#you dont gotta be super refreshed on it

[tactician]

OCS + Associations

thank you bree @sangre for the tag :3 hugging hugging hugging

im gonna do this for reides, my dnd oc!

animal

seahorses! symbolically, they are linked to balance and adaptability, which i see a lot with reides in regards to how he navigates both the lands and seas. they're also associated with freedom and creativity, which are major themes to reides' character as a whole. plus they're so cute and reides is cute, too. teehee.

colors

blues, silvers, light purples! and, of course, green... his older brother calls him seaweed-head, so there's gotta be a green association in there... DFJKDJG

month

january! the first month of the year; cold, but in a renewing and refreshing sort of way. a new beginning!!! a new experience!!! and so many new possibilities existing in front of you!!! the level of expectations placed on january also aligns with the sort of burdens that reides had placed on him as well.

songs

chasing kites - ​iamamiwhoami! over the ocean outcast, with nowhere to go / a brighter forecast, new winds will blow / the storm that's drawing near / it calms and the air is cleared. i have a huge playlist for reides which can be found here too.

number

16! he was born on firstlight 16 so that might be where i get that association from lmao.

plants

lotus flowers! i think lotus flowers really suit reides. even the way that they grow - rising out of water to bloom; existing in that beautiful margin between the aquatic and the earthen - is so... him. they also symbolize rebirth, which i think is very much aligned with the sort of stuff that reides went through when he initially ventured to the surface world (and kind of ties into the stuff i talked about for the month portion of this too!)

smells

i'm aware that it's a slight cop-out to say the ocean, but, like, heres the thing: the ocean! LMAO. that salty sort of kick is super reides; the scent of the sea at dawn, that crispness, not dainty or elegant but effortlessly evocative... yeah. that's reides. he usually smells like that naturally. like the sea, plain soap, and ink.

gemstones

larimar, pietersite and pearls as well! also, i know they're not gems per se, but i also associate sea glass with reides a whole lot. they're gems to ME!!!

time of day

dawn! the very moment that the sun starts rising; when stars and maybe even the moon are still visible in the sky. as you can see, i really like associating reides with existing in between or on the border of various things fdkjdljg. i also think reides stays up really late typically so he's no stranger to being awake at this time LMAO

season

winter! ok im a little weird with this one so bear with me...... i really enjoy associating reides with coldness since he's such a sweet, passionate person and i like the idea of his optimism existing alongside the cold; i like the idea of the cold being a comfort instead of depressing or stoic or serious. bc for reides, the cold IS a comfort!!!! it gives him clarity and energizes him. it reminds him of his home seas and it empowers him.

places

on the beach, skipping alongside the waves; laughing, with a book clutched to his side; fingers stained with ink and hair windswept from the briny breeze!

foods

oysters, mussels, all of that sort of thing - juicy seafood that tastes best when you eat it with your bare hands. salty, rich flavours!

drinks

a nice rum with lime mixed in... that's reides right there. blue daiquiris are these things and also, as the name suggests, blue - and that's fun and would delight reides, so i think if he was a cocktail he'd be that. as for his taste in drinks... reides loves sweet ones the very most - rip currant wine from his home seas is his fav - but he has a soft spot for firewhiskey, too!

element

WATER, BABY!!!!!!! i dont think lightning technically counts as an element but that as well!

seasoning

SEA SALT, BABY!!!!!!!

sky

i think this ties into the time of day prompty really well so i'm pointing up there again hehe.

weather

stormy weather! >:) he is the storm prince, after all... for all his kindness, he is tumultuous and brings change. there's a lot of power to be found in storms, and that power is something that reides is learning to embrace. when he hatched, it was during a crazy storm that really wracked his home seas - and, sometimes, the people there maintain a superstition that baby-reides actually absorbed that storm's power. it's simply wack poetry stuff (that, frankly, used to freak reides out as a kid lmao) but what if they're right. what then.

magical powers

reides is a wizard who specializes in evocation magic, so you know he loves to harness da power of da elements... he especially loves ice and lightning magic. again, if something sounds stormy, he is probably tapping into that power and trying his best to let it surge through him.

weapons

reides' weapon is... the power he extracts from the weave teehee. he has a purple conch shell from home that serves as his arcane focus for all that! but, his magic aside, reides also has a dagger that was fashioned from the pelagic ore of his home seas and a crossbow that he named 'harpoon.'

candy

it's gotta be salt water taffy! reides' fav candy as well as the candy that embodies his nature the absolute best :3

methods of long-distance travel

reides loves boats so much. big ships fascinate him endlessly. he wants to go on them all the time. he fantasizes about being at sea with aske (his boyfriend who is also a sailor / fisherman) all the time.

fear

to let down his people and be an outcast amongst them; to prove that all the people who pelted him with insults were right; to lose his home; to lose his freedom

mythological creature

merfolk is a laughably easy answer I KNOWWW so i will choose something else even if they're by far the first thing my mind leaps to for reidesy DFLDKGDKFH i think selkies are cool too given the nature of their shapechanging o: reides' identity both above and below the seas is something that is fun with me thematically and i think selkies kind of offer a physical representation of that

piece of stationary

a page of a sturdy tome that has notes written all over it!!! and doodles!!! and some of the ink on it has been smudged too!!! yay research!!!

three emojis

🌊⛈️✨

celestial body

reides is definitely a star! shining resolutely through the darkness of night... ✰ i also associate him with the star tarot, so that ties in nicely.

[alreadyundermygenjutsu]

SOOOO i FINALLY downloaded the current, modern day, free-trial version of CoffeeCup Site Designer.. and i gotta say, it's a LOT more powerful and complex, but not unintuitively so.

just like the previous iterations, the program gives you instruction as you go clicking on things, which is super helpful given the amount of menus in this thing

there are menus upon menus inside menus! this is the sacrifice of all the features of the modern-day web, it's simply unacceptable to render everything as an image, therefore there are a million menus for you to enter all your specifications into. but honestly after clicking around for like 30 minutes everything made sense and this came together pretty easily!

i was able to give the snowflakes a float:right property and line it up neatly with the header element. i wasn't able to create the table (containing the buttons) from within the program, but eh no big deal, rapidtables.com my friend. oh AND gifs are able to be played in the preview instead of being still JPGs with white backgrounds so that's nice too

honestly i dont know if i need something THIS fancy to make my site, but it is still fun to use.......the downside would be it costing money (99 fukin americans!!!!!) unless someone by some miracle can DM me Some Kind Of Solution. [HINT: I AM NOT ASKING FOR MONEY]

i am a very visual person so even though i understand CSS, this makes website creation a breeze!!! plus i dont have to spam my neocities with updates while im hitting save&refresh every 20 seconds ^_^""

[tonberry-yoda]

For the writer ask game:

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

✨️ Out of the comments you’ve received on your fics, what are two or three of your favorites?

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

💕 What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

📚 Is there a fanfic or fanfic writer you recommend? (on tumblr, AO3, Wattpad, FF.net seperatly or just all time favourite) (you can tell me more if you can't decide, I know how that feels 😅)

🔮 Any advice for writers working through burnout or writer’s block?

hi love <3

based on this post

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

oh god, you're making me think. i write so much fanfic this is so hard oh man. gimme a sec, i really gotta dig. okay. this one was a hard question actually. so, this was from an older fic of mine from the arcana. here's the link to that fic but there's a line at the bottom that Asra says:

“I thought you were to investigate him… not… investigate him!!”

It's a stupid innuendo but I thought it was funny.

✨️ Out of the comments you’ve received on your fics, what are two or three of your favorites?

I love getting comments where people say that they never read fics like this and also ones that say that i provided them with the fluff they needed. I remember before I got tumblr digging for fluffy fics was sometimes a journey, so i wanted to provide the fluff and getting comments that compliment me on that make me so happy omg i also got a hilarious reblog this morning of one of my Junkrat pieces and they said "Oh no, I think I have a crush. I dont think we can live laugh love out of this one folks" and it made me laugh really hard

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

I have this ridiculously long list of headcanons for Skeptic from mha. like this man gets 7 minutes of screen time and I made his whole backstory. In my head he has a twin sister. Cool ass parents. Went to college. I just have like a 20 year long list for him. Fav character unfortunately.

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

💕 What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

I just answered these to, which you can read here but I failed to mention one of my fav fics which is this one and this one

📚 Is there a fanfic or fanfic writer you recommend? (on tumblr, AO3, Wattpad, FF.net seperatly or just all time favourite) (you can tell me more if you can't decide, I know how that feels 😅)

oh i have a list omfg. so if you dont mind, im gonna tag a few folks. @overwatchfics @auroravictorium @enforcermoss @some-piece @mvrtaiswriting @tender-rosiey @soupbabe @moonbeamwritings @meepmoopmaap @strawmariee @lovolee3 and uhhhhhhhh gosh, i think that's all. i have a lot of lovely writer friends on here, so i highly recommend all of them. I acutally started writing on here because of @some-piece @moonbeamwritings and @mvrtaiswriting fun fact lol. i love all of these talented people and really recommend checking out their writing. There's a little bit of every fandom around, so please check them out. im sending them all lots of love <3333

🔮 Any advice for writers working through burnout or writer’s block?

