#you migh the good at remembering stuff

[beardedhandstoadshark]

do you think writing and drawing is a skill or a talent? perhaps a mix of both?

Mostly skill imo. Talent usually means "born with a skill“, which is literally impossible. You can’t be born with the ability to write good if you don’t even know what language is.

The only things you can have a talent for are intrinsic stuff, such as shape recognition, logical thinking, perfect pitch, etc. and even then those can be trained to some degree. Sure, you might have a really good feeling for words or colors or whatever, but you still don’t know why the art is actually arting, and there’s other parts involved in that skill which still have to be learned.

If these intrinsic things happen to align with with a particular skillset, it serves as a boost, and that’s what that talent would be. Talent is intrinsic things that happened to align in a way that made learning the actual skill easier.

Ig it’s basically like making a character in an rpg, be it table top or videogame. Sure, you might have a +5% modifier or a bunch of extra points in strength from the start which gives you a massive boost, but you still gotta level to be good at it, if that makes sense?

All those music prodigies still have teachers, after all.

But idk, that my opinion anyways.

[callsignspark]

Mar[r]y Me | part three

pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Mariella “M&M” Vertucci (fem!OC)

summary: A love story told through friendship, laughter, and food.

series warnings: 18+ minors DNI, discussion of insecurities, difficult family relationships, discussions of food and alcohol use, extremely brief mentions of emotionally abusive ex-bf, mentions of pregnancy and giving birth but nothing is described, hints of a raging (mutual) size kink that hasn't revealed itself yet, eventual smut, warnings to be added as needed

word count: 4.1k

previous part | main masterlist

note: happy Saturday! part three is here! (a day later than I planned and no teaser but it's here!) thank you for the love on part two! I hope you all have a great weekend!

part three - banana bread

Mary and Bradley stand side by side, staring into the trunk of her Jeep, which is bursting at the seams. The floor is covered with baked goods, a gift bag full of things she hopes Amelia will enjoy, and a hastily packed duffel bag. Two dozen helium balloons and four floral arrangements she picked up as a favor to Penny are crammed into the remaining space.

“I feel like I may have gone a tiny bit overboard.”

Bradley glances over at her and has to hold in a laugh. With her hands planted on her hips and her brow furrowed so deep that wrinkles have appeared, she reminds him of an angry kitten. An thought he keeps inside, well aware of the fierceness of the shorter woman next to him.

“It just looks like a lot because of all the balloons. Once we get those out, it’s almost nothing.”

She snorts. “You’re so sweet to lie to me. How many girls are coming to the party again?”

“I think Mav said somewhere around twenty-two.”

“Yeah, I definitely made too much.” She lets out a defeated sigh. “Oh well, I’m sure Penny will donate any leftovers to a good cause.”

“Oh, do you think she’ll force Mav to bring them to base?”

“Yes, I think you guys will get to eat the leftovers.” She correctly interprets his real question. “Alright, let’s get this stuff inside; it’s gonna take a few trips.”

“No way, I’m a master of bringing all the groceries inside in one trip.” He jokingly flexes, showing off his strong arms.

Behind her sunglasses, Mary’s eyes trace the lines of his muscles; briefly losing her train of thought when she sees how the t-shirt strains against his biceps. A beat too late, her eyes snap back up to his face, the smirk flashed back at her setting off butterflies in her stomach.

She pivots. “Can you be trusted to bring in the flower arrangements without breaking anything, or is that too much for you to handle?”

He groans, remembering his embarrassingly slippery fingers from the previous weekend when the Daggers helped Mary move into her rental house. “I told you I would pay for dropping your vase! Please let me give you money for it!”

He’s offered countless times to pay for a replacement, though he internally maintains that it wasn’t his fault the vase broke.

It had been an unseasonably warm December day, even for California. The guys had spent the morning packing the U-Haul while the girls had done a final round of cleaning at her new place. Mary had just left to pick up lunch when the full truck pulled up, a small caravan of cars following it. They had managed to get all the furniture into the one-story ranch and were working on unloading boxes when she returned with food.

Bradley was bringing a box of décor inside when he turned around to welcome Mary home. He froze before he could get the words out. His brain stopped working at the sight of jean shorts and a flowy tank top.

Bradley silently thanked whoever brought the warm weather. His eyes were glued to the slope of her calves, the thickness of her thighs, the curve of her ass, fully appreciating the olive-toned skin that appeared as she bent down to get something from the backseat. His mouth felt dry when he tried to swallow. It was the most skin he'd seen since they’d met.

He was busy trying to imagine where a tan line might exist when she turned around. Her tank top, which had already shifted from her movement, got picked up by a gust of wind and showed a flash of a pretty red bra that matched her nail polish.

He dropped the box on his foot, broke the vase inside, and cut his finger as he tried to salvage the situation. He got blood on a throw pillow but was relieved that only the vase had shattered. His weak excuse of “slippery fingers” fooled Mary and Mary alone. The only person who hadn’t seen his eyes roaming up and down her body.

“And I’ve already told you! I bought that vase at the dollar store my junior year, so I will accept nothing more than $1.08 from you.” She starts piling containers filled with baked goods into his arms. “I’m honestly surprised it even lasted that long.”

“I still feel bad.” He mutters under his breath before he gets distracted by the food. “What did you make? I thought Penny said she asked you to make cupcakes?”

“I did make cupcakes! Red velvet, as requested by Amelia Bedelia herself! I also made some sugar cookies. And some Oreo truffles. And I know it’s a lot, but I wanted her to have a great birthday, and you only turn 15 once - and that’s almost as big of a birthday as 16 because it’s the year before you really start growing up and heading towards adulthood with getting your license and everything - so I just really wanted to make it special! And it’s not like I’m going to charge Penny anything! I didn’t even want to take anything from her for the cupcakes, but last week she stuffed money - way too much money, I have to figure out how to give it back to her - into my hands and ran away before I could stop her. I swear that’s the last time I wear anything with a heel to the Hard Deck.” They make their way into the house as Mary rambles, her face becoming visibly more stressed as she goes on.

He carefully places the containers on the counter before emptying Mary’s arms and gently places a hand on her back. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. What’s wr-”

Before Bradley can figure out what’s happening, Amelia bursts into the kitchen, letting out a huge gasp. “Oh my god, Mary!”

The teenager wiggles her way in between the adults, throws her arms around the older woman, and starts bouncing. “This looks amazing! Mom said you were making cupcakes, but I didn’t know you were going to make all this extra stuff, too! Thank you so much!”

Mary squeezes the girl in her arms, smoothing her hand over her back. “Of course, sweetheart. I’m glad you like it!”

“Like it! I love it! Oh my god!! I have to show mom!” Amelia darts back out of the room, and Mary’s lip wobbles as she moves to finish bringing the party supplies inside.

Bradley doesn’t move for a second, debating if he should grab Penny, not sure if he’s prepared for the woman that he has feelings for to cry. The sound of the front door closing gets him moving, and he takes a deep breath, sending a quick prayer to his mom that he can handle any tears that may appear.

“Mary. Mary!” He jogs down the steps to stop her from trying to carry everything herself. “Hey, woah, slow down. Let’s just take a second here. Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Yeah, everything is fine! I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” Her smile is strained, and her eyes are watery as he stares into them.

“Mary…”

“I just want her to have a good 15th birthday! Mine wasn’t, and I’ve gotten so wrapped up in those feelings I almost forgot it’s about her and not me. Overcompensating for my bad experience while trying to make sure she has a good day.”

They stand there under the open hatch of her car. Bradley tries to catch her eye while she stares at her shoes, forcing herself not to cry. He decides not to ask the questions he really wants an answer to, realizing it would probably only upset her more.

“When is your birthday? You’ve been here since March and we haven’t celebrated it yet. I don’t owe you a present do I?”

“It’s March 14th. Which is the day I flew to California.”

“Your birthday is Pi Day! Did you celebrate?”

“I bought myself a cookie at the Dallas Airport during my layover. And when I landed, Dani and Reuben took me to get Thai food, even though I said I was too tired. It was nice.”

“We’ll have to do something big for your next birthday! Maybe we can do a pie-baking contest, see who can make the best birthday pie. The birthday girl judges, of course.” He nudges her side and winks, making her smile.

A car full of teenage girls pulls up, and they flock to the house, interrupting the moment.

“Oh! People are starting to arrive! Come on, Bradley, help me get the rest of this stuff inside so you guys can finish setting up.” She doesn’t give him a chance to argue, just heading into the house juggling three floral arrangements.

By the time he’s fought to get the balloons through the doorframe, Mary is setting up the dessert table, seemingly back to herself as she answers the questions Amelia is peppering at her.

“Are you really sure you can’t stay for the party?”

“Oh, I would love to, kiddo; I really would. But I have to get back to Reuben’s, so you’ll have to let me know how everyone likes the treats, okay?” Amelia agrees, giving Mary one more hug before joining her friends, who showed up early to get ready together.

“Are you sure you can’t stay for a little bit, M&M?”

“I want to, Mav, but Reuben is convinced Dani is in labor, and she’s in denial. So I have to go monitor that situation because the last time they did this little dance, Annabeth was almost born in the backseat of their Rav4.”

“Why is she in denial?” Penny questions from her position on the ladder, adding streamers to the sliding door.

“Partially because it’s a week and a half before her due date. But mostly, I think it’s because she had some problems when Annie was born, so I think she’s a bit hesitant this time.”

“What happened last time? Did she-” Penny makes a ripping sound, humming sympathetically when Mary winces in confirmation. “Ouch.”

The kitchen is quiet for a minute, the women shivering at the phantom pain and the men horrified about how casually a ripping noise is associated with birth. “Well! On that note, I should get going. See if Reuben has made any progress convincing her to go to the hospital.”

“Thanks for everything, Mary. It’s perfect! Keep us updated, and let me know if she needs anything!”

“Of course, let me know how everything goes!” She hugs Penny and Mav before turning to Bradley, who is mentally preparing for his hug. “Walk me out?”

“Sure.” He lets her walk out ahead of him before flipping off his aunt and uncle, the two of them making kissy faces.

“Bradley?”

“Coming!” His annoyed look melts into a smile that reminds Mav of a smile he’d only seen in photos for the last thirty-five years.

“God, they’re just like Nick and Carole. More oblivious than those two were, but just as into each other.” Pete nods; his throat feels too thick to agree with his wife. He watches his godson give his full attention to the woman walking in front of him, wishing more than ever that his best friends were standing next to him to watch their kid grow up.

“This is for you, as a thank you. I know it was you who rallied the troops to help me move after Reuben mentioned I was hiring movers.” Mary places a foil-wrapped loaf in his hands. “Something told me you like yours with chocolate chips.”

“Well, hiring movers is ridiculous when you have a group of big, strong, available aviators to lift the heavy things for you. What is this?” He lifts the foil and takes a sniff, “Banana bread! How did you know this is my favorite?”

“A girl has a way of figuring things out.” He laughs at her eyebrow wiggle.

“Phoenix tell you?”

“It’s not fun if you guess, Bradley. And, for your information, I happen to be an omnipotent goddess who knows everyone’s favorite food.”

“You’re telling me you know everyone’s favorite food, Miss Goddess?”

“Well, not everyone. All of my family, my college friends, my coworkers from Missouri and Florida, but I’m still learning everyone out here.”

“Okay, well, that’s pretty much everyone. That’s impressive. How do you remember it all?”

“You’d be amazed at what I can do with excel and conditional formatting.” She’s interrupted by her phone. “Reuben? Is everything okay?”

“We’re going right now. I threw Annie at Mr. Webster next door, and I have the gas pedal to the floor. Can you handle everything?”

“I’m on it. We’ll chill at the house until otherwise instructed. Drive safe.” She starts moving around her car before doubling back and leaning up on her tip-toes, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Thank you for your help last weekend; I really appreciate it.”

She presses a kiss to his cheek and is driving away before Bradley can recover. He’s still staring at where her bumper disappeared around the corner when he feels someone walk up behind him.

“I didn’t know your parents very well, but I do know how he asked her out the first time. I’m assuming you’ve heard that one quite a bit?”

“It was mom’s favorite to tell.”

“So you know that he asked her when it was almost too late? She had agreed to go out with some other guy, and Goose was a week away from his first long-term deployment.”

“Yeah. He showed up at her apartment fifteen minutes before her date was supposed to pick her up.”

“Yup, convinced her how much he cared about her and managed to be the one that took her out that night. They spent every night together until he left. Three months later, halfway through the deployment, she found out she was pregnant. You should have seen her, panicking so much thought we were gonna have to call the EMTs.” His aunt’s voice is clouded with nostalgia. “He proposed on the phone, and they were happy the entire time they had together. No matter how short it was.”

He turns, looking at the older woman, her arms crossed over her chest. “What’s your point, Penny?”

“Mary – despite how shy she can be – is a woman who is aware of her worth. She won’t go out with just anyone. However, just like your mother, I suspect she won’t wait around forever for a Bradshaw man to get his shit together. She clearly cares about you, but if you want to be with her, you need to be the one to do something about it.”

Mary is in the middle of a huge yawn, waiting for the elevator, when she’s consumed by a hug that scares her back to fully awake.

“Fitch godparents unite!”

“Mickey, you scared me!” She hugs him back despite her scolding. “How many photos did you take?

