girlfriend.  like stubbornly cursed.  i’ve been here 6 months trying to get the beings out and the spells broken and they just won’t fucking go.

- still do occasional work with Hades and Loki, but i haven’t felt as much of a pull towards them lately, though they are still very important to me and i don’t plan on ending our working relationships any time soon.  Loki has been a wonderful sibling and friend, and Hades will always be the father that accepted me.

- feeling a pull towards luciferianism again, but gonna actually do proper research this time so we don’t have a repeat of last time (breaking news, 14 year old “satanist” tries to summon demons and ends up with a black figure in the corner of his room watching him sleep every night bc he’s an idiot, also leaves the religion upon realizing that the group he was apart of was wildly antisemitic (funfact that experience is why i no longer work in groups, no antisemites for me thanks!!!))

- don’t do reality shifting nymore bc that shit is a cult and also doesn’t work, and also in hindsight was actually dangerously bad for my mental health (constantly dissociating, delusional, + family history of schizophrenia)

- mainly focusing on spirit work now bc why are all my spells so chaotic help

- i don’t to pop-culture spirit work/paganism anymore bc i had a not great experience, but y’all are still valid bc i can’t really have the belief system i have and then pick and choose what counts as a deity, not rly how that works imo

- gotta update my blogs bc i’m no longer a tahno simp (rip in peace, still simpin in my heart)

- also not an update but this has been bothering me. hey non indigenous practitioners, PLEASE STOP RECOMMENDING AND SELLING W*NDIGO SPIRIT COMPANIONS YOU IDIOTIC FUCKS, i don’t care how strong you think your bindings are, your inflated ego and ignorance is putting others in actual danger (love, an actual ojicree person who has experienced the all consuming hunger and destruction those spirits bring and had family driven off the reserve by it)

[koffiipubbii]

Ok, I’m gonna try my best to not escalate anything, as I’m not really too big on discourse on Tumblr. But, as a black person, almost this entire post pissed me off so much.

First, about Serizawa being headcannoned as black. You as a white person should not be speaking on the the “racism” in the fic, because there is none. Serizawa obviously isn’t going to catch on to certain remarks because it’s normal to him, he’s been conditioned to believe that what people say about him is true and fine. Reigen hypothesizing Serizawa’s race isn’t weird, that’s something plenty of people do when all they have is physical appearance to go by. The way the author describes Serizawa’s appearance isn’t weird and it sure as hell isn’t racist either.

Serizawa’s Afro is called sloppy because it is sloppy, it’s implied in canon that he didn’t start taking care of it until he started working for Reigen. And my main issue with you talking about his hair is: Calling it a Fro isn’t a problem, like, at all, plenty of black people call it a fro for short. It’s not racist to call an Afro a Fro.

I hope you understand that Tochiro would indeed say that in the fic and in the series. He does not treat Serizawa with respect, he treats him like a tool, an object. When he calls Serizawa a slave, it’s not racially charged, he just means that Serizawa is weak to his natural instincts. Also, calling a black man “brutally masculine” isn’t a race thing?? That could apply to literally any race people headcanon Serizawa as. Tochiro isn’t being racist, in this case it’s literally just words to describe something.

Tsuchiya also isn’t being racist, that’s also something that could be applied to whatever race people headcanon Serizawa as. Whether he’s white, fully Asian, black, indigenous, literally any race. She calls Serizawa a dog because to everyone even in canon, he is Tochiro’s shadow.

Tochiro is a eugenicist, he literally wants to take over the world with espers controlling it. He thinks of non espers as inferior. End of story.

The child pregnancy is implied by Serizawa out of concern. And Tochiro clarifies that he would not impregnate her when she’s still a child. It’s still fucked up, but he has no intention to have her get pregnant as a child.

Shou saying inappropriate things is indeed what a 12 year old would say constantly. I, and many of my friends made highly inappropriate jokes at that age. Shou calls Reigen a creep and sometimes a pedo because he spends most of his time in his office with Mob, a middle schooler. Shou doesn’t know Reigen personally early in the fic so he can only guess based off of what he knows from short convos and what not.

Shou has not been properly socialized with kids his age, he’s constantly surrounded by adults. So of course he’s gonna think that joking with a grown ass man is ok bc he has no one else to joke with.

Serizawa isn’t infantilized, he’s just not really used to social interaction both in the fic and in canon. He dropped out of school and locked himself in his room at around twelve because he was horrified at the possibility of hurting someone with his powers, only playing video games and getting food delivered to his room by his mother and his mother only. His mom tried getting him counseling but it didn’t work. Then he got handed off (not even, he kinda just got took without his own input) to Tochiro, who groomed him to be obedient to his every word. He didn’t leave the compound he was at often, adding to his lack of social interaction except for a few choice people. And even in the fic, in chapter 12 when Regein thinks about cutting Serizawa off because he doesn’t want Serizawa to hate him, Serizawa says himself “I am grown man, let me figure it out on my own” (summarized but you get the point).

When people get unceremoniously and unreasonably dog piled on sites like Twitter especially, there are definitely people who will throw random baseless accusations against them with hopes to add more damage to the situation. Regein’s case is no different. Some of his previous client probably used the knowledge of Mob working for him as a base for the accusation.

As someone who’s tme I can’t speak on how trans women should feel about Shimazaki being a chaser. I will agree that the joke is a tad bit weird, but I don’t believe the joke was made in bad taste whatsoever.

(tw for racism, pedophilia, transphobia, child impregnation mention)

yeah idk why y'all read this

i was originally going to just post this and have some tags with my reasonings, but i realized that opens me up to too much bullshit from people who may think i'm being unnecessarily mean or whatever. so i'm going to explain exactly why the screenshots above are something i hold issue with.

firstly, and i just want to get this out of the way, this post is not intended to be a hit piece against the creator. i've seen how she reacts to any mild-mannered or slightly joking criticism, so i know this post is probably going to not land well. but it isn't my intention to make her mad or anything--she's writing a piece of content for the internet, which means she is just as open to criticism as any other poster. and what i intend to go into in this post is criticism. i'm allowed to do this, as that is the nature of the internet. people are allowed to critique whatever they please, and if you don't want critique then you shouldn't post. simple as!

i am also making no attempts to posit myself as better than the creator. i'm not doing this for clout or moral superiority or any of that dumb shit. i simply want to discuss something that's been bothering me for a bit, while simultaneously warning people who haven't read this yet (who may be sensitive to the issues above) to steer clear. if things like casual racism or transphobia aren't properly tagged, then readers who are affected by such things run a risk reading this! same goes with people who are triggered by lewd content involving minors. i wanna make sure people are getting a more critical scope of this work than what has been hoisted up by others.

okay, now that i've gotten that out of the way, i'm going to get into my points.

firstly, the subtle and not-so-subtle racism throughout this fic, especially in relation to serizawa. i'm white, so there is only so much i can speak on without trampling over the words of other fans of color, but some of this feels so blatant it's odd it hasn't been noted earlier. it's important to note before i go into it that serizawa is specifically written as half-black half-japanese for this fic, in case the screenshots don't make it abundantly clear. but there are just too many moments of casual racism in this fic. i'm not talking about the plot point of serizawa being bullied as a kid for being mixed; i'm not mixed, so i can't speak on the accuracy there but it is well-known that black people face a lot of racism in japan. i'm talking about how it seems everyone else has these racist moments that aren't acknowledged by serizawa or the narration as being bad.

reigen hypothesizing over serizawa's exact ethnic background is just strange. yes he's a fairly observant guy (he has to be, with his job), but there is no canonical evidence to suggest he would immediately jump to theorizing whether serizawa is american or not. and the way it's posed in that first quote--"he has darker skin and the kind of hair texture that would likely indicate African ancestry"--is not great. that's an extremely inappropriate way to bring up someone's race. i don't think most people would stare at someone and be like "hmmm well your nose shape and hair texture would suggest you're of this race". it's racial essentialization that is only slightly covered up by the excuse of "oh he tweets in english". there are some other smaller moments of questionable wording, like calling serizawa's afro "sloppy" when it isnt (which btw there's another issue with the creator only referring to an afro as a "fro". it's a hairstyle; you're allowed to use the actual name of it). even if reigen cuts his hair in canon, he never states it's because serizawa's afro looks sloppy. (also there's something to be said about the casual racism baked into making your employee cut his natural hairstyle for a job, as that is a very real issue many black people face when wearing their natural hair or even protective styles in the workplace.)

i'm especially bothered by toichiro's very casual racist remarks. toichiro in this fic is a general bother of mine (most of which can be boiled down to "he would not fucking say that"), but the way she chooses to characterize him in relation to serizawa feels gross. calling a black man a slave should be a very obvious red flag, but also saying serizawa (again, as a black man) has a "brutal masculine appeal" is also extremely stereotypical and racist. and really there is just no need for it; toichiro's actions in canon prove how shitty of a guy he is without the need for him to be racist (along with other things i'll get to in a bit). as my girlfriend put it: he doesn't need to be a member of the fucking kkk to show he's a bad guy.

there's also, again, the very casual racist remark of calling serizawa a "dog". i don't care if that isn't the intent; when you are writing a character of color you need to be aware of your wording, even in insults (unless she intended to make tsuchiya racist, which i don't think she did).

secondly, the eugenics/child pregnancy bit. it is surreal to even have to write this, but i seriously do not understand the purpose of either of these bits in the story. they are so minor yet so jarring you can't help but wonder why they're there. once again, i do not think you need to have toichiro doing esper eugenics just to prove he is an evil guy. he has nuance, and by making him casually reference child pregnancy (like that isn't an INSANE thing to say) reduces that nuance to nothing. that's the only reason i could see why that bit was included: to make toichiro look worse. but, even still, the author is running the risk of potentially triggering victims of csa or people who don't want to see that by not properly tagging the mention of it (or, at the very least, warning readers in the intro notes). the only other explanation for it would maybe be shock factor??? but that's a pretty shitty thing to use for shock factor, if i'm honest. also the fact that the esper eugenics was referenced again in a more recent chapter just has me very disturbed and confused. there isn't a canonical explanation for why we see less espers who are women than espers who are men, but that doesn't mean we need to jump to fucking Eugenics. it's weird!

thirdly (and this is probably one of my biggest problems and the main reason i wanted to make this post), the weirdly lewd/sexual language shou uses constantly, along with referring to reigen as a pedo or a creep at several points. frankly, i think it's pretty fucking gross for someone in their near-40's to be writing a 12-year-old talking so casually about sex like that's normal. which, i'm sorry, but it's not. yes, teens know about sex and like to joke about lewd shit. but a 12-year-old is not about to make references to a grown man's virginity. 12-year-olds draw dicks on their desk bc they think it's funny. 12-year-olds say the word "buttfuck" because it has the words "butt" and "fuck" in it, and those are the two funniest words on earth to a kid that age. i literally do not understand the purpose of having shou be so lewd all the time. for one, it doesn't make sense for his character. shou is shown time and time again to be extremely mature for his age, but that maturity extends to shit like assembling a counter-terrorism unit and extending a hand to his father to allow him to try again. and even then he's still just as naive as any other kid his age! the omake where he's telling his guys to go to the "far right corner" based on ritsu’s advice proves that he still has plenty of blindspots that are indicative of his age. leaning into this raunchy, lewd version of shou is just weird. and, again, i think it is made a bit weirder given the author's age!!! not ageshaming or whatever--i'm 23 and i write fanfic, clearly i cannot judge there--but it is just extremely inappropriate in my opinion. also having shou be more versed in sextalk than serizawa is odd too and speaks to a larger issue of serizawa's infantilzation throughout this fic, but that's something i can get into in another post if people want an explanation.

