#obscure-sentimentalist answers

[obscure-sentimentalist]

for the spotify wrapped .. #69 lol

Oooh, a good one! My brain has permanently ingrained an association between this song and a scene I once wrote, and I have zero complaints about that.

[absentlyabbie]

Ooh, so many options for fic secrets. ;-) Let's go with either FAM or the Flommy Romance Writer AU.

ooh, let’s go with the FAM au

obviously, malcolm doesn’t actually die in whatever incident that leaves tommy a presumed orphan at age 9 1/2. and he absolutely knows that bruce wayne got legal guardianship of tommy and has basically kidnapped his son and made him his own (shut up, malcolm, he is so much better at it than you, which considering bruce is like 26 and a goddamn disaster, really only even hints at malcolm’s parental inadequacies.)

man, he doesn’t fuckin like bruce. so much. doesn’t know bruce is batman. just remembers that kid his wife considered almost like a younger cousin. that kid who showed up at rebecca’s funeral and looked at malcolm like he wanted to scrape him off his shoe. how dare that snot-nosed brat with more money than him think he can outdad him with his own son like that.

the nerve. the gall. the temerity.

he’s gonna have some big mad about tommy growing up a part-time wayne.

(dude, you literally threw the kid away, fuck off.)

[nocontextchuck]

Okay, I thought most people knew this because I’ve mentioned it a few times and it’s in the blog bio, but a reminder that this blog is run by @chuckaf​, and only me. I get the screencaps, caption them myself (because I don’t trust DVD or streaming subtitles lol), I crop them, colour them, post them, tag them, all me. I answer the asks, I do the requests. As much as it might not seem like it, there’s a lot of effort in this blog. I take a lot of time thinking about scenes to cap, I set up queues so there’s still posts here when I’m busy or away. And I really enjoy running this! I read every tag on almost every reblog because so often you guys are saying how you’d forgotten a funny line, or how much you love a character (@obscure-sentimentalist​ i always see and love your recurring tag for Devon!), and it brings me such joy to see everyone else enjoying these silly moments from my favourite favourite show as much as I do. There’s over 2000 of us here, I’ve saved 1332 individual images for this blog, which are numbers I’m pretty proud of! I never really bother with posting anything personal here because it really is just a silly no context sideblog, but a reminder that it’s me, Kiera, @chuckaf​, doing all this. If you didn’t know or know me, hi!

I’m saying all this because I’ve just seen a Twitter account reposting some of my screencaps from here. They’ve taken them down now because I asked, which I appreciate, but to be reposted, without credit, and even have a few Twitter pals think it was me running the Twitter account kinda sucked! So, while I always have, I just wanted to say I’m very happy to own and run and put my name on this blog. If I end up posting to another site, a different platform, anything else, I’ll absolutely post about it here first and let you all know. Until then, this is the only no context chuck thing I myself am doing. Others can obviously post things if they want! But I’d appreciate if they use their own screencaps, own colouring, cropping, and so on, and not just take things from my blog.

Anyway, that’s all I had to say. Hi again if you didn’t know me, and normal ridiculous no context content will recommence soon :)

[quintessence-sentimentalist]

quintessence-sentimentalist Takes on 30 Days of W.i.t.c.h.versary!: Week One

So I’ve been way too swamped as of late to keep up with this challenge day-by-day, even with only written answers (because guys, I write long answers, even when I cut myself short). As a solution (at least to start), I’m going to lump my answers for days falling within the same week together. Here’s Days 1 through 7!

Day 1: Favorite Guardian

Well, glancing up at my username and icon, I think it’d be remiss not to say Will Vandom, at least in some respect.

Will was my favorite from the beginning, back when I only had the chapter books with comic inserts. I can’t quite put my finger on why I gravitated to her, though I get the feeling that my love of energy/electricity-based powers had something to do with it. Plus, she got the cool transformation trinket! I’m sure there are many, many more reasons why she became my favorite, but this was also a good 15 years ago and even my obscure-detail-focused memory is having a hard time tracing back.

I’m not as passionate about comics Will as an adult, just in terms of how they loaded the poor girl up with so much drama that it’s just overwhelmingly exhausting, and she has some pretty immature reactions to her problems with her mom and Matt (pre-relationship). But animated Will is still my girl, with her awkwardness and quipping (of a different sort than Irma’s) and the way she grows as a leader, to the point where she’s basically set up a long con on even the viewers as a battle strategy in the latter quarter of season 2. This was the Will I grew to love as an adult rewatching the series after many years.

Since I’ve always been a Will Girl in some form, this has to be my official answer, but very honorable mentions to Irma and Hay Lin across both media. 

Day 2: Favorite Villain

Alright, if we’re talking the animated series and you aren’t new around these parts, we all know it’s Shagon. Listen, this arc is 90% of the reason why I love the cartoon as much as I do, because they took a character from the comics with a nebulous backstory and a spooky, badass design who was relatively underused even with being Nerissa’s strongest/preferred minion, and decided to pull out all the stops. They gave a recurring character (who, okay, I already loved) with very strong ties to the girls - and who’d already evolved out of his role in the comics at the time - his own challenge/story arc about literally facing his inner demon; they gave the Guardians a deadly enemy to face off against (distract them) while Nerissa is off plucking up ex-Guardians one by one; they gave Will and Matt some brutal emotional turmoil that’s actually new and refreshing for the two of them (let’s send the repeated comics jealousy plotlines back to the kitchen, yeah?). And, uh, they made an already spooky, badass character design EVEN SPOOKIER AND MORE BADASS. 

