#had this in my drafts for months...here u go :o)

[leiandroid]

...........this is........otayuri.......if they were half lebanese+live in lebanon 🤣🤣

they are so toxic and terrible to each other.....but so obsessed too. this dynamic is insane but they're lebanese so that explains everything

[ context (its a ppt slideshow lol + nsfw warning inside) ]

[safe-from-sharp-teeth]

Ayo! I haven't answered asks in FOREVER, so it's time for some spring cleaning :) Also answering other stuff, like what I've been up to.

If you sent an ask and it's not here, sorry! I may have deleted it because the prompt required too much work of me and I wasn't feeling it, or I was uncomfortable.

Let's gooooo !

Firstly - where have I been? Work REALLY picked up in a way I wasn't expecting over the last...4 months? I was working double and often triple the hours I was used to. With work, vacations, random illnesses, and many video games I got a bit too obsessed with, this blog took a backseat. Plus, sometimes I get disinterested in vore when obsessed with something else. Sometimes, that lasts months, and it did this time.

But now I can confirm that work will FINALLY chill for a long period of time. I'm free! And more motivated than ever! Wahoo! Thanks for your support ALWAYS.

Next big question - when am I going to do more of my story? The one with Asyr? AHHHHHGHHGHH this story has consumed my life. I think about it daily. I dream about it. And yet I'm not as comfortable writing as I am drawing, so writing is a slow process that my perfectionist ass struggles with. I can assure you that there is a story in the works - and I am working on it at a snail's pace.

Okay, ask time...

@ponyluvesonic09 AYO maybe I'll make a full ghost pred pros/con list for you, because that sounds awesome! Kir//by is one of the silliest canon preds out there. Honestly getting eaten by him would be like getting vored by a vacuum, LOL. Galaxy tummy!! Imagine a prey floating around in one of those item bubbles all grumpy. Thank u for the ask, this is good stuff.

no. ( /・・)ノ

UWAGHHHHH I LIKE HER!!! Never played O/verwat/ch but what a gem!! I have a random fondness for centaur-like preds nowadays. She looks so cozy. THANK U I LOVE HER!!!

@tiger9o0 I have not played r//ain w//orld or know what it's about, LOL. Looks like a platformer? Man, I'm terrrriiiiibblleee at those. But whoever this is on the cover, I LIKE EM. A+. (That might not answer ur question shdjbghkjg SORRY)

@heimkoheimkofan LOVE THAT I GOT THE ROBOT ENJOYERS AFTER THAT ONE POST....YES yall are so right and I'm so wrong for just hard metal robot tums. I will rectify my mistake soon I PROMISE. Also oh! You were the one asking about stomachs other than elemental ones! IVE HAD THAT IN MY DRAFTS FOREVER IM SORRY AHHHH. I REALLY love your imagination with tums and you've inspired me to think of some awesome environments! THANKS

@fastfur07 BWAH?? Ugh I'm all over the place when it comes to art. Some pieces take 30 min (like the zangooc I drew at the top of this post), most take 2 days. Some really hard drawings like my wolf bat creechur from a few months ago and my shrimp from last year took a month. THANK U??

We're going back so far that I think this is about my naga oc (which I'm in the midst of redesigning cough cough). For him, he would never tolerate being prey, extremely unwilling bahaha. In general, I haven't thought much about naga or snake prey! I get the appeal of slurping up a noodle, but I just prefer human prey :)

@fastfur07 you fiend, you always give me the best drawing ideas. UNFORTUNATELY, I didn't have time to draw something for this one. BUTTTT....

(i've had this next one in my drafts for forever)

then i had a silly comic. I'll post the wip here because I won't finish it, so enjoy bahaha.

@blizzaria123-blog THANK U im rapidly melting into a puddle from ur words

@mrpotatomanversionsix relevant. i will continue drawing them 4 u

?!??!!??!?!??!?!?!??!?!? how dare u enter my ask box with this blasphemy

@sfwsillynoms WAH!!! you!!! I'm currently redesigning my naga oc but when I finish I'll tag you, if you're still around! And he can 100% be drawn with ur preysona :)

@mystorl i am SO late to this, but SMART. I like it. I shall give my lil guy this friend. I just want to let u know that I see this and it's wonderful and I will do something abt it.

I remember this ask made me laugh a ton when I first got it. thank u. idk why I find this so funny

@sillylilprey IM CRYING RIGHT BACK AHHHH this is an ancient ask, but thank u! hope you're still enjoying!

@terrytheinsane finally, the last ask in my askbox. I love it. You have been wronged with how long it took me to answer you. I have gained knowledge from your ask. THANKS

AND THAT'S IT!! Thanks guys, I hope to make you proud! Feel free to send more asks, and hopefully I will answer in a TIMELY manner.

Goodnight! And remember: Nice Vore ��༼⌐■-■༽ᕗ

[crappymixtape]

love will keep us alive

BONUS V2 OF A REQUEST → ❝ angst prompt: “do you regret it?” this has been sitting in my drafts for LITERAL MONTHS and i just need to set it freeeee | ( 1.3k – a sprinkle of angst, a sprinkle of fluff, all the feelings, established relationship, eddie x reader )

L O V E W I L L K E E P U S A L I V E 🎶 love you, flowerovlove

You knew money was always a dealbreaker for relationships. You watched it happen with your own parents. Watched them go through it all and in the end get divorced because your dad spent too much money and your mom couldn’t handle it. You promised yourself you wouldn’t get into the same situation, not with Eddie, but here you were.

Paying for rent and utilities had been fine, you put a little gas in the car when you could, and you were even able to buy a six pack of beer every now and then, but somehow this month you were short. Somehow the water bill came and there wasn’t enough.

The statement came in the mail with big red letters stamped across the front, OVERDUE, but Eddie waved you off.

Don’t we have it on autopay, babe? Must be a mistake.

So you left it alone, but when you woke up in the morning to take a shower before work? Nothing came out of the shower head.

Towel tucked under your arms you stormed out into the living room, cold and angry, to find Eddie posted up on the couch. So casual. Reading a Thrasher magazine with the TV on in the background.

“So. The water’s off,” your tone was short, clipped and sharp enough to pull Eddie’s attention away from the magazine. Brows pinching together in confusion as he swung his legs off the couch to look at you properly.

“Huh? Sweetheart, what d’you mean off?“ he asked, looked up at you with those big brown eyes and you bit your lips in to try and stop yourself from raising your voice.

“The water is off, as in the water company turned it off,” you said again, frustration swelling in your chest, “I thought you said it was on autopay?”

“Well, yeah,” he started off confidently, so sure. “We set that up when we moved in and put it in your name and–” but he drifted off at the end of his sentence and his cheeks grew warm. Hot and embarrassed and he buried his face in his hands with a groan.

You’d split the utilities up when you two moved in together, especially since you had separate bank accounts, and as Eddie ticked them off in his head – internet, garbage, phone – he realized the water wasn’t under your name. It was under his. And this month had been tight.

Working at the bar was decent most of the time. Tips were good and Eddie’s regulars took care of him, but lately? It has been really slow. Slower than usual and it was hard for Eddie to remember to save during times like that.

No grabbing coffee on his way out in the morning. No beers with Steve after he got done at family video. No buying the kids new dice or a playbook for Hellfire, but he always got caught up in the moment and shit. This time he’d lost track.

“I’m so sorry babe,“ his voice was muffled as he spoke into his hands, tentatively lifting his head to look at you, “Can we maybe cover it from your account this month?“

You felt your cheeks grow hot, heat spreading from your chest across your neck and up to your ears. Your lips twisted with a frown, a deep scowl, so damn frustrated and tired of looking at your bank account and seeing five dollars left.

“No! We can’t! There’s no money there either,” you sighed, emotions starting to get the better of you as your throat grew tight and it just felt so off.

You were standing in the living room with nothing but a towel on. Any other time Eddie would’ve been on you in a second. Wrapping his arms around you and pulling you down into his lap. Pressing his lips to your neck, your collarbone and the curves of your hips, but instead you were arguing.

Eddie felt his chest squeeze with guilt, with the weight of all this stupid responsibility and the fact that it was all his fault. He was your boyfriend! He was supposed to take care of you! You were in this together and yet he wasn’t holding up his side of the deal and you were so upset and late for work and fighting and–

He swallowed thick, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, chewed his bottom lip between his teeth and held his breath.

“D’you regret it?” he asked, deep, brown eyes, flicking up to meet your own so hurt and sad, so fucking sorry.

Your stomach twisted. Flipped over with his question and your expression softened, “Regret it?“

“Yeah. Do you regret me?“

And with those four little words you felt your anger start to ebb.

Yeah. You were standing in your living room with just a towel on. No running water. Late for work and five dollars in your bank account, but the way he was looking at you made you hesitate. Had you sounded like you were done? Done enough that he thought you didn’t want to be with him anymore? And that’s when something in you shifted.

Your parents weren’t good for each other and your dad spent too much money and it made your mom so angry, but that wasn’t the only thing.

He didn’t listen to her.

Didn’t stay up late when she was worried and couldn’t sleep.

Didn’t run out to get a box of tampons when she got her period.

Didn’t ask her about her day and didn’t rub her feet and didn’t surprise her with pizza after a shitty day at work.

Didn’t tell her how much he loved her every single day. Didn’t kiss her once as he went out the door and again when he came back in to say how much he already missed her.

Eddie loved you, and yeah you were short on money, but you weren’t short on love. And at the end of the day? Even though love didn’t pay the bills, it sure as hell would help you figure it out. Because while money came and went, this kind of love didn’t.

Crossing the room still in your towel, you sat down next to Eddie on the couch. Took his hand in yours and held it tightly in your lap. “Eddie,” you said softly, taking his chin in your free hand and tilting it up so you could see him. “I would never regret this,” you said, hoping he understood just how serious you were. Hoping you heard every word you said, knowing that you meant it. “I just wish I could take a shower,“ you half-joked and he snorted, but then dropped his gaze back down to your hands.

