#unsure how coherent this is i just have a LOT of feelings about this scene

[cxrrodedcoffin]

Sweet Understanding - Emily Prentiss

Likes are always appreciated but reblogs and feedback keep artists going!

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Summary: Reader has a rough day at work and Emily knows just how to relieve some stress.

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: reader has sensory issues but specific condition is not mentioned. inspired by my real life experiences, i have adhd and get very easily overstimulated so i did get a little self indulgent with this one lol

TW: fingering, oral sex, praise kink, afab reader, use of “girl” and she/her pronouns in reference to reader, mentions of sensory issues, borderline excessive use of pet names, reader is submissive & slightly unsure of herself

Rating: R, there’s a lot of fluff here but it develops into smut so 18+ only please!

——

You shut the door a little too hard behind you as you dropped your bag to the floor, sigh of relief falling from your lips.

“What’s wrong baby?” Emily questioned, getting up from her place on the couch to walk over to you. Her slender arms wrapped around your frame, pulling you into a much-needed hug after the day you’d had.

“Work was awful, my whole body is sore and I had to fight through how overstimulated everything about that place makes me all day.” You stumbled over your words, your brain struggling to form a coherent thought with how low your social battery was from all of the interactions you had to engage in throughout the day.

“I’m sorry you had a tough day sweet girl, is there anything I can do to help?” Her hand cupped your cheek, thumb swiping softly over your skin. You lean into her touch, looking into her eyes as you search for any semblance of hesitation, but there is none. Emily doesn’t have any reservations about your relationship, she knows how tough your sensory issues are to handle and all she wants is to make life a little easier for you in any way she can. You’re too precious to her, she never wants to see you in pain if she can help it.

“Maybe a bath…together?” You suggest, crimson blush rising over your cheeks. You’re still a little shy to initiate intimacy of any kind, learning to ask for touch from the one person who’s touch you desire most is all so foreign to you after a lifetime of discomfort with contact from others.

“That is an excellent idea, can you get the water running angel? I just have to grab a couple things and I’ll be right in.” You nod and she kisses you on the forehead before parting, making you way to your ensuite bathroom. When Emily was apartment hunting she specifically wanted a tub deep enough to fit two people. As strong as the front she puts up is, she’s really a romantic at heart, and recreating a romcom bubble bath scene had been on her bucket list for awhile. You were grateful for that now, illicit thoughts floating through your mind as you watched the water slowly fill up the tub.

Emily finally joined you, setting your favorite scented lotion on the bathroom counter and pouring some bubble bath into the still-rising water.

“Give me your hands, sweetheart.” She cooed, opening the bottle of lotion and taking a small amount into her palms. She took your hands in hers, her fingers gently massaging the tired muscles in your palms and giving the cracked skin on the back of your hands some much-needed moisture. She knew you couldn’t stand the feeling of your hands being dry, it was one of the seemingly small things that she could help, and she didn’t mind getting to have a little extra time holding your hand.

Once she finished, she helped lift your top over your head, goosebumps forming as the cool air hit your bare skin. You both continued to undress until you were completely bare, your nipples perking at the exposure.

Emily took your hand, letting you brace yourself against her for extra stability as you stepped into the tub, sinking into the warm water. Once you were properly settled she stepped in behind you, her back resting against the side of the tub as she pulled your hips back so you were between her legs, your back flush with her chest. You snuggled into her, resting your head on her shoulder and enjoying the way the warm water soothed your aching legs.

“You’re so beautiful babydoll.” Her voice was smooth, and her praise caused your cheeks to flush again.

“Thank you my love.” You purred, relaxing fully against her. Her fingers began to trace patterns up your sides, fingertips dancing along the sides of your breasts. A chill ran up your spine at the sensitive touch, a dull ache growing between your thighs. Her touch became more intense, hands cupping your breasts, gently kneading as your nipples rubbed against her palms. You whined, growing desperate for more.

“What do you need, sweet girl?” She asked, rolling your nipples between her fingers in hopes of eliciting more sounds from you. It worked, whimpers falling from your lips as she tweaked your sensitive buds.

“Touch me please.” You whine, squirming against her.

“I’m already touching you angel, you need to be more specific.”

“Between my legs, please.” You can’t articulate exactly what you want because you’re honestly not sure, you just want her to do whatever she wants with your pussy.

