#yes king give us nothing or whatever the kids say these days

[kalinara]

(All-New X-Men #6)

I've kind of blogged something about this before but I never get tired of seeing posts about Logan/Scott/Jean as a throuple (I will literally die of spite before I use a portmanteau) that talk about them as two godlike, immortal beings and "just some guy".

Because on some level, of course, it's absolutely true. Jean is the living embodiment of a Universal Cosmic Force. She can sneeze and wipe out entire star systems.

And Logan is basically immortal. There are a good number of timelines that go forward hundreds, if not thousands of years (see: Powers of X in the Krakoa era) that still show Logan at the prime of his life, always fighting and surviving.

Scott, is, by that standard, just some guy. He's got lasers coming out of his eyes, which is kind of cool admittedly. You could do some interesting analysis on the fact that they seem to be infinite - the only time we see them give out is when HE gives out. Or doesn't get enough sunlight or whatever. But for practical purposes, they've got one real use, the guy's just a very decorative portable cannon.

But what makes Scott special, and on level with the other two, isn't what he is, but what he does.

This is a dude who's led the X-Men since he was a teenager. And as a teenager once talked an entire fleet of Sentinels into attacking the goddamn sun.

This is a dude who co-led a guerilla war against Apocalypse in the future for 10-12 years (admittedly with his goddess wife), then came back as though nothing happened.

He's also the reason for his own last name, because in ANOTHER time traveling bout with the goddess wife, he managed to inspire his own orphaned ancestor to take the name "Summers" in his and Jean's honor.

This is a dude who got possessed by Apocalypse, and repressed him to the point of amnesia, got a sliver of the Void stuck in his head, and repressed that too. Even Phoenix possession took a while to shake that guy.

This is a dude who became the "Boy King of Utopia", uniting the entirety of the mutant race under one banner. Magneto KNELT to him and named him Caesar.

There's also that time he stared down Dracula. Was it a bluff? Dracula thinks so. But he still backed the fuck down. And for a brief period of time, even Namor followed this guy's lead. NAMOR.

This is a dude who, after becoming possessed and ostracized, led a "mutant revolution", becoming a household name among bitter college students everywhere.

He's the kangaroo trial symbol of the entire mutant race, sentenced to death, and his only response is a call to arms published through his lawyer, She-Hulk.

This is a man who's slept with Jean Grey, the Phoenix (back when they were considered separate entities), the Goblin Queen, Emma Frost, and Frenzy, and every single one came back wanting to fuck him again.

Speaking of Frenzy? That dude's sub game redeemed a fucking acolyte!

"God took less time than that to make the world!". Okay, take a fucking breath, Joanna. (X-Men Legacy #248)

His kids are practically gods in their own right, and he was only involved in the conception of one of them. The others just kind of showed up one day with a DNA test and got invited in for dinner.

The closest thing he has to a hobby is plotting how to kill dinosaurs:

(Uncanny X-Men #495 - and he's fought a LOT of dinosaurs.

Sinister's been obsessed with this man's DNA for years, and yeah, if you're just looking at it in terms of powers, it doesn't make a lot of sense. There are much more powerful mutants out there after all. But when you start thinking about the rest of this, yeah, I kind of want to put him in a petrie dish too.

Heck, he's even argued with the narrator! In another timeline, he could have become an incredibly boring variation of Deadpool!

(Uncanny X-Men #96).

I'm just saying, yes, by one point of view the Moon Throuple is two godlike immortal beings and dude who is "just some guy".

But on the other hand, if you had a chance to fuck the unholy combination of Mr. Rogers, Alexander the Great, and the Death Star wouldn't you?

[jesuisgourde]

new manics single is boring as shit

it's like they combined rif and postcards??? which is just. not good.

it sounds exactly like it belongs in resistance is futile. like, it sounds like they combined i think i found it from pfaym and song for the sadness from rif. and the lyrics, yet again, are basically just nicky going "eh, i think i'm done writing and don't have much to say anymore but we had a good run."

like okay maybe you signed a 3 album contract in 2018 and have to slog through this last one but like idk at least maybe come at it from some other less stupid and boring angle? maybe try some new sounds like you used to every album or 2?

[artist-issues]

Let’s talk about this Mufasa movie.

No. Let’s not. Let’s just talk about Mufasa. This is going to be long because he’s a really good character and The Lion King is a really good movie.

Mufasa’s whole point, as a character, is to foil Simba. He’ s not just the stereotypical “great dad role model” character, or the “wise mentor who is ripped away” character.

He, as a character, is in the story because he is “Who Simba Really Is.”

Simba is our young protagonist. The whole point of Simba in the story is to start out “not yet grown into who he really is,” so that the story can teach him how to “grow into who he really is.”

So the audience needs to know “who is Simba and who is Simba supposed to be?” right at the beginning. Which is great, because all kids are trying to figure out the same question about themselves. So it’s relatable. But anyway, the storytellers make Mufasa the answer.

On a simple level, you can answer the question, “who is this Simba guy?” right off the bat in the movie with “the son of the King.” There’s the setting. There’s the set-up. There’s the title of the movie. That’s why the very first lion you’re introduced to in the movie is Mufasa, and it’s not a shot of a baby lion cub. It could have been. Lots of movies open with a shot of their main character. Encanto, for one.

Not The Lion King. The Lion King starts with, “you can’t know who Simba is without Mufasa, so Mufasa gets shown first.”

So okay, Mufasa is a King. Good to know. That’s obvious from the big rock he’s standing on and the way all the animals are coming toward him. But from there, they quickly establish a few more things about Mufasa. He smiles at this little bird that bows to him. He hugs the shaman-monkey. He goes from “big solemn lion” to “good and benevolent” immediately.

And then as it goes on, you learn more about Mufasa. He’s not an idiot; he knows Scar is up to no good, and he is very direct about it. He is not a naive dupe, trusting a schemer blindly. It’s more complicated than that. He is a better leader and a better guy than that. Mufasa knows Scar is his brother, and in a snappy little interaction with Zazu, storytellers make it clear that he worries about Scar; he knows he has good reason to worry, but hasn’t decided to give up on his brother.

Additionally, he is merciful to other dark creatures too. He beats the tar out of hyenas but doesn’t kill them. He rescues Zazu from Scar’s mouth. He scolds Simba but he does that, and more, to teach him. So what Mufasa is teaching us, according to what I just showed you the story says, is that A Good King, A Good Man (Lion, whatever) Is:

Authoritative - Makes decrees and makes decisions and yes, tells others what to do. Creates the structure his people live in.

Kind/Humble - Shows the same level of casual friendship to a revered shaman-recluse as he does a little self-important majordomo. (Humble because he’s not afraid to admit when he’s afraid if it’ll help his son.)

Teaches - Takes time out of the day to pass on what he’s learned to someone who is going to take his place—he’s not hoarding his own position or gatekeeping his life-experience-expertise. He’s not finding his identity in how he has this wealth of information that causes people to need him; he gives it away freely, purposefully.

Protects - Is willing to endanger himself and go to the trouble of defending creatures that are weaker than himself.

Shows Mercy - See Scar and the hyenas, who deserve death, but he doesn’t give it to them.

Prioritizes Family - The time he’s taking out of the day is for his son. And he follows up with his recluse of a brother instead of going, “that’s Scar, I know he don’t care about nobody but himself, his loss, not my problem.” And he extends trust to that brother, which is really just an example of gift-giving to a family member who’s done nothing to keep that trust.

Has Faith - Mufasa makes a point of not answering Simba’s question about “Will you always be there for me,” with just himself. He could’ve. Many parents do. Many parents are tempted to, to show their love. “Yes. You’ll always have me. I’ll always be there to answer your questions; I’ll always protect you, I’ll always be what you can count on, you’ll always find a need fulfilled in me.” But Mufasa doesn’t take that bait. He gives Simba an answer that is not “himself-based.” Not selfish. “Look at the stars.” I don’t care what ya’ll say. Mufasa has faith in something outside of himself. He says “and so will I,” but that’s after contextualizing himself within “something bigger than us.” (And oh my gosh, he doesn’t even answer with, “let me give you a lesson you’ll need for your whole life.” He doesn’t even take credit for this faith, for himself. He gives his own father the credit.)

And really, all of those traits can be summarized with the phrase: Lives His Life Sacrificially For Others.

That’s what a leader, a good father, a king, a good man, does. And pay attention: That is what Simba is supposed to be. Simba is supposed to be Mufasa. That’s who Simba really is, that’s where he’s supposed to go. There is a “real you.” But you have to agree with it and accept it, even though your natural bent is to give in to the illusion that you “don’t have to be that, you can choose who you are.”

Yeah, sure, in a sense you can reject Who You Really Are. You can spend your whole life playing pretend, like you’re not That. But you’ll be doing just that: playing pretend. Unfulfilled. Dissatisfied. Running from the misery that is the natural response to your silly game of pretend. Insisting that “there is no misery, this is what I want.”

Okay. Sure it is.

I’ll save Simba for another post.

The point is, Mufasa is a template for who Simba Really Is. Look at those traits. When it’s Simba’s turn to exemplify those traits, does he?

Act I: Is he authoritative? He tells characters what to. And he makes his own decisions—sometimes for good, sometimes bad. For example, he won’t let Zazu deter him from going to the elephant graveyard, so that’s a bad decision, but he does choose to go back and help Nala instead of running to save himself. Authoritative and protective. But it’s all misplaced because he doesn’t “Live His Life Sacrificially For Others.”

Act 2: He’s not. Timon and Pumbaa tell him to do something and he goes along with it. Timon and Pumbaa claim an ancient tradition and his father’s lesson is stupid and Simba goes along with that. He’s no longer making decisions of his own accord, for anything but his own comfort.

The idea is, in Act 1, you see Simba has the same traits as Mufasa, budding inside of him. But they’re all misdirected, and they’re all twisted, because they’re missing one key ingredient: he’s supposed to use those traits in the context of “Live His Life Sacrificially For Others.” Simba doesn’t want to do that. Simba wants to do whatever he wants.

Sure, there’s a part of him that combines that motive with “I want to be like my dad.” But that part dies on the vine and turns sour when his father dies saving him.

So then in Act 2, not only is Simba clinging to “I’m going to live life all my way,” but he’s changed what that means by pushing the nugget of “I want to be like my dad/I WANT TO BE WHO I REALLY AM” completely away. Because it’s too hard, and he’s got shame tangled up in it.

And worse—he starts doing basically the opposite of all of Mufasa’s traits, all of the traits that make him Who He Really Is. He’s not prioritizing family—he’s abandoning them. He’s not protecting others—he runs from the idea of going back to help Nala. (tiny glimmer of it still being inside him because he does try to protect Pumbaa from her.) Kind and humble? No. It’s unkind to tell your best friend you won’t help her because you’re afraid. Humble, no, because humility is thinking of yourself less, not thinking less of yourself.

Ask the question. When Simba’s living in the jungle with Timon and Pumbaa, is he exemplifying any of the traits of Who He Really Is? Or is he doing his best to bury that?

But then after Mufasa reminds him of who he Really Is, and Rafiki shows him how to get his past out of the way so he can accept it, Simba goes back. Into Act 3 we go

Now. Does Simba exemplify Mufasa’s traits? Does Simba start becoming Who He Really Is? There’s not a lot of time left in the movie. Look at the traits, see if he does.

Authoritative? Yep, comes up with the plan to break in and get to Scar, doesn’t back down from the confrontation.

Kind and Humble? Yeah, he willingly admits the truth (he thought it was true) that makes him look bad to give his mom closure. He’s kind to Nala and to Timon and Pumbaa, admits his mistakes, when they come to help him. Hugs the old shaman who cracked him in the skull with a stick—just like Mufasa hugged Rafiki to show us kindness and humility at the beginning of the movie.

Teaches? We don’t really see an opportunity for him to do that yet at this point in the story and his life, give me a break.

But protects? You bet. That’s why he’s there for the confrontation in the first place. Shows mercy?

Yep.

Because he’s not like Scar. He knows who he is. THE POINT.

And when he runs in for the big confrontation, he doesn’t immediately leap on Scar and rip him to pieces. Even though the storytellers make sure to show us he clearly wants to.

Instead, he runs up to his mother to see if she’s all right and show her that he is. And again, he tells her the truth because that’s what she needs even if it’s not what she wants, and he’s learned not to run from what he’s “done.” And faith in something bigger than himself?

Yeah. His father’s voice comes through the clouds just before he decides to roar and claim his title. Through the clouds. Because that whole “we’re a part of something bigger, something more important than ourselves,” was always what he was missing. He was just thinking about himself.

And all of this is because Mufasa is the example of Who Simba Really Is: Lives His Life Sacrificially For Others. That’s Mufasa.

That’s Mufasa, in the story of The Lion King. That’s his purpose as a character, that’s who he is.

So now if you make a movie that’s just about him, what you should be doing is showing how he got there. How he accepted who he Really Is instead of choosing who he wants to be, on his own. And you should make his father, and learning humility, an enormous part of that. Because self-sacrifice is such a pillar of his character. It’s the whole thing.

What you should certainly not be doing is telling a story that ends with finding self-worth or a kid who makes a name for himself. I repeat: if the Mufasa live action movie ends with Mufasa doing anything that revolves around self, they got him wrong and they set him up nonsensically for the next movie.

He should have to decide whether or not he wants to believe his own father, because of that one line, “let me tell you something my father told me.” That shows that he accepted his father’s lesson. And what was his father’s lesson about? Faith. In something BIGGER THAN YOURSELF. So then Mufasa grows up to be a character who lives his life sacrificially for others, and you can trace the roots back to that: “I learned a lesson about something bigger than myself from someone who was not myself, and I humbly believed and accepted that lesson.”

I mean jeez, the line is: “LOOK AT THE STARS.” Whenever you feel alone. Whenever you’re wrapped up in who you are and who you’re not and failure and the idea of what you want to be, knock it off. Quit looking at yourself and look at something bigger than you. And then you’ll get “Understanding of Who You Really Are”—no matter what mistakes you’ve made, no matter how you’ve failed, no matter what your circumstances are—thrown in.

…Of course, the Lion King remake ruined him anyway by having the point be “I’m not worthless.” And that was never the point. But whatever. I’m rambling now. You get the idea.

Mufasa is exactly what he needs to be for the original The Lion King. He’s exactly what he needs to be for Simba’s story. Mufasa is awesome.

[munstysmind]

BIRTHDAY CAKE - CHRIS EVANS

WARNING/S: Implied smut, Chris being adorable… that needs a warning, right??

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR MY WORK TO BE USED IN ANY CAPACITY

Divider by @firefly-graphics

MAIN MASTERLIST

please let me know if you would like to be added to a tag list

A loud crash comes from the kitchen, ripping you from your sleep. As soon as your brain registers its sudden return to consciousness, you groan loudly in protest and rub your eyes before reaching over to get phone from the bedside table and check the time.

