#someone teach them to shutup

[dragons-and-devils]

“Theres a lot of welsh boys that are breathing heavy out there. Conditions are warm and muggy. Australia on top” - someone who actually thinks this sentance is okay to say outloud

[miekasa]

winter break/skiing au with eren

↯ pairing: eren jaeger x (fem) reader

↯ genres and warnings: modern au (college), fluff, eren is an idiot but we all knew that, and yes i do think he’d probably be a good snowboarder or athlete in general tbh

↯ word count: 2.7k lol and it’s not even written out like a fic

↯ notes: this is based off of a request i got for meeting eren at a ski lodge. heads up i know next to nothing about skiing or any related sport, so bear with me on this. also this formatting is... headcanonish but also fic like?? in an alternate timeline, i could write this out as a fic, but my lack of knowledge about the subject + me wanting to try this format out resulted in this!

If he’s being completely honest, Eren wasn’t ecstatic to be going on this skiing trip with his friends in the first place, but he didn’t have much choice, seeing as he didn’t want to be the only one left behind for winter break.

Not to mention he’s a shit skier. He’s fine with a snowboard, so he wouldn’t be stuck on the bunny hills for a week, but that didn’t mean he was happy about it. After all, he was pushing to go somewhere warm for break. You know, since it was already freezing cold at home.

Nevertheless, he sucks it up for the sake of his friends’ happiness (and because he was severely outnumbered. Also because Armin had never been skiing and Eren really wanted to record him falling face first into the snow at some point).

As expected, it’s fucking freezing by the time they make it to the lodge, but at least Jean—resident organizer of this trip—had gotten them a pretty nice cabin with central heating, and a fireplace. It’s more of a house that they’re renting really, with enough rooms for the six of them.

Unfortunately the rooms were not soundproof so he was subject to hearing Jean and Connie staying up until the crack of dawn, and Mikasa throwing pillows at Sasha telling her to shut the fuck up. But at least he got to room with Armin, so it wasn’t all bad. 

Eren spends the first day just chilling around, still warming up to the idea of the trip (and warming up physically, because fuck is it cold here). The lodge itself has main, communal buildings with indoor activities—a game room, indoor pools, hot tubs, a buffet, the whole nine yards—that he spends time exploring.

He’s heading down to the indoor pool with Armin and Jean in tow, the rest of his friends opting to head upstairs for dinner first after their day of skiing; and that’s where he sees you. And, not to sound like a lovestruck idiot, but Eren thinks you might be the prettiest person he’s ever seen in his life.

In a cliche moment, he catches you as your head reemerges from out of the water, face dripping wet with pool water as you tread in your spot. Eren looks stupid—big, green eyes wide as hell and a little bit of a gap between his lips.

Jean has to smack him upside the head to get him walking again, mumbling about how Eren looks like the literal heart eyes emoji to which Eren simply pushes the taller boy into the water.

He looks back to spot you again (in a non-creepy manner of course), when a voice calls out your name—he’s presuming, by the way your turn your head.

“You’ll turn into a prune if you stay in any longer,” a short man with dark hair calls to you, a towel around his shoulder his mostly dry body, save for his swimming shorts that are still damp, “Come on, I don’t want get the shit end of the stick at the buffet.”

The short man’s words seem to make you chuckle, and a little reluctantly, you swim to the edge of the pool, taking his hand to get out of the water. Eren frowns a bit watching the interaction. You and the short man seem close—there go his chances of… well, he’s not sure exactly… uh… talking to you, maybe?

Whatever it was, you might already have a boyfriend, and from the way the rest of, who Eren is again presuming to be, your friends walk with you to the exit, it doesn’t seem like he’d ever find you alone again.

Oh well. He sighs, trying not to think much of it, and enjoy his time in the pool. (He fucking doesn’t because Jean gets his revenge and pushes him in the deep and even Armin his him with a pool noodle. Traitor).

Day two he’s finally going to to the slopes. On his way up in the lift, he can see Sasha and Connie stumbling down the hill while Jean laughs behind them, and Eren only shakes his head.

Yeah, maybe they shouldn’t have taken Sasha, Connie, and Armin with them on the advanced hills, but it was so much more fun this way. Although, to his credit, Armin was catching on quickly (no thanks to Eren or Jean; that was all Mikasa’s teachings).

Eren lets Mikasa work her magic with Armin. He straps on his helmet and goggles, and heads down first. It’s been a while since he’s snowboarded, but he’s still pretty damn good if he does say so himself. He even tries out a few old tricks and—not to brag—but sticks his landing every time.

Halfway down the slope, he can feel someone else boarding beside him—and he doesn’t think much of it, until they replicate his previous flip, landing a just a little in front of him.

Eren can’t see the person through their goggles, but from the way they look back at him before pushing forward, he can tell that they wanted a challenge. And who is Eren to turn down a little friendly competition?

The descent continues on with Eren and his mystery partner not-so-subtly flexing their own skills. Eren copies their flips and turns, and is amazed as he watches them copy his in return. 

He decides to kick it up a notch, swerving over to a small snow rap, to use the height it gives him to pull off his signature move—yes it’s called the Jaegerbomb, yes he did come up with it when he was eleven, and no he doesn’t regret because it’s still sick as fuck, shutup Zeke.

He sticks his landing, perfectly timed with the end of the slope, pushing his board forward to completely stop himself. He turns around, lifting his goggles, to give his copycat a smug look, when, to his surprise, he sees them pulling off something almost equally as impressive, and probably more complex before they land. 

Eren’s got the same stupid, starstruck look on his face as he did in the pool, as he watching their momentum come to a stop a little ways downhill from him, because, fuck if that wasn’t the coolest thing he’s ever seen.

Immediately, they’re surrounded by two other bodies, both of which sing their praises, probably for that last move. Eren knows he would. It’s only after your goggles are pushed up over your helmet and your turn around that Eren realizes its you! The girl from the pool.

If he was awestruck before, it’s nothing compared how he’s feeling now. No way you were the same person! But, he has to admit, if we were gonna get crushed by anybody on the slopes, he’s glad it was a pretty girl.

To his surprise, you make your way over to him after unbuckling from your board, and Eren has to quickly shake the stupid look off of his face.

“I guess I lost our race back there,” you say with a smile, cloudy air falling from your lips from the cold, “But I just wanted to tell you that your last flip was really cool! It must have taken you forever to master that.”

For the first time since arriving, Eren’s glad it’s cold as shit, because now at least he has a coverup for the redness creeping onto his cheeks. With a nervous chuckle, he finally responds, “Yeah, I’ve, uh, kinda been working on it since I was eleven.”

“Well it definitely payed off, I’ve never seen anything like it,” you cheer, and Eren is really considering passing out right now, but that would not be cool. Very uncool. So he doesn’t. “Have you been boarding that long?”

“Yeah! I mean, well, I’m only 21, so I guess not that long,” Eren says with a nervous chuckle, “Well—uh, I guess, like, ten years is a long time, but I—I used to snowboard more often when I was little with my family, then, um, you know college got in the way in stuff… haha… yeah.”

Okay, fine, Eren has never been the smoothest guy in the world, but he’s usually not this awkward either. But can you really blame him?—between your looks, and your skills, and the fact that you actually came over to initiate and carry out a conversation with him, he was a goner from the start.

“I’m Eren, by the way,” he continues, hoping to cover up his awkward stuttering, “And, uh, you must have been doing this for a while too? Your last move was sick, I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“(Y/N),” you respond with a smile. Luckily for him, you don’t seem completely turned off by his awkward demeanor, still as bubbly as ever. “Not really… well, kind of? Maybe a few years at this point, but my teacher’s been a real hardass, so I learned to pick up on things pretty quick unless I wanted to get turned into a human snowball,” you tell him, turning your shoulder a bit to point back at your friends, “If you think what I did was good, you gotta see Levi—he’s the short one yelling at the one with the pigtails. He taught me everything I know.”

Eren recognizes Levi as the shorter man who helped you out of the pool yesterday. He deflates a little—he’d kind of forgotten about him, and he isn’t too happy to be reminded of him again.

“Oh, I see,” Eren nods, glancing over at Levi once more, “He must be a pretty good teacher.”

“When he’s not throwing snowballs as a learning tool, yeah he is,” you laugh, “Anyways, I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to go at it again sometime. I don’t know how long you’re, uh, staying or anything, but racing with you was fun. Even if you did get a bit of a head start.”

“I’m here for the week, actually,” Eren’s eyes practically shine at the hint of competitiveness in your voice. He loves to be challenged, after all. “But I don’t mind giving it a go right now, if you’re going up again?”

Eren has to stop himself from grinning like an idiot when you accept his invitation. He thinks he’s finally in the clear when he hears the short man—Levi—call out your name again.

To his surprise, you beckon Eren along with you, and you introduce him to Levi formally. Levi has to look up to look at Eren, but Eren’s the one who shrinks under his gaze; an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck. Damn, your teacher (friend, too? not boyfriend, apparently, though?) is intimidating as hell, how on Earth do you take lessons from him without buckling in fear??

You point to your other friends—Isabel and Farlan—who are standing a little further away. The former of whom is attempting to make a snow angel while the blonde is enthusiastically recording and taking pictures of the events.

After introducing the two, you ask Levi if he wants to up the hill with the both you again (and no, Eren doesn’t pout when you extend the offer to him—he’s really working on this keeping his feelings in check and being a rational thinker and all that and if you ask him it’s paying off), to which Levi declines (thank god).

Not even because Eren would be bummed if you didn’t get that he wanted to spend some more time alone with you not just to snowboard, but also because he knows he’d fall flat on his face in front of Levi, and then he’d probably have to hide in shame for the rest of his trip.

“Looks like it’s just us then,” you smile at him, “Okay, we can head back up—I’m just gonna ask Isabel to trade gloves with me real quick, yeah? And steal a heat pack from her.”

Eren doesn’t know if he should follow you over to Isabel, so he kind of shuffles around where he’s standing, a few feet next to Levi. (And damn, is it just Eren or is it suddenly 50 degrees colder next to this man).

Eren’s avoiding eye contact and small talk—and subsequently avoiding any bubbling feelings or irrational false suspicions about Levi. Also, he sucks at small talk.

It’s Levi who lets out an exasperated sigh first, not even bothering to turn to face Eren before bluntly saying, “She’s single.”

Eren’s eyes go wide and he’s sputtering in embarrassment—also because Levi said it so loudly, what if you heard??—but he’s cut off again before he can even speak: “Don’t even try it, Farlan and I saw you drooling over her at the pool, too.”

Well, now Eren’s certain that the blush on his face and neck are not from the cold, but from his complete and utter humiliation. “Well, I, uh, I didn’t mean to—”

“You don’t seem to be too great at this, so I’ll take pity on you and tell you she likes you, too. Or likes you enough, at least,” Levi continues.

“I—she does?” Eren blurts. Okay, now he’s probably being too loud.

“She talked to you didn’t she,” Levi says, but the question comes out as more of a deadpan observation, “Look if she asks you about anything while you’re up there—or better yet, asks you to teach her anything, just take it as an opening, alright kid? Trust me, there’s nothing you can do that she can’t.”

Ouch. Eren reasons that Levi is probably right, he’s only seen you board once but you’re pretty incredibly but, still.

Wait does that mean you really were flirting with him before?? You’re actually interested in him???

He hears you calling out to him, and sees you waving, gesturing towards the lifts with a new pair of bright blue mittens on, and Eren barely has the coherency to wave back (stupidly, slowly, lovestruck, like an idiot).

Levi watches the exchange with a bored look on his face. He sighs audibly this time, untucking his arms from where they were crossed over his chest to pick up the snowboard at his feet. “Cabin 24C, east wing. Bring her back after dinner,” he says, hoisting the board under his arm before walking towards Farlan and Isbael.

Eren doesn’t even have time to ask him anymore questions—plus you’ve started walking towards the lifts and he’s obviously not going to leave you hanging.

He doesn’t and your little ski-lift, snowboarding kind of date goes well, even if he’s positive you did take it easy on him.

You’re the one to ask him to go up one more time, when Eren remembers Levi’s advice and finally musters up the courage to ask: “Actually, I’m a little hungry—do you, uh, maybe wanna head inside for dinner? If you’re still up to, we can come back later.”

And when the evening is over and Eren’s gotten your number, he does in fact walk you back to your lodge with your friends, and he thinks that even Levi gave him a look of approval before slamming the door in his face.

(It wasn’t really approval, so much as he’s impressed Eren had the balls and critical thinking skills to actually ask you out in the end. But it’s fine because Farlan and Isabel both loudly told him how happy they were to see you’d scored a date with ‘emerald eyes from the pool’).

Mikasa and Armin are less than impressed when Eren comes back to his own lodge at damn near midnight after having not answered any of their calls all day, but Eren thinks it was worth it, even if he does have a bruise from Armin poking him in the side with his ski poles.

Eren meets you at the slopes every day for the rest of the week, ignoring Jean and Connie’s claims about him being a simp. So what if he is? He’s the one snowboarding and sipping hot chocolate with the pretty girl from pool at the end of the day isn’t he?

He learns that the both of you attend the same university, but are in almost opposite programs. That makes sense, Eren thinks, because he surely would have remembered seeing you on campus before.

You even get along with his friends really well, even if you only get the opportunity to meet them once at the lodge. Eren is more than impressed, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen Mikasa warm up to someone so quickly. 

He thinks he’s pretty successful at meeting your friends, too. Isabel and Farlan continually reassure him that you do in fact have a crush on him (and maybe even persuade him try and kiss you before the week is over. Spoiler: he does, while it’s snowing and everything and it’s pretty damn great). 

On the last day of his trip, Eren takes you to the top of the hill with all his friends, and when you completely demolish Jean and leave him eating your dust, Eren thinks he might just be halfway in love with you already. 

[samdeancass]

Time Travel

Requested on Quotev

Pairing: Kevin x Tennyson!reader

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Characters: Kevin, Y/N, Ben, Gwen

Words: 2367

A/N: Y/N is Bens sister.

Description: When Y/N is kidnapped by a time traveller for revenge, its up to Kevin, Ben and Gwen to save her.

Being the sister of Ben Tennyson wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. You're always getting used as leverage or kidnapped by his enemies and sadly, you were becoming to get used to it. However, things became more complicated when you struck up a relationship with Kevin. Both of them would get into fights together about who would be the one to save you. These fights had become more and more frequent over the past few weeks and you had had enough.

“I’VE HAD IT! You both are acting like children! Fighting over who gets to save me! Has it ever occurred to you that you wouldn’t have to if you bothered to teach me self-defense, eh?” You stood up from the sofa and glared at the both of them before storming towards the front door.

“Where are you going?!” Both Kevin and Ben stood up and began to walk towards you. You glared at the both of them . “Somewhere where the both of you aren’t!” You slammed the door behind you and began walking towards your car. You had no idea where you were going to drive to but you needed to clear your head. Sliding into the drivers seat and turning the ignition, you placed your foot on the accelerator and gently eased onto the road.

You slid into the parking lot of Mr. Smoothie and turned off the ignition. You rested your head against the steering wheel and let out an agitated scream. “Why can’t they just realise that both of them can work together?! They don’t always have to fight each other!” You stayed in your car for a few more minutes before getting out and walking towards the entrance of Mr. Smoothie.

A bright blue light engulfed the parking lot. Confused, you turned around and scoped out your surroundings whilst signalling your location on your plumber’s badge. Footsteps sounded behind you and you whizzed around, hands up in front of you for self-defense. A loud laugh rumbled throughout the air as a man, a little taller than you, walked out of the shadows.

“Really, Y/N? You think doing that is going to save you?” The man towered over you in an attempt of intimidation. You stared up at him, unfazed. “No, but I know that my brother, the wielder of the Omnitrix, his cousin, an anodite and my boyfriend, an osmosian, will travel to the ends of the earth to find me and kick your ass.”

The man let out a growl before grabbing your shirt in his fists and lifting you up to his eye level. “That osmosian is the reason I’m here. A long time ago, he took something….someone dear to me. I’m going to do the same to him.” A loud cackle invaded your ears as the blue light surrounded you once more, engulfing you and whisking you away.

Ben and Kevin were still bickering with each other after you left. They were stood toe to toe with each other, both of their nostrils flaring with frustration. “She’s my sister, Kevin! Of course I’m going to want to save her!” “What about me?! I’m her boyfriend! She relies on me to keep her safe!” Ben opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by his omnitrix flashing. He rolled his eyes and twisted his omnitrix, a green map showing up. “It’s Y/Ns coordinates. Why would she be sending us this?” Ben and Kevin both looked at each other with fear in their eyes. “Tennyson, get in the car now!”

Kevin sped around the streets of Bellwood until he reached your coordinates. He got out of the car immediately and looked around, Ben following his lead. “Y/N!” In the distance, he seen you in the man’s clutches being engulfed into the blue light. Kevin ran as fast as he could, Ben following behind, but he was too late. You disappeared right before his eyes and he was too slow to save you.

He sunk to his knees and punched the concrete beneath him, over and over. “Kevin, stop!” He kept going, anger and frustration striving his punches. Ben pulled him up and slapped him across the face. “Snap out of it, Kevin! You’re not going to be able to help her if your hurt!” Kevin closed his eyes and nodded in understanding.

“Now, we need to figure out who that man was. He seemed to have some sort of travelling powers.” Kevin’s eyes widened in realisation as Ben kept talking about the plan to get you back. “Tennyson, shutup. I know who’s took her.” Ben tapped his foot against the floor as he waited for an explanation. “It was a long time ago, back before I met you guys. I was crazy with power. Somebody set a bounty on this guy so I went after him.”

Ben nodded, signalling Kevin to keep talking. “I went to his house and knocked on the door. As soon as that door opened, I absorbed silver and punched whoever was in front of me. I looked down and saw that I had killed his wife. She was dead instantly.” A small tear ran down his face as he remembered how horrible he used to be. “His name is Larry. He’s a tech genius and he’s been after me for years, but I’ve always been one step ahead of him. Larry built time travel tech so he could find me in any time, anywhere. He’s finally caught up with me.”

Kevin held his head down in shame as Ben walked towards him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You’re not that guy anymore Kevin. You’ve changed. We will find a way to get Y/N back from him, I promise.” Kevin nodded his head in appreciation. “I think that the first port of call should be Gwen. She’s got that big spellbook so maybe There’s one about time travelling.” Ben agreed and they both walked back towards Kevins car.