I really know how this feels. I am a writer full time. Like not even kidding. I am majoring in creative writing so I need to write ALL THE TIME. So I really know what burnout feels like. That and feeling insecure about writing. For me, if I really know that I need to keep writing, I pump out headcanons. They are easy and simple. Also matchups. But not everyone does those. When I get in a block I really let myself take the break I need. I will refresh my brain by doing something else. You don't want to hate writing, so just put it off for a little bit. You never want something fun to feel like a chore. If you feel burnt out, get some food, drink some water. That's why I'm always telling others to stay hydrated. It is a super important part of my routine and really should be in yours too. lol. Sometimes you can't control your feelings either, so let them come and go. If you feel insecure, just stop comparing and definitely stop writing for a little bit. I hope it helps, it's really hard to explain lol, but overall, just make sure to never overwhelm yourself, keep it soft and simple :)

thanks for these! I loved these questions <3333

[nicholaes]

buffy!!

sorry i put off answering this for so long bc i was super busy suddenly and then i was overthinking about rambling too much about my answers asjfkdj but thanks for asking i love an excuse to talk about characters

Favourite character: At the moment Tara from my rewatch (im in the middle of s5 currently) but in general Spike but also Buffy bc shes Buffy you know

Funniest character: I think it has to be Buffy when considering who's funny on purpose. But Spike is also funny on accident by just being a little idiot sometimes

Best-looking character: Gotta say Spike

3 favourite ships: Kinda hard to answer bc I actually dont like most of the relationships on this show that much 1. Obviously Spuffy, I had seen spuffy posts on tumblr ages ago and I was like thinking oh this is probably not gonna be fully canon and then I screamed when s5 and 6 happened. 2. Spike and Drusilla I just think theyre very fun to watch together 3. conflicted between Jenny Calender and Giles, bc it was kinda brief and Tara and Willow, bc I just didnt like Willow as much in later seasons so Im just not fully invested in either I guess

Least favourite character: hmm i dont know when I first rewatched I really disliked Glory and not in a this is the villain way but in a this character is really annoying me way but during rewatching my feelings on lots of characters have changed and theres a lot of characters that have moments or arcs where they annoy me a lot but none really stands out as a least favourite

Least favourite ship: I dont really hate any ship but I guess Xander and Anya I just didnt get why they got together besides wanting to have sex (shoutout to bangel just for constantly being brought up again like it was fine it made sense for the story but he left after s3 pls let him just leave)

Reason why I watch it: Its felt very just fun and different from what I had been watching before in a refreshing way. Really liked how things would be unexpected but it wasnt being over the top just kinda a genuine fun time. Then Spike was introduced and I got Spike brain worms lmao

Why I started watching it: Basically bc of Spuffy and I saw gifsets ages ago probably around 2013 and I was like seems like a cool show and then I saw Spuffy gif sets and I was like oooh and I remember seeing a video of him having to sing to Buffy in Once More With Feeling and being sold on the ship and then on top of that I found out he's a vampire so I was so in. I didnt really see much of it later but I think I just heard things about it being influential and just good in general so I was like ok I need to watch it sometime and then I started watching it as a chill show while working on my bachelor thesis (ended up only getting to it like 10 years but shh)

[sxaymz217]

And you see, this is one of the things I've always felt really shitty about. I swam in high school and we had to get up super early at around four to swim before school, because our school didn't have a pool, so we had to "borrow" the local one. I am a natural morning person and always arrived for practice awake alert and refreshed, but all of my friends were miserable. I always felt so bad, because then they had to do 8 hours of school afterwards. It just didn't seem fair that just because their bodies worked on a different time table, that they had to suffer for it. I've felt like this is a simple matter of logistics, I mean it seems so simple in theory. If a portion of the population are night people, another day people and yet another morning people, it seems like we can just build our schedules accordingly.

If there are night customers, then it stands to reason there can also be night workers. Night police? Aid workers? Government? Nonprofits? It just seems to me like we should have a 4 day, work week, 4 to 6 to 8 hours a shift(optional depending on employee's needs and desires), enough of a paycheck to live off of comfortably regardless of time spent working (not paid by the hour, just paid) or status within the organization(janitor or CEO). If you have enough workers and you will already have diverse natural circadian rhythms, just build a schedule that accommodates each individual worker. Think about it, humans(plural) are already awake 24/7, building our systems around that along with the knowledge that people dont want to be working 24/7, it seems very possible to make everyone happy, and well rested. I mean the logistics will be hilariously complex compared to our current system, but its definitely doable. I think its just a matter of having a tremendous amount of employees.

I believe its possible to build a scheduling system that can be used by anyone comfortably. I see NO GOOD reason why a night person HAS to wake up at dawn with me.

This is kind of an unfinished thought, without a lot of details, but I swear I'm on to something. It should be possible to build a society wide work system, that any human can function in happily, I just gotta find the right balance.

Ok wait let her speak

[deercharm]

Having finished dawntrail, I wanted to write down some of my eclectic thoughts on it

- I love wuk Lamat. I love her journey over the story to learn about her people to better serve them. I love the "the absence of war is not peace". She was a phenomenal protagonist that we passed down the mantle of hear feel think to. She is incredibly darling to me and I would hold her hand on a dirigible to ease her nerves any day 10/10

- this game does not have a great track record of letting primary female characters be anything but white, petite (I'll never forgive them for white midlander lyse) and conventionally pretty in a feminine way, so I find Lamatyi sooo refreshing in that way. That makes the hate against her all the more enraging

- I love erenville. Why does his mom have an american accent

- I hated the mamook arc. They did not give eugenics and forced breeding the time and energy it deserved. Dead babies (stillborn) is maybe not the main take away you know? I liked the concept of "maybe some cultures do fucked up things, but instead of just grimacing at them in judgment we should understand the variables which drove them to that" but it fell short for me

- bakool Ja ja 180d too quickly, it felt so rushed and undeserved

- his dad sucked we gotta stop redeeming shitty abusive dads

- overall it was slow but I thoroughly enjoyed the first half. It gave great development to wuk Lamat, and I genuinely loved learning about the different cultures and doing their feats. (Felt weird that they were all """"beast tribes"""" though, same issue withe Oliphants in radz)

- I loved koana and wuk Lamat relationship. I love that he surrended for her and she in turn shared dawn servant with him. Beautiful

- cowboy arc was weird but I liked the hesparro and liked the acknowledgement that technological progress hurts the environment. Eager to see where they go with that as erenville seems interested in it

- I am a grandma and generally dont like my scifi in fantasy, but I overall enjoyed the second half of the story for it's THEMES

- I have extremely mixed feelings on sphene. I hate her physical design. I'm so tired of 16 yr old looking uncanny cutesy child women (I love u metieon but I don't love ur design). I found her SUPER GENTLE LOVING PERFECT EMBODIMENT OF FEMININE AUTHORITY tiring and uninspired. I liked that she was a fucked up robot though. But also like, when she's like "I gotta tell you guys something... Actually jk" was that meant to imply she doesn't want genocide deep down actually and just big brother is watching?? I was confused by that and kinda hope that's not the case bc her being convinced of her path is so much more compelling. I'm scared Abt them showing her crown with the ending credits... Pls don't bring her back

- Zoraal ja resolution was good. His son was weird (who is ur mom?????) but it felt like a Chekhov's gun so they could have control of Alexandria feasibly fall to someone on the Good Side at the end. I kinda wish they made gulool ja ja more morally grey, he was a little too perfect wise king for me idk

- I rlly liked erenville mom. I wanna know how she died!!!!

- Alexandria's fucked up soul culture is so interesting. I laughed so hard when they said THE CLOUD.

- the final map was maybe my favorite part of the game. I love the incredibly bold choice to disable it and make it bleak and depressing. I love that we didn't Find Another Way with the endless

- I am extremely not immune to graha tia gondola date or ice cream throat goat

- environments, dungeons, and trials were stunning

- raid is stupid in a great way I love the fights and music

- I love the scions as much as anyone but have found that they feel a bit stagnant and solved. There's never any friction between them and they're all just Good Guys and often feel interchangeable in cutscenes, but I feel like the limiting of them, splitting them up, and having such a new cast remedied that

- I love to criticism but fundamentally dawntrail good!!!!!!

[sportsannouncer]

((i like xenoz i still wanna do the alien tl. that could potentially be my next rp project since not dealing with my solo blogs could let me focus my attention ?? (???) some people seemed interested before but i only got a couple in the (dead) server so hmu if you want to be involved !!!