Her right hand movies to your inner thigh, fingers inching closer until she traces your labia, teasingly rubbing just beside your clit. You whine in frustration before taking her hand in yours and placing her fingers on your clit.

“Right here.” You sigh, closing your eyes in anticipation. She rubs slowly at first, almost agonizingly so before picking up the pace, rubbing quick circles over your bundle of nerves. The water begins to sway ever so slightly around you, her arm movements creating gentle waves. You nuzzle your forehead against her neck, soft moans falling just beneath her ear, spurring her on. Before you know it she’s dipping her index and middle fingers inside of you, thumb taking over rubbing your clit as she curls her fingers inside of you.

You’re losing all semblance of reality, only able to focus on her slender fingers pumping expertly into you, coaxing out desperate whimpers as your release draws closer and closer.

Your walls start to contract around her fingers, telling her you were teetering on the edge of release.

“That’s it sweetheart, let go.” She whispers, holding her pace steady until you cry out, a broken sob wracking your body as euphoria washes over you, the tension that had built up throughout the day finally releasing.

Emily slows her ministrations, helping you work through your orgasm before withdrawing her fingers from your pulsing cunt. She plants a kiss on your forehead once more, looking lovingly into your hazy eyes.

“So good for me, angel.” She praises, letting you recover for a moment. You plant kisses along her jawline, taking your hand in yours.

“Thank you.” You sigh, content to sit here with her until the end of time.

“I’m always happy to help you, no matter what.”

“I know, but you’re always so busy and I don’t want to add any stress, it’s not fair to you.” Guilt starts to creep in slightly as you realize you hadn’t asked how her day was when you got home.

“Baby, the team hasn’t had a case in 2 weeks, I’ve done nothing but paperwork all day. You are under a lot more stress than I am right now, and I know you’ll return the favor so don’t worry about it.” She reassured, squeezing your hand.

“Can I do that now? Return the favor, I mean.” You start to rise from the tub, reaching out your hand to help Emily up. She smiles at you, nodding approval as she steps out. The two of you quickly dry off, trailing into the bedroom.

“How do you want me?” She questions, okay with whatever position is most comfortable for you.

“Sit against the headboard and spread your legs, please.” You tell her, always polite even in your desires. She does just what you ask, giving you a full view of her gorgeous cunt. You climb on the bed with her, moving to lay on your stomach with your head between her legs. You look up at her longingly and she smiles down at you, lightly nodding to give you the go ahead.

You dive in, tongue lapping long flat stripes through her folds, desperate to taste as much of her as possible. You were hungry, savoring the delicious taste of her arousal as you dipped your tongue inside of her. Her hand found its way to your hair, fingers tangling in soft strands as she pulled you closer.

Your hand joined your mouth, fingers sliding into her to feel the warmth of her walls pulsing around them. Your tongue gave kitten licks to her clit, slowly increasing pressure and pace until you had her moaning and grinding her hips against you. You wrapped your lips around her bundle of nerves, sucking as you curled your fingers, knowing just how to take her over the edge. You needed to taste her cum, desperate for the sight of her milky white release on your fingers.

“Don’t stop baby, almost there!” She moaned, lightly tugging your hair as her grip locked.

You used your free hand to reach up and tweak her nipple, the added sensation delicious enough to finally give her the release you both were so desperate for. You gently licked her clit, helping her ride the wave until she relaxed, her cries of ecstasy turning to pants of relief. You removed your fingers, sucking them clean before pressing your tongue flat against her entrance to lap up the rest of her arousal.

“You are incredible.” Her words took a moment to register but the moment they did you could feel your heart swell, she was the incredible one. She made you feel more comfortable than anyone else in your life ever had, and you were so grateful for her.

“I love you.” You climbed up to lay beside her, pulling her in for a kiss. She returned the favor, her arms wrapping around your waist.

“I love you too sweet girl.”

You laid your head on her chest, her fingers toying with your hair until you drifted off to sleep.