You groaned as you regained consciousness, a pounding headache attacking you. You tried to hold your head but found that your hands were tied tight to the arms of your chair, the same with your feet. Taking a deep breath to calm your quickening heartbeat, you looked around the room to try and find something that would help you get free.

You seen a large nail sticking out of a pillar across the room and smiled. You began to scrape your chair towards it, relief filling your body, when the door in front of you swung open causing you to scream. “Do you really think you’d be able to escape me, Y/N? We’re not even in the same year anymore. There isn’t anywhere that I wouldn’t find you.” Larry walked behind you and pulled the chair back to its original position.

“What do you mean we’re not in the same year?! How is that possible?!” Panic began to fill your body as his words sunk into you. Your chest began to heave as your breathing became heavy. Larry stepped in front of you, kneeling down to your height. “I’ve developed technology that helps me travel through time. I’ve been trying to catch up to Kevin for years but I’ve never been able to make him suffer, until now. You’re the most important thing in his life, Y/N, and I’m going to take you away from him, just like he did to me.”

Confusion washed over your features. “What do you mean? Who did he take from you?” Larry stood up and took a deep breath. “He came to my house looking for me, and found my wife. He killed her and left her body for me to find. I held her in my arms and vowed to get revenge on the person that murdered her; and that is exactly what I am going to do.”

“No! He’s not like that anymore! He’s changed! He’s a good man! Please don’t do this!” Tears began flowing down your cheeks as he came towards you with a tray of torture tools. A smirk washed over his face as he took a small knife from the tray and lunged towards you.

Ben, Gwen and Kevin had gathered together all of the ingredients from the spell. “Surely with all this time travelling he’s been doing over the years, there’s got to be consequences. He can’t just travel through different years and not expect anything to happen. Time has got to catch up with him sometime, right?” Kevin and Gwen rolled their eyes as Ben rambled on.

“Hey, Gwen. Thank you for doing this. I know it’s going to take a lot out of you and I just want you to know how much I appreciate this. Y/Ns the most important person, and knowing that somebody has her because of me….it breaks me apart inside.” Gwen looked up at him and smiled. “You don’t need to thank me, Kevin. We all love Y/N and we’d do anything for her. We will get her back.”

Kevin leaned down and hugged Gwen. “Now, guys, how in the hell are we supposed to know what year she’s in? I don’t think there’s any sort of map that tells you something like that.” Gwen carried on mixing the ingredients together whilst looking up at Ben. “There isn’t a map, but there is a spell. A very easy one, actually. All I need is something of hers.”

Kevin reached into his pocket and held out your plumbers badge that had fell out of your hands. “Will this work?” Gwen nodded and took the badge, pouring the ingredients over it whilst chanting out the spell. Her eyes began to sparkle pink with her anodite power as the spell progressed. Ben and Kevin stood back against the wall as the room was overcome with power.

In a matter of seconds, Gwen was gone and the room was empty apart from the two boys. “Alright, I think it worked. Now, where would Larry be keeping Y/N?” “His house. It’s the perfect place for him to get his revenge. Me going back to the scene of the crime to make me suffer, it’s got to be there.” Ben headed towards the door. “Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go.”

Both of the boys ran as fast as they could towards Larry’s house with Kevin leading the way. He rounded the last corner and stood in front of a stone house, dark and forgotten. Ben eventually caught up with Kevin and rested his hands on his knees, catching his breath. “Are you sure they’re in there? It looks abandoned.” A scream erupted from the house, which they both identified as yours. Kevin was the first to head towards the house, opening the door with one kick and running towards your screams. Ben followed quickly behind, his omnitrix ready for battle.

Your screams became louder as the boys headed deeper into the house. “Hold on, baby, I’m coming.” They stopped when they came to a wooden door underneath the staircase. Kevin and Ben looked at each other before shoulder barging the door open.

Your eyes widened as the door was busted open. However, you let out a breath of relief when you seen Kevin and Ben standing in front of you. Kevin began to move forwards toward you but was stopped in his tracks by Larry holding a small blade to your throat. “Stop right there, Kevin. If you take one more step, well, I suppose you know what will happen next.”

You and Kevin both locked eyes and you could see the worry consuming him. You nodded slightly, signalling you were Ok. “I’m alright, Kevin. Don’t worry.” You winced as the blade was pressed harder against your throat. Kevin tensed up as he seen you in pain. “How does it feel Kevin? Knowing that the person you love is going to die, but there is nothing you can do about it.”Kevin took a step forward. “I wouldn’t know because that’s never going to happen.”

At that moment, Ben lunged at Larry as Kevin ran towards him. The knife was knocked out of Larry’s hands as he hit the floor, leaving him defenceless against the wrath of Kevin and Ben. Larry crawled back until he hit the wall. “Please, don’t hurt me. I don’t want to be in anymore pain. I just wanted you to know what I felt when you took away the woman I love.”

Kevin knelt down in front of Larry, a slight smile on his face. “I’m not going to hurt you, Larry. That’s not who I am anymore. But I am going to leave you with the fact that you could have caused me that pain and you failed.”

Kevin stood up and ran towards you withBen following close behind. He knelt down in front of you and untied your legs whilst Ben untied your arms. You fell into Kevin’s awaiting arms, a small groan of pain escaping your lips. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Y/N.” You shook your head and gave a small smile. “You don’t have to apologise, Kev. You weren’t to know that he was going to take me.” Kevin brushed a few strands of hair away from your face and brushed his thumb across your cheek.

You could see that there was still worry and shame evident in his eyes, so you leaned up and placed a sweet and gentle kiss on his lips. “You’re not that guy anymore, Kevin. You’ve changed for the better and I am not going to blame you for anything that happened back then because it wasn’t the true you.”

Kevin gave you a beaming smile and kissed you, this time deeper and more passionate. “Erm, guys. Don’t you think we should get home before you start doing any of that?” Both you and Kevin laughed before he lifted you in his arms and carried you out of the door.

“I’m glad you guys were finally able to work together to save me.” Ben and Kevin both looked at each other with small smirks. “Yeah, don’t be expecting it every time, sis. One of us is always going to be more protective of you.”

[tmntxreader-fics]

TMNT Raphael x Reader: Bad Child

Summary: Birds of a feather flock together. Who knew that being the dejected/temperamental sibling of the family would make you an unlikely 'friend'?

@gryffindorgirl03​ requested: Could you do a raph x reader where is s/o has a short temper like raph and its thier sibling that mainly tiggers it and maybe him helping them calm down when they go to him for comfort. Thank you

Warnings: Angst, CURSING

Song: Bad Child by Tones And I 

Gender Neutral Reader

You think that you must hate her. 

Surely you do. There’s no other word that could possibly describe the overwhelming feeling that comes with just the sound of her name. 

“If you’d listened to me then we wouldn’t be in this mess!” 

The sound of her voice is like nails scraping against a chalkboard and the mere memory of your fight makes your blood simmer beneath your skin. 

If anything, she’s the one who needs to listen. It’s as if everything you say warrants nothing but rolling eyes and you don’t understand it. You can’t figure out what it is about the way you think that immediately dismisses you, that invalidates you the second the words are spoken. 

“It’s like a routine with you! You get mad, you ruin everything, everyone forgives you, rinse-wash-repeat."

She can get fucked.

Your teeth grind involuntarily at the sheer fury boiling within your blood. You can't remember the last time you'd been so angry; so angry that it felt like your chest was literally going to explode.

You're stomping down the hallway with unknown purpose and no clue as to your destination. Setting one foot in front of the other, you've become a tidal wave crushing everything within it's path.

"Hey-" the growling greeting was immediately cut and redirected, "what happened?

You barge past the red clad turtle with nothing but a snarled, "nothing."

"Bullshit it's nothing," he mimics you sarcastically. His steps thunder behind at a leisurely pace and you can feel his hot gaze on your neck.

You want to ignore him. You want to be alone. You want to drive your fist through a wall. You want to fucking explode.

"I ain't leavin' anytime soon," he drawls almost boredly, "might as well just tell me what the fuck is wrong with ya."

Your feet come to a screeching halt on their own accord, whirling on Raph with a fury that startled even him. He, luckily, comes to a stop fast enough to avoid bowling you over and stands merely inches before you.

You tilt your head to glare up at him and in that moment you see red.

"What's wrong with me?" You begin, voice rising rapidly in volume. It's as if your body temperature has risen drastically in an instant, heat rushing to your face in a dizzying flash.

With a sharp shove to his plastron you continue, "because there's always something wrong with me, right? Never anyone else? Always MY fucking fault, I'M the fuck up in the family?"

Raph's eyes widen for a brief moment at the aggression being launched at him. Then his golden gaze narrows, a knowing gleam in his eye. "Hold up-"

"No!" You interrupt, voice at a full belt. "You don't tell me to hold up! She can get fucked and you can go fuck yourself too if you're going to pull this-"

Your words leave you with a forced gasp and it takes you a second to catch your breath and recollect yourself. Raph's heart-stopping glare levels with you, eyes narrowed but softening with each passing second.

He had shoved you against the wall like some Neanderthal brute. 

The nerve-

"Shutup and listen to me,” he says, his voice rough and low. You bare your teeth angrily at him but he continues unfazed, “I know how it is. I know how you feel. I’m here for you, idiot.” 

“Idiot?” 

“So, stop fuckin’ shutting me out and just talk to me.” 

“I don’t want to fucking talk to you!” You shout, pushing forward until your nose was pressed against his. Raph doesn’t budge, he knows what you’re doing. Hell, he did the same thing just yesterday to his younger brother. Watching you was as though someone played a clip of the aftermath of every fight he had with Leo. 

Your sister was Leo 2.0, even he had an issue with her at times. For you it would have to be a fucking nightmare to continually get knocked down. 

“Well, I want to talk to you,” Raph grins, nudging your nose playfully against his. “Let’s talk about how you’re pretty up close and personal right now, Shorty.” 

Your eyes widen as you realise your predicament and in a mere second his proximity envelops your senses. You push back against the wall in an attempt to gain some distance, your breathing suddenly picking up pace. 

Granting you reprieve, he leans back slightly with a lazy smirk playing on the corner of his mouth. “Whenever this shit happens come find me,” he drawls, hands returning to his side from where they rested against the wall. “Birds of a feather, you know?”

“Yeah,” you rasp, suddenly aware of your much more reasonable temperament. 

“Come on,” he murmurs, gesturing over his shoulder with a nod. “In all seriousness, let’s talk it out over a drink. I’ll teach you a trick or two on how to deal with this shit.” 

With that, he flashes you a crooked smile and turns around, walking towards the kitchen with the expectation that you’ll follow. 

You set off behind him, hoping the drink he’s talking about is the alcoholic kind. 

God knows you need it. 

[popculturebuffet]

Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers Part 3: Storkules in Duckburg! aka THE INCREDIBLE STORKULES TERRIBLE BUT WELL MEANING ROOMATE OUT OF MYTH

Hello all you happy people! And welcome and welcome back to Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers, my look at the season 2 arcs of Ducktales! This arc was paid for by WeirdKev27 and I truly enjoy his support. if you want to know how to commission your own reviews or to get a guarnateed review of me of your choice from me a month, stick around to the end. I realized that shoving all my plugs in up top may be driving people away and while I DO make them because I want to make a living off this, i’ts not fair to those of you who simply can’t afford to buy a lot of extra shit like myself to keep shoving it in your face. 

Previously on the Louie Inc Arc, Louie, after believing he had no skills and it was a matter of when not if he ws going to die, found his talent: seeing all the angles and thus being Sharper than the Sharpies. With newfound confidence and a chip on his shoulder from Scrooge saying he could one day be a bigger success than Scrooge himself, founding Louie Inc as a result. But what is Louie Inc? Does he actually have a plan or a bunch of buzzwords. And what does STORKULES, MANLY GAY OUT OF MYTH have to do with any of this? Join me under the cut to find out. 

We open with Louie giving Scrooge his sales pitch that is essentially...

Naturally Scrooge buys none of it. I mean he’s somewhere in his hundreds, he’s probably seen about 80 thousand pitches that amount to “I have no plan but give me money anyway”. There’s a reason there’s a Butch Hartman shaped crater on the lawn from where he threw his ass out. 

Scrooge does mentor the lad, or at least attempt to pointing out he needs an actual product or service (Louie rejects the idea of a lemonade stand as too easy), or as he puts it “Find a problem and create a solution”. 

While the basic PRINCIPAL isn’t bad, find something people want or need and provide it, phrasing it that way sounds like “find a problem people are having and exploit the shit out of that problem for fun and profit.” Granted that IS a guiding principal of business, it’s just not something an uncle should be teaching his kids. They should be teaching them about the anime and cartoons they grew up with as I do with my niece and nibling. 

He does show him a valid example of this in action in the form of Donald. Turns out Donald has found a good way to make money while he looks for a job, can relate: since Duckburg is facing a housing shortage, likely because several square blocks probably get destroyed by Scrooge’s Adventures, Glomgold’s Schemes, Superhero Battles, whatever creation went horribly wrong for Gyro, etc at least once a week. So he’s taken it upon himself to offer up the spare room to whoever can rent it.. and to steal Scrooge’s chandelier which even when caught he still takes anyway. Scrooge.. you called the guy a god-damn moocher in the season premiere, despite the fact he lives there soley because YOU offered and because he’s you know, being responsible and staying by his boys so they have their father figure around. So yeah I feel he’s doing this partly out of spite as is the McDuck way. I mean if your going to call him a freeloader just for being a responsible parent, then he’s going to take it up a damn notch.

Scrooge proceeds to laugh off Louie wanting a million dollars and gives him a dime instead because of course he was. Seriously Louie there are two other billionaires in town who are FAR dumber and far more easily swindled. Just go get star up capital from them. Hell with Glomgold all you’d have to do is tell him it’d upset scrooge and he’d literally throw money at you. Or give you a shark full of money. He needs the shark back though. He’s family. 

Meanwhile Donald prepares for his new tenant and finds.. THE INCREDIBLE STORKULES! Who to his mounting horror as he realizes it, IS the new tenant. And who throws him into the sun. Cue credits. 

So after Donald somehow survives being thrown into the sun, Storkules explains why he’s here: Zeus responded to his son playing the lute a lot like any rational reasonable 

No of course he responded to the “crime” of “playing his instrument a lot” with sending a swarm of harpies on the town then blaming Storkules for it and casting him out. What’s most shocking is not the action, this is honestly him staying the course of being a fucking disgrace, but that Zeus somehow ISN’T the biggest asshole i’ve dealt with this week. No that honor is reserved as always for this bitch:

Keep in mind she manages to be this obnoxious in only TWO scenes. Also keep in mind I had to put up with Julie for a MUCH larger chunk of the previous two volumes I covered before volume 5 yesterday for my Scott Pilgrim Retrospective and she is ALWAYS like this and you now feel my pain. 

This does create a problem though: Zeus casts Storkules out until he’s a responsible adult.. and thus paints Storkules as the bad guy... in a situation where the only other person in the story sent a swarm of HARPIES down at him for simply playing his music too loud. It just dosen’t work as a catalyst: Storkules objectively did nothing wrong. The only person he annoyed was a person who clearly dosen’t love, respect or like his son in any way shape or form anyway and essentially assaulted him and a bunch of innocent people via harpie and then cast him out. Zeus is an abusive asshole and i’ts weird the narrative sides with HIM and not our well meaning doofus. Zeus being an asshole with harpies is not a bad catalyst for the episode, and the harpies being unleashed is used well.. it’s just not a good catalyst for THIS story to try and portray an abuser as in the right. And make no mistake Zeus is a domestic abuser: he had his son mind controlled to try and MURDER innocent people, something Storkules begged him not to do, sent a swarm of creatures after him for the crime of playing his music too loud and in his next episode manipulatives Storkules sad emotional state for personal gain. Why would you try and paint THIS jackass as in the right?

Speaking of painting this jackass in the right sadly.. this episode does not do my boy donald justice. In most episodes he’s pretty nuanced and i’ts fair enough he’d be frustrated by Storkules as a roomate. Storkules has little sense of personal space, breaks his stove thinking theirs hydra in it, makes a mess of the kitchen making them a meal, and in general clearly dosen’t know how to live with a roomate much less in modern society. He has valid concerns and the episode COULD have used it that way.. but he’s also horribly impatient with Storkules. He refuses to get the guy just hasn’t had to live in a modern society and dosen’t know HOW to function in it and instead of helping him just gets mad again and again and gets really pissed when it’s clear Storkules dosen’t have a job and didn’t consider paying rent. He’s not WRONG to want him to pay Rent, despite what ironically the musical Rent would try and have you believe, but he dosen’t have any patience with the guy. And stork isn’t nearly coming on as strong as he normally does. The worst he does is cook the guy lunch and bring his donald fan art with him. Which we don’t see but I am assuming is mostly naked. What i’m saying is for once that while still bombastic, Storkules isn’t trying to force a relationship/friendship on him and simply wants to learn t be an adult from his best friend.. and Donald isn’t bothering teaching him.

Asking for rent or for him not to destroy the stove is fine, but not explaining WHY he needs either of those things or why he needs boundaries, he makes a roomate list, isn’t helping the guy. And this would be fine... but the episode dosen’t call Donald out on it for no real reason. It feels like it’s setting up for a “you should learn to wokrk with someone instead of just screaming at them aseop” that never comes and like with Zeus takes his side because shutup. I’d also LIKE to say this is the only time the writers reduced one of the cast to a caracture of themselves.. but I can’t.  Several episodes in season 3 forgot Louie’s character development and another episode in season 2, The Duck Knight Returns!, somehow reduced both Scrooge and Dewey to parodies of themselves with Scrooge SOMEHOW, despite Della as stubborn as she is being in his care and by his side for decades and Movies bein ga huge business, not having seen a movie since the 1920′s and not knowing how they work and Dewey being reduced to just hyperactive moron. It isn’t as common as other shows like say Regular Show, The Loud House or, for the exact reason I lost intrest, Rick and Morty, but I still expect better, especially since they went into this season KNOWING Donald would be gone for half of it and this would likely be one of his only spotlight episodes. 

Back at the good part of the plot, Louie is having a company meeting aka already treating Huey and Webby like his employees. Webby of course is glad to sign on, if little help in actually coming up with a product while Huey just wants to nope out. And if your wondering why Dewey isn’t involved Louie outright says he’d make a bad employee and while Dewey rises from his bed to object.. he stops halfway to opening his mouth and concludes he has a point. Best gag of the episode. Louie being louie easily cons Huey into staying by making Webby his charts officer. 