“Pretty sure he ran out of storage again.” Bob smiles at her over Mickey’s shoulder, proud of his joke.

Mickey tries to defend himself, but Jake interrupts.

“Folks, let’s not block the elevator.” He ushers the small group to the side like he’s herding cattle, making Natasha roll her eyes. “Okay, let’s get that photo of the godparents that Mickey wanted so badly, and then we can go home!”

“Yes!”

“No! Not right now.”

“Awe! Why not?”

“Well, for one thing, we don’t have the baby to take the photos with. Plus, if I look as gross as I feel, I do not want that memorialized.”

“You look good, Mary! You could totally take photos!” Natasha encourages her, and Jake mutters something under his breath.

“Jake, I don’t know what you just said but shut up.” She smacks his arm when he laughs. “Mickey, I promise we’ll take godparent photos with the baby. Just when I’ve had more than four hours of sleep and a chance to put makeup on.”

“I’m holding you to that! Hey, where were you, by the way? I thought we were going spend some time together in the room?”

“That was my plan! But as I was taking Annabeth and Dani’s parents back to the house, I realized that my Jeep is at my house. With the wildness of the weekend and all the times we’ve shuffled the cars to make sure someone had a car seat, I forgot it ended up there. So I just took an Uber back here instead of trying to have Sanford drive me to my place and then make sure he got back to the house okay.”

“Dude, you were gone for like two hours.” Natasha raises her eyebrows in surprise.

“Yeah, apparently, Sunday evening is a busy time for rideshare apps.”

“Do you need a ride home?”

“I’m staying for a while; I brought some clothes and stuff for them, so I’ll figure something out later. Thanks, though, Bob!” The elevator tone distracts her. “I’m gonna head up! I’ll see you guys tomorrow!”

The four aviators follow her back towards the elevator, saying their goodbyes.

“Bradshaw is still up there if you want to bum a ride off him.” Jake lets her know.

“Bradley is still here?”

“Yeah, Payback wanted to ask him about something.”

Natasha stops the doors from closing, leans in closer, and drops her voice so the guys don’t hear. “Hey, quick question. Are you ovulating right now?”

“Uhh… I don’t know. Maybe? Why?”

Phoenix’s grin is evil as she steps back, “No reason! Good luck! Bye!”

“Wait! Nat! Good luck? Why would I need luck?” Her questioning is cut off as the elevator closes. But Mary’s confusion quickly ends when she enters Room 427 in the maternity ward and finds Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw holding her new godson, Stephen James Fitch.

She’s stuck in the doorway for a minute, her mind struggling to take in the scene before her. His sun-kissed shoulders are on full display thanks to a tank top, and his strong thighs stretch the material of his jeans. His body takes up most of the space on the loveseat. Her heart thumps as the six-foot-something man cradles the newborn, his finger gently stroking Stephen’s cheek. Something deep inside her warms up as she memorizes the way his enormous biceps dwarf the already tiny baby.

“Did you bring my purple sweatpants?” Dani’s question moves everyone’s attention to Mary, who finally enters the room.

“Of course, I did - that’s what you asked for - and I have your bag. I also brought Reuben a change of clothes and some stuff for tonight. I threw a load of laundry in while I was there; your mom is going to switch it over and give Annie a bath. Here.” She hands a bottle of lemonade to Dani.

“My favorite! What would I do without you?”

“Be perfectly fine since you have a loving husband to back you up.”

“Yeah, that’s true; we’d handle ourselves. But I’d miss you. We’d miss you.” Dani nods at the two men cooing over the baby. “That’s so fucking cute. It makes me want to make another one.”

“You should probably wait for your stitches to heal first.”

Dani hums in agreement. “I guess that means it’s your turn now. Whatcha think? I know someone who would be willing to help you out.”

“Danielle!” Mary lowers her voice. “Stop it. We are not talking about this right now. He is right there.”

“Fine, but we are talking about it soon. I saw your eyes when you walked in; you practically started drooling. By the way, are you ovulating?”

“That is none of your business!” Mary starts giggling at the ridiculousness of her best friend.

“Oh my god! You are!” Her laughter catches the attention of the room’s other occupants.

“What are they laughing about?”

“Man, trust me, you probably don’t want to know.” Reuben claps Bradley on the shoulder. “M&M! Come supervise Bradshaw while I change and make sure he doesn’t drop my baby.”

Mary takes Reuben’s place next to Bradley on the small couch. She folds her leg underneath herself and leans into his side, looking over his shoulder at her godson. The two sit silently for a bit, admiring the sleeping baby as his parents freshen up and change.

Mary leans her cheek on his shoulder, thinking about a baby with curly hair like the man next to her and a skin tone that matched her own. What it would be like if the baby in Bradley’s arms shared her brown eyes and his nose. She thought of how supportive he had been for the wife of his teammate and how he would probably be even more supportive of his own partner.

Then she catches a whiff of his cologne, and she allows her mind to wander to a topic she had been trying to ignore since the previous weekend.

It was all Bradley’s fault.

He had gripped her hips as she stood on the counter while putting decorations on top of her cabinets, holding her steady to make sure she didn’t fall. He helped her climb down when she was done, moving quickly as she stumbled. His warm hands had felt so nice holding onto her wide hips. It had felt even better being pressed up against his muscular body when she tripped getting down.

There had been a moment after he steadied her where she was fully enveloped by his strength, by his size, and it had set her body on fire. All she could think about was those hands exploring her body, his lips learning the sensitive spots on her neck, his powerful hips pressed against hers but with much less clothing.

“I can’t believe he’s so small.”

She blinks back to the present, feeling a little lightheaded from thinking about her fantasy Bradley with the real one right next to her. “I know. He’s so perfect; he looks like a little doll.”

“Do you wanna hold him?”

“No, you keep him for now.”

I don’t think I have enough strength in my arms to hold him right now after fantasizing about you.

“Besides, you look good holding him.”

What???

The sound of Dani choking prevents her previous statement from fully settling in the room as Reuben rushes to make sure she’s okay. “Baby? What happened? You okay?”

Danielle waves him off, her voice scratchy. “Fine, just swallowed wrong.”

Payback stays with his wife, rubbing her back and whispering in her ear, turning to the two sitting on the sofa after a minute. “Okay, we love you both, but get out. You have work tomorrow, and I’m like 90% certain Mary hasn’t eaten since yesterday.”

Bradley whips his head to the woman sitting next to him. “What?”

“It’s been busy!” She weakly defends herself.

“Bradshaw, give me back my baby, and since she needs a ride home anyway, make sure she eats something.”

“On it, Mrs. Fitch. C’mon, Miss Mary, I’m hungry, too.” He wiggles his fingers in her direction, prompting her to say her goodbyes before following him to the door. He grabs her hand as they pass the threshold. “Gotta hold on to you; make sure you don’t escape before I can buy you dinner.”

“You don’t have to feed me, Bradley.” She makes excuses as they move towards the elevators, not making any move to let go of his hand. “I have plenty of food at home.”

“Oh no, I’m under strict instructions from the pregnant lady. And from what I understand, you’re not supposed to argue with pregnant ladies.”

“She’s not pregnant anymore.”

“Well, pregnant or not, she’s kinda scary...” He mutters, guiding her into the elevator. “Besides, maybe I just want to buy a pretty girl some dinner.”

She stares at him from across the small space, that warm feeling creeping up again. “Well… when you find one, I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”

He raises an eyebrow, an unimpressed look accompanying it. “You’ve always been very gracious when I’ve bought you a coffee. I’m sure you’ll be just as kind when it comes to dinner.”

The elevator stops, and more people get on before she can argue. The new riders push her toward Bradley, who protectively tucks her under his arm after one of the men leers at her, glaring at him when Mary isn’t looking. His attention instantly shifts as he feels a finger tap his chest. He tilts his head down, smiling at her as she looks up at him.

“Can we go to Panera?” Her voice is quiet, like she’s afraid he might say no.

“Course, anything you want, honey. I’ll even get you a lemon drop cookie.”

“Those are my favorite.”

“Yeah, I know.” Bradley guides her out of the elevator and grabs her hand again amid the flurry of people in the lobby. “You’re not the only one who pays attention to people’s favorites, Mary.”

A pleased smile spreads over her face and she grabs onto his arm with her free hand. Bradley squeezes her hand in his, as she hums, "I guess not."

thank you for reading <3 if you would like to be added (or removed) from the tag list just send me an ask!

tagging: @gretagerwigsmuse | @bobfloyds | @bussyslayer333 | @hangmanbrainrot | @mothdruid | @notroosterbradshaw | @princessphilly | @rhettabbotts | @roleycoleyreccenter | @roosterbruiser | @seresinsweetie | @thesewordsareallihavetogive | @waklman | @withahappyrefrain | @a-court-of-roscoe-and-baby | @ohtobeleah | @katieshook02 | @hellojameshowyadoin | @memoriesat30 | @aristotles-butthole | @atarmychick007

fic tag | credit for dividers here

[strayzband]

The camera comes to focus on the inside of a car. Sitting beside me in the back is Stuart Pot, dressed in an old hoodie and skinny jeans. His ponytail is even messier than usual. He rubs his head so intensely that his beanie is starting to slip off. I’m not sure he notices.

Alright! Thank you for agreeing to this

.

My hand suddenly comes into view as Stuart shakes it. I don’t know how to feel. I’m not really supposed to be on camera. He lets go and holds his hand up, and I fall silent before asking the first question.

Hol’ on… yew mind if I…?

The camera nods up and down.

Not at all! Go ahead.

Smiling at me, Stuart reaches past Russel to roll down the window and makes a joint with frightening speed. Certainly looks like he made it quickly though. From the front, Noodle looks back at him and frowns as he lights it and takes a long drag, and immediately starts coughing his lungs up.

…Are you alright?

He nods, eyes watering.

Okay… Ah’ve made it past the chokin’ phase, ah’ll be awright now.

He hits it again, and immediately starts coughing his lungs up. Noodle turns back around. Russel slaps him on the back, and smoke blows out of his mouth.

Eh, fanks, Russ…

I clear my throat. The car is rapidly filling with smoke, even with the window down.

Can I start the interview now?

Stuart grins.

‘Course yew can!

I’ll start simple. Anything you’d mind sharing about the upcoming album?

‘m not s’possed to say much… but i’s real good! Trust!

He grins at me, and it’s clear I’m not getting any more than that. I move on.

I need to know – why, after everything that happened, did you decide to join a new band?

Stuart shrugs, a hand in his ponytail.

Got kidnapped. N’ I di’n’t have anyfink better to do, so I though’ I migh’ as well, y’know?

…Interesting. And, what do you think of your bandmates?

If I thought he was smiling before, it’s nothing compared to the reaction to that question. He positively beams at me.

Luv em. The lot’uh em. Noodle’s my favourit’, probably. She’s well cool, she is, love her. We, uh, we play games n’ stuff. ‘S fun. Russ’s great too, though! Don’t talk all’at much, but ‘e’s real real cool when ‘e does. Cool when ‘e doesn’t, too. E’s a listener, ain’t he? We needed on’a those.

He pauses for a moment too long, then grins.

‘N Murdoc’s me best mate. Place would be borin’ wi’out ‘im.

Hmm. Well, this is just something I’ve been wondering… why dye your hair blue? Is there any meaning behind the colour?

I di’nt dye it.

I pause.

Did somebody else?

Nah. When ah was a kid, yeah, I used to climb trees a load. Freaked my mum out, I thought it was a right laugh, I did. Always liked trees. Nice t’ have sumthin’ bigger th’n yew about. ‘Neway, so one day ah was up in one by me house, n’ I tripped n’ fell on me arse, totally cracked me head against the street. Wild. All my hair came straight out, n’ it grew back this colour. Hasn’t gone away yet. Whole thing’s mad wicked.

That didn’t make any sense, so for my own sake I assume he’s high. I file the whole thing away as interesting trivia.

I notice Stuart has been looking at me expectantly every time I start to ask a question. I’m not sure what exactly he wants.

Stuart? Are you hoping I’ll ask something specific?

He shrugs, a boyish smile on his face.

Well, y’asked Muds abo’ those rumours ‘bout us. Thought yew might ask me too, dunni?

I hesitate for a moment, before remembering that Stuart is far less… dangerous than Murdoc. Maybe he’ll actually give me something I can use.

Well, are they true?

He just keeps smiling at me. From up so close, I can see the chip stuck between his teeth. Murdoc, who’s been driving, is carefully watching. I’m honestly tempted to tell him to keep his eyes on the road.

Yeah.

Murdoc nearly crashes the car. He glares at the both of us.

Murdoc: He’s a liar!

Stuart laughs, slipping down his seat until his feet rest against the back of Murdoc’s head.

Am not! I c’n prove it!

Before I have the chance to take him up on the offer, Murdoc twists back in his seat and grabs my camera. The video goes black as Murdoc can be heard swearing while Stuart laughs, before it cut out.

