#weirdo writer can draw too

[pan-but-meh]

Hello~ David and Angel! And now, for some personal head cannons of the two (along with Milo and Sweetheart, who I will be redrawing cause in a short amount of time my art style has changed) {also, pls tell me the hands look better 😅}

David:

His mom was Indian, thus making him half Indian (Gabe was just a plain ol' white man, sorry y'all lol)

This is just a fun fact, but apparently green eyed Indians are either good luck/lucky....sorry David 😅

He had a half sleeve tattoo on the arm facing us, made on a bet from Ash and Tank when they were teenagers

The scar on his eyebrow is from banging his head on a corner while wrestling

He used to dye his hair black

Spitting image of his dad looks wise, his skin, eyes, and hair color are all his mama

(Jacket is his leather one, ijdk how to draw leather 😅)

6'2

Currently 24

He/Him

Leah/Angel:

Has two younger brothers and a mom (dad is out of the picture)

Works in the same office as Smartass (Aaron's listener) and Baaabe (Asher's listener)

During work she takes out her piercings and somehow covers her blue hair really well (just don't ask me how lol)

After work she works as a bassist for a band that plays in a local cafe

Is strongly thinking of finally getting a tattoo

Her eyebrow scar is from a fight when she was younger, and the slit is just for fun/fashion

She adores black lipstick and colored mascara

Grunge aesthetic

5'5.5"

Currently 22

She/Her

Milo:

His industrial piercing (which I hope y'all noticed) was a bet from Amanda, and she made Asher get one two

Spitting image of his mom (which he is thankful for)

Has a tattoo over his left chest

5'7"

Currently 24

He/Him

(Apologies, not that many for him, even though he be my favorite, sorry)

Sweetheart:

Hispanic mom she mostly takes after, Russian dad that named them, huge ass family tree (family gatherings are crazy)

Like Milo said when they first met, a fan of true crime/detective movies

Actually despised Agro when she first met him (they now have a simple love/hate relationship)

Has poliosis, hence the white hair

Partners with Cutie (I will die on this headcannon)

Skinny, but not scrawny, this person be working out!

Middle sibling (refer back to the family tree I had made for her a while back)

(Modern) Noir Aesthetic

5'8"

Currently 24

She/They

[annymation]

Reimagining the characters in Wish

(Part 1- Asha)

Hey guys! I don’t really know how to start this, but let’s just say that I… Didn’t like how Disney’s 100th anniversary movie turned out, like at all.

But I can tell there was a lot of unexplored potential beneath this story, that in my opinion felt overly simple and bare bones.

But if you love it, that’s awesome, more power to you, I wish I could’ve loved it too. And I don’t want to rewrite it to show I’m “better than the writers at Disney” because I’m definitely not lol, I have no experience in writing, and I’m sure they put a lot of passion into the project and I respect them for that. But this movie inspired me with ideas for a different story that I think is worth telling.

But I won’t start telling it today, instead, I'll start a series of blogs sharing my ideas for changes in the characters and their stories, after I get some feedback I will start posting more of the story itself.

If you’re interested, then come along!

Asha✨

Personality

- Asha is a 18 year old girl, with a passion for drawing and helping those around her, sometimes even worrying more about helping others than helping herself

- She’s like a big sister to her 7 friends, always being the voice of reason and acting responsible, but not in a bossy way, she’s actually very playful with them

- To the people of Rosas tho, she's seen as kind of a weirdo, for you see, she spends almost every time of the day drawing in her sketchbook

- She practices everyday to become a better artist, and the people of Rosas find this to be very peculiar, after all, why would you take so much effort to perfect a talent when you can simply wait to turn 18 and wish for the king to make you an amazing artist?

- Asha doesn’t mind these comments, although they have made her less willing to share her drawings with others that aren’t her 7 friends

- As the story progresses we see Asha flourish from a shy and introverted girl to a brave woman who after discovering a terrifying secret about the kingdom’s rulers, steps in and inspires others to join her and fight an evil sorcerer king and his alchemist wife (yes, I made Amaya an alchemist, more on that on part 2 when I talk about how I’d change Magnifico and Amaya)

- Some Disney characters that share similarities with her personality wise are: Belle, Tiana, Pocahontas and Esmeralda

Main Traits:

Calm and mature

Determined

Passionate about her interests (drawing, dancing, philosophy and stars)

Helpful and generous

Perceptive and always questioning things around her that no one pays attention to (like why do all the artists only paint the King and Queen?)

Playful

Compassionate

Backstory

Oooh boy I gave this poor girl so much angst, okay let’s go

Asha grew up with her grandfather, her parents both died in a fire when she was just a baby

(this isn’t just to fit the “haha Disney princess has no parents” cliche, there’s plot relevance in this “mysterious fire” that I’ll talk about later)

Growing up with her grandpa, he’d always support her dream to be an artist, like her mother, who was an art teacher

Her mother not only drew really well, but she also was able to create the illusion that her drawings could move, by flipping through the pages of her sketch books

In other words, her mom was an animator

Asha saw this technic her mom used as a form of magic, so she would often tell her grandpa she wanted to “Do magic just like my mom”

Her father was a philosopher (this was established in the actual movie but never explored haha whyyyy), who taught people that working hard to achieve your dreams is not only rewarding, but also essential, because it’s part of the human nature to persevere and fight for what we believe, even if we fail, even if it’s hard, just keep moving forward.

This philosophy may sound very “umm duh” for me and you since we all know and hear everywhere nothing in life comes for free… But that’s not the case in Rosas

In this rewrite the kingdom wasn’t created by Magnifico, but rather the kingdom has existed for many generations, being ruled by different kings before Magnifico who also granted wishes… but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The point is that the culture of just asking the king to give you or make you whatever you want to be has been in this kingdom’s culture since forever, so when Asha’s dad comes out saying “hey! Maybe we should stop just relying on the king to make our dreams come true, right?” He’s actually being quite a revolutionary… and sharing a very dangerous belief to other people…

At this point you might suspect what caused that “mysterious fire”

So, back to Asha, growing up with her grandpa, they shared a lot of happy memories together. Reading her father's books and her mother's art books helped Asha connect with them even tho she never had them in her life.

But as her grandfather grew older, he became senile.

Asha went from being taken care of by her grandpa to being the one who took care of him when she was still around 13 years old, and when she turned 15 her grandfather passed away of old age

Asha went on to live with her best friend Dahlia, the two became like sisters.

Though she managed to move on from the loss of her grandfather, she could never shake the feeling that he died without getting his wish granted... But she had no way to prove that, it was just a feeling

The wish granting system works different in my rewrite, instead of there being a public wish granting ceremony once a month, there would only be a public wish TAKING ceremony, that would work just like in the movie, you turn 18, you go give your wish to the king yada yada yada.

But the wish granting part would work like this: Almost every night the king would release the wishes up in the sky, they would float down like balloons to their respective owners while they sleep, and once they woke up in the morning they'd feel that their wishes were granted, for they would wake up changed.

With this method, there's no way of confirming if someone really got their wish granted or not, unless you went to ask the king.

Asha never did ask the king if he granted her grandfather's wish, but her grandfather would sometimes express how he wasn't feeling completely fulfilled in his life, he felt like there was something... missing.

This feeling of hollowness persisted in him until the very end, no matter how hard Asha tried to help her grandfather, she never knew him as his real self, because he gave part of his soul to the king, the most beautiful part of his soul, his wish.

Asha had no proof that her grandfather didn't get his wish granted, only a gut feeling.

But because of this, Asha wasn't that thrilled to give her own wish to king magnifico, knowing there was the possibility of it never being granted.

Not to mention she didn’t even know what to wish for, “I’m just 18 and you guys expect me to already know what’s my heart’s deepest desire? I’m still figuring that out, all I know is that I wanna draw”

Plus she wanted to follow her father's philosophy and achieve her wish on her own, eventually, when she figured out what her wish even was.

Asha never rebelled against the system tho, she wasn't a confrontational person. She just accepted the people of Rosas preferred to rely on the king's magic, but that just wasn't for her.

However, on her 18 birthday, when it was expected of her to give her wish to the king, she simply said she didn't have a wish, and even if she did she wouldn’t want to hand it over, she wanted to make it come true on her own. This lead to an argument with the king, and after a series of events (that I don't have time to summarize here, but you can find out about it on my rewrite) leads to her finding out a terrible truth about her kingdom. And that's how her story begins.

Design

- I’d keep these braid ornaments that Asha had in the concept art

- Since in my rewrite she’s not that invested in the kingdom of Rosas, I’d remove all the Kingdom of Rosas symbols that are present in her design (there are a LOT of them)

- I’d replace these Rosas insignia with more star and constellations themed symbols, to reflect how Asha believes that the stars are connected to people and they can guide us, just like how her father believed.

Final Thoughts

My intentions with these changes were to give Asha a strong emotional hook, and something that makes her feel relatable.

The emotional hook here is how she spent so much of her life taking care of her grandfather that she kinda never had time to worry about her own desires, that alone can be relatable to caregivers of elderly people that watch their grandparents or even their own parents lose themselves as time passes, and end up worrying more about the person they’re taking care of than themselves.

Asha has this internal emotional conflict where she feels she needs to constantly help others the same way she helped her grandfather, and one of the things she’ll learn as the story progresses is that it’s not selfish of her to want more for HERSELF.

Another thing that would be relatable about Asha is her passion for drawing, and how most people in Rosas would say she’s wasting her time practicing so much when she can just wait until she turns 18 and wish to be amazing at drawing.

She’d never stop believing that taking her time to improve on her talent and trying again and again was worth every second of her time, because let me tell ya folks, drawing is HARD, and animating like Asha’s mom did is even HARDER, it takes a whole lot of practice, and Asha was determined to keep trying.

She’d be much like Belle, remaining true to herself even tho those around her considered her odd, and very passionate about drawing just as much Belle was passionate about reading.

I also find it funny how Asha’s motivations are fairly down to earth, like in Disney movies you usually have:

I want to be free from these palace walls!

I want to explore the ocean!

I want to open a restaurant!

I want to find true love!

And then there’s Asha here like

“My life is fine, I just wanna chill and draw stuff”

And that’s it, but, in her environment where everyone is expected to have this great wish that they have to give to the king so he’ll make it a reality, she’s kinda the odd one out, and I love that. Would be a great subversion of the Disney formula.

Of course after she learns Magnifico and Amaya’s true intentions she gets a lot more agency and the desire to save her people, her “call for adventure” if you will.

But what are Magnifico and Amaya’s true intentions? Click here for part 2 and find out!

Thank You For Reading!