also, the way she constantly calls reigen a creep and even has him being accused of being a pedophile during the twitter cancellation is extremely inappropriate when, again, there is NO CANONICAL BASIS FOR THIS! everyone just calls him a fraud and a scammer during separation arc; there is never a reference to reigen being seen as a pedophile in that arc. and, yes, while there are versions of mob psycho where reigen is very clearly written as a creep (looking very specifically at the netflix adaptation), that doesn't mean it's good. honestly, the creep mentions all just feel like really poor jokes that do not land in the slightest.

finally, the transphobia (aka WHY IS SHIMAZAKI A CHASER). i literally do not know what else to say other than: why? why is this a thing? why is he a chaser? what is the purpose of this? is it a joke? i feel like it's supposed to be, but seeing as the author is cis i don't think that's a joke she should really be making. it not only comes out of left field, but it's just kind of a weird thing to ascribe to a character for no reason. not to mention, it's uncomfortable! trans women deal with enough creepy antics from cis men in real life--why must they be accosted by this guy too? it's just weird and uncomfortable.

i wanna round out this post by saying, once again, that i'm not trying to attack anyone with this post. but i do hope people come away from this with a new perspective on this work, and maybe think twice before recommending it uncritically to someone. to the author specifically, i hope you can read my post without rage or indignance blinding you. i might be a little blunt or rude in parts, but it's only because i'm passionate and i don't mince my words when it comes to things i'm passionate about. to the readers, understand i am not judging you for reading this fic without noticing these things. your own life experiences will give you certain blindspots and there's nothing wrong with that. i have plenty of blindspots of my own! it's what makes us human.

there is more i could say, but this post is long enough. i ask that if you come to me in my inbox or in dms about this that you treat me with respect, as i will do that for you. writing something like this took a lot out of me, as i'm usually not so open about my opinion on shit like this.

have a good day :-)

[xesarchives]

Mother's day

Paring: platonic!Ashtray x fem!reader, romantic!Fezco x fem!reader

Posted February 22nd, 2022

note from xe: this is a dream I had the other day! I changed some things and added others, but overall I really enjoyed writing this and I missed Ashtray so this really helped :) Also, the reader is half Latina (bc it is based on me and my dream) she's also the oldest daughter of Suze Howard making her Lexi and Cassie's older sister. The reader and Fez are both about 19 in this. Also, this doesn't follow canon even a little.

Summary: it's mother's day and Ash just wants to show his mama some love

word count: 1.3k

Ash and Fez watched as the girl walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, listening to her talk on the phone.

“Yeah, mom, I’m gonna get ready, and then I’ll come over and we can like spend the day together or some shit. And the girls are coming too right? Awesome, yeah I’ll see you soon, bye mama, love you too”

Once Y/n put her phone down on the counter, Ashtray stood up from his seat at the small table. Making his way to the sink.

“Hey, Y/n can I ask you a question?” Ash asked, getting both Y/n and Fezco’s attention.

“Course, what's up, sweets?” The sweet smile on Y/n’s face was enough for Ash to back out of the question he had.

“Nevermind, it’s stupid,”

“Didn’t you declare me the queen of stupid questions? Let me hear it, Ash,”

“I was just wondering if maybe we could hang out some today, ya know like before you go to dinner with your sisters and mom,” Ash had a hesitant look in his eyes and it didn’t go away when Fezco responded.

“Ash, it’s mother’s day, bro, Y/n got plans,”

“I know it’s mother’s day, I just was wondering because you’re kinda like the only mom I ever had and shit, but it's cool if you can’t” Ash dropped the plastic bowl in the sink, ready to walk away from this whole interaction and act like it didn’t happen to begin with.

“Ash, you mean that? Like for real? You want to celebrate mother’s day with me?”

Ash and Y/n had just met a little over a year ago when she and Fezco first started dating.

For obvious reasons Ashtray was extremely on guard around Y/n, that was until one night when she was over waiting for Fezco to come home from the store and Ash had gotten home first, having to study for a test he had coming up. Ash walked in on Y/n dancing around the kitchen with music blasting through the speaker she had set up for Ash and Fez, in Fezco’s sweater while she waited for the cookies she was baking to be done. And when Ash made his presence known,

“Uh, Y/n?”

All she did was turn around and smile at the boy before asking,

“You want cookies? I’m making cookies! Homemade even! They might be shit but we’ll find out in like five minutes!”

That’s when he knew he didn’t really have to worry about her ruining anything for him and his older brother.

Just 30 minutes after that, Ash and Y/n had been sitting at the table eating the homemade cookies while she tried to help Ash with his history homework.

“I don’t remember freshman history being so fucking hard,”

“I don’t understand why I gotta write a whole paper on this old white dude,”

“Nobody does, babe, that’s just how shit is,”

The nonchalant use of the pet name ‘babe’ stuck around after that. Others worked their way in, ‘sweets’ ‘lover’ ‘mi amor’

A few weeks after that is when Ash first started referring to Y/n as ‘ma’

Something Fezco called her often, but when Ash called her ‘ma’ it was different.

Even if Ash didn’t clarify it, all three of them knew what he meant.

Occasionally if Fez would ask where Y/n was Ash would respond with something like ‘Mom’s in the bathroom,’ or if Ash wanted to know if Y/n was coming over that day, he’d ask ‘Is ma coming over tonight?’

Fez and Y/n never pushed the boy to talk about it, they both decided it was best to just let it be and act normal about it, knowing how Ash can get weird if he’s asked to talk about his feelings.

Instead, Y/n showed him she knew what he meant with actions.

Scratching his head whenever he laid his head in her lap the same way she had done to Fez, cooking him his favorite meals, baking with him, even going out of her way to almost baby him when he and Fez got back from a particularly rough night.

Y/n wasn’t stupid, she knew that there were plenty of things Ash could never experience because in some ways he never really got to be a kid, but she also knew what it was like to not be treated like a kid when she really needed it.

Y/n had taken on a pretty big role in her sisters’ lives when their dad ditched, basically losing the rest of her own childhood in the process.

And while Y/n never once compared the two childhoods, she did try and make it so Ash still at least had a present, loving, mother figure to be there for him when he needed her.

Ashtray would never admit it, not in front of Fezco at least, but he always needed it, hell, he even helped Fezco work up enough courage to ask her to move in.

Y/n was ecstatic, to say the least.

And when she did get all her stuff moved in, somehow she managed to make their house feel even more like a home to Ash than before.

Some nights Ash and Y/n would sit in Ashtray’s room until the early hours of the morning (or late hours of the night if you ask Ashtray) and they’d just talk.

Talk about work, family, their lives, what happened that day.

Even when Faye first started living with them, Y/n helped Ash to feel more comfortable about the random woman sitting on his couch.

Ashtray adored and loved Y/n in a way he hadn’t felt about Fez, growing up with Fez as his big brother.

Y/n was his mom.

“I mean, yeah, but like just a few hours, you don’t gotta cancel your plans or nothin’”

The smile on Y/n’s lips convinced Ashtray not to go to his room just yet.

“Baby, I’d love that, do you have anything planned?”

“Well, no,” Y/n cut Ash off before he could explain why. Not needing an explanation.

“That’s okay! I’m gonna go get ready and call my mom, I’ll have to rearrange a few things but that’s okay!” Ash put his hands on the girl’s shoulders to stop her from leaving the room.

“Wait, I have something for you,”

Fez and Y/n watched as the boy walked away to go get something from his room.

Y/n looked behind her, looking at the redhead who had been watching from afar while eating his cereal. Fez sent her a soft smile, seeing how excited she was.

Ash came back less than 2 minutes later with a little pink box with a red ribbon wrapped around it.

“Here, open this,”

Y/n looked at Ash watching him nod, confirming the words he had just said so that she’d open it.

Inside the small box was a dainty gold necklace that had the word ‘Ash’ on it, matching the necklace Fez had given her for their 1 year anniversary that had a small gold ‘F’ on it.

The little necklace had Y/n fighting back tears.

“Well, now you gotta put it on me,” Y/n’s words caused Ash to laugh before he took back the box and took out the necklace before carefully putting it around Y/n’s neck.

“Thank you, mi amor,” Y/n brought the boy into a hug, and Ash immediately responded, laying his head on her shoulder.

“I love you,” Y/n wasn’t expecting a response, Ash never told her he loved her in front of Fez but this time she heard him whisper “I love you too, mama,” just loud enough for her to hear.

[woahajimes]

the batfamily is stupid as hell and they're self isolating because SOMEBODY got covid (steph) and then SOMEBODY (cass-- who also has covid bc uh stephcass) sneezed on tim who drank from jason's cup without knowing it was jason's cup and anyways everyone in the manor got covid so ✨self isolation for 2 weeks✨

ANYHOW they were all bored out of their minds and jason was about to throw damian out the window bc siblings right

SO BASICALLY cass came up with the big brain idea of a competition (prize being complete immunization of sibling interaction UNLESS they ask for it-- eg. "hey can you open this for me")

teams were made (just two people per team-- duke/damian, jason/cass, steph/harper, dick/tim)

there were "rounds" and these consisted of

round 1: person a has to feed person b a whole jar of peanut butter and they could switch places ONCE (team to finish last was disqualified)

round 2: they had to recreate this picture and had ten minutes to do so, at the end every team compared pictures and alfred decided whose was the worst and that team was out

round 3: they had to run five laps around the manor with their team member on their back, first person to get through the finish line (for the fifth time, there was a picture taken each time they crossed it) won.

simple, right?