——

tag list: @pleasantwitchgarden

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[alexiethymia]

Boiling Hot Iron vs Lukewarm Water

Maomao's Way of Affection Part 2

[LN 12 spoilers]

I AM ACTUALLY FOAMING AT THE MOUTH. I mean I read it somewhere, but apparently yes, Maomao does initiate the kiss in the light novel. Even if she did accept his feelings, I always thought that it might have been too fast the way she was ready for a night visit already, but I always chalked it up to her upbringing in the pleasure district and her being fifty-fifty that Jinshi wouldn't actually try anything. But the fact that she is the one to actually instigate a kiss, and quite a sweet one at that, while Jinshi was sleeping. This scene in LN 12 really is in contrast to the scene in LN 5 where it was Jinshi who forced the kiss, and even to later on when Maomao ends up falling asleep and Jinshi restrains himself to a kiss on the forehead for replenishment.

It's hard to be coherent with my ramblings but one of the reasons why I love this series is the slow burn on Maomao's part which is really fulfilling, and the slight angst we get because of that, and not just on Jinshi's part.

Below is a translation from the Spanish translation of LN 12:

She just doesn't get it. He wants to step down from his position near the top of the country for a purpose. If that purpose was MaoMao himself, he would definitely have gone mad.

It's as hot as cast iron.

Maomao is not interested in such blazing heat. The only thing she can give back is a warm temperature.

Slowly puts his hand on Mr. Jinshi's cheek and feels his body temperature, which is the same as warm water. Her cheek was slightly colder. His eyelids were completely closed and he rubbed his cheek against my hand like a kitten to be pet. Looks like he sleeps, like he feels safe.

Maomao seems to struggle with the inequality of Jinshi's feelings and hers. She compares Jinshi's feelings to hot cast iron, and hers to warm water. And no wonder, to her, Jinshi willing to give up everything, including his position, for her, seems to be such a passionate love. As much as she snarks and would rather say that she could just do without all of Jinshi's gestures (*cough branding himself for example, this damn masochist cough*), she recognizes how much Jinshi has given up and is willing to give up for her, not to mention all that he has in fact given her.

She even goes to say, "I don't even have anything in return for you." When she says this line, I think that she isn't just referring to being unable to return the depth of Jinshi's feelings, but even their difference in position. As Suiren observes, despite Maomao's forthrightness, perhaps because of the environment they're in, she is very much aware of her station.

It's such a melancholic line coming from her. It seems to me as if she really is afraid of hurting Jinshi. She already doesn't like the thought of Jinshi being hurt like Luomen, but now she also doesn't want to be the one to hurt him. On top of that, for the normally aloof Maomao, it may be that she's starting to feel unconfident precisely because of the difference in position.

Maomao strikes me as a person who wants to be used. Even when she wasn't in love with Jinshi yet, she always seemed to want to be praised for doing a good job. So for her to think that it's just her who keeps receiving and receiving, while not being able to give anything back, the inequality (this time going in the reverse direction) must bother her a lot. She never used to care so for her to feel different from how she usually does because of Jinshi - caring about him, being unsure of herself because of him - oh she must hate how that feels so no wonder she wants to remove herself from the equation. But alas, it's too late.

Unlike Maomao though, I don't think that there's such a disparity between her feelings and Jinshi's despite that she describes his feelings as boiling hot and hers as warm. Yes definitely I feel that Jinshi's feelings may be stronger, but I feel that Maomao's is actually closer to his than she thinks. I think it may be because the nature of their feelings may be strongly influenced by their past.

Jinshi has always had the things he's loved taken from him. He wasn't allowed to prioritize a single thing or a single person because of the responsibilities he's had to assume from such a young age. Sure he's childish now but that may be because he had to grow up fast. Of course he would be desperate and slightly bit manic when it comes finally falling in love. He'll always feel that Maomao will be taken away from him unless he does something about it with his own hands.

Meanwhile, because of Maomao's complicated past with her birth parents, it's no wonder that Jinshi's passion unnerves her. Remember it was that same passion that caused her mother to hurt her. No wonder she doesn't want it. But when it comes to that feeling called love, that's the only version she recognizes because that's what she's been surrounded with in the pleasure district and even in the rear palace - lust imitating love, or even if it was love, a passionate and all-consuming love that destroys everything in its path.

But what does Jinshi make her feel? Trust. Safety. Even if her rational mind tells her that people's feelings change, Jinshi's constant proclamations that he will make everything be ok so that the both of them can be together may in fact actually reassure her. Heck, perhaps that was why Maomao goaded him to make that verbal confession a while back, precisely so she could have that assurance. She doesn't recognize it because she's never seen or had it, but perhaps this stability is something she's wanted her whole life. And I would say her feelings for Jinshi are nearly as strong as his for her, precisely because she feels for him the same way he makes her feel. Nothing passionate but also uncertain. But rather something warm and can be relied on. It's a feeling that pushes her to want to see him safe and healthy. It's a comforting and homey feeling that allows her to relax. And for Maomao who's always considered herself frigid, for her frozen heart to feel that warmth is also a tiny miracle in a way.