[batri-jopa]

"Currently"

Since I've already been tagged by both @figuringthengsout and @notasapleasure I should finally do something about it🫡

favorite color: recently it's yellow💛💛💛 Juicy mango type of yellow the most. Often combined with black and white because I enjoy looking like an oriole:

last song: Tina Turner - GoldenEye

last movie: Mask (1994) (and maaan how I never suspected I would look at Stanley Ipkiss as a relateable character when I grow older...😅)

currently reading: Romans na receptę - another one of few books by Monika Szwaja that my mum borrowed in our local library. I like her style and it breaks my heart that she died being only 65🥺 There's always so much hope and friendliness and support in the world that she's depicting. And, fascinating enough, there's usually AroAllo woman representation somewhere and depicted in the positive way! Of course it is not called "aromantic" by a polish writer born in 1949, more likely for the main male character to call that "AroAllo" woman character a "robot" who "uses him as as a sex toy"🤭 - BUT nevertheless even the male protagonist really likes her, appreciates her skills as loyal assistant, treats her as good friend to confess his problems to and genuinely wishes her all the luck!👍 In other books you can expect other queers occasionally too (like a teenage son who turns out to have a boyfriend), but it's always in sympathetic and realistic yet bringing-back-faith-in-humanity kind of way🫠

currently watching: umm... nothing actually (I feel like a weirdo😑 Like maybe I should start watching sth finally just so I could fill in the meme next time around? I do have a lot of series on my "to watch list")

currently craving: MANAGE TO GET SHIT DONE!💪 seriously I need either only 2 working days a week instead of 3 or... better time organisation😩 (so what that I have 4 "free" days a week now when there are emails to answer and books to read, and my pictures to make into album, and family members to visit, and all the new pictures' ideas to draw, and new tumblr posts to create, and those fic-WIPs waiting for so long already, and... I wonder if scheduling everything in precize days and hours would help me to feel more organised somehow?🤔 or only feel more remourse for not being able to follow the schedule?😑)

tea or coffee: Oh, so glad you asked! Tea please, black, strong, no sugar, no milk. Lemon appreciated but not necessarily. Thank you!🫖☕️

Tagging: @zorilleerrant , @chrisoels , @swordoftheseeker , @kaiaprax , @imaginatorofthings , @parttimereptile , @corey-m13 - some of you won't play probably so I'm just saying a friendly "hi"👋

[nardos-primetime]

I got the Donnie 'tism and the Leo 'DHD.

Asks are always open (I love asks they're so silly)

Requests are currently closed. (Just be aware I might not always finish them </3)

Call me Rain/Rainy, LED, Leon/Leo/Nardo or Don/Donnie/Tello.

I go by He/Him/His/Himself.

I may or may not be a kinnie of both Leonardo and Donatello. (Mainly Leo though.)

Mainly makes horror and angst aus, but I happily dabble in sillier things as well, there's some lighter things even within my dark aus normally.

(These can contain GORE AND INJURY (MENTAL AND PHYSICAL), PLEASE be warned and take care of yourself first and foremost!)

I normally don't do a ton of romance with the turtles unless it's for lore reasons within a story or something (other than leosagi, possibly donsagi and jasonnie). I do ship some of the adults on occasion for fun Mainly Barsonjitsu? (I Think thats the name I forgot) I absolutely don't do nsfw with the turtles. I might make something like a dick/sex joke here and there or a reference to sex within a story but nothing greater than that.

Feel free to message/ask me about shit, I need to get better with being social and love hearing shit about things I like/make! Just don't be a weirdo, y'know?

(Aka tc*st dni)

Tags:

#nardo's primetime.txt - Thoughts and Rambles mostly

#nardo's asks.txt - asks answered

#Writings - More concise rambles. Like minifics or mini fic ideas of some kind. Or story stuff in general. Normally not full works.

#practice makes perfect! - Specifically my adventures practicing drawing turtles

#writers wips - Clips and stuff from my fics what aren't done or whatever

#rottmnt fanart - most of my art is under this :]

#not turtles - other fandom stuff (mainly Gregory Horror Show rn)

#rainposting - IMAGES AND VIDEOS AND GIFS OF RAIN I FUCKING LOVE RAIN GOD FUCK YES RAIINNNN

#Scary Turtles - Physicalogical or Direct horror

Au Tags: (I don't have them all here but maybe one day I'll make a masterpost)

#Natural Disasters AU - WIP WIP WIP the turtles are all natural disasters/elements and such

#League of Single Fathers AU - Leo is raised by Hypno, Mikey is raised by Meatsweats, Raph is raised by Ghostbear, and Donnie is raised by Repo Mantis. Shit happens.

#Villain Mikey AU/#Broke a Million Dollar Box AU - Wow this bitch has FAMILY ISSUES surely he deals with it in a HEALTHY WAY and does NOT kill people and go crazy!

#Villain Donnie AU/#Viral Donnie AU - Local boy causes apocalypse and then runs the apocalypse more at 10

#Four More Villains AU - Tied in w Villain Mikey & Villain Donnie, shared with @midwesternvibes

#Identical Identities AU - Who am I Anymore?

#Nonsense Apocalypse AU - A Rise au focusing on a robot turtle and zombie turtle trying to find their brothers in a weird apocalypse, and vice-versa.

#Draxum's Side of The Family AU - AU that focuses on Clones of the turtles that have a lot of problems. Don't worry, the original turtles have more problems too! Equal opportunity angst! [Semi hiatus]

#Teenage Mutant Magical Boys AU - Local mutants are used to save the world and are idols on the side. Aware that they're related. All struggling soso hard.

[millieueu]

I just saw this post on Reddit and AUGHHH I relate to it too much (Filler post plz ignore)

(This is just a vent post. You can agree or disagree. I don’t care. I refused to make a rant like this because I feared that I might get harassed . This isn’t meant to generalize anyone. I just wanted to let my feelings out)

I was scrolling through my fyp on Reddit when I suddenly came across this image from r/DannyPhantom. Never have I ever seen an image that perfectly describes what I go through :’)

I love Danny Phantom sm, and seeing that there are certain fans who only stick around for the premise and don’t actually care about the show broke my heart into tiny little pieces. Don’t get me wrong, I love looking at headcanons, fanfics and aus, but it makes me sad to see that this fanbase disregards the show in favor of fanon things. I understand that’s how most fandoms are, they expand stuff beyond the source material and that’s really awesome, but idk. It just makes me feel a little..upset?

I don’t want an annoying weirdo screaming in my ears telling me that this show was “shit” and that it has outdated crap. I hate getting reminded of the things that didn’t age well with DP. I don’t mind criticism of the show (even if it hurts a bit of my soul), but I don’t like hearing my comfort show getting called ��problematic”. That and the creator’s controversies make me feel even worse about loving the canon.

I don’t feel like I fit in the Phandom. I’m so envious of some Phans. Look at all those cool aus/headcanons from artists and gut-wrenching, emotional, angst fanfics from writers! Meanwhile I sit there..just draw fanart of the show..that’s it..that’s all I do and it makes me feel ashamed that I can do nothing beyond that..

I just want to love this show without feeling embarrassment and shame. How embarrassing of me, a 15 year old geeking out over a show made for little children.

Original post by u/Connect_Security_892

[sawyer-is-eepy]

goodbye campfire fest!!

this has been so so much fun- i'm so happy i got to be able to be a part of this wonderful event with so many talented artists and writers- it's been so beautiful seeing everyone's interpretations and writing and i've loved seeing everyone come together to create something unique. being so excited to open tumblr everyday and see what people's contributions are has been the highlight of my days this week, and it's so cool to me that i can be a part of this for the first event, and even though it was a teensy bit stressful, i'm so glad i've been able to hit all the prompts.

i can't wait to see what people might post during late submissions!! gonna keep checking every day to see. I've found many new talented artists and writers I had never seen before through this event, you all are seriously so nice and have been so sweet to me and to each other, this event has made me so happy.

I can't wait to see more from all of you. happy fest and much love!

@outerwilds-events

some more doodles(base game and eote spoilers) + random sappy rambling (positive vent?) below cut

some other random doodles from this weekend <3

yes I gave prisoner ears. I'm sorry I'm too much of a furry for this fandom aha

on a serious note, this fandom and this game have been my favorite thing about this year so far. Seriously, I was actually having a really tough couple months around the start of this year. I was dealing with a really really toxic friend in November and December and I was struggling to get over them. I was having a hard time letting go of my hurt and of the memory of them and our friendship- I was hurt and angry and I missed how great it was in the beginning. It was really tough for me, I didn't have any way to distract myself and I didn't have a way to let out my feelings. I felt stuck and trapped with a horrible memory and I didn't have the motivation to let it go. Then comes along this silly little game, that I remembered trying to play forever ago. I decided that I should probably try to play it again, and god it was the best decision I've ever made. This game, it has brought me so so much joy. I finally felt like I was able to let go and learn to move on and just enjoy the good memories while still remembering that they're in the past and while I can't change what happened, I can look forward to the future and hope. this game helped me cope with the grief, it helped me learn how to take care of myself and recover. It affected me so much in many ways, I will never ever forget it. This community has also brought me so much happiness, I've met so many wonderful and kind people, and I've became friends with some really cool people(one person in particular has been especially swaggers, you know who you are you weirdo /affectionate /plat). campfire fest has been great and I'm glad I got to be a part of it!! When I was thinking of what to draw for today, all I could think of was the immense amount of support I've received and given, and seen being passed around. So I figured it should be something to express that love!! Much love, and goodbye to campfire fest!! Can't wait to do this again next year <333

[leafith]

🌌IᑎTᖇOᗪᑌᑕTIOᑎ ᑭOᔕT🫀

Hello! This is the main blog of Leaf and Judith, two random creatures from an unknown world. They are just sharing their content there, to make someone smile and to find other weirdos like them.

Do they have a physical look? Yeah, they just don't share it. Why? Because they want curiosity and dramatic mystery, lol.

But you can have their info right here:

Leaf:

Enjoys writing, dancing, reading books, dreamy/mysterious/magic music (examples: ᗩᑌᖇOᖇᗩ, Melanie Martinez, MARINA, Yaelokre);

Has deer horns and ears, she's a quite mysterious figure;

She doesn't like much social media, so she'll be barely seen or heard;

The symbols she uses when she writes are 🌿📜🫀 ;

She can be found on these sites: Quotev (https://www.quotev.com/Leaf17467), Wattpad (https://www.wattpad.com/TheLeafFromQuotev?utm_source=web&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share_profile).

Judith:

Enjoys drawing, reading random fanfictions and book, rock/grunge (examples: Chris Cornell, Pink Floyd and Cranberries);

Elf. She considers Leaf as her sister, but it's unknown if Leaf reciprocates;

She loves social media and mostly takes care of the blog;

The symbols she uses when she writes are 🍄‍🟫🔷🪻;

She can be found here, and here only!

Other Socials:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/3147gcypd7ko3t6trhaem77ybpfu?si=sX494ECKTJq93qPs9F-BGA

Quotev: https://www.quotev.com/Leaf17467

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/TheLeafFromQuotev?utm_source=web&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share_profile

Other blogs:

@the-leafith-duo-reblogs (reblogging stuff)

@leaf-is-singing-covers (leaf sings covers of songs)

Leaf is a writer of original stories and fanfictions. You can find her works on Quotev and Wattpad!! For now, she has written a Sky: CotL Fanfiction called Fly Until You See The Light, or just FUYSTL or Phewstel, and an original story called Remyandre's Keepers. She plans to make sequels of these stories!

Plots of the stories:

🕯️🪽🪶Fly Until You See The Light (FUYSTL/Phewstel):

Sentinekka, on her thirteenth birthday, the date known for the start of the typical journey in the seven realms, decides to bring her best friend, a fifteen year old who was never allowed to start her journey, through the exploration of the Isle of Dawn onwards...

But different and unexpected, positive and negative, heartbreaking and hilarious things can happen during every journey... What could our girl possibly encounter?

Well, why not find out?