[atlabeth]

transferred part 20 - atla smau

part 19 | masterlist | epilogue

summary: trying to run from your past is hard, but falling for your brother’s roommate is even harder. little do you know that he’s falling for you as well.

a/n: me when i have to write more than 5 words in a series thats supposed to be a smau

anywho! basically the last chapter?? which is crazy?? filled with heartfelt emotions and the moment that you've all been waiting for, it's a wild ride. so strap in and enjoy. the epilogue will be posted later today so i can finally wrap this series up!! and dont worry theres a super long sappy authors note on the epilogue. LETS GET INTO IT

wc: 2.3k

warning(s): cursing, mentions of alcohol, hurt/comfort, one suggestive comment, mentions of toxic relationships, reader talking about her self sabotaging behavior and burnout, Bad Coping Methods (dont disappear kids)

-

“You haven’t seen her?” Zuko sighed as the same words he had heard on repeat for the past hour played through his ears again. “It’s alright, thank you. Have a good night.”

He shook his head at his friends, their defeated expressions mirroring his own as he leaned against the kitchen island. He ran an exhausted hand through his hair, and he couldn’t help but think of the countless times you had done it for him.

“Your sister doesn’t play when it comes to theatrics,” Aang lamented as he plopped on the couch next to Sokka.

“Tell me about it,” he muttered. “I mean, she doesn’t pull stuff like this. Sometimes she went over the top when she was younger, staying out a little too late or doing something stupid, but she never just… she never just tried to disappear like this. I.. I guess she was too worried about Katara and me to do anything like that, but still.” He knocked back the rest of the seltzer and tossed the can on the table — alcohol was tempting, but none of them wanted to be any less than completely aware tonight.

“We all knew she was hurting,” Sokka continued. “Not even she could be fine after everything that happened with Hahn, especially the day after, but I— I guess I thought that she would open up before just dropping off the radar completely!

“No news from the girls,” Aang announced, prompting a collective sigh from the other two boys. “I gotta give it to her, she’s been very thorough with this.”

“Of course she has. It’s classic Y/N — she can disappear without a trace, sure, but she can’t put enough effort into picking up some supplies for my project on her way home.” It was a lame attempt to lighten the mood, and though he got a weak chuckle out of Aang, it was radio silence on Zuko’s part.

“Hey, buddy.” It didn’t snap him out of his reverie, and Sokka seriously contemplated throwing his empty soda can at him. “You okay?”

“She didn’t even say anything to me,” he finally murmured, eyes trained on his phone screen. “She said she would tell me if she was having a hard time, but she didn’t say anything to me. Just suffered in silence until it got so bad she just up and left. She just… left. Without a single word to anyone. To me.”

Aang’s eyes softened and he let out a loose exhale. “Zuko, she didn’t mean to hurt you — I know that much. She’s just been under a lot of stress lately, and… I guess it didn’t manifest in the best way.”

“Stress...” he muttered, trying to piece it together. There was something nagging at the back of his skull, something on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn’t get it. “And you guys are sure she hasn’t put anything anywhere? No texts that you missed, nothing?”

“Believe me,” Sokka said. “I’ve refreshed her pages a thousand times by now. It’s radio silence on her side. God, I wish I was more invasive and put like, a tracking device on her car or something! For all we know, she could be back to Kyoshi.”

Kyoshi. Stress. This whole thing, your disappearing act.

And suddenly, it clicked.

Zuko stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over the stool in the process and warranting puzzled looks from both of his friends as he grabbed his keys off the table and practically ran to the door.

“Zuko, where are you going?” Aang questioned.

He tugged the door open and shot a glance back at them, tension having noticeably dissolved from his shoulders.

“I know where she is.”

-

Zuko tapped idly against the steering wheel, once again glancing down at his phone screen but to no avail. His relationship with you had become infinitely more complicated since the kiss through fault of both of them — he supposed that was what happened when two people who didn’t know how to talk about their emotions caught feelings for each other. Zuko was very skilled at sticking his foot in his mouth whenever he tried to talk about anything like this, and

But you had accepted his offer to talk on the way home, so that meant something.

He had originally suggested just talking on the way home like he had proposed earlier, but you had a different idea. ‘Trust me,’ you had told him. ‘It has a good track record with making people feel better.’

Your proposition was a wildflower field on the outskirts of the city, just out of the way that someone would go en route to the university. Far enough from the city to emanate an aura of peace, but close enough to be a feasible trip.

“I found this place when I was missing home,” you smiled as he parked the car. “I love it here, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I just feel homesick for Kyoshi. You passed a field like this on the way into town, and when I stumbled here, it just kinda felt like fate. So now whenever I’m stressed, or overwhelmed, or just need a break, I come out here. And I think this is the perfect place to talk about… well, whatever’s going on with us.”

“Sounds good.” He returned the sentiment then cleared his throat. “As long as we don’t go in there. I can admire it from afar, but just looking at that field is making my skin itch.”

You laughed and nodded amiably. “Deal.”

-

One hand was splayed against your chest, the other trailing lazy circles with the pads of your fingers against the metal as you gazed up at the sky. You had the best and only seat of the view, the flora drifting softly in the night breeze as the stars twinkled from above.

You didn’t know what you were thinking, being here. The past couple of weeks had just been�� crushing you. It was like your heart was stuck in a vice and no matter what you did, it just got tighter and tighter.

You had been treating everyone you knew horribly, but you couldn’t stop. It felt like a game — how terribly could you act towards them until they snapped too? Until your friends, your siblings, Zuko, recognized that they had made a mistake by trying to help you?

And you didn’t know what it was about today, but… something inside of you just broke after that morning with your roommates. So you did what you were best at, and you ran. Skipped class, skipped work, just drove around aimlessly until even that was starting to feel like too much of a trap.

And then you ended up here.

It would’ve been laughable if you weren’t on the verge of breaking down.

You had been here, just laying on the hood of your car parked a few feet away from the field on an off road path, for the better part of an hour. If you were going to drown underneath the weight of your thoughts, it was better to do it alone.

But as you heard the crunching of gravel underneath car tires, your eyes instinctively shot towards the noise — so much for being alone — and you sat up. Your brows furrowed in recognition, you knew that car, and it felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest when Zuko stepped out.

“You remembered,” you breathed after a moment of silence. “You’re here.”

“Always.” He said it so obviously, so easily — why wouldn’t he remember? Why wouldn’t he be here?

You scooted over to make space on the hood and patted the space next to you softly, pulling your knees up to your chest in a moment of shame as he walked around to the front and pushed himself up next to you. What were you going to say to him? What could you say?

“I’m sorry,” you said out of the blue, your words pouring out of you like an emotional waterfall. “I’m sorry for just— for just leaving, I know it was stupid and I know they’re all probably worried out of their minds, but I couldn’t do it, Zuko. I-it was like I was trapped, and I know it was irrational, but I had to get out of there—”

“You didn’t have to,” he said quietly, effectively stopping your rant. “If you really had to get out, you could’ve at least said something to one of us. I don’t know what things were like back at Kyoshi, but here— here, you can’t throw yourself back onto the knife every time something goes wrong, because— you just can’t do that anymore.”

“I’m not mad, believe me, I’m relieved that you’re okay. I just..” he sighed and glanced up at the night sky, the light of the moon illuminating his features as he faced you once more. “I know you’ve felt alone before, but you’re not. You have Katara, and Sokka, Suki, Toph— you have me, Y/N! And I’m not going anywhere, trust me, but— but you can’t keep doing this to yourself, because they care about you, and I care about you.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat and chose to concentrate on the hood of the car, tapping your fingers against the metal as a way to use up your nervous energy. “You’re… you’re right,” you said after a long moment of silence, the beginnings of a mirthless smile on your lips.

“After that night at the party, I just— I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. There was a part of me that just wanted to lock myself in my room and never come out, but I— I told myself I was better than that, and I refused to let myself fall back onto any of it. So I worked. I took extra shifts, I helped out my professors, I did anything and everything I could to try and keep my mind off of Hahn. But I wasn’t helping anything, I was just… I was destroying myself. It was just like you said. I was a candle burning at both ends but still convinced that I was doing the right thing, and eventually.. I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I ran.”

“And— there’s always been this… this voice in my head that pops up after things in my life are going good, and it tells me that something is going to go wrong. A-and it tells me that if I’m the one that ruins it, then I don’t have to ask myself what I did wrong, if I could’ve stopped it from happening— if it’s inevitable, then I should be the one to ruin it. It’s how most of my relationships ended, and— well, the only thing it’s succeeded in is making me miserable.”

You don’t even notice your hands are shaking until you feel Zuko placing his own over yours — a simple gesture asking an unsaid question, one you answer by intertwining his fingers with your own.