Jinshi is childish. Maomao is weird. But apart from their extremes, they're actually a lot alike - engrossed in their work, willful, but ultimately just. Apart from anything else, they're at ease when they can talk to each other. It's actually interesting for me to see how those emotions develop from Maomao's side since Jinshi is giving her space to take things at her own pace, another slow burn in a way. But while Jinshi's love is loud, Maomao's love is quiet. Even before this admission, it was always there, in the soft touches to the hair or cheeks, in being a refuge for rest and sleep, in her worry when he was overworking himself. The moment I would pinpoint that Maomao had actually already fallen in love with Jinshi was when she was contemplating Enen and Yao's relationship. She thinks to herself, "the more you cared for someone, the more you wanted a say in how they behaved - especially if that behavior involved hurting themselves." Now doesn't that sound familiar?

*Note - because I loved it and I'm impatient I'll share the translations for that particular scene in LN 12 in the comments section. One is translated from the Spanish version, while the other is translated from the Korean version. I got all of this from facebook. I'm quite interested to see how it'll come out in the English version.

[gffa]

There's no way this isn't meant to be extremely explicitly clear, right?

That it's very much meant to be an extremely explicit parallel to the prequels' Jedi's situation? Because I'm not used to Star Wars tie in novels necessarily being coherent with themes and part of me is still kind of boggled that this is the fifth or sixth time I've run across a conversation that, were you to basically give it a palette swap (change the names of characters/planets/enemies etc.) you could have plucked it from a novel set during the prequels' Clone Wars... and that it's basically having the discussion about how there's really no right answer, only that the Jedi can the single choice that's in front of them directly. There's a lot going on in the scene that's influencing the way the characters are behaving--Cohmac is being written as increasingly unsure of himself and unsteady, and I know he's going to leave the Jedi Order at some point, and you can see it in the way the war against the Nihil has been unbalancing him, as well as Starlight Beacon is falling/about to fall and they're trying to decide what to do, what can they do, this is their family, their friends, their home that's being attacked by the Nihil, but there's nothing they can do that those Jedi aren't already doing, panicking about it is just giving in to fear, so instead:

And it's hard not to see the parallel to Order 66. To see the parallel between how Starlight Beacon was always going to be attacked, because the Jedi stood for justice and helping people who were being attacked and the Jedi Temple being attacked by the Sith because they would have fought back against an Empire oppressing people, because the Jedi stood for justice. It's hard not to see this as the High Republic Jedi being put in almost the exact same circumstances as the prequels Jedi, a situation with no real "right" answer, only "fight or innocent people will die, even as it crushes part of your own soul to be embroiled in a non-stop war", there's no easy or good answer here, there's no neat and pat way out of it, there's no hidden perfect path you could find if only you did this or that. It's hard not to read these books and feel like the High Republic Jedi (whom the creators have designed to be the Bestest Jedi Evar) are providing me everything I could have asked for (and have been saying for the last seven years) on why the Jedi joined the awful Clone Wars, not because it was right or good or perfect, but because it was the best choice they had, given the circumstances, to save people's lives. The Jedi are often accused of not evolving with a changing galaxy, but that's the thing--they did evolve to what the galaxy asked of them. The Separatists were bombing civilian populations, they were unleashing bio-chemical warfare on worlds, they were enslaving populations. The Jedi didn't want to fight a war, but when innocent lives were on the line (and they very much were), when they were the best choice to lead an army because their goal would be to save as many lives as possible, they chose to evolve into what the galaxy needed from them, while keeping as much of themselves intact as they could. They still went on meditative retreats, they still wore their own clothes, they still lived in their home, they still taught their philosophy to anyone who wanted to learn it, they still kept their compassion for people, they still made friends wherever they went... and the High Republic Jedi made the exact same choices. Because the galaxy had changed around them, it wasn't the one they knew from before, and they did their best to match what it needed from them, even when it made them become something that weighed on their souls.