☄️🏔️❄️Remyandre's Keepers (Remyandre/RISK):

Remyandre is a really weird place in a too much normal world, a place where nothing good is seen as a negative trait and where you can finally see yourself as the miracle you are. Or, at least, that's what everyone feels about Remyandre. Only one boy, so different and unsettling, feels scared and confused about himself even in the most welcoming place. And that's what makes him leave. In the meanwhile, his friends and the other Keepers of Remyandre, the creatures who own powers, must find him and complete more missions during a long journey that will change their lives.

Tags:

skytober/skytober2024/skytober 2024 = the word speaks for itself

fly until you see the light/fuystl/phewstel = my sky: cotl fanfiction, Fly Until You See The Light

remyandre's keepers/risk = my original story, Remyandre's Keepers

phewstel in-short = my sky: cotl fanfiction explained in text posts

risk in-short = same thing for Phewstel, but with Remyandre's Keepers

answered= answered ask

original character: *name*

Friends List:

@lunaglitchercc @flamy-t @weirdboi @jassygay @wowiexist0 @askthealphabet @the-doodle-bugs @sophia-does-skits @rosegacha11 @screwzara @crowcussion @moonzie-does-tag-games @sophie-avocado-girl @tsutsuji-picrew @alexandra537264 @hearthstonealderman16pollsblog @2laffy2 @ambertheartist @fretriftle @archerofunspeakablelove @revived-a-skykid @eminsunnytoons123 @heavily-traumatized-kyle @anomaliesincats @alaskathestereodemoness @sailorygnim

To be added you just need to become our friend! :)

Fandoms:

Sky: Children of the Light (obsessed!!);

Hazbin Hotel (they like it!);

Leaf is a Warrior & Weirdo (AURORA fan)!

Judith is an Earthling (Melanie Martinez fan)!

The Amazing Digital Circus (they find it interesting);

Gacha (Judith was a Gacha User once);

Five Nights at Freddy's (they love it!);

Many other fandoms... Too lazy to add more, honestly.

Userboxes:

(credits to user boxes creators!!)

Dividers graphics: @saradika-graphics

[warpedpuppeteer]

i just don't trust these major network showrunners and writers to actually write buddie to its logical and rightful conclusion. I've followed so many shows and observed so many fandoms over the years, so many amazingly layered characters with extraordinary bonds that spawned popular and beloved ships. And each and every one of those ships were used to bait viewers without ever going canon, this way they get the views from the ship fans as well as the more general fans. The only difference in 911 is they somehow managed to make Buck canonically bi, which is a huge deal for a main male lead on a network procedural show. Yet they immediately slapped him with an underdeveloped character who has zero onscreen chemistry with buck, and relegated their relationship to the background entirely. Almost like the networks's checking off a box and being done with it.

if buddie is in the grand plan, I feel like there should've been some onscreen textual hints already this season after buck came out. But there's been nothing from any of the characters, and it's just heartbreaking. I'll remain a buddie truther for the rest of my life, but it really does feel like the show is trying to draw the line in the sand to say "buck and Eddie are bros only," even if the way the show does this is to forcibly retcon/erase all of the buddie buildup over all these seasons.

Sorry Non for not answering this for awhile. I absolutely understand where you're coming from as I've also been a part of fandoms for a long time especially ones who gleefully use queerbaiting to keep fans interested. I think the biggest difference between 911 and other shows is that generally other shows don't have any queer characters or only minor queer characters. 911 however has a main queer couple (henren) and plenty of side queer characters/pairs as well. So that's an advantage for us; this means they're very much open to a queer storyline.

We've gotten bi Buck which is a very big deal for not only queer representation but also in regards to Buddie. The are clearly aware this is something we want and they've told us that it has been discussed in the past for Eddie to be queer as well so they have definitely at some point discussed making Buddie canon. The actors are down for this as well (Oliver no. 1 buddie truther). The setback seems to have come from the network before so it couldn't happen. But things are changing with the new network.

The reason I think they haven't made Buddie canon yet is that it was simply too short of a season for them to do so. Also it seems like there have been a lot of issues with this season and a lot of it was written hastily. Tim probably had completely different stories in mind for the characters but I guess things like scheduling issues put a wrench in it (Natalia's actress had a scheduling issue and the issue with Marisol's actress). I think Tim had planned completely different arcs for Buck and Eddie in regards to their relationship but had to just do whatever to finish the season because of the issue with the actresses. I think he introduced Tommy as a sort of placeholder for the moment because they couldn't expand Buck's bi story just yet. This was also probably to test the audiences' acceptance of a main character being queer after 6 seasons and to test how much leeway they have with the network. This doesn't mean I agree with what he did because I actually hate it lol. Leaving them both single would have made much more sense than introducing another shit character/actor who only created a divide in the fandom and brought in absolute weirdos into it.

Honestly I could go on forever on why I think Buddie being canon is in the books but for now all I can say is that don't give up just yet! I personally think there's been a lot of deliberate choices this season that were made to jump start the 'making Buddie canon process'. Give it another season at least! If they don't get together, I'm hoping there would at least be a CLEAR indication that they're heading there towards the end of season 8. If they don't do anything of that sort then we can consider giving up on them and living happily in our fanon bubble. But for now stay with us! There's much hope yet!!

Also sorry if this got rambly and doesn't make much sense! My inbox is always open and you can shoot me a message if you wanna discuss or vent more!

[saturnaftertaste]

Does jughead match Betty's freak

this ask ended up twice in my inbox and i think that’s so funny. ask so real it came as a two-for-one deal !

honestly? no. jughead and betty are like, the epitome of an arranged marriage with the genders inversed. like specifically, jughead is the wife with unfortunate and irreversible neediness syndrome and betty is the strapping young man who has been tied down against his will. like, all betty wants to do is get out there and explore - first in a journalism sense, then in an investigator sense, then in a sexuality + life’s pleasures sense. betty really really likes being in charge of stuff, in taking command and moving stuff forward and getting shit done. she’s also a little more substantially fucked up than jughead in the sense that jughead is like. abandonment/inferiority complex 1000 ie. his mom left him, archie left him, his dad left him, his gf cheats on him or whatever. jughead is mostly a bundle of soft-type emotional-relationship issues which are fucked up in their own right, but he also expresses those issues a lot more openly (the whole Being A Writer thing, narratively the dying over and over thing, his whole misanthropy thing being just an accepted part of who he is).

betty on the other hand has: a serial killer father, serial killer grandparents, a mom who kills assailants and hides the bodies under floorboards, a serial-killer FBI-agent half-brother, a serial-killer cam hooker half-brother-in-law, a cult-indoctrinated accidentally-incestuous sister who had twins with the town dead boy who was killed by his father (said father also being one of betty’s own blood family), a boyfriend that dies every season and is an attempted gang leader, a cousin who is an insane witch, a gang-leader step-dad-situation who is also the father of her boyfriend, not to mention her serial killer genes! when i say she’s substantially more fucked up than jughead i mean that jughead weeps/whines/acts pathetic about his circumstances a lot more, which are sad in general bc that’s his role, but despite betty’s increasing “darkness” over the seasons (something that she says verbatim . lol) she still keeps it together on a surface level. still dresses in pastels still wears little pink sweaters and skinny jeans and does her cute hairdos and sheer pink makeup well into her adulthood, which makes her all the more fucked bc cognitive dissonance goes crazy!! the difference between how she’s perceived/what she’s supposed to be and all the things that happened to her/the way she’s supposed to react to it are two different ends of the personality spectrum.

of course, the problem this creates is that jughead (ultimate sad wet cat) sees her suburban good girl aura and takes it for granted that she will stay the same sweet girl and attaches himself to her - unfortunately, betty’s core directive is to keep moving, so naturally she starts looking in different directions. jughead needs her too much and she doesn’t really need him at all. consider that also jughead walks around like a festering open wound and betty graduated from the cooper school for emotionally repressed women…like. there was no way for betty to be weird (to be a weirdo. to not fit in and not want to fit in. she doesn’t even have a stupid hat on) like jughead is weird bc jughead is a freak because of his problems - ie he has no one, originally, bar archie, because he’s so “misunderstood” and “misanthropic”. the inverse of that - betty has, superficially, zero problems - which is what draws veronica and jughead to her, and her freak is just that much more intense because she never deals with it except in really unhealthy ways (a pile of coping mechanisms for which she is always looking to add to.)

tl:dr betty’s freak is a lot more intense and unsolvable than jughead’s and so while jughead can be fixed by a one-hit wonder vent novel and a new project-focused girlboss gf, betty can never be fixed - ergo they really need to see other people (NOT ARCHIE.)

[kxttqi]

HI OKAY SO FOR MATCHUP

Uhh i go by hershey(that was a joke) IM A GIRL OBVIII

id like to be paired up with a boy

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh haikyuu

personality

personailty

hm

I am a carefree clumsy weirdo who gets jumpscared every other second

i am VERY sarcastic and savage and could probably make you cry if i wanted to

okay ONLY if youre rlly sensitive but you get the point

idk my mbti but i am ambiverted and shy

i also get emotional very easily and am a crybaby cuz

Frustrated + very emotional = tears

yh i get frustrated easily

hobbies are voice acting, gaming, writing, editing and something else that i forgot

oh im also very competitive

Recieving love language physical affection and words of affirmation giving love languages physical affection

Romantic matchup plzz

my ideal date would prolly an amusement park or going somewhere to eat cuz i love food

Things i find attractive? I can find a good hairstyle attractive ig

also voice

You can do whtv you want with this info

ANYWAY TYY I LUV YOU POOKIE

𝐤𝐱𝐭𝐭𝐪𝐢 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 . . . 𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐤𝐞𝐢𝐣𝐢 !

a/n: stella hi ur so real for the emotional part n the finding voices attractive 🙊 

✧ headcannons

ever since he laid his eyes on you he fell in love i think

he’d be INSANELY good at calming you down whenever you’re frustrated or on the verge of tears (after dealing with whatever the flip bokuto puts him through, it’s a piece of cake)

he finds your clumsiness adorable, and if you ever accidentally trip, he’s right there beside you, arms wrapped firmly around your waist to keep you from falling over

he knows exactly when you need some alone time and when you’re in need of comfort

listen…….

if you’re having a bad day….

he invites you over and he’s laid out his futon with extra pillows as a makeshift spa bed with all of your favourite skincare products on the side, scented candles casting a warm n cozy glow around the room

he treats u like freaking ROYALTY, insisting you lie down and let him do all the work, massaging products into your skin with a gentle touch

akaashi is an extremely good writer; i think he loves reading/creating poetry, don’t be surprised if he sends you one of his carefully written poems about his love for you

speaking of which, you never have to beg him for “i love you”s ; he makes sure he’s said those three words to you at least once in a day

he always calls you pet names too, such as ‘love’, ‘darling’, and ‘princess’

cuddles are a staple whenever you two are alone, especially when you two are watching a movie, or when you’re playing your favorite games and he’s acting as a chair pillow for you

bro is the literal definition of comfort ugh

he doesn’t mind at all if you come off as too clingy or touchy, he thinks it’s absolutely endearing

he thinks he genuinely plays better when you come to cheer him on at one of his games

he always asks you before if you’re coming or not; he knows you’re competitive and enjoy cheering at his games for fukurodani

expect dinner dates, especially at fancy restaurants; he also doesn’t mind cooking once in a while and having a candlelit dinner at his place

i feel like amusement park visits weren’t really his thing, but after babysitting the thing known as bokuto ( /pos we love him !! ) for a year, he’s come to enjoy it

so naturally, he’d love to take you on amusement park dates, trying out every ride and game, and buying assortments of snacks from the stalls

aaaaand he always ends the day of with a ride on the ferris wheel, the two of you holding hands while the sun sets in streaks of pink and orange on the horizon

sometimes when the two of you aren’t in the mood for going out, he comes over to your place n you guys just draw stuff 

he likes sending voice messages

instead of texts sometimes

(pls his voice is so calming)

↑ usually when he’s at practice, as it’s easier than texting

he knows you enjoy listening to them teehee giggle

✧ extras : moodboard (bc pinterest does not wish to torture me for once???)