“That same voice popped up again once I started getting close to you,” you admitted quietly. “And this whole time, I’ve been so terrified of falling that I never considered you would catch me. But I’m tired, Zuko. I’m tired of constantly looking over the edge.”

As you turned your head to meet his eyes again, your breath caught in your throat at his close proximity. You were sure that no matter how much time you spent with him, your heart would never stop beating out of your chest for Zuko.

“I will always be there to catch you,” he affirmed softly. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

And just like before, he brought his hand to the side of your face and tenderly brushed a loose strand of hair behind your ear. His hand, slightly calloused but emanating comfort all the same, lingered on your cheek for a moment before he posed the question.

“Can I kiss you?”

You nodded, and his lips captured your own immediately. You reciprocated with an almost desperate fervor and— and it just felt so right. You had grown so accustomed to the constant warmth he carried with him that it had become a part of you, he had become a part of you, and now a life without Zuko was just unimaginable.

He was right — he already was there to catch you, each and every time. Giving you endless rides when your car broke down, sitting through the world’s most boring anthro projects, letting you bare your soul to him, telling you it was all going to be okay when nothing felt okay, and managing to find you when you had gone out of your way to not be found. And all of it— it all made you realize.

You didn’t want to keep running. And you didn’t have to. Not anymore.

Zuko pulled away and pressed his forehead to yours, breathing slightly labored as the two of you sat in comfortable silence. That is, until you broke it.

“So,” you started, a nervous chuckle following. “Are we… are we a thing now?”

You could tell that caught him by surprise by the laugh that escaped him, a sound of unfiltered joy. “I’d say that we are.”

You could feel the heat rushing to your cheeks once more as he slid off of the hood of the car and held out his hand, an offering you took happily. “We should get home,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “It’s past midnight, and—” Zuko glanced at his phone and grimaced. “They’re all still worried out of their minds.”

“Right,” you muttered. “I’m gonna get the lecture of my life from Sokka and Katara.”

“Probably,” he chuckled. “But they’re just doing their job as concerned siblings.” He pressed a chaste kiss to your forehead and glanced back at his own car. “I’ll see you back at the apartment?”

You nodded, an uncontrollable smile pulling at your lips. “Thank you, Zuko. For this, and— for everything.”

He returned the sentiment, golden eyes filled with adoration.

“Always.”

-

if your name is crossed out it means i can’t tag you!

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atla: @marianne1806

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

My hand slipped:

Amelia was the first one to find the nest. She slept lighter than her brother and sister. They could sleep even through the red alert sometimes, where she was up at just the sound of a door opening.

That was the case tonight. she dismissed the door swish at first - mama was often up later than papa doing important admiral things. Doubly so now that the baby often kept her up.

But then the door swished again, back and forth and she could hear Mama pacing, and oddly the sound of the clothes refresher opening and closing.

She rolled out of bed, curiousity piqued.

The baby must be awake again, Amelia thought. Mama always paced when the baby was keeping her up. She was always super sleepy on these nights; when Peppa and Ed were up, they had fun getting her to say silly things.

Amelia joined Mama as she took a big handful of clothes out of the clothes refresher and watched her carry them into her bedroom and begin arranging them on the far side of the bed.

Some of them were the ones Papa left on the Vesta for when he got to stay over. Amelia leaned her elbows on the bed, watching curiously as the shirts, pants, and jackets all were added to a haphazard circle.

"Wheres... the big jacket" Mama murmured in her sleepy voice.

Amelia looked around. the big jacket, one of Papas, had fallen on the floor. She grabbed it. "You mean this."

Mama chirped a thank you at her. Amelia watched her shake out the big jacket, turn it soft inner side up, and lay it over the other clothes, tucking the sleeves under the rolled up circle of garments that lined the outside of the configuration.

"What are you doing?" Amelia asked curious.

"Mhmm making a nest for the baby" Mama answered.

"Why?"

Mama yawned. "They need a nest." She rubbed her belly. "The baby will roll around a lot. nnn dont want them to roll away."

Amelia wondered why there was not one of these in Papa's quarters. Then realized Papa probably just reminded Mama to go back to sleep. She looked up at Kathryns blurry eyes and the tired wrinkles gathering around them. "Tell the baby you'll make them a nest tomorrow" Amelia said. "You gotta sleep."

"Really?" Kathryn yawned. "Mhmmm. need pants."

There were extra pants hiding behind the nest. Amelia climbed up and grabbed a pair, helping Mama roll them up to pad the side. "You gotta sleep Mama" Amelia said. "I'm gonna make you the tea that Papa makes so you can sleep better. We can finish the nest tomorrow."

Mama yawned again. "Mh don't have time. Too busy." But she sat down when Amelia nudged her and her head drooped a little. Amelia wondered if someone could fall asleep sitting up.

"Did we keep you awake like this?" Amelia asked as she fetched a tea and presented it to Mama.

"Hm no. I don't remember." She sipped the drink and sighed contently. "You were easier. you were eggs."

Amelia grinned, tail wagging rapidly. Mama never talked about when they were babies. "Were we cute?"

Mama hummed as she drank her tea. her eyebrows furrowed. "Adorable" she declared.

Amelia patted her hand on Mama's belly. The baby didnt hit back with their tail anymore. Maybe they'd figured out it was sleep time now. Mama yawned, setting the tea aside. "Thank you sweetheart" She said to Mia. and she frowned. "It's past your bedtime."

Amelia crossed her arms. "You go to sleep and I'll go to sleep" she said. "Deal"

Mama rubbed her eyes. No longer distracted by the baby moving about she was quickly succumbing to her tiredness. She shuffled under the covers. Curled towards the nest. "Need to finish it" she murmured.

"Go to sleep!" Amelia insisted. "I can help you with the baby's nest later."

"Smart girl," Mama yawned again. She "You go back to bed too Missy." she mamaged to say before falling asleep.

After that, every time she heard Mama wake up - whether it was on the weekends when they slept over on the Vesta, or nights when Mama snuck over to Voyager to stay with Papa, she tried to help mama with the nest, making sure it was big and secure enough for the baby when he came. There was even one in Papa's quarters as it turned out. It was shoved in his closet and Mama seemed rather embarrassed when Mia found it there.

Papa was just amused when Amelia showed it to him. "Maybe he will like a nest." he said. Papa was sure the baby was a boy. "The triplets were already swimming around by the time we arrived. i dont know what they needed as newborns."

Mama groaned. She still did not like thinking about the time she'd got turned fully salamander. "No. the baby's not going to need a nest alright i dont know why i want to build one."

"Is this where all my spare jackets have got to?" Chakotay asked with a chuckle.

Kathryn sighed. "I can put them back." but she looked stressed by the thought.

"No I don't mind." Chakotay had comforted her with a warm hug and a kiss on her forehead. "Make him a nest if it helps. Whatever you feel like."

As it turned out though. The baby, who was really a boy, needed an incubator in sickbay for weeks before he needed anything else. And mama spent so many nights there sleeping on a cot beside him that she didnt have any time for finishing the nest.

Kathryn had nearly forgotten about it by the time Liam was big enough and strong enough to bring home. But her family as it turned out had not forgotten.

"We wanted to do something to help" Amelia said as she and her siblings huddled close to Kathryn and Liam when they came home from Sickbay. "Come see"

Mia dragged them to the bedroom. Where a large pile of clothes previously hidden in Chakotay's closet had wound up in the middle of the bed. "We finished it!"

They had indeed. it was the nest Kathryn had started on her sleepless nights, now added onto with some of the triplets clothes and blankets so it was even bigger and comfier. She blushed and looked at Chakotay. "You finished the ridiculous thing"

Chakotay shrugged, smiling softly at she and Liam. "You thought he needed one. I wasnt going to get rid of it."

"We finished the one on the Vesta too!" Peppa piped up.

Kathryn shook her head at them, but she was smiling. And the dancing of her tail clearly indicated how pleased she was by the notion.

Edward climbed up next to the nest, leaning over it expectantly. "Can we see if he likes it?"

Kathryn was loathe to put Liam down now that she finally could hold him but three sets of pleading eyes was hard to ignore. And they had clearly put a lot of thought into it.

"We can try it out later" Chakotay murmured. his comforting hand wrapped around her.

"No we can try it out..." She bit her lip. "I do have to put him down sometime..."

she settled down next to the nest, which still looked too big for Liam's tiny self. Carefully she laid him down in the middle.

Liam was instantly squirming, tail flicking curiously. His wide eyes looking all around.

"He still can't do much yet," Kathryn cautioned as her three older children peered at the baby expectantly.

"He does look cozy" Chakotay said. he kissed her temple. "and i bet he can sleep there between us, nice and secure, without any trouble."

Kathryn purred, nuzzling against him as they watched their new baby meet his older siblings, safe and warm in the cozy nest theyd helped make for him.

Some more cringe baby stuff as I emerge from my tiny little hiatus lmao.