It's just after ten.

You let out another groan as you stretch your entire body out before relaxing back into your boyfriend's king-sized bed.

You came back to Boston with him at the start of quarantine. Both of you were out of work with the film, and basically every other nonessential, industry being shut down so there was no real reason you had to stay in LA.

That was three months ago now and honestly, you both love living together. So much so that last week he asked you if you wanted to make it permanent. Of course, you'd said yes. The two of you had just slotted into each other's routines and quirks so seamlessly it was like you'd been living together for years. Your two-year relationship has never been stronger.

You're pulled out of your thoughts by another loud crash.

"Damn it" you hear him say, sounding extremely frustrated.

"What the hell is he doing?" you say to yourself as you get up and throw on his shirt from yesterday before heading out to see what all the commotion was about.

Pressing your lips together, you hold back a laugh as you lean against the door frame and take in the sight in front of you.

The kitchen is a complete disaster. Flour is everywhere. The floor, the counter... Chris.

Lord knows what he's trying to do.

"What happened in here?" you ask, causing him to jump and quickly try to hide what he's doing behind his back.

"I thought you were asleep" he says, brushing away the flour from the front of his shirt.

"I was"

"Fuck... I woke you up, didn't I?"

"Yeah"

"I'm sorry"

"It's OK. What are you doing?"

"Nothing"

"Then why are you trying to hide baking supplies behind you?"

"Well... it's your birthday"

"Go on"

"I'm trying to bake you a birthday cake"

"Chris...

"I don't remember it being this hard when I helped Ma as a kid"

"That's because Mama Evans is an amazing baker and did all the work while simultaneously making you think you were helping"

You make your way over to him and brush the flour he's somehow managed to get in his hair before sitting on the bench opposite him.

"You, my love, are a man of many talents but cooking and baking isn't really one of them" you tell him as you rest your arms on his shoulders and play with the hair at the back of his neck.

"I make a mean pesto egg, everyone loves them" he says, wearing the cute pout you love.

"They are an exception"

"I should have just got a box mix, I know I can't fuck that up"

"You went to all this effort just for me, you have no idea how much that means"

"We're stuck in lockdown and your family's on the other side of the country. I just... I wanted to make your day special"

"You make all my days special" you tell him quietly as a smile spreads across your face. You've never met anyone as loving as him. You don't know what you did to deserve him in your life, but you thank whatever greater power is responsible every single day that he is.

"I wanted today to be extra special. It's not every day that you turn thirty" he says with a shit eating grin that makes you roll your eyes.

"Urghhh, don't remind me"

"Hey, how to you think I feel, I'm the big four zero next year"

"I thought we were talking about me"

"We are, I was just saying"

"I can help, with the cake"

"Nope, it's your day".

"Is that so?"

"Yes"

"So does that mean I get to do whatever I want?"

"Yep"

"Then, I'm going to remove my boyfriend's shirt in the middle of the kitchen so he doesn't make a mess on the way to the bedroom".

"And why am I going to the bedroom exactly?"

"Because it's my birthday and I want my man to eat me out then rail me into the bed until I can't remember my own name"

"Well, in that case" he says with a smirk as he lifts his arms up like a child, making you laugh before grabbing the hem of his shirt and pull it over his head.

You lean forward and kiss his chest as he takes his shirt from you and blindly throws it over his shoulder into the pile of flour on the counter.

He takes your face and kisses you, hard, before sliding his hands down your back to your hips and pulling you close, your chests flush with each other.

You let out a quiet moan as he starts pressing open mouthed kisses up your neck, wrapping your legs around his waist when he sinks his teeth into your skin before tracing it with his tongue to soothe the sting.

He knows exactly what to do to make you come undone in 0.5 seconds.

"Fuck, Chris" you gasp, threading you fingers into his hair as he sucks a bruise onto your flesh. You pull his hair, bringing his face back to yours and kissing him.

He pulls away with a grin, making you whimper and follow him, trying to lock lips again.

With a chuckle he puts his hands under your thighs and lifts you off the bench, throwing yo over his shoulder.

"Chris!" you squeal as he starts heading towards the bedroom, Dodger following right behind him.

"No Bub. Trust me, you don't want to see what I'm about to do" he tells your fur baby, slapping you ass as if to prove a point, making you squeal again.

It's about to be the best birthday ever...

GENERAL TAGLIST: @aussieez @rookiemartin @babeyyemor @secretaryunpaid @pixie88 @chickensarentcheap @dhoruwolfie @themaradwrites @cali-nyc5 @darsynia @diamondoftheball @wewannasaygoodnight @sweetbunnyliddle @kingliam2019 @angelcavill66 @mis-lil-red @rcarbo1 @secretdream2 @identity2212 @fanfics-r-us-official @km-ffluv @dream-beyond-the-fantasy @ktficworld @juliaorplI78 @henry-cavs-tudor @red-write-hand @queenzee27 @kandis-mom

[zaacoy]

Lego monkie kid season 4 spoilers ‼️

(heyyyyy note from after finishing writing all this out: this first one is just me going crazy over debatable freenoodles content in s4, you have been warned. Everything in here is /pos!! teehee)

WOW. OKAY. WHAHSJJSJnsjabsjanJSdWHHWJH????? The effect this show has on me is almost beyond my comprehension, not even really sure how to put this into words

iiiiiiiiiiii'll figure that stuff out when it isn't 3 am, it'll be a little rb thread whatever that's called on Tumblr

For rn can we please talk about how stRONGLY FREENOODLES WON WITH THIS SEASON????? WHAGAHT??????? ISHDKSJBSKX!!!!!!!!

FIRST FRSIT FIRST.

The FACT that tang KNOWS EXACTLY how Pigsy makes his noodles from memory if not by HEART??? He has no recipe on him and pigsy can't help he just????? KNOWS pigsy's noodles recipe. Something that is VERY important to him and is unique to his family??? And to which the ONLY other person we know of that also knows pigsy's recipe is mk. His adopted son???? The only people pigsy has EVER told his recipe to is his basically son mk and TANG. OR, POTENTIALLY, Tang has spent so much time sitting right by pigsy's side as he works, watching him indulge in his passion day in and day out to the point where he's just picked it up on his own?? EITHER WAY. HUSBAND BEHAVIOR.

"I'm your tangy!" he. he did not just say that. "I'm YOUR TANGY"????? 'YOUR' POSSESIVE. BASICALLY "IM YOURS". AND NOT YOUR Tang, TANGY. A PETNAME/NICKNAME. WITH THAT EXPRESSION ON HIS FACE????????? H. HWHWJGSJ???? HOW did they get away with this I genuinely wanna know. That is SO GAY. CATASTROPHICALLY GAY. "YOUR TANGY". I am dead on the floor.

"I have devoted my life to this man" elaborate on that. nonono keep going, what did you mean by that. How do you platonically devOTE YOUR LIFE TO ANOTHER MAN????? THAT IS THE MOST OBVIOUS INDIRECT WAY YOU CAN SAY YOU'RE MARRIED. THIS E N T I R E SCENE HOW DID THEY GET AWAY WITH THIS???? HOW do you a man devote your life to another man in a nongay way, Tang. Asking for a friend I just wanna know

The look of awe. He is literally stunned. No fear no nothing just. woww what is my husband doing. Gay gay homosexual.

what.

THE.

FUCK.

In. In what UNIVERSE is leaping into someone's arm, NUZZLING AGAINST THEM BECAUSE YOU'RE SO HAPPY TO SEE THEM AGAIN, AND THEN STAYING CURLED UP IN THEIR ARMS ,BOTH OF YOU BEAMING AT ONE ANOTHER, NOT GAY. I. That's. I'm. HfhdhsggdwghwWHAWT???? They are so married. They are so gay for each other. I. I cannot even fathom. Not even going to get INTO THAT GIGGLE WHAT WAS THAAAAAAT.

Slight side note, glad to see a head canon validated! The little nuzzle thing was a cute little gesture that I've always hc'ed onto Tang pretty much from the beginning of my freenoodlesshipping journey. Watching it HAPPEN in canon??? Feels good >:3 He's a snuggler fr

almost got a 2 for one, I hc tang to be the kind of person that doesn't really stutter or close off when he gets flustered he just starts laughing. It'll start out as soft chuckles and giggling but it just grows deeper and louder the more flustered he gets. Pigsy, being completely enamored with his man, tends to fall into a laughing fit with him and then they just become a flustered happy giggling heep in each other's arms. Sooo close, I won't stretch Tang's little giggle so far as to say that that hc is also basically canon, WILL use this scene to justify it tho :3c

"it's beautiful" AS A RESPONSE TO PIGSY KICKING ASS??? HOW DO YOU NONROMANTICALLY CALL YOUR "FRIEND" BEAUTIFUL JUST CASUALLY. UNPROMPTED. OUT OF THEIR EARSHOT. WHAT????? Why. Why are they so?? wghshdj

Some quick fire more general freenoodles moments:

"Oh, Pigsy where are you?" The first person he thinks to look for is Pigsy? Pigsy specifically? Not sandy or monkie king, pigsy. mmmmhm.

Talking back to a demon that is cooking you as we speak by praising your definitely not husband the entire time? Very straight. That's a very straight look they're giving each other too. Yes, very (/sar)

Just. How happy and excited he looks watching pigsy cook and get back into his thing? They're so wholesome. Old supportive married couple

"Doesn't that moron know we're his family?" Dadsszszs

the look of support and encouragement. They're so soft they make my heart hurt

:glance:

Trying to support each other, quite literally having each other's backs when in danger

Holding onto your husband and trying to protect your husband by extending an arm out in front of him respectively

Pigsy doing his thing and Tang being COMPLETELY there for it. Look at him. That content prideful expression on his face. Pride in his husband. Two kick ass husbands and their two unimpressed, frustrated children. Also find it cute how Pigsy made a bunch of food and then actively weaponized it but still went out of his way to make Tang in specific a nice bowl. Not the other two, just Tang.

IN CONCLUSION: 🏳️‍🌈🐷🍜

It is 4 aaaaaammmmmmm, goodnightttt prepare for more delusional ramblings later in the week I have so many tang thought jfjfn

[isa-ghost]

returned to ask for the chayanne and phil headcanons

[reverb] CHAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANE

qPhil headcanons masterlist

DO NOT FORGET CHAYANNE'S ROOTS OF STANDING ON THE VERY EDGE OF THE WALL DAY 1. This little motherfucker unlimited lives to give his papa a heart attack!! It is his fucking pleasure to be a menace!!

I've ranted about this before (can't find my post abt it) but PHIL DOESN'T REALIZE THE THINGS HE'S TEACHING HIS SON ARE UNHEALTHY FLAWS. THE BEING STRONG ALL THE TIME AND PROTECTING EVERYONE ALWAYS AND WHATNOT. HE DOESN'T REALIZE HOW DAMAGING IT CAN BE. STOP BAD DAD TRUTHING HIM, HE'S PASSING ON WHAT HE THINKS IS RIGHT BECAUSE THAT IDIOT EXISTS THAT WAY HIMSELF. GOD. THEY BOTH NEED THERAPY.

Chayanne is in kahoots with Lullah to convince Phil to do a hardcore project level build someday

They love sparring with each other so much. Phil loves giving his son tips and seeing him rapidly catch on & improve and Chayanne loves to see his dad in his element and thriving

Crow brain says Oh It's Orange? Okay, Gift For Chayanne Yesyes

Chayanne is the king of well-timed Orange Justices and they always crack Phil up

Phil has no idea but Chayanne is trying so hard to set things up so Missa has a perfect and uninterrupted opportunity to confess his feelings. Chayanne's happy regardless of if they stay platonic or go romantic but he at least wants his papa to get the chance to communicate with his dad

Sometimes Chayanne misses 1 on 1 time with Phil. It's nothing against Lullah (she actually Also desires 1 on 1 dad time), he just aches for the nostalgia of the early days. Phil taking him places and teaching him how to survive, the pleasant quiet and less tension. It's easier on Phil when he isn't watching two kids

The only reason Phil eats 3 square meals a day consistently is bc Chayanne exists. Btw Chayanne also loves making him snacks

He thrives on asking Phil wildly out of pocket questions. Like "where do babies come from" but more creative, less overdone. "What happens when we die?" type shit, things that make Phil do a double take and have a mini crisis

Chayanne wants to play irl fruit ninja with Phil but Phil hasn't been convinced to try it yet. (It IS working slowly tho)

Phil's lame dad jokes don't always kill Chayanne like they do Lullah so sometimes he resorts to low blows: Little German Boy memes

Sometimes Phil gets chased around the house with a spatula bc he's being a little shit or a self-deprecating idiot while Chayanne so happens to be cooking

They do something special together on Techno's birthday to honor him. There's no set activity/event they do, it's just whatever feels right and most genuine at the time. Chayanne always makes a big potato-based dish to offer on a little ofrenda though

They're both kinda playing the I Pretend I Do Not See It game with the whole,, Chayanne fighting Phil (EK) thing. "Ah yes you were fighting Ender King physically, not at all him in my body, I wasn't involved at all, you weren't hurting your dad's body and I wasn't trying to kill my son not at all haha yep, neither of us are at all fucked up about it what do you mean" 🥚🐤 🤝🏻 😁🐦‍⬛

[snowdice]

Big Bang Editing Story [Day 121]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53

Chapter 54 (Patton)

“I still can’t believe he’s allowing this,” King Thomas said from next to Patton. The two of them were standing at the edge of the arena outside the horse stable, watching from a safe distance.

“If he hadn’t tried to bite me earlier, I’d think he was a different horse,” Patton agreed.

“He doesn’t even let Logan ride him,” the king said. “At least not ride him and give him directions.”

Patton was very aware of that. Logan did on occasion choose to get up onto Mr. Apples��� saddle. However, Mr. Apples was always the once who got to decide where they went after that. Logan had no say.

With that in mind, Patton, Logan, and every stable hand who’d heard about the prospective riding lessons had tried to convince Virgil to learn to ride on a different horse. Virgil was just as stubborn as Mr. Apples however and had insisted. Logan, being the only one who could be around Mr. Apples without risking being kicked, had become his de facto tutor.

Not even Logan could have expected that within a week, Virgil would be able to control Mr. Apples. Though perhaps ‘control’ was the wrong word. Nothing could control Mr. Apples, but for some reason, Mr. Apples seemed willing to do as Virgil asked.

Even right now Mr. Apples was trotting around the training arena like he was a well-trained trick horse warming up with his rider.

“Logan told him we could go on an actual ride today if the lesson went well,” Patton told the king. The lesson seemed to be just getting over because Logan said something to Virgil and Virgil started to climb off. Mr. Apples was patient and still as he dismounted.

“Do you think he’d mind if I went with you?” King Thomas asked.