[nixcloud]

I Need The Sound Of Crowds, Or I Can't Fall Asleep At Night

Drarry | E | ch: 6/7

🍏⚡️🪩post war night club AU 🪩⚡️🍏

Snow crunched under them as they landed heavily on the front steps of Grimmauld Place. Draco stumbled slightly, his feet sinking into the powder, his hand still gripping the front of Harry’s cloak to steady himself. The day's blizzard worst in Islington Borough than it had been in central London. 

He pulled away, glaring at Harry through the falling snow. "Why in Merlin’s name did you put us outside!!?"

Harry’s breath curled into the air in a frosty puff. He shrugged, awkward but unapologetic. "It’s been a lot today, yeah? I thought… maybe you’d want to decide if you wanted to come in or…"

Draco narrowed his eyes, disbelief tightening the line of his lips. Harry shifted from foot to foot, making him look distinctly young. 

Rubbing the back of his neck, snowflakes catching in his dark hair. "I just didn’t want to assume."

Draco let out a short, disbelieving laugh, “Since when ?"

There’s no answer. Just Harry standing there, looking mildly sheepish. Draco rolled his eyes, yanking Harry’s cloak, dragging him toward the door with more force than necessary. The handle was cold against Draco’s skin, a final point of no return.

"Inside. Now. No more causing scenes with your noble idiocy.” Draco muttered. 

The door swung inward with a low groan, heavy with the weight of ancient enchantments. An old house welcoming back familiar ghosts. Draco didn’t pause; he pushed through the threshold, the warmth of Grimmauld Place washing over him like a wave. It smelled of old wood, stale magic, and just a hint of that smokey, spiced honey of Harry’s skin. Faint but comforting.

He shoved the door shut behind them with a solid thud. The hallway was dim, illuminated only by the flickering glow of enchanted lamps lining the walls. 

He released Harry’s cloak with a long exhale. "If you were waiting for me to give you permission to let me in," Draco said, tossing his scarf onto a nearby chair, "you’d be waiting forever."

Harry’s lips twitched with the ghost of a smirk. "Duly noted."

Draco glanced around the living room, his hands restless at his sides. His head ached from crying, and his throat felt raw from shouting. He could use a drink, or better yet, a long rest, but the air between them felt thick. He caught himself shifting his weight, hoping Harry might say something to break the tension.

Instead, a heavy and uncomfortable silence stretched between them. It was unsettling how familiar this felt. How much it reminded him of the night he first ended up here, sitting on this same couch in front of them, avoiding Harry’s eyes. Unsure how to make this more…normal. Other wizards had to have more casual lives than this , he thought listfully.  

Trying not to think about it too hard, Draco crossed the room and dropped himself onto the couch. The worn cushions sagged under his weight, and before he could settle, Harry was right on his heels, a stray dog determined to stay close.

" Do you ever give anyone space, Potter?"

Harry just shrugged, sitting far too close for comfort. "Not when they look like they might run away."

Draco huffed but didn’t move. He clasped his hands in his lap, willing them to stay still. He could feel Harry boring holes into the side of his head, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He swallowed thickly, praying that Harry would figure out something to say. But the silence kept stretching, heavy and stifling.

After what felt like hours, Draco couldn’t take it anymore. He shifted, straightening on the couch, his voice cutting through the oppressive quiet. "What, did you bring me back here just to stare at me?"

Harry finally grinned. "Pretty sure you brought us back here, actually."

Draco rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something sharp, to claw his way out of the awkwardness, but his throat still felt raw, and his thoughts were too scattered to string anything coherent together.

He stood abruptly, his gaze locking onto the kitchen door in the adjacent room. A distraction. He just needed a distraction, a drink, tea, something to steady his nerves. Before he could take two steps, Harry’s hand shot out, grabbing him by the wrist and tugging him back down onto the couch.

"I’m not letting you run off again," Harry said quietly. "Not this time. We need to talk."

Draco scowled, irritated beyond reason. "I wasn’t running," he muttered. But Harry’s determined expression, the set of his jaw, the warmth in his green eyes, made arguing feel pointless. Draco’s gaze flickered between Harry’s eyes and his lips in a helpless, anxious loop.

Ah . there, a perfect distraction. 

"So, we’re just here to talk ?" Draco asked, his voice low, testing.

Harry’s mouth tilted into a lazy, knowing smirk. "Well," he murmured, "there are a few other things I had in mind."