God, the guilt was heavy.

“I’m really fucking sorry, babe.”

“S’okay,” you smiled, pressed a hand to his cheek and pulled his eyes back up to meet yours. “You just can’t buy the kids any more dice and you definitely don’t need any more manuals for hellfire. And maybe you can start learning how to brew your own beer?“ your tone teased him at the end and it pulled a little laugh out of him. “We’ll figure it out, right?”

“Yeah. I can pick up extra shifts at the bar and I’ll start putting my tips in a jar under the bed. A little savings in case the water gets turned off again,” he gave you a half-grimace, half-smile, “Too soon?”

“Too soon.”

“Sorry–listen–I’m part of this relationship too and I just wanna take care of you, honey,” and the way he was looking at you told you he couldn’t have been more serious.

“You always take care of me,“ you said leaning into him, resting your forehead against his and those unruly curls, “And I don’t regret it, Eds. Not even a little bit. “

And then Eddie closed the gap between you. Pressed his lips soft to yours in a quiet promise. Felt something plant itself in his chest and start to bloom and in that moment he knew he wanted to grow and not stay stagnant.

“I love you, sweetheart. I love you so damn much."

crappymixtape™ • eddie munson masterlist // stranger things masterlist

[whirlpool-blogs]

An Inside Look at Jack Hughes, the Top NHL Draft Prospect Flyers Fans Are Craving

Published January 28, 2019

Understandably, John Wroblewski had initial doubts.

Not necessarily about the player as much as the situation. Wroblewski was coaching the 2016-17 U.S. national U-18 team when the little brother of star defenseman Quinn Hughes tagged along for a skate.

That little brother was Jack Hughes and Wroblewski had yet to see him play.

"You sort of ask the questions, OK, well how often do you have a 15-year-old skating with a U-18 team and how good is the kid?" Wroblewski said.

The verdict?

"The answer is he's pretty good, he's pretty good," Wroblewski said with a laugh last Wednesday in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. "We've got to keep an eye on him. You get him out there and instantaneously he fits in and exceeds and then also enamors you - all three of these observationalist thought processes come to your senses in that hour and a half skate of this tiny, little kid who somehow comes out and impresses you so much within that short period of time.

"Not only with his skill level, but kind of how some of the great players out there, how they can make the game slow down or speed up at their will. It's tough to describe unless you've been around him."

Wroblewski has been around him a bunch, coaching Hughes for the second straight season in the U.S. national team development program. 

Unequivocally, he now knows all about the 17-year-old, a darting and dynamic center whose playmaking ability can cause motion sickness for opponents.

Before the start of 2018-19, Hughes was hardly a blip on the Flyers' radar. Not with the team signing James van Riemsdyk to bolster an experienced roster and take its biggest step since the 2011-12 season. The NHL draft was an afterthought.

Oh, how things have changed.

The Flyers entered the All-Star break at 19-23-6 and with more points (44) than only two other NHL teams - the Devils (43) and Senators (43). A startling shake-up within the front office and coaching staff became the messy byproduct of another slow start, this one the most impactful of them all.

Suddenly but inevitably, Hughes' name has permeated the fan base. He is widely considered the consensus No. 1 pick for the 2019 NHL draft.

And Flyers fans are astutely aware. 

The golden spot is in sight.

Similar to any NHL draft, the climb of the top overall pick will be debated. Many will line Hughes up against past No. 1 selections - from Patrick Kane (2007) to Connor McDavid (2015) and fellow USNTDP product Auston Matthews (2016).

While Hughes is only 5-foot-10, 168 pounds and turns 18 just a month before the draft, Wroblewski sees him developing into a player of his own mold.

My belief is that he'll be in the NHL next year and there's really not a comparable. You're starting to see more and more of the hybrid type of player - guys that play with speed and skill. One of Jack's unique traits is that even though there are questions out there in regards to his size, he's a true center iceman and he will play in the middle and he will figure out a way to make it work.  You throw him into the blender with wingers like Kane and [Johnny] Gaudreau, but then you have to put him in the middle of the ice, so he's got that speed like McDavid. He doesn't have McDavid's size, but he's got things that I think McDavid would be envious of, as well.  There's a component here that I think has yet to be realized. Like his brother Quinn, young kids are going to look at him and want to be him as a player, sort of revolutionize the position that a quote, unquote undersized centerman can persevere and make it to be a superstar in the National Hockey League - because there's not a ton of them that have done that.

Wroblewski calls Hughes "manicured."

It's an excellent way to describe him. Hughes doesn't sound like a 17-year-old. He's well-spoken because he's well-groomed, unfazed by the hype of being the top-ranked 2019 draft prospect.

He credits much of his maturity and preparation to his "great support system," featuring his family and coaches.

His father Jim Hughes, mother Ellen Weinberg-Hughes and uncle Marty Hughes all played Division I hockey. His older brother Quinn was drafted seventh overall by the Canucks last summer and plays at Michigan, while his younger brother Luke is 15 years old and considered an up-and-coming talent.

"We've all kind of been through the ringer already," Hughes said last Tuesday in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. "I'm thankful to have them around me."

Wroblewski said the scouting presence this season for the Hughes-led U-18 team has been "overwhelming," but in a good sense.

"It's been nonstop, it's been relentless," Wroblewski said. "The scouting community - reporters doing articles or scouting prospects, [people] that do this for a living, and of course the NHL scouts - is all trying to decipher where do these guys fall in the pick of the litter. And I'll tell you, right behind Jack on this team, there's a slew of other players that are going to be right there with him in the National Hockey League."

For Hughes, the eyes on him are at an all-time high with the draft a little less than five months away.

Is he keen to the amplified attention?

"No, I've been dealing with that since I was 14, 15 years old," Hughes said. "A scout is pretty much another person in the building. All I have to do is play my game and have fun."

Like Wroblewski said, Hughes is manicured.

He gives you guys the clichés at times, but there's a little bit of twist to his cliché answers. There's insight there, it's not like he's just throwing out these random phrases. He's got practice at it, but he's not just going through the motions when he talks to the media, which gives me a lot of hope that he could be at that ultimate ambassador to the game. Not just a guy that goes through and plays excellent hockey and is a focal point, but somebody who is also attractive to the media.  At the same time, when the cameras are away and he's not on the spotlight, he's a kid. He's a high school kid who is goofy and funny in the back of the bus - he's got personality, he's got swagger, he has a lot of the intangibles.

There wasn't just one play or game that convinced Wroblewski.

"I don't think moments capture excellence," he said, "particularly with a kid that's going to go No. 1 overall in the draft."

The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in November 2017 was when Wroblewski really saw it. The U.S. had taken home gold by beating Canada, 6-4, in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

Hughes led the field with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in six games.

"He just completely dominated the event - and then as the octane and the temperature rose in the tournament, he continued to surpass expectations and continued to dominate and find another level," Wroblewski said. "In a hostile environment - he was a kid who grew up a bit in Toronto wearing the American sweater, and all of a sudden he's thrust into this environment; it was such a pro-Canadian environment, and he allows himself to block out all the X-factors and just concentrate on dominating the game at hand. 

"That to me was kind of the time where I was like, 'This kid is No. 1.' I always had that throughout the fall, but from there on, it was like, 'This is the kid that's going No. 1 next year.'"

Hughes strives to be the entire package.

That doesn't mean he's there yet. However, the multifaceted, no-holes-in-your-game mindset is what pushes him.

"As a hockey player, everything you do you want to improve," Hughes said. "You see the best players in the world working on their game, year in and year out. For me, I focus on everything, but some of the things I focus on the most are my faceoffs and my shot. Those are two things that need to be really good to be a good player."

What about his strengths?

I play a new brand of hockey - speed and skill, the way the game is now. I'm kind of an open book. There are a lot of great players out there and something that they all have in common is that they're Swiss Army knives. They can do everything really well. I feel like my game is what my game is, but I'm working on other parts of my game and trying to become the best at everything that I do. I'm going to show up to the rink to compete and have fun.

In 28 games this season as the captain of the U.S. national U-18 team, Hughes has 56 points on 13 goals and 43 assists. In 60 combined games last season between the U-17 and U-18 teams, Hughes had 116 points on 40 goals and 76 assists.

"He's a workhorse on and off the ice," Wroblewski said. "He'll do whatever it takes. When he finds a deficiency in his game, or if there's something not at - if you want to scale things out of five - if there's something that's not at a five, he'll start working right away at getting to that number. 

"Last year, it was his shot. He did not have a very good shot. It was still good, but it wasn't elite. He went at it hard this summer, his one-timer, his release, everything else has improved so much in that regard. And that's something that I think he'll continue to do."

The Twitter hashtag has grown in popularity for any struggling team near the NHL basement and in the ballpark of the 2019 draft's first overall slot. #LoseForHughes.

Hughes isn't oblivious to the slogan in which many Flyers fans have adopted.

"The first time I heard it was actually my OHL draft year (2016-17)," he said with a laugh. "It's not new to me, but every time I see it, it's pretty funny and I get a little chuckle out of it."

How hard the Flyers charge after the All-Star break will determine their chances for Hughes, while the NHL draft lottery results will have the final say.

Whichever team does land Hughes, its fans will be on board with his message.

"I'd tell them I hope to give them a lot of good years," Hughes said. "That's what every player wants - they want to go to a city that's hungry to win and a city that's a lot of fun. That's really what I'd be excited about - have fun with the city and playing hockey for the community and the city, for however long I'm there."

[thelongestway]

Well. The draft is officially done. Now I will need to set it aside for a proper novel-length refresher (so at least 4 weeks, because you need to *forget* a text to properly edit it, and forgetting the longest fictional thing you've written to date? Good fucking luck).

I am exhausted, drowning in missed deadlines, but very, incredibly happy. This behemoth comes in at 76 358 words before edits, with the full cycle now being 141 308 words.

And then? And then S5, which I do hope that this ending sets up sufficiently well. And a smattering of short stories, as always.