So the three have a corporate retreat at Funso’s... granted they don’t have a product but Louie figures this might help. Huey.. still wants out of this and suggest since they already spent what they had on ski ball “Company over?”. It’s clear that Huey just sees this as another one of Louie’s short sighted schemes... and while he’s not ENITRELY wrong, Louie has genuine ambition.. he just has no earthly idea what he’s doing and is shooting way too high.. but for understandable reasons. 1) He’s 11 at this point. 11 year olds aren’t great at business strategy or reinging it in. 2) he wants to live up to what Scrooge said to prove he can be successful and really be worth something like his mom was. 

But sometimes fate throws you one and the harpies bust in. And while Louie wants to do nothing and hope they go away Huey and Webby spring into action.. as does Storkules, who had to leave but warns donald there’s Orzo in the slowcooker and to not open it “LEST THE PASTA FAIL TO ABSORB THE BROTH!” Which is just.... Chris’ best line dleivery the episode. He says it like he’s saying the title of an old Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic, i’ts wonderful.

So our heroes defeat them and Louie steps in to charge for the service and quickly comes up with a company idea and name “Harp-B-Gone” (A Subsidary of Louie Inc). Louie hires Storkules on the spot. Storkules proudly tells Donald he has a job the next day and goes off to it. What follows is our heroes hilarously shooting a commerical with Storkules playing a baby to promote themselves so they can help who needs it. They just need to find out what they want.. and thanks to the JWG and the harpies stealing it find out they go after people’s most treasured posessions   Cue Ghostbusters-Style Montage

And this isn’t just me saying thing. The Rewriting History Entry (Which as a series weirdly stops around mid-season 2 and I don’t get why frank hasn’t gone back and finished it since) states they specifically based this whole operation on ghostbusters and the entire sequence of our heroes cleanin up the town reminds me of it. The highlight of it is a glomgold cameo where he’s kidnapped.. and refuses to pay so Louie just lets him go. And were this an innocent person who couldn’t afford it, i’d call him a monster.. but it’s glomgold. he brought this on himself.. and also sues himself for it. Wonder if he won. 

So with their stars rising, our heroes get booked on the hottest show in town: Dewey Dew-Night! I had honestly forgotten there was a Dewey Dew-Night segment in there, and delighted I get to talk about this recurring bit.  It’s one of the shows funniest runners and just perfectly FITS Dewey: of course the most egotistical and energetic of the kids would not only want to be a late hnight host but make up his own show. I also love the slow evolution of it: it started as something everyone clearly knew about but he stlill tried to keep hidden, slowly escalated to him allowing the rest of his siblings (Webby very much included) and the giant man who stalks his uncle in, and by later this season he’s putting the show online in the web shorts and gladly shooting it into space, with Season 3 having him spend the first half of let’s get dangerous making a documentary that includes an episode of the show featuring Darkwing. It’s a small thing sure, but it’s the little things like this that make the show special. 

The show does reveal a problem though as it turns out they’ve GOT all the harpies and while Storkules merely wanted to help, Louie points out they need more to keep a buisness going and naturally never bothered to ask Storkules just how many there were. They need SOME plan to get going. Webby submits a legitamte and great idea, training the harpies as she’s been trying to do in the background of the episode and aside from a hole in the floor they are starting to listen. But Huey is an ass about it and not only shoots it down saying let’s keep the dangerous creatures contained, even though A) he has no idea WHERE they’ve been kept so he can’t verify it’s safe, and since i’ts Donald’s Closet no no it’s not. and B)There’s no where he knows of to keep them. He isn’t aware of the other bin till next season. and C) it’s not ehtical to keep creatures locked up forever epsecially since while the harpies are dangerous they arent’ MALEVOLENT and are clearly acting on instinct. oh and for D) at least she has a plan to keep the company going instead of just wanting to end this and cash out. 

Which Huey tries to.. but naturally Louie spent all their money on...

So their broke.. and Storkules has no rent money and feels like a failure despite having done NOTHING wrong. We do get a clever little nod to Disney’s hercules though “I”m not a hero, i’m a zero”. Webby rightfully glares at Louie who decides to fix it... by sneaking into Donald’s house that night to free the harpies. 

Though to the shows credit it’s a VERY bad idea, and Storkules coming in mid attempt and congradulating Louie when he lies about checking the door gets the kid to come clean. And it’s a nice character moment: He could still go through with it.. but it’s clear he realizes just HOW low he was about to sink to save his own skin and that as much as Storkules WANTS a paycheck and deserves one, it’s not worth hurting people to get it. Louie tries to justify after this.. but can’t. 

Unforutnately Donald took a lot of stupid pills this episode, yells about his no pets rule and frees them instead of you know, THINKING for five minutes.

So yeah NATURALLY Donald is an angry shit about it , refusing to actually TALK to Storkules about this or maybe admit this is partly HIS OWN FAULT. Yes their both at fault, Storkules shoudln’t of shoved a bunch of harpies in a closet. That’s a classic blunder. But Donald still opened it and isn’t called out on taking zero responsibility. Huey sees the fracas and just takes down their days without an accident placard, good stuff and he and webby arrive to help. Donald fights with Storkules and Storkules worries about loosing his friend.. lead to them going after the thing he values most aka donlad and hyjacking the house boat, though the kids manage to get aboard. 

As Storkules saves Donald, Louie realizes the most precious thing he has is  his merch and willingly gives it, and his buisness up to save everyone. It’s good character stuff and shows that despite his problems with greed, Louie IS a good kid and will do the right thing. It’s what seperates him from the Rouges Gallery the family faces: He has FLEXIBLE morals but he has morals when it comes down to it. So everyone tosses the stoff to help direct the hapries and make it home tying them up. Donald has a heart to heart with Storkules and agrees to help him find another place, but still considers him a friend and they hug. Awww.  One intresting thing I DID find out from rewriting history is they originally fully intended to have Storkules STAY on the houseboat. He was going to be a permenant member of the household, at least as far as Season 2 was concenred and plans were made for several episodes down the road: the whole bit with him in “The Golden Spear” was simply because he lived there, he was going to be the one Della met in the houseboat, obliviously guilting her about what she’d missed, and he was going to set off the kids subplot in “Whatever Happened to Donald Duck?”

This ended up not happneing for logistical reasons: Frank, and I swear this was the term he used, felt they already had the perfect Himbo in Launchpad and it was just too much HImbo energy for the two to coexist without one taking the others screen time or neither getting a lot. 

The next reason was having a god around simply broke the story: He cited the gilded man from “Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!” as a specific example. There were just too many hoops to jump to have him not break any story he should be around for.  Finally with Della being added to the cast soon there simply wasn’t room in the main cast. Della brought it up to 9, Storkules would make it 10, and as i’ve gone on about the show already had trouble ballancing it’s cast, something Frank admitted to. Adding him would both be too big a stiatus quo change and be one on top of the massive one of Della joining the cast. So he was dropped back to recurring and only showed up one more time. And while it was the right call I am dismayed he didn’t show up for the whatever happened to donald duck subplot and it does feel very weird he never adresses Donald being gone despite, at least for season 2, apparently living in Duckburg. Otherwise though as funny as this wouldv’e been.. yeah it was the right call. 

Scrooge returns... having been absent all episode because otherwise it wouldn’t work and easily saw Louie loosing it all coming.. but gives him a can of lemonade for his troubles and comforts the boy. The heart of htis arc and what makes it work at it’s best.. is these two. Scrooge GENUINELY wants to help Louie see his potetial successor in buisness: oh sure adventure wise he’s throughly covered.. but Webby, Dewey and Della all are more focused on the addventure part and that’s where their passion and talent lies, Huey’s better at science and given his close frinedship with fenton and how much that part of things seems to truly inspire him, i’ts what he was born for, and Donald just wants a regualar life and can’t manage his own life much less a company. 

Louie is the only one in his family whose the right fit to inhereit that part of his legacy and I feel that’s why he takes a special intrest in him and webby over the other two: While he loves all of them and will clearly again leave a piece of his fortune and empire to all of them, Webby is the most like him, as we later find out not coincidentally in the slightest, when it comes to adventuring and curosity and a love of exploration. But Louie is the most like him in other ways; He’s cynical, money driven and passionate. Scrooge simply wants him to be as good a person and buisnessperson as he can be and is trying to push him in the right direction. And does so here by pointing out that failure isn’t a huge problem..it happens, comes with the terriotiry and as we’ve seen with life and times, even with portions of it clearly not happening in this universe, he failed a LOT to get here. What matters is that he tries and tries to do it the right way. 

Scrooge also sympathizes as he was buying a lemonade company in cape suzette, giving Louie the can as a present... but laments there’s no cheap effective way to deliver the lemons. Louie notices the harpies going after the can after he throws it and Webby controlling them with it and muses that theyd idn’t think about what THEY wanted.. nad rightfully gets punched across the lawn by Webby, whose had to spend an entire episode having her surrogate brothers talk down to her and ignore her valid ideas. She dosen’t even open her eyes she just bops him one.

So we end with Scrooge having enlisted the hapries, Louie trying to take credit again and both realizing they might just steal the lemons instead of work for them. Ha ha ha their going to get so sued. 

Final Thoughts: This one was mediocre. It has some good points, Louies arc continues to fascenate me, Huey’s done with this shit attitude is hilarous, and Storkules is at his best in this episode: his crush on Donald is toned down from this..

To this

To the point I could see shipping them off this one if Storkules episode didn’t have him do eveyrthing short of .. well see above.  So it’s not WITHOUT merit: I love me a ghost busters style plot, there are great jokes and Chris Dimatopolis is a gem as always. Glad he’s getting work after this show on Invincible and hope he gets to play Darkwing again some day. But the Donald stuff and the fairly predictable plot drag this one down. I’ts fairly obvious they’ll run out of harpies, Louie will have spent the money and they’ll somehow get free. It’s not a terrible episode but it’s it’s sandwiched story wise between two straight up classics on both sides: the previous two episodes were even better than I remembered and the next two are incredibly good: Whateve Happened to Della Duck?! is one of their finest hours and The Outlaw Scrooge McDuck, while not making my best of list for the series as a whole is still one of my favorites for the season.  It’s just disapointing this one wasn’t nearly as good as I remmebered and it’s understandable why I forgot almost all of it, unlike the previous two episodes. Thankfully as I said better’s over the horizon.

NEXT TIME ON OF MOONS, MILLIONARES AND MOTHERS: I’m taking a break for a week. One of two weeklong breaks for the arc, the other being the first week of July where i’m on vacation anyway (Though i’ll be doing the episode I would’ve done for that week the week before to keep the pace up, so no worries),

 As for why, it’s my utmost honor to announce GOOF WEEK! Goof Week is a weeklong celebration of Goofy’s birthday. The idea came about because as I do for the big three, I intended to just do a shorts special. But Kev , the guy who made this very review possible, suggested doing the two part Goof Troop pilot. And since kev pays for a house of mouth episode a month anyway and thaks to you lovely people I hit my patreon stretch goal to review the goofy movie, I figured “why not make a week out of it. Hence Goof week. So next week we’ll have a review of the two part pilot for Goof Troop, the special Sports Goof, the House of Mouse episode Super Goof, your regularly schedule shorts spectacular, with The Goofy Movie for the grand finale! yaaahoooooieeee! 

When we come back i’ll be shuffling episodes around slightly so I can do the Della comics from the Ducktales Tie-In Comic before her debut and in time for Donald’s own theme week in June, i’ll be saving “Whatever Happened to Della Duck?” for the week after Donald Week. Instead next we get a fun wild west adventure as Scrooge tells a story of his outlaw days, his tension with goldie and his encounter with a certain robber baron as John D Rockerduck FINALLY makes his screen debut. Yee-Haw!

If you liked this review, subscribe and follow for more and consider joining my patroen, patreon.com/popculturebuffet. I have exclusive reviews, my most recent duck based one being an obscure carl barks story about wigs and the boys attempting to murder a guy with a blow gun, and your contribution helps me reach my goals and thus gets everyone, patreon or not, a bunch of neat new reviews. If you get me to 20 dollars a month, i’m currently at 15, EVERYONE will get a monthly darkwing duck reviews, reviews of the two remaning ducktales 87 mini series including the origin of GIZMOOOODDUUUUUCCCKKKK, and a review of the Danny Phantom movie The Ultimate Enemy. And with the month running out NOW’S the time to join. YOu’ll also get to pick one of the shorts for my Donald Duck birthday specail next month, so if you want to join in NOWS the time. But wether you can or you can’t, thank you for reading, i’ts been a pleasure. 

[ravenstrample]

Since my first run through of DQXI, I’ve always had this weird obsession with the Void part of the game. Master Pang said that it was a place where all souls go through before they depart to Yggdrasil. A sort of purgatory for the souls.

The Dundrasil scene from before got me thinking about how there were some rituals to bypass or even shorten the process in how long the souls had to wait. The quest you get from the priest in the Zwaardsrust region also makes me think in how souls get trapped in monster forms until you free them.

With that being said, in the game, the Void is a vast and endless space of darkness. The surroundings mostly likely shaped by the most prominent regrets of the accumulated souls around. (ex Master Pang because as much of a badass as she is, I feel like she regretted being unable to teach the last of Angri-La’s techniques with evil finally showing his ugly face. And that once Rab and Eleven came around and gave her the chance, that last light that we saw wasn’t Solar Flair but the illusion construct of the Field of Disciples fading away from the technique’s point of revival.)

The Void is a place where it gives souls a chance to lay their regrets to rest or a safe place to resolve them with the illusions as it did with Master Pang. The Dundrasil scene with the ritual to guide the lost souls also acted with the same catalyst in smoothing out regrets and the like as it was said that people killed by monsters weren’t able to move on. But obviously failing on some exceptions (ex King Irwin, when you first interact with him after beating him, his face was that same dark expanse as the Void that lead to the past and meeting the Gloomivore in that same expanse.)

Obviously there are some discrepancies with that because in that scene, it showed that whatever you interacted, you had an actual interaction with the past just like with Chalky. But with the Void being so interconnected with Yggdrasil, it wouldn’t be a surprise if someone with the right powers came along to bend spacetime (ex the Luminary.)

Which leads me to make next big obsession. While Yggdrasil represents all of the light and life. The Void is obviously the darkness and the death.

As someone who wholly believes in human faults and not the weapon, darkness is not evil. The dark was never meant to be evil. The age old subject that you see in some anime, games, and cartoons (ex My Little Pony with Luna. (Shutup this actually threw me for a loop in how deep the show got.))

The purpose of the Void is to renew souls and help move on peacefully. If it was for anything nefarious, then Yggdrasil wouldn’t allow that kind of evil to be interconnected with her in managing souls. The Void is what true darkness is, a cover, a saftey blanket for the lights that need rest. Just like how winter is a time for the earth to breathe before spring comes and life comes back just a bit better.

And to be honest, all this build up is just me trying to figure out how to incorporate Void powers somehow. That the darkness everyone uses wasn’t the real chaotic nature of what the darkness in the Void was. Nothing tainted by emotions like greed or the like.

Tldr: Literally me loring this shit out for Void powers.

[quantifiableme]

Who are you Texting?

Canon is being perfect, so Imma write some AU fics to get me through the week. 

Gendrya Modern!Au Whoop whoop!

“Do you think we should ask Gendry to invite his girlfriend?” asked Hot Pie as sorted through his extensive bad-movie collection. 

Arya felt her heart stop for a moment, but ignored it. “What are you talking about?” 

“That girl he’s always texting,” responded Hot Pie casually. Finally, he looked up and noticed his friend’s unreadable expression. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed? The dude is addicted to his phone!”

“Gendry?” questioned Arya. Gendry wasn’t addicted to his phone. Arya spent months  trying to convince him to trade in his Nokia for a smartphone, and even then it was only after his new job required him to. She spent three hours last week teaching him how to download Snapchat before the guy completely gave up and nearly destroyed it. 

Hot Pie laughed. “Arry, you seriously haven’t noticed?”

“How do you know he’s texting a girl though?”

“He always gets smiley and shit, plus yesterday I asked him about it and his face got sooo red!” Hot Pie went back to shuffle through a few discs. “Do you think she could set me up with one of her friends when he finally introduces us?”

“Introduces who?” Gendry walked into his and Hot Pie’s shared apartment with an extra-large pizza in his arms. 

“Your girlf-” Arya kicked Hot Pie with the side of her foot to shut him up. She didn’t know why she did it, but part of her really didn’t want to know about Gendry’s new fling. 

It wasn't shocking- she had always known Gendry was attractive. He had no game whatsoever, but his awkward charm only seemed to make girls flaunt to him more, not that he ever really noticed. The past few bar trips the three friends made, Gendry was especially oblivious to a lot of very pretty girl’s more blatant attempts at flirting - one girl even going as far as to throwing her drink on his shirt for ignoring her. Luckily, Arya’s apartment was close by and he always had a stash of extra clothes there just in case. 

Gendry having what could be a more serious relationship in the works would explain his behavior, and admitting that made Arya feel very hollow. 

“So what are we watching?” Changing the topic, Arya plopped herself onto the couch and motioned for Gendry to give her a slice of pizza. 

***

The next few days, Arya tried to catalog when Gendry was on his phone, which wasn’t very often. Once, when he left to go to the bathroom during one of their Sunday coffee trips , she stole her friend’s phone. She picked it up, but when she had gotten to the lockscreen, she had hesitated - it wouldn’t be hard to guess the password (”BULL”), but she still her brain stopped her from opening the phone. 

If she opened it, she would be invading Gendry’s privacy. Which should have bothered her more, but honestly she was never one for “respecting boundaries” when it came to Gendry, nor was he one to ever be bothered by her nosey-personality. No, what stopped her was the same thing that stopped her the few days before when she kicked Hot Pie. If she opened it, and it were true, what then? 

She must have waited to long because before Arya realized it, Gendry was back  from the bathroom.

“What are you doing with my phone?” he asked her defensively, but still made no motion to take it from her. 

Snapping herself back to reality, Arya quickly recovered. “Why do you have the most generic fucking background?” Which was true- it seemed phone-addict Gendry had never figured out how to change the background.

His blush only proved her suspicions. “W-well, I, uh..Shutup!”

She only laughed and pulled him into the booth next to her- ignoring the lack of space between them. Opening the camera, she held the phone up to get both of them in the shot. 

“What are you doing?” he asked her.