[garrulus]

Bb I'm so sorry you're hurting, you bring so much light and don't deserve that pain. It helped me to list and things that were good and she that were bad about the relationship and think about what would make my next relationship a hard yes or a hard no. A tool to use as you please. I wish you all things good and thank you for making my friends and me snort with laughter at fdis ❤️💗❤️

thank you! ❤️❤️

i actually tried listing bad things (good are still too painful for me, i can hardly deal with it when i randomly remember all the sweet stuff, it kinda paralizes me 🙄) and it helped somewhat. at least it helps when i feel like i migh cave in.🙄 maybe when more time passes i'll be able to do the same with good things so i can have a clear picture.

thanks so much, i'm glad you enjoyed fdis! it was so much fun for me, doing them 😅😅

[awiola]

Normal update, winter XXIV

BUT IT'S NOT WINTER ANYMORE HA! Happy after-equinox to y'all. I planned to write the update in march and it's still technically march but, like, y'know, it's the first day of spring so it feels kind of late, ig? Not that it really matters here and I drew Morana on fire so all is good.

This is not completely [un]related but I'm trying to complete the 'draw sth for 100 days straight' challenge and rn it's going okay though I have to admit I'm being a lazy ass. But hey, a bad sketch a day is still a drawing. Not sure if that's the reason I wasn't able to complete my easter sketch dump but knowing me it wouldn't be finished anyway so whatever ig. AND YES, I WILL DRAW FATHER DAKI ON TIME. I planned to do it when I was drawing Agatha for thug in PE's style but oh well... You'll see both ot these pics on the first of april.

Also, like, in case anyone was interested, I finally decided to learn how to adult and might open comms this year? I tell myself I'll open them since, like, 2020 so yeah. Maybe. I think I will, tho.

Current game stuff

Mushroom game... Yeah... It exists and I technically haven't dropped it but yeah... Yeah... Tbh I even hid the link from my page but it's still public and all... But yeah... It goes into the "finally finish it in 2024, you stupid fuck" list - which, incidentally, is a mouthful so from now on it's gonna be "24 >:C" - together with Enmity and all.

Remember the golem game? Yeah, we don't see its non human form but I did technically draw it. Humanoids are, like, so last decade. It's called Sorcerer's golem and because I was not the lead, we managed to nicely finish it on time ✨ [Unrelated but I wonder what happened to the old unicode emotes, I need to look into it]. There's not really a lot I have to say here, tbh. It's short, it's wholesome, I'm totally not gonna go almost fully lineless again. I almost died and it was only two sprites. Never again proceeds to do that again later anyway.

Some time after, or maybe during, I can't really remember, I heard of Queer Vampire Jam and ofc had to join because I wouldn't be me if I managed to stop myself from joining yet another jam. It just so happened I both felt like shit and read something from my SF gods at the time so I commited this open ended 3k long story and it's, like, really obvious how I felt and what I was reading but then I decided to go yolo and publish it anyway, especially since I got an editor and made laby draw for me. Just had to publish it at that point. Enough about that, though - let's see what is it all about. Vani vani, because Tas tatum was deemed too lame of a name is a story about a [queer obviously] vampire who's kinda dead inside and it shows. I did say it was obvious I felt like shit. I'm not sure if it ended up being too edgy or not... I mean, I made it really obvious it's, like gestures vaguely y'know? I don't wanna spell it out but, like, the theme and everything there was so obvious I'll be disappointed in you if you didn't get it based on the pun title [the other two layers of puns there aren't as obvious] and the page/thumbnail. Unless, of course, you never heard about it at all which might be the case for people from other continents, I wouldn't know. I realise that doesn't say a lot about the contents but I mean, it's more of a progress update, I'm not actually trying to market anything here lol So whatever. It might be the only game ever where I put a whole nsfw scene of a sexual nature... Or it might just be the beginning of my unsexy h scene adventures. I even asked others how to make it as unsexy as possible and I hope I succeed. Going into gore or kink migh be sexy for some but boredom? Probably to no one who actually reads it. And, as is the case with my other personal games, not a lot of people read them. So I think I succeed at that. It's just the beginning of my SF adventures, though. Be prepared.

Now for the thing that might interest the potential reader the most because I saw the statistics and I bet all the follows are alse due to that - Impostor Syndrome. I know the page is pretty much silent but we are working on this. The common route received a lot of notes to make it longer, more cohesive, funnier and possibly better for all the gremlins that wanted a troll mode. Or at least that was the plan. Route wise we had something but after some consideration, it had to be basically scrapped. I won't go into all the details here as for why, but the rewriting of the outline is proceeding. Slowly cause it's kinda hard to find the best time to talk when you have multiple people from different timezones to consider but I think it's looking good. There's a sliiight possibility it might be a bit less vanilla than, like, your typical sfw otome but I don't think any vanilla lover would think it's too much or anything. Not nearly kinky enough for that. I think labelling it as having a soft dom MC might even be false advertising. Maybe. Hell if I know, I suck at tags. But yeah, it's proceeding. Obviously it won't be out during winter but I do think it will be finished this year. Most likely.

From other game stuff... I might have a monster type project made with Ameena for you. Or I might not. The designs are done but is anything gonna come out of them? We'll see. Leaving the possibility open.

I helped Doibats [who I helped with Cool Days before] with some art. This time it's an rpg, currently still in development. The cool art direction is still there so I think it would be worth a play when it's out. I think I'm more of a guest artist than an actual member of the team, though lol But yeah, check it out when it's done, I'll link it then.

Yet another game where I didn't do much - The Villainess Just Wants To Eat!! had its full, official release 🎉 Congrats to the team [check out their gui, btw]. I was mostly helping with this or that due to the usual jam team stuff that happens but yeah. Syd wrote afterstories for the charas, too. They're technically linked on the game's page, too, but you can read them on her tumblr, too.

I kind of forgot to mention, which also ties with my next point, but she hosted the Ossan jam again which I planned to join with my nano project about Wedding crashers but I overestimated my ability to write energetic chaos so... umm... Well, it's not dropped and while it won't get done in time for nano, I think I'll manage before Ossan jam ends. It started as a loose idea that kinda parodied romcoms and then the protag became an AAA battery but also aplatonic and then I got some concepts from tea[? - dunno how they want to be called 'officially' and this one seemed safe but?] and yeah. I'm trying to work on this, though. Even though I feel so stupid attempting to write an anthropologist. Should've stuck to writing mostly what you know like with Vani vani, eehhh... Wish me luck o3o

The last thing, or two, probably, is more of a... forecast? I happened to help with the editing of a certain 18+ otome game but I'm not on the team or anything so I can't really tell you more since I don't know how much should I reveal to the potential player but from what I've seen, the development goes well since they started making it for nano and might actually be finished before Otome jam ends so I'll link it then.

The other thing is that in an unspecified future I might have a yet another AAA battery protagonist, this time replacing the MC of an otome isekai story. I'm not sure how much I'll help with [maybe just editing, maybe we'd become a two person team, who knows] but it has a hight possibility of being developed eventually. No set dates or anything, though.

Pariiish noootiiiceees

Remember Tentacle jam and Insect [adjacent] jam? They're still happening, I'm just being lazy setting the pages up. The working date is from around the middle of august to the middle of october due to all the other jams happening at the time. I think it's the final date, though. It's come to my attention there's also the Monstrous Desires jam that also shares the timeframe almost perfectly so, y'know, why not make a game that lets you join all three of them? Just a thought.

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My god, this thing became so long. Like half the length of my typical personal project orz I had to add all the Ps and BRs manually. Damn you, html shakes fist

Over.

[astrobydalia]

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨Relationship observations pt. II💘

Hello guys!! In honor of Valentine’s day here’s a part II of one of the posts you loved the most which is relationship observations. This one is pretty long which is what you guys preferred. Hope you like it!

Credit: Tumblr blog @astrobydalia

💘 People with pisces ASC/moon/venus, Venus in the 12th and Neptune in the 7th or conjunct the ASC-DSC axis: it’s so SO easy to make them feel guilty. The type of people to easily feel like it’s their fault when others mistreat them and bc of this they could be more prone to attracting abusive people and narcissists

💘 Also, nobody talks about this and I understand why bc Neptune can be very tricky planet but I think it’s worth mentioning that Neptune is a very spiritual planet that represents unconditional love and therefore can mean true love or a real soul connection so the ruler of the 7th house making an aspect to Neptune, Neptune in the 7th, Juno in the 12th, 12th house synastry etc. can mean true love and a real soul connection in marriage. HOWEVER true love and a real soul connection feeling can often be confused with delusions which is why this planet gets such bad press in relatioships and remember 12th house a lot of times is karma so PLEASE be careful

💘 Venus ruling the 7th, venus in the 7th or Venus aspecting the ruler of the 7th indicates a strong desire to marry for love. Very possible that the person won’t marry unless it’s for love. This also indicates good marriage life

💘 If you don’t have this it of course doesn’t mean you won’t marry for love or won’t marry at all so don’t worry. What I’ve seen in people who don’t have this is they are quite independent when it comes to relationships, they don’t mind getting married but they don’t mind not getting married or staying single either. While people who do have this Venus influence could be low-key obsessed with getting married or having a commitment/relationship

💘 Mercury ruling the 7th, mercury in the 7th or Mercury aspecting the ruler of the 7th indicates marring someone that is funny, someone you can always joke around with

💘 Don’t overlook Chiron in synastry. The house where someone else’s Chiron falls in your own chart could be where you feel like this person is a pain in the ass or where this person will help you achieve great potential

💘 Check Chiron in composite too, it represents where you may feel like you can never agree on or where you often agree to disagree

💘 Once you gain the trust of someone with Taurus Venus they are the absolute SWEETEST people ever

💘 Libra Venus love getting ready for someone special

💘 Check the ascendant in your Juno persona chart, it has some significance as to the energy around you meeting your spouse similar to a composite rising but more subtle energy. For ex. one of my friends has gemini rising in her Juno persona chart and she met her husband when we were in high school when she was about to be picked up by car and she was also holding books in her hands and when she saw him he was with his brother.

💘 The rising in the Juno persona chart also indicates appearance or overall vibe of spouse. For ex the husband of this friend I just told you previously (Gemini rising in her Juno pesona chart) has a very youthful and boyish vibe almost like a teenager he’s also very witty

>>>The actual composite rising you end up having with your spouse or the natal rising sign of your spouse doesn’t have to be the same as the rising of your Juno persona chart. I’ve seen this actually happening before but it doesn’t have to be

💘 In 4th house synastry specially with sun/moon/rising/venus, the house person will naturally see the planet person as a parent or a potential parent. Meaning, somehow the house person “judges” the planet person by deliberating how they’d be as a parent. With this overlay the house person naturally takes care of the needs of the planet person (said needs will be determined by the planet and sign in question) and that’s why the planet person will inevitably see the house person as a good potential parent

💘 There are lots of placements and asteroids that indicate your sexual turn ons but I think that the most potent ones are Lilith, Eros, your 8th house and the ruler of the 8th house. I’ve noticed that these represent specially erogenous zones for you and parts of the body you’re specially attracted to (aside from your kinks and stuff). For example Cancer: breast or nipple, Gemini: lips or hands, Taurus: waist and neck, Leo: hair or back, Sagittarius: hips or thighs etc.

💘 Mars can represent this too but what I’ve seen is that your mars represents more so HOW you like to have sex. It mostly represents how you like to physically approach the sexual act

  💘 8th house represents your sex style, the overall vibe or attitude you want in the sexual act. For ex you may like being dominant during sex with mars in Capricorn but want the sexual act to feel emotional and vulnerable with Cancer in the 8th or raw and fiery with Aries in the 8th

💘 Also, your 8th house is EVERYTHING when it comes to feeling satisfied sexually regardless of your kinks and turn ons. If you have sex that checks all the boxes for all your kinks/turn ons but doesn’t match up with your 8th house energy you will likely end up feeling low-key unsatisfied

💘 Couples with their moons in sister signs (or opposing moons) are either the perfect couple or a fucking disaster

💘 In my opinion, Sun-Moon, Sun-Sun or Moon-moon contacts in synastry are essential for a relationship to work out or last

💘 People with Juno retrograde are the MOST cautious when it comes to marriage, they could be a bit picky and often give the impression they’re not interested in commitment at all specially if it’s placed in Aquarius it gives huge Mr./Mrs Independent vibes

💘 Juno in a water sign gives player vibes, they are the type jump from person to person and likely have a long history of flings and flirting. These people have dated around A LOT and will only commit to that one person that truly manages to capture their heart deeply

💘 Juno in a fire sign are the type of people that wanna marry their crush two weeks or even days into meeting them. They often mistake “attraction at first sight” for “love at first sight”. The second they feel they have real good chemistry with someone they think it’s the love of their life

💘 Juno in an Air sign people need to feel like they really click with someone and they will want to commit only after really getting to know the person. They fall in love with the person’s mind first. They can easily un-crush someone in a second if they don’t like the person’s mind

💘 Juno in an Earth sign people are the most coutios when it comes to commitment. They migh deliberately delay marriage just to be SURE they are getting a reliable future and wanna be certain that it’s the absolute right time

💘 Before starting with the composite observations, you should know that synastry is the dynamic between two people but composite represents what the relationship really is, so that’s why on this post I’m focusing on composite

💘 I’ve noticed that the 2nd house in a composite chart indicates the “glue” or foundation of the relationship, its stability. Mars in this house could create a relationship based on sex for example, Venus a relationship based on love and affection, Saturn a relationship based on stability and compromise etc.