After a celebration, and then a nice, long break, and also... *looks somewhere to the side of the stage where there is a menacing red light*

Excuse me as I grab the fire extinguisher for the stuff I have let slide in my life to complete this! But nonetheless, and perhaps especially because of that, without further ado...

Chapter 45: Jailbreak

Ten months later

The moment ART dropped out of the wormhole closest to the PSUMNT landing docks and went through its post-flight safety checks, it--and me by extension, but also by direct invitation--got pulled into a mixed ship-human workspace. (You could tell it was a mixed ship-human workspace, because the intensity was throttled manually. And judging by the state of the other two ships in the feed, the throttling was absolutely necessary.)

Aspen's presence was rolling around like their tangled vine had dislodged its roots, collapsed in on itself, and was now being blown around by a strong wind. I couldn't tell if they were trying to prepare to have an emotion somewhere outside of the workspace or were having an emotion right here uncontrollably.

(It was probably the first, because there was also a camera view of Aspen's human illusion looking at two PSUMNT researchers with a very polite look on their face, but tapping their writing implement in a sharp rhythm on their cutesy fake notebook. This time, it had some incredibly thorny vines on its cover.)

In contrast, Dandelion was sitting almost completely still, and radiating a palpable facepalm (despite not having a face and probably never particularly wanting to have had one). The two humans--Iceblink, and someone who was probably Aspen's senior computer tech, one Bee of the Aurora set, Vivacious cluster--were sitting over a bunch of code, interrupting each other as they typed.

I think we need Ratthi in on this, Bee wrote just as we dropped in. He'd tell us if their assessment on the memory is any--

(Yes, Ratthi. Who wound up travelling to PSUMNT together with Aspen. And I really didn't want to know anything about how being people was going for him, Aspen, and other members of Aspen's new cluster. I could guess way too much already from the occasional consultations Ratthi had with ART and Dandelion about crew neurology.)

r u kiding me??? XD XD XD XD XD XD Iceblink was practically groaning with laughter. are we srsly gonna trust any of the ass--ass-assessments on this rainstorm of a--

That's why we need a better neurologist--Oh? More people? Hello?

Iceblink very nearly feed-hugged me, but restricted herself to ART.

o hai, SecUnit! and Perihelion! excellent timing you two, come in, come in, you're absolutely never gonna believe this shit!

I see the upload went well, ART said as diplomatically as it could muster.

You have a gift for understatement, Perihelion, Dandelion said, giving it a brief tap. It's good to see you.

I have learned from the best, it answered, returning the handshake. What's going on?

I'm not even going to try to summarize this, Aspen said, pausing for a moment to fling some logs at me and ART. Because I want to see your faces. The both of you. Or logs. Whatever. Both work.

Out of feed, Aspen said in their best lecturer voice, "I just received some excellent news. Perihelion has arrived, and with it one of the best cyber-security specialists I know. Perhaps the…"

And then I dropped the input from their hijacked camera. Because I processed the logs, and the whole situation was so stupid my performance reliability plummeted just reading them.

yyep i am saving your reaction for future reference, SecUnit, Iceblink said, tracking my reaction. i don't think i'm ever going to get that kind of log from you again.

You aren't. I said. This is so incredibly fucking stupid. That's a type of vulnerability that's… I don't even know how old it is!

It was hundreds of years old when I found out about it, Aspen said. And that was because Tal used it to break me out of confinement. It makes a lot of sense ke'd remember such a basic trick early.

ART said, I cannot believe we had people with doctorates in charge of this. I will be checking with Iris if any of them are on her defense committee and removing them if that is the case.

I did tell you having a doctorate is very much overrated, Dandelion replied off-handedly, then reached out to catch Aspen and slow down their oscillating. But now that we're all here, we can get down to work. Let's see what the researchers here can tell us about what our situation really is.

The researchers (one of whom I already liked, because despite being human, it put "absolutely the fuck not" in its gender ID field) looked at each other, and then tried talking to Aspen again like they were an unreasonable human that was being stubborn about something really bad.

"Dr. Vivacious," the other researcher said gruffly. "I'm very sorry, but I must impress on you the gravity of what has happened. With this enclosure failure, it's almost completely certain that there is nothing to search for. It was too early. Ke wouldn't have rebuilt enough of kes memory."

Aspen inclined their head and asked, voice very sympathetic, "So what you're saying is, your containment for an uploaded mind was set up in a way that the more-or-less random processes of recombination and memory reconnection accidentally hit some improperly sanitized inputs, and that was enough to drop said containment?"

"Yes!" the researcher I liked burst out. "Nobody could have predicted a coincidence like this, but it was still an absolutely awful mistake, and it never should have happened! I know from Captain Seth's report that Tal Smithson was very important to everyone in Starwind Accord, and we cannot even express how sorry we are about this, but we're absolutely certain about the results. Even on the off-chance that there was enough coherence to keep the reconstituted mind in one cluster, ke wouldn't have even remembered kes own name! Effectively, ke's gone!"

"There's your problem." Aspen said pointedly, and both of the researchers shut up. "The person you know as Tal Smithson has had many names over the course of kes life. And I'm pretty sure ke would have remembered how to exploit an unsanitized input before ke remembered any of them. Which leads us to the current situation."

Researcher One and Researcher Two looked at each other, both obviously thinking "that is one sad, stubborn human."

Aspen sighed.

"Can I make one last request? Before I need to go deliver the news to the others from Starwind Accord."

"Of course," Researcher Two said solemnly.

"Please check your financial accounts. Both private and project funding. For tampering."

Researcher One and Two exchanged another set of looks that said, "okay, that human has just gone from sad to crazy if they think this was sabotage", but Researcher One shook its head as it pulled up its private currency account in the feed. (Probably because of how badly they had fucked up.) The account looked fine, and Researcher One made an expression like it was feeling very sorry for Aspen.

And then it pulled up the project account, and its face changed to a different emotion.

"Altert," it said, passing a copy of the data to Researcher Two. "Who in the stars is Dr. Bobby Tables?"

In the feed, Iceblink burst out laughing, and Bee's feed avatar all but collapsed on top of her. Dandelion sighed and pulled up some neurological data as she tapped Ratthi's feed, while ART contacted Iris and Seth, and also sent queries that would give me access to security logs. Aspen stopped their oscillating and sent a query to my private channel with an offer of some really obscure media they'd acquired while nosing around in PSUMNT space. I accepted, and prepared my analytical modules to receive their data.

In physical space, Aspen closed their little notebook and stood up.

"I'll leave you to answer administrative questions for now, I think. And we can reconvene once you've sorted things out." They almost managed not to sound sarcastic.

"Wait, Dr. Vivacious," Researcher One said. "How did you know to check the accounts?"

Aspen offered it one of their razor-sharp smiles. "I'm guessing you didn't read the biography we sent you very closely? Because then you would have been a lot more careful about Tal's enclosure."

Researcher Two snapped huffily, "Yes, we did. Ke was Starwind Accord's leading cyberneticist, right?"

Aspen nodded, "For many long years, yes. But before that, ke was Old Earth's best cybercriminal." According to kemself, anyway, but I believe it, they added in the feed, before returning to the scientists. "Please send us all the logs you have left on that jailbreak. We probably have days of catching up to do."

The logs--both those the researchers sent and the security logs acquired by ART--were pretty clear to me. PSUMNT had just taken Aspen's old feed tech and built sentient malware from kem. And that malware stole several university projects' worth of funding and fucked off somewhere deeper into the Rim, presumably on a non-super intelligent research transport (or we would have heard about it from one of ART's relatives). Days ago, which was when the containment breach was detected, and the university had notified ART, Aspen and Dandelion.

Which was what I told ART's, Aspen's and Dandelion's crew when they all gathered on board the Tenacious to discuss the situation.

"I have a question," Ratthi said, raising his hand. "Why exactly does, uh, sentient malware need currency?"

"If that malware is Tal, ke's not going to be acting alone," Aspen said from Dandelion's speaker. "Ke liked to find proxies where ke could, and those proxies tend to like getting paid."

Karime groaned and looked towards my drone hanging above her head.

"SecUnit, this is going to be impossible, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Chasing it is pointless," I said. I was having a very weird sense of having done these exact calculations before. "Nobody's going to be looking for sentient malware when the footprint is going to be of a human criminal. Plus, the trails multiply exponentially, and when you factor in the proxies, it's going to be literally impossible to get a trace until the malware does something visible. The question is if it will."

"That is a very good question," Aspen said. "Ratthi?"

"Well, there's good news and there's bad news," Ratthi said. "The bad news is, the PSUMNT researchers were right. Memory recollection was far from complete, and we have no idea whether the person who woke up in that enclosure had decided the reconstituent memories were valuable enough to copy along with their core. The good news is, I don't think that core is in danger of disintegrating any time soon. Whatever the outcome otherwise, it looks like we've got a stable machine intelligence based on your old friend, Aspen. But who that intelligence decides to be is up in the air for now."

"And so the Maize Worm is on the loose," Iceblink, who was sitting next to me, snickered. "How long do you think it's gonna take before something blows up, SecUnit?"

"I don't know," I said. "For something that's approximately one hundred years old, that malware is pretty good at covering up its trail. Maybe nothing's actually going to blow up."

Iceblink stole one of Dandelion's eyeroll pings and flicked it at me in the feed. I selected one of Iris's favorite amusement sigils, the one which had a tongue stuck out, and flicked it right back at her.

"It could go either way," Aspen agreed. "Tal doesn't like going loud. But that doesn't mean ke won't, eventually. And we should be ready to find kem."

Yeah. I knew that tone of voice from my humans. They were going to look for Tal. However long it took, and whatever the dead tech--or newly activated sentient malware--thought about it.

I was having a very complicated emotion about that. But where these people were concerned, that was absolutely normal.