“Chaning your background, shh.” She stuck her tongue out and held up an easy peace sign.  Looking at the phone screen, Gendry only laughed at his friend and pulled her closer, his arm wrapping around her shoulders. 

After she showed him how to open his setting and change his background, his arm still loosely laying across her shoulder, Gendry took the phone and tossed it onto his bag that was still lounging in the booth across the table. 

“Now that that’s done, no more phone,” said Gendry as he looked down at his friend. “You were telling me about fencing practice?”

She smiled as she began retelling the story of how she played Joffery out flat in their practice, enjoying the moment and pushing the idea of girlfriends and texts far from her mind.

***

Arya wanted her sister to feel good, but Arya did not understand why they were torturing her to do it. 

“Arya, sit up nicely,” scolded her mother as Arya slouched in the fancily uncomfortable chairs the up-scale dress shoppe had to offer. In celebration of Sansa’s graduation from Law school, Cat Stark offered to buy both her daughters new dresses to wear at the dinner party they were to have after the ceremony. At first it was sweet, but it had been three hours and Arya was ready to go. 

“How about this one?” asked Sansa as she came out in a light pink dress that fell just past her knees. She looked beautiful in it. Just like the other fifteen dresses the girl had tried on. 

“Oh Sans!” their mother cooed again. 

Arya watched as the two gossiped and obsessed over the dress, scrolling through her Instagram as she did. She snorted at a post that had scrolled through - someone Indian advertisement for Google - and sent it to Gendry. He responded with a “hahaha”, which made Arya roll her eyes at how mentally old her friend was sometimes. The she started wondering what he texted his girlfriend - Died he respond the same or did they have long deep conversations? 

“Who are you texting?” Her mother asked her as Sansa went back to change into the next dress. 

“Gendry,” Arya answered. Her mother made a face, hinting at something. Arya rolled her eyes. “Mom, we’re just friends!”

“I know, I know,” Cat calmed her daughter, obviously not believing her. “Hey, why don’t you invite him to Sansa’s graduation dinner?”

“Why?”

“Arya, he’s more than just your friend. Everyone adores him, and he should know that he is welcome to come!”

“If he comes, though, tell him to leave his phone at home!” yelled Sansa from behind the curtain separating her from the dressing room lobby. 

“What are you talking about?” Arya felt a similar sinking feeling in her chest.

“Him, Jon, and I went out the other night and he spent the whole time glued to his phone!” Sansa laughed as she came out in a navy blue dress that fit her figure very nicely. 

“Well the was rude of him,” Mrs. Stark spoke up.

“Oh no, Mother, it was actually very sweet,” Sansa gushed. “He would be in the middle of a sentence and would just stop to giggle at his phone!”

“Gendry doesn’t giggle,” said Arya. 

“Well the closest thing to what Gendry giggling would be,” countered Sansa. “Who is he texting?”

“How should I know?”

“I mean you are only his best friend.”

“Well I guess we’re not as close as you thought then.” Arya grumbled.

Sansa and her mother exchanged looks before turning back to the annoyed Arya.

“Nonetheless, Rickon misses the boy dearly,” said Mrs. Stark. “Please ask him to come.”

***

After Sansa finally agreed on a dress that “Felt like her”- whatever that meant - the three went to lunch at a pub nearby. Arya had been practically shaking with excitement at the idea that she would have a burger and fries in hand within the hour. Despite the fact Arya was twenty-two, Mrs Stark sent Arya to wash her hands before they ate.

“What, why doesn’t Sansa have to?”

“Because Sansa didn’t play with the stray cat outside,” her mother responded, unresolving. “Go wash your hands.”

Grumbling the entire way, Arya made her way to the bathroom. To get there, she had to pass the bar-area of the pub where a large party of people were congregated. Recognizing the grubby and darkened hands, as well as the uniform Stag logo across their mustard-colored shirts, Arya realized that they were all construction workers for Gendry’s father’s company. Which meant...

Eyeing the crowd, her eyes settled on him. Gendry had insisted his father let him work amongst the blue-colored gentlemen and ladies he had admired for so long before he inherited the entire business. And there he was, nestled around the large burly men and women, all laughing after a long-morning of hard work. His hair was damp from sweat, and he was drinking a beer he had probably been nursing longer than any of his coworkers. 

In the briefest of moments, one that only someone truly staring at him as Arya was would notice, Gendry subtly reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. His eyebrows knitted together as he sent it onto the table and continued listening to his friends, but with significantly less attention than he had before. 

Arya then pulled her phone and sent a quick text - a picture of the cat she had been playing with earlier. 

Instantly, Gendry’s phone screen light up and the man raced to grab it. Arya watched as her friend’s face softened and he chuckled to himself. He began to type a bit of text, and then Arya saw the “cute” of his response pop-up on her phone. 

The bearded ginger man next to Gendry looked at his phone and began poking his side with his elbow. A group of workers around them joined in at the chirping - saying things like “Who’s the lucky sucker, Gen?” “Hey Bossman, who’s got you smiling like that?” “Look at Cupid!”

Gendry eventually had to leave the crowd hassling him, but had been smiling as he did so. Arya followed him to the hallway leading to the bathroom, his eyes glued to his phone the entire time. 

“Gendry,” Area said to her friend’s back.

Jumping, Gendry turned around. “Jesus, Arry,” he grabbed at his chest. “What the fuck?”

“Who are you texting?” Arya wasted no time in asking, her entire self being coasting on adrenaline at this point. 

“Wha- no one!” Gendry’s breathing and deep-set blush gave him away, so Arya pushed farther.

“Hot Pie and Sansa have both told me that the past few weeks you’ve been addicted to your phone,” Arya explained. “They think you have some secret girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Gendry, if possible, became even more red.

“I didn’t believe them at first, but you certainly very attached to your phone right now.” Arya stepped closer and took said phone out of Gendry’s limp hand. She looked at the picture the two had taken weeks ago. Studying it now, it was very apparent how comfortable Gendry looked- more comfortable than he did with any of the other girls he had talked to at the bar, and more like how he looked when he had received her texted earlier. “Is it me?”

Gendry stayed silent, eyes glued to the phone screen Arya had been studying. 

“Because I like you.” She said it casually, but her heart was racing faster than it ever had before. 

“You what?” Gendry looked dup to meet her eyes.

She only quirked her eyebrow as he studied her face. His eyes followed the movement, slowly circling her features until they landed on her lips.

“Arya-” he had said, breathlessly. 

The word was all the encouragement Arya needed. The love drenched in every syllable of her name was too much for her to handle. She surged up meet his mouth with hers and kissed him deeply. His hands cradled her back, immediately responding to her. 

The broke off as quickly as they had begun, both very aware that they were still in a very public area. 

“My mother wants you to come to Sansa’s graduation dinner,” she told him in between breaths. 

“Do you want me to come?” He asked sincerely, but part of him already knowing the answer. 

“Yes.”

“As your friend or...” His eyes looked hopefully as he asked it. Arya laughed at herself for ever thinking there was ever anyone else. This was Gendry, the boy that would listen to her rants for days on end, who would do anything for her. What other girl could compete? “Boyfriend.” She said, trying and failing to hold back a smile. 

[worldslover]

"Hello! Could I please ask for a BTS fluff Reaction? Where BTS and their s/o have their first kiss but for their s/o this would be the very first kiss ever! So when BTS kiss them it makes them freeze because they don't know how to kiss or what to do while kissing? Thank you!🙈💜"

Sorry but I had to do this one as a text post because it took a little more work. 😁 Enjoy!

Thank you @kenziecheye and @dajosaf for your help~ ❤️❤️

Suga

The studio is silent except for the clicking of a computer mouse. Yoongi has been at work at the same song for hours and I'm getting tired.

I stand with a sigh and walk over to him.

“Yoongi,” I pout. I wind my arms around his neck and bury my face in his neck. Yoongi grunts and rubs a hand along my arm before tugging me around until I'm in his lap.

His eyes flick over my face. Yoongi presses his lips against mine softly. I freeze at the contact.

“Y-yoongi,” I pull back and search his eyes. I feel my cheeks heat. “This-I don't know what to do,” I mumble, embarrassed because who hasn't had their first kiss yet?

Yoongi hums and leans back in. “First kiss?” He murmurs against my lips.

“Yes,” I breathe. “I don't know what to do, Yoongi.”

“I got you. I’ll take care of you. Always.”

V

The couch is probably not meant for two people and yet here we are, squished together with Tae very, very close. His soft eyes roam my face. Nerves course through me at the electricity in the arm.

“This-this is my first kiss,” I blurt out as Tae leans closer. I keep an eye on his gaze. A gaze going straight to my lips.

He freezes at my words and looks at me wide eyes before his boxy grin appears.

“Am I your first kiss, baby?” He croons.

“Y-yes,” I stammer. Now my gaze is going to his lips as he leans even closer.

“Then I'll make it the best first kiss.” Tae winks at me before his lips finally press to mine.

Jungkook

His hands are on my waist, distracting me from Jungkook's journey to my lips. I gasp and quickly pulls away.

"I'm sorry!" Jungkooks eyes are wide as he quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to-"

"N-No, Jungkook you're fine, it's just..." I stop to chuckle nervously. "I never kissed anyone before,” I admit. Embarrassment causes my cheeks to heat. I start to cover them with the sleeves of my sweater.

His gentle hands wrap around my wrists to pull them away with a smirk. "So, I'm your first kiss, huh?" He purrs and laces our fingers. I nod shyly. He leans back in and kisses my cheek. "Then let me show you..." He suddenly whispers in my ear before making soft contact with my lips once more.

Jimin

“Gah!” Jimin turns away from the TV as another jump scare appears. His eyes are wide as he looks at me. I giggle at his expression.

“Why are we watching this again?” He winces as he leans closer to me.

“Because you said I could pick the movie,” I laugh.

“You're never picking the movie ever again,” he grumbles and then he's leaning even closer.

“Jimin, what are you doing?”

“Not watching the movie,” he murmurs. His gaze drifts down to my lips.

“I... I've never kissed anyone before,” I say quickly. There's no judgement or surprise on his face, just a soft smile.

He hums before kissing my forehead, and then my nose. My breath catches in my throat. Finally he pecks my lips.

“I guess,” kiss, “I’ll have,” kiss, “to show you,” kiss, ”how it's done.”

I giggle against his lips, the movie long forgotten.

J-Hope

"That's not fair!" I shout playfully as I hide behind the overturned couch. I peek around the corner to see Hoseoks eyes sparkling with mischief.

"It's totally fair!" Hoseok laughs. "Stop being a baby! Come out of hiding and grab your gun."

The sudden silence has my nerves spiking. I look to my right. My eyes land on my discarded nerf gun.

"You're not gonna shoot me, right?" I ask. I can hear him sigh deeply.

"No, I wont shoot you."

"You swear?"

"I swear, babe,” he chuckled.

I slowly come out of hiding. As soon as I stand a nerf bullet collided with the side of my face.

I flip around and look at him in shock as he breaks into hysterical laughter.

"Victory is mine!" He shouts.

"You swore!" I stomp my foot.

He appears from where he's hiding and comes over to me. His arms wrap around my waist. Unconsciously my arms find their place around his neck.

"I'm sorry, baby, but I had to." He laughs again.

There's no warning before his lips press against mine. He notices my frozen state and pulls away.

"Are you really mad at me for that?" He chuckles.

I shake my head, a bit embarrassed. "No, I-I never kissed anyone before." My cheeks heat as I lower my head.

"Hey, look at me." He says softly and lifts my head up with a finger. "Don't worry about it. I'll teach you." He gives me a warm smile.

"Really?" I ask, my own smile appearing.

He nods. "Of course... After round 2, though!"

He rips himself away from me to drive back into his hiding spot. With a squeal, I grab my own gun.

RM

The date is successful, just like our others. I look down at out interlaced fingers with a smile. Namjoon is perfect all night and even now, how am I so lucky to have someone like him?

"I hope you had fun tonight." He says with a smile. His dimples appear, causing my heart to stutter.

"I did! Thank you,” I grin up at him.

The cool night air is silent and I can't seem to tear my eyes from him, neither can he it seems. I'm not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me or not but Namjoon seems to be getting closer and closer. Suddenly his lips are on mine. I freeze. Not knowing what to do, I just stand there.

He notices that I make no move nor do I kiss back. Slowly, he pulls away. His eyes don't meet mine, his gaze going to the floor.

He sighs. "I probably shouldn't have done that..." He tells me shyly. Heat floods my cheeks.

"I've wanted to kiss you for a while now. Since our first date truthfully, but I figured you would be too shy to do it so... I just found courage and did it myself. I'm sorry." His eyes finally met mine and I can see his embarrassment. I am now too, or about to be, at least.

"You're right, Namjoon,” I smile reassuringly. “I was too shy. I've wanted to kiss you too but... You're my first and I don't wanna mess it up."

He smiles and steps closer.

"Just follow my lead. I'll show you everything you need to know." He laughs. I giggle before our soft lips make contact again.

Jin

“I hope you have an egg-celent time!”

“Oh my god, Jin,” I giggle as I bump him away with my hip. "You're going to make me drop one if you keep making puns".

“Come on!” He nuzzles my cheek and wraps his arms around my waist. “My puns are eggs-quisite.”

I shake my head as I go back to cooking. “Oh, God,” I giggle. “Shutup.”

“Make me.”

I stop and turn to look at him over my shoulder. His eyes are on my lips and then he's leaning in. His lips land on the corner of my mouth.

“I missed,” he giggles and pouts at me.

I purse my lips to contain my laughter. “That-that was my first kiss,” I smile at him.

His eyes go wide and he turns me fully so I'm flush against his chest. He smiles mischievously down at me. “Then let's try that again,” he says before his lips clash with mine.

[thaoilations]

The water was cool around Thao’s waist as she waded through it, watching her fingertips on the rippled surface and counting the leaves that had fallen in, floating across the top from the tree’s that enclosed the freshwater lake. It got deeper the further out she walked, until she could push off her tiptoe’s and swim, rolling onto her back. She always loved swimming, it was the closest thing to flying that she could imagine. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to do it all that often. It was hot through the mountains and deserts, often the lakes would only come up to her knees and if she was lucky her hips. It was only good for cooling off and bathing, so they’d really lucked out.

She squinted as the sun warmed her face, the cool water soothing her hot scalp that had been victim of the sun even beneath her hat in the early morning heat. She tipped her head down to look at her feet peeking out the water, and then her focus shifted to the edge of the water where Mimi sat, her dress hiked up to her upper thighs with her legs dangling in. She seemed deep in thought, and Thao could distantly see a brightly coloured flower placed on her lap. The only sounds that could be heard, was the sloshing of water, the trees rattling in a smooth chorus when there’d be a breeze, the cooing of a wood pigeon and the occasional insect that buzzed by nonchalantly. It was peaceful, their favourite kind of day.

Thao rolled onto her stomach and lazily swum herself over to her brunette companion, who’s eyes flickered up to watch her approach.

“Aren’t you gonna come and swim?” Thao asked, now noticing that the flower wasn’t just bright yellow but had pink leaking through the petals— assumably why Mimi picked it up. The girl had it between her fingers now, rubbing the pads of them together so the stem spun in her grasp.

“I can’t swim.” Mimi shrugged. She seemed happy enough, her leg grazing Thao beneath the water. Thao grinned, squinting as a stream of sun waved through the branches and lasered into her eyes for a moment, her nose scrunching as she swam to the other side of Mimi’s legs to escape it.

“Shutup.” She chuckled, and the brunette looked down at her with raised eyebrows and a slight smile.

“I can’t. Never learnt how.” She shrugged, like it was nothing. Thao loved swimming, she wanted to share something she loved with someone she loved. She put her wet hand on top of Mimi’s hand, gently grasping it.

“Come in, lemme teach you.” She urged, voice quiet as she couldn’t bare to break the peaceful ambience of the beautiful warm morning.

“I don’t know. I’m frightened.” The girl stared past Thao now, observing the way the water got darker the deeper it got. She never liked the unknown.

“I’m not gonna let you drown.” Thao rolled their eyes, floating back in the water. “It’s shallow here, your feet can touch the ground.”

Mimi lowered herself in, her dress floating beneath the water — puffed out around her like an umbrella. She felt relieved when her feet touched the ground, the water pooling just at the top of her ribs.

“You ever been under the water?” Thao waved her arms either side of her, feet cycling beneath the water to keep her afloat where she was a little further out than Mimi. The brunettes eyes widened, shaking her head.

“I don’t wanna do that.” She panicked slightly, pressing her back against the wall of the lake.

“You’re not g’nna learn if you’re scared to go under water. It’ll be fine, I’ll do it with you.” Thao paddled towards the girl and she struck her arms out creating a mini wave.

“No! I won’t be able to breathe!” She stressed, to which Thao responded with a blank, dumbfounded expression.

“Well, yeah. That’s kind of the point. You’re meant to hold your breath.” The younger girl stared back, contemplating and allowed Thao to pull her out a little further, til the water reached her collarbones. “Just for a few seconds.” Thao reminded and the girl nodded. She count down, and they dunked themselves under. Thao cracked her eyes open, bubbles forming from her chuckle beneath the water when she saw Mimi with puffed up cheeks like a hamster, eyes squeezed shut and a stressful pinch in her brow. She launched herself up after a few seconds and Thao followed, grinning as she squeezed her nose free of water.

“Ugh, that was horrible.” Mimi coughed and Thao rolled her eyes. “What is funny.”

“Your face when you hold your breath.” She smirked and Mimi splashed her.

“You’re meant to keep your eyes shut under the water!”

“Says who?” Thao splashed her back.

“Says me.” She retorted quietly, interested in a bright orange petal that had float towards her. “Where are all these flowers coming from?”

Thao pulled her hand so that she glided closer, and her arm snaked around her waist beneath the water to lift and drag her. “I’m gonna take you in a little deeper.”

Mimi wrapped her legs and arms around her, tensing up. “No-nonono! Wait! I’m scared— wait!” She squealed, a bird feeding near by flying away at the disturbance.

“You scared the bird.” Thao ignored her, wading slowly towards the darkness of the water.

“Thao!” She cried, fingernails digging into her shoulder.

“Why would I put you in danger? I’m not gonna go too deep. Ease up.” The thickness in her accent slipped through, which made the corners of Mimi’s mouth tug upwards slightly— hiding it to maintain her angry and stubborn expression by pressing her mouth into Thao’s shirt. The faded red head leant forward to use her arm to pull them along the water, tipping Mimi back and she sucked in a breath, gripping her partner tighter. “Gonna kill me.” She whispered, panicked. Thao seemed relaxed, irregardless.