💘 4th house and moon in the composite represents the depths of the relationship. How you guys feel deep down about each other, how you make each other feel. This part of your relationship shows specially when you get true and honest with what are your real feelings

💘 Aquarius or Uranus in the 4th house, Aquarius moon or Moon conjunct Uranus in the composite creates a whole deal of emotional detachment for each other. Could be very emotionally cold to each other and one or both could see the other as insensitive specially if one of them has natal water or fire moon

💘 Aquarius Sun or risings in the composite however is huge best friend vibes regardless of the nature of the relationship. Moon conjunction Uranus can also get away with giving this vibe

💘 Virgos and Scorpios naturally find each other because they tend to have composite Sun in Libra :) So that togetherness and companionship energy is natural for them

💘 Aries moon in the composite chart is that type of relationship where any insult actually means “I love you”. Is that type of dynamic where one’s like “I love you, stupid bitch” and the other goes “🥰🥰” and then they both laugh

💘 Pisces moon in the composite is cute but also a bit tricky if afflicted, the couple could constantly feel they have to watch themselves in order to not hurt or offend the other, like constantly walking on eggshells. Needless to say also these relationships are very intuitive, if one or both are lying or hidding something (which often happens with this placement I’ve seen), the other just KNOWS

💘 Saturn in the 7th in the composite is very good aspect for staying together long-term but it can also mean that the couple is for some reason “forced” to be together or to see each other. They come together due to circumstances and not necessarily by choice (Saturn represents responsibilities, burdens or obligations). You have to look for indicators of love and romance otherwise it’s gonna be a relationship that stays together but more out of duty than real love

💘 Juno in the 4th house in the composite (specially conjunct some planet) is more indicative of marriage (or loyalty/compromise) than Juno in the 1st

💘 Vesta exactly conjunct South Node in the composite creates a STRONG soul-mate feeling and great devotion. These relationships are so long lasting the type where you just know you’re gonna be together your entire life

💘 Chiron in the 1st in the composite chart = feeling uncomfortable with each other, like you’re incompatible or like you don’t click together at all. Can also create a “can’t be together” vibe but not in a platonic Pisces way it’s more like there’s some incompatibility that can’t be salvaged and “stops” the couple from meeting/coming together or the relationship from taking place at least at first. Basically the relationship feels broken before even starting. The sign Chiron is in gives insight as to what’s the nature of this incompatibility.

💘 Saturn in the 8th in the composite = reluctance to have sex, one might have been sexually rejected by the other

💘 Chiron in the 10th in the composite = you don’t like working with this person. I have this with one of my best friends, we tried to run an IG page together and it was a disaster lmao

💘 Sun and maybe Venus in the 10th house in the composite indicates your relationship is source of gossip or at the very least everybody knows about your relationship

💘 If a composite planet or point falls in your natal 10th house then the relationship might affect your reputation

💘 The most harmonious and the most healthy relationships I’ve seen had empty 7th house empty 12th and empty 8th house in the composite. Literally 0 drama, 0 tensions, 0 codependency and surprisingly unbreakable (supported by other aspects of course)

💘 With that said the number 1 best house for synastry or composite in my opinion and based on what I have seen is the 9th house both friendship and relationship, also the 5th, 4th, 2nd, 11th, 3rd

💘 People who have your DSC sign as their moon sign will strike you quite strongly. Not necessarily their moon falling in your 7th or conjunct the DSC (tho this is stronger) I’ve seen that the fact that someone has your DSC sign as their moon sign is enough to create a little “crush” feeling or you feel like you can’t hate that person bc may see them as cute.

💘 The people I’ve seen that have gone through a harsh divorce mostly had in their natal chart: North Node in the 7th, Chiron in the 7th house, Saturn rx in the 7th house, Jupiter Square Uranus and planets or angles in Aquarius degrees (11°, 23°) specially if Venus or Moon are in these degrees or conjunct a planet that is in these degrees. These indicators can apply to breaking up a long-term relationship, breaking an engagement, etc. except probably Jupiter square Uranus. This one is particularly a divorce aspect specially in women’s charts. Also, side note, if Pluto or Uranus are involved, these people may have a devastating divorce or breakup 

💘 Composite planets in the composite 12th house can create a feeling like the relationship has an expiration date. One or both people are for some reason constantly anxious that the relationship might end. If they stay feeding these energy they’ll likely have a self-fulfilling prophecy

💘 Pisces rising in the composite makes for a very psychic bond. Could be the type of relationship where you’re thinking and wondering about them and boom they suddenly text you. These people are usually there for each other bc they intuitively know when to be

💘 This is probably a no-brainer but many life-long friendships I’ve seen had stelliums or planets in the 5th house-11th house axis or the 3rd house-9th house axis of the composite

💘 With Leo rising in the composite I’ve noticed these people always have very funny stories to tell about stuff they’ve been through and lived together. There’s a lot of “remember when...” followed by loud laughter. 

💘 North north node in the composite 5th house is a great placement

💘 6th house placements in the composite and synastry creates a dynamic where the two people and the relationship itself ends up feeling extremely predictable. The couple may find one specific routine or activity they like doing together or they always find themselves doing the same 3 activities every time they are together. This can be good or bad depending on what you want in a relationship, some people find it extremely boring or understamulating and others prefer it because it gives them a sense of stability or reliability

💘 Moon conjunct Chiron in composite is indicative of a healing relationship

Credit: Tumblr Blog @astrobydalia

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Unlikely friends: Part 2

Azula comes to visit you in the earth kingdom and the two of you spend more time together leading Azula to confess her feelings.

Part one here

Part three here

Azula’s POV

Azula lasted 1 month, 2 weeks and 4 days before she took you up on your offer to escape to the earth kingdom. She and Zuko had gotten into a silly argument and Azula really wanted to get away from the fire nation and him. So she wrote to you and received a reply hours later. You told her to come immediately and listed the address. So Azula was walking through the streets of an earth kingdom village searching for Toph’s school. It was pretty easy, the whole town seemed to be proud to be chosen by Toph Beifong and she passed many people in uniforms or signs boasting this was the proud location of the best earth bending school in the world. Azula knew she’d arrived when she found an 8-foot statue of Toph outside a large building. She supposed Toph herself had made it and had to admire the girl’s confidence. Azula knocked on the door but it fell open. She walked inside and could hear the soft thudding of earth bending somewhere further inside. You had only said to come to the school so Azula didn’t know what to do next. She looked around and found a child around age 10 or so. "You boy tell me where can I find y/n" she called. The boy shrugged "I don’t know". Azula narrowed her eyes "well is she teaching a class? What’s your best guess for her location?". The boy sighed "why should i tell you?". Azula had always hated children and got a strong urge to throttle the boy but she breathed deeply "because i’m a friend of hers and i need to see her". "I’ll take you to her....if you pay me, you look rich". "Five" Azula bargained and the boy shook his head "fifty". "Ten" Azula bargained but the boy shook his head "now it’s sixty". Azula broke and grabbed the boy’s sleeve as she lit her other hand on fire "listen here you little monster....” she started when someone came around the corner. “Sifu Toph this woman is attacking me!” the child cried and Azula paused letting the kid go. “Toph I....”. “Let me guess, you were looking for y/n and Lamo here asked you for money? So you threatened him”. Azula blinked “yes exactly, if you’re upset...” she started when Toph turned to the boy. “Lamo what did I tell you about choosing your opponents wisely? You see a scary fire bender and challenge her? Do you have a death wish?”. The boy stammered “sorry sifu Toph” and bowed deeply. “Enough of that now go train!” Toph barked and Azula admired how the boy ran away as fast as he could. She watched him go before awkwardly turning to your cousin. Azula had hardly spoken to the girl and the few times she had, they’d been trying to kill each other but hopefully that was in the past. “Y/n’s this way” Toph said breaking the silence and Azula just nodded following her. It was an awkward walk but as Toph was your closest family Azula wanted her to like her. “I wasn’t really going to burn him” she clarified “I was just going to scare him a bit”. Toph made a grunt in reply “the lily liver would deserve it, attacking someone from the fire nation, you people are so fickle with your honour. You taught him a good lesson about staying away from fire folk”. “You’re welcome?” Azula offered. Toph shot her a look and Azula realised she shouldn’t have said that. Thankfully they reached you before Toph could reply.

Your POV

You were in the middle of class when you heard the door open and you turned. You stopped midsentence and grinned “Azula!”. You paused realising everyone in the room, including your students were staring and coughed “Azula...if you would please just wait over there i’ll be with you soon”. Azula nodded smiling slightly and you looked away so as to not blush. “Anyway so as I was saying....” you started when Toph stepped forwards “I got this y/n, you go see to your guest”. You grinned “really?”. Toph smiled, she’d seen how your face lit up when you looked at Azula and figured you deserved an evening off. “Sure” Toph nodded and you grinned patting her arm before rushing to Azula. You led Azula outside of the gym and into your private quarters before throwing your arms around her in a hug. "It’s so good to see you but of course sorry circumstances! How are you?". Azula shrugged "i’m okay, me and Zuzu always argue it’s nothing new....thank you for letting me come here on such short notice though. I hope i didn’t cause too much of a disturbance?". "Nah that was the last class of the day so your timing was perfect". Azula blushed as you emphasised the word perfect while staring at her and you smiled. "So i’ll show you where you can put your stuff and then we can go get some food and have a catch-up! I like our letters but it just can’t compare to talking to you in person". Azula smiled pleased you felt that way also "i agree, there’s no replacement for hearing and seeing you". This time you were the one blushing but you smiled brightly and took Azula’s hand "well come on then, let's get started" and led her away.

"It was my fault" Azula sighed recounting the argument to you "i was in a bad mood because of our mother’s visit and so i was snapping at Zuko and then he snapped back". You nodded your head listening with a worried look. "And i know our mother is trying but i...i think i still have some issues with her that i should really address". You nodded your head "would you be able to discuss them with her or do you need more time to heal?". Azula shrugged "maybe, i don’t know....anyway enough about me, tell me all about your new life! How is it being a renown earth bending teacher?". You laughed “i’m not so sure about that, Toph’s the talent, I just handle the basic and beginners but I don’t mind that I’ve never been fond of children, especially as they get older and more annoying”. Azula smiled at you and you frowned “what?”. “Nothing” she smiled looking away “I just knew there was a reason I liked you”. You grinned “because I hate children?”. “Precisely” Azula nodded and you both laughed. "I wish i was around you more" Azula said suddenly and you paused managing not to blush "you do?". She nodded "i feel calmer with you, my temper here feels completely under control but at home...". "Hey the important thing is you're trying to control it" you smiled putting a hand on her arm "you’ll get the hang of it, one day at a time remember?". Azula nodded glancing at your hand on her. You went to move it away noticing when Azula put her hand on top of yours "thanks y/n".

Azula’s POV

“No problem Azula” you smiled and Azula just allowed herself to admire you. You looked so beautiful just sat on the deck of your garden smiling at her...Azula felt her breath stifle. "Why are you staring, is something wrong?" you asked as Azula gazed at you intently but she shook her head "nothing...the opposite actually, you look so beautiful". Azula had no idea where that confidence had come from but she meant what she said, here with you all her insecurities just melted away. She felt good enough, you made her feel good enough.  A blush appeared on your cheeks but you only looked away for a few seconds. “You should see it from my view" you replied and Azula grinned. Azula had made her feelings clear and this was you returning them. She couldn’t be happier but she had to make sure before she moved onto the next step...

Your POV

Azula smiled and leant closer to you “y/n can i kiss you?". "I thought you’d never ask" you smirked and Azula kissed you. She held onto your cheek softly as she tenderly and almost cautiously kissed you. Azula was very gentle and you were pleasantly surprised, you found this timid Azula adorable. You pulled away and the sun made Azula’s face glow but her red cheeks were all her own. "I...i like you, a lot" Azula blushed and you smiled taking her hand "i like you too...a lot". Azula laughed "that’s a relief! It’d be awkward if you didn’t after that”. You laughed “it would be” and stroked the top of her hand “but that’s not the case, I like you with every fibre of my being. I have since our trip” you explained. Azula nodded “I did too I just didn’t realise it, i’m annoyed it took me this long but I mean to make up for the lost time”. “That sounds good” you smiled and Azula’s eyes flicked over you. “In that case....can i kiss you again?". "Yes and you can stop asking now, the answer will always be yes" you told her. "Got it" Azula nodded and you smirked at how adorable she was before leaning in to kiss her again.

The next few days were a blur with Azula. You took her all over your town and just enjoyed being totally and utterly in each others company. It was the perfect weekend for a new couple but Azula was scheduled to leave the next day putting a slight negative atmosphere over the day.

After a walk to a restaurant Azula had taken a liking to you returned to the porch where you first kissed and lounged in the sinking sunlight. “I don’t want you to go” you said softly and Azula nodded draping her arm around you and pressing her face into your hair “me either”. You melted into her more and Azula wrapped her arms around you fully. Azula held you, watching the sunset and marvelled at how perfect her visit had been. Since she was a child she didn’t think such a sweet innocent experience would ever occur to her but she was wrong. She looked down at you against her and an idea came to her.