(The darker colors all around? The brilliant gold mask? The dark angel wings? I have been in love with this design since I was 12, alright?)

But! If we’re talking comics, then I’m going with Yua. I’ve talked about this at length before in a different ask game, but I think I gravitate to Yua because a) I’m largely not about full-on villains in any media and b) she’s a beautifully complex character in the context of the third arc’s narrative. 

I’m not going to reiterate everything I said before and just redirect to that post, but I just find it fascinating that the banshee - whose species we’re repeatedly told are eeeeeevil by nature - shows more humanity than the actual human antagonists in this arc. She never wanted harm to come to Maqi, taking him away the second she’s freed as both revenge on her oppressor and a means of keeping this little boy safe from his father’s single-minded crusade. Yua even directly expresses this sentiment when Maqi falls, horror-struck and swearing that it was always about hurting Ari and never Maqi. And even when Maqi is... eurgh, “healed” (yeah, there are a lot of problems with the resolution to this arc), Yua has the opportunity to strike Ari at his happiest and complete her vengeance, but seeing Maqi so delighted makes her retreat, at least for now. 

So yeah. More humanity than Ari and his blind rage in his quest to “cure” his son, and more humanity than Riddle & Co. in abducting an innocent teenage girl on the mere suspicion that she has powers with the intention of putting her through human experimentation. Yua takes Best Villain in my heart because she’s not a villain, not really.

Day 3: Favorite Love Interest

Again, unless you’re new here, it’s no shock that - if we’re talking animated series - it’s Matthew “I’m Arguing With a Housepet” Olsen. 

As wildly different as it is from the comics, I do so adore his character design, with his dark hair (which, uh, may have been the first indication that I have a Type when it comes to my favorite male characters) and purple hoodie. His personality is so endearing too, because he’s not just the idolized older boy we initially see him as in the comics, but like... a legitimate dork. He’s sweet and plays guitar and generally exudes Cool, but you get to know him and it’s easy to see that he and Will are like souls. Not the best about expressing their feelings to the person they like, but always ready to step up and fight.

That’s another quality I love about cartoon Matt. Even before the Shagon arc, very shortly after even learning of the Guardian secret, Matt wants in on the action. It’s not in a “living out his action hero dreams” way, or even really a matter of impressing/protecting Will: it’s more about not being the guy who sits safe on the sidelines while everyone else is risking their lives, and trying to prove (largely to himself, in the end) that he’s worthy to be Will’s boyfriend when she’s a honest-to-Kandrakar warrior and he’s just “Funny Matt.”

I’m going to skip the Shagon arc for now because I assure you I could probably talk for ages about cartoon Matt, and we don’t have that kind of time now.

As for comics, I definitely have to go with Eric Lyndon and - technically a pseudo-love interest - Joel Wright. Oh, and Peter Cook!! Basically, all the sweet guys who don’t get quite as much attention with the comics and whose romantic relationships developed a bit later.

Day 4: Favorite Ship

Surprise, surprise: it’s animated Will/Matt. I’ve blubbered about them before, I will blubber about them again (please give me reasons to do so?), so I’m going to spare you all this time around. Just know that they’re my longest-held major OTP, and that it normally takes a hell of a lot to get me to full-on ship something.

(Real quick though: mutually pining dorks? Matt’s insecurity about being enough for his badass electricity-flinging girlfriend? Will’s drive to just blast shit down to find and save Matt? “If this all goes south, I’m gonna be beside you”??? Please ignore my choked sobbing.)

Anyhoo, there are a couple different comics ships I’d say qualify, though I might not be as passionate about them as I am cartoon WxM. Hay Lin and Eric are positively adorable, and I love how their relationship was slow but not agonizingly so. Hay was the only one not to get a love interest of sorts from the very start, taking us all the way to issue 18 before a guy makes her giggly. And I really appreciate that it wasn’t just a superficial crush, that while Eric was cute, it was his kindness and the time he spent with Hay that made her go, You know, I think I like this guy. It was a refreshing change of pace, they’re both adorable, and we ignore the fact that Eric was mysteriously written out and Hay has that one issue in the Dark Times late in the series where she falls head-over-heels for this rockstar-ish guy for no real reason and changes her style to try to impress him. 

Honorable mentions go to Irma and Joel, who had excellent potential and should have still been kept as friends even if they decided to give Irma a different SO (we ignore the later issue where Joel just wistfully looks at Irma with his “We used to be friends” thought bubble and no actual explanation for why they aren’t anymore); and Cornelia and Peter, who I don’t give enough credit and definitely need to reread.

Day 5: Favorite Friendship

This is a tough one - can I say all of the W.i.t.c.h. girls together? Because outside of the first arc, there isn’t really a whole lot of focus on the smaller group friendships. 