“Am not.”

“Are too. I’m scared.”

“Well have you tried not being scared.”

“Didn’t think of that, no.”

•

Thao’s hands pressed into Mimi. One at her back, one at the base of her neck. The brunette was more relaxed now, floating with her girlfriends support as she gazed up at the tree line, watching the way colourful birds flew up over head. Thao’s feet were pressed into ground now, Mimi’s fear near unteachable. “See, when you relax you float.”

She eyed the birds. “If you could pick between being able to fly and being able to climb a tree really fast what would you pick?”

“Why would I pick climbing a tree really fast?”

She thought for a beat. “Would be useful.”

“For what?”

“To escape from people or wild animals perhaps.”

“You can… do that by flying away.”

“Yeah but what if you don’t wanna go far? If you fly away you have to find somewhere else to go. With the climbing power you could just zip up a tree without relocating.” Her hand that was in the water came up infront of her to motion going up a tree, the drips of water from her hand landing on her face instead making her turn her cheek in the water slightly, eyes squeezing shut to avoid the drips.

“Okay well what if there aren’t any trees around?” Thao didn’t often entertain these conversations for very long, but she felt at peace today.

“Theres always trees around.” Mimi spoke pensively, watching a V shape formation of birds soar overhead. Thao frowned at the incorrectness of her statement.

“So you’d rather be a fast tree climber?” Thao tilt her head back, following the sound of feathers as she watched the migrating birds.

“No. But we both can’t be fliers it would be a waste.”

Thao didn’t respond, which wasn’t out of the ordinary and after a moment or so Mimi’s head turned at the sound of water splashing. The image of Thao, in the middle of the water swimming. It took Mimi a second to realise she wasn’t holding her head and back anymore, and that she was floating all by herself. She freaked, however — becoming a vision of white water splashes and waves as she fought her way to stand up without somehow accidentally drowning herself. Thao turned in the water, and Mimi sent her a meaningless glare — heading to the edge of where she’d climbed in to climb out and dry off.

Thao joined her soon after, drying off and pulling some food out the bag as it approached early afternoon. It was always Mimi’s idea to cool off in water wearing their clothes. Thao thought it was silly at first, but the dampness of their clothes kept them cool for a couple of hours in the balmy heat as they travelled. The brunette also said it doubled for kind of washing the clothes aswell, and she was always up for maximum efficiency. When their clothes were no longer dripping and heavy on their body— they brought a bucket over for Zach who was happily observing the tree bark. He drank, and Mimi dipped her hands in the bucket to rub along his warm coat— cooling him.

“Can horses swim?” Mimi smiled happily, combing her fingers through Zachs mane and squinting up at him as he side eyed her.

“Yeah, sweetheart.” Thao strode lazily towards the tree, untying his rope before plopping her hat back on her head.

“How…” Her second question was quiet and pensive, her own fingers now picking a piece of bark off the tree.

“Big lungs. It helps them float.” She used the rope to tie the bags onto his large saddle, glancing up at the girl as she stared at her to go on curiously. “They are born with the ability. Same way you were, when you were a baby.”

“Oh, no — I’ve never been able to swim.” She shook her head, a curly tendril falling out from where she’d pushed it out her face — drying its natural way and not how she’d pressed it with hot rods or rollers like usual. Thao always liked it curly.

The cowgirl came round to her side of the horse, skilfully tying more knots like she always did. Mimi watched her hands as she did so.

“Every baby can. You’re jus’ born that way. You’re scared of the water, that’s different. Babies aren’t born with fear.” She spoke, managing to make it sound so simple and so clever at the same time. Mimi smiled, looking the freckles on her nose before looking away, satisfied.

They decided to walk some more and dry off for a while, enjoying the leisurely early afternoon before they hit the road again. Wearing shoes now, Thao wearing her boots they strolled through the forest in the direction they needed to head, enjoying the shade and talking quietly amongst themselves. Mimi trod on a patch of grass in the centre of dried soil and looking down. A small circle of lush grass with a patch of 5 flowers blooming. One bright pink, another bright purple, red, orange and blue. Mimi gasped, stepping off the circle and pointed at the ground, mouth shaped as an ‘O’.

Thao followed her finger, seeing the explosion of colour. “Oh, nice.”

“Can I pick them? I can press them in my book when they die!” She wasn’t sure why she asked, but sometimes Thao knew more about the do’s and don’ts of life than she did. For example, you can’t take a baby bear as a pet — because the mama bear will find you and eat you. Even if the baby bear is really cute.

“No, sweetheart.” She gently grasped her arm as if to deter the possibility of her plucking them. “They’ll die. Not fair to kill flowers just ‘cos they’re pretty. There’s only a few of ‘em, come on leave ‘em be.” She nodded towards the direction they were headed and the girl pouted, standing up straight from her leant over position from viewing them and followed her, Zach continuing to walk beside them. The cowgirl glanced at the brunette as she glumly glanced back at the flowers, understanding her point but still feeling sad she couldn’t take a souvenir from such a nice day they’d shared.

They spotted a clear, bright light flooding the small shaded spot of the forest and they head towards it, Mimi’s jaw dropping when she spotted what was at the other side. A large field, miles of colourful flowers stretched across the land. They stopped staring for a moment, and Thao’s hand brushed the warm skin that peeked from the back of her dress. She turned at the touch, grinning and Thao nodded. “Alright, go ahead and pick some.” She permit making Mimi giggle, launching forward to go and pick her favourite flowers as bee’s buzzed happily around her. A butterfly landed on Zach’s nose and he sneezed as Thao watched Mimi.

“Do we have any film let for the polaroid camera? I want you to take my picture.” Mimi called over to Thao, who was raking a hand through her hair beneath her hat.

“No film left, sorry.” She shrugged apologetically and Mimi sighed. Thao unzipped one of the bags, rummaging inside as Mimi continued to pick out flowers. She pulled out a small brown leather notebook and pencil, walking over to Mimi. “I’ll draw you though. So you can remember.” She didn’t look at Mimi, slightly embarrassed at the suggestion as she parked down on the grass sitting cross legged. When she did look up at the girl she was smiling, clutching a small bouquet of flowers to her chest.

Thao sketched the girl, not something that would take too long as she didn’t like the idea of her girlfriend standing still in the heat for too long. Mimi seemed happy to do so however, occasionally letting out excited giggles when Thao would glance up at her to sketch a new detail on her paper. “Alright, all done missy.”

Mimi ran towards her, dropping down to her knees and scrambling to see the drawing. She grinned at the lazy sketch of her stood with her dress and the flowers and the scenery behind her. “When we find you those colouring pencils you can colour the flowers.” Thao explained quietly beside her, pale finger coming to point at the background. Mimi dived on Thao, the cowgirl groaning as her back hit the grass, Mimi’s still cool and damp body on top of her. She kissed her, mumbling “I love it.” against her mouth. They were grateful for days like these.

[yukheii]

college athlete!bts

notes: i’ve made minor edits and revisions to these, but they’re still true to the originals. still in the process of reposting from my old blog, bear with me, loves.

disclaimer: blanket disclaimers

KIM SEOKJIN ◦ [cr.]

“I’m going to side with Jungkookie next time you chew him out for being too hard on himself.”

Your voice pulls Seokjin above the waters that engulf his body. He hears you in waves of clarity, every other word drowned beneath the pool water as he completes his butterfly lap. He swims to the edge of the pool where you’re crouched down, a paper bag in one hand, a towel in the other.

He shakes his hair gently and laughs as you flinch away. He’s beautiful like this; in this pool, surrounded by the water he claims saves him, and you argue will swallow him up one day. Maybe you’re right. Maybe he doesn’t care, as long as you keep coming around to warn him.

He sweeps his wet hair back and away from his forehead. “That for me?” He points at the towel.

“No, it’s for the other guy in the pool,” you sit down, criss cross.

“I’m jealous of him then. He’s got a real pretty girl taking care of him.”

He hoists himself out of the water and stands next to you. You were never quite sure whether Jin was made and born to be a swimmer or whether being a swimmer sculpted the body he has. Something like an Adonis; well proportioned limbs beneath layers of muscle and the perfect amount of squish, lovely all the same. He always gives himself credit for that face of his—as he should, you think, it’s a pretty one—but that body.

That body that towers above you as he dries his hair and torso, wraps the towel around his waist and extends an arm.

“No way, this lo mein is mine,” you tell him, moving the brown bag behind your back.

Jin only laughs softly and shakes his head, “No, give me your hand, love. I think it would fit in mine swimmingly, don’t you agree?”

“Seokjin,” you blink, “I’m leaving.”

“Aww, come on that was a good one!”

MIN YOONGI ◦ [cr.]

“Kind of unfair that your boyfriend’s short as a stump, but better than half the team,” a sweaty, unhappy Seungcheol sits next to you.

You only chuckle and watch as Yoongi makes another perfect swish. “He’s persistent.”

“He’s crazy,” Seungcheol counters.

“That too,” you hum, “But you sealed your fate when you voted him captain.”

You lean back into the bleachers and watch as Yoongi instructs the rest of the team to run play seventeen again in preparation for their upcoming championship. Seungcheol is mid-sip of his water bottle when Yoongi calls out for him and you see his body visibly choke up.

“Choi, get off your ass, back on the court, and away from my girl.”

You snicker as you watch Seungcheol scurry back onto the court, mumbling something about how Yoongi has it out for him. His presence is soon replaced by that of your blonde haired boyfriend; and he places his hands on either side of you, looks down with little beads of sweat on the side of his face, and a slight smirk on his lips.

“Hi,” he sings after a minute of silence. You can’t help but laugh, sweeping his bangs out of eyes before returning the hello.

“You should give Coups a break, he’s tired,” you pout. “Besides, I thought you wanted me to be friends with your friends.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes. “When I said you should make friends, I meant with Seokjin and Namjoon, not these idiots.”

“Then why’d you invite me to sit in on your practice? Jin and Namjoon are on the swim team.”

“I figured you see me all hot and sweaty, get turned on, and then we’d go back to yours and have great sex.”

He chuckles as you hit his bicep and leans over slightly to kiss your forehead, while you mumble about how greasy he is. “Alright, fine, since you care about them so much, how about I end practice early, then you and me can go grab some food?”

“What, no great sex afterwards?”

Yoongi laughs, breathy yet full. “Shutup and get your stuff ready,” he tells you before walking back to center court. “We’ll see about that later.”

JUNG HOSEOK ◦ [cr.]

“Come on, babe, one more round!”

Of course he’s still jumping off the walls. Only Hoseok could manage to attempt to teach someone how to play tennis in the blazing hot sun for two hours and still have enough energy to run a marathon.

“I have a confession to make,” you huff, holding the ridiculously bright tennis ball in your hand, “I only asked you to teach me to play tennis for the aesthetic of the whole thing and because you look good in your uniform. Now can we please go back to your dorm and take a nap?”

Your words paint a heart shaped smile on his lips. He throws his head back with laughter—and suddenly it’s hard to tell whether you’re suffering because of the heat or his beautiful jawline. Probably both.

“You think I look good in my uniform?” He sniggers.

You roll your eyes, “The whole school thinks you look good in your uniform.”

He does though. He manages to not look ridiculous in his neon yellow shirt and matching tennis shoes. His calves are incredible and hidden behind his white shorts are the strongest pair of thighs you’ve ever seen. And somehow he’s pulling off his green, opaque visor.

“I didn’t ask about the whole school, I asked about you, sunshine.”

“Yes, Hobi, I just said that, stop being greasy,” you pout, “Now can we please get out of this heat?”

He laughs at your pain and if he weren’t so angelic you’d probably have already kneed him in the balls.

It’s too hot for touching but when you feel his arm wrap around your shoulders you don’t push him away. “Alright, let’s go,” he kisses the top of your head and leads you off of the courts.

“For the record, you look really good in your uniform too,” he winks, “That skirt does wonders for your legs, babe.”

You take the racket out his hand and hit him atop his head, “Jung Hoseok, I told you to stop being greasy!”

KIM NAMJOON ◦ [cr.]

You make your way around the couch and settle down next to your boyfriend who’s watch the taping of his last swim meet for the tenth time today, at least.

“Only you could set the record for fastest backstroke and still be upset, Joonie.”

Namjoon works harder than anyone you know, whether it be at his school work or training. He’s constantly on the grind to improve himself, push himself to be a little better than he was yesterday. It’s admirable, but he’s also the most self-critical person on the planet.

“He was tailing me, ______. If I had been one stroke slower, I would have lost.”

“But you weren’t one stroke slower, Joon. You won.”

“But I could have—”

“You could shutup and pay attention to your girlfriend,” you interrupt with a smile. “I made popcorn.”

Namjoon’s eyes soften and a gentle smile graces his lips. You’re an angel in his eyes; why you choose to stick with him and his self-criticism and hectic practice schedules is beyond him. He only knows he’s grateful for it.

“You know I’m not supposed to eat that,” he sighs.

“Popcorn is healthy for you! Jin told me so.”

“Pretty sure you mean pizza, not popcorn.”

“Alright, then let’s go get pizza.”

“Baby, I can’t—”

“Can’t? That doesn’t sound like the attitude of a winner to me,” you pout, and his eyes grow at your use of his own words against him. 

When he doesn’t say anything, only looks down at your lap and sighs, you reach your free hand to cup his face, gently stroking his cheek with your thumb. “Kim Namjoon, you just broke a regional record that hasn’t been broken in thirty years and you’re telling me you can’t let your girlfriend treat you to a slice of pizza?”

He kisses you with his soft lips and smiles back. “I love you, you know that?”

You peck his lips again and run your hands through his hair, “I know, Joon. But you should love yourself just as much.”

PARK JIMIN ◦ [cr.]

“You know, you kind of look like Elsa,” you hum.

“Like, the Disney princess?” he asks, “Why’s that?”

He takes your mitten-clad hands in his and leading you onto the ice. You stumble, but he’s there to catch you. “You know, with the blonde hair and the ice and everything.”

Jimin only smiles and emits a breathy laugh, “Whatever you say, love.”

You’re about to remark on his resemblance to the ice princess again, but Jimin soon starts skating backwards, dragging you along with him by the extension of your hands.

“Wah—Jimin, you said we’d go slow!” You yell and he makes circles around the rink, giggles flying at your distress.

“Going slow is no fun!” He quips, suddenly changing directions. The speed makes his bangs fly over his forehead and cover his eyes—and he really does look like Elsa, you think—or at least you try to think when you’re not thinking about how you’re going to die if he doesn’t stop.

“Jiminie!” you screech, as he comes to a sudden halt, holding you close to his chest. His eye smile is the only thing saving him from a serious beating right now. That and the fact that if he skated away, you couldn’t catch him in your wildest dreams.

“If you’re gonna wear my jersey, you’ve gotta go faster than two inches an hour, babe. I don’t want people thinking I’m in love with a wimp.”

You roll your eyes. “Fine, then I’ll just wear Seokmin’s jersey.”

“Not a chance,” he rolls his eyes back at you.

You take in his wind brushed hair and flushed face. He scrunches his nose slightly, flashing a smile that reaches his eyes. You almost tilt your head wondering if this Park Jimin is the same boy who bodychecked a guy so hard he knocked his tooth out last Tuesday.

“Your nose is red.”

Jimin wraps his arms around your waist and shrugs, “It’s okay. The cold never bothered me anyway.”

KIM TAEHYUNG ◦ [cr.]

“Gross, Tae, get off of me, you’re all sweaty and grassy!” You shove your indeed sweaty and grass-stain infected boyfriend away from you to no avail.

Taehyung only giggles into your ears and hugs you closer, “I thought you said I look hot when I’m sweaty.”

“You look hot, but you smell gross. Tae, come on, this shirt is new.”

“That shirt is mine.”

You feel the heat rise to your face and shove him again. “You can’t even be here it’s a thirty second time out!”

He finally retreats and looks at you with messy hair and a rectangular smile.

“Kim! Get back here!” His coach yells on cue. Taehyung gives him a thumbs up, and you a quick kiss to cheek before running back to his team’s side, yelling about how you jinxed it. Only your Taehyung would think it’s appropriate to run to the sidelines to hug his girlfriend mid-time out.

“You two are gross,” Yoongi comments. Jungkook agrees with him.

“They’re cute, hyung,” Namjoon beams.

The whistle is blown and Taehyung is back in action, weaving the soccer ball between his feet and past the other team. He winks at you when he scores; Yoongi is seconds from barfing up his lunch. You only shake your head and watch ahead.

Tae’s team is quick to jump on him when he scores the winning goal. They carry him off to the sidelines as the game ends and players and spectators alike begin to pack up their belongings. Tae looks at you from across the field, gloriously sweaty and grass-stained, and mouths “now?” to you.

You can only giggle and nod your head. He runs and engulfs you in a warm (and overdramatic, according to Jungkook) hug. He’s spinning you around, his giggles swirling with yours and you feel like you’re floating—all of his sweat and stains forgotten. When you stop, he doesn’t give you time to congratulate him or scold you for messing up your—his—shirt; he kisses you, happily and deeply, grime and all.

Yoongi and Jungkook pretend to vomit in the background, but he doesn’t care. “I love you,” he beams, before kissing you again.

JEON JUNGKOOK ◦ [cr.]

There are pros and cons to dating a varsity athlete.

The pros include laying underneath your boyfriend as you “help” him do pushups and receiving a kiss each time he leans down; resting your head on said boyfriend’s toned chest; the feeling of his calloused hands ghosting along your sides while you cuddle on his futon; wearing his alternate jersey at games, despite it being too many sizes too big for your smaller frame; and cute picnic dates in the middle of an empty baseball field.

The cons include waking up at five in the morning to attend said picnic date.

“Come on, this is cute!” he exclaims as you take another bite into your breakfast sandwich. He hadn’t even opted for you two to sit in the bleachers—instead, setting up picnic over the pitcher’s mound.

You only stare back at him, thinking about what you wanna do more: kiss him or smack him. It is cute, you reason, so you won’t smack him. It’d be cuter if you didn’t have to wake up at five to do it, so you won’t kiss him either.

In lieu, you give him a soft smile. He sure is precious with that his two-row bunny smile he’s got.

Jungkook breaks your train of thought with a sudden squeal, “Ooh, come here, it’s starting.” He motions for you come over to his side of the small bump. You shuffle over, having given up on keeping your leggings clean, and sit next to him. He takes the blanket he’d kept in his lap and spreads it over your shoulders as he wraps his arms around you. (That’s another pro—those damn arms).