“Come back to the fire nation with me” Azula said suddenly and you sat up surprised. “Come back...but Azula you know I have to stay here and help Toph”. “I didn’t mean permanently I just meant for the remainder of my mom’s stay? She’s only going to be another 4 days and I meant what i said, i’m better around you and i want to show my mom and Zuko that i’m not who i once was and i think i can with your help...". The tone of Azula’s voice made you sigh and you turned to face her properly "you said that knowing i wouldn’t be able to resist didn’t you?". Azula smiled "i suspected appealing to your selfless kind nature might help". "Stop flattering i’ll come back with you" you rolled your eyes and Azula gasped. "Y/n thank you!" she cried peppering your face and lips with kisses. You pretended to be annoyed but seeing Azula’s genuine happiness at the thought of you coming back with her made you smile.

Azula’s POV

You stayed out on the porch long after the sunset and when you did stumble inside you both jumped to see Toph sat in the room. “Nice night?” she asked. Azula felt her hand in yours and knew even though the girl was blind she could sense things like this. Azula glanced at you but you didn’t seem nervous. “We did thank you, how about you?”. Toph nodded her head “I did, y/n can you please do and tell Raosheng in the village that I will be requiring his help running the school while you are in the fire nation?”. Azula jolted expecting an argument but again you didn’t tense. “I have already sent him a letter but I will go and make sure he knows, be right back” you smiled and walked out the door. Silence settled and Azula stared at Toph in horror. Toph was basically your only family, the person who meant the most to you in the world...if she didn’t get on with her that could wreck the whole relationship. Azula cleared her throat “so you heard our conversation about y/n visiting me?”. Toph nodded her head “I didn’t mean to but I got worried you were trying to poach my best teacher”. “No i’d never try and take her from you, I know how much you both care for one another” Azula rushed to reassure her. Toph made a noise and stood up going to leave the room. “Do you...did you hear anything else?” Azula asked and Toph paused. “I know you’re dating my cousin if that’s what you mean”. Azula went to ask how when Toph laughed “the two of you aren’t subtle, y/n’s always worn her heart on her sleeve but even she was too blissfully happy for it to be because of your presence alone, no offence”. “None taken” Azula shrugged. She supposed Toph must be fine with it and so satisfied her relationship wasn’t in danger went to leave the room when the door closed. “I trust y/n to make good decisions” Toph said suddenly “she a good judge of character and she trusts you so I do too...but if you ever harm or hurt her....you’re powerful but I took you out once and I’ll do it again”. “That was in the eclipse” Azula pointed out before she smiled “but I understand, trust me I have no intentions of ever harming her or letting her get hurt, she’s one of the few people I would never let anything happen to”. Toph nodded “I believe you will honour that promise, you better...” and left the room.

The next day

You and Azula stood waiting for the airship and Azula kept glancing at you often. “I’m not going anywhere, I promised to come with you so I am” you said and she jumped “was I that obvious?”. You smiled “just a little bit” and took her hand discreetly. Azula knew the earth kingdom was worse than the fire nation for judging same-sex relationships and so stood up taller ready to defend you if necessary. “So how was your conversation with Toph?” you asked and her posture slumped. “You knew she was going to give me the protective sibling talk! You left us alone together on purpose”. “Of course!” you grinned “I knew Toph wanted to get her threats out of the way and so i’m sorry but I let her, I figured you of all people could handle it”.  Azula nodded “I managed to convince her I won’t harm you or ever let anyone else hurt you, so yes you were right”. “I figured that when I came back and the school was still standing” you joked. Azula smiled “I wouldn’t attack her she’s your family, but if she attacked me first....well that’s just retaliation”. You laughed and smiled at Azula “thank you for being so perfect this weekend, now it’s my turn to try and do the same in your home”. Azula took your hand “you’ll be perfect I promise”. “Well I guess there’s only one way to find out” you said and nodded to the airship that had appeared in the sky. “Are you ready?” Azula asked as the ship came closer. You nodded and squeezed her hand tighter “next stop the fire nation”.  

____

Next and final part the fire nation!!

[juupajaa]

Do you have any tips for coping with going back to school?

I haven't gone to one in almost two years and I guess I'm really worried about failing everything (it's private school, I'm not here because of my accomplishments) and about not making any friends (I haven't talked to new people in even longer). Plus, I'm probably older than everyone else (I'll be 21 in December, while most people start at 16-18)

I'm already struggling to eat, but I'm doing it because I know I need the fuel to at least try to succeed.

Even if you can't/don't want to help me, you're still awesome. Thank you.

Omg are you me?? Did I send this? This was literally me two months ago?? I'm gonna break this up a little.

Going back to school and failing: I worry about this all the time but so far I'm still mostly on top of everything. What I do to handle everything is to make myself clear memos about what are all the things I have to remember/do and set doable standards. I have had a horrible habit of expecting nothing but the best from myself (so much so that I'd burnout) and honestly, now I really love telling myself "whatever, it's good enough" when I'm doing homework or presentations or whatever. It really helps so much and I'd rather have an ok grade and good mental health than risk my wellbeing for the best grade. Also, at least here where I live, there's always a way to make your studies fit your pace, if you feel like you can't keep up with others. Courses can be moved around and spread wider so less things are on top of each other. I did this in high school all the time, I was having so much trouble that it was sinply impossible for me to do more than like two courses at a time, when others did six or more. One more, always tell your teachers if you didn't understand something!!!! I stay to talk to my teachers after class whenever there's something that I'm unclear about. Not only does it solve all your questions, but it shows your teacher that you're actually trying!

Not making friends: Don't worry too much about this. As long as you can be friendly/polite with everyone, you'll be fine. If friendship doesn't happen, it doesn't and that's fine, but at least try to feel like you belong in your group. If they make a class group chat, get in it as well and keep up with it. Try to stick with the group and do your part in keeping a good atmosphere and if there's someone who's friend material, then great, but if not, oh well. I am infamously bad at making friends so you'll have to go ask someone else how to make friends with people 😂

Age differences: honestly I was so worried about this too but turns out my class was pretty even divide between the usual late teens, and then us twenty/thirty-somethings. So don't lose hope yet, there migh tbe more people just like you who start the school at a later age. But even if there were only those 16-18 olds, you gotta remember how much power comes from being older in that age group. It's insane how much respect points you get just by being older. It might be hard to make friends with people who are younger than you but once again, making friends is not necessary, just staying friendly is enough so you feel like you belong and teenagers are pretty easy to stay friendly with, as they are generally very open and curious people. Just don't tell them they're stupid/immature/unfocused etc.(they're doing their best with the brain development they have) and they should be friendly enough.

Eating: The start is really important here, so when it's your first day and stuff, make sure you march yourself to the lunch with everyone else (remember, they're also going in there for the first time so everyone's a little confused) and stumble through it. If you miss out on these first lunches, it can get really hard to set it right later. In my class, we eat together and it's been such a relief honestly. Eating in a cafeteria is a lot easier when you can do it with someone else. And as you said, your chances of having a good school year plummet the moment you let those disordered thoughts pile up and start skipping out on food. It can be really tempting at times but you gotta take a step back and look at the big picture.

Ok, that was a lot of words but I'm so hyped for you tho!!!!! You're in the exact same spot I was in and I know its so so so nerve-wracking but try to lower the pressure down to as low as it can go. I hope you'll do okay🥺💟💖💕💗💞 tell me how it goes!! And ask again if you need more moral support!!

[rocketink]

LOST AND FOUND

In which you lose your stuff all the time but your first-floor neighbour somehow always has it for you. Or, in a soulmate world, your soulmate finds everything you loses and reverse.

pairing: minghao x gender neutral reader

genre: fluff, crack + neighbor & soulmate! Au 

wc: 2.2k+

warnings: none I think (this type of soulamte thingy is kinda crazy tho). Btw this is my first au so I’m sorry fpr any mistakes!! + English is not my first language so apologies :)

notes: I migh turn this into a series since I’ve thought about some details here and there as I wrote this au?? What do you think?? 

The situation inside your apartment has turned unbearable, and you know should have moved with Joshua when you had the chance. He wasn't the closest of your friends, but you're sure it would have been more comfortable with him rather than third-wheeling your roommates.

Now, you don't hate Mingyu and your best friend, you just think they are disgustingly cute. You feel very happy since you've seen them pining after each other for a while now (all the furtive glances they sent to each other when they thought nobody was looking was like being inside a rom-com movie and it was hilarious at first. It eventually became too much to handle). You've never seen two more oblivious people inside a room, it was exasperating. Things began to turn serious when they discovered they were each other's soulmates and they've been seriously dating ever since.

It's great, really, but why do you have to see each of their displays of affection? Or, should we say, why doesn't the time to find your soulmate finally get to you?

Because you know, deep down inside you, that the problem is not that they have a soulmate. The problem is that you don't find it.

"Good morning, love." Mingyu greets your friend with his deep morning voice, and gives them a kiss on their temple. "Good morning, Y/n." He gives you a tiny hug and you growl.

"It's too early for being cute don't you think?" You ask joking-not-so-joking.

"Feeling grumpy at eight in the morning? Woah, breaking your own record." You laugh at what your friend says and they laugh too. You don't mind being like this, just why does it have to get so awkward sometimes?

"Guys another disgrace has happened." You announce solemnly. "I have lost my jacket"

"Again?" Mingyu judges.

"But didn't you wash it yesterday? It must be hanged with the rest of the clothes."

"I checked when I woke up because it's cold and it wasn't there."

"It was pretty windy last night, maybe it fell?" Your friend suggests and they grin. "Maybe Minghao will bring it back to you later?"

Ah, here we have the other reason why you want to move to a lost town somewhere in Australia: Xu Minghao, your first-floor neighbor, the one that has an apartment to envy because of his small, well-decorated courtyard. You don't envy that, though, because your clothesline is right on top of his courtyard, and sometimes he has to bring you all the clothing items that fall into his yard. You don't know how all that ends up there, you've tried everything: from securing your clothes with more pins to tying it to the clothesline. But none of that ever works, and he always goes all up to the third floor -where you live- to give it back to you with a smile and a 'see you soon'. How does he know it's your clothes? You made sure to tell him the first time this happened.

Just like your friend predicted, that afternoon Xu Minghao knocked at your door.

"Hello." He greets with a friendly smile and your heart melts.

He's too adorable to handle.

"Hi, Minghao. Don't bother I think I know why you're here." You joke at your own clumsiness and he laughs with you too.

"You must have been cold without it." He seems worried and you shake your head.

"Don't worry, two layers of blankets made up for it."

He puts his hands into his pockets and smiles shyly and you feel your heart bursting off. When he leaves, you notice your jacket smells like him.

Ah, how you wished Minghao was your soulmate.

Things get more complicated when the finals approach. You can barely stand even after drinking your daily coffee and you spend day after day coming and going from home to the library. You are so focused and stressed that you barely pay attention to anything else, and you've lost from pens to your entire case. All of them safely brought back home by Minghao. You do not know how or when you threw your case through the window for it to end up at Minghao's yard, but he always brings some hot chocolate and a small talk with him, so you do not complain.

After all, you don't even remember how you wake up every morning by the end of the day. You end up thinking you need to control yourself a little more during finals.

One day it gets out of hand. You've probably had the worst of the days. You woke up late because you didn't hear the alarm clock, your roommates being all lovey-dovey already got you on your nerves, your exam was harder than you expected and you had a bad feeling about your answers. Then, when you finally got home, late and tired, your keys were nowhere to be found. You could feel your eyes getting watery and you knocked at the door. Nobody answers, your friend and Mingyu are celebrating their anniversary and you don't want to bother them even if all you want is a hot shower and watching a romantic without friends to cuddle. You immediately think of Minghao, would it be too much if you asked him to spend some time with you? You answer to yourself that yes, it would be too much, there's no need to bother anyone else. So what do you do now?

"Y/n?" Somebody asks behind you.

"Minghao?" And there you have it, just the one you were thinking of.

"Hi, uhm, are you okay?" You want to cry to that question, but you manage to hold back your tears.

"I'm fine I just- I must have lost my keys because I can't find them and there's no one home and I just want to sleep." You explain briefly.

"Are these your keys?" He holds something in his left hand that looks like your keyring -a framed pink paper with your name on it and a little olaf your sister once bought you-

"How did you find it?"

"I didn't, it appeared in my yard". He is as confused as you are.

"But... I remember I put it inside the pocket of my bag." You explain. "When I arrived it was opened so I just supposed they fell out. And there's no way they fell into your yard because they are always inside my bag, I never threw them... Why would anyone throw a keyring through my window? I-" You try to explain without taking a breath so that Minghao doesn't think you're a weirdo, but now you can't fight back your tears and Minghao looks worried.

"It's okay Y/n, don't worry, I understand. Well, I don't, but I know you didn't do it. Hold on let's get inside I'll make you some hot chocolate and we can watch a movie, okay?"

You nod without thinking, just wanting to be lulled into some peace. He makes you some hot choco as promised and makes some small talk while choosing a movie to watch.

"So where are your roommates?" He asks.

"Celebrating their anniversary."

"Wait, are they dating?"

"Didn't you know?"

"No? I'm so shocked what the hell." You laugh at his astonished face. "But are they...?"

"Soulmates? Yes, they are."

"Woah, lucky."

"I know right." You don't want this topic to surface but you can't help but ask. "Have you met your soulmate?"

"I haven't." After a few seconds, he adds, "have you?"