WELL NO

first round basically went like this:

jason: NO FUCK YOU AND YOUR STUPID PEANUT BUTTER cass: jason: okay okay ill go first

tim went first, harper went first, and duke went first (duke didn't want to go first but he lost to rock paper scissors so)

tim puked in the first two minutes but alfred had forgotten to clarify that if you puke you're out so basically he kept eating

cass and jason were the first ones to switch

dick and tim switched immediately after (they were waiting for someone else to switch)

steph and harper fucking DIED

"im never eating peanut butter after this"

"by GOD EAT FASTER ITS NOT EVEN A SOLID"

"CAN YOU NOT SHOVE THAT SPOON DOWN MY THROAT"

"IM NOT GOING TO LOSE IN THE FIRST ROUND FUCK YOU"

duke and damian finished first and when ppl asked how (they're the youngest ones, people were sure they couldn't handle it) damian was like "i simply moved all my internal organs to the side" and duke was like "tf you literally ate two spoons and a half"

STEPH AND HARPER LOST and tim laughed (his team got to the next round by literally a second) so harper and steph both threw him the containers and spoons

second round:

tim thought he had a big brain for calling dibs on being on the pool mat but nOOO (duke was on the pool mat, damian was the lightest so yeah--- jason was on the pool mat solely because cass called dibs on jumping and crushing him-- imagine all the chaos)

literally they(jason/cass) took 14 pictures total and all of them were fucked up because of jason (his hands weren’t in the right place, both his legs were picked up)

duke and damian couldn’t do it skjdfhskfh they were D Y I N G (every two minutes you heard a really loud scream/groan with a sudden splat and yeah)

steph and harper had never laughed harder

cass was so done with jason she literally shoved him off the pool mat

tim was literally dead they had taken the shot around 20 times and none of them looked good it was horrible (dick didnt even apologize for crushing tim 90934757894 times -- not every shot was decent so they deleted around 40)

when the timer went off, alfred carefully took all the phones (jason’s phone was somehow at the bottom of the pool and jason was tired(tm) so he asked cass to get the phone pls and cass just got in the pool and shoved the pool mat over (and then got out)

after around 20 minutes of alfred going through the pictures, he decided that the best ones were dick and tim’s (how i have zero idea but)

and then the worst ones were duke and damian’s (so jason and cass made it to the third round)

cass asked alfred why theirs weren’t the best, and alfred said “well master jason’s arm looks very off and he looks genuinely scared” and cass was like “GODDAMNIT JASON” and lost her shit 

LAST ROUND: 

so they did think this through and basically cass on jason’s back and tim on dick’s back

jason: HA! YOU’RE NOT FASTER THAN I AM! dick: i don’t need to be??? you’ve got CASS on your back. you know what that means? jason: .... you wouldn’t.. tim, on dick’s back: *snorts* YEAH OKAY

cass: what are they talking about?  jason: NO NOTHING jason: you might want earbuds or something to like... block the sounds... they’re gonna be wanting to distract you cass: yeah well. I’m not distracted easily

the timer goes off, tim on dick’s back, and they’re pretty even for the first two laps, but then tim’s shoe falls off and tim’s like “WAIT MY SHOE” and dick goes “WHAT THE FUCK” 

and tim is like “whoa youre right KEEP RUNNING” 

cass on jason’s back: HEY STEPH CAN YOU PASS ME THE PRETZELS

update: cass does get pretzels and gives jason a few  jason: CASS THATS MY NOSE cass: OH OOPS LOL

dick: tim i think its time to pull out our secret weapon tim: yeah you’re right tim: tim: HEY CASS *starts humming to ‘levitating’ by dua lipa* tim: 🎶 if you wanna run away with me-  🎶

jason: NO  jason: NOOO CASS COVER YOUR EARS DONT LISTEN TO THEM cass:  🎶 IF YOU WANNA RUN AWAY WITH ME I KNOW A GALAXY WHERE I COULD TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE  🎶

(you may ask how this distracts jason but it just DOES)

dick takes this as a head start and runs faster (theyre on their third lap now- both)

tim gets a bit too excited and leans too much and makes them both fall over (they were abt half a lap ahead)

tim: GET UP GET UP dick: THIS IS YOUR FAULT TF YOU MEAN 

cass:  🎶 YOU WANT ME  🎶 jason:  🎶 I WANT YOU BABY  🎶  *runs past them*  dick: HOW jason: JUST DONT FIGHT IT 

karma’s a bitch (and dick paid steph) and jason slipped, causing them to fall almost the exact way that tim and dick fell

dick and tim have now caught up to them, as jason and cass pick themselves up

jason: we should switch cass: yeah alright do you want me to momentarily kill you so we can distract the others and then you wake up and we run jason: ...no cass:  jason: ... maybe

*two seconds later*

cass: HE’S DEAD! MY POOR BROTHER HE’S DEAD! steph: YEAH WE KNOW YOU MOMENTARILY KILLED HIM GET UP cass: ok jason lets go stand up 

they keep going and dick stops for a second (theyre ahead)  dick: hey its your turn now tim:  dick: yeah i know you cant cmon climb on

COMEPLETE HEADCANON jason and cass won anyways thank you for coming to my ted talk

[rosemary-is-in-pesterquest]

I wouldn’t find people who call rosemary boring super sus if it wasn’t for the fact it’s an actual pattern of someone just outright skipping Rose and Kanaya’s logs bc Big Words and then just deciding they’re boring just from that.

Like, from the minimal interactions Hussie allowed between them after they started dating, Rose and Kanaya are the cutest shit. I’m gonna be as bold to say they’re the cutest hs couple. They’re such GOOFS, like Rose and Kanaya rping a wizard off between Rose and Eridan?? Then Kanaya quickly clarifying it’s just a joke bc autism and then Rose reassuring her she was doing great?? Kanaya obviously trying so hard to impress Rose and failing so hard at her own metaphors that even Rose is like “I don’t think ninjas announce what they’re doing” and Kanaya just has this whole amazing first impression of Rose that she’s totally cool and the most competent player in her team bc of her walkthrough??

Kanaya and Rose acting like an unofficial couple and catching each other’s quirks, like Rose going “Blah blah!” when Kanaya rambled and just. The “You’re rambling again, Kanaya” line carried the lgbt rep in homestuck. And then Kanaya’s whole view on Rose deconstructing over and over to the point she lowkey gives up, but all her friends are like “no Rose is totally just faking that bitey shit” and then Kanaya checking on Rose in the viewport when she gets done kicking ass. AND THEN Kanaya and Rose don’t go on a date until TWO YEARS into the meteor trip, because they’re both shy and Rose has never had these dumb sappy feelings before/Kanaya has no idea if Rose even likes her and probably doesn’t wanna rush it bc of what happened to her with Vriska, so she practically friend zones herself and doesn’t even take the hint when Rose invited her for “plans” and she was all decked out in a pretty prom dress.

I could go on, I’m sorry

[heliotropehotch]

Silver - a.h. x fem!reader

Request by @moonstuffsteve :If you’re taking requests, I’d love Hotch smut with a wedding ring kink where the cold metal gets you more worked up (maybe ft choking bc of the ring??) pls and thanks so much!!!!!!!!

a/n: AHHHH its my first smut for Aaron! (and first smut i've actually finished in years!) Al, i love you. Thank you for this. If you have any suggestions on how I can improve my writing please let me know! I haven't written smut in a long time so I know this might be rocky. <3

CW: smut, under 18 DNI, 18+, jealously, unwanted ass grabbing, wanted ass grabbing, choking, wedding ring kink?????, p in v, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it), rough sex, marriage kink??, dom/sub themes, possessiveness, fingering

Masterlist

author: abby<3

word count: 1919

have fun!

She hated cops. Entitled, jealous, and, for the most part, disgusting men, who thought well enough should be left alone. Meaning that, while help had been offered and given, it wasn’t wanted. What was wanted, however, seemed to deviate way too far off the course of the case, of the literal murders that were happening.

“Officer Walker,” Y/N’s teeth gritted out as sweetly as she could, as the man placed an unwelcome palm on the small of her back. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Well, sugar,” he chuckled deeply. “I was hoping you wanted to get out of here.”

“Out of here?” She pretended not to notice Agent Hotchner watching the interaction, slowing walking up behind him. “What do you mean, Officer?”

“I mean,” his hand swooped down, resting gently on her ass. Y/N’s eyes shot wide, mouth opening slightly with appall. “We should get out of here so we can have a little fun.”

“Excuse me-”

“Officer Walker,” Aaron Hotchner’s voice cut through the air of the precinct. “I suggest you take your hand off of my agent, and my wife.”

Walker’s hand shot off her body, smacking into his own side. “Your wife? Sir, I didn’t kn-”

“We have a case, Officer. There are people out there getting murdered. Get back to work. Agent, you’re needed in the conference room, please.”

“Yes sir,” Y/N said with a straight face, but she knew her husband could read the smugness on her face.

“In the future, Officer Walker,” she called out before following Aaron. “At least check a woman’s hand before you make unwanted passes at them.”

Y/N sauntered almost cheerfully behind her husband stalking into the closed conference room. She could hear the gears turning forcefully in his head, and could clearly see his hand clenching and relaxing at his side. Entering the conference room, tension seeping into the air, confining itself in the room as Aaron forcefully shut the door behind them.

“Aaron-”

“I know, I know,” he sighed, fingers smoothing out his eyebrows. “I was fine until his moved his fucking hand-”

She reached out to grab his arms, trailing down to intertwine their fingers together. “Honey,” she smiled sweetly. “I know, okay. I appreciate it, okay. But I had it handled too.”

“I should have him fired-”

“But you won’t,” she laughed softly. “If you fired every man who made a pass at me, we wouldn’t ever work with cops again.”

He grumbled indignantly, scrunching his eyes together in irritation. Y/N slipped her hands up his chest, sliding into their natural place at his jaw. Her lips pressed to his, seeping tension seeping out of him with every passing second. “Aaron,” she hummed against his lips, before pulling away. She smiled as his chased after. “I married you, remember? You don’t ever have to worry about anyone else. Like ever?”

He chuckled, slipping his hands into the pockets of her pants. “I just don’t like sharing what’s mine.”

“I’m only yours.” She smiled at him, taking a step back. “Now can we get back to work? I wanna go home with you as soon as possible.”

--

The case was nowhere near close to being solved, but tensions between all members of the BAU were running high. Derek, the ever hot head he was, had almost gotten into a physical fight with the Captain of the precinct, while Spencer had remained silent after a particularly loud conversation with one of the fellow officers.

“These cops just won’t let us do our jobs, Hotch,” Emily had groaned in the hotel elevator with Y/N and Aaron. “I’m two derogatory comments away from breaking Walker’s nose.”

Y/N snorted, eying her husband’s now tense back in front of her. “He’s a real piece of work huh?”

“I’ll be too glad when we get out of here. Why can’t we work with female cops for a change?”

It was Hotch’s turn to snort. “You would end up being the one that they complained about. You’re just as bad as Morgan.”

Emily gave an artificial gasp. “Am not.”

The elevator doors opened, and Y/N followed her husband out and down the hall to the left. “Night Em!”

Out of sight of the rest of their team, she jogged forward to grab his hand, giving a small kiss to his knuckles. A comfortable silence had settled between the heavy setted footsteps of the married couple. Y/N rocked on her heels as her husband fumbled with the key card to their shared room. She rolled her neck, letting the tension fizzle out in separated pops of her bones. She barely registered the click of the door, or the wrap of fingers around her wrist. She did however, notice the cool, fake wood of the hotel door being pressed against her back. “Aaron?”

“You’re mine,” he murmured, pressing his lips in the angle of her neck. She chuckled, winding her fingers in his hair.

“I thought we already clarified that, baby.”