Cornelia and Elyon is a good one, though, literally spanning worlds because Cornelia is dead-set on saving her friend. I’ll toss Orube and Will into the mix as well, because Will was crucial to Orube’s initial character development and they seemed to have the closest relationship moving forward.

Day 6: Favorite Cover/Pinup/Promotional Art

Oof, giving me the hard questions, are we? I have a few favorites, but one of the first that came to mind was this one of Will. It’s the cover of the 21st chapter book, which I think is actually the pinup for issue 21. They must have changed it up for the US release in order to keep it more in-line with the actual plot.

Day 7: Favorite Episode/Issue

Hrm. Let’s change it up and start with the comics on this one. Off the top of my head, I have a soft spot for issue 32. It’s the zenith of the Sylla sub-arc, so the stakes are high, the girls get cute semi-formal clothes when they go to the opera to spring and hopefully evade Riddle’s trap, Sylla double-crosses Riddle and teams up with Medina and McTiennan (and I still think there’s a missed opportunity here with wiping that particular team’s memories of the girls), and we get the most iconic page in this entire comic with Orube beating up Riddle’s goon while brushing off a suitor and then coyly asking him to be her arm candy. 

Issue 50 is another one I like, though largely because I enjoy the futures presented for each of the girls (I particularly love the concept of park ranger Cornelia and writer Will). And as a lingering vestige of my young, comic-Will/Matt-shipping heart, issue 40 is another nostalgic choice.

As for the animated series, I routinely consider my favorites on the chance that Greg Weisman still sells scripts at cons and I get the chance to buy that of a favorite episode. But true to form, basically all of my favorites are heavy Will/Matt episodes...

“D is for Dangerous” is fun because it’s the first time Will gains her quintessence lightning (yay!), the running gag with the Sisterhood of the Traveling Mr. Huggles is amusing, Elyon’s deadpan “Barehanded folding. My one talent” still kills me, and Matt and Caleb’s epic failures of training montages are great. “M is for Mercy” is brutal, with Shagon at his absolute deadliest and taunting Will with Matt’s disappearance, the utter hatred Will has for this demon who’s taken on the form of the boy she loves (and, unbeknownst to her, is legitimately a twisted reflection of Matt), and the sight of Shagon at his lowest while at Will’s mercy and her offer to teach him just that. “S is for Self” has not one but two musical numbers for Matt, and we finally get the resolution to the Shagon arc, so of course it’s a favorite.

But what the hell: I’m going with “T is for Trauma” as my favorite. I watched this episode three times the day it aired, and I still love it to this day. We get the introduction of rejuvenated C.h.y.k.n. (who wipe the floor with the W.i.t.c.h. girls at first), the Egyptian-themed costumes for no actual reason (“Could someone tell me how that man could look at me and think camel???”), Matt getting to fight as the badass normal for the first and last time since “L is for Loser,” etc. But most of all, this is Hay Lin’s episode, and it is absolutely soul-destroying but with a magnificent payoff at the end. It hurts to see the naturally lighthearted, high hopes member of the crew with her spirit absolutely shattered by her grandmother’s apparent betrayal, Eric’s brainwashing, and Nerissa’s general existence, and it’s just as painful that this was the way they gave her character development, but I have to commend this episode for one of the heaviest lines ever: “That’s how you survive the trauma - not by knowing it will be alright, but by having no other choice. ...I don’t have the luxury of breaking down right now.”

[shallurazine]

Hi, quick question because I'm not sure if it's been covered yet! What is the policy on the total number of submissions if the creations are from a mixture of categories (i.e. I'm thinking of writing a piece or two and perhaps doing a multimedia piece)? I know each medium has a maximum number of submissions, so I wasn't sure of the rules outside of that. Thanks!

well clearly we didn’t anticipate such a capable, aspiring, and multi-talented person like you. (lol jk i’m sure there’s plenty of y’all — not mentioning this in the policy was an oversight on our end.) but anyways, yeah, we’re down for you submitting the maximum number of submissions from every category! showcase everything you got! we encourage you completely and we absolutely love your ambition.

great question btw! definitely will add that into our faq/policies on my next chance.

[jbankai89]

Never Let Me Go [31/37]

A/N: If you like my work, please consider throwing a few bucks into my Digital Tip Jar. I am a starving artist, and I like not actually starving to death :PNLMG MasterpostA/N: Next update will be March 8th. Enjoy! :)

Note: The Russian words in this chapter were transcribed from Cyrillic by me, so if there's any mistakes please let me know so I can fix it.

Chapter Thirty – Almost Perfect

Yuri was ushered inside, surrounded on all sides by his family, and it felt oddly like he'd been put under a spotlight as he kicked his shoes off and was relieved of the ultrasound photos and his coffee, while he ignored everyone and made a beeline for the food. Everyone laughed at this and Yuri felt his face burn, though internally he knew that they were not laughing at him, it still felt like he was being teased.

“Don't you want your presents?” Otabek teased as he sidled up to him, and Yuri smiled weakly as his alpha came to join him at the table. He loaded his plate with cold cuts, crackers, stuffed olives, puff pastry appetizers, and finger sandwiches, along with a tall glass of apple juice, but didn't immediately answer as he stared down at the food.