And then he was reaching for Draco again, as if he couldn’t go more than a few minutes without having him in his grasp. Harry’s hands found him, firm, familiar, and maddeningly confident. He tugged Draco closer, shifting him onto his lap. Draco didn’t resist, letting himself melt into that heat, and soon he was straddling Harry’s thighs, feeling the solid warmth of him beneath his own body.

Harry’s breath was hot against Draco’s neck, and the warmth spread through him, igniting every nerve from the inside out. No matter how many times they did this, it was never casual. Never some meaningless kiss like the ones Draco had given in his youth. His hands found the collar of Harry’s shirt, twisting in the fabric. If Harry could drag Draco close, then Draco would make damn sure to keep him there.

And then he kissed Harry There was no hesitation, no slow build, just the demanding weeks of pent up tension spilling out all at once. His fingers curled into Harry’s hair, tugging just enough to earn a low groan from him. The sound sent a shiver down Draco’s spine, awakening something wild and reckless.

Harry’s hands were everywhere, sliding up Draco's back, gripping his waist, pulling him impossibly closer. The kiss was frantic, messy, all teeth and heat. Here, in Harry’s home, they had all the time in the world. And somehow it still didn’t feel like enough.

But they did have time. Draco hated time, the way it ticked endlessly, leaving him behind, always an observer, never a participant. He wouldn’t be that right now. So he adjusted his grip again and dug into Harry's curls wrenching his hair back in the way Harry's seemed to crave. 

His flushed face tipped up, a loud, breathless moan escaping his parted lips. His sharp, tanned jaw led to the vulnerable column of his throat. Exposed like this it was impossible to resist. Draco was starving for this, he latched onto the soft flesh, letting his teeth sink in right behind Harry's jaw, listening to the breathy sounds that told him he’d struck gold.

When he finally pulled back, a thin string of saliva stretched between his lips and the angry red ring of his teeth, glistening on Harry’s skin. The sight only made his mouth water more.

He dove back in, biting and sucking new marks onto Harry’s neck, one after another, branding him. Harry’s hand tangled in the back of Draco’s hair, holding him close, urging him on.

The room filled with the wet pop of Draco’s lips on skin, Harry’s ragged breaths, and the soft rustling of the couch beneath them. The ticking of the clock faded into nothing, only the sound of them moving together mattered now.

Then Harry’s hands grew restless, pulling at Draco’s neck, forcing him up so their mouths could meet again. Draco pushed against Harry’s lips, gasping when their teeth clashed. Harry repaying the messing biting favors Draco had decorated his skin with. 

And Draco wanted more, so he let his hands wander blindly till they found the hem of Harry's shirt and slipped under. For the first time feeling that firm body directly under his fingers. And Harry seemed to like that if the way he gripped him tighter was any indication, so Draco didn't stop. Trailing his hands up his sides, and over his stomach. Mapping everything. Pushing Harry back as he fell forward, until Harry was flat on the couch, and Draco crouched over him, their lips never separating. 

Read the rest of this fic here AO3

[charrfie]

What are your thoughts on (mix and match) -The Weird Route Chapter Four cutscene with Kris and Noelle? I’ve been going insane thinking about it

-The Prophecy???

-Anything gameplay-wise (favorite bosses or enemies, anything getting harder or easier, etc.)

EXCELLENT QUESTIONS TO ASK BUT EXTREMELY TOUGH QUESTIONS TO ANSWER. I still have not been able to coherently articulate my thoughts on the weird route in chapter 4 despite my multitude of attempts over the past week. But oh, I wish I could. I can assure you that you are not the only one that feels crazy about it!!!!!! Chapter 2's weird route was daunting in its own right, but the scene in noelle's room?????? I am being entirely honest when I say that I have never felt more dread in a toby fox game than I did when I experienced that for the first time in chapter 4. My stomach felt like it was tied in a knot the entire time. How utterly chilling. The color change, the player speaking directly to noelle, the fact that kris was practically killing themself trying to drag berdly to the hospital and apologizing to/comforting noelle in the middle of the night behind the player's back....... I mean I am simply just listing things here and less analyzing them but it's SO difficult for me to muster up anything other than frantic gesturing at the screen when these things are discussed. I hope to make some art of the scene eventually that might convey my feelings in a better way. Aborting the weird route by not returning the soul to kris when noelle's eyes are closed is ALSO equally as compelling to me because- despite kris typically moving so slowly and weakly when not in contact with their soul- they're able to grab noelle and fucking BOOK it out of that room to protect her. With the most emotion we've seen on their face in the game might I add!!!!! There's a lot to touch on here. Terrified of but also can't wait for more