Jungkook points just over the edge of the top of the stadium where the sun can be seen poking out. The sky is a gorgeous yellow-orange hue as the ball of light makes it way high into the sky. You look up at him, smile as warm as the sunlight being cast on the two of you lean slightly to kiss his cheek.

“I guess this is cute,” you lean on his shoulder afterwards (pro number twenty-seven), and wrap your hands around his waist.

“Told you so,” he hums. You smile into his neck, because who would have thought star pitcher of the varsity baseball team, Jeon Jungkook would be into cheesy picnic dates and watching the sunrise?

“You’re cute,” you quip afterwards.

“Are you flirting with me?”

“Jungkook, you’re my boyfriend.”

“How embarrassing.”

[asian-hero]

Emergency ask please-if you still do those... what would Shiro and Matt do if the s/os father was calliing them fat, telling them that if they cant opan a jar or food by themselves they should just starve and making comments to them like "its not like im trying to watch my figure"im so upset right now... tried asking what we were doing for dinner and i keep having to ask becaseu he wont answer me at all. keeps ignoring me and teling me to shutup and that i just ate(at lunch btwits 5 hourslater)

I’m so sorry that this is happening to you dear, I hope you know that you’re beautiful and if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here for you

Shiro:

Let me get something straight, Shiro would never tolerate this behavior

100% does not care if it’s your dad, he will go off

You guys were at a family dinner when it started

You were having a friendly conversation with your family member/friend when your dad came in

The first thing that he said was, “wow, I didn’t know that pigs could talk”

Literally the first thing that sets Shiro off

But he keeps cool, because he doesn’t want to seem like an asshole to your parents

The next thing that happens is when you’re eating at the table

Everyone’s having a nice time and enjoying the meal 

You went in to grab some mashed potatoes or whatever when your dad pulls it away and places a salad in front of you

He says, “maybe you should try this one on for size, you wouldn’t want to show your boyfriend how much of a fat ass you can be” (I’m so sorry for this)

Shiro can literally feel his eye t w i t c h

Again, he keeps cool, or at least, as cool as he can be

Holds your hand under the table in an attempt to make you feel better

The final straw is when you’re trying to open a jar of pickles (I don’t know why it’s there but it is what it is)

You’re struggling to get it open so you ask Shiro to help you

This only eggs your dad on

“If you can’t open the damn jar by yourself then maybe you shouldn’t be eating it”

So like not only does Shiro go off but he goes off

Starts yelling at your dad for being such an asshole to you

“Y/n is a perfectly capable person who shouldn’t have to deal with assholes like you on a daily basis! They’re perfectly fine the way they are so maybe you should lay off and start taking your own advice!”

Takes you by the hand and heads towards the door

Before he leaves Shiro yells:

“Oh, and the fucking pickle jar was greasy from your nasty ass hands!”

Then he slams the door

Once you two are back at your house he profusely apologizes

Not about what he said to your dad, but that you had to deal with that

Promises you that he would never treat you like that or make you go back to that house again

Honestly loves you and doesn’t want you to ever feel that way again

Although he does call your family members/friends and apologize to them, because he’s a gentleman

Matt:

Also not going to put up with your dad’s bullshit

Is also less patience than Shiro, so, good luck

It all starts at a family picnic

You’re walking over to your family when your dad decides to open his fucking mouth

“Wow, it’s an earth quake!”

Matt blinks a couple of times, trying to process what happened

He figures that it’s just an inside joke between you two so he stays quiet (this time)

The next incident is when your helping your family put out the food, the plates etc.

You’re having a hard time opening one of the jars so you ask Matt to help you

Your dad just laughs at you

“God, y/n, if you can’t open the jar then maybe you shouldn’t be eating anything at all”

Matt couldn’t help himself

“Maybe you should follow your own advice, you know, old people shouldn’t be having that much sugar, it makes their joints stiff”

Your dad just, kinda stares at Matt, but says nothing

You thought that Matt lost it last time? Hoo boy, you should see him when you guys are actually eating

You’re all enjoying the nice day in the park, eating the nice food

You go in for seconds on some sandwiches when your dad fucking has to add in his two cents 

“Stop eating so much! Maybe this is why we have world hunger”

Matt went fucking batshit crazy

I’m talking like he fucking, flipped your dad’s plate from under him

“You know what sir? I was trying to be a fucking nice guest because I love your daughter very much, but it turns out that you’re just a fucking asshole who doesn’t have human decency! Maybe you should go back to kindergarten so they can teach you some fucking manners! You’ll be lucky if y/n doesn’t put you in a fucking old peoples home! And another thing, someone your age should learn to stop eating fucking jelly beans!”

Takes you away and leaves without a second thought

He apologizes that you had to see him get so angry

He refuses to apologize to your family, because frankly, they should’ve said something

Won’t make you visit him again if you don’t want to

Just wants you to be happy, and if it means that you never want to visit your dad again, so be it

Hey babe, I’m sorry that your dad is being such an asshole to you. Remember that you’re beautiful no matter what anyone says to you!

[miekasa]

mie whats ur biggest pet peeve ?? mine would DEFINITELY be people who make me feel dumb when teaching me something i asked them to like dont be an asshole i could just get up and walk away rn dont try me. and SECONDLY people who dont reply in gcs 😭😭 like there was this one time where i asked my friends what the formula for a question was and they could've just told me but instead they shifted the topic of the conversation and completely ignored me like ok cool thank u SO much 😀👍🏼 this happened like a month ago though BUT i am a salty bitch and i tend to hold grudges so

Hmmm the ones you listed are good ones. I don’t know if I have just one but people telling me/expecting me to do something, especially if it was something I either was already going to do or is something I only wanted to do for myself, is pretty up there. When people ask me what I’m doing on my phone or computer—even worse when they try to look. I don’t like when people are fake especially when they think I can’t tell or they think they have a one up on me. Hate, hate, hate when people sit next to or close to me, even if there isn’t more room... do not come near me, I don’t like you. When people comment on my hair, or anyone’s hair/appearance in a negative or passive aggressive way. Calling someone’s taste in anything (most commonly music) “basic,” like shutup you edge lord I’m sorry I don’t know the words to every Lana del Rey song. OH I HATE HATE HATE!! When someone’s (namely my family) first interaction with me for the day is to make some sly comment or ask me to do something, like can I get a hello first. There are so many more I am easily ticked off LMFAO

[treatbuckywkisses]

Get Out ohmygosh

are you kidding me right now ohmygod nika please🥺 this omg i don't even have the words to explain to you how much i absolutely adore this💙 when i tell you that i love every single thing about this im dead serious. this is such an incredibly beautiful story shutup !!!!

okay so first hello 40s bucky my absolute softest baby angel🥺🥺

You were safe beneath your waters, but you’d left part of yourself with the handsome stranger with the mud-coloured hair, and as they picked him up and carried him back through the woods, the missing thing settled like a pebble in his pocket. oh shutup nika are you kidding me you really came for me with this one because I'm obsessed

His name, you learned, was Bucky, and you wished you could try out the sound on your tongue to see how it tasted. He had eyes the colour of the ocean, but you didn’t know that until later. You’d never seen it before. no bc the way that you wrote this?? i am speechless.

Your boy was only human, after all. YOUR BOY OH MY HEART

You heard his call to you at night, desperate, lonely, searching for some great unknown that he was missing. You felt the tug. i am also feeling the Tug <3

Still, your soldier barely spoke to you. YOUR SOLDIER ONSGSISMSVJSHS I AM HYPERVENTILATING

“I can teach you. Still got my working arm left, don’t I?” shutup i love him so much

It was the second time he called you an angel, and though you knew this couldn’t be further from the truth, you felt a strange heat rush through you, to your cheeks and every inch of skin he touched. The blankets around his shoulders had slipped down, and you could make out the silvery-blue edge of your cloak underneath. You bit your lip, and dropped your head. this is everything to me you don't understand

When you pulled the tent open, he was sitting on his cot, and the blurry light falling in from the tiny window cast his face in deep shadows. He blinked against the sun in your back, and some weight seemed to fall off him. You took it for yourself. how can you keep doing this to me omg I don't have the WORDS

Stories of places you’d never heard of, of machinery and grand ideas you could scarcely even imagine. Some of them he surely must have made up; they seemed too fantastical to be real. You were supposed to take notes, but found yourself too enthralled by his words time and time again. Trying to focus on your spelling was like swimming upstream; his tide worked against you. SHUTUP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this story is too fantastical are you kidding

He blushed so beautifully, like a sunset lowering its head between the treetops, and he stayed silent for a very long while before he spoke again. no im in love

But his eyes, his rainwater eyes focused on you with that gentle spark of curiosity burning brightly, and you put your pen down again. SCDEAMJNG AND CRYING

Bucky read your name, and you huffed a breath of air. You weren’t one to still believe in gods, but it sounded almost like a prayer on his lips. i need to kiss him so bad all the time anyways but This ??? this right here? I have to send you to jail or someone idk because you are SICK AND TWISTED (affectionate)

What a strange feeling, desire. i love you shutup no i will never get over this writing nothing can make me.

No nymph was meant to appear a mortal for as long as you had, but you couldn’t help it. You couldn’t bring yourself to leave his side, not once you’d heard his laugh and read his thoughts and felt his heartbeat underneath your fingertips. You no longer wondered what your name would sound like on his tongue; you wanted to taste it. i swear to you i can feel this and I am so 🥺🥺 mushy and melty

Before you could give him a questioning look, he wrapped his arm around you and pulled you off the ground. With a silent gasp, your hands tightened around his neck, your body pressed closer to his than you’d ever been as he spun you around to the rhythm of the music, your hearts beating in time. I SCRWAM OHMYGOD WHAT IS THIS HOW COULD YOU DO THIS RO ME IM CONVUKSINH HELP THIS JS LITERALLY ALL I WILL EVER BE THINKING ABT ALWAYS OMDGSKSJGS FUCK

“I like you, you know, I really do,” Bucky said quietly. “If things’d been different, I’da asked you to be my girl.” I literally am fucking short circuiting nika im fighting for my fucking life right now and you keep doing shit like this how dare you (affectionate)

You’d been floating your entire life, but you’d never felt as weightless and carefree as you did right then, his laugh such a beautiful melody you forgot about the rest of the world around you. this is my favorite shut your mouth. this is so so so beautiful

No matter how much you would miss it, you were sure about your decision. You’d follow him  across the sea, over any mountain, to the ends of the world, if need be, where the waters were raining into the sky; if only he’d permit it. me sgdodmdgskdg

You settled down at the bottom of the river for a final time, letting its slick brush over you and stick to your hair, committing every stone and plant to memory. It was then you realised you’d been searching for the sea your entire life only to find it in a human’s eyes. im literally going to fucking throw up.

When you emerged from the water, it was raining, warm and heavy on your skin after the coolness of the river that was no longer yours. You put your head in your neck, your eyes closed as your lungs readjusted to breathing the sweet spring air. this is so nice i need to experience it for myself i know it would cure me of absolutely everything

He nodded for you to take the last few steps ashore towards him, and then wrapped you in your cloak as best as he could with his single arm. You shivered as it sank into your skin once more. At the scent of him melting into yours. You could almost taste it. this is making me so affectionately angry im vibrating

When he kissed you, it tasted of saltwater, the kind of oceanic sadness you’d so often seen in his eyes. It took your breath away, reduced you to a fish on dry land and made you human again. Something settled, then, with his hand on your back and yours cupping his face. It had the taste of finality to it, this transformation. WOOOOOO THE KISS MY GOD FINALLY KSBSBKSHS YAYAYAYYAYAY !!!!!! STOP IM LITERALLY GOING TO CRY

He didn’t seem to want to stop kissing you, as if you were still the only thing breathing life into his lungs. Or maybe he was returning the favour. brb im going to throw myself off a cliff

He said your name with such reverence your knees almost buckled, mouth seeking out yours again before the echo of your last kiss had left it. His hand trailed up slowly, to your side, your elbow, your cheek, his thumb caressing the soft skin on your temple carefully, adoringly. this is everything to me stop i will be thinking of This for the rest of my life i already know it

soooo nika is actually The Best writer to ever have written and lived and im not okay but affectionately <3

the way i smiled and squealed and almost cried so much reading this !!!! you are incredible. this is perfection. 💙💙💙💙💙

set me free

summary: Once upon a time, a soldier fell from a train. Thankfully, this time, he is found by gentle hands, and a beautiful voice keeps him safe from the cold.

pairing: bucky barnes x nymph!reader

word count: 6.4k

warnings: bucky dealing with the loss of his arm; a pinch of angst for flavour; reader is perceived as female by men in the forties, but what does that really tell us?

a/n: hi. i really like this one. it combines two of my favourite things, fairy tales and 40s!bucky 😌 title is from the song her voice from the little mermaid musical <3

masterlist | read on ao3

“There was a girl.”

It’s the first thing he says when he wakes up, head wrapped in bandages and his arm … shit, his arm.

He doesn’t react when they break it to him, as gently as you can when you’re tearing someone’s life apart. What could he say?

Steve’s face speaks loud enough for the both of them.

He waits until everyone else has left, until he can drop the act and look at Steve, desperately trying to make him understand that there’s a voice singing inside of him that’s not his, that he feels like he lost two very precious things in a single day. “There was a girl.”

And Steve’s eyes go soft when he tells him, “I know.”

***

There was a story up north, where the waters turned grey with city slick and got forced through ever tightening brick holes, of the nymph that wanted to appeal to reason and got trapped in a barrel where he shrank, shrank until there was nothing left of him but water and vengeance, and who no one ever heard from again after in his last moments, he drowned dozens of them.

Humans.

You hadn’t seen one up close in years, not since they built their stinking railroad and stopped taking the time to walk through the lands adjoining your river. Your life got quiet when theirs got fast. You weren’t used to them anymore, and the constant buzzing in the camp gave you a headache.

Coming here was the most treacherous thing you’d ever done.

You just wanted to make sure he was alright after you’d pulled him from your waters and dragged him to where his friends would find him, down the river where the remnants of the train still burned. You watched the flames from a distance, the fire throwing eerie shadows across the snow for hours, leaving nothing but vapour.

He’d finally stopped bleeding, then.

You weren’t supposed to leave your river for any long period of time, but you couldn’t resist. The thought of the strange soldier with the beautiful face and hair the colour of muddy riverbanks occupied your every waking thought. As if he were calling to you.

You’re treading dangerous waters, your mother would have warned you, and you probably should’ve listened. But you’d never felt this way before.

So you left your voice behind to keep your legs for longer and went in search of your soldier.

The camp was dirty, haphazard, stank of human. None of them even seemed to notice. You almost wished for one of their primitive noses that couldn’t pick a trout from a pickerel.

You found the blond man first. Eyes like the darkest part of a waterfall and built like the rocks that kept the earth standing. His cries had sounded garbled from where you’d hid just below the surface, but now his voice was calmer, like rain.

“Are you lost?” he asked. It sounded peculiar to you, then, English, but you got used to it quickly.

You shook your head, already starting to move past him when he stepped into your path.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” he said with a frown.

Yes, you were.

“How did you even find us?”

It wasn’t hard. Nature was screaming their presence. If anyone wasn’t supposed to be here, it was them. But that wasn’t why you’d come.

“What’s your name?”

You were starting to wonder if humans ever got anything done or if they were spending all of their precious few days just standing around asking meaningless questions. Thankfully, one of the others started shouting at that moment, not even bothering to come closer. You cringed at the loud noise.

“Steve! It’s happening again!”

The blond man cursed under his breath, giving you another appraising look. “Stay here,” he ordered sternly, and then he took off.

You followed more slowly, moving past soldiers and nurses who were all in such a hurry to disguise how utterly useless they felt. None of them stopped you, even though you attracted some curious glances; you looked like them, now, but you didn’t move like them.

The ice cracked underneath your bare feet, but your steps were silent. The winter air did not chill you, even though your breath came up in small clouds of mist, just like it did for the rest of them, and you watched it evaporate into the grey sky.

A strange thing, they must have thought you. Similar enough, but not the same, somehow.

You found him easily, even though you couldn’t see him; it was like he pulled you in with invisible strings. His tug had already started to feel deceivingly familiar.

Another man stood in front of the entrance, holding a flask in his hand. He saw you approach, and he tipped his hat back to stare at you openly. He murmured something in a tongue clearly different from the first, and then he tapped his head and torso in several places, an instinctive, protective gesture.

You smiled at him.

“C’était vous?” he asked, and you nodded.

He looked over his shoulder quickly, and then he held the flaps of the tent open to let you in.

The air inside was heavy with the damp smell of sweat and blood. The blond man’s back almost kept him from your view, but you knew immediately that the convulsing body on the cot belonged to your soldier. They were holding him down, trying to keep him still as he was struggling.

He hadn’t woken yet.

You took another step closer, and then you saw him again. There he lay, still partially covered by your cloak, and the sight of it made you shiver. The obscenity of it all.

It’d seemed such a natural thing to do at the time, to shield him from certain death, but now, surrounded by all these other … humans? You could barely keep yourself from gagging.

You’d sung it into existence to keep him warm, and then you’d kept singing until the bleeding finally slowed.

You were almost done when you heard the others approach, calling out for him, and your head whipped around in shock. So much had you been preoccupied with your work, you hadn’t even noticed them until it was almost too late.

Careful, your mother’s voice warned softly in your head. A moment of weakness is how they catch you, pearl.

Your song hadn’t been completed, and when you melted back into your waters in haste, keen to get out of their view, you could feel something tear inside you as it got left behind.

It made you feel raw.

You were safe beneath your waters, but you’d left part of yourself with the handsome stranger with the mud-coloured hair, and as they picked him up and carried him back through the woods, the missing thing settled like a pebble in his pocket.

And now …

He was lying right in front of you, so close you might have just reached out and touched his damp forehead, but you didn’t quite dare, not with everyone else starting to notice your presence.

“You can't be in here!”

Oh, but you had to be.

You didn’t know what they must have seen in your eyes, but something changed on the blond man’s face, and he did not move when you did. Gently, you leaned over the man on the cot, noticing every shiver and flinch and moan, brushing a strand of hair from his brow. You pulled at the corner of your cloak and wrapped it around his shoulder again, careful not to touch the spattered bandages.

Your soldier sighed, and then his sleep grew dreamless.

The man called Steve let you stay.