"No, not a single clue of who they are. I don't have a timer or a tattoo, or see them in my dreams... I'm getting tired of waiting. Overall watching the two lovebirds every day of my life."

"It is the same thing for me. I'd love to meet them or just to know how they are. I know I'm young and all that but I'm just very curious and almost all my friends have met them while I still don’t know how to find them. I feel left out."

You nod, relating to that feeling.

"By the way, if it gets tiring, why don't you just move out?"

"I don't know where to move to be honest. I don't know if I want to go through the 'look for a new apartment' process again, it's too tiring. Besides, I still have fun with them, they're not to blame for my loneliness."

Minghao laughs and looks away.

"Just so you know, I'm moving out next month. I found another apartment for a better price and I'm going to leave the one I have now. If it gets too unbearable, you can just take my place." And you are too focused on yourself to notice the sad look on his face.

Because Minghao and your little encounters made your whole living in a student's apartment life better, and you don't want him to go away. But you are just a neighbor in Minghao's life, so who are you to tell him that?

Minghao moves the following month just as promised, and you can't remove the moping face you wear.

"Why are you so sad Y/n? I've seen the new neighbor, he is as hot as Minghao." Your friend winks and you roll your eyes.

"I don't care. If he doesn't pick up my stuff then I don't want him."

"I've heard he is all the time arguing with their other roommate. Maybe they leave sooner than expected and Minghao comes back!"

"Don't be mean, Gyu!" You nag and he shrugs.

Somebody's knocking at the door distracts you from your conversation and both of your friends turn to look at you.

"Why do I always have to get the door? There's no Minghao now, I don't want it."

"Maybe is your new blue prince"

"Shut up, Mingyu."

But when you open the door to a frowning Minghao, your heart backflips.

"What are you doing here Hao? Is everything okay?"

"I am a little concerned." He shows you a small necklace you recognize immediately. "What was this doing in my house?"

"I lost it last week at university! I didn't know where it went." You try to answer.

"To my room?"

"Look, I also don't know what was my necklace doing in your house in which I've never stepped a foot in because is like five kilometers away ... Oh my god Hao did you walk here?"

"I took the bus." He looks down and then right at you. "The last time I saw you you were wearing it. I've been thinking for a week how did this get there since I haven't seen you in a month, I never took it and I know for sure you are not a stalker who would leave their necklace inside my room when nobody’s looking."

"Have you reached any conclusion?"

"Absolutely none. Then I talked to Jun and he said some of the romantic trash he usually thinks of, but this made me think."

"What did he say?" You don't know what direction this conversation is taking.

"He's a soulmate expert you know? He told me that maybe it’s because destiny wants us to meet again and I thought that couldn't be because oh god, what have I done to deserve you? Then I decided to make a little experiment and I'm really nervous because if this doesn't work out I might have lost the most important thing to me. Do you mind checking your room?"

You feel everything inside you revolving because of every single one of his words, but still, you do as he requests. You check your room, ignoring the question marks over your roommate's heads, and find nothing different. Except for a new notebook on top of your nightstand you hadn't noticed. It's a sketchbook, and all of the drawings on the inside are signed with Minghao's name.

"Is this yours?" He sighs in relief when he recognizes the sketchbook.

"This is a part of my life, you know?"

"Then how did you lose this?"

"I told June to leave it somewhere I didn't know so that I couldn't even look for it. I wasn't sure if it was going to work."

"I can't believe the universe does works like this."

"Me neither, but I'm glad it did."

"So, you said this friend of yours is an expert in soulmates?" You don't want to ask it directly, but you want to know if he's implying that you two are soulmates.

"Yes, I used the s word." You both laugh.

"Does this mean that you and I... You know."

"Jun told me this type of soulmate is rare, but it has happened under easier circumstances. All I know is that I keep finding you every time and I don't know if I ever want to stop finding you."

"OH COME ON JUST KISS ALREADY." You hear Mingyu shouting from the kitchen. "Babe, now I know how Y/n felt with us."

You want to laugh at Mingyu and tell him 'Ha, suffer you loser', but Minghao has other plans.

When he kisses you everything just seems simple and suddenly everything is fine, and you don't want to stop doing it. It's warm, it feels as if you had lost and found the most important thing in your life.

"Hold on then why did I never find anything yours?"

"Y/n, you break the kiss just to ask this?" You blush and he sighs. "I'm a very organized person, unlike others, so I barely lose things, happy now?"

"No. Does this mean that if I get lost in a crowd would you magically find me? You know, since I got lost."

"I don't know Y/n, and I don't want to find out. Now come here, I want to cuddle."

"Oh, yes. Finally."

[ghcstvalleychief]

I've been more than 20 years in fandom and is so cute seeing fans thinking they have any kind of power. Fandom used to be fun and angsty but made for FANS and as time goes i've noticed that the meaning of Fandom now is basically popularity contest, not just for shipping and show but also among fans. Not to mention on how nowadays being a fan means excusing problematic behaviour, harrassing others (yes, this is part of every current fandom I've been in), egotestical contest between popular accounts and just basically high school behaviour. You know when you have underage fans, fans under 20 and oldies in a fandom by the responses you get (tho few people still act like 15 yrs old both in bad and good ways). So yeah, Fandoms and social media behaviour won't affect anyone's wallet and is mostly popularity contest that for it might helps someone's awareness but let's remember the basic rule of internet. Anything that goes up must come down, I've seen so many celebrities being praised to the max to then being cancelled within a few years. Nothing last forever especially if you don't have talent on your side, fans love you today and migh not tomorrow when the new next hot topic comes back so you want to improve yourself and focus on getting shit by yourself and not by your fans.

You and I must have been mind melding, anon, because I was definitely about to make a shady post about how talent determines longevity. Sure, other stuff may get you through the door but your talent is what keeps you in the room.

Let's take a walk down memory lane here, folks. My very first fandom was TVD. Yes, I was in The Vampire Diaries fandom way back when. For all of the social media popularity Delena/Nina/Ian had, none of that popularity translated into anything. But in their defense, most of the shows on the CW had a lot of social media popularity but none of the 'big name' actors from that network have worked since their respective show ended. Save for maybe Jensen Ackles and Kat Graham. I've seen both of them doing way more outside of the network, but what about the rest of those highly popular characters/ships? Where are they now?

Fandom and social media 'popularity' cannot make up for lack of talent, and that's what's going to separate the boys from the men, so to speak. Just because this actor can get their rabid fans to trend for them isn't enough to ensure that actor will walk into an audition and knock it out of the park. But it's also like the other anon mentioned - I guess they could stick to the BL dramas because you don't have to be talented to be in one of those, just as long as you're 'attractive' enough to get the tongues wagging of all the female fans. You may want to stay away from the more serious roles though because that's not your shtick.

[mystical-flute]

Hustling For the Good Life (SFWeek Day 3)

No Curse (Our World) AU or Season 3 AU

@mysteryandnonstopfun

AO3 || FFN

Emma’s stare was harsh and aimed in the direction of her parents and Regina. “We can’t.”

There was absolutely no time to argue. Pan’s curse was steadily drawing near, the sky already taking on a dark, ominous hue, swallowing up the buildings and people that had called Storybrooke home for twenty-eight years.

“Emma, you have to go. It’s the only way to keep Henry safe!” Snow protested.

Neal turned away from the small family, and looked at Belle. “Are you going to be okay, Belle?”

“Don’t worry about me. Your father would want you and Henry to be safe, Bae,” she said. “Besides, Snow has been kind enough to allow me to stay with them… if we’re able to get back to their castle.”

So much was unknown about what was going to happen. Neal was worried he might throw up.

He put on a brave smile that he knew neither of them bought.

“You guys need to hurry!” Ruby suddenly cried, glancing over her shoulder at the purple storm clouds racing toward them. “It’s almost here!”

Neal squeezed Belle’s hand and turned to Emma and Henry. “Let’s - let’s get to safety, then.”

He should have been happy that the life he and Emma deserved to have was within his grasp, but like everything with magic, the price was too damn steep, and it wouldn’t be worth it.

They might not remember Storybrooke, but he knew the pain in Snow, David, and Regina’s eyes would never leave.

“I’m sorry it has to be this way,” he said, passing Regina on his way to the bug.

“Just keep Henry safe. Please.”

“You know we will.”

Neal gave Hook one final glance, and a single nod of acknowledgement before he got in the passenger’s seat once Henry was safely in the back. He and Emma clasped their hands over the gear shift, the familiar rumbling of the bug almost making him smile as Emma began to drive.

None of them took their eyes off the mirrors as their loved ones -

“Em? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” he asked, glancing at her. “Allergies acting up?”

Emma took her hand off his, using it to wipe her eyes before she pulled to the side of the road. “No - sorry. I just got a little overwhelmed at the thought of our apartment in Boston. We’ve lost everything, Neal. Our clothes, our furniture, our pictures - ”

“But not our lives,” he said, rubbing her back. “Emma, we’re lucky we weren’t home when the fire broke out. We can replace the stuff, but we can’t replace each other.”

Henry looked up from his game. “I’m not reenacting those baby pictures.”

Neal snort-laughed. “You don’t have to, bud. But just be aware that your mom and I might take a few extra pictures of you for the foreseeable future.”

Henry scowled, rolling his eyes, and immersed himself in Zelda again.

Emma chuckled. “New York then. Almost home.”

---

“It’s a boy!” the doctor announced, Henry’s cries cutting through the air.

“Healthy pair of lungs on him,” the nurse chuckled, rubbing him down. “Oh darling, it’s okay. Let’s get you to Mama, hmm?”

Emma and Neal, two terrified eighteen year olds, were in shock as the nurse laid him in Emma’s arms.

“H - hi baby…” Emma whispered as his cries slowly died down and he stared at them with wonder in his dark eyes. “I’m - I’m your mama… and that’s your daddy…”

The first year had been rough, of course. They lived in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment in Tallahassee, waitressing and whatever else they could find. They clawed and saved whatever they could, to give Henry more than what they’d had.

But more important than things, was love. Henry had two parents that loved him more than anything in the world, which is much more than Neal or Emma could say for themselves.

They were happy, most of all. Yeah the apartment was a squeeze, and there were on and off issues with bugs, but through it all, the three of them were happy.

They married when Henry was three - a small ceremony in Boston after they’d moved there for Emma’s job. He’d gotten a better job not long after that, as a photographer, and he was really, really good at it, like Emma was good at tracking down criminals.

And so the little family moved up in the world. From a one-bedroom apartment to a two bedroom, they could buy new toys and clothes for Henry instead of hoping they found something at a thrift store or garage sale. It finally felt like they were where they were meant to be.

Emma’s twenty-eighth birthday came and went, and Neal felt a twist of guilt in his gut when August’s voice echoed in his head.

The problem was, Neal hadn’t heard anything from August. No postcard, no email… nothing. No information as to where this supposed curse was?

So how was he supposed to get Emma to her supposed destiny if he didn’t know where he was going?

He had a job, a family. They couldn’t just drive across the country and hope they got lucky.

Then there had been the fire, the spring after Emma’s birthday. They’d been on a camping trip in Maine, Neal taking photos of the coast and Emma insisting Henry needed less time in front of the screen, when they’d gotten the call.

Everything in their apartment was gone, the building itself almost totally a loss.

He’d been transferred to New York.

So they’d started over, again.

New York had been good to them - incredibly so.

The magazine he’d gotten a job with had offered to pay for their rent for two months while they got new furniture and settled into the city.

Henry was thriving in school, making friends and joining the art club. It was everything Neal had ever hoped for.

And after they’d settled in, new furniture and wardrobes abound, they had received a call from one of Emma’s contacts with the NYPD. A two year old girl had been found in an abandoned apartment. No family that the cops or child services could find, and the girl didn’t say anything other than her name - Audrey.

So they’d taken her in, adoption paperwork being expedited given the strangeness of the situation.

All she had to her name was a pink baby blanket, not unlike the one Emma had.

It felt like fate, adopting Audrey the way it happened.

Or something else, but Neal pushed that thought aside as he situated her in her chair, watching as she carefully fed herself.

Emma slid into the seat next to her, a plate in her hand.

“Busy day today?” she asked.

“Nah, just editing the pictures from the Elton John concert last night. I can do it from here,” he said with a shrug, glancing over at a knock on the door. “I got it.”

When he pulled the door open, he’d wished he hadn’t.

“Baelfire.”

He felt the color drain from his face. “Hook. What the hell are you doing here?”

To his shock, Hook actually looked relieved to see him, like it hadn’t been 200 years since they saw each other. Like they had actually been friendly last he saw him. “I came to get you three, Baelfire. To take you home.”

“Home? You must be insane. I am home.”

“Emma’s parents need help, Baelfire. So does your father.”

His eyes narrowed. “Did August send you?”

Hook’s face radiated confusion. “Who’s August?”

That was a no, then, and that didn’t make Neal feel any better about Hook being here. He shouldn’t even know what he looked like - he’d been fourteen when they last saw each other! “Why should I believe you? After everything? And why would you give a damn about my father?”

“He saved my life.”

Neal laughed, then winced when he remembered Emma and Henry were only feet away. “Why would he save you ?”

Hook shrugged. “I was collaterally saved.”

“As always,” he spat.

“Dad?” Henry called. “You okay?”