Top one was just a silly little hypothetical of like,,,,, the idea being that Kathryn and Chakotay would hold off on wanting to know what their baby is gonna be and look like. I think it’d be slightly more exciting for them to wait ‘cause of the blend of normal and hyper-evolved human DNA and all that haha. But I think because Kathryn would so frequently have to be in sickbay because of the weird gestational issues that they’d eventually find out before the baby’s born. I think Kathryn would be in denial of the tail lol like SURELY the weird and constant fluttering she’s feeling is just baby kicks riiiiiiiiiiiight.

And then I was just having fun with the nesting instincts idea again hahaha. Lowkey-delirious sleepy tired Kathryn making her baby a lil nest to lay in when he’s born so he’s all situated and comfortable like a lizard baby. :3 Is she fully aware that she’s doing it and that it’s kinda weird for her to be making a nest out of her and Chakotay’s clothes? Prooobably not haha. Actually drawing Liam in it though hehe. He’d just flop and roll around in there he’s SECURE so the nest does what she made it to do and I’m sure a part of her (while embarrassed) is proud of it. :)

[moonlightchn]

~WHOLESOME WEDNESDAY~

Hello this is (not) JYPe and guess who's feeling soft again? this mf 💞 heh I just thought hey it's been a while and I kinda am seeing how a lot of us are falling back on activity and posting less and stuff and I kinda feel like the general activity of the community has come DOWN a lot which I mean it's OK!!!! because we all have lives!!!! right? but also I do kinda WORRY LIKE WHERE YALL AT i guess I just kinda wanna make sure we're all doing good? yall holding on? taking care? sleeping and stuff? I've seen also many bots pop up again recently (STARES AT THAT ONE ADMIN THAT MADE LIKE 3 BOTS IN 2 MONTHS WITH LIKE 10 PPLZ EACH YES YOU PLEASE TAKE CARE) and I know bot can sometimes feel like a job more than a fun relaxing place for some so just take it easy on that too just making sure we all remember that things around here aren't that deep and you can take it at your own pace. this has always been supposed to be a safe, fun place where we make friends and have a blast, so if it doesnt feel like that anymore step back, take a deep breath and then come back if you want but like dont feel like you gotta be here and keep putting stuff out for others

I know school work, uni, real work, family, responsibilities, it can all be too much sometimes and drive us a little bit insane. I personally have a 🤩🤩 fun few days coming 🤩🤩 I hope I don't die 🤩🤩 so yeah maybe I'm PROJECTING RN but yknow how it be, I think its important sometimes to remind ourselves that, yknow, stepping back and taking some time for ourselves it's also ok. I sometimes just log out and not having my phone vibrating and notifs popping up for just a few hours feels refreshing. it's ok. you wont miss out on anything important for treating yourself to one internet free day

we take so many things seriously sometimes dont we? like, sure theres things that ARE important like keeping connections and friends and staying healthy and safe, but also theres so many things that are important for ??? no valid reason ??? or that maybe we wrongly prioritize over other things like for example dont prioritize your bot development over your sleep plz don't do that it's not worth it rip, or dont feel like you need to be around 24/7 when you have other things to do or just don't want to. dont feel like you're neglecting bot because you have to study or feel like going out with friends is pushing you back here. dont feel like being behind in notifs is such a big deal. youre a great admin and you're doing well!

but also like,,,, dont prioritize work and uni over sleep and eating and taking breaks and going out and getting fresh air either. really just prioritize yourself first. sometimes being here just as admin and sharing and talking to friends is good enough. you dont always need to be your character, you don't always need to keep an image or a clean neat blog. you can just enjoy and go around shitposting that's really ok! (bunnies for the soul)

yknow it's really cliche to think about it but sometimes you just gotta sit back and be like what am i doing? why am i doing this? what am I taking from this? is this meaningful or beneficial for my life and my growth and my wellbeing? like tumblr as any social media can be TOXIC it rlly still is just because we don't see shit it doesnt mean it's not going on and just because we don't go through something anymore it doesn't mean it hasnt hurt us or leave us super fucking paranoid around.

I JUST AM SAYING that I know many of us maybe feel safe and welcomed and at home here or like we won't get this thing we have here anywhere else but I think we make our own safety and comfort yknow? itd be really sad to see some of you go and the community poof but I also think that for us to keep carrying this thing we have and for us to protect it and for more people to feel welcome and safe we first need to look at ourselves and be sure we can actually keep doing this. I see posts pop here and there about admins feeling sad they get no interactions or how people they talked to has left or how they simply have things going on that makes them sad and unable to be around and I think often we forget, even though we say it ALL the time, that we're all just people behind these. dont forget you're just a person too. I've personally been having quite a hard time coming around with the boys on dms, anyone who talks to me knows that, but as admin? I'm always here. and sure none of us HAS to feel responsible of others, we're not /individually/ responsible of someone's fun or popularity or how long they stick around, but as a whole community we are all responsible somehow of this place's safety and to look ALL after each other. don't forget we're all just people and don't push each other to get things

anyway what im trying to say is that I do fucking love all of you so much and like I worry yknow??? I worry a lot when I see someone upset or I feel like an admin is in a kinda place. it's been just a bit over a year since I've joined this and ive been lucky enough to meet some amazing people that will always live in my heart no matter what and some others maybe I do not really know you or talk to you but I do appreciate your existence yknow you're not invisible and I notice when some of yall delete or when someone I see around makes a new bot and I 👀 or when yall change @s without telling and I have to go through my lists to fix them. maybe it's not enough but I do notice you and I hope you know that. and so because I love all of you I do think that I am a bit responsible of putting at least one smile on your faces throughout the day too be it with a post or a rb or an ask and so I do hope all of you feel a little responsible about someone else's happiness too. I know dash can be hard, I know dms can be hard, and I'm.not saying hey go befriend each other RN but maybe just stopping by someone's bot and "hey this is v cool!", I'm sure that would mean a lot for many people

maybe I just ate too much sugar today. whatever it be, have bunnies I love this kind of art

[yunfeiz]

my fav red velvet songs

for some clarification, in every rv ep, mini album, or album i'll tell you which song is my favourite (jokes on you all of them are my favourite, these ones are just to my tastes more)

let's begin!

something kinda crazy - ice cream cake the melody gets super addicting after a bit and i really love the song. like whoever made it knew what they were doing cuz it's literally making me go crazy

day 1 - the red this song makes me so happy. like it always manages to put a smile on my face. idk the lyrics but this is the song that makes me feel like im slowly falling in love

cool hot sweet love - the velvet i feel like this is the kind of song that makes me feel so relaxed. the way all of their voices blend together is so addicting. it's like their harmonizing but im 50% sure they arent. love this song

sunny afternoon - russian roulette it's the same thing that i said above. their voices blend together in the chorus so well because of their different tones. SM is so lucky to have red velvet cuz their voices are out of the world.

happily ever after - rookie people don't talk about this song enough. its so addicting. wendy's adlibs make it even better. the song is cute and it's so cheerful and it's just really beautiful. one of my fav rv songs

hear the sea - the red summer i feel like this song is so calming and refreshing. it's almost like an entirely different vibe from the album. it's like drinking a cup of water after eating a hearty meal.

kingdom come - the perfect velvet + the perfect red velvet red velvet repackage albums make me cry sometimes tbh BUT kingdom come is the best thing that came out of this. this song is slept on. their vocal tones make the song sound even better.

blue lemonade - summer magic tbh i dont' have much to say on this song other than IT'S SO GOOD. summer magic is such a good summer album i would highly reccomend listening to this when it's hot out

rbb - RBB this is one of the few red velvet albums where im like the tt is better than the b sides (cuz red velvet are b side queens). rbb is just THAT song. i love it so much (for b side sassy me is my fav)

milkshake - the reve festival day 1 milkshake is one of those really surprisngly fun songs cuz it sounds almost minor (idk if it is my music theory is a little shabby rn), but the song and the way it's written is super fun. super cool

ladies night - the reve festival day 2 i had a horrible time choosing between ladies night and love is the way but i decided on ladies night. once again im a sucker for city pop like influences in songs and ladies night just fulfills that. (i adore love is the way though)

in & out - the reve festival finale i love this repackage album tbh. i listen to this before debate tourneys so i don't cry. in and out is just amazing. idk how to express why exactly i love it but i do

pushin & pullin - queendom i think i follow the person who produced this song on tiktok? but they produced it wonderfully. it fits the timbres and the tones of the rv girls so well. i enjoy this song so much

bamboleo - the reve festival 2022 in terms of general music theory and production feel my rhythm would take the cake BUT i can make a post about that another time (lemme know if you want it). however, AGAIN city pop is my thing and any song with city pop influences so bamboleo is literally amazing

i haven't been posting very consistently lately and i'd like to apologize. i have exams in a couple of weeks so i gotta start preparing. i will try and make some layout posts this week and keep updating you guys about songs im obsessed with but i don't have any guarantees. have a great day!