Patton shrugged. “Mr. Apples might.”

“Mr. Apples definitely will,” the king replied. “I’ll come anyway.”

Logan had walked over to where Patton and the king were standing while Virgil fed Mr. Apples some apple pieces as a reward.

“I hear you’re going to go riding today,” King Thomas said.

Logan nodded. “Mr. Apples seems to listen to him well enough,” he said.

“I might join you if that’s alright. Where are you kids going?” the king asked.

“I was thinking the main forest path,” Logan replied. “It’s not a particularly difficult route, but it’s also a part of the castle grounds Virgil hasn’t been able to see yet. Loraine told me it has been recently cleared after the winter.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” the king said. “Are you going now?”

“Once Patton and I saddle up our horses,” Logan said. “You can come.”

“Great,” the king said with a smile. “I’ll ask for Bella’s saddle to be brought out. I haven’t gone on a ride yet this week.”

He turned then to walk towards the stables leaving Patton and Logan alone.

“Do you think he’s been acting weird?” Logan asked, turning towards Patton.

Patton frowned. “No,” he said. “Not really.”

“I’m just wondering why he wants to go horseback riding with us.”

“He likes spending time with you?” Patton guessed.

“Yes,” Logan said, “but typically in a setting that doesn’t involve Mr. Apples.”

Well, that was fair.

“I mean, it’s not too weird,” Patton said, thinking back through the last couple of days. King Thomas had been a bit… clingy.

“He’s been hanging around a lot,” Logan said, echoing Patton’s thoughts with narrowed eyes. He glanced back at Virgil. “You don’t think Virgil let something slip, do you?”

“He didn’t say anything,” Patton said. “I think your dad would say something if Virgil let slip he was an assassin somehow.”

“Unless he let slip something that didn’t quite implicate himself but invited suspicion.”

“Your dad doesn’t seem suspicious,” Patton said. At least, Patton didn’t think he did. He hadn’t been acting mean in any way. In fact, he might have even been acting nicer.

Logan frowned. “We should keep an eye on him, especially around Virgil.”

Patton bit his lip.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Are we ever going to tell your dad about Virgil?” he asked.

Logan hesitated. “I don’t…” he trailed. “I’m not sure.”

“It just feels weird lying for so long,” Patton said. Patton didn’t lie a lot. Sure, maybe he’d pretend to not know what Mama was talking about when sweets went missing from the kitchens or he’d pretend to not know what Logan’s birthday gift was, but he’d never lied about anything serious before now.

“I know, but,” Logan glanced back at Virgil once again, “even if we did decide to tell, we’d have to convince Virgil everything would be alright beforehand. I don’t think we’re at that point yet. He was terrified of Father until a few months ago, and he’s still cautious around him sometimes.”

Logan was right, of course. Virgil was getting more and more comfortable around the king, but he figured any of the progress made would go down the drain as soon as they brought up telling King Thomas about where exactly Virgil had come from. Patton didn’t know if Virgil would ever be comfortable enough.

“We should go get our own horses,” Logan suggested, and Patton nodded.

Patton and Logan’s horses had already been saddled by the stable hands in anticipation of their ride and it didn’t take long for the king to saddle his own horse, Bella.

The forest path at this time of year was very pretty, Patton thought. The tree branches now had small green leaves on them after having been barren for the entire winter and flowers were starting to grow. In a few weeks’ time it would be even prettier, but it would also be harder for the groundskeeper to maintain as well as it was right now.

Virgil really did seem less anxious around King Thomas now. The path was only wide enough for two horses to go at once, and he didn’t seem to mind that he and the king ended up next to each other while Patton and Logan lagged behind. In fact, he and the king seemed to be having a nice conversation about the local wildlife.

However, if Patton looked close enough, he did sort of see what Logan meant. Virgil may not be anxious talking to the king now, but the king himself seemed just a little bit nervous at least at the beginning of the ride.

He seemed to relax a bit as they rode (even laughing when Mr. Apples tried to bite him when he got too close).

Logan had been teaching Virgil the basics about things like animals, but there was still a pretty big gap in his education when it came to anything that wasn’t about training to fight and kill. King Thomas seemed more than willing to answer any of his questions when it came to the animals and plants around them even if they were sometimes a bit silly.

He’d seen a bird that looked like a dove. (It may have even been a dove, but Patton hadn’t seen it.) This had been a source of endless confusion for him.

“But shouldn’t it live in the dovecote?” Virgil asked.

“Not all birds live in a dovecote,” the king explained again.

“But it’s a dove,” Virgil said with a frown.

“Not all doves live in a dovecote,” the king replied.

“But it’s a dovecote,” Virgil argued. “It’s for the doves.”

“Yes, but there are also wild doves,” the king said.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Virgil replied.

“What about it doesn’t make sense?” the king asked with a laugh in his tone.

“Doves go in the dovecote,” Virgil said.

Patton was starting to have trouble following this argument.

“Dovecotes are made for doves,” the king said, “but not all doves go in dovecotes.”

“Why?”

This seemed to stump the king momentarily, but he still answered after thinking for a bit. “Doves existed before people got to them,” the king explained. “People caught and trained some of them, but there was no way to catch all of them. So, some stayed in the wild and continued with their lives like they had been before humans. Plus, sometimes domesticated doves fly off and never come back. Sometimes they might die, but other times they may have just gotten lost and had to build a new life somewhere far away. Or maybe they even decided that being a trained dove working for humans wasn’t for them, so they decided to go off on their own.”

“You let them do that?” Virgil asked.

“We can’t really stop them in the end,” the king said. “People can try, but it never ends up working as long as they can fly.”

Virgil thought about this. “I still don’t understand,” he said, “but okay.”

“We should take you to the cliffs,” the king suggested.

“What are the cliffs?”

“The castle grounds were built for defense,” King Thomas explained. “The edge of the grounds to the North is a large river and overlooking it is a huge cliff. It’s a good place for picnics and for birdwatching. It’s a bit of a trip, but now would be a good time of year to go.”

He glanced over his shoulder back at Logan and Patton. “What do you boys think about going to the cliffs sometime? Maybe in about a week?”

Logan squinted at his father suspiciously. It wasn’t so much the fact that the king was asking them to go to the cliffs. They did that every so often. However, this time, it only supported Logan’s claims that the king was hanging out with them a lot recently.

“Sure,” Logan said, after a moment.

“Sounds fun!” Patton said cheerily right after, trying to cover for the lack of enthusiasm in Logan’s voice with his own. Judging by King Thomas’s expression and Logan’s tight-lipped scowl, he may have overcompensated.

“Great,” the king said. “I’ll” make sure to make arrangements when we get back to the castle.”

Chapter 55 (Logan)

            Virgil was beginning to be able to read some of the common instructions in magic books, but Logan still made sure to read out the instructions to him at least twice before setting him loose. He’d started to jot down notes to himself about things, though these notes were not words, but various symbols that only made sense to the boy himself.

            Logan had asked about their meaning at one point and received an answer that, while earnest, was unintelligible. The symbols were mostly just pictures of things to represent certain steps in spell casting, but they were filtered through Virgil’s rudimentary penmanship and often bizarre perception of the world.

Though, despite the fact that Logan could not often decipher his chicken scratch, it did seem to help him produce impressively quality charms even as Logan began to introduce more complicated processes to make them. He was a very good student even if he didn’t have the best foundation for learning.

“I add lavender for the next step, right?” Virgil asked, his finger on a word in Logan’s magic book.

“That is correct,” Logan confirmed.

Virgil looked back at the book and mouthed the word ‘lavender’ to himself before turning back to his potion. He grabbed a few sprigs of lavender and threw them into the cauldron.

The liquid popped and bubbled violently, but Virgil didn’t flinch as he once would have, prepared for it now.

After the lavender, Logan knew that it would have to simmer for 5 minutes. Virgil looked down at the boiling liquid, contemplating it for a long moment.

“Can I soak a knife in it?” he asked.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Can I soak a knife in the potion once it’s done?”

“In that potion?” Logan clarified. “In the emergency hand warmer potion?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I think a hot knife would be useful,” Virgil said.

“For what?”

Virgil shrugged. “Cooking food on the road,” he said, “burning wood, stabbing someone and immediately cauterizing the wound.”

“That is… not a standard use for this potion,” Logan said.

Virgil titled his head at him. “Would it work though?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Logan contemplated. “Perhaps. The potion can cause burns if one uses too much of it or if it is used without an appropriate layer between it and the skin. If one were to pick a knife with enough surface area and let it soak long enough, it could in theory get hot enough to do as desired. Hmm…” he thought about it. “There would perhaps be the problem of the potion not sticking to the knife very long as it is intended to soak into fabric. However, cardamom could solve that issue as long as it doesn’t interact with any other ingredients. Let me see that spell.”

Virgil stepped out of his way so he could study the page. “Yes,” Logan said after scanning through all of the ingredients. “I think cardamom would work for something like that. Let me go find some.”

He turned to walk towards where he kept his supplies of potion ingredients. Virgil followed on his heals.

“Can we use a serrated knife?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Virgil,” Logan said, nodding as he searched through the cupboard that should hold the coriander. “The knife being serrated would help keep the potion stuck to the blade after many uses and would increase the surface area.”

“That was certainly my intentions,” Virgil said smoothly. There was something odd about the tone that had Logan turning to him and blinking at him. Virgil just smiled at him innocently and Logan turned back to the cabinet finally locating the coriander.

“So how are we going to use that?” Virgil asked.

“We’ll put it in right before the last step and let it sit for about 3 minutes,” Logan said. “If it doesn’t quite work, we may need to make another batch. There are options other than cardamom, but that’s the first idea that comes to mind and it a lot simpler if it works.”

He continued to speak of the many other options they could try as they returned to the caldron as well as how they could test the hot knife. It was already about time for the next step and Virgil did it without interrupting Logan’s rant.

Virgil listened to his suggestions with interest all while still making sure the potion he was making was progressing well.

Logan did eventually take over to finish the potion with the revised steps he’d come up with and they ended up with a potion that looked perfect except it was a few shades darker than the one they’d originally been planning to make.

“Well, it looks good,” Logan declared. “We will need to acquire a knife to test its effectiveness, however.”

“There are a few good ones in the kitchen,” Virgil pointed out. “I especially like the one 10 inch one with the black and white handle.”

“You have been eyeing up the kitchen knives?” Logan asked.

Virgil rolled his eyes as though that was not a perfectly reasonable question to ask him. “We should steal that one,” Virgil said.

“Do you think we’ll be able to sneak past Ms. Heart to steal a knife from her kitchen?” Logan asked.

“We can’t,” Virgil said.

Logan almost didn’t believe him… and then he remembered the water pouch incident. “It’s the dinner rush,” Logan said. “We should probably wait for a bit.”

Virgil was shaking his head. “The dinner rush is the best time,” he said. “Everyone will be distracted, and all of the knives will be out and in prime stealing position.”

“And if Patton’s mother catches us messing around in her kitchen during her busiest time of day, she will have Father ground us for a week.”

“Then we just won’t get caught,” Virgil said.

“I’m not sure if it’s that simple,” Logan said with a frown.

“You can stay here if you want,” Virgil offered. “I’ll just go by myself.”

“No, I’ll come too,” Logan relented, though he did still have some reservations about the idea.

He let Virgil lead him towards the main dining hall. By now, Virgil knew the kitchens and dining hall very well.

“Stay here,” he said. They were in a hallway a few feet down from the staff entrance to the kitchen. “I’m going to do some reconnaissance.”

“What type of reconnaissance?” Logan asked, but Virgil had already disappeared before his very eyes. With a blink, Logan looked up and saw a dark figure disappear onto a balcony overhead.

Well, Logan really had no choice but to wait there for him. It wasn’t like he could follow him. He could hear the clatter of silverware on plates from the dining hall down the corridor as he impatiently waited. It only took Virgil a bit over five minutes to return. He dropped suddenly from above and landed in front of Logan in a crouch.

“Well?” Logan asked, letting a bit of irritation into his tone so Virgil knew he was displeased. Virgil did not seem to care.

“Got it,” Virgil said with a wide grin, brandishing a large kitchen knife.

Logan flinched back at the unexpected sight of a weapon.

“You said you were doing reconnaissance!” he sputtered. “Not…” he trailed off remembering that while they weren’t in eyesight of anyone right now, they could be in earshot of someone. He lowered his tone, “stealing the knife already.”

“I was doing reconnaissance,” Virgil said with a shrug, “and then I used the information gathered by that reconnaissance to steal a knife.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at him.

Virgil just smiled. “You would have gotten in my way.”

“I would not have,” Logan insisted.

“How many times has Patton’s mom caught you stealing food from the kitchens in the past?” he asked.

Logan pursed his lips. “That is Patton’s doing,” he said.

“Sure,” Virgil said with an eyeroll. “I’ll have you prove it some other day, but for now,” he twirled the knife around in a way that made Logan cringe even though he did seem to have an expert handle over it. “We have a knife.”

“Right,” Logan agreed with a nod. “We should continue the experiment.”

Virgil stored the knife away… somewhere on his person, and they snuck back to Logan’s rooms.

When Virgil handed over the knife, Logan did have to admit it was a perfect specimen for their project: long and saw-like with a heatproof handle.

Logan carefully set it in a shallow dish and proceeded to pour the potion they’d made onto it. They let it sit for a little under half an hour before carefully pulling it out of the concoction with tongs and letting it airdry. Meanwhile, Virgil suggested they set up a testing area with various old sheets and clothing. They’d even found and decorated an armor stand with an old suit that Logan particularly disliked.

“Well,” Logan said once he’d tapped the handle and had not gotten burned by the potion. “I think we can test it now.” For safety, he made Virgil put on thick heatproof gloves before handing him the knife.

“So how do I make it work?” Virgil asked.

“The original potion works through light friction,” Logan said.

“So just start stabbing things?”

Logan went to respond, but before he could, Virgil had already twisted around and sliced through one of the sheets hanging in Logan’s potion room. There was a sizzling noise as the knife cut through the sheet like it was tissue paper leaving two aflame halves flapping about.

Logan leapt forward to tear the pieces of sheet down and the two of them stomped on the flames to put out the fire.

“It’s perfect,” Virgil said with a grin once the charred remains of the sheet were extinguished.

“It does seem to work as intended,” Logan agreed.

“Let’s do it again,” Virgil said.

“Er, well, perhaps we shouldn’t…,” Logan started, but Virgil had already set his eyes on the armor stand they’d set up. That suddenly seemed like not such a good idea to Logan.

He stabbed the armor stand viciously. It went up in flames instantly. Logan’s eyes widened as the blaze only seemed to get bigger as Virgil drew back the knife.

Virgil did not seem to share Logan’s worry as he turned and stabbed another piece of hanging clothing, setting it ablaze as well.

“Virgil, no! You’re going to burn the room down!” Logan yelped.