“Feels weird to be the centre of attention like this,” he mumbled softly, just loud enough for Otabek to hear, and he bowed forward to offer Yuri's cherry-red cheek a kiss.

“Humour them, they're really excited,” Otabek said gently, “it's just this once.”

“You owe me for this,” Yuri muttered, though his mouth was quirked into a small half-smile as he said it.

Now with a platter of food in his hands, Yuri was steered back to the living room, where the coffee table had been buried in a mountain of gifts, and the triplets had been quartered off in a large playpen with a number of toys to keep them occupied. Everyone was passing around the ultrasound photos, cooing at the black and white images or crying over them—the latter mostly being Yuuri, who seemed quite sensitive these days.

Maybe he's pregnant again, Yuri mused with a faint smirk as he sat down with Otabek at his side. Seeing how things are now between him and Viktor it's not impossible, but he did tell me that he didn't want any more kids...maybe he's changed his mind or something.

“Presents!” Minami cried suddenly, drawing Yuri out of his thoughts and nearly making him choke on the garlic-stuffed green olive in his mouth. “Is it present time?”

“Come on, Yuri,” Viktor added with a wide, heart-shaped smile, “before Minami explodes.”

“Okay, fine,” Yuri replied with an exaggerated groan, though admittedly, he wasn't minding the idea of presents too much, and smiled sheepishly as the first huge parcel was dumped into his lap.

Yuri learnt two things very quickly as he unwrapped over two dozen gifts from everyone—first, they needed to hide the scotch tape from Viktor at every single holiday going forward. His fingers ached from how much tape the stupid alpha had used to seal the gifts from himself and Yuuri, and eventually Otabek had simply gotten him an exacto knife to open the gifts with.

Second, they were all terrible sentimentalists, and Yuri could not decide who was the worst—Yuuri, who gave him a huge multi-photo frame bearing pictures of everyone, or his grandfather, who produced an old cat plush toy that Yuri had not seen in nearly fifteen years.

“Koshechka...” Yuri said, his bottom lip quivering a little as he stroked the fuzzy orange and black-striped toy. “I had no idea you kept it.”

“I'd never give away something so precious, Yuratchka,” his grandfather said with a small smile. “For you, or your mladyenyets.”

Yuri hugged the plush cat to his chest and offered his grandfather a watery smile, just as another parcel was dropped into his lap.

Along with the more sentimental gifts, Yuri got practical ones, too—onesies, little baby running shoes, baby books, more plush animals, a mobile with little cats and bears on it, a crib, changing table, baby blanket, little baby leather jacket (and matching ones for Yuri and Otabek), and dozens of other things they'd need for when their child was born.

One thing Yuri could not help but notice, despite his attempts to not let it bother him, was that though he'd been spoiled with gifts from everyone, none of the packages had come from Otabek himself.

The final gift was for Yuri, and not the baby, and it was a bracelet of Buddhist prayer beads from Phichit. They were a deep cranberry colour, and Yuri felt a strange sense of peace as he slipped them on, thanking the Thai alpha with a weak smile while Otabek got up with a small stretch.

“Don't move, Yura,” he commanded with a small smile, “I just need to go and get your present. It's upstairs.”

“You got me something?” Yuri blurted out, then felt himself go red at how that sounded. Otabek, in contrast, merely laughed, and leant back in to kiss him once.

“Did you think I wouldn't?” he asked, and Yuri felt his embarrassment spike a little.

“No—yes—maybe? I don't know!”

The others chortled at Yuri's flustered response, while Otabek merely offered Yuri a small half-smile as he turned around and headed for the stairs.

Around him, the others bloomed into conversation, all the while they kept shooting Yuri with excited, knowing glances. Yuri narrowed his eyes at them; what were they up to now?

Yuri hardly had time to contemplate it before he heard Otabek call from the top of the stairs, “close your eyes, Yura, and don't open them again until I tell you to!”

Yuri obeyed, and at the same moment almost laughed aloud. It was amazing, really, how he had gone from blindly hating Otabek to this. Past Yuri would have never in a million years obeyed an alpha—especially Otabek—but now...

Now he's the most important person in my life, and I love him, Yuri thought without hesitation, and he smiled to himself as a flutter of movement in his stomach made his smile widen.

Well, second most important.

Otabek thumped down the stairs, and as his footsteps died under the plush carpet in the living room, Yuri heard a chorus of excited cries from everyone around him, and his eyelids twitched, though he managed to keep them closed.

“Okay, baby,” Otabek said softly, “open your eyes.”

Yuri did, and his mouth dropped open.

“Mew,” said the little ragdoll kitten held aloft in Otabek's arms.

Its little face was nearly obscured by the huge red bow around its neck, and underneath it Yuri spotted a black collar studded with false diamonds in the shape of little paws. The kitten was a beige-brown, with sooty paws, ears, and face, and it was the most precious thing that Yuri had ever seen.