He hummed a chuckle, his tongue lapping up whatever remnants of perfume traced his neck. “And I intend to make that painfully obvious to everyone in that precinct.”

His lips wrapped around the muscles at the junction of her neck, drawing out a moan out of her with passing second that the air left his mouth. Y/N hummed a laugh, lifting her hips to grind against his. “Seriously, a hickey?”

His hand snaked up her waist to rest under her chin, squeezing slightly. She could feel the metal of his wedding band warm to the temperature of her skin. “I’ve got a point to prove, sweetheart.”

His fingers left her throat and reached down to pull the backs of her thighs to wrap around his waist, grunting slightly at the movement. She worked on unbuttoning her shirt, the best she could. “Aar-” their bodies fell to the bed, his legs slotted between hers. Y/N squeezed his left hand that had found its way into hers. “You’ve got me wrapped around your finger, remember?”

“Oh I remember, darling,” his mouth moved to her breasts, taking a nipple into his mouth, sucking gently before letting it free. “I think you’re the one who needs a reminder.”

Aaron’s hands pushed up her skirt, adjusting it to pool at her hips. His calloused hands traced the edge of her underwear, sliding softly under the band. His mouth, trailing back up to her neck smirked as Y/N’s hips squirmed under his delicate touch. “Be patient, love.”

His attached his mouth to hers as his fingers slowly, finally began circling her clit. The metal of his ring brushing deliciously against the skin above. His teeth tugged her bottom lips, a small whine escaping her. He watched her blissed out expression morph into one of need, eyes scrunched with tension. His fingers dipped lower, circling her entrance before dipping two fingers in slowly.

“Aaron,” she gasped out, clenching around the fingers inside of her. “Aaron, please.”

“Shh, sweetheart,” he smiled into her neck, pressing his lips to her skin. “I’m gonna take good care of my wife, don’t you worry.”

His thumb, that had been rolling lazy circles against her clit, becomes more firm, with more intention. Y/N could feel the cold of her husband’s silver band pressing into her pussy as he pressed a third finger into her. The stretch of his hand, the way he stroked her walls with his fingers, and the words dripping from his lips were enough to put her body on edge.

“Oh you’re so tight, baby,” he chuckled darkly, breath blowing sweetly against her inner thighs. “Fuck, you’re wet. Is this all for me?”

Her fingers wrapped lazily between his black locks, tugging the strands. “Only you.”

“Of course, honey,” he cooed. “Look at you dripping all over my ring, I bet you’re gonna come soon, yeah?”

“Please,” Y/N whined loudly. “Please, Aaron, I can’t hold it anymore.”

“Come for me, baby, get nice and ready for my cock.” She let out a yelp, her back arching from the mattress as her husband continued to lazily stroke her cunt.

“That’s my girl,” he hummed, bringing his fingers up to his mouth for a taste, before pausing and redirecting his fingers to her mouth. Her eyes stayed on him and she hummed around his fingers, tongue lapping at her own juices around his wedding ring.

“Fuck, sweetheart,” he groaned, tugging off his own shirt, and ridding his pants and underwear. Y/N’s panties now rested at her knees, twisting over on itself, until she lazily ridded the rest of her garments.

Aaron now positioned her on her knees, head resting on her forearms as her ass ground into his pelvis. “Please, baby, wanna feel you,” her muffled voice called out.

He sucked his teeth with mock annoyance, lightly smacking one of her cheeks with his left hand. “And what did I say about being patient?” he chided, before lining his dick up and thrusting in.

Her toes curled at the sudden, but welcome intrusion. A groan left her throat as he began pounding into her pussy at a rough pace. Thrust for thrust, the room echoes with grunts and moans from both Y/N and her husband. She could almost feel his smug grin with every whine that fell through her lips.

“Fuck, Y/N look at you taking my cock so well. I bet you just love how I fill you up.” Her only responses were loud moans that flowed through his own voice as she clenched around him.

The metal of his wedding ring now almost burned against her sweating skin as he wrapped his hand around her throat once more, pulling her body to be flush against him as he continued to thrust into her at a bruising pace.

“Who’s making you feel this good, huh?” She stayed wordless, only echoing in whines and moans. He squeezed her neck a little tighter, the imprint of the ring creating a delicious friction. “Answer me.”

“You!” her voice bursted out. “You, Aaron, only you.”

“That’s right, sweetheart, your husband. I married you, I put that ring on your finger-” he groaned, attaching his lips to the juncture of her neck before speaking again. “Fuck, are you gonna come for me soon?”

“Yes!” she cried, “Please, please.”

“Go ahead, and come for me like a good girl,” he panted, using his other hand to rub against her clit, squeezing his fingers again on her throat before speaking right into her ear. “Come on your husband’s cock.”

She yelled with her release, back arching to meet Aaron’s chest. He let out a few more strong thrusts before he found his own release and coated her walls with a groan. His forehead landed on her shoulder, her fingers lazily combing through his hair.

Eventually, he pulled himself out to clean themselves up and crawl into bed. She had rested on his side, but yelped when he pulled her to lay on his chest. She smiled softly, fingers tracing imaginary shapes along his pecs, then started chuckling softly.

He cracked a smile reserved only for her. “What are you up to?”

Her giggles quieted and she stopped her movements. “Oh, I was just thinking. I should make you jealous more often.”

He groaned, tugging her close to him, covering her ringed hand with his own. “Don’t you dare.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead as she chuckled sweetly. “You’re mine.”

[yostresswritinggirl]

hi! ik sojourner's already ended but i have an(other?) idea in case u ever pick it up since i love ur albedo 😳😳 ok so

what abt a reader who is rlly excited abt alchemy, but they avoid talking abt it bc they start rambling and stuttering and stumbling over their words bc they're so excited? they get assigned/asked to go w/ albedo bc they're rlly good at alchemy too, but they end up fidgeting a lot, muttering and stopping just a few words in before their volume rises and giving short answers when w/ him bc they're afraid of rambling (since they do it to think better when alone, sometimes insulting and arguing w the objects when they don't get the expected result) & being seen as annoying or unprofessional?? i'd like to see how he reacts to these and what he'd think!! and how or when he discovers the reason reader is acting like that

it's kinda (a lot, rlly skowkskdk i always have ideas but never write them) specific, but i rlly like the idea!! i'd love to see what u do w/ it if u ever pick it up in the future :D hope you're staying hydrated and well🥺🥰 -🌌

What do you mean Sojourner's already ended, Sojourner is eternal, Sojourner is forever-

Kidding aside, this is too cute to pass up, even if it's quite a lot! Cute Albedo brainrot moments always please. It might be too much sometimes but I hope you enjoy my interpretation of it! Scenarios format! Starry night, oh I'm always hydrated, thank you and I hope you're well!

For the Record

Albedo working with a Reader that's highly enthusiastic about alchemy but insecure about rambling... (masterlist)

You dealt with Alchemy a year before the Kreideprinz entered Mondstadt, your attunement to the mystic arts baffling and intriguing you every time. During that period, you're not really sure of what art you're doing but in the end, you kept doing great that the people had acknowledged your talents.

Through your own effort and self-study even if unnamed, you managed to put your talent into this art of Alchemy and created discoveries regarding powders and mineral-focused ingredients. It was a shame there was no one to share it to, and when you talk to scholars/practitioners alike, you end up rambling so much to the point that on their end you barely make sense. Whether this was caused by your eaten words or lax and personalized vocabulary over the matter, you're not sure.

Their confused and judgmental stare haunts you, leaving you alone with your raging thoughts and overworking mind when you just want to learn and expand your discoveries to other people without driving them away. Your enthusiasm is great and all, but it's not enough to make others understand.

So when the Chalk Prince entered Mondstadt, blessing the city with his scholarly knowledge and boundless creations, he easily made a name for himself and in extension the city itself.

Before Sucrose and Timaeus, you were called upon by the Grand Master Varka to accompany Albedo and be his temporary assistant seeing as his field in the division is still quite new and you were the only other 'Alchemist' in town besides him. You're both giddy and nervous, like really, really nervous.

You've heard of Albedo and maybe a caught a glimpse or two, but you've never actually interacted enough to know exactly what he looks like or how he is as a person. All you know is that he's a very, very attractive person overall.

"Good-looking, carries this aura of wisdom around him, he's just really charming," were the words that rang through your mind as you pointedly watched your steps, following the carpets leading to Ordo Favonius' laboratory while Lisa's words rang through your head.

Is he really that kind of person? You've heard that he's quite stoic too, but if he's really that distracting, you're scared that it would be harder for you to focus and help out. Honestly how would you even deal with him when your fields of Alchemy are so different from each other?

You have no idea how long you've been thinking, standing in contemplation in front of the set of double doors that leads to the workshop with nothing but doubt in your mind. But upon realizing the teal gaze of another person silently waiting instead of wooden doors, you figured it was far too long.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I was in my head, I wasn't expecting you to-!" You flailed your hands around comically before abruptly stopping, noticing the now confused stare of Albedo of which are distracted by your hands. Clearing your throat, you extended a hand towards him to shake, trying to stare anywhere but his face. "I'm (Y/N), I'll be your assistant until you're well settled in the city. It's nice to meet you, Ma-"

His hand finds yours in a firm grip, a firm shake so sudden you bit your tongue back, "Albedo, Kreideprinz of the Art of Kemia, but just Albedo is fine, I'll be under your care."

Albedo finds it intriguing and surprisingly not that distracting whenever you talk to yourself or to the ingredients whenever you so much as feel the slightest frustration. "Ugh, this Zinc powder is so stubborn, clingy," you angrily mumbled under your breath as you washed off the blue powder that spilled at your hand, "So, so clingy." Since you're facing the sink, you couldn't see the way he was holding himself from laughing audibly at your amusing antics.

You seemed lively and open, is what Albedo thought when he first met you. But this observation soon shattered when he kept getting hanged upon your abrupt stops when delving into your field, something he was really irked about the first few times. Your art of Alchemy is much different from his and he's wishing that you'd clarify and expound all your learnings to him, but in the end, you somehow step back everytime your words became lengthy.

Are you hiding something? Did you not want him to learn the same arts as yours? If those were the case, he couldn't bring himself to ask a simple question such ad why. Every time it crosses his mind, it brings a purse of a pout to his lips and furrowed eyebrows.

Every response you gave always hints even tiny bits of trivias and tips he's never heard, Albedo always takes note of your spills that always cuts before reaching its climax. "-sorry, yes, this is activated charcoal Geo and Pyro slimes reaction." He lets out an audible sigh upon your retreat, your frustrated mind too occupied to notice.

"Please," his desperation drips in his word when he looks at you with eyes filled with raw emotion you'd never know he'd be able to pull off. Your tightly locked lips only pressed on further at his puppy eyes, "Please continue, I wish to know more about your Alchemy, if you would be so kind."

"It's not really- I'm not really the best at explaining it..." You're almost fidgeting, cheeks aching from tensing and warmth. But he regarded you with a blank stare, forcing you to fill the silence, "If I- If I start, my ramblings may not uhm they're not easy to comprehend... or something."