— all moodboard images are from pinterest and do not belong to me. full credits go to their owners

matchup rules !

© kxttqi — do not repost, copy, translate or steal my works without permission.

[pan-but-meh]

Oh? What I'd this???

IT'S MILO AND SWEETHEART?!?! noice (pls, for my sake, ignore Milo's arm and the hands 😅😅😅😅)

[rachi-roo]

Also, I literally thought of this while writing the other one, but what would you think of Shinsou running into Tomo? >w<

-Panda/Black Feathers

------------{ ☆°•○•°☆ }------------

My Hero Academia: Stranger danger.

Weeeee!!! More Tomohiro action! I'm amazed by how much love my OC had gotten XD Thank you @hexalianrebel-blackfeathers and @cupcake-spice13 !!!! Thought I'd combine these two asks since my writer's block is being a menace again 😭❤️

Summary: A gloomy Shinso is confronted by the local tickle monster.

Lee!Shinso, Ler!Tomohiro OC

Tw: Footer tiggles.

------------{ ☆°•○•°☆ }------------

The warm breeze shifted through Shinsos hair as he sat alone on a park bench, his legs crossed comfortably on the old planks, tossing the last of his grapes to the ducks that had been circling in the lake a few feet in front of him.

He had a sad expression on his features. Slumped shoulders, glassy eyes, lazy hand movements. He was wearing his hero costume, with his capture cloth bundled on the seat by his side. Today hadn't been a good day for him.

A loud sigh escaped his lips. "Stupid..."

"Why so blue kid?" Shinso turned his head at the voice behind him, seeing a fluffy-haired boy grinning at him. He blinked, looking the boy up and down as other did the same in return, squinting slightly at Shinso.

"Blue? Wait." The boy closed one eye. "Oh, purple. Hehe. Colour blind." He then casually took a seat beside Shinso. "But you do look a little down in the dumps."

Shinso rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm fine."

"Nnnoooo you're not. I can see it, riiiight there." The boy chuckled, pressing a finger against Shinsos cheek. "Sadness. Sad Shinso."

"How do you know my name?"

"I was at the sports festival. Row eight, seat 13B. You have one hell of a quirk." He took a bag of cashews from his pocket, popping a few in his mouth. "Mh. Names Tomo. Want one?" This boy was very talkative. Shinso declined the cashew offer, shaking his head.

"No thank you."

"M'kay. So, wanna talk?"

"About what?"

"What's making you sad, duuuh."

Shinso sighed, this boy was something else. Way too chatty for his liking. And waaay too comfortable talking to strangers. Much like a certain green-haired boy who had gotten very attached to him since their first meeting at the sports festival.

There was something familiar about this boy though, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "There's nothing to talk about. Besides, I don't know you. I don't do trauma dumping on strangers."

"Aaah, true. You heroes really are noble guys, always looking out for us civilians." Tomo nodded, enjoying a few more cashews. "But. Who's taking care of you guys?"

"We can take care of ourselves." Shinso shrugged, earning a chuckle from the other.

"Oho really?" He raised a hand, smiling playfully starting to draw a figure of eight in the air continuously.

"Yes, really. That's what we're trained to- Ghk!?" Shinso stammered, suddenly hugging his stomach as he felt the light touch of a finger tracing over his belly. The sensation was tingly, making him shudder as a few suprised giggles slipped through his defence.

Tomo chuckled at his reaction, continuing his slow tease. "Something the matter?" The look on Tomos face made it very clear that this was his doing.

"Knock it ohoff." Shinso grumbled through gritted teeth, holding back his giggling as best he could.

The grin on Tomos cheeks turned into a shit-eating smirk. He said nothing as he raised a second hand, making poking gestures this time, sending a jolt of tickly pressure to Shinso's ribs.

"Ah! Hehey! Stop d-oing thahat! Y-You weirdo!"

Tomo paused, narrowing his eyes with a knowing smirk. He knew exactly how Shinsos quirk worked after the sports festival and he wasn't about to let him take over.

Shinsos heart raced, he knew wasn't getting out of this.

"I sahaid stop! C'mohon! Y-You can't just- AHA!" The tickling sensation travelled upwards, turning into scribbles under his arms. "Noho! Hahaha!" He curled in on himself and flopped onto his side on the bench, jamming his hands up under his arms to try and block the feeling. "Plehease!"

His purple locks flopped about as he shook his head, rolling onto his back with his feet kicking happily. That's when it clicked. This is the boy who Aizawa was talking about!

"T-Tomohoho! You- Gahaha! Villain!" He made a grab for his capture cloth, only to have it snatched away and put on the grass out of reach.

Tomo just made a tutting sound, shaking his head as he continued his attack. Now moving to assault Shinso's soles, skittering up and down relentlessly.

"PFF- Ahaha! NO! Nonono! Not- AHAHA!" Poor Shinso flailed helplessly, sliding off the bench and onto the grass. He never even realised how ticklish his feet were until now. It was pleasantly unbearable. "MEHERCY!"

Tomo stood over the gloomy hero, looking down at him with a genuine smile. He still wasn't talking, not wanting to risk being controlled, but Shinso just having to look at his wriggling fingers and gently gaze was teasing enough for him.

The hero's boots pressed into the grass as he arched his back, wailing with laughter. His cheeks had colour to them now. A warm red glow to match his red ears and bright smile.

"Ehehehe! I-I cahan't-! I can't take ihihit!" He rolled onto his side, bringing his knees to his chest, a hiccup popping through his endless giggling. "Tohomo! *hic* Pl-Ehehe!"

Tomohiro reached a hand down, petting Shinso's hair softly with a smile. "Keep your chin up, hero." He then turned on his heels, whistling a tune as he headed down the path out of the park. His quirk still linked to Shinso, meaning he could keep tickling him a while longer after he was gone.

"Ahaha! Haha! D-Damn ihit!" The tears in Shinsos eyes were blinked away as the tickling switched to soft pokes again, up and down his ribs and tummy making him jump and giggle quietly. He stayed sat by the lake, deciding it was best to wait for the tickling to stop before he tried walking home. That would be embarrassing.

"Ehehe! Hah. I-I'mma gehet y-ou! For thihis..." He smiled to himself as he hid his flustered face in his hands. That was the most fun he had in a while.

[disgruntledkittenface]

annual* writing self evaluation

thank you @kingsofeverything and @nouies for tagging me!

1. List of works published this year:

I Choose You

when we're finished saying nothing

count me in

too into you

routine surveillance

you wanna be on top?

Suddenly Last Summer

if i'm being honest

it's a holidate

Red

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

Suddenly Last Summer. I let myself let go and have fun and write exactly what I wanted, and I love the way it turned out.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

I hate this questionnnn

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I love this bit from Red, the fic I wrote for @crinkle-eyed-boo birthday:

When Harry turns his head to bite Louis’ earlobe, Louis buries his face in Harry’s hair, breathing him in. He detects a faint whiff of smoke, and frowns.

“Did you smoke?”

Harry presses his face into Louis’ neck, nodding. 

“Oh, no,” Louis says, rubbing a soothing hand over Harry’s bare back. “I know you hate to smoke without me.”

Louis barely hears the whisper as Harry says, “I’m sorry,” since he doesn’t bother to lift his lips from Louis’ skin. But then Harry says it again, louder, following it with a kiss against Louis’ neck. And then again, over and over, leaving apologies and kisses against Louis’ skin like he wants them to stay, as permanent as the ink of their tattoos. Louis sags against the wall, trusting Harry to hold his weight, as the relief finally hits him. Harry hates apologizing, even when he knows he’s wrong. And Louis can’t even remember who was wrong, and more than that, he doesn’t care. He just wants Harry back. He doesn’t need Harry to beg, and it feels like that’s exactly what he’s doing right now. 

“Baby,” Louis says at last. “Stop, stop it. I’m sorry.”

A tear slips down Louis’ neck, and he wrinkles his brow in confusion. He hasn’t cried in several minutes, a record for him today, if not every day since the breakup. But then a sob wracks Harry’s body, his grip tightening on Louis as his shoulders shake. 

“Oh, baby,” Louis says, petting Harry’s hair. “No, baby, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry.”

“I just missed you,” Harry chokes out. When he draws back, it’s Louis’ turn to smooth away his tears. “I missed you so fucking much, Lou.”

“I missed you, too,” Louis says, resting his forehead against Harry’s. “We’ve never been this stupid before, have we?”

5. Share or describe a favorite review you received:

I really loved getting both @kingsofeverything and @allwaswell16 reactions to Suddenly Last Summer! Lauren theorized via voice note and I was glued to my email while Anitra commented as she read, and it all just felt really good!

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

I'm not going to lie, writing was not that hard this year. I think I was just picking things I really wanted to write for myself. And it was a good coping mechanism when things were hard in my personal life. But honestly, it kind of feels like dumb luck because I've definitely had my share of writing block.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

I don't know where the itch to write dark Harry in routine surveillance came from!! That took me by surprise, and I loved doing it.

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I think just by writing for myself. I always wish I had different stats on my fics, but I can't write with trying to please people in mind.

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

I don't know! Keep writing for myself and being the weirdo who likes to do lots of different things.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

I am fortunate to have a lot of support!! This year, I really noticed the lovely comments I was getting from @nouies <3

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

Yes! Just about everything that the cat does in if i'm being honest has been done by one of my new cats. It's my love letter to them.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

I don't think I have much new wisdom. I always say pay attention to the writing advice that works for you, and ignore the rest. I think telling a story and making people feel something matters more than the technique, but I also say that as someone who has spent a lot of time on technique so don't listen to me if you don't want to!

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I want to write a girl direction When Harry Met Sally AU and make it VERY GAY and I'm excited about it!!

14. Tag three writers whose answers you’d like to read. ;)

@neondiamond @homosociallyyours @absoloutenonsense

*All answers should be about works published in 2023

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

Sorry, Wrong Comms! : Hunter x Medic!Reader [Chapter 7.5]

Warnings and Information: Intended audience is 13+ (18 if you squint.) **THIS IS PART TWO OF CHAPTER 7.** I needed to cut the chapter in “half” to avoid a massive word count! Should hopefully know the drill about my use of italics, Mando'a and headcanons by this point in the series. Couple of lines throughout both halves get suggestive.

Party shenanigans continue! The birthday presents are described in a vague, general manner to leave it up to your imagination and better fit all manner of hobbies/interests! Sorry Hunter, siblings will be siblings, and that means some teasing/plotting. Mostly Star Wars swearing. Medic!Reader (finally) meets the Captain. Rex being a proud older brother; bonus healthy emotional outlets for everyone! Some accidental eavesdropping leads to discovering how much our broody sergeant worries about getting involved with the Empire (and other things). Tech takes his turn at trickery. Local Man brags/rambles about his family in a confessional love letter like A Weirdo (Affectionate); the way to Hunter's heart is caring for his brothers and sister. Mild panic and awkwardness. Hints of the writer's thinly disguised current romantic fantasies? It's more likely than you think. Someone steps on glass, but no blood! Unintentional sibling "trickery" (Echo's, referenced from Chapter 3, if you can even call it that) and two counts of very intentional, suggestive teasing during one instance (ten credits if you guess both correctly, five if you guess one right) are also present amid other occurrences of sibling shenanigans.