[shugokairifatewin]

I need to rant about Code Lyoko.

I watched this show as a kid, a little ten year old if recall correctly, and I was OBSESSED with it. I loved the characters, I loved the music, I loved the story and the concept and it really shaped my life in a lot of ways but I never got to finish it as a kid.

Fast-forward fifteen years and here we are, Netflix comes out of left field with my favorite childhood TV show and I'm stoked - LIKE I'M REALLY STOKED, this is what I've been waiting for, this is it! I can finally see what happens after all the sectors are deleted (I had watched on and off up until about Season 3 and I had seen some of season 4 with William being possessed / on Lyoko - what's that saying about kinks coming from your favorite Villains?)

Anyway, putting my favorite Good-Character-Possessed-Against-Their-Will-And-Forced-To-Fight-For-Evil Trope 👀

So I rewatch the whole thing, I want to refresh everything and enjoy the experience and relive my childhood. And I'm chugging through season 4, eating UP That William Angst, gotta save William, gonna save William, William isn't himself, he doesn't mean to hurt us - LIVING FOR IT - and then I start to get a little nervous because I finish episode 26 and I'm like alright we have 3 episodes don't be playing with me Code Lyoko I need some William Redemption in here, that's what I live for after this angst fest, we love angst with a happy ending-

Except that's not what we get at ALL. We get the Lyoko Warriors - whom I love very dearly, each and every one of them with my soul and heart - celebrating for like 10 seconds - MAYBE and then we see these little shits BLOWING WILLIAM OFF IN THE NEXT EPISODE LIKE HES STILL HALF-POSSESSED, LIKE XANA ABOUT TO COME IN AND STRANGLE AELITA - and don't get me wrong because I get it, it's all about paranoia, think about the lasting effects Xana has probably already given these poor kiddos and now we're going to add the fact that William was literally forged into a Xana Warrior to further tip the scales in Xana's favor - I've considered that it wouldn't be easy for them to just pretend like that didn't happen - but to completely drop him? To literally just refuse to let him be a part of the gang? First of all, not even looking at how morally FUCKED that decision is, but Bro he knows your secret, he remembers when you Return to the Past, you guys fucking decided to bring him into your group, you can't just undecide that he's in it. He could really mess y'all up - BUT HE DOESN'T HE INSTEAD HELPS YOU GUYS WHEN YOU NEED HIM EVEN THOUGH Y'ALL TREATING HIM LIKE A TRASH CAN AND THEN WHEN YOU FUCKS REFUSE TO LET HIM GO TO LYOKO TO REDEEM HIMSELF AND GET A LITTLE ANGER AT XANA FOR OH I DONT KNOW RUINING HIS FUCKING LIFE - HE 👏 GETS 👏 POSSESSED 👏 AGAIN 👏 WHICH WOULDNT HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU GUYS HAD LET HIM COME WITH YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE INSTEAD OF DISTRUSTING AND ASSUMING

Can you even fathom the amount of PTSD, the amount of guilt that William has? Let's just pretend for a second that it isn't all sunflowers and rainbows because it's a kid show and William's memory of his time possessed by Xana isn't magically blank, let's talk realistically here for a second. William would be so fucking wrecked afterwards, he literally would feel so guilty, he'd have some crazy bad anxiety. And to top it the fuck off, all his friends are literally estranging him. my heart literally WEEPS for William. THEY DIDNT EVEN INVITE HIM TO THE SUPER COMPUTER SHUT DOWN PARTY. WHAT THE ACTUAL-

I'm going to watch Code Lyoko Evolution ONLY SO THAT I CAN SEE IF THEY REDEEM THIS ENDING BECAUSE WILLIAM FUCKING DESERVED MORE! The last three episodes of Code Lyoko could've been a whole season on its own. Could've spent a whole season getting William back into the group, helping him mo e past his anxiety and his guilt, could've had him redeem himself on Lyoko and let the group rely on him, let him come through for them so that everything's RIGHT IN THE END. Convince me otherwise.

[lettersformiah]

2:40pm, 17 june

hey ^-^

you have been asleep all fucking day. im in math again and just listening to music. maya and michelle arent here so :( alone in the back corner surrounded by guys, its not my fave cant lie. kind of my fault for sitting back here but c'est la vie. excited for the new valorant map! even though we dont play that much anymore. i wish we could >:( fuck my pc honestly. such a bitch for this. just gotta watch you play it when it comes out. also rip split :( i hate on it but its fun. hehe.

waiting for you bc you sleep forever smh. you need it but cmon babe. 12pm? almost 1? is that really necessary? we are just doing simplifying? ah! expanding. but i already know it since its like just a refresher from last year bc its for the external. as if ill remember this in 20 weeks. hopefully i will. talking about unis bc they are always coming to school & talking to us. would be nice if i wanted to go to a university in nz >:) but i dont bc why would i when you! i love you? that isnt a question. did i say that yet? i love you so much bubba hehehe. youre super pretty bab and i want to write you a million letters.

i love you

-mads<3

[marinetteplztakeabreak]

chloe in my adrininogami roommates au

under the cut bc its a little long (1500 words of notes about chloe in this au)

ADRININOGAMI ROOMATES AU RECAP: its not really an au its just a timejump, Adrien Nino and Kagami are all like 18-19 and roommates, hawkmoth is still out there and lb and cn still dont know each others’ identities, Nino and Kagami know each others’ secret identities but don’t know Adrien’s and he doesn’t know theirs, Nino is at university while Adrien and Kagami are just taking a gap year and working minimum wage jobs and honestly they are all thriving and bffs

Chloe is a music major

At the same university as Nino

i have very little knowledge of the universities of Paris so this is going to be partially based on the American system, im sorry but youre going to have to suspend your disbelief real quick

so the university has a rule where first year students have to live on campus in the dorms

Nino escaped this rule because he is a goshdarn music nerd and quest for knowlege cannot be stopped

There wasn’t even an AP Music Theory class at his high school when he started there but he was like “whats up guys i have self-confidence now and i think it would be pretty nifty if we had this class” and then talked to teachers and convinced a bunch of his friends to sign up for it so now its a class

And thats the only AP Music class and he still wanted to learn,,, so he just,,, started taking online college courses,,, in music theory,,, for fun,,,, the absolute nerd <3

he will ramble excitedly about music history to anyone who will listen and you cant even be upset bc he is so energetic about this

All of this is to say that, by the time he graduated high school, he had already completed a bunch of college classes, so he got to enter university as a sophomore, which is how he is living off campus with adrien and kagami

Chloe, however, is a freshman, so shes gotta live on campus in the freshman dorms and have a roommate

her roommate, by the way, is Juleka

Chloe has calmed down significantly by this time and sucks a lot less. She and Juleka are not friends by any account, but basically, when they were signing up for roommates, they were both like “whelp this is better than rooming with a total stranger, i wont talk to you or bother you if you dont talk to me”

chloe and juleka have not actually spoken to each other since school started,, they pretty much stay out of the dorm room unless they are sleeping and then they stay on their side of the room and do not make eye contact and dont touch each others stuff

and chloe is totally fine with this

just kidding, hahaha, she is sad and lonely and wants to make friends but is terrible at it,,, her models for friendship include Adrien who she knows she messed up with completely and the best thing she can do now for their relationship is avoid him so she doesnt mess it up more,, and Sabrina, who is also refusing to speak to her now and basically taught chloe that the way to do friendship is to like? do their homework or something??