“For me?” Yuri asked, and Otabek answered by placing the kitten in Yuri's lap. Yuri sniffled as he reached out for the tiny thing, and it purred as it licked and nuzzled at Yuri's fingers.

“For you,” Otabek replied with a small smile, and reached out to remove the enormous bow. Yuri swatted his hand away and did it himself, and the little kitten shook itself immediately after Yuri took it off, as though relieved to get rid of the bow.

“I...I don't know what to say,” Yuri said, his voice cracking a little as he pet the tiny thing. He'd always wanted a cat, and it was hard to believe that one was now sitting on his knees, and it was his.

“Thank you is probably a good start,” Otabek teased, one arm moving to wrap around Yuri's waist while he leant in to kiss his cheek, and sat back down at his side. “Do you like her?”

“Her,” Yuri echoed as he scooped the kitten up and leant in close, and she responded by licking the tip of the omega's nose. “God, Beka, she's fucking adorable.”

A chorus of laughs followed Yuri's statement, while Makkachin whined trotted over, and tried to snuffle at the kitten. Yuri scowled, moving to lift the kitten out of reach, but before he had a chance to, she hissed and took a swipe at the dog's nose.

Yuri snorted when the dog responded with a number of yelping, frightened cries, and he rushed over to Viktor and tucked himself, trembling, under the alpha's legs.

“Aww, poor Makkachin,” Viktor said in between chuckles as he reached down to pat the dog's head. “Did the little koshechka scare you?”

Makkachin answered with another whine, and Yuri snorted as Viktor and Yuuri both babied the large, trembling dog.

“What do you want to name her?” Otabek asked, drawing Yuri's attention back to the kitten in his hands, while he set her back down on his lap. She responded by jumping up carefully onto his stomach, and curled up contentedly. Yuri smiled, watching as Otabek reached down to stroke her gently, and the kitten responded by purring softly.

“I don't know yet,” Yuri replied, smiling idly as he watched his alpha pet the kitten. “I want to make sure it's a good name though—something cool.”

“Something cool?” Otabek asked with a warm chuckle, “not something cute, like Soots, or Mittens, or Waffles?”

“You are officially banned from naming our kid,” Yuri retorted, and Otabek let out a loud snort of laughter. “No, I want a cool name for this cat. Like...like...oh, I know. Puma-Tiger-Scorpion.”

“You're naming your cat what?” Phichit cut in with a small laugh, and though the Thai alpha probably hadn't meant it as an insult, Yuri glared at him anyway.

“Yeah. Or Potya, for short,” Yuri replied coldly. “Got a problem with that?”

“What? No!” Phichit sputtered, his eyes widening a little at the omega. “I just...it's a bit weird.”

“It is not weird, it's cool. The most badass kitten in the universe,” Yuri said stubbornly, and crossed his arms. The move jostled the kitten on his belly, but she didn't move from her spot while Yuri continued to glare at Phichit.

Phichit blinked at Yuri, his expression blank, then in a motion of surrender he lifted his hands and turned to Minami, saying, “we'll get a hamster, and we'll name it—”

“—Cat Food,” Yuri cut in, and Otabek choked on his laughter, while Phichit and Minami offered him a halfhearted glare.

“I think I like Fluffy or Hammy better than Cat Food,” Minami said thoughtfully as he turned back to Phichit, and the alpha grinned as he took one of Minami's hands.

“Or Harvey the Wonder Hamster.”

“Yes, I love it!” Minami squealed, and threw himself at Phichit in a hug.

Yuri leant against Otabek, and he immediately wrapped an arm around the omega's shoulders.

“Yuri?” he prompted, “you okay?”

“We were never that barfingly adorable...were we?” Yuri asked, and Otabek snorted.

“I think we have our moments, we're just not as...enthusiastic as them, I guess,” Otabek replied while he reached out to idly stroke the sleeping kitten.

“Good,” Yuri replied, and turned to offer Otabek a quick kiss. “Thank you for the kitten, Beka, she's too adorable for words.”

“I'm glad you like her,” Otabek chuckled, and kissed Yuri again.

The party progressed, with Yuri never setting Potya down (nor Potya wanting to be put down, and in fact sat on Yuri's shoulder like a fluffy little parrot) and he offered her bits of smoked salmon while he worked on a miniature mountain of mini quiche and sausages wrapped in pastry.

“Hungry?” Otabek teased when he brought Yuri another glass of apple juice, and Yuri narrowed his eyes at him, his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk, and thus was unable to answer.

“It's not me, it's your kid,” Yuri finally said after he accepted the drink and chased down the food. “I'm eating for two, remember?”

“I remember,” Otabek confirmed as he sat next to him and placed a hand on Yuri's belly. “I'm so excited for us, just a few more weeks...”

“Next time, we'll do better,” Yuri said, his voice softening a little so that the others wouldn't overhear them. “You'll be there for the whole thing.”

“Yura, I'm not upset about how this all turned out...not anymore,” Otabek explained as he leant in to kiss Yuri's temple. “You did what you had to do, and it kept you from being badly hurt. I can't fault you for wanting to protect yourself; you've had a hard life, and I didn't exactly make it any easier at first, so you're used to using what you have to survive, and that's okay.”