Word-count: 8,540

"Start with the smallest present!" Omega called, clambering excitedly into Wrecker's lap as he barely got himself lowered on the floor after carrying all of the presents into the common area from Echo's room. 

The medic laughed with a curious brow quirking at the smallest Clone who was the big sister of the Batch, plucking the indicated item off the top of the pile at her feet. It was clearly just a small envelope that'd been swaddled in gift paper at the first feel of things. The gift-giver's name was a short, illegible smear of ink and all [____] could make out was the general markings of "cresh" of the Aurebesh alphabet somewhere in the middle of it. "Uh-oh, things got more than a little messy I see. I wanna see if I can guess who this is from. Ink smear is a little too short to be Crosshair at least." She teased, carefully removing the wrapping paper before working her nail under the edge of the seal flap to ease it open. 

"How sure are you about that?" Crosshair challenged all in good fun with a wicked grin over the rim of his fourth different mocktail combination, "While it's nothing like your's, I'll have you know that's my best handwriting yet, doc." The sniper's sarcastic nature was only further spurred on by the exaggerated eye roll and equally-sarcastic yeah-yeah-yeah murmuring of the medic and Hunter pinching the bridge of his nose with a muted sigh before flashing him two hand signals.

Knife. Stop. 

Crosshair smirked impishly, drawing out each word in a galactic language other than Basic in mock-challenge. "Why don't you make me cut it out? Just having a little fun, sarge. You should be having some fun, too." 

[____]'s head snapped up in confusion just before she finished opening the envelope, eyeing the marksman quizzically. "What was that, Cross?" 

"Oh nothing," Crosshair chuckled, flicking his free hand lazily in a dismissive gesture, "just reminding Hunter of something for later while I was thinking about it." To Hunter's relief the medic found it satisfactory enough of an answer to turn her attention back to the envelope in her hands and finish tearing it open rather than ask further questions. 

She knew immediately which brother this gift was from once the seal flap was pulled back. Tucked inside the envelope were two collector's foil tickets for her favorite intergalactic band; marked for the night they'd be on this planet and closest to the spaceport. The location she'd joked she'd have an easier time talking herself into abandoning her clinic for the night in favor of going and seeing the live performance on this leg of the band's touring route. "Aw, Tech…! Thank you, that's so sweet!" 

Tech smiled shyly before tugging his goggles back in place with an easygoing voice, eyes fixed on his knees. "You're quite welcome." He sharply ducked Crosshair's hand reaching out to mess with his hair as he teased his brother for looking slightly red in the face at the attention. "I would recommend Omega's gift be opened next. It will be in the larger envelope." 

The second envelope was made of more rigid material than the first, difficult to bend or flex without great effort. [____] smiled at the cheerfully written "Open HERE!" with a smile and the stern "DON'T open THIS end!" warning on the identical entry-points at the short edges of the rectangle. Heeding the notations, she opened the appropriate end and gently shook out the contents; a plastic gift-voucher card to a store just on the edge of the spaceport the medic frequented for one of her hobbies, and a few pieces of artwork carried out in painstaking detail to accurately depict [____]'s favorite species of flora and fauna from around the galaxy. She swore louder than intended, turning around the print of a large flower in particular to excitedly show the rest of them. "Holy kriff! Omega, you made these?" 

"Uh-huh!" Omega giggled, laughing and kicking her feet in half-hearted protest to Wrecker tickling her in-between the explanation she'd locked herself in her room immediately after breakfast this morning to work on the three illustrations, and didn't come out until lunch.  

"These are so beautiful," she swooned, eyes lingering over the attention to minute details for a moment longer before putting them back in the safety of the envelope, "thank you, sweetheart! I think I'll hang these in my bedroom… and put the voucher to good use. Who's present should I open next?" It seemed so far that the person who's present was opened last was choosing the next sibling's, and she didn't mind. (Maybe just a little curious why Tech's was specified to be first; perhaps it was because the literal big-ticket item was the most expensive and they were eager to see her reaction.) "You should open Crosshair's!" Omega decided. 

She now wondered if the remark from the Clone with the short crop of stark silver-gray hair about her handwriting was deliberate when she opened his gift next; a package of the writing pens she liked best for filling out the occasional old-school medical charts on paper. Trustworthy and reliable writing implements she'd recently run dry on. Of course Cross would have noticed and made note of when she'd thrown away that last pen with a sigh; and it didn't surprise her he'd have gone for a gift on the more practical side. The corner of his mouth twitched in a half-smile in response to her thanks. 

"Heh... Don't mention it, doc. Big guy's turn." 

Wrecker's gift was squished down into an old paper grocery sack that'd been stapled shut, and it popped out the moment the last staple had been freed. "Aw, Wreck, it's so cute!" [____] squeezed the stuffed rendition of her absolute favorite animal in all the galaxy to her chest, relishing the way the slightly chubby little body squished against her. Oh Maker, it was so soft! "I love it, thank you!" 

Wrecker grinned broadly at her, releasing Omega when the youngster made to get up from his lap, either restless or tired of sitting on the floor so she squeezed herself up by Hunter in his seat. "Yer welcome, kid! Hopefully the candy in the bottom of the bag didn't get too badly squished while I was tryna fit in the toy, heh." She quickly confirmed that wasn't the case, and was now eagerly looking forward to the particular treat she didn't get the chance to have as often as she liked. "'Kay, Echo next!" 

The gift from the ARC trooper was also in a paper bag, stapled much more neatly across the top thanks to a less bulky shape inside. Pulled open, [____] saw the tightly-tucked item and had to laugh softly as she pulled it out. "Ho boy. Of course there's a way to fold a blanket according to regulation-standards," It was so soft and comfortable to the touch, a welcome bonus to her favorite color and pattern. "old habits?" she asked, hoping to tease an answer out of him.

Echo just laughed, unlacing his arms and sitting up in his seat now that he was talking. He wasn't afraid to tease her in kind. "Be thankful for those old habits, burc'ya; it's the best way it'll fit in the bag when you have to carry everything home." 

"O-or have someone help with that," Hunter cut in suddenly with a nervous cough, proposing an offer, "It'll probably be late, so one of us would be more than happy to walk you home, by the time the party's over…" his hand started to climb back up towards the new gauze in a nervous movement before he caught himself and instead put the hand around Omega's shoulder in a tender gesture. Echo barked with laughter in response, eyes glinting with a unique hint of mischief. "Sounds like someone's trying to volunteer, kid: how nice of you, Hunter." 

[____] tucked the plush new blanket back into the paper bag, deciding it would replace the old, scratchy and threadbare blanket that was thrown over the cot in her back office and picked up the last gift, Hunter's, with a pleasant chuckle. "I'd be happy for the help, no matter who it is." she promised, cautiously breaking open the package. "Alright, last but not least, Hunter's gift-"

"And then it's dinner time!" Wrecker cheered, briefly forgetting his manners as he eyed his timer with glee. He wouldn't tell her what he'd been planning for her special dinner, adamant that it would be a surprise to her. Ended up being a good thing she'd been so absorbed in that holofilm and hadn't eaten anything yet, whatever it was waiting for them in the kitchen smelled delicious.

Methodically wrapped in clumps of thin tissue paper within the last birthday present were an assortment of accessories, each a beautiful and unique style. [____] gasped softly, marveling under her breath as she took a closer look at each little piece. Some rings, others a pair of earrings, or something to pin in her hair if she wanted. All were made a little differently, no two styles the same. It looked like they'd all come from different planets, if she had to guess based on some of the materials used to make them. "Oh stars… These are beautiful, Hunter. Oh kriff, I almost missed this one here at the bottom…" 

Omega stifled a gentle gasp at the sight of the necklace pendant the moment [____] had it unwrapped. She recognized that one in particular best out of all of the other accessories Hunter had been collecting in secret. She and her brothers had been on an assignment that they'd been promised a healthy windfall of credits for if they completed it successfully, dating back months ago now. It'd been the first mission they took once Omega was better after she'd been sick. 

Once they were done and set to return to the Havoc Marauder to return to their employer with proof of a completed contract, they'd passed through a small market where Hunter had been the first to stall the rest of them once something caught his eye. 

That Nabooian pendant [____] now held gingerly in her hands. 

The first hint that Hunter felt some kind of way about the medic was when Omega watched him ever-so-gingerly pick up that necklace from the tray out of everything else the jeweler had to sell and exchanged the appropriate amount of credits for it. After he'd walked some distance away, still holding the free gift box that came with every purchase from the vendor that now held the necklace inside it, Hunter had paused with a great, sudden look of uncertainty after showing it to Echo before it was finally put away for safekeeping. 

"What's the matter, sarge? Having second thoughts on if it's the kid's style after all?"

"N-no, I'm certain it'd look nice on her, that's not what I'm worried about. But… What if she thinks I'm weird for just… giving her this out of the blue?"

"Then, don't. Wait for like a - ohIdunno - special occasion or something. She'll like it either way, I'm sure." 

Omega realized these feelings Hunter had for [____] had been brewing much longer than initially thought. So she was right when she asked Hunter if he ever thought of someone special: the answer was sitting right there in his footlocker where he kept his armor kit for months along with everything else he'd been secretly collecting!

Of course. She should've realized that when she found everything neatly wrapped up in a pair of too-small blacks (probably Hunter's last set before his final growth spurt shortly before reaching full Clone-maturity) the time he'd asked her to grab something out of his footlocker.

In a flash, the medic had opened the clasp to the necklace and reached behind her neck to put on the accessory to try it on first out of everything. Five sets of eyes swung in Hunter's direction once she'd closed the mechanism and took a moment to admire the pendant as it hung from her neck and lay comfortably against her chest. "Oh I love this… Thank you, Hunter!" 

He was redder than one of Mustafar's lava fields even under all the cool-toned party lights as he barely stuttered out a you're welcome before his voice was overshadowed by the excited, whooping laugh as Wrecker ducked into the snug kitchenette to bring out the main course for everyone, making the effort to move in such a way that it concealed what he was carrying until he got it to the table in the breakfast nook. 

"Hope you're all hungry! Cause it's ready!" Tech, Echo, Crosshair and Omega were quick to claim their seats around the table, the joint effort once more seating [____] and Hunter next to one another, this time by force. Crosshair grinned lazily, leaning one elbow on the table once his brother and their collective friend had seated themselves. "Smells good, big guy. What is it?" 

Excited as he was, and this close to reminding Crosshair he'd helped him gather all the fresh ingredients just this morning, Wrecker did his best to stick to the script just like his sharp-eyed brother. "Thought we'd all have a taste of home tonight: [____]'s home, that is!" He lifted the lid to the tray to finally reveal what he'd cooked up, and he was sure that he looked a little pink after all the excited chatter from the medic as [____] explained to Omega (as she also pretended she had no idea what it was Wrecker had made) that this was one of her favorite things to eat where she grew up; that she hadn't eaten it since she'd moved from her home planet and came here. 

They were still on track, after all. If Hunter wasn't going to show that letter to her tonight, feeling it wasn't the right time for any reason, all he had to do was give Tech one little hand signal. 

Barricade. 