Albedo had been watching more than he'd like to admit, and he's come to relieved (yet still confused) realization that your treatment with him wasn't his alone. You always step back before things get lengthy, words then cutting short and concise with a steeled expression. Lips caught between teeth.

"I digress," his hand motions to yourself to emphasize his next clause. "As your field and sole practitioner of this art, like my own condition, your word of mouth is the best ground of knowledge."

If he was irritated, he's doing a very good job in hiding it. And even with the respectable yet close distance in between you still felt cornered. This is still your master and it's not professional to refuse a scholarly talk, "The electro crystals when charged... ionized? create sparks, while also producing the same result when smacking- mining!"

The scribbles of his pen against his clipboard as he nods in attention urges you on, realizing his focus and sincere interest on the topic, "So when you put the little tidbits or even powdered version in a beaker thingy, depending on the material, they interact with the spark. Honestly, I'm unsure yet how lethal it is but if you put the sparks under fire too, they make like those makeshift gunpowder as well as additional reactions such as-!"

The lilt and proceeding high pitch in your voice usually signifies the approach of your insecurity as well as the climax of your enthusiasm. At this point, you pull your hand up to shut your mouth forcefully, and when Albedo really detests the abrupt end of the conversation his hand would shoot forward to grasp your own.

He'd intertwine your fingers to distract, before urging you to continue with a challenging stare, as if daring you to use your other hand to pull that off again. This whole scene felt oddly scandalous, but oh boy does it send your mind into a bambling, overloaded mess. A heated head forces your lips open even if they sometimes come out in a jumbled string, he learns to decipher them.

The more you get used to or feel more comfortable, Albedo uses that fondness skillfully whenever he wants. "Can you tell me more about the scarlet chunks from Dragonspine?" He throws it so casually in the silence as you two work back to back in your stations, without a beat as your mind is partially preoccupied, you answered into a narrative of trivia. It almost feels like you're talking to the flames of the bunsen while you wait, but Albedo smiles at the now filled silence as he listens with divided attention.

He really likes your voice, and the word of wonders you bring along with you.

"For the record, I don't mind it at all," his breath hovers on your lips, cold and prickly, "Whatever comes out of these lips, I want to hear it all."

That last part eheh

Woah, this went long. Like reader babbling hahaha. I said I'm gonna speedrun, not freaking write this long smh

@zelos-simp @legionqueensav @snackgod @rxsalinee @cala-ran @wind-wheel @lilydewi22 @yellowflowre @traveler-lumine @nonniechan @creation-magician @hanniejji @gojos-baby @just-some-stars @volleybloop @tartuu @moaa @dandelion-dreams @witchsungie @lehra @albaedhoe @xiaophilia @heisenwurst @childe-simp-exe

[perenial]

First congrats on that positive feedback that’s so great to get !!! And second im gonna be going to grad school and will have to teach a class, how do u make your class like engaging and somewhat fun for the undergrads? Bc it’s been a minute since I’ve been in undergrad and I’m having a hard time remembering what made me like my grad student profs/recitation sections. Big question ik so no pressure to answer <3

okay so first thing is act ur age. students sniff out people pretending to be older/younger than they are straight away – like, i once had a grad student tutor who acted like a 50-something associate professor and absolutely no one took her seriously. i mention younger too bc even if ur teaching people like five years younger than u, there's no guarantee u actually know what they're like as a micro-generation, so purposefully trying to act like what u think they're like is gonna backfire too.

kinda related to that: put boundaries around ur teaching self and everyday self, but don't be afraid to let ur students know that ur like. a person. bc honestly i had the best interactions with my students when i swore after making a mistake, or made a bad joke, or used examples from my own life to explain a theory/framework, or just generally acted like a regular, fallible human being. this doesn't mean telling ur students everything about u, but reminding them that ur Just Some Guy allows for a more honest and comfortable working relationship

something else that rly stood out for me was making sure class work was accessible, and explicitly pointing out to everyone when this wasn't possible and why i was/wasn't using the resource. i love to use videos to start conversations and while youtube is slowly getting the gist of captioning, not every vid has decent subtitles; i made sure to tell my students if there weren't captions, so they knew that a) i could fill in any gaps they might miss and b) get them used to the idea that accessible materials should be the norm. i also tried to mix up the kind of activities we were doing across the semester – some small group work stuff, some larger whole-class discussions, some individual writing tasks, etc – so students had a chance to figure out what works best for them and let me know what does/doesn't work

finally, be clear with what u expect from them, especially re: assessed work. the course i taught had been inherited from another group of academics who had a v specific assessment framework that took me some time to understand, and in that time i confused the fuck out of my students by not being able to tell them what they needed to do. get stuff like due dates and assessment criteria locked down early, and if ur not sure, don't just make up some bullshit answer and hope someone else will clarify later bc WOW i fucked up big time in the first couple of weeks when it came to that

and that's about it, i think? if u have any more questions i'm totally happy to take them, and good luck with ur course!!

[anxious2dsimp]

Reki, Miya and langa from sk8 ☁️♀

Hi anon! Thank you for requesting Sk8, I've been waiting for this one, turn it up >:) Since you didn't specify theme or format I'm just gonna write a random fluffy drabble for each!

Random Fluffy Drables! | Reki, Langa, & Platonic!Miya

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡*✧･ﾟ:˚۰˚☽˚｡･:

Pairings: Reki x Reader, Langa x Reader, Platonic!Miya & Reader

Flavor: Fluff ☁️

Reader: Fem!Reader (she/her)

Format: Drabbles

Warnings: None!

A/N: I decided Miya's is gonna be platonic bc I feel comfortable writting about him that way, sorry!

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡*✧･ﾟ:˚۰˚☽˚｡･:

Reki

If there's two things that are consistent about Reki is that he loves skateboarding more than anything and he's great at it. How you managed to change those two main things about the redhead not even a minute into meeting him is truly baffling. It was a sunny afternoon when Reki was aimlessly riding his skateboard around town, his eyes drifting around the relatively busy store-filled street. That was, until you came out of one of the buildings a couple stores ahead, because once he spotted you he couldn't look away. You were putting on your headphones, brushing the hair out of your face to reveal the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, features graced by the warm sunlight as your eyes were lost somewhere among the clouds. A million thoughts raced through his mind; would it be creepy to approach you, there's no way you'd notice him, maybe he could impress you with a cool trick? Unfortunately for him he had nearly caught up to you and couldn't make up his mind, but suddenly he snapped out of his thoughts by a thunk and a force propelling him forward. He was so busy looking at you he didn't notice the uneven sidewalk, his front wheels getting stuck and sending him flying only to land in front of you. "Oh my god, are you ok?" You asked worriedly as you crouched down before the stranger that had been catapulted by his board. "I- uh- hi?" Reki sounded more panicked than you were, and mentally kicked himself for being such an idiot, but the sound of your stiffled laugh made him stop that line of thought in an instant. "Hi, please tell me you're ok, or else I should really stop laughing," you commented wittily as you offered him your hand. "No, it's fine! I'm fine, you can keep laughing, it sounds so pretty you're making me feel better," Reki confessed as he took your hand and brought himself up, dusting his jeans before his cheeks begun burning a darker shade of red when he lifted his gaze to meet your flustered face. Did he really just say that outloud? He must have hit his head hard then. "Thanks! I'm (y/n), and you are?" God, you're smile was making his heart race more than S. "Reki," he said, probably a little to quickly, but at that point he didn't care. "Well, Reki, you should probably be more careful when you're skating," you teased, silently hoping your conversation didn't end there and he was as intrigued in you as you were in him. Little did you know that he would try his best to get to see you again, because in that brief interaction, you had transformed his world and what he thought he knew.

Langa

"Langa! you were amazing out there," you exclaimed breathily as you jumped into your friend's arms after him winning the S race. The pale boy squeezed you in response and thanked you, his smile still ecstatic from all the adrenaline. "We've been friends for so long, I can't believe this is the first race you ever invite me to," you said once he put you down, only half joking. "To be fair, S is kind of dangerous, but it surprises me too," Langa said truthfully, but before you could reply you heard some new voices behind you. "Who's the new slime?" "Langa brought a girl, he's learning from me!" "Well this is unprecedented." You whirled around to find a black-haired middle schooler, and three rather unique looking adults. Not really knowing what to reply, you were lucky your other friend Reki made his way past them and introduced you in the process. "This is (y/n), Langa and I's friend from school," the redhead said proudly. After they introduced themselves, you made some small talk with the group, but had to excuse yourself to reply to a phonecall. "So, Snow, what's up with you two?" Joe asked as he wiggled his brows. "What do you mean?" Langa replied, clueless as ever as everyone else stared in disbelief. "We mean that this is the first person you invite to S, and whenever you look at her your eyes sparkle like you're talking about skateboarding," Cherry attempted to clarify. "Or how during the race you pulverized the guy who was hitting on her earlier," Shadow chimed in once he saw Langa was still not getting it. "They're asking if you like her bro," Reki said with a rowdy smile as Langa turned totally red at the suggestion. "Wha- I care for her as a friend! Right? That's what friends do?" Langa didn't know why he was getting defensive, but he felt that his heart was gonna explode if they didn't change the subject. "Well, your slime buddy is getting hit on again," Miya said, slightly amused as he pointed with his head. Langa's body moved before he could even tell, and next thing he knew he was standing beside you as he silently glared at the guy he won against. "I'm sorry," the guy who was now clearly uncomfortable said as he lifted his arms in fake surrender, "I should have known you two were together." You just became a flustered mess, watching the guy leave as you turned to face your friend, stoic as ever but with a faint pink dusting his cheeks. "What was that about?" You asked. "You looked uncomfortable," he stated simply as he grabbed your arm, softly dragging you back to the group, who were all smiling knowingly. "Also, I wouldn't oppose to it y'know," his voice was barely above a whisper, but you were sure you heard him right, the sound of your heartbeat filling your ears immediately after. That night definitely was important for your relationship, just not in the "friendly" way you both initially thought.