“Don't you ever get tired of being so perfect?” Yuri asked, and Otabek chuckled warmly.

“I think if I was perfect, I would have worked out faster that the way I was treating you in the beginning was totally awful,” Otabek remarked, “I think about it a lot, you know, how strong you are, and how shitty I was, and how if you were anyone else I would have royally fucked you up—”

“—language, Otabek!” Viktor interrupted, “there are children present!”

“Sorry, Yuuri,” Yuri called, and Otabek snorted.

“Hey!”

Otabek chuckled again as he turned back to Yuri, and caught the blond's lips in a warm, quick kiss. He opened his mouth to speak, but Yuri got there first.

“I don't want to talk about how our relationship started,” Yuri said, “or how shitty you were, or any of that. You smartened up, you got better, and now things are just...amazing. We have a family, a real family of people who care about us, a baby on the way, and a place where we are safe. I don't want to talk about our bad pasts, I just want to focus on the future.”

“How did I get so lucky to find an omega like you?” Otabek asked as he nuzzled the side of Yuri's throat gently, making him giggle.

“You picked me out of line, probably 'cause I'm pretty,” Yuri teased, and Otabek snorted, though there was sadness in his expression too.

“I'll make up for all that, I promise,” Otabek murmured, and moved in to kiss him again.

“You can start by getting me something else to eat,” Yuri teased, and held up his empty paper plate. Potya mewed from his shoulder as though in agreement, and the alpha laughed as he nodded and accepted the empty plate, and headed dutifully for the table.

The food was consumed, Phichit and Yuuri took too many photos of Yuri cutting the barfingly adorable cake covered in teddy bears and candy balloons, and as far as Yuri was concerned, it really was a perfect day.

Until Minami—albeit unintentionally—changed it from perfect to almost perfect.

It was evening, maybe six or six-thirty, and Yuuri was transporting the girls to bed while the alphas wrapped up the leftover food and put it away. Yuri felt a little awkward about being unable to really help, but then Minami, with a cheery expression plastered across his face, said it.

“Well, Mama, let's get all this stuff upstairs!” he chirped happily, and immediately Yuri's world was consumed in black.

~*~

“Let us see if Mama has learned his lesson. Omega, who are you?”

“No one,” Yuri answered immediately...

~*~

“All enriched with everything the alpha's gift needs,” the trainer said, filling the silence as he caressed Yuri's stomach with terrifyingly gentle touches, and Yuri struggled to keep from lurching away from the contact. “We mustn't hurt the baby. Remember, Omega, that is all anyone cares about. The alpha gave you a great gift, and your importance remains only as long as you carry that inside you. Once the child is born, we do not care about your body—it is forfeit, and the real training will begin...”

~*~

Blinding white impeded Yuri's vision through the horrible memories, and he let out a short cry. Had everything with Beka and the others been a hallucination? Was he back with the trainer?

“No, no...” Yuri said tearfully, and a warm hand ghosted over his. He tried to jerk away, but his movements were slow and sluggish. “No, please..”

“Yura...Yura, baby, it's all right, you're safe, they're not here...” a familiar voice said, and Yuri whimpered again, shaking his head. This torture was too real. He couldn't open his eyes and not see Beka, he wanted to hold on the hallucination they'd created just a little longer. “Yuri, please, you need to calm down or they'll kick me out...come on, sweetheart, open your eyes for me, please?”

“No...not real...Beka, Beka...” Yuri whimpered, a tear leaking from his shut eyes, and a soft thumb immediately brushed it away.

That small action made Yuri go still—his trainer had never bothered to wipe his tears before.

Haltingly, Yuri cracked his eyes open.

Blurry at first, slowly his vision sharpened, and the most curious scene came to his eyes.

Otabek sat there, smiling warmly in a hospital chair, in a hospital room. Why was Otabek in a hospital?

Yuri blinked, and looked down at himself.

Yuri was lying in bed, a collection of tubes were taped to the back of his left hand, pumping something into his system. He was in a pale green hospital gown, and a thin blanket had been pulled up and over his baby bump, with a knitted throw blanket that he recognized from home draped over him as well.

“What...” Yuri shook his head as he began to panic, like a fearsome beast crawling up his throat, he suddenly wanted to scream. Yuri shook his head again, and his head spun. “What...what happened? Why am I here?”

“You went into early labour,” Otabek said with a small frown, “from a severe panic attack and episode of disassociation. They stopped it with drugs, and the nurse gave me an earful about the complications of a birth too early for an omega. She suggested we go over triggers with you to keep this from happening again, and to get you into therapy. She wouldn't listen when I tried to explain that your English isn't good enough for that yet. I think she thought it was me who was abusing you and caused all this...Oh, and she said you're bed-bound for the rest of your pregnancy.”

Yuri blinked. He stared at Otabek, who looked nervous and uneasy, like he'd eaten a bad clam.

“What does that mean?” Yuri asked, “bed-bound...like I can't leave bed at all?”

“You're only allowed up for bathroom breaks. The doctor and nurse any extra stress—”

“—so get this kid out of me now!” Yuri interrupted angrily, “I can't just...just sit here for another month!”