So far, there'd been no sign of it.

So, so far so good!

Following dinner, they had gotten at least one round into a short, modified game of Sabacc before everyone was interrupted by a loud GNK unit coming up the street. 

Bwonk! Honk, honk! 

Wrecker looked up from his current hand, both brows reaching for the ceiling. "Huh? Wha's Gonky doin' outside the door? He usually stays with the ship unless it's really important… Excuse me, ad'ika, I better go see what 'e wants. H-hold these for me, will ya?" 

She took the cards, careful to keep them face-down so they didn't become a spoiled hand. "Sure, no worries Wreck." [____] promised, holding Wrecker's current hand of Sabacc cards to her chest for further security. The front door whipped open, the hydraulics cracking sharply as the blastdoor opened and closed as Wrecker stepped out onto the stoop for a brief moment. 

Everyone playing at the tight table quickly abandoned the effort of guarding their current hands from spying eyes to see why there was suddenly shouting, fearing that there was some kind of trouble when they heard Wrecker and another man bellowing. 

"No-no-no, put me down!"

Everyone quickly jumped to their feet. Crosshair easily swept Omega off his lap and held her against his back with one long arm, and completely disregarding his injuries that he really should not be fighting with, Hunter stepped protectively in front of the confused medic; each veteran brother telling their prospective charge they were minding to "Get behind me!" in unison, swiping anything in reach that could be used as a makeshift weapon. Tech and Echo moved closest to the door, ready to act however necessary to buy Cross and Hunter time or to come to Wrecker's aid.

It proved to be an unnecessary measure by all, but no less sweet or so selflessly brave. There was no Imperial threat.

"GUYS! Hahaha! Look who it is!!" Wrecker was not alone when he came back inside, the door rocketing open to reveal the boyish giant with so much excitement in his mismatched eyes over this very familiar-looking man struggling in his arms, feet so far off the ground and kicking desperately for purchase on something, anything. Imperial threats didn't get carried into the house with a look of unfettered glee by someone trying to deal them secretive, critical blows.

"Wr-Wrecker! Every time?! Put me down!" the other Clone tried near-fruitlessly, still struggling in the arms of the explosive ordnance expert. 

Makeshift weapons were dropped. The five faces of the Clone brothers previously flooded with fear quickly fell and gave way to relief, Echo's gaunt face changing the most as he staggered against the wall, loosely clutching his chest, practically halfway to tears in a bittersweet blend of excitement and comfort. "Oh, Maker! It's the Captain, not a damn Imperial… oh Maker it's just the Captain." (Omega swiftly caught the attention of the medic and, happily, declared it's really okay, we know him; he's very nice! in a whispered voice.)

Echo didn't talk about just anyone like that; the Captain? [____] heard how much Echo respected, loved this particular older brother, always calling him "one of my brothers, Rex" and "the Captain" depending on the cybernetically enhanced soldier's mood or decided topic of the day when he swung by her clinic just to talk. 

So between Echo's painfully obvious relief, Omega's seal of approval, and a memory that the Batchers got along best with a select few of their "Reg" brothers in the GAR, [____] was nearly certain this must be Captain Rex, based on the whooping and crushing hug he was (still, unfortunately for him) receiving from Wrecker; and he was likely coming by to see how Hunter was recovering. "Oh, of course, of course; you must be wondering about Hunter! I'm personally not aware or sure that anyone had let you know that he was okay when Echo accidentally… hailed me but… he's, um… Echo? What's wrong?" she trailed off, seeing the ARC shrink further against the storm-blue wall with every word.

If the slight paleness in his skin could possibly go any paler, Echo had found a way, eyes enormous and both shoulders practically in his ears as he stammered through his explanation. "Uh… I'm not sure I'd call hailing you an accident… exactly. I did mean to hail the Captain, but I, uh, I-I-I also meant to contact you for medical help and I wasn't sure what communication frequency I dialed in when I started speaking and-!" 

"You boys are a real mess." The sigh from the captain was fond. Nostalgic. "Just like old times… Wrecker, mind finally setting me down so I can introduce myself?" On his feet, the Captain with closely-shaved blonde, curled hair could now properly greet the medic, offering a firm handshake. (Maker, the sheer strength in those fingers alone!) "The name's Rex. Thanks for taking care of these boys, and their sister, ma'am. I know it can't be easy." 

She knew what he was playfully alluding to, fully familiar with these siblings and their proclivity for danger in the almost-a-year she's known them by now. She firmed up her handshake and chuckled humbly. "Heh. Nonsense! I knew the job had its thorns when I went to school for it; easy would be out of the question. They just keep my job exciting for me, that's all. I'm [____]. Pleased to meet you, Rex!" 

"Likewise, [____]. Likewise." Rex pumped the handshake one last time before he was content to release the medic's hand and greet each of his brothers, starting with a warm, comforting chuckle for Echo once he was pulled to his feet. "Easy there, little brother; sorry for the scare. It's good to see you, Echo."

"I-I'm fine…" Echo sniffled, face buried into the Captain's shoulder. She'd never seen Echo cling to anyone so tightly before, not even the frightening occasion he was in the deep throes of hypothermia and Wrecker had volunteered himself to assist in raising Echo's core temperature. "M'fine, Captain… H-how'd you find us?" 

"I knew how to find your ship," Captain Rex confessed, thumb doing a few slow, circular laps where he held it against Echo's back. "Tracked it down here to this planet and docked myself a few shipyards over. The GNK-series droid aboard your ship led me here when I asked if he knew where I could find you boys. And Omega." he added, grinning at the youngster now hanging off Crosshair's wrist once it was made clear that she wasn't in any danger, waiting quietly and politely with a smile of her own. 

"And [____], too," Omega insisted, releasing herself once the Captain had let go of Echo and next offered the other curiously blonde Clone a hug in greeting, "it's her birth-day, so we're throwing her a party!"

"Ah, is that what all this is for? Wondered what Wrecker was doing wearing a party hat or what the place was so decked out for… Looks like you're all having fun! Even ol' Crosshair's managing to smile." 

The sniper laughed dryly and sarcastically, rolling his eyes and the toothpick from the last spicy snack sausage he'd plucked from the collection of snacks set out for the party as he spoke. "Very funny, Captain…" He allowed the Captain a brief hug before he started to wiggle out and stood within arm's reach, "Glad to see you made a clean get-away from the transport. It's good to see you." 

"You too, little brother," Rex agreed, patting Crosshair on the shoulder before turning his sights on the exceptionally-minded, "And good to see you too, Tech!" 

Tech backpedaled defensively, dodging a threat of close-quarters contact he wasn't always fond of. "A-ah-! Please don't hug me!" he blurted, knocking into Wrecker with a mild yelp. (Though it wasn't his fault, Wrecker apologized for getting in the way as his brother had tried to avoid undesired sensory input.) The Captain just chuckled agreeably, taking no offense. "Alright, alright. Then I won't. Won't force you to do anything you're not comfortable with." Tech nodded gratefully, not meeting Rex's eyes and allowed himself to take a singular and friendly clap on the shoulder before he sidestepped out of the Captain's reach. "Th-thank you, Captain..."

"Awh, s'okay Captain, I already gave ya a hug!" Wrecker scratched around the back of his neck in a self-soothing motion to go with the sheepish laughter, settling for a good handshake instead. "Thanks, though!"

"No, better not while I'm still healing… What brings you here again, Captain?" Hunter asked, waving off the offered hug and taking a shoulder-clap of his own on the right side instead.

"Came to make sure you especially were okay, like [____] guessed; but everyone else too, really, since I could track down your ship with the help of a friend in the network. I'm afraid I can't stay long…" Omega pouted at these words, and the unmistakable sense that Rex was a man who cared so damn deeply for his fellow Clone brothers (and sister) filled the medic's heart as she watched him comfort Omega with a curled finger and thumb pinching together to cup her chin and better meet her eye. "I don't want to put anyone in danger by lingering too long, Omega. I can probably stay for a little bit after I speak with Hunter about something, but I don't know for sure." Omega nodded, showing she understood. 

Captain Rex looked at [____] to seek approval before speaking again. "Mind if I borrow your friend here for a while? Promise I won't keep him forever so he can return to the first proper party this lot's had in ages. Good for them." 

She laughed softly, nodding at the two of them with a playful salute that made the Captain grin slightly wolfishly, and Hunter chuckled softly in relief after meeting Rex's eye. "No worries, I understand. We'll keep ourselves out of trouble and plenty entertained in the meantime!"

As Hunter suggested he and the captain retreat further into the house to speak, his bedroom perhaps, Wrecker carefully slugged [____]'s shoulder approvingly. "Haha, looks like the Cap'n likes ya kid!" 

Captain Rex just smiled humbly over his shoulder as he followed Hunter's lead. Though she'd scarcely met the man, she certainly didn't doubt it. She had the impression that this beloved, respected Captain was much like the Sergeant: the type who you earned their ire if you were unkind to their men, and the kind who regarded you with great respect if you got along well with the people they called their family.  

"Gotta say…" Rex's voice caught on [____]'s ear as she was stepping out of Omega's room to grab more snacks for herself and the girl as they worked together on a special piece of art. She'd gone in there initially because the youngster was excitedly showing off more drawings she'd done that morning while her brothers decorated the house once she'd finished making all the party hats to kill some time while Hunter and Captain Rex spoke, and [____] paused in the hallway. 

Hunter and the Captain were speaking in the smallest bedroom, the door open just a crack. Enough that she could hear the men without great effort. "Kid did a good job patching you up and removing those stitches, Hunter. Got a hell of a healer's touch; don't think anyone will be able to tell you got caught in that blast unless they looked at sealed medical records. Think she'd be willing to take on one more patient on the down-low if I ever got hurt that badly out there?" Both of them chuckled at the Captain's joke. Warmly, but also careful and guarded. 

(No, she wouldn't mind helping the Captain on the down-low at all and in fact would be happy to, she decided quickly.)

There was a long pause, the sound of resticking tape, then fabric sweeping over skin. Hunter had probably shed the top of his civvies for the Captain to inspect the healing injuries and get a sense of his little brother's recovery. "I'd ask her for yourself if you're serious. But I think she'd be willing. She's… got a good heart. Good head on her shoulders." 

"I can tell," was all Rex had to say initially before she decided she needed to move and go get those snacks before one of them caught her eavesdropping. [____] got some more of the snack-mix, and then watched while Echo held open the door as Wrecker lugged Gonky through the door and into the house with a laugh. "Felt bad for Gonky, goin' back an' being out on the ship by his lonesome when the rest'a us are havin' fun… So I brought him for the party too!" Gonky whomp!'d happily at the affectionate pat from the ARC once he was on his feet and could slowly shuffle through to the common area. 

"Here. He can have my party hat," Tech offered eagerly, "the elastic strap is beginning to prove a bothersome sensation." 

"Hey, if you need to take a moment to destimulate, take it, okay? I don't want you becoming miserable, Techie." Tech nodded softly in promise, looking touched by the concern for him coming from someone other than a vod as always. "I… think I will."

When [____] went back to the door of Omega's room after giving Gonky an affectionate pat of her own to say hi and welcome him to the party as well, she could tell the conversation between the Clone Captain and Sergeant had shifted.

"There's no rush, no pressure, Hunter, but I did want to ask if you were any closer to deciding on… y'know. Helping in the fight against the Empire as regular members of this little resistance I'm throwing together." Hunter sighed sharply and moved closer to his door, the darting shadow sending [____]'s heart into her stomach for just a second; he never opened or shut the door, instead grabbing something before he moved away.