The armor stand at that very moment decided to fall to the ground. They had, perhaps, not set the testing area up as well as they should have because it fell directly onto one of Logan’s rugs and set that on fire as well.

“Oops,” Virgil said, eyes wide.

Above the sound of crackling fire, Logan heard a tapping on the door between his bedroom and work room. It opened slightly after a moment and Logan’s father’s voice called out as he was sticking his head into the room, “Um, what do you mean Virgil… is burning the room down!”

The moment Logan’s father fully processed the presence of the flames, he was bursting into the room. He at least remembered that there was a fire extinguishing powder stocked in Logan’s work room even though that fact had slipped Logan’s mind in the chaos. (Perhaps Logan should have thought to set it out when they were testing a fire knife, but Logan would just add that to his growing list of regrets.)

The king managed to put all of the fires out within 30 seconds of poking his head through the door, but the fire left in his eyes when he turned to them afterwards was perhaps more dangerous.

Virgil slowly hid the knife behind his back. It was probably a bit late for that.

“What were the two of you doing in here?” the king asked.

“Nothing,” Logan said. Virgil shot him a look that told Logan what the boy thought about his lying abilities.

Logan’s father put his hands on his hips. “‘Nothing’ set the rug on fire?”

“We may have been doing a small experiment,” Logan said.

“What experiment?” the king asked.

“…I do not wish to say.”

“Logan.”

“Virgil wanted a fire knife.”

“A what?”

Virgil frowned over at Logan. “Your resistance to interrogation techniques is deplorable.”

Father turned to look at Virgil and obviously spotted the fact that Virgil was holding something behind his back.

“Give it here,” Father said, though his tone was a bit gentler with Virgil than it had been with Logan.

Virgil debated it for a moment, but then offered over the knife with a pout on his face. Father gingerly took it and the fire-resistant gloves from him. “Where did the two of you even get this knife?”

“You can’t tell her,” Logan said.

“You stole a knife from the kitchens?!” the king asked.

“We borrowed it,” Logan said.

“Can it be used for cooking anymore?”

“…Well.”

“In the intended manner.”

“No.”

“Then you stole it.”

Logan just frowned and looked away.

“I’m going to go put this in a secure location,” Father said, grimacing at the fire knife in his hands. “No more experiments for you two for a month. I’ll sic Patton on you.”

With that, he picked up what was left of the fire extinguishing powder (just in case) and turned to exit the room.

“Well,” Logan said once he was gone. “That was irresponsible.”

“I could steal it back from him.”

“N-no don’t do that.”

“I definitely could though,” Virgil said.

“I did not hear you say that,” Logan said, putting his hands over his ears. “I am not responsible for any more of your actions in this matter. I am going to the library.”

He walked out of the room then and Virgil followed him to the upstairs library. He said nothing more about the fire knife, but Logan would be a fool to suppose he forgot about it.

Chapter 56 (Thomas)

“Good day for a picnic,” Helen commented as she handed over the basket Thomas had requested from her a few days before. He was taking Logan, Patton, and Virgil to the cliffs today and it was perfect weather for it. Spring was truly here, which meant that those of Thomas’s duties that had laid dormant over the harsh winter were about to start up again.

The world had been on pause for a bit considering no armies or agents from any kingdom could get through the snow the last few months, but the concerns of last fall were showing their heads once again.

Thomas had just gotten word a day ago that the queen of Lamir had routed out a second assassin hiding in her ranks over the winter. The assassin had been sent shortly after it was made clear that the queen wouldn’t bow down after the assassination of her mother. Luckily, the assassin sent for Queen Cecil had not managed to complete her mission during the winter months.

While there had been no similar attempt on Prijaznia soil, Thomas couldn’t help but feel it was only a matter of time now that the snow had melted. They were already working on increasing security in the coming weeks and, though it was doubtful an assassin had managed to hide in the castle all winter without revealing themselves, they’d be closely scrutinizing all of the newer staff members.

It would be a stressful time in the coming months, which is why, despite everything Thomas needed to do, he was still going to take his son and his son’s friends on a picnic today. Logan had already started taking on royal duties as of late, but he still hadn’t taken them all on quite yet. Considering this was last summer before Logan was of age, they should at least try to take advantage of it where they could. Patton was a year younger, but the sentiment held for him as well.

Then there was Virgil. Despite their best efforts, they still didn’t know enough about Virgil, but Thomas was fairly sure he’d never had a summer to enjoy until now.

“Thanks for prepping lunch for us,” Thomas said to Helen with a smile.

“No problem,” she said waving them off. “I put in some of Virgil’s favorites.”

“Great,” Thomas said. “Do you know where the kids are?”

“Patton said they were going to go pet the cats, so I’d guess they’re in the gardens.”

Thomas thanked her again and told her to have a good day before exiting the kitchen. There was a nearby door that led straight towards the part of the gardens Patton and Logan had always favored. He figured they’d either still be around there or they would have wandered towards the stables by now knowing that they’d be taking horses to the cliffs.

So, he decided to simply walk the normal path from the door to the stable, hoping to find them.

His prediction ended up being hilariously correct. They were indeed on the path Thomas had chosen. It was clear they (or at least Logan) were attempting to make it to the stable. However, as was typical, a portion of the party had been waylaid by whimsy.

Logan was standing further down the path, arms crossed and frowning as he watched his friends. Patton and Virgil were surrounded by cats. Patton was sitting down, holding two of them in his lap and watching Virgil’s legs being swarmed by the rest of them, maybe two dozen in total.

Virgil looked confused, but not unhappy about the presence of so many cats. He was leaning down to try to pet them all.

Logan met Thomas’s eyes as he approached and waved a frustrated hand at the two of them. Logan couldn’t help but smile.

“Virgil fed one of them,” Logan complained as though he wanted Thomas to somehow go into the past and prevent this crime.

Patton and Virgil looked over at Thomas, noticing him when Logan addressed him.

“You’re going to make Princess Marisol jealous,” Thomas said. Logan frowned at Thomas as he used the ‘Princess’ label for the cat.

“Princess Marisol decided not to come,” Virgil said with a shrug. He continued to pet one of the cats.

“She’s probably sleeping on my pillow,” Logan said, sounding grumpy.

Thomas just chuckled. Princess Marisol was technically Logan’s cat, at least that’s what the kids said, and she did spend much of her time in the royal rooms. However, she was very clearly actually Virgil’s cat. Virgil just spent a lot of time in the royal wing as well.

In fact, Thomas still didn’t know where Virgil was supposed to be sleeping. He and Mr. Deknis had actually tried to tail him a couple of times, but he always ended up sleeping in Logan’s room those nights.

Knowing Virgil, he might just sleep in the walls. Though that still did not answer the question of where his parents or guardians were. They still had not figured it out. Thomas would assume he was an orphan who’d snuck onto castle grounds for safety, but Virgil had told Mr. Deknis during their first meeting that he was supposed to be in the castle, and it had not been a lie.

Then again, it had slowly become apparent that Virgil was good at dodging the multrum’s powers. It was starting to seem more likely that he’d somehow inserted a second meaning into his answer to Mr. Deknis that night than he somehow had some ghost guardian no one was able to locate working in the castle.

“She deserves the pillow more than you,” Virgil said, bringing Thomas’s thoughts back to the situation at hand. The look of audacity on Logan’s face made Thomas chuckle.

Thomas cut in before it could become a fight. “I could get Princess Marisol a pillow, so she doesn’t sleep on yours. Or we can get you a new pillow if you’d prefer, Logan.”

“It’s not about the pillow for her,” Logan argued. “It’s about her inflated sense of superiority.”

“She deserves it,” Virgil declared. Thomas could tell he was just trying to rile Logan up, and Thomas was sure Logan knew it too, but still his son reacted exactly in the way Virgil wanted him to.

“You have enabled and encouraged this behavior from the start!” Logan seethed.

“She’s a Princess.”

“She is not a princess!”

Patton shook his head while squeezing the cats in his arms, completely used to this behavior at this point. He ran a chin idly over one of the cat’s heads while watching the argument.

“We’re never going to make it to the picnic at this rate,” Thomas said to him, “and after your mother made all of this wonderful food.”

“You’re the dad,” Patton said. “Make them stop.”

And, of course, Patton did just mean that he was Logan’s dad with that statement. However, when he glanced back up at the silly argument still going on between his son and the cat covered boy on the ground, it did almost look like a fight between siblings.

Especially with the dark hair and stubborn but mischievous look in Virgil’s eyes, Thomas could almost imagine the boy being his own child.

He shook away the thoughts and glanced at the picnic basket in his hand.

“We do have a lot of food in this basket,” Thomas said, pitching his voice up so that Logan (and more importantly) Virgil would hear them clearly.

Virgil immediately turned to look at him, abandoning all interest in antagonizing Logan to look at the basket curiously.

Thomas was never sure if he should be amused or worried about how food motivated Virgil often was.

“What’s in the basket?” Virgil asked.

“I’m not sure,” Thomas said. “Patton’s mom made it. We’ll just have to see once we get to the picnic area.”

Virgil nodded in understanding and began to gently scoot all of the cats out of his lap. Logan rolled his eyes, but didn’t seem inclined to continue the argument he’d been dragged into. Virgil and Patton got to their feet and they continued on their way towards the stables.

The horses Thomas had requested be prepared for their trip were already in saddles, though the stable hand who had been handling Mr. Apples seemed a bit dirtier and more exhausted than the rest.

The stable hand seemed as happy to hand Mr. Apples over to Virgil as Virgil was to have Mr. Apples handed over to him. Thomas received Bella with a smile and Logan and Patton got their own horses as well.

The Cliffs were about half an hour's ride from the main castle. There was a mostly well-maintained path to it, though it was easy to get lost if one didn’t know the way. Mr. Apples knew the way perhaps better than Thomas himself and seemed annoyed by the fact that Thomas was trying to lead the way.

Virgil and Thomas ended up side-by-side whenever the path allowed it to placate him.

He still marveled at how willing Mr. Apples was to let Virgil ride him, especially when he tossed his head in Thomas’s direction, a horse’s equivalent of giving Thomas a stink-eye.

“Are you excited for the picnic?” Thomas asked the boy beside him.

Virgil glanced over at him and nodded.

“I am too,” Thomas said. “It’s always beautiful this time of year. I’m glad I could find the time to take you all there this year.”

“Are you very busy?” Virgil asked curiously.

“I am king,” Thomas reminded, “and now that the world isn’t snowed in anymore things will be busy.”

“With the war?” Virgil asked.

Thomas paused for a few seconds. “Yes,” he confirmed. “With the war, but you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Virgil asked.

“You’re just a kid,” Thomas said.

“I’m 14,” Virgil said.

Thomas glanced at him. “Exactly,” he said, “a kid, and luckily, you’re in a place that can afford you the luxury of being one.”

“What do you mean?”

“The war has been mainly fought on Mocnejsi soil in recent years. Our boarders have held strong against invasions. Unless something goes horribly wrong suddenly, it would take a long time for the main conflict to get here. The only real threat in the castle would be assassins sent after me personally.”

“Right,” Virgil said. There was an awkward pause in conversation before he spoke again. “You’re winning the war then?” he asked.

“Something could always happen,” Thomas said, “but for the most part, yes, we have quite the advantage right now.”

“Oh,” Virgil said.

Thomas shook his head as they were coming up to a narrowing of the path. “Anyway, today is a day to not think about war. Today we’re going to have a lovely picnic and do some bird watching.”

“Right,” Virgil agreed from behind Thomas as Bella took the lead (to Mr. Apples discontent.)

When the path widened again, Thomas did his best to direct the topic to lighter subjects and soon they made it to The Cliffs.

Chapter 57 (Virgil)

Virgil had never been to a picnic. At least, that’s what Patton had informed him when Virgil had described his past experiences of eating outdoors. Logan had agreed even though he’d admitted that the definition of “picnic” was only eating a pre-packaged meal outdoors which Virgil had done plenty of times.

From what Virgil could tell, the main difference was just how much stuff one brought to a picnic.

In addition to the basket full of food (that Virgil still hadn’t gotten to look in yet), the king had brought a large soft quilt that he had Logan and Virgil spread out on the ground for them all to sit on.

Patton and Logan had also packed some things themselves to bring along. Logan had brought along a book to read, and Patton had brought along a board game (thankfully not checkers but something Virgil did not recognize). Virgil hadn’t brought anything (except for the fire knife he was definitely not supposed to have and was definitely not letting the king see) because he hadn’t known he was supposed to bring things. He wouldn’t have known what to bring anyway.

The blanket was soft and a much better alternative to sitting on the ground, especially because, while there was grass at the top of The Cliffs, there were also a good number of rocks.

The king set the picnic basket in the middle of the blanket once it was spread out and then lowered himself down to sit on one side. Patton quickly followed him, already fiddling with some of his board game pieces, though he wasn’t setting it up yet. Virgil highly doubted that Logan was going to be allowed to read his book unless Patton eventually got bored of the game.

However, they would, hopefully, be allowed to make use of the basket the king had brought along.

Virgil followed the king and Patton’s lead and got to his knees on the blanket across the picnic basket from the king. He peered at the basket curiously.

He didn’t quite know what picnic food was, but Patton had told them they’d be getting ‘picnic food’ and he was very curious about what that meant.

King Thomas smiled at him. “Let’s see what Patton’s mom packed us, huh?” He reached for the basket and flipped it open as Logan sat next to Virgil. “There is a lot more food than usual in here,” the king said, sounding amused. “Let’s see.”

He began to pull out packaged food and glanced in each package to identify it before setting it out.

“We have a few types of mini sandwiches,” he said, putting them down, “and some pasta salad.” He set down the bowl.

“We also have… er something else.” He showed it to Logan.

“They’re hot cauliflower bites,” Logan said instantly upon seeing them. Virgil perked up in excitement. That was one of his favorite foods.

“Ah,” King Thomas said, but shrugged and set it down. “We also have two desserts apparently: cookies and mini apple pies. That last one’s a bit extra for a picnic.”

“They’re very good,” Virgil said happily.

“And we also have.” King Thomas paused, looking confused. “Chicken alfredo?”

“Yes!” Virgil said.

“Why do we have chicken alfredo for a picnic?”

“It’s a Virgil picnic,” Logan groaned. “She packed us a Virgil picnic.”

“Hey, at least momma sent us something too,” Patton said.

“I think I’ll stick to sandwiches for today,” King Thomas said. He looked at Patton and Logan. “Do either of you want…?”

“No,” Logan said. Patton shook his head.

The king nodded and offered the entire covered bowl of chicken alfredo to Virgil. “Here, this one’s yours,” he said.

“Really?” Virgil asked tentatively. It wasn’t exactly strange for people here to offer him food, and he’d expected and anticipated getting to eat on this venture, but the king of the country offering him an entire bowl of his favorite food was something else.