“Just a second, Henry!” Neal turned back to Hook and narrowed his eyes. “Get lost. Whatever you’re selling, I don’t want it.”

Hook sighed, holding out a piece of paper. “Fine. If you change your mind, I’m staying here.”

Neal frowned as he took it, watching Hook disappear back down the hall. How had Hook been able to get a hotel room?

This was weird, and despite his instincts telling him to stay away from anything related to the Enchanted Forest, Hook had mentioned Emma’s parents. If they were involved in this, maybe there was more to Emma being left on the side of the road.

So, with Henry at school, Emma at work, and Audrey at daycare, Neal did what his brain was yelling at him not to do, and wandered to the address Hook had given him. To his surprise, it wasn’t a hotel at all, but an apartment building. He was let in no problem, and stood in front of the door.

Why was this familiar?

He pushed the door open, and resisted the urge to toss his keys on a nearby table (why had he wanted to do that?). Instead, he picked up an envelope that caught his attention, dropping it in shock.

Why was his name on it?

He left the envelope on the floor, glancing again around the apartment, and his heart stopped.

The yellow dreamcatcher he and Emma had snatched was hanging from a window. Rushing to it, he lifted it into his hands, afraid it would break.

It should have burned in the fire. How was it here?

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” Hook’s voice rumbled from the doorway.

Neal spun around. “Hook, what the hell is this?”

Hook didn’t answer, instead, he pulled a vial of blue liquid from his pocket and held it out. “Your memories of the past year have been erased, Bae.”

“Neal.” He made no move to take the vial.

Hook sighed. “Neal. Please. You have to trust me.”

“Why?”

“It’s like I said - Emma’s family is in danger. A witch is plotting something against her parents. I only just escaped in time before they were sent back to Storybrooke.”

Neal bit his lip and looked around the apartment again. That might explain why he never heard from August, but getting Emma to do anything regarding her parents would be worse than pulling teeth.

He took the vial and drained it, lurching back in pain when the memories began to flood in.

Oh no.

Neal’s eyes were wide with horror as they settled down, and looked up at Hook again. “Killian…”

Killian grinned. “There you are, lad.”

“How’s Belle?”

Killian had a hesitant look on his face. “She’s… as well as she can be. Your father is alive, Bae, but he’s missing, and with Emma’s parents in danger - ”

“The witch might have something to do with it.” She probably had something to do with it, really. “What about Emma and Henry’s memories?”

Hook pulled out two more vials, his face sad. “I’m sorry I had to wake you up, Bae.”

He sighed, remembering the devastation before they’d crossed the town line, Emma’s tearful, almost childish refusal to leave her parents, and the broken look Regina had tried to hide when Henry wasn’t looking. “Don’t be. This is… going to be for the best.”

What it meant for him and Emma, time would only tell.

The Bug was quiet as they raced through the night, back to Storybrooke. Hook, Henry, and Audrey were asleep in the back, but Neal was wide awake.

“Emma…” he said quietly. “About us - ”

Her head snapped over, visible confusion on her face. “What about us?”

“I mean… the marriage, the amount of love we have for each other - ”

“False memories or not, the love I have for you is real, Neal Cassidy,” she said. “I was going to meet you at Granny’s, give you that second chance before Pan’s curse. Although… I guess that was a second chance too.”

Neal smiled, relieved. “So you wanna stay married to me?”

Emma smiled back. “Neal Cassidy, I’ll marry you in any lifetime.”

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Do you have any sort of, words of encouragement, for a Greek-American who is struggling to learn Greek? My family is pretty connected to our heritage but I was never taught to speak Greek. I am an adult now, and I know I'm at an incredible disadvantage trying to learn a new language. The most discouraging thing is when I try to pronounce a word with a sound that isn't really in English (like γ) and I KNOW I am not saying it right, but no matter how hard I try I can't pronounce it correctly.

Hello! I'm very sorry for delaying this answer for some days, but as we see here, Zeus was fucked this week 😅

I will pin my answer so you can see it when you return, and the rest will be under the cut.

I believe there are MANY reasons for hope in this situation. Of course it feels very discouraging that you don't know the language already and you might feel left behind in this process. Plus, learning a new language is not an easy thing to learn. But worry not!

You are grown, and that means you can learn a language better and with more consistency and discipline. Have trust in your skills as an adult. What is more, you have grown up around Greek speakers and you will pick up certain things faster.

You are not alone in feeling this way. Most of the world has to learn a second language (and a third, as it's usual for many) and that would be the language most dominant in the wider area. Almost every person in the West who is not an English speaker has to learn English and learn it well, otherwise we feel embarrassed every time we try and form a sentence. For example, we apologize to each other about our accents in English German and French, even though we speak Greek.

Surely there are some differences between your situation and ours, but I mentioned this to show you that most people will be very understanding with accents because they have the same struggle. I mean, I'm not going to make fun of someone for having an accent in Greek when I sound like a demented chicken in German, despite taking years of lessons 😵 I have more confidence in my English but even now that I'm writing to you in this language I have to quadruple-check my sentences and phrasing. The amount of times I apologized in advance for my accent to English speakers is higher than my credit.

I relayed your situation to other Greek speakers and non-English speakers, and ALL agreed the accent is not anything they would pay attention to and told me to write you that you shouldn't feel bad about that. I did that because I knew they would have words of encouragement for you. And it turns out they believe exactly what I'm writing in this answer.

Accents are natural. You cannot expect not to have an accent when you have been speaking a different language all your life. Beating yourself up for having difficulty with the Greek pronunciation is like beating yourself up for something normal like walking or laughing when hearing something funny. You lack practice with the pronunciation due to circumstances beyond your control. You are doing what you can to change that, and every small win is worth celebrating!

I found this post the other day:

The notes? The likes?

And NO disagreements in the comments and reblogs for OP’s statement! Look how many thousands are supportive in this! (And that’s a small fraction of people who understand accents are natural.) And some of the responses:

Sure, some mention they have met native speakers who made it more difficult to feel comfortable with their accent and phrasing. But those people are assholes in general, and not the people you want to surround yourself with. If a relative expresses disgust about your accent remind them you didn’t have any control of how much and how well you were taught Greek when you were a kid, and then tell them that if they are a true friend and relative to you, they should support you in your journey. And even if you had some control and chose not to learn, you are learning now. So they should leave their resentment behind because, honestly, what do they have to lose from you learning the language better??

For the embarrassment you feel for yourself: you wouldn't make fun of a Greek for having trouble with the “r”, "s", “ch”, and possibly the "h" when speaking English, so extend that kindness to yourself when you speak Greek. Not to mention that with enough practice and time you can nail the accent!

Worst case scenario, if the accent never leaves, that's no problem whatsoever. Anyone who thinks badly of you for your accent is probably a PoS and they don't deserve your time. No matter where you are from, if they make you feel bad for having an accent in Greek, block them from your mind forever.

But chances are that (from experience) if anyone laughs with how you said something, I guarantee they are not laughing at you but because of how strange the sound or phrasing was. The person doesn't think badly of you because of this. Making mistakes of any kind when learning a language is very natural and it's something everyone must accept. If you are not willing to make mistakes and expose your language vulnerabilities to people who know the language better, might as well not try improving at all.

If anyone corrects you, they are not doing it out of pity. The majority of Greeks do it because they are very happy you speak the language and want you to be even more fluent. Like, they are doing it as an act of backing you up, they are feeling like they are giving you that extra XP to reach the next level! Others - like me - get that rush of happiness when they get to share their language with others 😁

I remember a guy on Tiktok who was learning Greek and ordered a coffee "without sugar" in a Greek cafe but instead of saying σκέτο ("without") he said σκατά ("shit"). I mean damn that was funny! I remember it weeks after I saw the video of him telling that story and it always cracks me up. Do I still appreciate him the same as before and follow him? Absolutely! He just had an unfortunate - and funny - incident, not something that lessened his integrity as a person.

From tiktok again: An American girl wanted to pronounce γύρος correctly when ordering it, and she was mumbling to herself on camera: “yeero, yeero, yeero!!” When her time to order came she shouted “May I have a gairow? FUUUUCKK FUUCK FUCK I SAID IT WRONG” 🤣

Another example is Athena from the Bachelor 2! She has given some gems throughout the show because she doesn't know the language that well, but everyone still loves her because she spreads positivity and is so cute!! If we, as viewers, disliked her it would be because of her character, not because she doesn't know the language well. And if some of the other girls in the show don’t take her seriously is because she laughs too much and mentions feta too often, not due to her Greek level of literacy. Athena, even when she is hurting someone else’s feelings, is always so genuine and you just can’t be mad at her!

I really can’t stretch enough how people laugh at the mishap, not the person! Please don’t feel discouraged if you ever see a Greek laughing with the pronunciation of an English speaker when it comes to Greek words (which I have done as well) because we never laugh at the speakers. We don’t even know them! We might laugh at one mistake but then instantly want to become this individual’s friends because we think they are amazing (see the three examples I mentioned above, the sugar guy, the gyro girl and Athena). Because that’s the normal thing to do; laugh at fun stuff and not judge people for their small mishaps. (In a casual setting, and not to an uncomfortable degree ofc!)

There are so many things to a person other than their accent and the accent becomes old news really fast. What remains is how the presence of a person makes you feel and if they are a good individual. If an English speaking friend says yatakai instead of γατάκι that opens the way for sooo many jokes! Greeks will laugh, do some YATAKAAIIII screams - ninja style, and then continue being friends with that person!

Greeks makes these mistakes as well... A Greek once said "arrive arrive" (φτάνει φτάνει) instead of "enough" when an English speaker was filling his glass. A Lower English degree caught fire that day 🤣 I have many bad examples of Greeks’ mistakes in English but I can’t remember a lot. But I’ve seen many videos of Greeks mocking themselves for how they sound in English. You can take a look at Tsipras’ (our former prime minister) mistakes on youtube if you are feeling brave 😂 (Ο Τσίπρας μιλάει Αγγλικά)

So, own your possible mistakes, laugh at them and move on because everyone makes them and we better have some good while we are struggling!

(( For the record, we are not making fun of Tsipras because of his accent, but because 1) he doesn’t know γρι English and yet he rarely brought a translator with him in international meetings with world leaders, 2) he could absolutely not hold a conversation with negotiating or discussing 3) he didn’t take steps to improve or fix the situation (like bring a translator). 4) Instead, he chose to torment us all with mind-numbing hours of reading English texts and making other world leaders struggle to explain to him what they meant for the nth time and meetings move at a snail pace.))

Alright, now that I cringed with the memory of Tsipras speaking English, I’ll go though the recommendations for improving the Greek pronunciation.

1) Go to my resources for learning Greek (#learn greek) where I have many videos where you can hear the sounds individually or withing other words very clearly. Easy Greek on youtube has excellent videos about pronunciation!

2) Seek practice as much as possible. Some Greeks switch to English when they hear an English accent to make the conversation smoother for the other person. If Greek speakers insist on talking with you in English tell them that you would wish to speak in Greek. I've seen that people often mirror the accent of the native speaker when they speak to one, so this might work for you as well with hours of practice. If no Greek speakers are available to you now, you can find Greek Americans online – or go to their festivals – and start talking to them.

3) Listen to Greek podcasts, songs and shows. (In my blog you’ll find them at #greek youtuber #podcast #greek tv #greek movie #short film #greek music). You know when you hear a catchy foreign song and then it’s stuck in your head and you say all the words perfectly without even knowing what it means? Well, this helps with pronunciation!

4) If you had Spanish in school or have Spanish friends mimicking the Spanish accent might help you. (Our accents are extremely close! The Spanish are the best at Greek pronunciation, and vice versa!)

5) Find sounds in your native language that sound close to the sounds you want to say in Greek. In German lessons I had trouble with “ch” in certain words because I made it sound like χ and it was horrible. My Greek teacher told me to remember how χ sounds in χήνα (it sounds a bit flatter) and make that sound when I encountered “ch”. It worked actually!

To people who have English as their native language I often suggest they remember the sound of w for γ because, although not used the same in the word, at times they have the same intensity. Γ is pronounced more “to the front” of the mouth, so if you can bring that sound forward in your mouth you’ll be very close, if not accurate, to γ. (But don’t bring it too much forward, sometimes it can sound like a “y”, unless you are saying a word where γ sounds like “y”).

Greeks pronounce σ more closely to “sh” than to “s”, so you also might want to keep that in mind since σ often distinguishes the Greek accent in English for me :p

That’s all! If you have more questions or want to tell me anything else about your experience with learning Greek, feel free to send another ask or a DM!

[brooklynislandgirl]

"I would marry you if I had the chance." He isn't joking, of course, but he's said it in a softly playful manner all the same. {I don't know, Beth, he was probably Inspired, I'm sorry.}

If I would, could you? ||-

Sheer gauzy curtains waft in the breeze coming in through the window, paired with moonlight bright enough to silver many of the furnishings of the room. There's no hint of rain that she can taste but the air is redolent with the flowers from the garden down below, and the heat of the day and the heavy humidity have given way to a now familiar coolness that doesn't make their proximity an onerous burden.