[aprocessionofthoughts]

Want to talk?

ectoberhaunt 2023 day 6- tabletop TW- hyperventilating summary- Sam and Tucker have been friends for years. They've always been considered the weird ones, so it's no surprise when the try to talk to the dead.

ao3 ectoberhaunt masterlist part 1 of AHINWTG

Sam and Tucker had been friends ever since Sam had moved to Amity when they were both in first grade.

It had been a friendship forged of being labeled the outcasts, but had led to the two of them being really close.

It was an interesting friendship since there were very few things they had in common. (mainly playing Doomed)

They often ended up in strange situations. (mainly due to Sam encouraging Tucker to break into different facilities to do some ‘constructive vandalism’ as Sam called it. We’re helping keep bad business from destroying the environment, Tucker.)

But it wasn’t all illegal. They also did normal teenage things. Like trying to commune with the dead.

Okay. Maybe that was just a normal teen thing for Amity Parkers. 

Regardless, that’s what they found themselves doing on this dark and stormy night.

***

“Don’t be a scaredy cat, Tucker. It’s just a ouija board. It’s not like we’re doing a summoning circle.” Sam said, rolling her eyes.

“By merely trying to talk to a ghost, we’re summoning it!” 

“Just a mere bit of its presence, we’re not calling for them to fully come over the veil. Besides, we need to do it today because it's the third Friday that also lands on the 13th of the month, and it’s a full moon. There’s no better time. And once we’ve had practice with this, it’ll be much easier to do an actual summoning.”

“Saaaaam.” Tucker said, collapsing onto her bed. She rolled her eyes at him.

“Relax. You don’t even have to do it if you don’t want to, you can just watch.”

Tucker sighed. “No, I’ll do it. At least this way if the ghost gets mad it’ll kill us both and not just you. Your parents would eviscerate me if I got you killed.”

“So ,you’d rather be killed by a ghost than my parents?”

“Let’s just get this over with," Tucker grumbled.

They both settled at a table that she’d dragged to the center of the room.

They placed their fingers on the planchet.

“Spirits, we ask for you to listen,” Sam started, “we ask for a sign of your presence.”

A candle on Sam’s dresser went out. They stared.

“That could have been a draft.” Tucker said. Sam ignored him.

“Thank you, spirits. Will you speak with us?” for a moment nothing happened. Then the planchet started moving and Tucker had to bite his lip to keep from shrieking. If he died he was so going to haunt Sam. Across from him Sam’s grin was almost feral.

H E L L O

W H O R U

Tucker frowned. “Whoru?”

“No, you idiot,” Sam hissed. “They said ‘who are you?' 

Tucker blushed. “Oh.”

“We are…” Sam paused and Tucker frantically shook his head. Names had power. “You can call us Undergrowth and Pharoah.” Tucker shot her a confused look and she just shrugged at him. “What can we call you?”

It took almost three minutes and they had almost given up when the planchet started moving again. 

I A M P H A N T O M

“Can you tell us about yourself, Phantom?”

Again, nothing happened for a few minutes.

I L I K E S T A R S

Sam and Tucker starred. They hadn’t expected something like that.

“That’s…cool.” Tucker said.

“Where are you from?” Sam asked. This time the answer came quickly.

H E R E

They both tensed. 

“Here as in this house or…”

T O W N

“Oh.” Sam said. “Where did you live?” Maybe after this, they’d be able to check out a haunted house.

G O N E

Sam opened her mouth to say something else when it started moving again, and it slipped out from under her and Tucker’s fingers.

G O N E G O N E G O N E G O N E G O N E

She and Tucker stumbled back. Wind started  whipping around the room. The smell of smoke and burned flesh filled her nose and made her gag. The hairs on her arms stood up and she could feel her hair doing the same. She looked over at Tucker with wide eyes. He looked like he’d started to hyperventilate.

The planchet zoomed off the board and crashed through her window.

Tucker stumbled back as the smell of smoke intensified and he gagged, his body shaking with the feeling of electricity running up and down his skin.

What had they done? What had they done!

The wind increased knocking over objects and furniture; they both huddled near the ground, feeling like someone was holding a taser to their skin. 

Then everything stopped.

Tucker looked over at Sam, her eyes were wide and Tucker was sure that his were too.

“Well,” Sam said, taking a shaky breath, “I guess we’re not going to be doing that summoning.”

Tucker collapsed the rest of the way to the ground, shaking.

[vossprime]

World's longest and latest tag game: WIP word train

Rules: Tagger gives a word, then for each letter of that word you share an excerpt from your WIPs that starts with that letter.

I am very sorry to @inquisitornocturn , @jaal-ama-daravv , @holylustration , @fuchsiareign and @pycnolite for taking a whopping month to get back to writing anything and answering this and even more so if I've forgotten anyone. Thank you so much for tagging me <3 Without further ado:

Words:

LURK

L

Likewise he doesn’t know why the feeling besieges him that this might be important - Idira is the diviner, and has spared them more of her prophecies - but it does, and he manages to intercept the young man before he can get from the main vox relay, situated next to the orangerie, to the main palace at the other end of the courtyard. 

U

Until he has the architecture of her body burned into memory, until he can practically taste her at the back of his throat.

R

Rime had never been beautiful. It was a lie you believed when you were a noble girl with no obligation to go outside, when your life laid in the well-heated lap of wealth and the frost never once stung your face until the surface died. It never was, never had been, and never would be again.

K

Kunrad bit down that last part and swallowed it together with the saliva that collected in his mouth, announcing the rising bile.

___

HUGS

H

Hailing from a knight world, he knows the board, the rules, the moves one can make. Heinrix supposes every childhood eventually comes to an end by learning just how the workings of the world look when laid bare.

U

Und wenn die Lenden einer Anderen Besitztum bedeuten würde dir die ganze Welt gehören, statt sie wie ein Joch auf deinen Schultern zu tragen.

(poetry drafts)

G

Gola keeps itself quiet like a beaten animal. She cannot tell if it is because it is about to pounce or dying.

S

Someone would greet him in the hall and, were he here to see the Rogue Trader, ask him politely but firmly whether he is expected. There’d be refreshments and then an endless series of rooms he’d have to pass through, minutes to turns creeping by before he’d eventually make it to the study of the Lord Captain and under his scrutinising gaze. 

___

HAND

H

He’d asked and gotten his answer. Now he wishes he hadn’t received it at all.

A.

As a girl, she knows her father will beat them back down. As a woman, she commands such men, and the teeth are rotting out of their skulls. And so her revolution starts with teeth.

N.

“No.” Zlatko laughs. “And you aren’t answering my question.”

D

Dargonus is opulent even for his tastes. A noble house and the palace of a Rogue Trader are two entirely different sets of shoes. While the home of his early days probably still exists as a sanctuary for a family he’d once been part of, the Rogue Trader's palace has been built only with other people in mind. Nobles, petitioners, future generations.

___

STAR

S

She loves Zlatko von Valancius, but not enough to tie herself to his Throne. For not standing in the way of her freedom, she loves him almost enough. 

T

Thank the Emperor, the Rogue Trader is alone. Zlatko von Valancius looks at him over his desk, Lho in his hand. Ever since Commorragh he’s picked up smoking again, mostly in his office, and though he uses the kind of quality tobacco that doesn't stink up the place too much, Heinrix finds it distracting at best. The door clicks shut behind him and all the tumult is, at once, silent. “What do you want?”

A

A new tattoo closes the gap in what was previously a bare forearm, a xenos skull with hooked needles he knows runs over scar tissue. A symbol as blatant and boorish as the man himself.

R

Red ran down the full swell of Valerie’s bottom lip and Throne, was it a sight to see. “Permission?”  There was laughter in his voice and blood on his teeth. 

___

GOLD

G

Go on - she passes over the name so it hurts less that it is no longer her own - dance.

O

Outside, the sun lowers itself just enough to herald dusk within the next turn.

L

"Look at you and tell me you aren’t half inbred filth.”

D

“Does the kill sate the hunter?” he asks her, each word a step, “Does hunger sweeten the feast?“ He comes to a standstill before her, a breath away.  “Does desire devour control in its wake, to leave nothing but relief?”

Thank you again to all <3 Tagging @mortallyperfecttimemachine , currently sitting right beside me. Your word is SWORD.

[nikolai-vincent]

Attempting for the 2nd time to write my byler morse code confession after forgetting that ao3 deletes your drafts after a month😭 but here's a sneak peak🤭

"Morse Code!" He yells to no ones but himself, a grin spreading across his face as he jumps off the bed and heads to his desk to rummage through loose books and papers. He mumbles to himself as he searches for a Morse Code translation sheet that Hopper had given him a few months prior after overhearing him complaining about how difficult it was to learn.

"I should've realized this sooner," Mike mutters to himself, "Will knows Morse Code, that's probably what he's using." He lets out a small "ah!" when he finds the paper he's looking for.

MORSE CODE FOR DUMMIES!

LEARN QUICK WITH THIS HELPFUL GUIDE!

A| .- B| -... C| -.-. D| -.. E| . F| ..-. G| --.

H| .... I| .. J| .--- K| -.- L| .-.. M| -- N| -.

O| --- P| .--. Q| --.- R| .-. S| ... T| - U| ..-

V| ...- W| .-- X| -..- Y| -.-- Z| --..

Mike sits at his desk, grabs a random piece of paper, and takes his pen, clicking what he remembers as he scans the guide. "Okay.. I!" He finds the first letter, writing it down messily before going back for the second one. He continues this slowly, until he's sitting with "ILO" written down in front of him. He frowns at the paper as if it offended him. "What the hell is ilo? That can't be right..."

Groaning, Mike rubs his face in frustration and leans back dangerously far in his chair. "Maybe I can just ask Will to teach me some, this doesn't make any sense at all."