“It’s not really my idea of a picnic food and you seem excited for it,” King Thomas said with a warm smile, still holding it out.

Virgil took it reverently. Despite the time it had taken to get to the cliffs, the bottom of the container was still warm. Virgil assumed it was one of the heating spells the kitchen sometimes used.

“Thanks,” Virgil said, setting it in his lap.

“Of course, Virgil,” the king said.

The bowl was enough for four people to have a little bit, but for one person it was a lot. Still, Virgil was offered a little of every other food in the picnic basket (and he ate a good number of the hot cauliflower bites).

“Where do you put all of that?” the king asked when Virgil finished polishing off the chicken alfredo bowl.

[leadenn]

Mom Tang Shen Again

part two

Shen loved baby noises. Her beautiful baby girl had been very fussy, and Miwa used to constantly whine if she was not given attention. She cried, she giggled, and Tang Shen would do nearly anything to hear Miwa's voice again.

She only says nearly anything, because she would not trade her boys for anything. Not even Miwa. It was a thought that made her physically ill with guilt, but the lives are children are not tokens to exchange. She wouldn't give up any of her children to favor her daughter.

She got used to her boys and their personalities very fast. Of course she didn't need to get used to how they look, she knows that they'll grow up to look like. She just needed time to adjust from one baby to four. Especially four with such large personalities.

Raphael is a little drama king. He lives in Shen's arms while she was at home and his cries at night only cease when Shen is there to comfort him, usually it works out since she's often awake grading her student's work. Sometimes it was frustrating to try and juggle giving her baby boy the attention he demanded and reading essays. Sometimes she got annoyed, but then she imagines that there will be a day where she picks her son up for the last time and suddenly that annoyance is replaced by a desire to hold all of her sons and cry.

Michelangelo is a little bundle of joy. He hardly cries, only when he needs something, and he always stops when Shen or Yoshi arrive to care for him. Yoshi thinks he likes her better though, so he was the second Mama's boy in their little family. He was curious, often to a worrying degree. There's nothing her brave little Michelangelo won't attempt to eat or crawl off of. She and Yoshi are always there to catch him. His laughter makes Shen's heart melt, and luckily for her she gets to hear it every single day.

Donatello was smart and quiet. He liked to play with things and see how they move, but unlike Michelangelo he didn't try an eat them. He took apart one of her pens, and after a heart attack and desperately checking to make sure he didn't eat anything Shen was amazed by her little genius. He had a look of curiosity in his little black eyes, and he stared at faces very intently. It reminded her of Yoshi, who Donatello loved being held by. Never for long, Donatello wasn't big on cuddles, but Shen assumed it was because Yoshi's fur was very warm. She agreed with her son, his Daddy was very comfortable to hug.

Leonardo was his father's son. He watched Yoshi and always reached for him whenever he was in the room. Like Raphael, he only ceased his cries when his favorite parent picked him up. Shen felt no jealously, because she thought it was precious. Leonardo always was quiet in his father's arms, and he was a very well behaved baby. She hoped that carried into his personality as he grew. He liked her hair, so when Shen held Leonardo he'd often gently tug or chew on it. A little gross, yes, but cute enough to excuse.

Yoshi and Shen can recognize who is crying and that's how they determine who gets up. They also make sure to get their sons to stop crying asap because Yoshi is a missing person and as far as anyone knows they don't have kids. They could move, sure, but neither of them have any ideas what the logistics for that would be.

Thus, them both being great at comforting their "assigned sons" in the night. Donnie was easy for Splinter to calm since he usually was hungry or needed to be changed. Leo's crying usually stops after realizing that his Papa is there to help with whatever was wrong.

Raph is very fussy, and it takes Shen rocking him and singing to him to calm her boy down. Sometimes she just brings him back to bed with her and Yoshi and he sleeps on her chest and grips her shirt. Mikey is easier, since he's usually calm after realizing Shen is there. Sometimes he's just being needy though. He'll stop crying and Shen puts him down, and then he starts crying again, so some nights Shen sleeps with two baby turtles on her.

Yoshi totally takes care of bathing the boys while Shen is at work. He also takes care of house work and cooking, anything he can think of doing at home? He does. He's a great stay at home Dad. He feels so guilty about not being able to work, and Shen can support them but that's because their sons aren't eating much more than vegetables and fruit yet. They're still very little but they's eventually have the appetite of growing boys. And they can't just not feed their boys.

Shen doesn't want to hear his apologies though, because she's coming home to her sons, husband, a hot meal, and a clean home. Well, as clean as their home is with four babies. Still, it was nice. Money wasn't important to Shen, they had food on the table and a warm place to sleep.

"How was work?" Yoshi always asked her. She always locked the door behind her first, and then greeted him with a kiss. He'd wrap his arms around her waist if he wasn't holding any number of their sons.

Shen smiled at him, tucking hair behind her ear. "Uneventful. My students asked about you, and I had to get teary eyes." She explained. "I just thought about how Michelangelo's diapers smell and I teared up on command."

That made Yoshi, her stoic and aloof idiot of a husband, laugh quietly. It was very true though. Shen considered Michelangelo's diapers weapons of mass destruction. "I made dinner. Do we have enough to shop again before the end of the month or is the water bill too high? If I don't eat we could cut the bill down-"

"Yoshi, what do we say about money?" Shen asked, cupping his furry face in her hands. He looked a little bit embarrassed.

"I am not allowed to go hungry as a way to save money." He replied, and Shen kisses him again.

"We'll figure this out. We always do." Shen said, "And step one of figuring that out is making sure we can all sleep at night with full stomachs." She added, and Yoshi nodded his head.

"I guess you're right. I need a lot of energy to take care of you five." Yoshi said, and Shen raises an eyebrow at him.

"Five?" She asked.

"You count." Yoshi replied. "Michelangelo gets his mischief from you." Yoshi said, and before she could protest he began to pepper her face in kisses.

Shen felt herself smile, and despite thinking of her baby girl every single day and missing her constantly, Shen was happy.

She wouldn't trade her boys for anything.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Hi, What do you think about the cheating rumors? I stopped watching royals 4 years ago, and I am shocked! What has happened? WTF is Rose back? Is Will stupid enough to get rid of her?

What happened recently? So much happened, anon. Let's see if I can give you the TL;DR.

January 16: Kensington Palace announced that Kate was having planned surgery on her abdomen and wouldn't be making any public appearances or sharing further details.

January 29: Kensington Palace announced that Kate had returned home from the hospital. People were upset there was no "proof of life" photo of Kate.

February 9: The Waleses go to Sandringham/Anmer Hall for the kids' half-term break. There are two sets of gossip from royal reporters. Gossip #1 - Kate is well and healthy and with the family. Gossip #2 - Kate's situation is worse than we're told and it's dire.

February 27, in the morning: William pulls out of attending King Constantine's memorial service of thanksgiving. KP says it has nothing to do with Kate but it's later confirmed that it wasn't true, that William pulled out because of Kate's diagnosis.

February 27, in the evening: Sussex Squad makes conspiracy theories about Kate go mainstream and viral on Twitter/social media. I won't rehash them all here but the rumors get dark and blame William and bring back the original Rose affair rumors.

March 4: Kate and Carole papped in a car around Windsor near the kids' school. Kate doesn't look like Kate, jumpstarting conspiracy theories again.

March 10: UK Mother's Day. The Waleses publish a photo of Kate and the kids taken by William. Sussex Squad goes after the photo for having been edited. Getty, and other agencies, kill the photo. It blows up into a huge thing. Celebrities pile on with their own jokes and memes about editing their photos, including Blake Lively and Kim Kardashian.

March 11: Kate issues a statement taking responsibility for editing the photo and apologizing for it. William and Kate are papped in a car leaving Windsor Castle.

March 12: Stephen Colbert jokes about the Rose affair rumor on his show.

March 16: Kate is papped with William at the grocery store. People claim it's her lookalike double because her hair is too hair and she's too skinny. (WTF, yes, I agree.)

March 22: Kensington Palace drops bombshell video statement by Kate that cancer had been found in whatever was removed during her operation in January and she was beginning a course of preventative chemotherapy. No further work or public engagements for Kate at this time. The celebrities that piled onto Kate during "March Madness" (the conspiracy theories and photo-editing weeks) get served humble pie and issue meek apologies that mean nothing.

April 23: Louis's birthday. As a consequence of the way the media flipped out over the Mother's Day photo, the Waleses publish the birthday photo (taken by Kate) exclusively to their social media and don't distribute it to media / photo agencies.

April 29: The Waleses publish an old new-to-us photo from their wedding for their anniversary on their social media.

May 2: Charlotte's birthday. Same deal with Louis - Kate takes the photo, they publish exclusively to their social media and don't distribute it in advance to the photo agencies / media.

May 12: Camilla is papped at the Badminton Horse Show talking to Rose Hanbury. No one cares.

May 14: Sussex Squad finds the photos of Camilla and Rose from the weekend and bring back the affair rumors. They claim that Kate is dead and the BRF is soft-launching William's mistress as his new girlfriend/future wife.

May 15: Charles and Camilla attend the OBE dedication at St. Paul's Cathedral. So do the Cholmondeleys but because they're not photographed with Charles or Camilla, no one notices they're there and no one cares they're there.

So that's what happened. That's where we are today.

How did the affair rumors start?

Discussion about whether the affair rumors are mainstream and how damaging they could be to William and Kate's reputation

Commentary about Rose

[bumblebbyxx]

HEY I WAS WONDER IF YOU COULD WRITE SOMETHING FLUFFY ABOUT HUNTER CONFESSING TO FEMALE Y/N AND THEY KISS?? EDA, LUZ, KING, GUS AND WILLOW WATCH HUNTER AS HE CONFESSES TO Y/N! Before Y/N could tell him how she feels about him too he apologize’s and says that that was a dumb idea and he runs away covering his face blushing. The next day Hunter tries to avoid Y/N for the whole day. Y/N decides to just go up to him when he’s all alone and finally tells him how she feels too and they kiss again!! WOOHOO!!

Hello! Thank you for your request! Here it is~

Tw: none

Contains: Fluff, adorable blushing, just a stuttering mess 

_____

Today was the day. Hunter stares at himself in the mirror, a little red with his own nerve.

“Okay..okay! You can do this, Hunter! Just..come up to her, and tell her how you feel. It won’t be hard! You used to be in the emperor’s coven, you used to battle criminals on the daily! What’s one confession to a really cool girl gonna do to your ego? Nothing, that’s what!” 

Even his lies don’t convince him. He sighs, running his hands through his hair. 

“Who am I kidding…Y/N isn’t just some cool girl…she’s the coolest! Ughh—”

Whatever. This day with everyone to the local county fair might give him some confidence. Hunter still had to get ready, after all. 

Yeah, he’s definitely not ready for this. 

_

It had been quite a day. Hunter definitely thought so. Willow and Gus ran off to go do a bet — ‘whoever pukes first before going through all the rides loses!’. Ew. And Luz and Amity went off to win some plushie for each other. Eda and King went around, scamming oblivious tourists. 

So now…he was alone. With Y/N. In a secluded spot behind the food court. They both sat together, quiet. 

Hunter glances over to Y/N. She was looking at the fireworks above, a soft smile on her features. He reddens, looking away. She was just so…pretty. How could he even start?

“Um..Y/N?”

“Yes, Hunter?” She looks over to him. The sounds of the fireworks seem to fade away when she locks eyes with him. Titan, he really was smitten. 

“I uh, have something to tell you.”

“Oh? Go ahead!” she grins. She looks at him curiously, fiddling with the hems of her dress. Hunter gulps. 

“So, you know how we’ve known each other for a while?”

“Mhm.”

“I, um, guess…I caught something in those years of knowing you.” He was just making himself suffer at this point, dragging the whole thing longer than it needed to be. Just say the words! 

Y/N continued to look at him with that awe-struck eyes. “And?” she asks gently, waiting patiently for his next string of words to come out. 

“...feelings. I..I caught feelings for you. Y-you’re just really, pretty, and really sweet, and you’re so cool, a-and..”

His face felt like it was on fire, red as a beet. Hunter stumbles on his words, while Y/N simply stares at him with those eyes, so alluring. Like she was waiting for him to get to the point.

He glances at her lips. A static shock goes against his heart, like it was trying to egg him on. 

“I..”

He leans closer. Y/N does the same. He could feel her breath on his lips, so close — it smelled like lavender, and a hint of cinnamon. From the pretzel she had eaten before, he thinks with a quiet chuckle. 

And without further ado, they lock lips. It was short, chaste, soft. It had been something Hunter found himself thinking about too much – how it would be lke to kiss her. And this..this was more than he could ever imagine. Something beyond his wildest dreams. 

He loved it. 

His heart gives a flutter before they breath apart. Suddenly shy, Y/N whispers, 

“What are you trying to say?”

“W-what I’m trying to say is—” And with that, Hunter knew he was fighting a losing battle— “NOTHING, I’M NOT SAYING ANYTHING! Y-YOU’RE CRAZY! SORRY THIS WAS A BAD IDEA. OKAY GOODBYE FOREVER.”

He stands up quickly, before running off, hiding his very red face in his hands, he looked like he was about to explode at that point. In his mind he’s firing off so many thoughts, all at once, still very flustered — oh, Titan, why did I say that, now she’s gonna hate me forever, I shouldn’t have said anything at all, and kissing her?! I’m so dead. 

Y/N was left to her own uncollected thoughts as everyone appeared from their hiding places. 

“I really thought he was gonna do it!” gasps Willow, as Gus lends her a handful of popcorn. “Jeez, he chickened out? Boo!” he adds. 

“Man, just when I thought he gathered up all his confidence,” Luz says with a shake of her head. 

“Poor Y/N, though, she’s utterly confused,” Amity says, pointing at Y/N. She seemed a little red herself, to be honest, still staring at Hunter’s fading figure. 

“He literally kissed her, what is it with you kids and your unnecessary drama?” Eda says, perhaps a little too loud. 

When Y/N turns around, everyone pops back into their hiding places.

“He…he likes me?” she says, reddening. Flustered. 

-THE NEXT DAY-

The blonde boy sighs. He had a lot on his mind. Too many thoughts clouding his rational thinking. He glances up at the wisteria tree above him. He liked the Hexside garden. A lot. It could clear his head. 

But not today. Not even the sweet scent of the wisteria could help him this time. 

“Skipping classes, are you?”

Hunter jolts at the voice — her voice — before looking her way. Y/N stands there, a soft, unreadable expression painted on her face. 

“How did you find me?” he asks first. 

She sits down beside him with a sigh. “Luz told me.”

“Of course she did..” he mutters to himself. 

It was quiet again. Neither knew what to say. When Hunter looks back at her, he realizes she was already looking at him. Surprised, he quickly glances away, cheeks red. 