(juleka is vibing and living her best life btw, shes just also an introvert and only goes to the dorm when she is tired and needs to refresh and also chloe is the one acting like they shouldnt talk)

SO,,, chloe is a music major bc she thinks its pretty nifty and fun and also because she is trying to avoid anything to do with her parents,,, she has reached the point where like “be a dissapointment to my parents” is like,, her life goal,,, which is kinda a “good for her” situation and kinda a “holy heck plz get her some therapy situation”

wow we’ve got a bunch of backstory but we are finally to the point of this post

Chloe has several classes with Nino and she keeps accidentally flocking to him because she already knows him from high school and he has such good vibes

Nino is kind of just trying to avoid her,, he doesnt HATE her,, but,, it is chloe,, yknow

but then they get paired up for a group project and the group meets at nino’s apartment, and adrien is not in the building whenever chloe is there, on purpose,, they will be friends again eventually but their friendship is taking a little bit of a break and adrien is still learning how to have boundaries so he’s just doing what’s best for his mental health

chloe is totally fine with this and doesnt miss him at all

just kidding she is lying

BUT

you know who IS just chilling in the apartment while chloe is there

kagami

who is now like 19 and having some actual self confidence and happiness and who is chilling in her apartment with nino, one of her best friends

and chloe gets through the first group meetup at nino’s house and doesn’t spent any time just staring at kagami who’s chilling reading books in the corner (yes she does)

chloe is actually trying her hardest to be nice to the group members and make friends and prove that she can be a good person and a hard worker but she has very little social skills or work ethics skills and is having complicated emotions about adrien and hasnt even realized it yet but she is falling HARD for kagami,

all that is to say that chloe is a little bit distracted from the group project

but anyway they meet up again and this time chloe has done a ton of research and prep beforehand bc she doesnt want 2 be caught offguard made to look like a fool again and everyone is like what the heck, since when does she study things?

and anyway the project goes pretty great

but then

chloe has a goshdarn crying breakdown

because she is experiencing too many emotions all at once

the combination of just,,, university coursework is stressful and living without servants for the very first time in her life and parental issues and not having friends and also literally everything is just aaaa

so she starts crying in her dorm while doing homework while juleka is there but she literally forgets that juleka is there bc juleka is kind of a cryptid

and juleka just kinda stares at her for a minute and then is like “u good”

and chloe tries to pretend shes not startled and is like “haha yeah its fine”

and juleka is like “have u considered getting a tutor”

and chloe, who is stupid, is like “hmm i should ask nino to tutor me but only at his place and only when kagami is home and i should make sure that i look super cute and i need to study beforehand so that i look cool and smart in front of kagami,, i mean,, for no reason at all i just think this is a good idea”

she talks to nino and nino is like “ok i guess i can help tutor you but u have to actually make an effort and also stick to a schedule so youre not there when adriens there bc we are respecting his boundaries and also you need to-”

and chloe is like “great perfect done”

and then she actually does everything nino says

so basically

she ends up passing all of her classes and making friends

literally just because she is too stupid to actually try to talk to kagami

they literally do not have any conversations other than like “hey, whats up?” “nothing much lol” for like,,, an entire year

also chloe does not admit to herself that she has a crush on kagami for that entire time either

meanwhile adrien and nino and kagami are all a little confused bc chloe keeps flirting at nino??? and adrien is like “im pretty sure she likes girls but idk???” and nino keeps being like “hey chloe what’s up, i just got back from hanging out with my amazing girlfriend alya who i am very in love with,, and who is my girlfriend,, who i am dating”

and chloe has literally no idea why he is doing this but continues to flirt at him and subconciously hope that kagami will catch some of her flirting vibes and falls in love with her

so basically

they are all stupid

BUT Chloe and Nino do become actual friends and chloe actually respects him for the amazing wonderful smart talented kind person that he is and he helps her make some new friends and they get to the point where they are a super great study group and she’ll listen to all his homework assignments and proofread some of them when its like finals cramming time and they are supporting each other and their friendship is good

[mangomochi-yn]

[volleyball with the aces]

haikyuu best boi aces x reader

g. all around fluff! (and crack :P) wc. 12-17 bullets/ea

contains. bokuto k., sakusa k., asahi a., iwaizumi h., ushijima w., futakuchi k.

bokuto

this hyper baby

the minute you suggest it he’s shouting in excitement

would immediately get ready to serve at you, even stopping practice

((but luckily akaashi stops him to let you gear up))

“whoa y/n you have to practice with me now! youre good!!”

always. i repeat aLWAYS exclaims (with glee) when you make a tricky move like a curved spike or a float serve

laughs when he has to sprint to receive a feign

v v tempted to show off his spikes but doesn’t wanna hurt you (awe bb 🥺)

so he’ll pretend to go really hard but then mid air just like *taps* the ball. asgshgshshdksl

overall super fun and super loud

he literally just turns into a ball of sunshine and youre just 💘💞

10/10 can’t get better than him

sakusa

this boi

ya gotta convince for a while

will be like why? what brought this? you want to get sweaty and dirty? are you that bored?

like bruh 😑

eventually gives in when u tell him u just want to play with him

plays normally for the most part

(he knows you can handle some of his spikes and serves 💪)

but he will lightly tease you with a curveball every now and then

oh and btw you’re geared up to the max before you start like 💯

— im talking knee pads, elbow pads, hair tied up and tight, compression shorts (absolutely NO loose and hazardous clothes), and dont forget double knotted shoelaces

afterwards? i m m e d i a t e shower

you better drink your water in 10secs cause he will not hesitate to scoop you up and throw you in there if you take any longer

all in all was the game worth all the time it takes to gear up and the 1hr shower after?

100% — that small smile he had as he played with you was a blessing in itself

will give you some pointers too after just cause he hopes to play with you more smoothly next time

8/10 ur very clean now. very refreshed

asahi

now we all know how unsure and nervous this jesus is

so naturally, once u ask him he’ll be like 😳 with me? why?

ur like “ur my boyfriend asahi, who else would i play with” 😐

“noya’s pretty fun to play with”

😑 bruh

just act all pouty and mad and he’ll be right on it though

plays softly, very leisurely

it’s as if you two were just.. passing the ball to each other (and it got a bit boring)

so you told him

asahi spike em balls pls ☺️

he laughs but eventually does and right then and there you remember how he is the a c e

1 dive turns into 2, 2 turns into 3, next thing you knew you were rolling all over the place trying to receive (noya’s v proud btw)

meanwhile asahi was having so much fun so ur just like 🥺 dont matter! anything for him!!

“that was so much fun, y/n!” your heart melts at how he beams at you after, he was sweaty all over but somehow he said he felt ‘refreshed’

i think ur confused bby

but anyways 8/10 protect him at all costs or u catch these fists

iwaizumi

like sakusa this boy will be a bit sus

like he’ll say yeah right away but will be like??

when you tell him you just wanna play with him he then turns a bit of a cocky bitch (unintentionally!!)

hes like “😏 oh? i won’t hold back yknow.”

lies.

worse than boku he def holds back

just receives all the time like boy?? wheres that strong ass spike form i fell for? 

the minute you tell him to not be a 🅿️ussy though be ready cause he will get in the zone

— he decided he might as well use this for actual practice 💀

so in the end you’re dead. arms sore.

“we should do this more often babe its fun practicing with you” as he takes a swig from his water bottle shoving it to u after

how can you say no tho when you see that bright ass smile of his and hear his hearty laughter?

you lk regret asking but in the end what makes baby daddy happy — he gets 😪

another 8/10 at least u see the bara arms flex during the whole thing

ushijima

“huh okay”

ya kinda feel bad asking him cause he had to stop practicing but bbys like “no. we can play like you want it’s fine.”

and it’s like... hes playing with a child

(hes also part of the gear you to the max squad btw)

but anyways as he plays with u a few mins in you’re like 👁👄👁 boy what is this mockery

but then before you complain you now notice him gradually amping up his spikes— not just receiving as often any more (oh? 👀)

turns out baby boi was just assessing you it seems. agsshsksjjl what a man 💔

cracks a smile every now and then when you barely receive something while u shout-laugh loudly at him

then afterwards he hydrates u to the max

im talking g a l l o n s

(you got your 8 cups for the whole week now)

then offers to bathe or massage you if you’re too tired cause unlike u hes like so unaffected 😐

like one (1) single sweatdrop on his forehead and thats it

gives you pointers as he massages you too but overall says not to hesitate to ask him if you wanted to play again

another 10/10 baby’s perfect

futakuchi

sassy mf

“are you sure? i wont hold back you know.”

(him and iwaizumi — to the streets!)

((jk just him cause iwa is bae))

he’s still not done at just that btw

“did you want my attention that much 😘 im kinda busy tho” so u hit him with a “nah nvm then”

and this mf hugs you so fast and says he might as well since you asked (smh 🤦‍♀️)

and this boy..

he’s asahi but intentionally

— like why??? are you running back and forth the edges of the court???

“go go dateko!” he fuccin sings as he sees you run to where he received the ball to 💀

— the complete opposite side of where you were btw

will also urge and keep teasing you to try tricky moves on him

*loud fake gasp as you do a curve spike*

istg if you could still walk at the end of playing with him you wouldve drop kicked him instantly

smothers you with kisses and hugs, and offers to carry you home after though so you cant really be too mad 🙄

all in all 7 jelly legs out of 10 (hes lucky u love him)

a/n. i used to play varsity in my middle and high school vbc!! i loved being a pinch server but most of my days i was a wing spiker 😗 did one year as a libero and gave up immediately cause i had no idea how to dive properly (komori pls teach ur ways 🤲) i would literally sacrifice my w h o l e b o d y to receive every time

[writing-gifts]

datura (moth!bruno x butterfly!reader)

------

A/N: Back with the 2nd chapter! Previous chapter | Next chapter

Reader is gender neutral!

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[Mid Spring]

The bags hanging from your body make your movements sluggish as you make your way to the entrance of your home. While crossing the threshold, one of your satchels' straps catch on the door and you almost end up on the floor. You remove the strap and shut the door behind you slightly annoyed.