Miya

Miya's gaze fell to the floor as his name was called to come up front for the freestyle skateboarding competition he was at. You had promised to come see him and support him like the good friend you were, but had yet to show up, leading the boy grit his teeth to bear the dissapointment that weighed him down. 'Of course (y/n) wouldn't show up, she's another slime, I should have known I'm stuck in a single player game,' Miya thought to himself as he walked up to the center of the area, readjusting his helmet while turning to face the judges. He was so caught up in his head that he didn't notice the commotion going on in the corner, where amongst the crowd whispered complains were heard followed by a seemingly neverending loop of apologies. Out of breath and hoping you weren't late you finally managed to squeeze past the group to end up in the front row before the area, seeing that much to your delight Miya had yet to start. However, your content smile at having made it in time despite your setbacks quickly vanished at the sight of his frown. Did he think you had forgotten? "MIYA! GOOD LUCK!" You yelled over the loudspeaker music and monotone sound of conversation from the crowd, the blackette's eyes instantly lighting up at the familiar voice. His eyes finally landed on you, and you could visibly tell he was holding back from grinning too hard as he gave you a small nod of acknowledgement; I'm glad you made it. After a great routine, he got off the judging area and headed to the water fountains, where you two had previously scheduled to meet. "I'm so sorry I was late, I had some problems that held me back, but I'm glad I made it on time! You were great out there," you rambled to your friend as he took a swig from his water bottle. "It's whatever," he replied contently, yet you knew something was up with the way his eyes avoided yours. "Miya, I can tell something's bothering you, y'know." After a hesitant glance, the boy sighed and finally looked you in the eye. "Sorry, it's just... I was scared you were gonna ditch me," he confessed, adding in a voice barely above a whisper, "like my old friends." Your heart broke at his words; though he kept up this unbothered facade, he did care for all of this stuff on the inside. "I would never, Miya. You're a great friend, and you deserve nothing less from me," you reassured him, giving him a tight hug that he barely reciprocated, but you knew him well enough to see that he appreciated it from the look in his eyes. "You better keep your word, or else you'd go down from being a friend-slime to a regular one," he joked, earning a lighthearted chuckle from both of you as the sadness cleared from the air around you two.

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[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

idk how many people would even want to see this BUT i wanna yell about Leela and Brax so here's a list of all their scenes togethr/scenes pertainng to them that i can recall (pLEASE add on if i missed anything/ you have any additional thoughts!! i could talk about these two all day!)

right off the bat in Weapon of Choice when Leela is on the outskirts of the Citadel and Brax goes to bring her back (which is interesting in and of itself, bc usually i would imagine a chancellery guard would go do that so what made Brax decide to instead??), Leela kinda goes off at him bc she's hurting and instead of trying to actually explain what's going on Brax doesn't even try to argue he just says "we need you" which is great bc Leela has that instinctive desire to be needed and to help people and he's speaking right to that -- also as far as we know, this is Leela and Brax's first actual meeting in canon? it's implied that they know of each other, which makes sense, but it doesn't seem like they've ever directly interacted before: Brax seems almost slightly uncertain, and Leela is combative, but when he's gentle with her she's actually quite receptive

the literal next scene after that, where the OT4 is all in one room for the first time (they still kinda hate each other at this point but still !!!). Narvin explaining Gryben and being a real jerk about it and Leela (understandibly!) questions if Gryben is a prison world, and Brax (who to this point has been mostly quiet as Narvin and Romana brief Leela) jumps in to both clarify Narvin's previous xenophobic statements while also maintaining the inherent questionable/negative connotations

(btw it's actually pretty important to note that Romana self-edits herself a lot when talking to Leela, especially in the earlier seasons; you can actually hear her revising the things she says to put it in terms that she thinks Leela will better understand. and i mean she does it out of genuine consideration for her friend associate but it often comes across as varying levels of patronizing. Narvin also obviously "dumbs things down" when dealing with Leela early on, but like... Brax never does that on any level. the only difference i can tell in how he addresses Leela vs how he talks to anybody else is that he seems much more kind with her than almost anyone else???)

their conversation about the Matrix in The Inquiry: this is REALLY important (and if you've ever talked to me on ao3 i've probably gone off to you about it lol) because it's layered. they're talking about the Matrix but they're also not because in answering Leela's question Brax is making a very thinly veiled allegory (which he outright states a minute later) to Time Lord society/politicians/most importantly HIMSELF -- he's actually strangely open about his morals/beliefs in this scene and i'm living for it tbh -- and i find it very interesting that even though he does directly explain what he means ("how do you know all this?" / "because i am a politician.") he also leaves it for Leela to work out the implications. like it's a very nuanced conversation bc there's double meaning in it and most people on Gallifrey seem to think that Leela is tone-deaf and can't pick up on that stuff (even Romana sometimes oversimplifies things to her) but Brax totally just lets her take from it what she will bc he believes her intelligent enough to understand. he doesn't think her any lesser because she's human.

ALSO on a secondary note to the above: the fact that Leela has a question/needed clarification (sorry, haven't listened to this in a while i forget how it actually happened) and actively sought out Brax to talk to about it?? like she knows Romana better she could have gone to her but i feel like Leela kinda imprinted on Brax and someone she can go to for help if she needs it; maybe it's partly bc she knows he's under marginally less pressure than Romana is but also the truth of the matter is that Brax was the most genuinely helpful person to her in the previous stories and that probably means a lot to her (esp. bc he acts like the essence of everything she hates about Gallifrey but he doesn't treat her the way she would expect from that). btw this topic is gonna come up again in a hot minute

that part where Brax gives her that information that might help her re: the Andred thing, even though he really probably shouldn't have done that -- it kinda makes me think about what he must have been like with Theta tbh???

actually this is mostly my own conjecture but there's some neat stuff in Spirit bc during the *waves hand vaguely* bodyswap dream sequence thing, Romana is very "!!!! Brax can help us !!!" which is tecnically Leela brain talking, so like there's the implications of the stuff i've said above about Leela having this idea of Brax where she knows he's someone she can go to for help

can u tell i'm soft for them

Leela sounding really sad/distracted when she talks about how Brax isn't there YES i'm grasping at straws but a lot of this relationship really is conveyed through the voice acting bc of how little direct focus there is on the characters. there's actually several scenes in Mindbomb where she mentions him and she outright says that she misses him during her discussion with Matthias

that implied scene with them in Mindbomb!! i have a Lot of thoughts about that!!! it's all conjecture and fanfic fodder!!! but the reason i mention this is because it seems pretty meta that out of the whole Gally Gang, it's Leela who first sees Brax when he comes back to Gallifrey and in turn she's the first person (besides Matthias, i guess) that he sees upon his return?? idk i just feel like that's somehow a meaningful detail??? also her reaction of utter shock after spending the entire episode missing him and how worked up she is when she tries to tell Romana, like I desperately need to know what happened in this missing scene MR RICHARDS PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED

Leela insisting on going with Brax when Pandora starts hurting him and their whole conversation there is just. so good. like they're both just so soft and then when Darkel comes in Leela instantly goes into protective mode. like they just have such an open relationship bc Brax doesn't even try to be all pretentious with her, like he doesn't even try to keep up any facades when he's with her he's just very genuine and it really says a lot about both of them -- Leela is so good at seeing people, like getting down to the core of who people are and what makes them them (which is why she's good for Romana, btw, bc Romana has a lot of identity issues) and Brax is so tangled up in who he presents himself as that he barely knows who he actually is anymore but Leela can see that and she makes it so he can truly be himself and he doesn't have to hide. also she's so gentle with him when they talk about Pandora, she's very caring and empathetic and wants to make sure he's okay and i am WEAK

it's been a hot while since i listened to Panacea but I think i remember Brax being really soft with Leela when he first brings the gang to the Axis, like just sounding really glad to see her

ok other than the fact that Brax is lowkey relatable in Reborn (daydreaming fanfic about yourself/people you know? simping for Mary Tamm Romana? yeah mood, my man) there's that scene where they're first appraoching the Citadel on the alt!Gallifrey and it seems like none of them, and Brax specifically, have seen it from the outside in a good long while bc he's very in awe and he tells Leela that he wishes she could see it and he sounds sO hEcKiNg sOFT oh my word-

and once again with Leela thinking of Brax as someone she trusts for help: in Dissassembled when everything is going to crap she straight-up says that she wants to go find Brax bc he'll know what to do/be able to help

at the beginning of Annihilation when Romana is depressed and questioning if Brax truly was her friend and Leela INSTANTLY, NO HESITATION assures her that he was; i lost where i had her exact lines written down but she actually kinda goes off to make sure Romana gets the point

literally forcing myself to talk about this bc it makes my brain stall out but like,,, the Brax Hound in Annihilation,,, Leela being like "goodbye, Braxiatel... again" she sounds so sad and like UGH i always kinda forget how sad it actually is for them to lose Brax in Dissassembled bc like, it was so sudden and they didn't get to say goodbye and Leela is always losing people and i have many many feels about this scene and how all that emotion is made very clear in how they each respond to the Hound (might make a separate post abt this later if anyone is interested ::eyes::)

Enemy Lines is utter bullcrap about these two and I will never stop being salty about how they not only sidelined the very good, very subtle friendship they had in s1-4, but they??? made Leela acutally not trust Brax??? when literally this entire time she's been the one person who probably genuinely trusts him the most?? what the heck, David

I haven't heard TW3 or 4 yet but i'm assuming there's nothing worthwhile in those with regards to this duo (correct me if i'm wrong tho lol, i would love to be mistaken in this assumption)

TL;DR Leela and Brax mututally imprinted on each other and have probably the most open and healthy relationship within the OT4 and it is an absolute CRIME that nobody besides Gary Russell and Justin Richards cared enough to actually build on it in canon

[slytherinbarnes]

Seasons Change [2]

ii. spring will wash what’s left of the taste (of you)

pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

word count: 2.8k

warnings: discussions of death, smut, language.

summary: a chance meeting in japan gives you the opportunity to take advantage of your arrangement with steve.

a/n: a little earlier in the day than normal bc today is a busy day! i hope you guys enjoy!!! the taglist for this series is open!

previous part // series masterlist // full masterlist

March 19, Kumamoto, Japan.

You walk along the street in Kumamoto, and smile as the wind blows a flurry of cherry blossom petals towards you. You shake them free from your hair and watch as they flutter to the ground around you like pretty pink snow. Spring in Japan is beautiful, and it’s a welcome change to the New York snow.

Your phone dings in your pocket and you reach for it, eyes scanning the message on the screen. You’re pulled back into reality when you crash into someone, sending both of you falling. The man hits the ground with an angry cry, and his suitcase hits the ground beside him, scattering the contents inside. You jump up and scramble towards him, picking up fallen papers and folders as you go. “I’m so sorry, that was completely my mistake!”

He seems unimpressed, but nods in thanks when you hand him the papers, and you help him to his feet with a flurry of apologies, in both Japanese and English. He seems to accept your apologies before walking away, leaving you alone on the street. You look down at the phone in your left hand, smiling at the unfamiliar device, before leaning down and grabbing your fallen phone. You stuff your phone into your back pocket and pull a small SD card from your pocket, quickly inserting it into the man’s phone. You slide his phone into your pocket and look around for him, watching as he veers off the sidewalk and into a small cafe. You follow the same path, checking the phone periodically to ensure the download is going smoothly. When you see the progress bar reach 100%, you pull the card from his phone and put it beside your phone in your other pocket, before following the man into the cafe and stepping into line behind him. He moves forward to order, and when the cashier announces his total, you step up beside him. “Let me pay for it.”

You dig around in your pockets for the right amount of money, but the man shakes his head, trying to stop him. You pull the money out anyways, turning to the man with a smile. “Please, I insist. As an apology.”

Finally, he relents, and as you step forward and hand the money to the cashier, you use your other hand to carefully slide his phone into his pocket. You step back and he thanks you, and you give him a nod. “It’s the least I could do.”