“About last night…”

“Look, can we just…forget about what happened? I-I’m sorry, I made everything awkward between us–”

“No, no, not at all!” she smiles, touching his hand. “You…you put things into perspective with me, actually..”

“And? Wh…what do you think?” he was anxious, fidgeting and red. He didn’t know if he wanted to hear the next words that would escape Y/N’s lips or not. 

“I like you back, Hunter. How could I not? You’re so sweet, and very kind, and you’re stupidly adorable when you’re flustered.”

He blinks. 

What?

“..What?” He repeats the singular word in his mind. 

“I like you back, you big dork,” she repeats, grinning up at him, still red. “So, what do you say?”

“I..”

Another absentminded glance back to her lips, and Hunter gives in. The faint static of electricity blooms in his chest, the same one back at the fair…

And this time, she leans in. This time, she initiates the kiss. He didn’t think it possible to feel the fluttering in his heart again, not when it was so rare, but he did. He felt it. And suddenly he was a mess again, a stupid, dorky, awkward mess. He melts into the kiss, shutting his eyes. It was…perfect. This time, the kiss wasn’t too short, Hunter could focus on the different parts of it…how soft her lips were, probably from the chapstick she liked to use…lavender, that was it. That was why he tasted lavender…and the smell of the wisteria leaves seem to flutter and dance about the pair. 

When they both pulled apart, it was apparent Y/N herself was blushing. 

“I say..”

She waits for his response, with baited breath. 

“...that your chapstick tastes pretty good.”

She blinks, then laughs. Her laugh always was so angelic…Hunter, focus here! She giggles, slightly, still a little surprised but giddy at his joke. 

“Do you want the brand?” she teases. He rolls his eyes playfully, almost forgetting his nervousness. 

“Maybe I could try tasting it again? Uh, you know…just as a trial, to see if I wanna buy my own.”

“Be my guest.” 

They kiss again, under that wisteria tree. He was in pure bliss. Was this the feeling many spoke of? He finally understood. 

Under that wisteria tree, Hunter could see the secrets of the universe in her eyes, he could feel everything with her kiss. 

Under the wisteria tree. 

_____

Hope it wasn't too cringy lol. Thanks for your request again!!

[ihni]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

Ooooh, how fun! <3 Thank you! I've gone through my fics and I'm gonna do 5+1, because why not, right? Seems fic approporiate, in a way. So, here goes:

Over the edge, 16K. (Because it's a scenario I've wanted to write for YEARS and I finally did, and I had a blast writing it! Muahaha!) “You’re still on probation. But if you behave this weekend, we might –“ “‘Behave’?” Billy snorted. “I’m not a dog, Henderson. What do you want me to do? Sit? Roll around? Be a good boy?” His voice was dripping with sarcasm, making Steve snort beside him. Dustin drew himself up to his very unimpressive height in the back seat, puffing out his chest. “Well you can start by not killing anyone!” “Ki– Jesus Christ, kid, I’m not gonna kill anyone!” “Well you almost killed Steve before –“ Here, Billy glanced over guiltily at Steve, who shook his head slightly as if to say it wasn’t a big deal, “– and you have a history of violence. You can’t fault us for making sure!” “Whatever.” “You promise?” “I can’t believe I’m doing this. Yes, kid, I promise I won’t kill anyone.”

Birthday boy, 8K. (Because I've never had so many people telling me a fic made them cry ... don't worry though, there are happier follow-ups!) Neil gives Max a benevolent nod. “You can go.” Max shoots up from her chair, a big smile on her face. “Really? Thank you, I –“ “You can go to the party, but not the sleepover. I want you home at eleven, at the latest.” Trying not to grimace, Max nods. It’s better than nothing. “And of course, Billy will go with you.” “What?”

At least an assist, 8K. (Because it's an alternate first meeting between our boys, and it was fun to imagine an opposite to a meet-cute - also Billy's tied up for most of it, which is always a plus!) “Dude,” he said, more baffled than angry. “Did you just try to bite me?” “I’ll do worse than that if you untie me,” Hargrove growled, as if making threats from the position he was in was somehow normal. “Yeah, because that makes me want to untie you,” Steve snarked back without thinking. Then he sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. He didn’t sign up for this shit. “Listen, yes this sucks, but it’s only for a couple of hours. Why don’t you just chill?” “I’ve been fucking kidnapped, you fuck! I’m supposed to play the finals right now, not kick back and relax while being fucking tied to a chair!” or Steve's teammates kidnap the opposing team's star player to secure a win in the finals. The star player in question is not impressed.

Fast and Frightening, 20K. (This whole fic was born from a chat about possessed cars, and because both me and DearDMVZ quite agreed that Billy would look very fetching tied to the hood of his Camaro while it's racing through the roads outside of Hawkins at night.) There's some seriously fucked-up shit going on. Billy crashed his car, was attacked by some kind of monster, escaped, ran into someone who looked just like him, punched that guy in the face, escaped again, and ended up on a random road somewhere outside of town. And now his own car has turned against him. In short, Billy's not having a good time.

Sleeping Beauty Retold, 8K. (Because I went to town on a fairytale AU and I really fucking like it, still.) Once upon a time, there was an evil king. The king married a woman who had magic, and used her to stay young and strong. To attain true immortality, though, he would have to sacrifice their child on the child's eighteenth birthday. Only, the queen thwarted the king's plans - she stoles the child away in the middle of the night and sent him away, to be raised far from the castle, so that he would be safe. The king never stopped looking. And one day, the child - who had grown up into a young man - was found.

Again and again and again and again, 4K. (Bonus fic, because if I'd had time I would have written 80K of this, I love the concept a LOT. Basically the boys being stuck in a time loop together.) It is Sunday, November 4th 1984, and it’s been Sunday, November 4th 1984 like, fifty-two times now. Fifty-four? Over fifty, at least. Billy’s lost count, which is depressing in itself.

[y0itsbri]

yoooo! tagged for this awesome new game game from @depressedstressedlemonzest by the effervescent @ian-galagher @creepkinginc @mishervellous @grossmickey @milkovetti <3

What are some movie /tv quotes that you quote often?

tbh almost every scenario can call for an appropriate quote from the twilight saga

What is your favorite flower?

i love em alllllll but will always have a special spot for ageratums like look at these funky mystical guys

If you were in Avatar the Last Airbender what element would you want to bend? Earth, fire, water or air?

even tho i'm a fire sign, i've always wanted to bend water

What was your first job?

retail baybeee 🎯

What is your favorite breakfast?

i've gone through phases of like only one thing for months on end. used to be: eggos w pb in the middle, banana protein shake, oatmeal w cranberries and crushed almonds, greek yogurt w chocolate chips and honey. but! i think the fav would be pancakes with fresh fruit and different syrups (maple + a fruity one so i can alternate between bites) with a side of veggie quiches *chef's kiss*

What's a meal from childhood that you love?

i'm a vegetarian now but i miss my mom's sloppy joe's (edit: i told her this and we are gonna make vegetarian sloppy joe's next week!). also when she would surprise me with apple or cherry turnovers after i had dance practice.

What's your favorite joke to tell?

okay i just looked up jokes and i found one that i think the mootuals will enjoy:

why do cows wear bells? because their horns don't work!

and another for the nerds:

r.i.p. boiling water 😞 you will be mist 🕊️

LOL okay whatever you're getting more jokes that made me laugh

what do sprinters eat before a race? nothing. they fast. 🏃💨 how do you organize a space party? you planet. what did the drummer name her twin daughters? anna 1, anna 2 and a 1, 2, 3,4 🥁 why did the scarecrow win an award? because he was outstanding in his field.

here's one for our safari pal willow:

why can't you trust the king of the jungle? because he's always lion 😩

What's your favorite animal to see at the zoo?

orangutans!!!!!! penguins!!!!!!! manatees!!!!!!! tigers!!!!! giraffes!!!! elephants!!!!

What's your go to quick meal to cook/make at home?

🗣️ peanut butter sandwich

What's your go to meal to cook someone to impress them?

i don't cook much, but when i do, it's not to impress, but to nourish 💪

What's something you want to do better?

being more active! doing things that i keep saying i want to do!

If you're working do you like your job?

just started a new job and my first day on the floor is tomorrow so i hope so!

Do you collect anything? What?

helllll yeahzzz. well i don't like. actively seek things out, but when i see em and bring em home i'm like ah yes and put them in the pile w the others. so i think that's a collection. so: books, rocks, crystals, sea shells, stuffies, art supplies, plants. aka things that nourish and comfort the soul

If you were trapped in a kids tv show, what show would you be okay with being trapped in?

spongebob would be fun i think, as long as i am also a sea creature

An adults tv show?

the white lotus. fuck it LOL. give me absolutely eerie and unsettling drama in the most beautiful places on earth

What kind of job did you want as a child?

vet, fashion designer, chef

Do you follow any sports? What team do you root for?

no sir i do not

If you could be any animal what would you be and why?

clownfish would be vibes. anemone friend

If you could be any mythological creature what would you be and why?

dragon i wanna be big and powerful and also surrounded by crystals

What's the most obscure thing you've had to google for a fanfic you were writing/reading?

axe throwing places in chicagoland LOL

What Milkovich do you identify with most?

mickey

Which one are you actually like the most?

mandy

What Gallagher do you identify with most?

ian

Which one are you actually like the most?

lip

tagging @heymrspatel @grumpymickmilk @pinkmatter-mp3 @messedwithmandy @vintagelacerosette if ya wanna!

[godtier]

skull island: rise of kong – apparently no one remembers what games actually looked like back in the fifth gen

so if you do the Vidya Gaems, i'm sure you've already heard of the skull island: rise of kong game that came out last week.

needless to say, it's getting brutalized in reviews and by content creators/streamers, as it should be. it's a shit tier game and looks rushed and buggy as all fuck.

but one thing that i've noticed is people comparing the game to an N64, PS1, or other low-res polygonal game from the 90s/00s... observe:

so on and so-forth...

and it got me thinkin....

"do... do these people not remember what those games actually looked like?"

so out of total boredom and nothing better to, i decided to do a little bit of a "refresher course" on how games from the 90s actually looked compared to the dogwater that is skull island.

"but godtier!" you declare with marked concern, "i'm sure they were just being hyperbolic!"

and while yes, you'd be right to assume such things, i don't actually care because it gives me an excuse to look at old shit i played as a kid.

(also it's reddit and i would not be surprised if most of these weren't jokes.)

but from the informative angle, i have also noticed many, many young people who've never played a 90s/00s game thinking this is a legitimate comparison to make in general. so just think of it as a tour in a museum of graphical advancements.

what's the plan?

my goal here is to illustrate and educate about the generation of consoles that truly changed the way i viewed video games: the fifth gen. for the first time, i realized games could look real. it blew my little mind.

but in hindsight, a lot of these games can look laughable. by contrast, some people seem to misremember just how low res or outright bad the fifth gen of games look compared to now. some people seem to think games like the gollum game and the king kong game (today's specimen) are comparable to PS1 titles with how poor they look graphically.

i'm hoping to shed some light on that for those who didn't experience it themselves or never bothered to look.

how it works

i'll be using side-by-side comparisons with skull island next to whatever game in particular we decide to examine to highlight just how low res the fifth gen of gaming and CGI were compared even the wettest of farts from current gen.

note that since skull island is brand new, getting insanely high-res screens of it is not something i can do easily without buying the game myself. and i sure as shit am not buying a dog garbage game about king-goddamn-kong for 40-fuckin-dollery-dos just to illustrate graphical changes since the 90s and 00s.

instead, i've taken screenshots from YT playthroughs at 1080p. they should suffice.

in addition, i will be using cleaned up/clearer versions of the screenshots from the fifth gen games as opposed to direct rips that i'd come across back in the day. this is for the purpose of showing detail without upscaling too much and blurring everything more.

screens ripped from games in the fifth gen were primarily in 240i. therefore, the image dimensions were largely around 320x240 px on a computer screen. back then, that wasn't an issue since the maximum resolution i ever had in the 90s/00s was 800x600 px. but nowadays, that would look like a blur of mush on most people's screens. of note, i will not be using upscaled or remastered versions of these older games if they have them.

and finally, since this post intro is already really fucking huge and a lot to read through, i will be scooting the actual analysis under a "read more" for the moment. expand the link if you dare.

anyway

let's start with the N64!

part one: THE NINTENDO ULTRA 64

released in 1996, the N64 was a cartridge-based system, for those who don't know. this meant that the loading times were super-fast compared to disc-based systems, but the actual storage on the cart was abysmal.

back then, carts were still using ROM, as opposed to SD flash that you'd see used with a nintendo switch game card. this means there was hardly any room for things like FMV (full-motion video) or even voice tracks.

to compensate, developers had to choose between graphic fidelity or audio fidelity; they could not have both in most cases. textures were downscaled or removed, the resolution was as low as feasible, FMV, in-engine cutscenes, or audio (such things that might have been present in another version of the same game) was removed outright in order to make space on the cart for the game functionality itself.

one game i saw thrown around a lot in comparison to skull island was turok 3. a good lot were saying it looked about the same or worse than turok 3.

but does it really? let's take a look.

round 1: skull island (PC) vs turok 3 (N64)

welp. as we can see, there's really no comparison. skull island's environments, while drab and uninspired for a current-gen title, are wholly and objectively better-looking than turok 3's environments. even the character models are night and day. at least you can see kong's individual fingers, rather than the lumps of flesh they called hands in turok.

it is quite misleading to claim with seriousness that a game like skull island could pass for an N64 title. it could not, not even remotely close.

there's really little else to say about this. the images speak for themselves.

round 1 results: really guys. really.

next, the PS1!

part two: the sony playstation singular ballin

coming out in 1995, we got one of the best-selling consoles of all fuckin time, the playstation. compared to the N64, the PS1 blew it out of the water in every technical field aside from loading times.

graphical fidelity was higher, audio fidelity was higher (actual, literal CD audio on many games compared to the bit-crushed fare on the N64) and storage space was massive for the time. you'd think out of the two contenders so far, the PS1 would have the better shot of looking superior to skull island, right?

well, yes and no. it depends on the era. while most N64 games that were going for realism looked like varying degrees of mush, the PS1's graphical quality varies wildly depending on when during its lifespan the game came out.

since turok 3 came out in 2000 for the N64, i'll pick another game that also came out in 2000 to make sure we're on as even a playing field as possible.

round 2: skull island (PC) vs vagrant story (PS1)

here we can see just from this singular screenshot that vagrant story is absolutely gorgeous for a PS1 game. and i would say that's because it was a game released towards the end of the PS1's original lifespan. devs by 2000 were fairly familiar with working on the hardware, and vagrant story was a squaresoft (now square enix) title, who released a crapload of games on the system. they were one of the developers that really knew how to push the PS1 to the limits of its capabilities.

however, they were still pixelated and blobby when it came to actual character models.