As for the prophecy...... I've said before that I am not one to be terribly big on theorizing, ESPECIALLY when I am theorizing on something I could not possibly have all the necessary information to, but I do have thoughts regardless on this (they're just a bit vague). I believe that like the glass projections which told the story of the prophecy, there are also backups for the heroes themselves! Ralsei and susie (unsure about kris atm) may not be the first heroes intended to fulfill this prophecy.. and perhaps ralsei isn't even one of the intended backups at all, hence the suspicion. As I said in a previous ask, I don't believe ralsei is necessarily AWARE of the prophecy's scope... perhaps he believes it to be his duty to fill a role, or have influence on the events which play out in some way, or is completely unaware that he's not the first to fill this role at all. There are a lot of "what ifs" to this, which is why I don't delve too far into it (who knows, maybe toby could reveal something completely different than what I'm thinking!). But it's SOMETHING as I try to fit the puzzle pieces together. As I try to make sense of what we have so far!

My favorite thing gameplay-wise.. hm.... I mean all of chapter 3 is a blast. Tenna's final boss fight felt like warioware and I cannot emphasize just how much I adored that. Cannot say that the light puzzles and climbing segments in chapter 4 were my favorite but the story more than made up for it. I CAN EASILY TELL YOU MY FAVORITE ENEMIES THOUGH. ELNINA AND LANINO. EASY. MIZZLE/MISS MIZZLE. EASY. CUPTAINS!!!!!!!!!!! FUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKKK YES CUPTAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY WERE MADE FOR ME. ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT DESIGNS TO EVER GRACE THE GAME. Does gerson count. I suppose he does but it doesn't feel right to call him an enemy bc he's my friend. I love you grandpa forever n ever

[is-your-blorbo-neurodivergent]

does she have adhd?

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reason: She does object to the way society works for feminist reasons, but it’s made clear through the duration of the show that the it upsets her in particular because she struggles to “fit in” with society’s rules and expectations, even when she tries to. Her family considers her to be (affectionately) different and odd and say (paraphrasing) there’s no way she’s ever going to conform to society’s expectations. She often talks for prolonged periods of time but will also stop when interrupted. You can see her, like, light up when asked to talk about her thoughts/what she’s interested in (there’s That One Scene from S3 Pt 1 with Cressida which is just sooo infodumping to me). She struggles with activities that require her to sit still or be quiet for a long time (like presenting herself to the Queen & parties in general) and seems generally very restless (she also runs away from balls a lot, something she did even before she was hanging out with Theo). She is thought of as “loud.” She can be impulsive and say/do things without fully thinking them through. She struggles during conversations and forgets to ask/press people for details about what they’re thinking, but not because she doesn’t care: When people explicitly tell her how they’re feeling personally she does demonstrate compassion. Especially in her conversations with her best friend Penelope in season 1 and 2, Pen doesn’t feel listened to because she will imply things during conversation that El doesn’t pick up on, which is what I think causes a lot of problems in their relationship. (mandatory disclaimer not blaming Pen for this either, I just think they both struggled to communicate because they were doing it differently) I also think that while it IS tied to her beliefs in feminism too, her hyperfocused interest in Whistledown feels so much like a hyperfixation to me. She’s also hated by large parts of the fandom for reasons that essentially boil down to “being too loud/annoying.” And idk, what is more Girl With ADHD than that? Other traits of hers that aren’t necessarily symptoms of ADHD but I relate to them and feel they’re connected to my ADHD: very competitive, very unintentionally expressive (on her face and body), very curious/questioning everything, reading a lot, feeling like people treat her more like a “quirky” form of entertainment than taking her thoughts/feelings seriously. Hopefully this was coherent but In conclusion: I have ADHD and she is just like me fr, therefore she also has ADHD.

[girltakovic]

ok now that i've returned from my religious pilgrimage (seeing the revenge of the sith 20th anniversary rerelease) here is my definitive ranking of the star films. no shows included because i have not watched them and have no plans to. yes even that one

9. the rise of skywalker. no explanation needed. i left the theatre angry.