[sehunniepotwrites]

NIKKI YOUR TEASER 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 icb i opened the app to this 🤩 i can't wait to read all that u have in your drafts fr but goodness me jae's one sided love rly hits differently 🫢 sometimes i just wonder if he's the kind to uk approach his feelings for s/o proactively or keep it lowkey and just be the kind to take care of them from the side esp in these situations where he knows it's one sided 🧐

and r u feeling better now? gosh it's so uncomfy to be sick and i absolutely dislike being sick :"( please remember to rest well and take care of urself!! there's a whole new wave of covid cases on the rise where i am recently and im tryna avoid the crowds as much as possible considering ive already had covid 3 times 🤡🤡🤡 covid surely loves me more than life does 😕

omy masters is definitely a goal of mine that i'd love to achieve especially before i have kids! can't imagine having to take care of my children while doing masters fr it's going to be so tiring!! 🫣 but i guess i'll take it step by step and see where life takes me! especially cuz financially, masters is gonna take up a bulk of my pay esp as a fresh grad in the industry, so i shall see how i can plan my route out! hehehehe

oh oh do you have any recos for fics these days? i've exhausted my list of stuff to read and shows to watch lately 🥲 so commuting arnd has been kinda boring hehehe

hope this week will be an enjoyable week for u!!!!

love, 🍑

HEHEHEHE I TOLD U IT WAS GOOD !!! idk i'm so attached to this fic even tho it's nowhere near finished but i'm so proud of that intro alone, i couldn't keep it to myself anymore ;;; it's a good standalone AND a good opener, people can take it as either!

i feel like the characters in this are well-developed too. like jae and johnny are complete opposites--sunshine, flirty child who gets around but is secretly in love with his bestie and then there's the more silent and broody but will always take care of you, dreamboat. idk i love writing one sided loves!!! and with jae, idk why but it always hits diff!!!

definitely not feeling better but i went to work :( i've been blowing my nose all day. pretty sure imma get a rash from all the tissues i've been using. OH GOD 3 TIMES??? thankful i only got it once!

yes take it step by step. a masters program is really time and energy consuming but i still think it is worth it! there's just a lot of things you need to consider.

uuuh fic recs??? all the ones in @sehunniepotrecs, here are the ones that really stick out to me:

fics by @taelme

state of grace (photographer!johnny, my ult comfort fic, i literally read this and cry every month)

enchanted (regency!au, jaehyun)

treacherous (regency!au, johnny, enchanted spin-off)

make me move by @yutaholic

tis the damn season by @najaemism (celeb ex!mark, social media!au, another comfort read and i die of laughter every time)

[ciutae]

hello :)

[1ovewoo]

yours - jung wooyoung ♡

cw/tags: fem reader, degradation (use of slut/whore), pet names (baby, youngie, love, etc), edging, orgasm denial, tit play (m and f), one (1) use of mommy, mentions of voyeurism?, unprotected sex (do not partake), coming inside, tiny bit of fluff at the end if u squint, i think that's it but if i missed smth lmk..

notes: ermm so that first concert when wooyoung came out w/o a shirt on... yeah i went feral and had this in the drafts for a month and decided to fix it up ermm hope it's ok feedback appreciated ily mwah

“did my little slut like having everyone’s attention on him, hmm? you liked showing off your pretty tits for them?” you smooth your hands up wooyoung’s torso to cup his pecs, teasing his nipples by moving your palms in little circles.

wooyoung whines at your words, arching his chest into your hands and squirming a bit, fighting to keep his hands held above his head like you told him to when all he wants is to grab at your hips and waist and pull you as close to him as possible. 

“answer me, wooyoung.” you command with a straight face as your nails drag down his chest. 

wooyoung’s heart pounds at your use of his full given name. you always called him woo or wooyo, youngie or baby, or any range of degrading nicknames when you two fell into bed similarly to this, but something had clearly switched in you today. 

“y-yes, i liked it,” wooyoung stutters out.

“liked what?” you press. 

the pretty blush on wooyoung’s face darkens and spreads down his neck and chest, “i liked them seeing my.. my tits.”

you hum and slide a hand down his abdomen to wrap around his cock, spitting on the tip and jerking him off quickly, your other hand still flicking at his nipple. 

wooyoung chokes on a moan, arching his chest into your touch, fists clenching into the pillow next to where his head is thrown back. he slips his eyes open, heavy lidded as he stares up at you while you get him off.

“you gonna come, baby? just for me?” you ask, deceptively sweet as you lean over him, looking down on him as you scoot forward on his lap to glide your wet pussy over his cock.

“yes, yes please ‘m gonna come, let me come, please,” wooyoung whines, words starting to slur together as his hips thrust up into the feeling. 

you moan as you grind down on him, finally releasing some of the pressure that’s been building in your tummy as you watched your boyfriend writhe beneath you.

“mm, woo, you feel so good,” you breathe out as wooyoung bucks up against you again.

“fuck, y/n, i’m gonna come-” wooyoung says, and just as you feel his thighs start to shake underneath you, you rise up onto your knees, completely separating yourself from wooyoung and smirking as his cock twitches and bounces on his abdomen as his orgasm gets cut off.

“nooo,” wooyoung cries out, tears sliding down the side of his face as he sniffles and pouts at you, his hips desperately thrusting up into nothing, “please, mommy, please make me come.”

you spit onto his cock one more time before grabbing him and guiding him to your entrance, sliding all the way down at once and beginning to bounce vigorously on his cock.

wooyoung groans so loud you’re a bit worried about hongjoong and jongho hearing from their rooms, but really you don’t think that would be so bad, letting them here how much of a whore their best friend is for his girlfriend, how pathetic and desperate he is to come. 

“oh my god,” wooyoung chokes out, eyes fluttering and chest heaving. his abdomen tenses as he once again races towards his climax.

“go ahead and come, youngie,” you moan, playing with your nipples as you continue to bounce on wooyoung’s cock, grinding on every downstroke and reveling in the way you feel so, satisfyingly full of your boyfriend.

“shit- oh fuck,” wooyoung moans out, hips lifting off the mattress to bury himself as deep inside of you as possible, his orgasm washing over him as you feel warm spurts of cum filling you up.

“yeah, so good for me, baby,” you cry out, bringing a hand down to circle your clit as you keep up your rhythm. wooyoung flinches at the overstimulation but says nothing, only staring up at you slack-jawed and misty-eyed as you bring yourself to completion, letting out a long moan as your hips twitch against wooyoung’s.

finally, you come to a halt and slide off of wooyoung’s softening cock, giggling when he both hisses and moans at the sensation. you slide down until you’re able to tuck your body into wooyoung’s side and cuddle close to him, settling a hand over his chest and resting your face in his neck, breathing him in with content.

“well…” wooyoung says, and you can practically hear the smirk in his voice, “i didn’t take you as the jealous type.”

“mhm, i don’t share what’s mine,” you lean down to plant a kiss on his pec before smiling tiredly up at him, pushing a strand of damp hair away from his forehead.

“you don’t have to worry, love, me and my tits are yours and yours only.”

i'm so bad at dialogue and also ending things i'm so sorry i hope u guys still enjoyed and r satisfied with this eee(＞﹏＜)

ty for reading! if you enjoyed this and would like to support my works please consider reblogging or checking out my masterlist!

© 1ovewoo 2023

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

I’m so excited for ur Jetiri au 🤭🤭🤭

Me fucking too. And just because you asked, why don't we move the draft I've been working on right over here for you. I'm assuming you mean my modern au wheelchair Jake jeytiri shit, so that's what this is:

Quick recap from the Tommy post:

-Tommy was on a four year job with Grace studying botany in the rainforest in Brazil when Jake was paralyzed. Jake knew how excited he was about this once in a lifetime experience, and basically threatened to end Norm if he tattled to Tommy.

-Norm's solution was getting Jake into Mo'at's free clinic on a favor. He'd volunteered there a lot while he was getting his medical degree and ended up liking it so much he works there when he's got a free moment between research and projects. So he has a tiny bit of leeway to beg for a spot for Jake from Mo'at and Sylwanin.

-Jake is not the normal clientele for the free clinic. They are on the edge of the reservation, and mostly only cater to the native population and those nearby. Sylwanin tells Norm this, but Mo'at is pretty sure this'll work out. She can just tell that for some reason they need Jake just as much as he needs them.

-When Jake first shows up, Neytiri has last minute replaced Sylwanin for the month because she had to fill in for a doctor who had to go on emergency leave a few counties over. Jake will later insist this was divine intervention, whereas at the time Neytiri was fairly sure she was being punished.

-Neytiri is eighteen and freshly graduated from high school, and completely sure she does NOT want to work in the free clinic for the rest of her life. She isn't exactly sure what she will do, but it'll be something big and life changing.

-Jake is twenty-two and his life is over. He went from being a promising young marine one second, to being a burden on everyone around him the next. And now even this girl at the clinic is forced to deal with him when she wasn't supposed to.

-They start of very slow, with halfhearted attempts at weightlifting that Jake's heart is clearly not in very much. Neytiri starts to get a little more invested. She insists that he needs more wheelchair dexterity training, and stands on the back of his chair and makes Jake cart her around to all her other patients for a week. At first it was a joke but it quickly becomes a floor is lava type situation, where if she touches the ground she looses. She takes them swimming in the pond, forces Tsu'tey to help her create a wheelchair obstacle course and then makes he and Neytiri take turns racing Jake through it, takes him to an archery range for the arm strength.

-They start to get more and more ridiculous as she becomes pretty sure what Jake needs is to realize he can still do everything he wants. They go skydiving, play paintball, and go on a hike when Norm manages to rig a chair with wheels that go outdoors better.

-O b v i o u s l y one of the most important tests/exercises they do regularly is just like, making sure his dick works. Just to check. Gotta be sure.

-When Sylwanin comes back and asks her mother where Neytiri is so she can say hi, Mo'at rolls her eyes. Sylwanin is then almost run over by the classic daily Neytiri and Jake wheelchair race, who both then start demanding Mo'at declare them the winner. Mo'at picks Jake because she loves bothering Neytiri (and her soft spot for Jake is as well hidden as the sun) and Neytiri once again blames his experience and they bicker as she jumps on Jake's lap for a ride to her next patient.