Your current fatigue was due to spending most of the morning gathering with few breaks. There were just so many flowers to pick from, and you struggled to decide. So you ended up stopping at every different one that you came across.

Knowing yourself, you had expected this and prepared the day before, collecting any empty canisters left sitting around your house. You even found some that you had thought you lost.

How you even managed to get off the ground with all the nectar weighing you down was a mystery though.

After setting the heavy satchels on the dining table, you take one of the canisters hanging on your belt to replenish some of your energy. Lilac. You stand in place to give yourself a moment to catch your breath.

A giant part of you wants to taste all the nectar you collected, but you hold back. You needed to use some of it to trade for items and supplies, and a taste test could quickly turn into half the can.

And even though you wanted to lay down, you plan on making more trips before the day ends so you could have enough for yourself and trading.

Then there was the task of switching all the nectar to jars. There were also all the unlabeled jars from the last couple days too. You could just keep your favorite ones in the cans to save time...after you figured out which contained them.

Then you could finally have a day to rest.

You sigh and finish your drink. The image of a new sun hat keeps your resolve.

By the time you get back from your third trip, you can’t muster up the energy to organize everything right away and lay down instead. Just for a little bit. The sun was still out but you didn’t want to risk another trip when it was this late in the evening, so you had some spare time.

You don’t even realize that you're falling asleep--then you hear knocking. Groaning, you drag yourself off the soft cotton of your daybed to go answer the door.

When you open it, Bruno's on the other side and you wonder why he's here. You smile sleepily before noticing that the sun is long gone.

You look at the sky and rub the sleep out of your eyes. “There goes my lazy day...”

“Hmm? You look like you had a good rest. Sorry if I woke you up.”

“I didn’t even mean to fall asleep, so now I gotta organize everything tomorrow…"

You mumble to yourself trying to figure out how you could salvage this. Then you realize that what you collected for Bruno was still sitting in one of the canisters in your bags.

"Uh, are you okay with something random? I don't even remember what flowers I went to today...”

Bruno stares at your most likely disheveled appearance and shakes his head. “Don't worry about it. We can properly trade once you have your thoughts together."

However, he still holds out his canister towards you, but you can't help the slight guilt you feel.

"Sorry…"

“I wouldn't lie about something like that. It’s fine, really.”

“So you’d lie about something else?” You look at him, not expecting an answer to your rhetorical question, to see if he was actually okay with it. But you only find his usual untelling expression.

You take the canister from him, an unsure smile on your face. "I'm just going to believe you then. Thanks..."

When Bruno smiles at you in return, you immediately look away using opening the canister as an excuse. You almost drink from it but remember that it isn't yours.

"Wait l-let me go pour this into a jar real quick!"

You leave Bruno at the entrance, doing your best to slow your racing heart.

-----

“Hello!”

“Hi Mrs. Joestar! I brought you some Mum nectar and also a new drink I made."

"Oh, I’m good on the drink dear, but I'll definitely save it for later. I'm guessing you want to trade for fabrics?"

"Yea!"

"Good, cause I saved some of your favorite colors!” She goes to the back and quickly returns with them to show you.

You didn’t have any solid ideas on what you would make but some were starting to form now that you were here. You thank the elder bug and pull out the Mum filled jars from your satchel to place on the store's counters, setting the drink slightly apart from the rest of them.

"By the way, I heard you haven't been staying out late much anymore? Some of the neighbors were wondering if you were okay."

"Yea, I've been avoiding staying out too late now...”

"Well that's good, we don't want you getting hurt, but I find it hard to believe you would just stop so suddenly."

You fiddle with your satchel. "It’s because I met this moth and we started trading and stuff, so now I just try to go directly home so I dont leave him waiting."

"I see. Well, I'm glad you're making more friends dear!"

That makes you purse your lips. Were you and Bruno friends? You’d only known him for a little over a month now...How long did you need to know someone before you could consider them a friend?

"--____?"

"Ah...yea he’s really nice. He’s actually the first moth I’ve officially met."

“Hun.”

“Yea?”

“You know I’m a moth right?”

“Huh? But--what?”

She laughs. “What did you think I was?”

“I don't know, I thought you were like some sort of butterfly….Ah sorry!” Your face felt much warmer than before.

"It’s okay!” She's still laughing a bit though.

Mrs. Joestar’s partially transparent wings looked so similar to yours in shape and pattern. And with her being diurnal you had just assumed. You could definitely see the similarities between her and Bruno though.

“...Are all moth’s just super pretty?” The moment the question’s out of your mouth, you realize that it was better kept as a thought.

Mrs. Joestar places a hand on her cheek. “Oh, you're such a flirt!”

“Wait, I didn’t mean--!” You cover your face, unable to finish your sentence.

“I kid, I kid.” She smiles teasingly.

“You and Mr. Joseph are too much…”

-----

"I know you usually leave pretty quickly, but do you want to stay for a while--inside? I can make you something new to drink?”

Bruno seems to be thinking, and you prepare yourself for him to say no and leave after you both trade. But then he gives you a small smile. “You like mixing drinks?”

Averting your eyes, you ignore the weird flip within your chest cavity. “Yea, it’s something I learned from another bug some time ago. I'm still figuring it out though...” You move out of the way so he can walk in.

This was the first time that Bruno had actually come into your home. You had tried inviting him multiple times before so he didn't have to wait outside, but he would always politely decline.

You hope you didn’t leave anything weird laying around.

You softly close the entrance. “Ah you can sit over there, I’ll be right back.” Once Bruno sits down on your daybed, you quickly head into the space in your house where you kept all your food and beverages.

You decide to make something you had already done before with the Datura since you didn’t want any accidents right now.

You do your best to recall the steps that you should probably just write down at this point. And even though there were a few times where you thought you messed up, you end up with a result that’s not bad. You just hoped it was to Bruno’s taste.

After you pour the drink into two cups, you head back to Bruno. You plop down next to him and shove the drink a bit too close to his face.

He carefully grabs the cup and you watch him take a sip, forgetting your own drink for the moment.

After way too long for your liking he finally says something. “It’s not bad. I’d even go as far to say that it’s good.”

You roll your eyes at him but smile. “Well as long as you drink it all, then I consider that a win.”

You down your drink in one swoop and stare into your empty cup. "I think I might drink the rest of the pitcher by myself…"

"I think you might have a problem."

"What?"

"That sounds like a lot to drink at once."

"Please, I was like this before I was even a pupa."

Bruno raises a brow, skeptical. "How? I know wasps much bigger than you that drink less."

You immediately gawk at him. “You interact with wasps!?”

"Well one." The moth tilts his head slightly. "It’s a...unique relationship."

"...Bruno, what the fuck."

-----

Bruno didn't always come in to relax when visiting but when he did, you always made sure to try to give him something new to drink. They weren’t always hits though.

One time he shows up and you're surprised to see that he doesn’t have anything to trade.

"It's become habit now. The night wouldn't feel complete without visiting."

You keep your face from putting on the giant smile it wants to and instead settle for a regular one.

After inviting him in, you tell him to wait while you try to make one of your "concoctions". This time you decide not to do anything too crazy, just a simple sweet tea. You wish you could make it cooler. It would be much more refreshing in this weather.

The two of you sit together speaking idly. Your relationship was starting to get to the point where you both could sit in silence and it didn't feel awkward. Or maybe you just felt comfortable enough with Bruno to do that, and maybe he felt the same way.

"Hey."

“Yes?”

“What do you like to eat?” you ask.

“I don’t really eat that often but I like most fruits, except apples. Occasionally I’ll chew on something salty too if I can find it...Honey’s good too.”

That made sense. Some that drink nectar didn’t need solids to survive. It was strictly a pleasure activity in your case. “You don’t like apples?”

“I think they’re a little overrated to be honest.”

“Hmm, well I'm going to make sure to get you other fruits then cause I'm striving to be the best host ever.“

“Do you not invite people over?”

“My friend visits sometimes but they don't like my drinks! They only really eat grainy stuff without any sugar. The lack of flavour…” You grimace. “And I literally can’t make anything without sugar.”

“What are they?”

“A grasshopper.”

“Then of course they wouldn't want sugar.” A hint of amusement sounds in his voice.

"I know BUT I tried some of their grain stuff and it's not bad. It could be way better though. If you mix it with water and sugar--” You make an okay sign. "It’s at least 50 times better."

“No offense but that sounds disgusting.”

"You haven’t even tried it yet though!" The lack of sugarcoating caught you off guard.

"I’m going to make you take that back.”

Bruno shakes his head and smirks. "Good luck with that.”

You knew he was mostly messing with you but you were already set on proving him wrong. “Fine but I’m going to come up with something you really like one day.”

Maybe you were just excited to have someone you were somewhat close to to experience your relatively new hobby with, but you already felt like getting started.

"I look forward to it."