He moves away to the end of the bar to pick up his drink, leaving you to order. “A small matcha tea please.”

The barista gives you the total and you pass her the money, and out of the corner of your eye, you see the man grab his drink and leave. With a satisfied smile you pull out your phone and text the only number saved. 

Got your drink. Meet at the usual?

Your drink is placed at the end of the bar, and you thank the barista as you grab it and turn to leave. Your phone dings as you head to the door, and you glance at the screen as you step outside into the bright afternoon sun. 

See you there.

You leave the cafe and head to the Suizenji Jojuen Garden, so you can meet the agent for the drop. The walk is nice, and you enjoy the fresh air and scenery immensely, hoping you get to spend a little more time in Japan before you have to head to your next location. When you reach the garden, you move to the bridge that overlooks the water and find a spot to get comfortable in. It’s usually a few minutes before the agent shows, so you spend the time admiring the view and watching the cherry blossoms fall from the trees. He shows up a few minutes later, and stands next to you, asking. “Enjoying the view?”

The familiar voice pulls you from your thoughts and you turn your head towards him quickly. “Steve?”

His blue eyes lock with yours and his brows lift in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

You scoff, “I’m collecting intel, as agents do. What are you doing here? Avengers don’t normally do drops.”

He turns and looks out at the water, “I was on my way back from South Korea and Tony asked if I’d stop by to get some intel from an agent in Kumamoto. I didn’t know it’d be you.”

You snort, “Try not to sound so disappointed.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean-”

You hold up a hand to stop him, “Relax.” You pass him the now empty matcha cup with the SD card secured inside. “Here’s your tea.”

“Thanks.”

You both stand silently, staring out at the water, before speaking at the same time. 

“Do you want to come back to-”

“Well, I guess I’d better get-”

You both stop at the same time, before you motion for Steve to speak first. “I should get back to the Quinjet. What were you saying?”

Your brows lift in surprise, and you let the invitation back to your room die in your throat. “Oh, yeah, same.”

“It was good to see you.”

“Yeah, you too.”

You give him a small wave and turn to leave, moving quickly to put distance between you and Steve, you and this garden, you and this awkward situation. You start to think your question in December really upset him, because you haven’t heard from him since. And yeah, you’ve been working a lot, but if things were okay, the meeting in the park wouldn’t have been that...weird. You shake the thoughts from your head, trying to delete the interaction from your memory, thankful when you reach the hotel quickly, distracted by the thoughts in your head. You head to your room with a sigh of relief, locking the door before kicking your shoes off. As you do, your phone rings from your pocket, and you check the caller ID, answering quickly when you recognize the number. “This is Shield’s best agent speaking.”

Maria Hill’s laugh crackles through the phone, “Try worst agent. You didn’t even check if the line was secure before announcing who you work for.”

You smile, “I knew I didn’t have to because you already did.”

You can’t see her, but you know she’s rolling her eyes, because you’re right. Hill knows what she’s doing, and she does all the technical stuff for you, making your job a hell of a lot easier. “How was the drop?”

You cringe, reminded of the awkward interaction. “It was fine. Coulda told me that Jeff wasn’t doing the drop anymore.”

“Sorry, last minute change.” A pause, and then, “Wait, why? Did something happen with Steve?”

You shake your head, temporarily forgetting she can’t see you. “No, no, no, it was fine. Everything was good.”

“Okay...” She draws the word out, and you know she’s unconvinced. Still, she doesn’t pry. “Well, that gives you two extra days in Kumamoto, work free. Enjoy them. I’ll see you back in D.C. in a few days.”

“See you then.”

You drop your phone to the bed before moving into the bathroom and starting a bath. As the tub fills, you head to the hotel phone and call a nearby delivery service, placing an order for a few different meals, deciding to treat yourself now that you have a couple of days off. Minutes later, your food is ordered and you’re chin deep in lavender scented water, the warm water starting to melt your worries away. You clean up slowly, taking your time to relax in the bath until the water turns cool. As you’re leaning forward to pull the drain, you hear a knock at the door, and assuming it’s your food you quickly wrap a towel around your body and head out of the bathroom. On the way to the door you grab your gun, just in case, before moving to check the peephole. But instead of finding the delivery driver you expected, you instead see Steve Rogers standing at your door, holding your food. 

You put your gun on the chair near the door before unlocking it and pulling it open. He eyes you up and down, and you look back at him in confusion. “What are you-”

Before you can finish the sentence, he steps towards you and pulls you in for a kiss. Your lips crash together, hard, but there is none of the awkward tension from before. He guides you into the room and kicks the door closed, dropping the food bag unceremoniously near the door, forgotten in the haze of lust. He guides you back towards the bed in the room, both of you in a hurry, evident by the clothes he drops on his way across the room. Your towel joins his discarded clothes somewhere along in the journey, and when you reach the bed, it doesn’t take long until you’re writhing and moaning beneath him, calling his name as he takes you over the edge.

When your high dissipates, the two of you lay in silence like you normally do, until you decide to finish your post bath routine. You roll out of the bed, leaving Steve sprawled across the sheets watching you, and you scoop his shirt up on the way to the bathroom, pulling it over your head. You pull on a pair of underwear and grab some lotion, moving to stand in the doorway as you apply it, giving you a good view of Steve. “How’d you know where I was?”

You swear you see his cheeks heat up when he answers, “Hill.”

You smile and shake your head, “Should’ve known.”

He watches you moisturize, silent, and you’re the first one to break the silence again. “I thought you forgot.” He quirks a brow, and you clarify, “About the arrangement.”

“Oh. No, I just wasn’t sure if that’s what you still wanted. You never reached out after the party.”

“Honestly, I haven’t really had the chance. I haven’t been home since the party. After my week in D.C. next week, I finally get to go back. I was gonna call you then.”

“Looks like I beat you to the punch.”

You smirk at him, “Looks like it.”

You step back into the bathroom, finishing up your routine quickly, and when you’re halfway through brushing your hair, you call out, “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

“What?”

You finish brushing your hair before stepping back into the room, and you repeat, “Do you want to stay for dinner? Since you did bring it up to the room.”

A strange look passes over his face, and for a second, you’re sure he’s going to say no and bolt, giving you the cold shoulder like he did in December, but he surprises you by smiling and nodding. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

You smile in return and grab the bag from the door, setting the food up on the low coffee table in the room, sitting on the floor beside it. Steve pulls his pants on before he joins you, both of you sitting across from each other on the floor, and for a while you enjoy a comfortable silence, pushing dishes across the table to share, quietly enjoying your meals. You’re in the middle of shoving a large bite of noodles into your mouth when Steve suddenly says, “Paper cranes.”

You look up at him with absolute bewilderment, quickly chewing the noodles in your mouth to ask, “What?”

“Last time you asked me what my thing is. It’s paper cranes.”

“Oh.” You say nothing else, too afraid it’ll break the moment, that he’ll change his mind and close up again, but he doesn’t. As you put your fork down, a faraway look passes over his face and he mutters, “My mom died when I was 18. Tuberculosis. But before that, when she was sick and still alive, I used to visit her. All the nurses that used to help her were friends of hers, because she was a nurse too. And one day, one of them told me about 1000 origami cranes. According to Japanese legend, anyone that folds 1000 paper cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. The nurse told me that maybe if I folded 1000 paper cranes and wished for her to live, she’d be okay.”

Steve pauses for a minute, and you watch him closely, too afraid to say anything. “I was desperate to save her life, so I spent weeks folding cranes out of any paper I could find. Scraps, old artwork, it didn't matter. If it could save my mom’s life, I wanted to do it.”

He takes a deep breath before his eyes lock on yours, heavy with sadness. “She died before I finished.”

You feel your heart break for Steve, tiny 18 year old Steve left alone in the world without his parents, his mom dying before he could finish trying to save her. You reach out across the table and take his hand, and despite the intimacy of it, he lets you, smiling at your intertwined fingers before he adds, “When I knew Peggy was nearing the end, I folded cranes for her too. This time, I knew they couldn’t save her, but I wished that she wouldn’t suffer the way my ma did.”

“Did it work?”

“She died peacefully in her sleep, so I like to think it did.”

You smile a little and squeeze his hand, and he whispers, “Now, I make them when I need to remember. Because sometimes, you just need to remember.”

“I know what that’s like.”

He looks at you with surprise, “You do?”

You nod, dropping his hand to head to your suitcase, pulling the leatherbound notebook from between the neatly stacked layers of clothes. When you sit down across from Steve again, you push the book towards him, despite your promise to yourself to never show it to anyone. “Remember the cinnamon rolls I told you about?”

He nods, reaching for the book though he never pulls it open. “I keep track of every cinnamon roll I’ve ever eaten since my brother died, and I write about it in this journal. I rank them and talk about it as if I was telling it to him. I know he’s dead and he’ll never read this, but I like to remember what it was like to talk to him, share food with him. To be his little sister.”

This time Steve reaches out to take your hand, lifting it to press a kiss to your knuckles. “Do you want to talk about him?”

Your brows lift in surprise, always shocked that Steve just seems to know. “I haven’t really talked about him in years. My parents found it easier to pretend he never existed. I would beg and beg for them to acknowledge it, for them to talk about him and his death, but they never would. Eventually I gave up, agreed to the silent family decision of erasing him from my memory.”

You shake your head, tears pricking your eyes. “Of course I never did though. How do you erase someone who’s a part of you? How do you live your life knowing you got more time than they did? Maybe it was easier for my parents because they didn’t have to stop pretending to be parents. They still had me. But how do you stop being a sister? You can’t. He may be gone, but I don’t want to pretend like he didn’t exist. Not anymore.”

Steve is watching you closely, making you feel seen, though not in an uncomfortable way. And as if he knows exactly what to say, he asks, “What’s the earliest memory you have of him?”

You think for a moment, running through your memories of your brother, smiling when you land on one that you think is the earliest. “I had to be about 5 or 6, and…”

-

Later, after you spend hours telling Steve about your brother, you lay in bed beside him, both of you quiet for the first time in a while. His hand holds yours beneath the sheets, and as you both sit in the dark, waiting for sleep to take you, you whisper, “I’m glad you came to Japan.”

“Me too.”

And that’s the last thing he says before you both fall asleep.

-

The sun is high in the sky before you finally wake up and roll out of bed. You’re unsurprised to find that Steve is gone, but left in his place is a paper crane and a note on his pillow. You smile as you pick the crane up and admire it, folded on hotel stationery with expert fingers. You set it aside before lifting the note and reading,

 Call me when you get to New York.

See you soon. 

-Steve

-

[starrysupercell]

UwU the rest of the outline at per request. @lumpy-veev (still unfinished but it's okay! This should be thought of as a rough draft.) 💙

🦝 "RaR 3" or "Breaking Point" 🐍

It would be an unofficial Brawl, which is not allowed, but it happens, and what can you even do?