-Sylwanin: ...wha-

Mo'at: shhhhh. Let it happen.

-The not so secret reason that Jake was at the clinic was less for his recovery and more for the literal depression he clearly had. It was Norm's "I will not rat you out to Tommy" condition. Jake considers himself all cured of that shit now, Norm, but everyone else isn't so sure. They all have come to love (and be super annoyed by) Jake and Neytiri together, but it's important Jake is able to be not depressed without Neytiri there.

-Jake: psh, why do I need to be happy without Neytiri?

Norm: because it's normal and healthy, Jake.

Jake: okay but what you are asking for is literally impossible.

-They give him a week. A week at home, NO NEYTIRI. The week does pass, and it actually goes well for Jake. He takes some independent trips in his brand new Norm finagled (bc the real ones are crazy expensive) Jake drivable truck, he works out on his own, reconnects with his old friend Trudy from the marines. He feels competent. He can't help but feel like he owes that confidence to Neytiri.

-Neytiri is noticeably sulking around the clinic, to the point that Sylwanin almost ALMOST calls Jake for her. It's insane. They're known each other for like three months at this point. Sylwanin has known her fiance her entire life, and she loves Tsu'tey, but sometimes he drives her crazy. They survived her month away, and she has work trips often.

-When Jake pulls back up to the clinic on his own in his own truck, they have the most dramatic reunion ever. It's like something out of a romcom. The regulars HAVE to applaud.

-It's to almost no ones surprise that when Jake announces his intention to head out traveling, Neytiri announces she'll be going with him. They spend the summer sending pictures from Niagara Falls, The Great Canyon, Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, the black sand beaches in Iceland, The Great Barrier Reef, Vaadhoo Island and many other places.

-They return happy, married, and pregnant; again, to no ones surprise (although Sylwanin manages to muster up a little outrage).

-Norm is so close to ratting Jake out to Tommy at this point.

[stellawolfearts]

Feel free to ignore this if this is spoilers, but I'm curious. How did Macaque react the first time he saw Mei’s heat stroke/sick spells from the Samadhi Fire?

theres actually very few things that are spoilers from the kids past. so i dont mind any questions about it especially since its likely gonna take another month for the ask blog to start bc of this dang comic :)

(sooooorrry lilac i stuffed this in my drafts cause this was getting long and i had to go to bed)

(im writing this when im almost done with this writing bit and ooooh boi lilac what have you done/ evil pos)

aright writing this as i finished writing this and oh boy oh boy oh boy this one needs some MUSIC

___________________________________________________

"k-kiwi...whats wrong?" Macaque asked, his hands shaking around her small frame. She had asked to rest with him on his folding chair while he was watching Mk. she seemed tired to he hesitantly let her sit next to him only for her to crawl onto his chest and sleep there.

but something was wrong, she seemed tired but now she wouldn't respond to him, she whined as if she was having a nightmare. He checked her forehead and she was burning up.

"sh-shit mei, mei open your eyes!" Macaque was now sitting up and holding mei back with his arms, her eyes were scrunched up, her tails wrapped tightly aroun herself, her ears folded back and sweat trailed down her face unnaturally.

"Papa!" Mk rushed up to Macaque and emmediatly put his attention on Mei "wh-what do you know whats happening? Mk baby whats going on with Xiaojiao" Macaque asked, his voice wavering even more by the second.

"she needs baba! Baba said that if Mei ever got really really hot to get her to-" Suddenly Macaque scooped Mk into his arms and they dropped. Macaque gripped Mk tighter as he yelped due to the sudden fall but when Mk opened his eyes they were back inside of the house and Macaque gently set him down.

"WUKONG, WUKONG!!" macaque yelled out, grasping Mei tighter to his chest. she was hot to the touch, burning his skin through his clothing but he only held on tighter as he searched the house for the girls father.

"W U K O N G!!" He screamed one final time as he finnaly ran into Wukong with adult form Nezha right behind him.

"whats wrong plum, wha-" Wukong froze at the sight of Mei in his arms and the pure fear and panic written across his body.

"sh-she wasnt moving and wouldnt respond i-i didnt know what to do" Wukong took Mei into his arms "Mk told me to bring h-him to you"

Wukong turned to Nezha "Nezha, explain to Macaque whats happening. Ill take care of Xiaojiao" Wukong stated then turned away to leave.

Nezha watched Wukong take Mei into another room and sighed before turning back to Macaque.

Nezha noted to himself how Macaque kept his stance stiff and straight up but the way his eyes scanned across the closed door wukong was behind, how his tail twitched anxiously and his hands twitched open and closed. he was even pale.

Nezha would have found it hard to believe that the man who proclaimed he never needed anyone, that he was only here so Xiaotian wouldn't die from poor care, and that he had nothing else to do, was so genuinly concerned for his little sister if it wasn't for those telltale signs

"Mei...has the samadhi fire"

With those words what remained of Macaques cracked mask finnaly shattered, his eyes widened as he looked at Nezha.

"only a piece of it, she was born with it...which is why we cant remove it. but sometimes, since she's so young, her body cant handle its power and she overheats. wukong is trying to remove the excess magic a-"

"remove it!?! god's i knew Wukong would be shit with kids but removing the excess magic?!" Macaque suddenly snapped his entire demeaner went from scared out of his mind to angry and determined as he stormed past Nezha. Nezha tried to grab him but Macaque's arm turned to shadow and slipped through his grip.

Nezha called after macaque and followed him into Xiaojiaos room where Wukong sat on her bed with Mei in her arms.

"wukong don't you dare remove her excess magic, i swear to the god's do you have any idea what that will do to her?!" Macaque snapped almost slamming the door on Nezha before noticing him and leaving it open.

"you.stay," Macaque pointed at Nezha then turned back to wukong "you both need to hear this because apparently no one in this house understands magic!" Macaque groaned while weaving something blue between his fingers.

"Youth magic is unstable for a reason. its shaping itself. she might have fire type magic because of that ring but it needs to shape itself to Mei and her soul so that she can control it in the future." The blue within Macaques hands shaped into small glass like cubes.

"you know ice magic?" Nezha asked.

"very little, i can only make cubes that dont melt" Macaque now weaved purple through his fingers and wrapped the ice in what looked like his shadows. when he was finished a small ice pack made of no-melting ice and shadows rested in his hand. He approached Wukong who had her tail wrapped around Mei and looked about ready to cry.

Macaque hesitated but then sighed and put a hand on Wukongs cheek. "its alright, you didnt know" Macaque comforted as he kissed her forehead. he moved to Mei and shifted her arms so that h could slip the ice pack into her arms and she could hold onto it like a plush.

"has it been getting worse?"

"yes" Wukong said defeatedly.

Macaque kissed her cheek this time "taking her magic was why, but she's still young so it hasn't caused any damage" Macaque stepped away from Wukong and folded his arms "it might be rough but she needs to sit through it, if she doesnt her magic will only get more and more unstable because it cant develop. since she has the samadhi-well, a piece of it, her body and magic need to learn to live with each other and survive-"

"b-but what if it doesnt?" Nezha asked, macaque turned to him and also noticed a little curious monkey hanging onto his leg.

"it will, she has a seal on her magic right?"

"yes"

"then she'll be fine-"

"but what if she isnt, we cant soley depend on what works for everyone else. Mei has a piece of the Samadhi fire what if she gets worse no matter what we do and then her body cant handle it anymore!" Nezha snapped.

Macaque stood silently, his tail swishing as a million replies ran through his head. instead Wukong stood up and handed Mei to Macaque so she could hold Nezha .the moment Wukongs arms wrapped around the lotus prince he instinctively turned to his smaller form and Wukong had to adjust his arms to hold Lil Nezha up.

"its alright Lotus, this is whats best for Mei"

"taking her magic would only make her more unstable as she grows older, she needs the chance to develop" Macaque said shifting Xioajiao in his grip.

"we'll all be there for her, I promise," Wukong said as she scooped up Xiaotian into her arms as well.

-----------------------------------------------

After that conversation Macaque made more Ice-he hated the ice, despised it. but Kiwi needed it and he was not going to deny her this comfort--and filled up a bathtub where he set her down and let her rest. the ice was colder then normal ice and the water hissed upon touching her skin but one Macaque was able to sit her down within the tub she seemd to relax. So Macaque sat on the closed toilet seat and let out a big sigh.

"thank you" Wukong said from the doorway.

"dont thank me, i just-"

"you didnt want to deal with my moping because i hurt my kid, you only helped because the kid deserved a chance, you didnt help because you actually genuinly cared....i know, i know. I think after three years of raising these kids with you ive heard all of your excuses" Wukong ranted, chuckling when Macaque turned his head away and huffed.

"say what you want, i think we both know just how much you care about these kids...and not just Mk....Xiaojiao, heh even Nezha"

Macaque didnt face Wukong, merely kept his head down as if the floor was the most interesting thing at the moment.

"god's" He finally groaned, burying his hands in his face. "what the fuck have i gotten myself into..."

Wukong blinked, then approached Macaque slowly "i cant...i cant be a parent" He sighed.

"what do you mean, Macaque youve helped me with so mu-"

"there's more to parenting than just, knowing the basics wukong!" Macaque snapped, causing wukong to flinch away the hand he was reaching out.

"i am not a good person, maybe i was back on flower fruit mountain but not anymore. that person is dead and gone and im just...im just a fucked up replacement" Macaque said, running his fingers throug the black fur on his arm.

"Maca-"

"Im selfish, im manipulative, i have hurt people for no good reason. i just wanted someone else to feel the exact same pain that i felt when i was abandoned and betrayed!" Macaque barked grasping onto the black fur on his arm.

"i cant be a parent...i cant-i cant hurt them..." Macaque's voice broke into a sob as he pulled on the black fur.

Wukong slowly approached Macaque and kneeled in front of him. Raising a hand to rest on his cheek and she pulled him forward to kiss macaques forehead.