She doesn't stir from where she lays on her side, knees slightly drawn up, one arm bent beneath her pillow, the other at the inward slope of her waist entangled with his so that their fingers are braided together in loose enough a fashion that if he needed to get up it would be easier than extricating the leg of his caught between both of hers, or the one under her almost completely. It isn't often that Anakin chooses or simply becomes the 'big spoon' as it were and maybe she is enjoying being wrapped up in him. The only real pity to the situation is that she can't, without turning her head, see his face, limned in the soft light coming from the window and back lit by her lighthouse nightlight.

She doesn't turn because she also expects that maybe he's softly talking to her because he thinks she's asleep. Normally around this time in the early mornings if he's still in bed ~ a fairly recent development between them where propriety takes a backseat to comfort and their almost always more than mutual proclivity of finding closeness and solace through touch~ Anakin is tossing and turning, sometimes accompanied by soft, usually wordless murmurs that she can't quite find shape and function in but knows it's dreams that aren't any more pleasant for him than her own night terrors are for herself just loud enough to rest on the edges of her perceptions.

She almost wants to ask if he's actually slept yet or if he's kept a vigil over her for the past few hours when exhaustion finally managed to sink into her. Insomnia is another one of their commonalities. Neither one seems willing to risk closing their eyes until they have no choice in the matter. She doesn't even really remember getting up the stairs and into bed in the first place. At the same time, the idea of Anakin making sure she didn't curl up on the stairs, or falling asleep in the tub isn't an awful one. Neither would it be the end of the world if he'd helped her slip out of her scrubs ~a last minute after hours emergency~ and into the thin and a little baggy, little overlong tee-shirt that she knows for a fact didn't come from her closet. The material of it is worn to the point of being almost gossamer. Embedded with all the smells she associates in very good ways with him. The kind of thing she'd be inclined to steal borrow for herself if he weren't around to give her permission. Just so she could feel more closely connected.

But speaking would ruin the moment if he does think she's insensible to the world. It would ruin the moment to answer him, even if his tone might otherwise suggest that he knows what she's thinking. And that might very well be the case because Beth suspects that he has an affinity with Uhane'hana, the sphere of Mind. Not that she knows for certain, she herself is inept at it, never quite able to harness that art though her brother...s....were quite talented.

Speaking would also mean she'd inadvertently hurt his feelings. Not because she would say something cruel or spiteful to him. She can't imagine ever being so harsh, so angry with Anakin that she would want to savage him to verbal pieces and do more damage than she could ever do to his physical body, which to be honest would be easier on him and far more devastating that she can actually say. It wouldn't be the first time that someone he cared about harmed him, and unfortunately, she doesn't think it will be the last. But no, she'd rather not do any of that, not in any way. The hurt would stem from the fact that Beth isn't nearly as enchanted with herself as Anakin seems to be. As if he can't see the flaws and the disappointments that make up her central being. That he can't see the terrible failures that she cannot begin to make up for. That she isn't as perfect as she wishes she could be and that he really does deserve someone better, younger, less problematic in the long run. It would hurt because his heart is still pure enough not to see those things, to have a counter-argument for every single fault she could lay at his feet, and to be honest Beth knows she can never really measure up to his generosity of opinion. Just like she knows she really wants to be the person he sees when he looks at her, all quiet and troubled eyes, fidgeting fingers and so almost timid of voice.

That's always endeared her, that wonderfully creative and often time broken vocabulary at his, like poetry spoken out of the side-mouth of a sailor. The revelation of a voracious intellect that was never nurtured as it ought to have been, and the ghosts he carries in it from his past, still too painful to really brush with any sort of clarity. She would do anything, literally, to keep him safe, to nurture every aspect of his being that is within her capability. Even from herself, if need be. And in admitting that, she knows being dishonest, pretending to be sleeping and not having heard those few words... spoken in such a way that it could be brushed off as him knowing she was playing possum and was just trying to get a rise out of her...is not something he deserved.

Achingly slow and careful she lifts his hand ~the left one~ to her lips and brushes a fleeting kiss across his knuckles. Allows every ounce of her to be felt in that rather subdued fashion in place of the words she is having trouble finding. She decides that the only way forward is to try and mimic the same blithe tone he manages seemingly without any difficulty, though her own voice is far more languid than his. "But where we get us a' Elvis impersonator, at almos' four in da mornin' ke kōnane? Besides, I t'ink Bug's tuxedo still at da dry cleaner." The cat in question's ear twitches at the sound of his name but curled up in an almost complete circle at the end of the bed ~which even if Anakin were to stretch out to his fullest would still leave a good foot or more of unclaimed mattress~ in his very own pile of luxuriously soft blankets, he doesn't seem to really care what Beth and Anakin are discussing. It takes a little bit of doing, of shifting here and there that is an excuse for Beth to not have to be serious for the handful or two of seconds before she's turning. Before she takes even more time to once again have parts of him wedged between her knees, to wrap an arm around his waist, and to lift her face so that the bridge of her nose nuzzles along his jawline, her breath a warm sensation across his throat.

"Is...dat some kine...ya migh' be interest in, some day? I mean...not t' me specifically, but in general?" Beth had officiated dozens of marriages. To stuffed animals and dolls. To other kids in the same play groups. To shells and flowers and even trees. She would tell anyone and everyone who listened that some day she would grow up and marry her brother, before she was corrected in her grammar. Before she understood her mother and the Admiral's relationship. Before she realised that maybe that wasn't exactly something she could really have, not like the endings of fairy tales, not in movies and t.v. shows. Before the Admiral explained that she was defective in every way that really mattered. And now she has to wonder why Anakin would even want that. Want her, like that. Maybe he is only making a joke, maybe he really is just trying to get a rise out of her. Maybe is a hell of a word. She squeezes her eyes shut against the stinging prickle at their backs. Keeps her breath even and steady despite the fact that some latent kind of panic is beginning to set in, telling her she ought to have pretended to be asleep after all. She bites back the urge to ask what a chance would look like for him. She bites back on asking why he would say such a thing in the first place. Those little pieces of indigestible fear seem to pile up in her throat, forcing her to clear it and the sound is painfully loud.

"I mean... is only natural, an ya know how much us Verbena really like dat, right? Every kine...well, I should say mos' kine...wanna seek out a mate. Usually f' procreation but I no can help but t'ink it's f' company an' stuff, mutual survival an' all." Oh. God. Shut up. Just. Stop. Talking. Elizabeth. "Big ceremony or lil kine? I bet ya got a t'eme an' a venue an' everyt'ing pick out. Mebbe reception, too. I use t' wanna get marry on a beach back home. Sunset. Small-small. An' really surprisin'? Not a lot of blood. Maybe none, even."

[elie-lou]

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND when writting Solangelo, Will and Nico :

I wanted something to remember myself and others of a few things that are important and/or that I are often forgotten in solangelo fics.

While I understand that perfectly respecting everything about a character might be hard nd block creativity, I personnaly prefer when characters are as much in character and as close to their original content conterpart as possible. 

After all, I look for solangelo fics to read solangelo not some other pairing/characters vaguely resembling them.

So here is the list :  * While they haven't been shown holding hands or doing other physically « intimate » gestures like hugging, cuddling or kissing, they still touch each other by bumping their shoulders constantly, sitting close to one another or placing their hands on each other shoulders. And for Nico this is already HUGE !!! Remember how he hates people touching him ?  => I HC  that they only hold hands and stuff like that when there is no one around. And little by little, Nico will learn to be more openly and publicly affectionate with his bae, but that will take time and probably will never be huge on PDA. 

* Nico is from the 30's. So not only was he raised in another time, with old fashioned ideas about many many many things, but he also grew up in fascist Italy that considered homosexuals as deviants. Being who he is would have been not only illegal but also very dangerous back then. And for him this was like 4 years ago, not 70 years ago. Even in ToA, 6 months after starting to accept himself, and while dating Will, he is shown to still be struggling with it, if he rejection of the word boyfriend is any indication. So this, his struggle with being gay, his fears of people’s reactions and his difficulties to accept his feelings and himself, has to influence his behaviour. even in AUs

* Due to all the traumatic events that he had to go through, Nico likely suffers from : PTSD (nightmares, hyperawareness of his surounding and any sudden movement or sound, survivor guilt, etc...), anxiety, social anxiety, abandonment issues, trust issues, self-esteem and self-caring issues.  And all these have to show and play a part in how he interacts and connects to others. Including his crush/boyfriend.

* Will also came through a bunch of  traumatic shists that shaped him : going to war, losing a lot of siblings, in some cases right in front of him, people he hasn't been able to save while he is a powerful healer, becoming counselor very young becuse he had to after the loss of his older siblings, while mourning them and taking care of his younger siblings, etc. … We also don't know why he is a year-round camper.

* They both have deep rooted insecurities, and pobably self-esteem  issues too. => HC that it migh create some issues between them because their insecurities would make them think (and therefore say or do) stupid things. Like for instance when Nico got jealous when Will looks at Paolo's arms.

* They spend as much time as they can together. And I have the feeling that it is mostly Will who initiates it. The only time when Nico openly asked to stay with Will was when the camp was under attack. => not that Nico does not want to take any opportunity to be with his « significant annoyance » but he is not yet in a place where he is comfortable enough to be that open about it.

* They almost constantly bicker like an old married couple … and still manage to look adorable while doing so, apparently.

* Humour seems to be an important part of their interactions/relationship. But they can also be serious and reasonable when needed.

* Will keeps giving Nico sarcastic nicknames such as : Lord of Darkness, Ghost King, etc. (probably just to annoy Nico)

* They don't hesitate to telll the other when he says or does something wrong or unsensitive.

* They are very supportive and caring of each other and seem  to understand each other very well. => HC that this is because, despite appearances and what one would think, they have a lot in common in terms of values and personnality : they are both compassionante, caring, selfless, brave, stubborn, aggravating, had to grow up very quickly at a young age, both harbor deep insecurities, etc. Honestly they are very well matched and balanced, personnality wise or even abilities wise and this could deserve a dedicated post in itself.

A few things that are not direcly related to their relationship but might still have some influence or that I have seen forgotten too many times in fanfics : * Nico is mostly recovered from everything that happened during the previous series. But he still has issues with his most draining magical tricks, like shadow travel. 

* And while Will is aware of that, he does not seem to be forbidding or reproaching Nico from using it anyway. There might have been restrictions the first weeks/months but not anymore and Will did not freak out when Nico shadow traveled in ToA.

* Nico almost never swears and generally speaks politely. He IS very sarcastic and blunt. But he will say please, thank you etc. even to the deads that he controls or even when he is upset. So please people stop making him use fuck like a coma.

* Will has yet to be seen swearing. But he has a more laid-back way of speaking (I think? As a foreigner it is alittle hard to say for me) and can make health related jokes or insults.

* Will is heavily implied to have had a hardcore crush on Nico for a long (but undetermined) amount of time.  => HC that they are each other first ralationship because Will does not seem the type to date someone while he is pinning for someone else.

This list was inspired by my post for the second day of @solangeloweek​ . I will probably edit and update it when I have time because this will be a tool for me when drawing/writting/HC solangelo.

If you want to discuss any of these or add more please leave a comment or contact me  ^_^

Have a good day !

[batbirdies]

Lol I also realized I switch between past and present tense in this all over the place. A terrible habit that I ignore when I’m trying to speed write, and fix later when I rewrite...so apologies.

[domirine]

I'm not sure how much you read Tumblr asks anymore (cannot blame you, twitter seems like a much better platform for artists right now, unfortunately) but I was wondering: do you have any advice for someone trying to work up the confidence to (gulp) post their stuff online? The internet is a really good place to get your ideas out there, but honestly it is super intimidating, as I always feel like my art/writing could be a LOT better before I should attempt something like that.

hey anon, i’m still here lurking; i also feel for you a lot, this is a rather common feeling, especially since the artists community grows and grows and it feels like the space is limited and exclusive.

internet is no museum, there’s so much trash in here you migh as well throw in yours, honestly. don’t be discouraged because your art is not where you want it to be. that’s not a healthy way to think. your art doesn’t need to be anything, it just needs to be. and that’s enough.

i assure you that even the artists you admire and think have everything figured out struggle with the mentality of ‘uhh this is garbage’ when posting some stuff, because that’s life and we’re all very self-critical, as opposed to the audience who’s just happy to consume content.

i can only theorise on what could help, because i was not in that place when i started. if someone can relate or advise, feel free to pop in;

ask yourself why you’re afraid of posting. is it because you’re afraid your stuff won’t get noticed? or afraid it’ll get too much attention? because i know people who aren’t confident with sharing their stuff online because it’s very personal and it’s simply not for everyone.

i encourage you to start and share your art in some way, because your art is invaluable and there’s no other like it. instead of deciding “i’ll be an online artist” (because that’s very intimidating), you can decide “i’ll post art here on this burner account for a week/month, and see what happens”. after that time, you’re free to delete the account if you find it not fun or too anxiety-inducing, or you keep at it and enjoy it! see the feedback, get your friends’ feedback, most of all! screaming into the void can also be weird, so get your head in the right place - share art because you like it and wanna show people what you enjoy doodling, and not because you wanna get 1.3k likes on a doodle. so do it cause you love it.

tag me/message me when you post your stuff, i’d love to check it out; and remember, you’re not selling your soul to the internet satan, and can always skedaddle. so just give yourself a 30 day trial and see where that takes you!