I see the two as basically ignoring each other's presence upon finding out that the other is there. Of course, as much as they won't admit it, it's making them think of. Everything.

This leads to even more on edge tense atmosphere whenever they would cross each other's path, because even if it’s a big park, you can only avoid someone for so long, especially when you happen to have common associates. (the Coworkers, Tara, etc.)

It doesn’t help they have growing animosity and take every little thing personally for every interaction.. and it’s only been a month or two.

Rumors begin to pick up around the park-- Just a little chatter at the bar. Just a little observation that those two sure have something between them huh? The gossiper is shushed, because did you forget who runs the place? his connection to Byron?

Luckily, the bartender didn’t seem to hear. He was busy cleaning glasses. The topic’s changed. customers continue to come and go.

One who arrives is Piper, who sits down at the bar. It’s busy, so she waits patiently for Barley to get her usual. (he’s good at that.) He sets down a coaster and the glass in front of her, but instead of a greeting and bustling away this time, he sticks around.

“Byron is well on his way to becoming a topic of interest around here...” he tells her.

She leans forward with a smile. “What have they said? And who, for that case?”

He explains what he heard, and omits the names.

Piper thoughtfully considers this. She had noticed this, but hadn’t chalked it up to a personal history, just conflict of interest. (byron was well off, belle was a thief. he would be cautious) Now that she knew, she wanted every drop of intel.

“I can talk to him. we wouldn’t want our dear coworker being talked about, do we?”

“I do not.” Barley replied, tipping his hat to bid her goodbye as he steps away to another client. He lets Piper take care of this, because he likes letting people come to him if they want to talk, and he feels that Byron would have already approached him if that were the case.

~

So, it’s another one of their patented teatime tête-à-têtes.

Piper skirts around the issue before dropping the news of whispers about the two.

But Byron doesn’t humor the topic, and refuses to talk about it.

Piper cheerfully pokes at him. “Crossed paths? Did you know her before the Park? maybe previous business associates? She robbed you, but you had good insurance, and one day she tricked you? Ooh~ Former flames-?"

And then Byron stands up and is about to leave wordlessly until that last suggestion processes bc if he doesn’t clarify now, ugh that’s gonna be what Piper thinks is plausible (kind of, bc he gay af) and he does NOT want that to be a thing.

“She’s a relative,” he says with so much distaste before he leaves that Piper is even more intrigued. but at the same time, there’s something that tells her she shouldn’t fan the fire any further.

they’ve had their share of back and forths, and it’s been a blue moon since something had gotten him so upset that he just up and leaves.

she drops it, and as the #1 gossipmonger of the park, the hushed whispers of “mystery between byron and belle?” is completely stamped out with a dismissive attitude and several “Really? I didn’t notice anything.”

If Byron really and truly didn't want this around the park, she'd honor that.

~

Of course, with QD Edgar on occasional trips with the Gang, that’s the biggest connection the sibs have at the moment.

The first time Edgar name dropped Byron, Belle froze and listened to 2.47 more seconds of the teen's rambles before telling him to get a move on around camp and quit yapping.

Edgar didn't notice this first time around and grumpily went about his way.

But I'm sure there's one thing or another that makes Edgar talk about his dad manager again, and one thing that will really piss Belle off, is comparison.

Tara, who notices the shift in mood, puts herself in between Edgar and Belle and swiftly soothes things over. She suggests getting on with the plan they have (already knowing what Belle will respond with).

"heist cancelled," Belle states, rearing up Elodie and galloping away from camp. (She usually winds down on her own after celebrating a big heist, but never before-- and never had called it quits at that.)

Edgar is put off. Tara muses that it's nothing he could help...

On her own, Belle just contemplates everything. Hours. It brings up familiar memories of being up on the rooftop with her head buried into her arms and knees feeling terrible.

Except now she's more than grown, with her share of things to be proud of and great memories she forged on her own. She's not curled up on herself anymore. She's staring to the long distance of the desert-- her home-- traveling with ease.

That stupid rooftop section of her life is nothing more than a fraction of her well-lived life.

It doesn't make her feel better.

Yet another thing Byron ruins for her without even trying.

She needed a drink.

~

Not wanting to head back to her camp for the night, and not in the mood to try nabbing some good drink, Belle simply walks into the bar and orders something.

Barley treats her the same as any Brawler, despite what he now knows about her.

As far as he was concerned, she came in there as a customer. And as long as she paid, he saw no problem in serving her...

She drinks quietly, and he keeps an eye on her intake.

And eventually, just like with any other customer with something heavy on their mind and enough drinks, words flow easier.

She doesnt use names, and keeps terms vague. Speaks angrily of her parents. Calls the brother a "dumbass of a pushover."

Now, it isnt like he associates Byron as a (pardon his french) 'dumbass' in any way, but it's the way she uses it that makes Barley connect the dots. The tone wasn't as bitter. Almost fond. Almost.

He lightly prods for a little bit more insight, and she gives up a little more as she drinks.

Unlike the other two members of his Trio, it wasn't in his nature to gossip, so this would stay between them.

Barley listens, because that's what she needs right now. Not advice, not interjections or lectures or deflecting the subject. Just someone to listen.

Eventually he cuts her off before she gets too inebriated (and probably causes trouble.)

{I AM going to write this scene out in depth. And cry while doing so.}

~

On the other side, after the season and back at the Gift Shop, Edgar is 🤔🤔 over that incident. He considers talking with Colette but 1) she's as mad as a Colette could be at the fact that he hung out with the NEW BRAWLER and TARA and didnt bother getting her ANYTHING. and 2) tbh she's a blabbermouth.

Byron does his regular check of the shop that day. Making sure Colette hasn't run off and Edgar isnt sneaking a nap.

He welcomes Edgar back from his little trivial loot and shoot games.

While Edgar hadn't even thought twice about it before, he recalls that when he had told Byron he'd be working at a different section of the park (namely with the new Brawler, Belle) he had acted just as dismissive.

Like yeah, there was your usual "old man doesn't get the teens" shenanigans, but Byron had never belittled his interest in anything before. Calling his involvement in the season a 'trivial game' sounded... personal.

He outright asks Colette if Byron was acting weird.

Any snippiness that Colette may have had for 2 minutes diminishes when there's a chance to talk with her favorite person in the world that she's seen little to none of for two months, AND about her favorite topic: Brawlers!

She spills everything she knows, because despite Piper's efforts, theres no secret a Brawler can try to keep when shes around.

She didn't find out everything of course. But she knows that there were questions involving Byron and Belle. Piper hushed it up, so for sure there was something.

Edgar nods. "Totally. I think she was close to rippin' my head off once. I brought up Byron once and she was ready to chew me out." (in case i didn't make it clear, Edgar picked up a slight drawl because of belle)

"Cool!" Colette exclaimed. "..I mean, not the rip your head off part. But that is cool too. I meant do we have lore on our hands?? That nobody ELSE knows!!?"

Edgar shushed her. Byron is in his office but the shop wasn't really sound proof.

......cue shenanigans from the Coworkers trying to figure things out in their very amateurish ways compared to Piper by "sneaking" around and "nonchalantly" trying to get him to admit something.

Byron knows they're up to something, and humors them until realizing the topic when Edgar tries bringing up the Goldarm Season.

He shuts them down even faster than Piper.

Of course, instead of deterring them like her, he just confirms their suspicions. Colette and Edgar are "o yeah we are def going to get to the bottom of this."

~

So, it's plan B! If they even try asking Piper she throws them for such a loop and leaves them so bewildered that Colette even forgets to ask for anything she could keep, and Edgar didnt realize she gave them nothing to work with until they're already out the door and down the street with cake pops in their hands.

So, Plan C! ...Barley.

It's hard to find a time to go there, since it's busy when they get off work. And Barley always seems to be at one place or another....

So the kids choose the perfect time (roughly midday), and just wait for the perfect day... when Byron comes in and checks the shop, then decides on his own that they could handle it for the rest of the shift and leaves them to it.

When the stars align, the teens wait until Byron is out of sight, and close up the gift shop. Their plan is to head to the bar... and maybe try and get something out of Barley..... not much of a plan, but they don't realize it there.

They make haste, running to the bar, because time crunch (when/if complaints start rolling in.)

Bursting through the doors of the Bar, Barley gives them a look. "Don't.. do that, please."

Colette apologizes enthusiastically, and urges Edgar forward. "Ask him! I'll keep watch!"

She hops over to the door and peers through it periodically.

Meanwhile, Edgar is stammering because he didnt plan anything to say, he expected Colette to talk to the robot.

"If you two think I allow underage drinking, I most certainly do not, no matter what Penny says." Barley warns.

"Uhh, no it isn't that. ...Umm. do ya know... well, you would know about Byron, and not Belle, I guess. But they've been acting weird lately, and we want to know why."

. . .

Barley pauses in consideration.

Options and questions flood around his mind, and he still had no answer.

Wonders if he should even mention Belle's visit some time ago, or the fact that he knows more in depth about it than Byron would care for, or that if Piper found out he knew more than her, and then told these two over would she be offended? ....Actually, in that case, why was he considering telling them anyway? Well, if they were interested in the topic for genuine reasons...

Edgar doesn't even know what to do either. Barley's not saying anything.

Colette squeaks, and scrambles from the door. "Edgar!! Any luck here? Because we're out of it over there!"

"What?"

"I think I see Byron heading here!!"

Who would have thought.

this is where i kind of dropped off the outline, but to continue/wrap it up, Barley points them to the curtain that covers the back room. There's an exit there which he tells them about, but the teens stay to EAVESDROP bc they care.

Barley and Byron chat. the conversation dips into the area having to do with Belle.

Byron frowns. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you're trying to get me to admit something, Barley. I can understand Piper, but you?"

"Me?" Barley asks. "Sir, you know I never mean harm."

"..." Byron stares at him unconvinced. "If Piper did put you up to this, you can tell me."

"U.. Believe it or not, I am among others in this park who care about you, Byron."

"...." wouldn't that be nice. But Byron believes him. My bad. He humors his coworker for now. "Fine." And asks for a drink.

Barley gets him his preferred one. [Lol I'll come up with it eventually.]

They talk. Barley finds out a little more. But just a little bit. Byron... it isnt like he has practice talking about ☆~feelings~☆

The teens listening in leave before too long. Colette is like O.O;; and Edgar decides that all they wanted to know was the relation between Byron and Belle, and they got that.

She agrees, and they both leave through the back door.

Byron didn't get as drunk ofc, it's still his working hours. Just enough to loosen up a bit and get through mild robot therapy.

After his leave, Barley sees him off, and then goes to check in the back. They're gone and he has a brief "oh, thought they would have gotten the hint to, listen in. Oh, well."

[There's one more event, involving the Coworkers interacting with Belle one last time, but still unplanned <3 it leads to the meet up and the fight... somehow though. I'll release that when I think of it.]

I can also see Piper being ":0 you knew before I did? And didn't tell me? You're mischievous, Barley!" In a very light hearted way at the very end.

Barley frets ;;; "I am not!"