“You won't, Yura—”

“—you just said that I wasn't allowed to get out of bed for a month!”

“—yes, but—”

“—and now you're saying I can, so stop saying opposite things and be fucking clear!”

“Yura, I'm trying, but—”

“—no you're not trying!” Yuri choked as tears came to his eyes, “I just had a fucking panic attack so bad I almost popped our kid out during a blackout, and now you're not being very helpful at all—!”

“Yuri!” Otabek shouted as he leapt to his feet.

“Don't yell at me!”

“I'm not yelling!” Otabek cried while he lifted a frustrated hand to his hair, and he began to pace. “You're not listening! You need to calm down, or you might hurt yourself, or the baby.”

At the threat that his anxiety might hurt his unborn child, Yuri's jaw snapped shut. He was sniffling a little and glaring at Otabek, who was still pacing. Yuri took a few slow breaths, but they didn't exactly make him feel any better. When he at least appeared to be calm, Otabek sat down next to him again, and took his hand.

“We aren't leaving you here for the rest of your term, Yura, we're taking you home, but you need to stay in bed. We can bring our bed down to the living room so you won't feel left out of everything, or something, and a lot of beta women and omegas have to do this at the end of their pregnancies—I heard Yuuri did, too.”

Yuri flopped back against his pillows with a soft groan. “This was not how I expected the end of today to go,” he mumbled miserably, but relaxed a little when he felt Otabek offer his hand a gentle squeeze.

“It'll be okay, Yuri,” Otabek murmured consolingly, “just you wait and see.”

Yuri huffed and nodded, but despite Otabek's reassurances, he seriously doubted it.

A/N: If you like my work, please consider throwing a few bucks into my Digital Tip Jar. I am a starving artist, and I like not actually starving to death :P

NLMG Masterpost

[obscure-sentimentalist]

OHHH you like leverage ANNND colin donnell???

I most certainly do!!! :-D Two of my absolute, longtime favorites!

[obscure-sentimentalist]

Ok but now you need to tell us the real way your parents met

Ha, I'd almost forgotten I had those tags on that poll, because I was barely awake when I reblogged it.

I still only have half the story (because sworn to secrecy from telling the other half that I know), and I've been assured that everything else I've ever been told about their first date is true. But let's just say that after hearing the truth, it was a struggle not to immediately start singing "If you like piña coladaaaaaaaaas..."

(EDIT: Only in the respect that personal ads were involved, that's all. My brain made the association and ran with it, because that song already gets stuck in my head all too often.)

Even my mom doesn't understand why this is a secret (hence why I now know, decades later), but not even joking that my dad has every intention of keeping it to the grave and leaving me to find out afterwards. The story has been "blind date" as far back as I can remember, and is even written in their wedding album. Which, I mean, is technically still true in the sense that they indeed hadn't met before, but "via personal ad" is also totally different.

[obscure-sentimentalist]

13, 22, 25 ;P

Fic writer asks!

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

Well, most of my stuff these days tends to be ficlets, so not a whole lot there. With fics like Old enough (the last time I published a chaptered work) and another idea I'm still trying to hammer out, though, I might actually do some semblance of outlining and bullet out some plot points. Sometimes they're incredibly detailed and full of sub-bullets and semicolons; other times, they're just a few words and as vague as "stupid shit."

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

You know, I'll try sometimes, but more often than not it'll change on me when I get down to work, even if I've already written a bit of the ending to start. I have better luck if I have a particular prompt I'm trying to fill, or the entire ficlet is built around some punchline, but I've gotten used to having an idea in mind and then having the characters drag me in a completely different (and usually better) direction as the story unfolds.

25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing?

When it comes to questions about emotional devastation, it's always the Old enough videos scene. I mean, it's probably one of my absolute favorites and was much-needed catharsis for the story, but it basically came about because I summoned the memory of flat-out sobbing at this one movie (not even a good one) I saw as a preteen and wrote with the intent of recapturing that feeling. Based on the number of people who've since informed me that they cried at that chapter, I'd say it succeeded in affecting more than just myself.

[obscure-sentimentalist]

12, 30, 40

Questions for fic writers

Thanks for sending! These are some good ones.

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

Hmm, tough to say... the closest thing I can think of is enemies to lovers? Even still, that's kind of evolved from "not my thing" to "I am open to it if it's handled the right way (for me)." It's just always been kind of a touchy trope for me, but maybe I'll find something that hits just the right way.

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

Ha. Haha. So I... basically only know how to write cute fluff (or cathartic angst) in terms of shippy works. Steam and spice and smut and all is well out of my wheelhouse, and I don't usually get much out of reading it, either.

I got a little flustered writing Prizewinning (which had a grand total of one (1) mildly suggestive comment amidst fun flirting), and Slow Burn was my attempt at writing something steamier (meaning: a makeout session during a summer power outage, and it's mostly interrupted by commentary about the speed of pop culture these days). Compared to so many works out there, it's laughable that these super mild fics had me fretting at all, but they were a stretch from my norm and that was an adjustment.