"ive been watching you and when im not Nezha never takes his eyes off of you...in three years you havent hurt Mk or Kiwi. you love them as much as we do. we all have our flaws plums...but you care enough about those kids to change for the better" Wukong comforted as she wiped away faling tears with her thumb.

"but what...what if i fuck up." Macaque whispered, leaning into Wukongs hold.

"then own up to your mistakes and do what you can to fix them... there's no such thing as a perfect parent. But taking responsibility and growing from your mistakes is what makes a good parent" Nezha said suddenly back in his adult form and standing by the doorway. he looked between Macaque and wukong before turning away.

"...take it from someone who's had to deal with shitty parents..." Nezha finished before turning and walking away.

"i think he's finnaly warming up to you" Wukong smiled at Macaque who raised his own hand to hold Wukongs hand on his cheek and embrace the warmth of this intimate moment.

-------------------------------------------------------------

yeah he uuuuuh, had mixed feelings.

concern, panic, fear....but because of that sudden fear his denial phase was shattered and he finally accepted that hes a dad.

[meowzfordayz]

ey ey ey what's up! long time no taaalk ლ(^o^ლ)

just took the exam i've been studying for for 2 1/2 months anD AAAGSHSJBKSkdn it went from 7am to 6pm straight (bc there's drafting, drawing tests) + (tho ur allowed to eat/break whenever u just gotta manage ur time well) ain't gonna go over the deets bc i've moved on already 😭😅 just that it friED MY BRAIN and my frEAKIN BODY LIKe i had to slap some salonpas on my neck and back bc KSKSKS taking that test felt like i got hit by an efFINGSJEH truck :)

ended up finishing an hour early and but uhm aaHHHHJSBDJ ✨what's important is that it's over 😌✨

how r uuuu?! I hope ur eating+resting well bc if not thEN AM GONna come theRE AND BabY u 😤

p.s. i was only out for a couple of weeks here, came back and bAM everyone be horny for hantengu's clones 😭 my dudessss 🤧 -🧦

Hullo !! 😁 Totally random tangent, but Tumblr's being such a c*nt. 😭 Using emojis on mobile leads to txt disappearing, but my laptop's fucky-wucky and its direct emoji tab doesn't always open either, so now I'm answering Asks on desktop while constantly switching to a separate tab to copy & pasta emojis from. 💀

ANYWAY.

THAT'S WILD. 😳 I'm so, so proud of you !!!!! 🥳😍 M'sorry I'm not there to rub your neck (I have strong fingers heh), but I hope you're feeling better by now (and I'm sure you did alright). 🤗

I was under the weather last ~Wednesday through this weekend, but I'm finally feeling nearly 100% again! 😮‍💨 Def lowkey stressing since my semester ends in ~2.5 weeks, but highkey feeling fine otherwise. 😂☺️

Sending you terrific Tuesday vibes !! 💝

P.S. SRSLY lololol. 🥴 I totally get the appeal, but am also more than satisfied w/ my current faves. 🤪 Of which there're too many to list.

[starylust]

Disgusting.

✧ S A K U S A  K I Y O O M I ✧

genre: angst>:(

Word Count: 1479

Sakusa had been having a long day and grew angry and irritated. You didn’t notice at first but when you did you tried to help. So why was he being this way?

The day was long and practice was not helping Sakusa and his mood. He had already been irritated by the crowded halls now this?

-

Sakusa and you had known each other for a bit. You had been in the same class but never talked since he was usually by himself.

However this changed when the two of you got paired up for a project. After bonding together Sakusa realized you weren’t so bad and could tolerate you.

Months go by and you guys get closer every day. The both of you start to catch feeling for one and another.

You decided you would confess to Sakusa since you just couldn’t hold it in anymore. To your surprise he felt the same way.

Before you guys started dating though he had sat you down and talked to you about some things.

You knew he didn’t like germs and knew if you were in a relationship it’d take time to get use to the physical affection.

You were fine with this though as you liked him so much you were willing to wait for him. No matter how long it took you’d wait until he was comfortable with the physical affection needed in the relationship.

It took a week or two to get use to holding your hand but it was progress.

It felt nice to him and you he loved the warmth your hand emitted. This was a new feeling to him, a good one too.

Another week or two go by and you guys are now able to hug. Not for too long but for long enough for the both of you to get comfort from the feeling.

This was all new to Sakusa, letting someone in his bubble was not something that happened often. The only one allowed this close to him was his cousin or when he was playing volleyball.

It’s now been a month or two into your relationship and you’ve finally kissed! Not wanting to push him limits you waited for him to make the first move with you.

The two of you never cuddled or got too close for a long period of time but you guys were working on it.

-

And that was the progress of your relationship so far.

You had just gotten done with your club activities and were heading to the gym to watch Sakusa at practice. 

The two of you had a usual routine of whenever you were done with your club activities, you would head over to the gym. You’d watch Sakusa finish practice and walk home together.

Sometimes you were hangout after but it all depended on the plans you guys made before hand.  

Sakusa’s irritation level had risen as his spikes were sloppy this practice. Overall he was just not having a good day.

He was at the point where everything was triggering his anger and irritation. He tried keeping calm as usually though not wanting to disturb anyone.

All he wanted to do at this point was go home. Whether it was he take a shower because of the dirty germs crawling all over him, or him wanting to punch something he knew he did not want to be here.

Sakusa had been so caught up in his own anger and irritation he had completely forgot about you coming. This was definitely not the time he wanted to see you.

Looking at the time he only had 30 minutes left. He took a deep breathe in closing his eyes trying to relax himself a bit.

While he was doing that you were still on your way to the gym. You had been having a pretty good day, meaning you were in a more upbeat mood than usual.

You had just aced your test you’ve been stressing about and it made your overall day. Humming on your way to the gym you were finally by the doors.

This was the time where you usually just enter silently and watch and wait for Sakusa to be done. And that’s exactly what you had done.

Waiting patiently you watched as most of the boys walked out of the locker rooms. You were questioning where Sakusa was because he’s usually the first one in and out.

After a couple more minutes you watched him walk out. You smiled at him only to get a glare back.

Not really questioning it you went up to him and tried giving him a hug.

All he responded with was his hands in front of him holding your shoulders. Had he just rejected your hug?

He had never done that before ever since the two of you started dating.

“What’s wrong Kiyoomi?” You asked.

He just looked at you with a cold glare in his eyes.

He had nothing against you but, again everything was making him more angry and irritated.

Without saying anything he tried just walking away like you weren’t even there. You followed behind wondering what you should do.

You wondered if you should try hugging him again or doing something but you did not want to push his limits.

I mean it’s not pushing his limits right? You’re only trying to hug your boyfriend that’s normal.

Still following behind instead of you hugging him you reached for his hand.

He felt something brush against his hand and he swiftly moved it. Sakusa turned around to see you just staring at him.

“What?” He said coldly.

“What’s up with you today? Are you okay?” you asked worryingly.

“I’m fine.”

“Then why are you acting like that?” 

You were talking in a soft worryingly voice while Sakusa sounded monotone and cold.

Sakusa scoffed, “I don’t have the patience to deal with you today.”

“Deal with me? I’m your girlfriend not some chore.” Now you were starting to lose your patience. 

Just because he was in a bad mood did not mean he could take it out on you. And if he was going to you weren’t going to just take it.

“Well right now you feel like a chore.” He looked down on you like you were some piece of trash. A chore is what you felt like to him.

“Kiyoomi I just want to know what’s wrong so I can help you,” you said now a little bit irritated.

“Why would I talk about my problems with a disgusting person like you?”

You looked at him in complete and utter shock. Not once has he ever called you that when the two of you weren’t joking around.

“Excuse me?” You said back.

“I know you’re not deaf. You are disgusting. I don’t even know why the hell I’m dating someone as annoying as you.” Sakusa was now just letting everything out on you.

“Is that so? Don’t worry about that anymore than cause we’re over.” While saying this you felt you heart strain as the tears in your eyes started to fall.

You felt so angry and hurt that he would talk to you like this. All you wanted to do was help and he is just telling you all these horrible things.

“Fine by me maybe I can finally find someone better. Not that it’d be that hard.” Sakusa spat back loudly.

“Fuck you.” You walked out of the gym angrily trying to see through your tears. All the pain from those words struck your heart hard. Was this how he felt the whole time?

You took out your phone while walking and aggressively wiping your tears away. You clicked on the contact ‘Kiyoomi ♡ ‘ and blocked.

No way were you going to let someone talk like that to you and just stand there and take it.

On the other hand Sakusa was still in the gym just staring out the doors you walked out of. What had he just done? He didn’t mean any of that.

He loves you. He loved you the day you started dating. So why did he say all of that?

Sakusa now pulled his phone out, knowing you were too far away for him to catch up with you now.

You had always been the sweetest and most caring to him and he spat all of those horrible words at you for what? Just cause he was having a bad day?

Sakusa tapped on your contact trying to text you when he noticed the message went green. A panicked feeling started to settle into Sakusa.

He went on snapchat to check if your name was still there. You had disappeared. And the same thing happened with everything you had contact with him on.

Even though you guys would have small little arguments here and there you had never blocked him. Communication was a big thing for you.

This was when he knew it was over between the two of you. He pushed the love of his life out of it.

Here’s part 2;)

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

hi guys:)))

um this was my first time writing angst idk how i feel about this one. i have a few more angst drafts too. anyway thanks for the ones who comment cause those literally make my day<3. thanks for all the love i appreciate all of you a lot!

~𝓶ღ

[captainimprobable]

Here’s a very messy first draft of a fic I’m working on! There will be five parts, which I’ll post together on Ao3 once theyre all done.  This is the first part!

I’ll edit this for ao3 but I was too excited about it and wanted to post it here first before I did RIP

~

~

~

There are many things Luz admits she doesn’t understand.  She can’t figure out how cars work, and she’s not so sure about long division.  But, she thinks, as she watches her girlfriend chop up vegetables in the fading light of the setting sun, some things she does understand.  