"Right. That. I still don't know, Captain; I don't know how to balance what everyone wants along with keeping everyone safe… I can't. Help. Worrying. About the safety of my me- family." Hunter stopped and sucked in his teeth before he continued to the superior officer, and [____] risked lingering longer out in the hallway to listen. "I've tried. Maker, I've tried! I understand Echo's motivations behind wanting to help your cause, Captain. I do. It's important to him; it's an important cause. I guess I'm hesitant to involve myself… all of my family… because we nearly lost Crosshair less than a year ago and I haven't been talking about that as much as I should have with him." 

There was a long, long pause after some comment [____] could not understand from Captain Rex; it most definitely was not in Basic, at least. "… I don't know, Captain. When Echo's ready for it, I know our scrappy, resilient little ARC trooper will help with the next prisoner transport ship so more of our brothers are liberated. But after the… the karking mess I ended up in trying to make sure the way was clear for Omega to take more information from the bridge…" Hunter faltered here, a distressed, unhappy lilt in his voice that pinched her heart uncomfortably.

"I understand, Hunter. Just glad you're still with us, brother. Thanks to your… good friend." The pause in the Captain's words was almost unnoticed, and for a moment she worried she'd lingered too long and gave herself away to them. As she ducked into Omega's room, face burning and heart beating at a blistering pace, she managed to catch one last thing. 

"Thanks to [____]." Hunter agreed softly.

Her comlink began to chirp just as everyone was ready to start a round of Dejarik in teams, startling Wrecker just as he began to take a pull from his bottled beverage they'd gathered for the party. No spirits, but something fizzy and sweet [____] liked that Omega wouldn't be excluded from. "Oops. Think that's an old friend from back home. Excuse me, boys."

Tech looked at her with an imploring expression, one brow quirked in question as he blotted the front of Wrecker's now-sticky civvies, trying to be helpful. "Do you want us to wait for you until you are-"

She reached the back door and gave it a tug with her free hand so she could step out on the also decorated back patio, shaking her head. "Nah, it's okay, Tech. But thank you. You guys go ahead and start Dejarik without me. I'll join you in a few minutes." She shut the door behind her, the cool air a balm to her warm skin. The decorations in the house were lovely (wholly sweet and nothing short of lively), but some of them were covering some of the air vents and it was becoming a little hot inside with the reduction in airflow. 

She depressed the button of her comms and excitedly blurted out the name of her friend with a cheerful "Heeey! So glad you called, it's been a while!" fully expecting it to be them on the other end.

It was not her friend. Kriffing scam telemarketers on her birthday, just her luck. "Hel-lo! We've been trying to reach you about your speeder's extended-"

"Still think this part's a bit too unkind." Echo murmured, squirming in discomfort as the brothers huddled up around Tech and Hunter on the couch back inside the house, and soon Tech's datapad trilled, signifying she'd disconnected the call before there was a short string of soft cursing outside. If she had paid closer attention to the frequency, she would have seen Tech set it up so it was off by just one number from her friend's. "Finding an excuse to get her here and surprise her with the party is one thing because no one's feelings get hurt and there was truth to the stitches excuse, but she thought she was getting a call from a friend…" 

Though he was getting better used to it, bending rules and regulations still made the Corporal uneasy, even if being a part of a team with a 100% success rate during the lifetime of the GAR was admittedly a thrill in and of itself. 

Tricking their friend felt like a slight step too far, even if it was just a small part of the plan Tech put together so Hunter could have an opening to tell [____] how he felt with the letter, just the two of them. "As I've insisted, I don't think it will be of much consequence for long, if at all." He scooped up Hunter's datapad and tossed it at Hunter without so much as making sure he was paying attention. He knew Hunter would catch it. 

"What makes you so sure?" Crosshair hummed, chewing on another toothpick that had come with one of the spicy snack sausages in the party platter (he liked the way it made his gums and tongue tingle).

"I have a good feeling about this." was all the elaboration Tech was going to provide his vode. 

The sound of the door mechanism clicking caught [____]'s attention, finding Hunter hesitating just slightly when he realized he had been spotted in the doorway. "Oh, hey there; you can come out, it's okay. Guess it was just some lousy scammer calling to wish me a good birthday. Figures, right?" He smiled weakly at the joke before he made any further moves. 

Hunter joined [____] out on the little back patio, shutting the door to the housing before stepping closer with a hand outstretched, dark eyes boring into the wall, the ground, everywhere but her eyes as he held out the datapad to the medic. A funny expression she couldn't quite read crossed his face. Her curiosity was certainly piqued. 

"What's this? Found something funny on the Holonet?" 

"I'd like you to read something." Hunter wasn't acting quite like himself, looking at her with darting, fleeting seconds of eye contact. He'd never been so afraid or uncomfortable to hold her gaze in the past. Not even when she'd stepped into the barren and snug sleeping space Hunter called his bedroom and helped him remove the loose shirt and the gauze to free him of the irritation caused by the stitches in his shoulder.

What was going on? Why was he looking at her with such anxiety now?

"N-now? Heh, sure, just uh… here." She gave Hunter her drink she'd carried out here and plucked the datapad from his hands when she couldn't find a level spot to set down her beverage. "I'll trade with you so I can see what we're working with here. Is it this, on the screen?"

"Yes."

"Someone's chatty." [____] said teasingly, turning her attention to the screen after a slightly flirty wink, emboldened by a muffled, raucous whoop from Wrecker somewhere in the house. His giant, child-like nature was simply infectious tonight in particular and everyone was acting differently. Maker, she wished he'd been there for every party she'd ever had growing up, he could really liven things up when it came down to it. A shame that Captain Rex had to duck out just before they were ready to start a friendly game, she would have liked to talk with him some more. "Okay, let's see…" 

[____]

Guess I should cut the chatter: I've been made aware that you now have an idea of how I feel about you. Echo encouraged me to tell you the full truth myself. So that's what this letter is meant to do, [____]. It'll be easier to lay down a foundation for a later conversation in a letter first… if that's what you want.

She stole a little look from the datapad after the first few sentences, the confused feelings surging with the half-smile never budging. "Keep reading." Hunter simply pleaded, his smoky voice impossibly soft. 

If not, then maybe we can communicate this way for the time being. I'll leave that up to you. But it's important that you hear from me how I feel. How I am. Or, can be.

A second stolen look, the datapad falling half an inch from her face as she paused. This is exactly what she thought it was. Wrecker was too loose-lipped and his brothers probably put Hunter up to writing this out. 

This felt like a plot line from a steamy holonovel; a brooding, mysterious and troubled man with a murky past just trying to keep his family afloat falling for an unassuming nobody of a woman, giving such a strong emotional outpouring in the starlight on the night of a special occasion. 

Heh, this couldn't be real, right? She was dreaming. Had to be. But those dark eyes… those nervous, nervous eyes both fixed on her and flying to look at anything else out on this little back patio every time she tried to meet his gaze…  Was his heart already racing against his ribs like her's started to? 

You've known us a while now. Always seen the best in all of us as you came to know us and gave us all a soft place to land in this galaxy. Learned that Omega's (likely) the oldest out of all of us; observant, intelligent, highly aware. Eager to learn and try new things. She picked up the notion of giving art a try after seeing some of the pictures your pediatric patients had gifted you after you offered to keep her company so she wasn't home alone when the rest of us took that job out on Florrum. She's gotten so good at it.

She's likely watched all of us go through our enhancements and modifications, save for our older, scrappy and resilient ARC trooper Echo. Given time, he can adapt to most everything. He was one of the 'Regs', once; he's told you parts of his story before I offered him a place on my squad and took him into our fold of rowdy rule-breakers. You've been a tremendous help to him and I should've been explicitly stating my thanks a million times over, but I guess I just couldn't figure out how when I was just so relieved he was sleeping again.

Even in a romantic confession, Hunter's dedication to and pride in his family (these days they were only ever referred to one another as a "squad" when they hired themselves out for the odd jobs to put credits on the table) was so blatantly evident. She kept reading, wondering where Hunter was going with this. It was certainly odd and unconventional that he was bringing his vode into this, but there had to be a good reason when Maker, he cared so deeply for them. 

Parasite or no parasite, you've never once shied away or been put off by Crosshair's behavior or that sharp tongue to match the sharp eyesight that would leave your jaw on the floor if you ever get the chance to see him in action. He was a real menace against those Clankers in battle. (He'd be all too happy to show off, [____]; all you have to do is ask.) Wrecker shows off all the time; no denying his brawn, or his explosives expertise to give us a good explosion out on the battlefield, now is there? You've never once treated Wrecker like he's stupid and forgetful, and you're a good sport about all the times he's gotten over excited and given you one of those spine-tingling hugs of his.

 Warms my heart that you aren't threatened and are rather endeared by Tech's archive-worth of knowledge he's jammed in that brain of his to talk on and on for hours. That you'll engage with him instead of tuning him out, and actually ask him genuine questions in the hope of learning something rather than doing so just to be polite and shut him up for a while.

Tech retains just about everything he's ever learned, and it's gotten us out of so many jams I don't bother keeping count, because I'm certain he does.

All this to say "And then there's me". Probably know the least about me ever since Tech brought us to your clinic when we realized Cross was sick. 

That's right: they'd come to her because they were avoiding Imperial attention. Wrecker had carried Crosshair into the clinic just before closing as he writhed and thrashed in his discomfort, doing his best to fight against the biochemical response from the parasite. They'd probably have been kicked out of the other, larger health center had they tried going there anyway because he was so combative with his vode when the parasite got the best of him. 

Made him a danger to himself and those around him that it necessitated a very specific sedative she didn't like using on her patients because of the common side effects, but she couldn't leave him helpless and in pain. Not with the way a little girl with blonde hair tucked in the crooks of arms both cybernetic and flesh cried with a plea to help their sick brother surrounded by three other men as they got him strapped into a padded examination chair for the medic who anxiously agreed to help him. Something had been said between all of them in something beyond Galactic Basic as they came to an agreement that on a count of three, all four limbs were locked down and she was given the go-ahead by this band of then-strangers.

I was avoiding getting close in case we weren't staying long on this planet and went on the move again… playing it "safe" by being distant so yet another goodbye since the GAR's dissolvement would sting a little less. Thinking the less you knew about me the better, so this new Empire wouldn't do anything to hurt you… in case they heard about the "one off" of you helping one of our own. 

Yeah right… "One off". It's been nearly a standard year since the parasitic souvenir from Kashyyyk and there's been nearly a hundred injuries since. A hundred injuries since the collapse of the GAR and everything familiar about it… everything I was created for, [____]. My "desired genetic mutations" that made me useful to the GAR and the Jedi, my fellow soldiers, the experimental special forces 99 Unit: the enhanced senses, the ability to feel electromagnetic frequencies, expert navigating and more… What place do any of those desired defects have with all of that gone, now? 

I spend every day in discomfort due to the nature of my defects, but I made it work for the sake of my men. For the sake of all of my brothers in the GAR, even if I never fought alongside them much. There was a bigger picture I believed was worth fighting for, so I fought through the overwhelm and the onslaught on every unorthodox mission I'd been allowed to command. Nothing is familiar anymore. I have no larger safety net beyond the Batch and other deserters scattered in the galaxy. Every one of those hundred or so injuries since was another reminder of what I was trying to avoid in the vacuum of the GAR's absence. 