The main thing I got out of those pieces is the knowledge that I've ventured a bit outside that particular comfort zone, and it worked out alright. I still highly doubt I'll ever end up writing actual smut (more because it's not particularly to my interest), but I have the framework of a future ficlet that gets a bit more sensual. I haven't had much of a mind for writing lately to be able to work on it, but it's one I'm looking forward to touching on when the time is right.

40. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

Not sure if this is in regards to rereading others' works or my own, but the answer is the same either way: I'm a rereader!

Sometimes my enjoyment of a fandom recedes for a while, only to then come surging back some random time later, and one of the first things I like to do is return to some old favorite fics. Other times, I just might not have the brainspace to process a new story but am in a particular sort of mood, and that's when my "comfort food" reread fics come in.

As for my own fics... well, they're already really niche, but they're specifically my kind of niche. Sometimes I gain a new appreciation for a piece during a reread.

[obscure-sentimentalist]

🌤️Share your favorite piece of dialogue from your WIP. !

WIP ask game

Thanks so much!! And ooh, dialogue is definitely my favorite thing, so this is great.

It's... really been a tough going of writing this year, so the pickings were a bit slim. I did remember I dropped this exchange into one piece before I could forget about it, though I still need to do plenty more work to catch up to this point, so it might end up getting cut (but I hope not).

“You used to look at me like I was too good to be true.” “Is that a bad thing?” “I think it makes you scared to blink, like that’s the only thing standing between you and losing it all.”

Just an amicable, if hesitant, discussion between two exes, with one having moved on and the other assuring that there are no hard feelings.

[obscure-sentimentalist]

Spotify wrapped: #97

Ah, one of the ones from the playlist that got significant airtime!

Nightmare - CLOVES

[obscure-sentimentalist]

"HOLA MANUEL NICE HANDS" THE WAY I HAD A VISERAL REACTION TO THIS PHRASE AND COULD HEAR IT BEING SPOKEN, EM

AS YOU SHOULD, KRIS. SUFFER WITH ME.

Do you want me to go on with a whole host of other quotes from this album that have been ingrained in my immediate family's communication since 1998, because I very much can.

("Ya got any Ritz Bits????")

("I dunno! Should've been here by now!")

("FIIIIIIIIIIIVE SMOKED KIELBASAAAAAAAAAS!!!")

In all honesty, though, A Very Veggie Christmas is probably the only Christmas music I can actually tolerate year after year, precisely because of the dialogue and because I literally have the sense of humor of a cucumber.

[obscure-sentimentalist]

🎉 & ✨

Fanfic writer emoji ask game

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

I mean, I write very niche things, so a fic that might be considered "successful" would probably be one that just... meets someone's interest and they engage with it.

But if we want to get specific: I revel in victory whenever someone comments about how I've made them cry over a scene that was designed to be an emotional wallop (there is one particular sequence that has been the runaway winner thus far, but this really applies to any of them). And save screenshots of those reactions to go back to for a little mood boost/bit of pride sometimes.

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Oof, always the tough one, eh?

The thing that always comes to mind is the fact that I'm just really good with dialogue (of the funny sort, at the very least), and pretty much always have been. It comes fairly easily to me, enough that I often lay it down where I can and fill in the rest of the connective tissue from there.

[obscure-sentimentalist]

Hey! I didn't know you watched jake 2.0 too! i feel like hardly any one did and its a shame. It took me a while to get over my grudge against Chuck being so much more successful with the same basic premise

I did!!! Not while it was airing, granted (didn't find out about it until 7-8 years after the fact, and it was longer still before I was able to watch the entire series because it was difficult to find), but I've now seen it in full twice and it's kind of become a comfort series of mine. Always love a good, fun spy show, and the characters were just great; I'll also admit that the trials of just hunting down the episodes secured its place in my heart.

Ooh, I'll admit, my love of Chuck predates watching even the pilot of Jake, but I can understand that frustration. Renewal was a struggle practically every season with Chuck, but still, that was five seasons with a conclusion (even if said ending still pisses me off, nearly ten years later) compared to a single season that got cut unfairly short. My feelings on the matter might be particularly strong right now because I just wrapped my second watch-through today, but there are certainly parts of Chuck I'd trade to have just some sort of Jake continuation.

[obscure-sentimentalist]

I think I don't know you as well as I'd like to, but we have mutual friends who think you are 10/10 do recommend, so I'd like to get to know you more. I think I'd probably love your fic, but I haven't really been reading in that fandom very much anymore, so it's hard for me to try to start it. You seem very fun and sweet and I'm sorry you've been having a rough time. <3

Anonymous thoughts

Oh, you're too sweet! <3 I'll admit that I tend to stay on the fringes, mostly because I know I can be a bit much and I don't want to bother anyone, but I'm absolutely open to getting more acquainted if interested!! Hopefully I can meet those generous recommendation ratings. :-)

And absolutely no worries about the fic-reading; I'm sometimes not entirely sure why I'm dabbling in canons I've had barely anything to do with in a long while. I've pretty much just absconded with certain characters, gotten attached, and my brain hasn't found anything else to focus on.

Thank you <3 It's been a difficult number of work-weeks and due to continue for an unknown amount of time, so I just gotta figure out how to hold it together and get through.