"but godtier!" i hear you howling in despair, "the backgrounds for vagrant story look so much better than kong's crazy island!" and you'd be correct! those backgrounds are banger af.

but the argument to be made in this post isn't "which one actually looks better." the argument is "compared to another game contemporary to the fifth gen of gaming, could skull island feasibly pass for the same gen?"

the answer is no.

round 2 results: skull island could not pass for even the best-looking of PS1 games, sry2say.

part three: 90s CGI horrors

for the next segment, let's also consider the typical CGI of the era. someone mentioned beast wars in my above screenshot, so fuck it, let's use that next!

beast wars was a transformers-universe off-shoot TV show that was entirely CGI. i have very fond memories of the show, but even i know that the way it looks is ... rough. so we're gonna put that to the test: does optimus primal really look better (or at least comparable to) our good pal king kong skull island?

round 3: skull island (PC) vs beast wars (probably silicon graphics computers, idfk it was a TV show)

oof. once again, for as ugly and bad as it is, we can actually see detail on the kong model, as well as light and shadow that the technology used in beast wars couldn't produce in a convincing manner at the time. optimus looks kinda weird, really.

...come to think of it, everyone in beast wars kinda looked... weirdly... wet or otherwise gross in that show.

...anyway!

as badly rendered as kongus dongus is in skull island, i'd say he looks a fair amount better than ... pretty much anyone from beast wars. there really isn't more to it than that; even when the show was new, i knew that beast wars just looked weird.

round 3 result: kong could not blend into a beast wars episode very well or convincingly, even in beast mode.

part four: into the beyond times

so, i think i've fairly made my point about the game not looking like it's from the fifth gen... but what about other gens?

personally, if i had to place bone island: dongus kongus in a particular "vibe" of a game generation, i'd probably slot it somewhere between a wii title and a wii u title. it is definitely higher fidelity than a PS1 or N64, but it has a certain "wii shovelware" aura around it, especially when seen in motion.

let's see if that susses out!

tag-team round: skull island (PC) vs monster hunter tri (wii) & monster hunter 3 ultimate (wii u)

now THIS is interesting!

the original MH3 on the wii definitely looks washed out and faded, certainly low-res compared to skull island. not terribly shocking there, considering the wii's maximum resolution output (on the models that supported it) was 480p (aka: standard definition/DVD quality).

but MH3 ultimate?

i dare say we have a contender here. the models look so much better, the environments are actually comparable in quality to skull island, it's quite uncanny, really. hmm.

...okay, okay. i know i technically said i wouldn't be using upscaled or remastered versions of the games in my comparisons, so in the spirit of fairness, i will also add a surprise third tag-team member into the fray:

surprise match!: kong-dong island (PC) vs xenoblade chronicles x (wii u)

hoo nelly

alright so i am a Certified Wii U Enjoyer ™️ and i know full-well that the system is more than a bit underpowered compared to the other consoles from its gen. its maximum resolution output was 1080p, which was more than sufficient on its own, but it severely lacked the oomph in its components to make good, consistent use out of that. a lot of wii u titles look fine compared to other consoles, and some are even downright gorgeous, but performance was always a bottleneck.

but forgetting about all of that, xenoblade chronicles x just wrecks skull island.

however, we're not done yet. XBCX (or... however y'all abbreviate it) is definitely a better-looking game than skull island, but so was vagrant story. again, the true argument here is "could you feasibly mistake 'skele rock: kong's wild ride' as from the same gen as the game it's being compared to?"

and i think here we have our answer.

take a look at all the other keng kang screenshots from the previous rounds and place them next to the screenshots from the wii u titles. if you had no idea that skull island was released just last week, you cannot tell me in all honesty that you wouldn't think "oh a wii u shovelware game i've never heard of."

if you try to tell me that, you're a liar and should be ashamed.

the environments, the lighting effects, the graphical fidelity, the vibe... it all just looks weirdly familiar. it looks like a mid-to-low tier shovelware crap game that would have come out on the wii u and immediately sold for 20 bux in the budget releases section.

so that being said...

the final verdict: skull island: rise of kong does, in fact, look specifically like a wii u title. we have found its true home at last.

part five: is it over now? (mostly)

whew! what a ride, amirite? now that we've gone through this heinous, completely unnecessary journey, what did we learn? well...

we learned that the fifth gen of consoles was nowhere near as powerful to create the effects and fidelity as seen in skull island.

...and we also learned that just because a game is older and at a lower res than a current-gen game, that doesn't mean the older game is uglier or looks worse.

we learned that people clearly don't remember how the fifth gen varied wildly and was capped at 240i at best, meaning all the games were at low res and blurry af.

...and we also learned that having that nuance is meaningless when it comes to discussing things objectively.

we learned that games that are bad and ugly for current gen can also look better against games that you may have loved as a child.

...and we also learned that pointing out that a shitty game that's buggy af and shouldn't have existed in the first place looks better than your favorite game from your childhood doesn't mean your favorite game from your childhood is bad.

we learned that if you have enough time on your hands and are stubborn enough, you can make an entirely useless post that no one will read because it's too damn long and uninteresting.

...and we also learned that bulleted lists are only useful for text that doesn't overlap into the next line. oops.

anyway, i hope you learned something, even if you didn't ask for it! being that i'm old enough to remember all of the games above when they were announced, i tend to notice when people make dumb-ass claims that don't make sense a lot quicker. some games really did not age well (turok 3) and others still look fantastic to this day (vagrant story). but claiming that a game like skull island is comparable to or worse than something i actually grew up playing is just silly.

probably just as silly as this post, really.

it was just a very bizarre and arguably quick blip in time that i don't think many other people of younger gens really understand when looking at it from the perspective of internet being available 24/7. that simply was not a thing when i was a kid. and going from pixelated games with chiptunes to crash-goddamn-bandicoot was such an abrupt jump in quality that i could honestly write another post about how it felt to experience that all on its own.

but i won't. not yet, anyway...

so that's it! i answered a question nobody asked. do i feel satisfied? no, not really. i mean, if i'm being honest, i feel like i wasted several hours of my life just to prove a point.

so yknow, a normal weekend for me

byebye!

[perexcri]

Perexcri, my beloved perexcri, it’s time to talk about aftry…

So first off i’m just gonna say i absolutely LOVE when authors and artists use light as a metaphor. Idk why but it always hits me so hard. This is probably the most obvious thing ever so i’m sure this is no grounbreaking observation but I took the light vs shadows metaphor as a stand in for depression. The voices that whisper to you that nothing but bad is coming for you but the light of hope that breaks through when you can share things with those you care about perfectly sums up how i personally feel when mine flares up bad. It was haunting, thoughtful and beautiful

As for the story itself, while yeah the action of thaba might have been missing here i definitely feel aftry was more of a ride. I love a good action piece as much as the next person but i also love the more character study driven stories like aftry just as much, probably a little more so because i tend to be a pretty emotional person in general so stories like these tend to get me a little more. The way relationships are explored here was also truly special. Getting to grow with them with all their ups and downs was so fun

As a musician i am always looking for new inspiration and you definitely provided! I wrote two pieces based on byler fics I absolutely loved and i think i feel one coming on for this one! I’ll keep you updated!

As always lovely i thank you so much for your gifts and sharing your stories with us! They are such a bright spot on my shittiest days and i appreciate you so much! Wishing you gentle days and nothing but love and light 💜💙💚

Jon i need you to know i read this message and couldn't stop smiling, so thank you for that :]

now *cracks knuckles* onto my beloved aftry. again, i cannot thank you enough for reading it. tbh, if i was forced to delete all but one of my fics from ao3, this is the one i would keep up. which is all to say it makes me overwhelmingly happy when people read it :')

ahhh yes, the depression metaphor!! listen, i am also a sucker for light metaphors. it's such a simple one but always so lovely to draw out and think about.

and now it's time for me to be personal on main, though i know i wrote about some of this in the author's notes in some of the chapters in aftry. basically i felt horrible when i wrote most of aftry; all of the first three parts and a few sections of the fourth part were all written in the span of about 3 weeks, but leading up to those weeks, during those weeks, and for several weeks afterwards, i felt horrible, but i couldn't really place what was wrong. i'd actually started feeling that way around posting the last ~10 chapters of thaba, and it just got worse and worse. in a weird way, i couldn't articulate what i was feeling to myself, but what i ended up writing (especially with Will's own thoughts and emotions) were very much what i was going through at the time. it's like i couldn't see how much pain i was in until i'd written 70k words of the fic, and even at that, i still couldn't really understand? it wasn't until i took some steps in my own life to get better that i was able to start looking back and realize how much pain i was going through

so, here's a fun easter egg for you: this actually kinda shows up in the story itself! i had originally intended for Will's interaction with the mindflayer-esque shadows to give him prophetic visions or something of the like, but by the time i got around to writing that third part where they're kids, i started describing the shadows in a way that i would typically reserve for mental health matters, and i genuinely couldn't get myself to stop no matter how much i wanted to go with the prophetic visions route. so, i think there's a conversation between those two in one of the earlier chapters where Will asks about an uncle who tried to kill the king? yeah, that's what was originally gonna happen: Will was gonna predict the uncle's betrayal, and then the king would exile him for treason or whatever. i had already changed the story by the time i posted that chapter, but i was so miserable that i couldn't think of a way to change it and just kept it lol

wow okay!! sorry for the rambles about light and dark and depression lol. onto the next things!

i'll just be straight up with you: nothing makes me happier than hearing you say aftry was more of a ride than thaba because of its emotional ups and downs. it's like i beat myself in a competition or something lol. but seriously, i'm glad you enjoyed it!! i am also a huge fan of character-driven stories and emotional studies of our dearly beloved blorbos. i'll take a story where nothing but a conversation or thinking happens for 20k words over an action-packed 5k words

and this is a small thing, but i like that you said you enjoyed growing together with them, because that ended up being such a big theme of this fic for me: growth. i wanted a story that was really emotionally messy and showed both of them failing and having to try and reconcile their differences, and i'm really proud of the end product and how it incorporated those things :D

also i know you're super talented musically, and if you write a piece for aftry, i think i'll be forced to retire from writing tbh. like that would be the peak for me. but seriously, no pressure whatsoever to do so!! it does make me happy when something i've made inspires other people to make things, though, mostly because i think the world is a better place when people are making things they care about :D

which is a really circular way of saying create if you so desire, but if you end up not wanting to, no worries at all!! i expect nothing and this ask alone is enough to have made me feel the happiness of a cat happy-rolling in a patch of sunlight on the floor

and how am i supposed to top your ending paragraph :') you're always so sweet and nice, and are a genuinely bright spot in this fandom. i know i appreciate your presence because i know you're a positive force in a world where it's very easy to not be so. i'm grateful for these little interactions via shared blorbo brainrot (lol) and for everything that is to come! i wish you flowers and light :] 💐

[sakurachan7734]

Happy little family

Chapter 4: beach date

Kim pov

Well today is the day I’m gonna propose me and Sally been together for a very long time we have kids together so I planned a perfect date dinner a walk on the beach and hopefully can propose right when the sunsets happens I am so nervous but hopefully it goes well

Sally: Kim?

Kim: ah sorry sweetie

Sally: are you ok? You’ve been acting a little bit weird

Kim: I’m fine it’s just been a while since we went on a date because of the boys 

Sally: yea it’s nice getting away from the kids for a little while

Kim: you look beautiful 

Sally: thanks you look great too

Waiter: hello lady’s you too have a wonderful night? 

Sally: yes we’re ready to order we’ll both take the lobster and some wine

Waiter:* chuckles*looks like you to are having a girls night and are spending your boyfriends money

Kim: yeah sure whatever

Waiter: your friend seems very angry

Sally: don’t mind her

The waiter leaves

Kim: I wish everyone would stop f**king calling us friends

Sally: me too

After kim and Sally eat they walk around the beach

Sally: this is was a lovely day

Kim: I know this was a great idea

Sally: look!

Kim:* gets down on one knee*

Sally: What are you doing?

Kim: sally I have loved you for so long you have brought me so much joy and we have two adorable little boys and you give me so many wonderful memories so * pulls out the ring box and opens It* will you marry me?

Sally:* gasps* yes!!

Sally:*hugs Kim and puts the ring on* it’s beautiful

Kim: should we plan the wedding when tobor gets better?

Sally: yes

Kim: dreamer and marceline said we can get married in their garden and we don’t have to pay

Sally: really?

Kim: yes let’s go tell the boys

Meanwhile with John, tobor and talus

Talus: when will mommy’s be back?

John: hopefully soon your mommy doesn’t like staying out for too long 

Tobor: ok it gets boring without them

John: yea I agree

Kim and Sally walk into the room

Tobor: mommy’s!

Kim: hi everyone we have great news!!

John: what is it?

Sally:* shows her ring* we are engaged!!! 

Talus: really?!

Kim: yes!

John:* hugs Kim and sally* congratulations!

The next day sally is with dreamer

Dreamer: congratulations Sally!

Sally: thank you dreamer and Kim said that we can get married in your backyard without any payment 

Dreamer: well you’ll have to pay for like food and invitations and stuff because I’m guessing you’re getting married after your son is done with his treatment 

Sally: yes we are

Dreamer: when are you guys gonna start planning? 

Sally: let’s not go into that dreamer 

Dreamer: oh sorry! I got a bit ahead

Sally: it’s fine

Meanwhile with Kim and tobor

Tobor: mommy I’ve been having weird dreams

Kim: really are they bad?

Tobor: no i just see to people and they say that they are mamas parents but the lady looks nothing like grandma Linda 

Kim: oh you should ask mama about that when she comes back from work 

Tobor: ok where are you going?

Kim: me and talus are going to the store for dinner for dinner

Tobor: ok

Kim: are you ready talus?

Talus: yes mommy!

Kim and talus go to the store and start picking up all they need but Kim is seeing a familiar face

Talus: what are we making?

Kim: my favorite octopus 

Talus: that sounds gross

Kim: trust me they are I’ll cook it In a special way 

Talus: ok and why do you keep looking at that lady? 

Kim: oh she just looks familiar to me and I don’t know why 

Talus: ok

A few hours pass and they are leaving to go back to the car and then Kim stopped by somebody

Angel (Kim’s mother): Kim is that you?

Kim: I always feared this day would come….. 