Reminders how alone I've become. 

Oh… stars. The datapad felt too heavy in her hands, her hands buzzing with nerves the same way they did before every dreaded medical school exam, the patio swayed and rocked under her feet for a brief moment and she had to lean back against the wall to find support. Poor Hunter… she had no idea how extensive these struggles were. How much he'd kept to himself. How much he said he was shouldering on his own. "Yo-you…" she swallowed down her stomach and sinking heart, mouth drier than the Dune Seas of Tatooine. She couldn't think straight, and Hunter was now standing so close she was beginning to feel like a cornered animal under the unblinking gaze of his warm eyes, glittering in the party lights like rich tourmalines. 

"... keep reading, cyare." It was soft. A request. Or maybe encouragement. She couldn't tell, her head was still swimming through a thousand emotions. Sadness. Confusion. Pity. Empathetic understanding. But she did as he said, eyes dropping where she had left off.

Somewhere in those hundred injuries, something changed, of course. The night Omega got sick. I couldn't avoid coming to your clinic. I couldn't avoid the discomfort. I hate clinics. (I'm sure you've been wondering that for a while now.)

But I don't hate the doctor. It's not their fault- it's not your fault - that these places are so karking uncomfortable for me. I think that was the night I realized I felt something for you, watching how sweetly you took care of my 'little' sister. I wasn't even your patient, and you still asked me how I was doing, if I was okay, if you could get me something while you were holding Omega in your arms. I think that was the night I finally saw things… differently.

Saw you differently. Authentically. Comfortably. I could start telling you more that I used to leave unsaid… something I still need to get better at and actually tell you that I trust you, that I had thought of you as a friend. That there were a million ways I wished I could have repaid you for your help and your kindness and the ways you treat my brothers and sister with such genuine care. The friendship and love that you've shown them…

And just two days ago. Maker, I'd never felt safer with a medic, or at your clinic. I still hate your clinic. 

But, oh, mesh'la… I could never hate you, [____]. 

Confessing my feelings for you on your birth-day has to be such a cliche if these Holofilms I've seen Omega watching are using this plotline a lot, so I apologize if the timing has made you uncomfortable, but I felt it was time to stop pining… and start doing something to say how I feel. Stop bottling up my feelings and be avoidant to all discomfort and unfamiliarity, and to be honest and open with you, starting with this:

I think I've loved you for a while now. But now I know for sure that I do.

-H.

Oh stars. Oh stars oh stars oh stars!

So it was real.

Springing away from the wall she'd backed herself into, something dropped and shattered near her feet. Hardly a flinch as large fragments of glass are stepped on in their collective hurry. She's acting without much thinking, and it's caught him by surprise when she's suddenly in his arms. Hunter's recovered from the initial shock of catching [____] so suddenly, the cloyingly sweet taste of the mocktail fresh on her lips spurring him on. He just hoped the spice of the party snacks he'd been helping himself to all night weren't bothersome to the medic as they feverishly, eagerly traded kiss after kiss after kiss. 

One of his brothers can be heard clear as day from inside the house once they had either finally noticed where the two of them had gone, or finally daring to break their silence after watching this whole time. "Awh yeah, Hunter! About damn time!" 

Another spoke up, first chiding the disturber, then proudly egging his brother on with a teasing question. "Oh k'uur, he'd have gotten out of his karking head eventually. Do we need to scram so you two can have some quality time, dear vod?"

Neither Hunter or [____] cared, or completely noticed. They were both so lost in one another's eyes once they pulled away to catch their breath that they didn't even seem to care that they'd been standing half-barefoot in the sticky puddle of the red, fruity mocktail this entire time since it had tumbled out of Hunter's grasp. They didn't notice when Tech shuttered the blinds in the house that looked outside after a long moment, or the faint klic! of his datapad.

"Hell'd you take a picture for?" Echo questioned, face bearing a grin to rival a nexu's that betrayed the accusatory tone. 

Goggles were adjusted before brother answered brother. "Well, since Crosshair seems to have started taking pictures with my datapad to capture our squad's happy, or dare I say… "cute" moments, I figured it would be the obvious thing to do to capture something to commemorate the occasion. I dare say Hunter's letter was… successful, and more importantly reciprocated." 

"Your datapad makes the most sense: you record everything." Crosshair countered simply, a wry smile forming around the current toothpick. 

"... Hm! I guess it does."

Omega was the last to leave the window that looked outside, straining to hear her little brother when he broke that silence swimming between him and the woman he'd fallen so hard for. "Kamino's rain… glad to finally have that off my chest…" 

"I had a feeling something was up; I kinda overheard you talking with Captain Rex tonight… and from the moment Wrecker let the Loth-cat out of the bag, of course." [____] admitted softly. 

When Omega dared to pinch the blinds apart to peak outside, she could see [____] smiling gently, kindly at Hunter as she gingerly tucked away a curling lock of his hair that had fallen out of place. Hunter finally looked truly relaxed, relieved that everything had gone well. "But I wasn't going to rush you. I'm sorry if you felt the need to rush your little letter, too… I certainly wasn't planning on going anywhere, handsome."

"I-I didn't feel rushed; I really did want to tell you sooner than later. If I wasn't going to do it tonight, it would have been soon enough after. Honest." Hunter promised her, closing that space between them once more. [____] flashed him a smile that suggested she would guess otherwise about Hunter rushing himself, but she said nothing before winding a hand around the back of his neck and head to bring him closer.

Omega dropped her hand from the blinds and joined her other brothers on the far side of the house, everyone quietly celebrating their brother's success for themselves, proud of themselves for helping everything come together tonight. 

"I give it 'til the end of next week before he's watching romance holos for ideas." came Cross's chuckle. "Going to have to set up Hunter's datapad with limited screen hours like Omega's after dinner." 

Omega sighed disapprovingly, "Don't make fun of Hunter now that he's told [____] how he feels," she said, wagging her head at her little brother, "And I don't have the limited screen hours anymore." Hunter had removed the setting from her personal device within a week after it'd been set because she proved she could be responsible. She would much rather spend time with her brothers than bury her nose into the screen for hours on end. The quality time with her brothers was something she cherished.

And now she'll probably get to spend more time with [____] very soon, doing the same thing.

Taglist: @dragonrider9905 @ladytano420 @the-hexfiles @ilovethosebrowneyes9904​

Note from Frost: Guess it didn’t end up as long as I initially planned after doing some last-minute trimming to fit material that was found to be better suited for other chapters with my editing-eyes on. :’) If you would like to be added to the taglist that is currently just specific for Sorry, Wrong Comms!, (I may start a taglist for all Star Wars related fanfiction projects that will be marked accordingly with #frostfics in the near future if there is interest) don’t hesitate to shoot me an ask or a comment loves. 🩷

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[raccoonfallsharder]

I don’t really have a question. I just wanted to let you know — even if it’s a little bit parasocial — that I really love you. I love the way you write, the way you draw, the way you’re so kind to others on this hellscape we call the internet… and I may be terminally online, but I think it’s all worth it if it can show you that you’re awesome and that you deserve nothing but the best. Because you ARE.

Thanks for making my day a little better with what you do. 😉

uhm. i’m like. sniffling in my office right now. look, im tired and it’s been a terrible few weeks and i can’t handle this level of kindness. you are so sweet and this is so sweet and i’m so grateful. (also i think you might think too highly of me but i’m still gonna take all the nice things you wrote and run)

and i want to add… i think a lot of people get scared of “parasocial relationships” (scare quotes intended) but like. interactions on the internet are real, and all our interactions matter, whether it’s being nice to your grocery store cashier or supporting your best friend on a bad day or taking care of your sick sibling or being patient with the new barista (i LOVE new baristas. they’re trying so hard and they deserve all the kindness + tips). or, you know, sending a really encouraging, loving ask to a fellow fanfiction writer. all of our interactions matter.

and this interaction has mattered to me. deeply. so, thank you, my friend. for everything you wrote to me personally, but also just for putting this kind of goodness out into the world. life is short and we’d be better off if we all indulged our kindest impulses.

i hope your sky is blue and your day is full of lovely things; i hope your nights are starry and safe and peaceful. i hope you always are filled with the contentment and peace of knowing that you belong & that you are loved, and i hope your future is filled with countless joys and comforts.

also like. c’mon. you’re the badass author who’s rewriting the entire mcu, and i’m the weirdo in the school cafeteria who scribbles out raccoon porn for me and the five other kids at my lunchtable. i keep opening up your first fic, getting intimidated, and closing it — and that’s just reading. i can’t imagine writing the damn thing. like, i am humbled and privileged to be in your internet-presence

[olifern107]

Hiya :)

I'm Oliver, but some call me Wibbly. And I've really grown to love that nickname :> I use He/Him pronouns.

Anyhow, I'm an artist, writer, weirdo theatre kid, rabbit enthusiast. Currently a very large Gin Ichimaru enjoyer (going on 3 years of this nonsense) and I am going to draw for your entertainment or something.

I do Self-Shipping and Self-Inserts. I am aware that it is cringe. I simply have had too much therapy to care. My main F/O is Gin Ichimaru from Bleach, and that's basically the only one I care about rn. (Oh, and Rangiku Matsumoto!!! Also from Bleach!!!)

I draw. I draw digitally a lot. But I also do traditional art whenever the spark hits. I did participate in ArtFight this year and did about 30 pieces for it!

I'm gonna put my commission info down here. I'm trying to get a lil monies in my pockets lmao

...anything to afford more Gin merch...

Commission Info:

!!!ALL PAYMENTS WILL BE DONE THROUGH PAYPAL. USD ONLY!!!!

All commissioned art will be posted on my socials! To commission me, please send me a dm on discord, my username is thornperished. Or you can email me at olifern107business@gmail.com

Quick Sketches - $5

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

These sketches can have one or two characters, they'll be very quick, so expect the doodle within the hour after I receive payment.

PAYMENT WILL BE GIVEN IN FULL UPFRONT FOR SKETCHES

Sketch- $8 for black and white, $10 for roughly colored, $12 for clean color

clean color^

rough color^

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

These can take a few hours to complete after receiving payment!

PAYMENT WILL BE GIVEN IN FULL UPFRONT FOR SKETCHES

Colored Headshots - $10

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

May take an hour or so to complete after receiving paymemnt.

PAYMENT WILL BE GIVEN IN FULL UPFRONT FOR COLORED HEADSHOTS

Fullbodies- $13 Uncolored, $15 Colored

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

May take a few hours to finish after receiving payment!

Half of the payment will be given upfront, and the other half will be sent upon completion of a satisfactory sketch!

Ref Sheet! (animals) - $30

Only Animals for this style!

May take a few hours to a few days to finish after payment is received!

Half of the payment will be made upfront, half of the payment will be sent upon completion of a satisfactory sketch.

Ref Sheet(human)- $30

Only Humans for this style! Side information may be replaced with the back view, or with 2 expressions.

May take a few hours to a few days to finish after payment is received!

Half of the payment will be made upfront, half of the payment will be sent upon completion of a satisfactory sketch.

Illustrations- $40+ one character default, every additional character adds $10

Humanoids, Animals, Monsters! I can do anything but mecha(unless you're basically willing to pay for me to practice lmao)

These can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to finish after payment is received. (That Gin illustration took 3 days to complete, owchies)

Half of the payment will be made upfront, half of the payment will be sent upon completion of a satisfactory sketch.