***

It took several days before he woke up, and they’d moved him a few dozen metres uphill, where the trees formed more of a clearing and the air was crisp. You’d kept to the fringes of the camp, making yourself useful enough so they wouldn’t dismiss you, carrying hot water and sweeping snow off tarpaulin.

The sun was setting when you felt the pull again, but different this time, more tentative. You dropped your empty bucket and gathered your skirt, hurrying to see what had happened, what had changed.

“There was a girl.”

You came to a halt right outside the entrance to the med tent, hands pressed to your chest because suddenly, you felt ill, as if your heart was trying to burst out of your chest. You couldn’t make sense of the sudden wetness on your cheeks. Had it started to rain without your notice?

“There was a girl.”

You’re not a girl, but it was fine. Humans are so limited, your mother always used to say.

And he remembered your song.

***

The first time your soldier met you, met you properly, they’d wrapped him in blankets and carried him outside to sit in the sun. Like a wildcat, you thought, but his eyes were glazed over, not really taking in his surroundings.

It was a pity, you thought as you watched him, because the woods were beautiful that time of year, when the sun made the white mountain tops glitter like diamonds.

You only dared to move closer once the others gave up on trying to get him to talk. One slow step closer, than another. Finally, you sat down in the grass next to him, your feet crossing easily underneath you because you’d done it several times before at that point. The air was damp with morning dew.

Several minutes passed before he seemed to acknowledge your presence.

“Come to stare?” he croaked quietly. His voice was rough in places it wasn’t supposed to be.

You tilted your head to look at him, shielding your eyes against the sun. He looked magnificent in the light, even though the frown never left his face. You didn’t understand his question.

You didn’t know, then, that humans couldn’t just regrow their limbs like fish could their fins.

But you had no way of asking his meaning, so you just kept sitting next to him in silence, watching life move on in the camp downhill. He didn’t tell you to leave.

His name, you learned, was Bucky, and you wished you could try out the sound on your tongue to see how it tasted. He had eyes the colour of the ocean, but you didn’t know that until later. You’d never seen it before.

He stayed propped up in the med tent most of the time. For observation, Steve explained, worry in his voice, but he didn’t let you disturb Bucky in there. After all, you were just a stranger who didn’t talk or wear shoes, and whose seam was always inexplicably wet, and while you heard the whispers and knew he was smart enough to pick out the kernels of truth, he never told you to leave.

“I saw you that day,” he told you one afternoon, his waterfall eyes keen and focused. “You saved his life.”

A moment of weakness, you thought. You couldn’t help but wish for a lifetime of it.

You snuck in at night, when the nurse had gone to bed, tracing your cool fingertips against Bucky’s burning skin until he sighed in his sleep. In the pale moonlight, he seemed not much older than a boy. Sometimes, he woke up, but he was so delirious he must have mistaken you for an apparition by his bedside.

You silently tucked your cloak closer around him and hoped it was enough.

During the day, you kept close, staying busy by helping the others with the upkeep of the camp or looking for a quiet place to rest for a while. It took a lot out of you, trying to soothe Bucky’s pain, but it was worth it to you.

To him, you were an enigma.

You came out of nowhere into his life, and even though everything he had planned for the rest of it seemed to go up in flames around him and disappear forever, you were determined to stay by his side.

It took a lot of persuasion. You could hear Steve shout at the commanding officers for days, and the wind told you that Bucky heard, too. It spelled out his confusion, and his gratitude. Some part of him sensed your connection to him, even though he couldn’t understand it like you did.

Your boy was only human, after all.

In the beginning, in those early days before you even learned his name, you’d wondered if maybe the simple act of pulling Bucky out of your river had been what had somehow entranced you. If, as time went on, this fondness for him would disappear like the shimmer of light on the surface when the sun was rising; beautiful, but temporary.

It kept you seeking him out whenever you could, silently sitting down next to his chair with a bunch of fabrics to darn as the days kept getting warmer. It smelled of spring. Some colour had returned to his cheeks.

“Steve tells me you’re my guardian angel.” He said it like a reproach.

You merely shrugged and kept sewing. Your fingers were clumsy, not used to the tool, but you’d never been one to give up. When you stole a wayward glance at Bucky, he was watching you. He stirred underneath your gaze, and it made you want to jump up and run, run until you reached your river and could sink back beneath the familiar surface, to stop this racing in your chest, your head.

You tucked your legs underneath you.

It was strange, having legs again. You hadn’t worn them since … When was it, again, that they’d invented those terrible steaming machines that sent angry flares of smoke into the air and made it stink of fire and destruction for miles and miles?

You liked the feeling, though. They stood solid.

You were particularly fond of your toes, curiously burying them in the half-frozen ground until they changed colour, and then rubbing them between your stubby humanlike fingers so that the dirt fell off and they were warm once more.

Still, your soldier barely spoke to you.

You could feel his eyes set on you, though, whenever you walked by or sat at his feet. The cloak around his shoulders was drawing him to you, even if he didn’t know it. There was nothing else to it but ancient spells and unintentional offers.

You tried not to worry about it too much. The spell would fall off him as soon as he was healed enough, anyway, you knew as much.

But you couldn’t help yourself.

You heard his call to you at night, desperate, lonely, searching for some great unknown that he was missing. You felt the tug.

The ache became almost too much for you to bear.

The breeze whispered his name for you, a gentle kiss on his temple, as you lay rolled up in the cot they’d given you, waiting for dawn to bring an end to his nightmares and your untetheredness.

In the daylight, things were difficult in a different way. Oh, you wanted to talk to him, tell him all the stories you’d picked up over the decades. They all seemed so unreal when you were sitting next to him, as if they’d happened to someone else entirely.

The wind lashed out at you in moments like this, clashing fallen leaves into your face and pulling at your hair like a petulant child. Nature wasn’t angry with you, exactly, but she was mourning. She knew long before you did, and did everything in her power to soften the blow.

“How come you’re never cold?” Bucky asked when you rubbed your naked feet across the stone.

You laughed, silently, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

“Right. Yes or no only, correct?”

You smiled and nodded. A light blush spread on his cheeks.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna work out.” Your heart dropped, but he looked at you assessingly, his head slightly tilted to the side. “You don’t happen to know how to write, do you?”

You shook your head slowly. You were able to read human alphabets as well as understand the words, but it’d never seemed useful to you to put something in writing yourself. Whoever would you have addressed it to?

“I can teach you. Still got my working arm left, don’t I?”

He didn’t tell you that he needed this, that he needed to feel like he was still useful in some way, not just a nervous, hollow wreck of a man; he didn’t need to. You could read it in his eyes, and the resignation that was starting to fester at the bottom of his ocean eyes terrified you so much, you barely felt the needle slip before it pricked your finger. You flinched.

One, two, three drops of blood fell onto the fabric, staining the gleaming white. You stared at them, but the swirling thoughts in your head came to stop when he moved next to you and touched your hand.

“Are you alright?” Bucky asked, his fingers curling around your wrist. They were so warm. “You gotta be more careful, angel.”

It was the second time he called you an angel, and though you knew this couldn’t be further from the truth, you felt a strange heat rush through you, to your cheeks and every inch of skin he touched. The blankets around his shoulders had slipped down, and you could make out the silvery-blue edge of your cloak underneath. You bit your lip, and dropped your head.

Bucky let go of you, and the wind couldn’t quite soothe the loss of his warmth.

“I mean it,” he said after a while. “I’d like to teach you, if you want.”

So you went through your chores quickly the next day, and then headed for his tent with a spring in your step. You only stopped in front of the entrance when you heard voices inside.

“The notion came with the mail today,” Steve said. “They’ve made you a captain, Buck. To honour everything you’ve done in the line of duty.”

“Well, look at us, Stevie.” Bucky laughed hollowly. “We’ve both got empty titles to match now.”

You could hear Steve sigh. “Anger doesn’t suit you, pal.”

“It was always good enough for you.”

“I was a kid.”

“And I lost my arm!”

You couldn’t be sure if the cup fell by accident or if it was thrown by design, but it shattered with a spectacular crash, and then there was silence.

It was Steve who left, hands still buried in his hair. He took a moment to notice you, rubbing a palm across his face quickly. “Sorry about that,” he said. “You’re here for your lesson, right?”

You nodded.

“Right.” He coughed uncomfortably. “Well, he’s probably happier to see you than me, so …” He nodded, as if he was hearing an answer you didn’t give, and then he turned, stopping himself again to reach into his coat pocket. “You might need this,” he said, pressing something into your hand before he left.

It was a little red notebook, not much larger than your hand. You stood there, unsure whether you should enter or leave Bucky alone with the churning wave of his grief. In the end, he made the decision for you.

“Are you gonna come in?”

He didn’t sound angry anymore, only tired. You put the tiny notebook into your pocket.

When you pulled the tent open, he was sitting on his cot, and the blurry light falling in from the tiny window cast his face in deep shadows. He blinked against the sun in your back, and some weight seemed to fall off him. You took it for yourself.

It hurt, not being able to tell him everything you wanted to.

You set up outside, using some empty crates as a makeshift table as Bucky pulled out a pen and stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of him. Its edges were flapping in the wind.

He put the tip of the pen down and made a line, almost ripping a hole into the page. His jaw clenched even more. The paper bunched up underneath his hand, and even you could tell he was gripping the pen too tightly.

Carefully, you reached out and held the edge of the paper down for him.

Bucky closed his eyes for a long second and took a breath. Then, he started again.

***

It took another couple of weeks, but as spring grew into an early summer, Bucky began moving around on his own again. He was still weak from his prolonged bed rest, and his walk was off-balance, but more often than not, he picked you up for a round through the camp before settling down for your writing lesson.

You’d assumed that once you’d made your way through the entire alphabet, he’d teach you simple sentences, the ones children started with. Your letters didn’t look much better than theirs, anyway; they lacked the confidence of years of practice.

Soon, however, he was telling you stories.

Stories of places you’d never heard of, of machinery and grand ideas you could scarcely even imagine. Some of them he surely must have made up; they seemed too fantastical to be real. You were supposed to take notes, but found yourself too enthralled by his words time and time again. Trying to focus on your spelling was like swimming upstream; his tide worked against you.

“It’s fine,” he laughed when he’d deciphered your scribblings while you grimaced. “‘Sergeant’ is a hard one. You did great, angel.”

He might have made a wonderful teacher, you thought as you watched him write it down correctly. In a different life, or maybe even in this one.

“Have you ever been able to speak?” Bucky asked one day, in a way that told you he’d been thinking about wording this for so long it finally just fell out as bluntly as this.

Your hesitation, to him, seemed answer enough, because he cleared his throat.

“What happened? If you don’t mind my askin’.”

This was a new habit of his, one that had developed quickly once your spelling got legible. He kept asking you personal questions, and you never quite knew how to answer.

It’s complicated, you wrote slowly.

“Did it hurt?”

You met his gaze, again unsure of your response. You underlined your words. Then, you put up a hand before he could say anything else. The tip of your pen was shaking slightly.

I like this. With you.

He blushed so beautifully, like a sunset lowering its head between the treetops, and he stayed silent for a very long while before he spoke again.

“Could you tell me your name?”

You thought about it. You’d never seen it written down, of course, not in human letters anyway. You weren’t even sure it was proper to tell him.

But his eyes, his rainwater eyes focused on you with that gentle spark of curiosity burning brightly, and you put your pen down again.

You tried several ways of how you supposed it might be spelled before you settled on one that you liked.

Bucky read your name, and you huffed a breath of air. You weren’t one to still believe in gods, but it sounded almost like a prayer on his lips.

The smile that followed it sealed your fate.

You knew, then, that you’d go anywhere with him, if ever he asked. You’d stay by his side as long as he allowed you to, no matter how stormy the waters.

You’d saved his life, but he pulled you to shore.

No nymph was meant to appear a mortal for as long as you had, but you couldn’t help it. You couldn’t bring yourself to leave his side, not once you’d heard his laugh and read his thoughts and felt his heartbeat underneath your fingertips. You no longer wondered what your name would sound like on his tongue; you wanted to taste it.

What a strange feeling, desire.

How very human of your transformed body to wish for things your nature would never allow, how flawed a concept. But then, why did your heart feel so … heavy?

You noticed details in Bucky you never thought a human capable of, like the way his eyes would grow soft when he watched his friends, or how determination did not just make him harden but also tremble with sheltered trepidation.

Trains did not go by often during your stay in the camp, but when they did, he was the first to notice. You couldn’t take those terrors from him, no matter how much you wished for it.

You tried, anyway.

***

Falling in love with Bucky was easy, but falling in love with the human world happened all on its own, and you only caught up when they took you upstream. It was strange to realise; their way of living was so fast, so dirty and hurried and grand. It terrified you, and fascinated you all the same. The city was large, and the people seemed so small against its high buildings and neverending cobbled streets. Tiny, countless pebbles in a river.

You kept tight hold of Bucky’s hand as you made your way through the crowd, your nose twitching. There was an air of excitement amongst soldiers and city people alike, and it only got more jubilant once you’d reached your destination.

You swallowed down your beating heart as you tried to take everything in.

The colours, the smells, so strong you thought you might taste them, the feel of dresses brushing against your skin and the sound of laughter and clinking glasses. And the music. You’d never heard anything like it, loud and happy and right in front of you.

You were nudged onto a stool in the corner, watching wide-eyed as the musicians’ fingers moved so fast you could barely keep track, their beat leaving goosebumps all over your skin. All the while, people were dancing in mad circles around them.

You didn’t know whether you’d sat there for minutes or hours by the time Steve emerged from the cluster of people that had formed around the bar. “There you are!” he called over, and even without looking at him, you could feel Bucky smile next to you.

“You’re saying that like it wasn’t you who got side-tracked,” he said, taking another sip of his drink.

“You should be celebrating, Buck, that’s the whole point.”

“I like this,” Bucky said, looking at you, but Steve ignored him.

“What are you doing at the side of the dance floor, anyway?” he said as if he were settling an old score. He turned to you with a conspiratorial look. “Your man is the best dancer around, and don’t let him pretend otherwise.”

Even though he wasn’t drunk, the alcohol had left mischief in Steve’s eyes. With his dishevelled hair and reddened cheeks, he looked rather boyish, and it suited him, you thought. You wondered what Bucky would look like with that much ease running through his veins.

“She doesn’t wanna dance with me, knucklehead,” Bucky groaned. “Now piss off and bother someone else.”

Steve winked at you, but did leave you to it. You watched Bucky watch him walk away. His face puzzled you; it looked almost pained.

“What?” he said quietly when he caught your stare. You gestured for his hand.

I do, you traced into his palm. His fingers twitched. You didn’t let go.

“You do what?” he asked, carefully.

Your eyes flitted to the dance floor, then back to him. The band still played at a fast pace, something that sent feet stamping and skirts twirling. It looked fun.

Bucky lingered in the same realisation for a moment before he grimaced. “I don’t wanna make you look a fool, angel, I don’t.”

You pulled him to his feet.

Standing on the dance floor, you quickly realised that watching the other dancers had made the steps and turns look a lot easier than they actually turned out to be in practice. Your limbs didn’t want to seem to move in that same weightless, flowing fashion; at least not at that speed.

A tiny smirk formed on Bucky’s lips as he tried guiding your feet with his own, his hand loosely holding your waist. The ever-shifting directions confused you; every time you felt like you’d figured it out, it seemed like the movements changed mid-stream and suddenly went the opposite way. You threw your head back in frustration as you stepped on his foot for the tenth time.

Bucky just chuckled. “Hold on,” he told you quietly.

Before you could give him a questioning look, he wrapped his arm around you and pulled you off the ground. With a silent gasp, your hands tightened around his neck, your body pressed closer to his than you’d ever been as he spun you around to the rhythm of the music, your hearts beating in time.

You’d been floating your entire life, but you’d never felt as weightless and carefree as you did right then, his laugh such a beautiful melody you forgot about the rest of the world around you.

Only when he put you back down did you realise that the song must have changed; indeed, the crowd had dispersed, only a few other couples were still dancing to the slow tune the band was playing now. You brushed a strand of hair out of Bucky’s face and smiled, trying to convey every bit of the happiness you felt on your face.

He closed his eyes and touched his forehead to yours, gently swaying you from side to side. You felt your chest expand with it.

It all seemed so impossible.

For you to be here now, with human legs, in the embrace of this man, this brave, handsome, courteous soldier that you adored more than anyone or anything else; how many drops had to have fallen in the right place at the right time to set your path in stone the way it was supposed to be.

“I like you, you know, I really do,” Bucky said quietly. “If things’d been different, I’da asked you to be my girl.”

You stopped breathing.

“I mean it,” he said, tugging your chin up. “You’re beautiful, and kind, and smart, and you saved my life back in that river.”

You shook with his confession, your thoughts swirling. The temptation to give in was almost unbearable when he looked at you like that, like he wanted to explore every last corner of your soul. But he had no idea how deep you ran.

“What is it, angel?”

You wanted to tell him that this was everything you wanted, and that that was the problem. You didn’t know whether this was him asking, or whether your magic had sunk so deep it confused the very core of him.

On the other hand, if you refused him now and ripped it out all at once, wouldn’t that be even worse? What if it took all the good you’d been trying to do away with it as well? No, you couldn’t risk that. You had to stay with him until he didn’t need you anymore; and whether that took forever or just three more days, you’d have to be fine with it.

Bucky sighed and dragged his hand through his hair, taking half a step back. “I’m being selfish, I know. I just can’t help but feel like there’s something …”

He trailed off, and you put a hand over his heart to urge him on. You could feel it racing underneath his layers. He swallowed heavily.

“I’m being shipped back to the States next week.”

Again, you held your breath, even though this time, his confession was like a bucket of ice water down your spine. You didn’t even hear the next couple of sentences, only listening again when he said your name.

“—I can’t ask you to come with me, it’d be—I’m not even—”

You frowned in question. Why not?

He sighed again. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Like what?

“Like I’m worth your pity.”

Your fingers held tightly to the material of his jacket. Bucky didn’t meet your eye. You both must have stopped moving at some point, but suddenly, you felt dizzy.

Slowly, you reached for his hand. You weren’t sure which one of you was shaking more.

Ask me, you traced into his palm. Bucky shook his head. Ask me, you wrote again, more quickly this time.

“I can’t,” he said, wanting. “I shouldn’t.”

Let me, you wrote onto his skin, and you could see the moment his doubts, for now, washed away.

“Come home with me.”