End of chapter





[storytimewithnova]

Secert twins

Shoyo's pov

Today is My first day at karasuno but before i even think about entering the school I put on an orange wig And lens you are thinking if that is just a wig what do i really look like okay without the orange wig and contact lens this is the real me 

there is a good reason we will get to later anyway let me introduce myself As i was trying to find the VP office I bumped into someone a timid girl

Yachi: H-H-hey i am yachi first day

Shoyo’s pov

I don’t know why she is so nervous I guess because I am a stranger you know stranger danger but I am far from Dangerous in fact I am pretty gentle crap I am leaving this poor girl hanging there say something idiot

sho:Hey yachi my name is shoyo I am just a boring boy with a boring life this is me so there is not much about me you need to know

Shoyo’s pov

yep that is is me but there is somethings my new school don't know about me because I am hiding somethings and I don’t know how they will react so I won’t say who I am i will just introduce myself as Shoyo Just shoyo yep that’s the plan flawless right yeah it should be but these things always go wrong

sho:Oh and i am also considering a bit of a nerd but that is not interesting

Yachi: oh thank god i am not the only nerd anymore

Sho’s pov

Notice I didn’t give my full name you will find out why later Oikawa wants me to come to Seijoh and he wants me to replace him as captain when he graduates remember i said i only introduce myself as shoyo For those that haven’t caught on my Full name is Oikawa Shoyo now that should ring a bell or several actually i am the youngest twin to oikawa tooru and i am in the japan youth team

Yachi: sho here is the office i will be waiting outside and is there a club you are interested in

Sho: oh volleyball and thank you for all your help yachi

Lucky for me i could go straight to the gym after I finished in the office so after i had finished i ran to the gym and entered a pretty girl walked up to me

Kiyoko: hello are you here for volleyball

Yep i play any position setter mainly

I get it like older brother i too am a setter and me and Tooru do get competitive over that sometimes whatevs it's a twin thing

Daichi the captain heard and said let’s try you out then tanaka asahi come spike this kids sets

Asahi: Hai

Tanaka: sure thing

Sho: so how do you normally like them high low minus delayed combo of minus and delayed

Daichi stopped in his tracks and thought 💭this kid is asking them Kageyama never does that and with sets we never tried

Asahi: you can do that

Sho: sure want to try it see how it feels

Tanaka: i’ll try it show me what you got punk

Sho: okay serves up

Sho did the minus delay set giving tanaka time to run and get where he needs to be jump and let the ball fly

Tanaka: THAT FELT AWESOME 🤩 YO BRO TRY AND STOP THAT KID SET ANOTHER FOR NISHINOYA TO STOP

sho: good luck stopping it

Sho sets again same height and speed tanaka got in to place and hit it noya had no reaction time

Noya: wow kid that was awesome your set was like wham blam whoosh

Sho: i take that as a compliment

Daichi: welcome to the team you said you can play any position

Sho: yes although setter is my main i can fill any position

Daichi: you want to try hitting a few of our starting setters sets as a spiker

Sho: sure

I looked to see who the starting setter is damn it's Kageyama it would be my ex wouldn’t it

Kageyama did his set and i spiked it like it was nothing and sho said come on that was too easy where is the king i use to hear stories about i want to see those sets

That seemed to hit a nerve sho thought good now show them what you got the you i know the true you show them that relentless and reckless bastard and set boy set

Kageyama set again the king of the court had entered but sho knew how to put him in his place he dashed and was there he had already smacked the ball like it was nothing

Sho then said that is the king i heard about

Noya looked at them and said that was insanely quick although the new kid pissed Kageyama off that felt awesome to him and he approached sho NUFF KNIFE NICE I MEAN NICE

Sho: HAHAHA had a little trouble getting that one out there well i have to get to class

Ennoshita spoke up what year are you in kid well i may not look like it but i am a second year oh let me see you schedule ennoshita looked at shoyo’s and said you are in the same class as me noya and tanaka with suga saying good luck enno is fine it’s these two crackheads as shoyo was talking his phone rang he answered it

Sho:📲hey love need something

Bokuto:📲hey baby owl I just miss you

Sho: 📲aww i miss you too love but i am on my way to class

Bokuto:📲 did my baby owl make the team

Sho:📲naturally come one love what do you take me for

Bokuto:📲 that’s my baby well i guess i have to go back to being bored shitless in math

Sho:📲do you need me to tutor you again

Bokuto:📲baby owl how did you know

Sho:📲because i know you look i am nearly to my class tell me the formal you are stuck on

Bokuto did shoyo simplified it for him to work it out and he got the answer

Bokuto:📲thank you baby owl you saved my butt literally

Sho:📲that butt belongs to me so go back to class and see you tonight i love you

Bokuto:📲love you too baby owl

Sho finished his call with his classmates/ teammates standing there with a smug look on their face

What?! That was something noya said

Nope that was my bf in emo mood over a math problem

Which sounded like a third year problem

Ennoshita pointed out

That is because my bf is a third year we have been together since i was a first year he was a second year can we go to our class without the interrogation please

The three laughed i see you three are going to be insufferable they entered the class and the teacher saw shoyo and said oh your our new student with sho saying yes miss please introduce yourself

My name is Shoyo Just shoyo not much you need to know about me before anyone asks if i am single no I am not Noya Tanaka and Ennoshita all said we can confirm he was on the phone to his boyfriend he then turned to the teacher and whispered in her ear there will be times i won’t be in class because i am on the japan youth team i don’t want to say it out loud because i am trying to have a normal school experience with the teacher saying understood anything else she asked oh yeah if i disappear I will disappear to pick up my twin because we are on the same team the teacher asked who is your twin and shoyo whisper Oikawa Tooru the reason i just introduced myself as shoyo my brother understandable i will start the lesson now sit next to ennoshita Shoyo thank you miss

Shoyo sat down and Enno asked what that was about with sho saying nothing they need to worry about then they went back to the lesson counting down the end of class and the start of practice

Time skip ⏭ practice

Shoyo was warming up when the first and third years entered today’s practice they had shoyo as a spiker and decoy which sho said she didn’t mind because he could work on his serves and receiving so they had a 3v3 have sho serve and he did a serve like his brother effortlessly and landed gracefully then he ran to where he needed to be only to spike the ball like it was nothing because it was nothing

Half way through practice Sho’s phone went off he said sorry then answered it

Sho:📱 hello

Tooru: 📱 bro i need you to pick me up

Sho: 📱 okay and i need you stop sounding like a brat for 5 god damn minutes which one of us got the short end there

Tooru:📱onii chan I’m serious please

Sho:📱 the shit i do for you Oni chan fine but you owe me

Tooru📱anything what is it

Sho:📱 tonight i want the house to myself so me and my boyfriend can have some time together you go spend time with your bfs

Tooru: 📱deal

Sho:📱pleasure doing business with you onii chan now i have to get back to practice so can you kindly bug off

Sho hung up god i wish i was an only child no i have to have a brat sibling

Everyone with siblings says : we hear that

They went back to practice coach said its was end Sho grabbed his things and said he had to pick up the brat he was on the phone with so he got let out and he drove to pick up kawa

Sho: so why did you want me to pick you up

Tooru: sorry little brother I couldn’t shake those damn fan girls you know the ones that stalk us

Sho: oh oh shit fine i will let that slide

Tooru: Anyway how was your first day of school sunshine

Sho:fuck off Onii chan i am not little anymore loss the nickname

Tooru: you’re still my twin brother oh coach rang we have a match so we need to meet with the rest of the japan national team tomorrow so i got you and me the day off and you bf

Sho:why did you get my emo Owl the day off

Tooru:because Bokuto wants to be with you

Sho:aww my clingy baby okay thank you Onii chan

They didn’t know kiyoko was following shoyo because she was suspicious of him and she saw and heard everything Tooru noticing Kiyoko said can i help you and sho looked over to get

Sho: Oh hello Kiyoko san i guess you heard everything

She nodded

Sho:please don’t tell anyone mainly Kageyama him me and my brother have a bad history and I don’t want all that dragged up

Tooru: Your ex you on the a team with the king of the court

Sho: Tooru Ni I left all that back at Kitagawa please

Kiyoko:as much as i want the tea I have a feeling it not good so i won’t pry

Sho:thank you Kiyoko san

Kiyoko:i mean you said there is bad history between you three but you know people will start finding out sooner or later

Tooru: we know we just don’t want it to be now with the billion questions

Sho:maybe training camp we have that coming up in a few weeks

Tooru:that works actually because we have a match half way through that camp

Sho: sure i need to care of my needy baby though

Kiyoko: i will let you go home thank you for explaining things to me

The twins left and as promised sho had the the house to himself with bokuto so he can take care of and show him love and affection

Time skip to the training camp

And today the twins were going to tell the truth about themselves so they gathered everyone up and sho started

Sho: so when i first started Karasuno i introduced myself as just shoyo

Shoyo removed the wig and contacts and started to reintroduce himself

Sho: well my full name is Oikawa Shoyo i am the twin brother Oikawa tooru and my name should ring a bell to people me and my brother are on the Japan youth team

Tooru: and I am the said twin

Suddenly fukurōdani entered and Bokuto ran right to Sho

Bokuto:Baby owl

Sho: Love what’s up

Bokuto: missed you

Sho: you saw me a week ago

Bokuto: to damn long 😤 anyway what are you doing

Sho: telling people the truth about me and my brother

Bokuto: finally baby owl haven’t you got a match with an american team in a couple of days

Noya: can we come watch shoyo

Yachi: yeah please

Daichi: that would explain your first day now that i think of it

Tooru: twin you said nothing happened

Sho: Well nothing did

Tanaka: apart from his awesome setting skills and he motivated Kageyama as well

Tooru: so our training with dad paid off

That’s right their dad is a famous volleyball player R/N also when they were told they Were playing an American team they weren’t informed it was an all girls team but they are yet to find that bit out when Thomas who in the timeskip joins MSBY he is captain of this team

( go go the Jaguars 🐆) GC

Captain Thomas: Shoyo hey Ace you know we are going up against an all american team its a girls team call American Lady Butterfly

Sho: you are just telling us this now,now captain when i am on a break at my training camp

Captain Thomas: sorry Shoyo also last minute plans the match was meant to be held with us now we have to go to Sumida City Gymnasium where we will meet with the girls

Sho: fine what time do you need me and Tooru Ni there

Captain Thomas:Tomorrow 9 sharp

Sho: Roger that Captain i will pass it on to my twin but you know i have to bring my big baby with me

Captain Thomas:copy that sho see you tomorrow

Sho has logged off

Shoyo went to Oikawa and relayed the message Captain Thomas gave to him

Sho:bro we have to meet the American team tomorrow but here is the kicker it’s an all girl team

Oikawa:WHAT!!!!

Sho:think of the name Bro American Lady Butterfly the hint is there Lady and Butterfly what Male team would be called Lady Butterfly

Oikawa: I will be honest I thought it sounded Fruity

Sho: omg we have to be there 9 sharp and please don’t say that tomorrow in front of them Kotaro love you are coming with us

Bokuto: I am really baby owl

Sho: of course can’t have my needy baby alone with your separation anxiety forget that

Akaashi: all things on the list i have for captain that is one thing i never knew

Sho:Its true why do you think i call him my needy baby Oi clone

Kawa:Rude but what do you want?

Sho: To remind you that you are on final warning with Captain Thomas that is why i said and i will say again don’t say anything that can get you ass kick off the team

Kawa:So my little twin does care

Sho:No we need a setter It can’t be me I am the Jaguars Ace I don’t want to be a setter as well I am Karasuno 2 yr setter that is Enough

kawa:Yes mom i will be on my best behavior

Sho smacked his head

Kawa:you are worse than Iwa chan

Sho:did i use a volleyball

Kawa: no but-

Sho:quit your bitching are you sure you’re the oldest

Iwaizumi laughed and said

Iwa:nice kill shoyo

Sho: meh he will wake up to himself one day and maturity will him hard or he will keep acting like a man child and them if that is the case i am so sorry for you Hajime

Bokuto walked up to shoyo and hugged him from behind

Sho:need something love

Bokuto:food

Sho: oh in my bag also i will be cooking with the managers tonight you want you favorite

Bokuto nodded and went to sho’s back found some his energy bars and two cans of energy drinks after practice sho went to the kitchen started making a big bowl of teriyaki chicken and rice bokuto’s favorite he also made a big tub of green tea ice once the girls just mad onigiri and sho called everyone

sho:Bo and everyone dinner is served

Bokuto ran to the kitchen yelling

Bokuto: Baby owl’s Teriyaki Chicken

Sho then said and i also made you favorite dessert

Bokuto:Green tea Ice cream

Sho nodded

Suga: did you make all of this

Sho: minus the Onigiri yes I did

Atsumu:It’s so good this might be better than Fatty tuna

Osamu: is my twin ditching his all time favorite food for someone else’s

Oikawa’s pov

I notice this always happens whenever someone tries my brothers cooking they fall in love with it and him how do you think him and bokuto got together they do say the way to someone heart is through their stomach but my twin takes that saying a little to literal and he always ends up with a harem

From junior high to middle school to now it seems oh well there can’t win my brothers love they know this unless the want to see an aggressive owl in the form of Bokkun and that is not something even I want to see again

Everyone: thank you for the food shoyo/sho kun/baby owl/chibi chan/mini spiderman/ETC it was wonderful

Sho: It was Nothing really

Sho kissed bokuto and said

Sho:full big baby or do you want green tea ice that question goes for everyone

Bokuto’s eyes sparkled

Sho: i take it you want some i made enough to last the whole camp

Bokuto: my baby owl is the best

sho:Bokuto that does not mean watch sad movie just so you can eat it don't pout at me

Akaashi made some quick notes which read as follows

Bokuto’s weakness 101 Sho he goes all soft for him and like me sho seems the only other person to get him out of Emo mode

Bokuto’s weakness 102 sho’s cooking and desserts although I don’t think he is alone all of us volleyball players just fell in love with his cooking so make that a group weakness shoyo’s cooking is to die for literally

Sho saw what Akaashi wrote and said

Sho: that is high praise but my cooking isn’t that great

Everyone: He’s joking right

Kawa: no he is not he’s always like this humble and modest

Everyone 💭🤩 his perfect to bad he is taken Bokuto you are so lucky you better take care of him

Bokuto suddenly sneezed

Bokuto: A-A -Achoo 🤧

Sho: oh god are you sick

Bokuto: I’m fine baby owl lets practice

They went to practice with the third gym squad then get ready for the practice match with the American Lady Butterfly team so they went to bed early the next day sho got up early made breakfast for everyone

He then went to wake up bokuto and oikawa and told him it was time to go and meet the American team he left a note for everyone to find and left

Kiyoko went in to the kitchen to make breakfast to find it done as the teams were showing up they said thank you Kiyoko

Kyoko:Actually this wasn’t me look at the note they saw the note

Dear everyone me Tooru Ni and Bokuto have gone to Sumida City Gymnasium for a practice match against the American Lady butterfly team I made breakfast for all of you and see you when we get back in a couple of days i say that because if we win Captain Thomas will probably want us to go out celebrating and we will most likely be drunk anyway enjoy breakfast

Oikawa Shoyo

Kita: aww that is sweet of him

Yaku: he can be cold but he has a kind heart

Noya: shoyo cold impossible

Kenma: not impossible actually as his childhood best friend i know better than most