“How did you get so good at this?” Luz asks, stepping closer to peer over Amity’s shoulder.  Every cut is perfect, each individual piece almost exactly like the one before.  It makes sense.  It is so Amity.

“Don’t get excited,” Amity warns, tipping the vegetables into a pot of boiling water.  “This is all I know how to cook.  I had a chef growing up.”  She blushes brightly, and Luz grins.  Amity blushing has become one of her Top Five Favorite Things, right under Azura and above Hexside.  

Amity herself, of course, is above them all.

“Sorry,” Amity says sheepishly.  “I didn’t mean to sound spoiled or anything, it’s just- my parents don’t cook, and they don’t have time to-”

“Amity.  It’s fine.”  Luz laughs, and Amity’s blush intensifies.  Luz is about to say something about it when Eda bursts into the room with all the subtlety of a hurricane.  “Look what I foooound,” she sings, proudly presenting something extremely dusty and unidentifiable.  Luz and Amity raise their eyebrows in unison.  

“Uh, what is it?” Luz asks.

“It’s a human-” Eda pauses.  “Okay, I’ll admit, I have absolutely no idea what it is.  But it’s cool looking and I like it.” “Another human treasure? Lemme see!”

“Suit yourself,” Eda says, and hands it over.  

The thing is heavier than Luz expected, and she grunts as she puts it down quickly on the kitchen table.

“Dang, Owl Lady, you’ve got strong arms,” she says.  

“I work out,” Eda responds, flexing her muscles.

Amity and Luz look at each other, and then at Eda.  They blink.

“Fine,” Eda says.  “Buzzkills. I don’t work out. You caught me, congratulations.”  She stalks out of the kitchen, muttering something about “dumb kids and their dumb honesty”.

Luz snorts and turns her attention back to the thing on the counter.  “Let’s see what we’ve got here,” she says, and blows the dust off.  Once the cloud clears, the thing begins to take shape, and Luz squeals.  “A record player! With a record on it!  This is amazing! My mom has one of these back home!”

“Record player?” Amity says.  “What does it do?”

Luz grins, always happy to show off her human knowledge.  “I’ll show you,” she says, and sets the pin on the groove of the record.  It’s silent for a moment, but then a slow tune echoes through the room.  There are no words in the song, and Luz has no idea who wrote it, but she’s in awe.

“Wow,” Amity says, echoing Luz’s thoughts.  “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Luz agrees, completely entranced by the melody.  Once the song fades away and the next one starts, she gets an idea.  She regards Amity out of the corner of her eye, gathers her courage, and says “Amity Blight, may I have this dance?”

Surprise flashes across Amity’s face, but she recovers impressively quickly.

“I thought you’d never ask.”  

She reaches out her hand and Luz takes it, gently guiding Amity to the middle of the kitchen.  Amity hesitantly puts her arm around Luz’s waist, pulling her closer, as Luz puts a hand on Amity’s shoulder.  It feels familiar, and when they start swaying around the kitchen, Amity starts to laugh.

“What? What’s so funny? Did I do something?”

“No, no,” Amity says, tightening her hold around Luz’s waist.  “It’s just...this is so different from our first dance together.”

“Our first...oh, you mean Grom!”

Amity takes a step backwards, and Luz follows, trying not to trip over her own feet.  

“Yes I mean Grom!”

They dance in silence for a moment, moonlight shining through the window.  

“Hey,” Luz starts, not sure if she wants the answer to the question she’s about to ask. “Who did you wanna take to Grom, anyway?”

Amity stares blankly at her for a few seconds, and for a moment Luz is worried she said something out of turn.  But then she smiles softly, so softly that Luz’s heart does a funny thing in her chest, and she’s pretty sure that, for a second, she can’t breathe.

“It was you, Luz,” Amity says quietly.  “It was always you.”

Luz stops dancing.  She stops blinking.  She stops breathing.

“Uh, Luz?” Amity says, sounding worried.  “Are you okay?”

Luz blinks, comes back into herself, and says “YOU WERE GOING TO ASK ME TO GROM????”

“Yes? Why is that a surprise? You know I...like you.” Amity blushes again.  They’re still not used to saying these things out loud to each other.  It’s a process.  

This time, Luz blushes too.  “Yeah, but like..that long??? You’ve liked me since Grom???”

“Since before Grom, actually,” Amity admits, looking down at the floor.  “It’s...it’s been a long time.”

Luz’s grip on Amity’s shoulder slackens, then tightens again.”Wow,” she says, breathless.  “Me.  You’ve liked me for months.  You!!!”

Amity giggles.  “Me,” she agrees.  

Luz knows that the smile on her face is sappy, but she can’t help it.  She just likes Amity so much it’s overwhelming sometimes.  

They begin to sway again, and Luz feels like she’s in a trance.  She can’t believe that one person can make her feel this happy.  It’s like magic.

“So,” Amity says, cutting into Luz’s inner monologue, “When was it for you?”

“Huh?”

“When did you start to like me?”  

Amity manages, with what looks like supreme willpower, not to blush this time.  Luz does not manage the same.

“O-oh,” Luz says, thinking back to all the times she made a fool of herself in front of Amity before they’d started dating.  “I don’t know? I mean, I realized it that time you saved my life, but I think I’ve probably liked you for a lot longer than that. Maybe even before Grom.”

“Which time?”

“What?”

“Which time?  I save your life a lot,” Amity smirks.  Luz rolls her eyes.  “Okay, fair,” she says.  “But I mean that time at your parents’ presentation.  Right after you...when you called me “my Luz.”

“Oh, no, you heard that?” Amity looks extremely embarrassed as she leans forward and hides her face in Luz’s shoulder.  Luz tries not to smell her hair.  She fails.

“Of course I heard that!” She says when she’s done.  “You practically screamed it out loud to a room full of strangers!”

“I did, didn’t I? Wow, I was so obvious!”

Luz rubs the back of her neck sheepishly.  “I didn’t notice.”

“What??? How???” Amity asks, picking her head up to look Luz in the eye.  “I was a complete mess in front of you for months! What did you think was happening?”

Luz shrugs.  “I just thought you were cute, that’s all.  In hindsight, though, maybe I should’ve picked up some context clues.”

Amity snorts.  “It’s okay.  You being oblivious saved me a ton of embarrassment.  Until I kissed you on the cheek.  That..uh….that was not planned.”

Luz can’t stop the smile that takes over her face.  She remembers that day well.  She was so focused on finding Phillip’s diary entries and also not making a fool of herself in front of Amity, that she was taken completely by surprise when Amity kissed her.  She’s pretty sure she literally fell to the floor afterwards, overwhelmed with the fact that Amity had just kissed her and suddenly realizing that maybe, just maybe, her crush liked her too.  

“Well I’m glad you did,” she says gently, twirling Amity around once, twice, three times.  “I think it’s time for me to return the favor.”

“What do you-”

Before she can think about it long enough to stop herself, Luz leans in and kisses Amity on the cheek.  

The world freezes.  

Amity looks at her, and she looks at Amity, and Luz’s eyes are so wide, and Amity’s mouth is hanging slightly open, and suddenly Luz is completely, entirely unsure of herself.  Her confidence is gone, and suddenly she can hear the ghost of laughter and “Ew, why would anyone want her?” And she realizes she’s made a horrible mistake.  

“U-um sorry I-” She stutters, but can’t get a sentence out, until finally she manages “I’m gonna leave now.”

She backs up slowly until her back hits the door, and is about to turn the handle when Amity says “Luz, this is your house.”

“Drat,” Luz says, slapping a hand to her face.  “You’re right.”

Amity giggles, hand covering her mouth to stifle her laughter.  She’s bright red but so is Luz, and suddenly Luz is laughing too.

They laugh together for what seems like hours, until finally they manage to subdue themselves, tears in both their eyes.

“Hey,” Amity says softly, once the giggles have stopped.  “Come here.”

Luz complies, stepping around the table and over Ghost, who has an unidentifiable animal in her mouth.  When she finally reaches Amity, she finds herself pulled into a bone crushing hug.  Startled but pleased, she squeezes back, marvelling at the fact that she has the most perfect girl in the world in her arms.  

“Look,” Amity says, still wrapped up in the hug.  “I know we’re both new at this, and it’s kind of scary, but you don’t have to run away every time you kiss me on the cheek or something.  You have nothing to be afraid of, okay? You’re my girlfriend, and I’m not gonna stop liking you.”

Luz sniffles a little and squeezes harder.  “You don’t...you don’t think I’m too much?”

“Luz,” Amity says.  “I could never get enough of you.”  

They stand there like that, swaying slightly in the single stripe of moonlight that comes through the window.  When they part, it’s with a sigh, and a silent promise that they’ll come together again.  

“Thanks,” Luz says, eyes rimmed red.  “You’re a pretty awesome girlfriend.”

Amity smiles.  “I know.” 

Then she shrugs shyly.  “And if you ever want to kiss me again...I wouldn’t be opposed.”

“Noted,” Luz says weakly.  She thinks her knees might give out, actually.

When it’s time for Amity to go, Luz walks her to the door, like the gentleman she is.  “Goodnight,” she says, trying to ignore Hooty loudly digesting a mouse.  She doesn’t want to think about where his stomach even is.

“Goodnight,” Amity says.

They smile dumbly at each other, neither wanting to be the first one to leave.  But Amity needs to get home, and the night is moving quickly, so they reluctantly part ways.  Amity turns to wave at Luz when she reaches the end of the Owl House’s property, and Luz waves back, stars in her eyes and a breathless wonder at the fact that this girl, this amazing, brilliant, perfect girl, is hers.  

There are many things Luz doesn’t understand.  

But this, what she and Amity have, the bond she feels growing stronger and stronger every day they spend together; this she does understand.

She closes the door.  She doesn’t know what tomorrow will bring, but she knows that as long as she has Amity by her side, everything will be okay.