***

The evening before you were set to leave, you returned to the river one last time to say goodbye. Your legs melted together as soon as you emerged yourself in the water, its familiar touch caressing your cheeks.

“I’m here to tell you I’m leaving,” you called out to the fish, but they already knew. You were all part of these waters, and there were no secrets kept.

No matter how much you would miss it, you were sure about your decision. You’d follow him  across the sea, over any mountain, to the ends of the world, if need be, where the waters were raining into the sky; if only he’d permit it.

You settled down at the bottom of the river for a final time, letting its slick brush over you and stick to your hair, committing every stone and plant to memory. It was then you realised you’d been searching for the sea your entire life only to find it in a human’s eyes.

You were ready to see what else you would find out there.

When you emerged from the water, it was raining, warm and heavy on your skin after the coolness of the river that was no longer yours. You put your head in your neck, your eyes closed as your lungs readjusted to breathing the sweet spring air.

Bucky was waiting for you underneath the shield of your favourite willow tree, his eyes heavy as he watched you. Your neatly folded cloak was hanging over his shoulder.

“I’ve heard stories, you know,” he said, his hand slowly following the seam of it, pulling it closer to his frame. You bit the inside of your cheek. “They’re not just made up, are they?”

You shook your head slowly.

“Why did you save me?”

The question surprised you in its desperation. Still, you didn’t reach out to him. Even if you had dared, you couldn’t; you seemed frozen to the spot. Instead, your hand found its way to your throat.

Waters or not, you were still incomplete.

But your soldier was as smart as he was brave.

He nodded for you to take the last few steps ashore towards him, and then wrapped you in your cloak as best as he could with his single arm. You shivered as it sank into your skin once more. At the scent of him melting into yours. You could almost taste it.

You looked at him, expecting to see the terror they would always warn you about. The hatred. Betrayal. Fury. What you found in his eyes instead mirrored what you could feel leaking from your own: awe.

He gave you your gift back.

You weren’t well-versed in the traditions that your kind had upheld for centuries, but this even you knew, even after all these years on your own. After all, you’d dreamed it up so many times, never daring to hope it would become reality.

This meant a proposal.

But he couldn’t mean that. No matter what kind of tales he’d heard, he couldn’t know. And you weren’t about to bind yourself to him without his knowledge.

So you slowly, reluctantly shook your head no.

“Did I get something wrong?” Bucky asked, his voice cracking with concern.

He wasn’t supposed to make it this hard. He wasn’t supposed to figure out who, what you were, not like this, not for a good time yet. You had meant to take care of him, but how were you going to, now?

A droplet of river water fell off your lashes and he caught it with his thumb before he could seem to stop himself. You pulled his hand away gently.

You don’t mean it, you traced onto his arm.

He didn’t. It was just the spell, and it would release him any second now.

You couldn’t help but wish for your notebook, then, the one filled with his stories and laughter and all the things you could never say. Maybe its familiar pages would help dull this pain.

Your lungs had dried up and your skin grew warm beneath his touch, but his ache was woven into him by outside forces. Yours though … yours was winning.

“I’ve said a lot of things in my life that I didn’t mean, angel, but this ain’t one of them.”

You looked up at him and found his eyes the same. It should be impossible, that beautiful, terrible, hopeful shade of blue. It had been haunting your dreams for as long as you could remember, and it had nothing to do with the spell you wove upon him on that snowy riverbank.

I love you, you thought, and maybe he did the same.

When he kissed you, it tasted of saltwater, the kind of oceanic sadness you’d so often seen in his eyes. It took your breath away, reduced you to a fish on dry land and made you human again. Something settled, then, with his hand on your back and yours cupping his face. It had the taste of finality to it, this transformation.

He didn’t seem to want to stop kissing you, as if you were still the only thing breathing life into his lungs. Or maybe he was returning the favour.

“Bucky,” you whispered against his lips, and a shudder went through him. “Bucky.”

Your voice sounded different to your own ears, but you couldn’t tell if it was the air or something else entirely.

He said your name with such reverence your knees almost buckled, mouth seeking out yours again before the echo of your last kiss had left it. His hand trailed up slowly, to your side, your elbow, your cheek, his thumb caressing the soft skin on your temple carefully, adoringly.

There was a gust of wind as the last bit of magic worked its course, but you barely noticed it. Only at the very back of your mind did you come to realise that your toes had gone numb with the cold.

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[readerwatch]

Hi could I request Mccree teaching his clumsy S/O how to line dance?

I secretly want Riverboat McCree to teach me how to line dance

not so secret anymore but i still want it to happen

==================================================

“Please?” You begged, your hands clasped together underneath your chin. You were in the process of begging a certain cowboy boyfriend to teach you how to dance, line dance specifically.

“Y’want me,” he pauses for a moment, pointing to himself “to teach you, the clumsiest human being on the face of this god given green earth, to line dance?” The last two words came out with a chuckle, looking at you with an amused look on his face.

“If you didn’t want to teach me, all you had to do was say no.” You muttered.

“No, no. It’s not that, sweetpea.” Jesse placed his hand on top of your head and proceeded to ruffle your hair. “Just never thought I’d hear ya’ say you wanted me to teach you somethin’ like that.”

You blushed a little bit, your hands moving from underneath your chin to on top of his own hand. “Stop that!” You shouted.

“Alright, alright. I’ll quit teasin’ ya’.” He chuckled again “Let’s move to somewhere with a lot of, er..” Jesse pondered for a moment “space?”

You felt a little insulted, but knew it was because he knew you’d probably fall. A lot.

“Alright,” Jesse spoke, his southern drawl thick as he spoke “This is where I’ll be teachin’ ya’ how to line dance.” He pointed towards a slightly beat-up looking barn, vegetation growing along the wooden exterior.

“We traveled half an hour to come to a barn?” Your face was expressionless, Jesse looked insulted.

“Don’t ya’ want the authentic experience? My word.” He sounded insulted.

“I-I do! I’m sorry!” You apologized profusely. You didn’t realize how much this barn meant to him apparently.

He scoffed, “Tch, how could I not forgive someone as cute as you?” You blushed at his statement.

“Now, this barn is very important to me. It served as my hideout for a very long time while I was part o’ the ole’ Deadlock gang.” Jesse looked over at you as he spoke, then looking back at the dilapidated building.

“You mean the gang you were in before you joined Blackwatch?” You asked, tilting your head to the side slightly.

“Yeah, that one.” Jesse answered, then grabbing your hand and tugging on you gently. “Now let’s get going, it’s hotter than blue blazes out here.”

The inside of the barn felt surprisingly cool compared to the outside.

Your short-heeled shoes clacked loudly against the wooden floor, echoing throughout the inside of structure. “This place looks a lot better on the inside.” You commented, studying the interior carefully. To your left, there was a bar, a couple stools were knocked over in front of it. The glass liqueur bottles that once lined the shelves were now on the floor behind the curved counter top.

“Yeah, well, she’s seen better days.” He replied, walking over to the bar and picking up a couple of the stools, setting them back up on their legs. “Was a big fight here before I got caught, ‘scuse the mess.”

You watched Jesse for a moment as he walked behind the bar and kneeled, rummaging around until he felt a bottle, a soft “Aha!” coming from his direction before he stood up quickly. “Glad this is still here.”

There was a bottle of liquor in his hand, the liquid inside amber in color. “M’favorite bottle of Highland Park, glad this didn’t get destroyed,” Jesse side eyed you as you grabbed the edge of his sleeve and dusted off the bottle “Want some?”

“Uh,” You started for a moment, then waved your hand dismissively “No thanks, not a fan of alcohol.”

“More for me, then.” As he finished talking, he grabbed a glass from underneath the counter and placed it on top, pouring a little of the amber liquid inside of it, then bringing the glass to his lips and downing the entirety of it in an instant. “Gotta get a little loose before I teach ya’ how to dance, darling.”

You rolled your eyes and smiled. “Whatever, cowboy. Let’s get this going already.”

“Wish you were that eager about everything.” Jesse chuckled.

“S-shutup!” Your cheeks were stained a light shade of pink from his comment, crossing your arms almost defensively.

“Lord, no, sweetheart. Please, you’re killing me here.” Jesse spoke, his hands on his hips as he tapped his foot against the floor. “You’re supposed to kick your foot forward,” He demonstrated, kicking his foot forward as he spoke “Then you’re supposed lean on the ball of yer’ foot.”

“This is hard!” You protested.

“Well I ain’t the one who suggested you learn it, now am I?”

“Let’s do this again from the beginnin’, this time I’ll do it beside ya’. Will that help?” Jesse asked, adjusting the sleeves of his shirt.

“Wouldn’t hurt to try, I guess.” You said, kicking your foot a little bit.

“Put a little more pep into your kick and you’ll be line dancin’ in no time, sweetpea.”

You and Jesse were dancing beside each other, his thumbs were hooked into the belt loops of his jeans. Your hands were on the side of your hips, flush against the fabric of your skirt as your feet moved in sync with his. “There we go, you’ve got the hang of it no-”

You stumbled over your feet as he spoke, trying to catch yourself, but to no avail. You fell into McCree’s side, expecting him to tumble down with you. Instead, he reached out and caught you, his toned arms wrapping around you to steady your body.

“Whoa, there.” He spoke, looking down at you. You were embarrassed, extremely embarrassed. Your heart was racing from almost falling, and also from having McCree staring at you the way he was. His dark brown eyes met your gaze, and you felt yourself freeze.

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you look in my arms, darlin’?

LORD I wanna die now. I want this to happen to me so bad. I need this.

Note: Jesse straight up stole that bottle of liquor, it’s expensive af

[umbrellakrp]

Welcome under the Umbrella!

Liu Huozheng

Born on 19 April 1997 in Mingguang Originally from Mingguang Student and part-timer at Lotte Cinema

When I was six I sat down with grandpa all frustrated because mother wouldn’t let me cook dumplings with her. I wanted to know how to cook them, I kept trying to do it but she kept saying that I’m not good and would tell me to just go sit and let her handle it. What’s the fun in that!?

I asked grandpa to teach me, and he said that I lose my temper too easily so I wouldn’t make a good student. So then I got mad. Why would no one teach me! Anyway long story short, I woke up during the night when everyone was asleep and tried to cook the dumplings myself. It ended up a disaster and I almost burned the house down. My parents got super mad at me and then grounded me for a year. I didn’t understand why I got grounded and they never even explained it to me, it’s their fault for never teaching me to cook the damn dumplings!

And when I reached twelve I… accidentally got in a fight with another kid and I accidentally gave him a black eye…(well, actually not so accidentally) I just got mad because he kept making fun of me for always getting bad marks, and when I told him to shutup he wouldn’t listen. Anyway I got suspended for a whole week. My parents grounded me again and I still didn’t understand why it was my fault.

Ok listen, I’m not stupid I know what’s good and what’s wrong, I know I was too young to cook dumplings by myself and I know violence is never the answer but sometimes incidents and people make me feel like a nuisance. I’m not a nuisance, I’m just eager; the difference is simple!

One time a friend of mine told me that sometimes my eyes look like they burn fire red, I asked, “When?” he said, “When I see you play baseball at the park near auntie Chen’s house,” I laughed so hard, how do someone’s eyes simply start burning. Foolish.

I kept playing baseball though, I played throughout all elementary and high school. Surprisingly I did well, my parents still never seemed to care. All they cared about was stupid math and the piano lessons I couldn’t give less of a crap for. I tried my best to do well in those too so that my parents would let me keep playing baseball. So now I know how to play the piano, which I have no relevant use for, and I’m also good at math which I still don’t care about. For three whole years in university at Beijing I was stuck taking business classes I hated with my whole being. Never have I felt this useless and hollow.

Anyway, I left. Moved to Seoul. I don’t know what I’m doing here. I just want someone to tell me that my eyes burn fire red again.

[brightlotusmoon]

Another Fanfic Scene Thingie

I was gonna work on like a sequel to “Fire And Oxygen: Nothing Else Matters” in the Lifegiver series, and I was finally going to start the 2003 Mikey vs aliens story in the CFR Mind Games series, and then this ridiculously random piece for the Sunshine Child series popped up, so I’m putting it here for later. It’s kind of part one from Donnie’s perspective. Then I’ll do a two and three and four from Leo, Raph, and Mikey, and maybe Ghost Splinter. Because the Sunshine Child fics are supposed to follow Season 5 and I’m tired of waiting, so fuck that, and the Leo And Mikey With Ghost Splinter Spiritual Intuition Team will happen whether canon likes it or not. I entirely blame drunk Splinter, that was the second only good thing about “Tokka vs Earth” (shh, I have Feelings about that wreck of an episode cough Mikey Got Nearly Dissected cough augh ahem shutup). Hmm. Perhaps I’ll write a Ghost Rat Dad scene where he discusses the appropriate times to intoxicate for Spiritual Purposes, because now I see April and Mikey dragging Leo into woods near the farmhouse to eat pretty mushrooms and get spiritual. Damn it, headcanons. Slow down. Do you want nonsense fic? Because this is how you get nonsense fic. Gods, I love writing the B-Team and Donnie’s precious loving snark. Mikey may be my love but Donnie is my bro.

Bah. Anyway. Here be the first part of “He Is Quantum”. Also, the first person who assumes Mikey cannot possibly read that well is getting slapped upside the head by the crankiest Autistic with ADHD this side of the fandom. I need more dopamine boosters. Hello, caffeine.

 “He Is Quantum” (Part Three of The Sunshine Child series) Part One: Donatello

“Seriously Dee, you give me too little credit. Look how much I’ve learned.”

“And exploded. And gotten wrong. And messed up.”

“Okay, fine. The wasp antidote.”

“Rubbing mutagen on your face because you thought it said super cool.”

“Curing your brainlessness.”

“With pepperoni?”

“You said the nitrates made it good!”

“Yeah, but…but…”

Mikey grinned. Donnie’s grimace turned into a pout, and his folded arms tightened. Mikey’s own crossed arms loosened slightly and his head lifted. “Come on, Donnie. I remember things, I just need someone to help me figure it out. Look, you know I’m good at making stuff up, I just need help with the follow-through.”

Donatello sighed loudly, dropping his arms. “Fine. Fine. What do you want to do?”

Mikey smiled. “I wanna learn physics.”

Donnie paused and squinted at him. “Why?”

A freckled shoulder rose and fell. “We don’t get along. I wanna be friends.”

Like a record scratch, Donatello felt an odd twitch thrum up and down his limbs. A little voice in his head said that makes absolutely no sense at all, except it makes all the sense in the world.

He pointed at Mikey, then upward. “You…and physics?”

“Yes.”

Don studied his brother for a moment. Mikey was lightly rocking on his heels, mask tails like goldfish fins weaving back and forth, one finger tapping against the opposite arm; he was always moving, unless there was something to stop him, and--

“Okay,” he said. “Newton’s Laws Of Motion. Let’s start with those.”

Mikey raised an eye ridge. “What, no Shreddinger’s cat?”

“It’s pronounced Schro--” and Donnie stopped when he saw the wiseass grin on Mikey’s face. He couldn’t help but grin back. Little smartass brat. He really does know.

The next morning, right from his bedroom, Don walked smiling toward the lab, just as a bright green and orange blur shot out of it. Reflexively, Donnie grabbed his bo staff and stuck it in front of the whirlwind, which gracefully rose a foot in the air and landed right in front of him.

“Hi, Donnie!” Mikey said cheerfully. He was balanced on a single toe, his arms folded across his plastron, a hardcover book shielded in them. His mask tails stirred in his own breeze. His azure eyes were completely electric; Don swore he saw a glow. After yesterday’s lessons complete with some very strange shows from Mikey following Don’s tells, Donnie had decided to privately nickname his little brother “Newton’s Quantum Law” – some of the things he did never made sense and probably never would, and therefore were best left to the confounded musings of theoretical physicists and maybe caffeinated philosophers. Donnie suddenly appreciated the mental and spiritual flips Leo had been doing just to keep up with Mikey ever since that bizarre meditation session where they had both gone unconscious.

He really missed Master Splinter.

“Hi, Mikey,” he sighed, as cheerfully as he could before caffeine. “Did you take a book from my shelves?”

“Mmaaybe.” It was a recent-looking textbook, black and navy with squiggles of blue and white peeking between the spaces around Mikey’s arms and fingers.

“Is it the Brief History Of Time book?” Don had been hoping that could be bed time reading. Maybe Mikey wouldn’t have nightmares, just confusing dream trips through space.

“Hm? Oh, nah, I was looking through that last night. Then I got to the parts with black holes and thought spaghetti would be good for lunch tomorrow, which is today, and I distracted myself, and it’s still on your desk, but I’ll put it back on the shelf, promise!”

Don felt his mouth fall open. Wait. Sp-um…spaghettification? Did he…understand…wait, he already read some of it? What? I. What?

That record scratch tremble again.

“Aaanyway,” Mikey was rambling, “I saw this one on neurology and I figured that would be better to start with because, you know, my brain was always weird and now it’s even weirder what with the stuff Master Splinter said about my spirit intuition, you know, when I saw his ghost, and neurology is about why weird brains are weird, so I’ma make breakfast and read this baby! You want eggs and bacon? Onna pizza?”

Donatello didn’t even realize there was a problem until he heard a snapping sound and there were fingers right in front of his face.

“Leeeooo, I think I broke Dooonnn!”

“Mikey, what’s going on? It’s seven in the morning, Leo’s doing his dojo kata thing, you need to stop shouti—hey, what’s with Donnie?”

“I dunno, we were talking, and then he just…glazed over.”

Don blinked, finally. Mikey was in the process of snapping his fingers again, and Raph was gawping at him, head tilted, like a dog finding a frog in its water dish. Don realized he had been standing slightly slumped, hands loose and bo slack between his fingers, jaw hanging, eyes wide, for a good couple of seconds. That was actually a decent amount of time.

Shaking himself out of it, he straightened up and sent Raph the flattest look he could manage.

“Okay, enough of this, I need my coffee, okay?”

“Already made!” Mikey chirped.

He closed his eyes and took a very deep breath. “Okay. Thanks, Mikey. Have…have fun with the neurology textbook.”

“Tomorrow I’ll be back for biology.”

Raphael froze with an expression of deep concern. “Whaaat is going on?”

Donnie just waved him off. “I’m teaching Mikey science. Apparently he reads faster than I do.”

As he finally, finally disappeared into the lab and began to shut the door, he heard Raph yell “THIS IS THE WEIRDEST PRANK EVER.” And he just shook his head and smiled.