8. the last jedi. again no explanation needed, it was however slightly more coherent than tros so it ekes out an advantage

7. attack of the clones. it's such a nothingburger imo. points for padmé being hot. i see you anakin. i would've given up everything for a pretty woman with a house on lake como too.

6. the force awakens. it was fine. good, even. but my memory of what they did to finn's character makes watching the film now leave a bad taste in my mouth. call me vito corleone the way they massacred my boy

5. the phantom menace. honestly tpm and tfa are kinda tied. both empirically (ha) fine movies that set up a new trilogy era and have a lot of exposition to do, so the story gets a little muddy. watto aside i do enjoy returning to tattooine and seeing how rich the culture is there, especially knowing what we know about how it'll shape luke's journey.

4. return of the jedi. those damn ewoks. overall a solid end to the OT, and the third act is a good return to form with regard to the quiet reflectivity of a new hope and the conclusion of luke's arc, after the chaos and narrative density of esb. considering the funeral pyre juxtaposed with the twin suns scene in anh is really quite moving imo.

3. the empire strikes back. i know a lot of people think it's the best in the series and i can't really argue with that honestly. it's great. the writing really finds its footing and the broadening of the narrative scope makes the galaxy feel all the more real. also leia's theme is some of the most beautiful composition i've heard in a film score.

2. a new hope. anh gets a lot of flak for being kind of clunky and unsure of itself and i get that completely, but i feel that the establishment (and subversion. do not talk to me about the midichlorians) of the "chosen hero" archetype in luke is incredibly strong, and mark hamill's performance is outstanding. if only we could get him to stop being insufferable on twitter

revenge of the sith. "it's so melodramatic--" i'm sorry, as if the OT isn't?! it's a dramatic story! it's a space opera!!! George's Fantabulous CGI Phantasmagoria aside i stay hooked and on the edge of my seat every time i watch this film. i'm so glad it's gotten a significant cultural reassessment in the past few years because it really is a compelling film. even if you don't care for the performances it does still draw you in completely. rest in peace anakin. even the club couldn't save you. blond people are just doomed to suffer i guess 😔

[crystaiskiess]

Thank you for answering first of all :) (also glad it wasn't a dumb question, one win at a time🫡). And tbh I really didn't have any answer of yours in mind, I just wanted an answer for it in general since it's really been plaguing my mind since that chapter; So that answer is MORE than enough. And also memory failure very much makes sense, I myself am a very forgetful person too, so like😭 (maybe I'm also just a little bit of a sappy person and thats why I wanted to know and thought: maaaybe?).

Sometimes I forget that people in stories don't have the pleasure of rereading and rereading and rereading their own stories till their last breath, which I obviously can do, so of course I'll remember it when they dont.

Though on THAT topic and please excuse me if that is one question/topic too much, I would very much understand since I can be a bit much with stuff I fixate on; but since I've read "The crystal cave" the first time I looked out for the stuff you implied might happen in the future. One of which was the sword scene (help I don't know what else to call it). At first I thought that scene happened in "The Changeling" when Merlin gave Arthur his sword and they have the talk about destiny and how it makes you feel like you don't have any choice etc, but then "The Sorcerers truth" came out and on god you made me doubt all that because that ALSO seemed to fit "the crystal caves" description (if not more than the scene from The changeling). The one thing I know is that I myself knew logically Merlin wouldn't really remember that since it was just snippets he saw, I've just been looking out for it so I kind of jumped at "The Sorcerers Truth's" description with that sword and magic conparison. I was very unsure if that would still later be explained or not (since I also caught the cloak scene you wrote in of Arthur still having it from "Under false presences") I really just wanted to know if I had the right idea here or not, I'd very much understand if it wasn't possible to answer that, though.

anyways to cut it short I really just wanted to say how much I appreciate your story and thank you for writing it since it's been one of, if not my favorite ever since (if that hasn't been made clear yet) and that I really rarely spent any time not thinking about it (kinda bad if you have other stuff to do but oh well). I hope it wasn't too much of anything and also coherent enough to understand. But I couldn't really not say it, since it's just non stop on my mind for what feels like an eternity now and as of now I couldn't really ever talk about it, and in all honesty I could probably spent days talking about it.

I really hope you have a good rest of your day/night :)

awww thank you so so so much !!! i truly cannot even express how much it means to know that you're enjoying oafk so much and that it's one of your favourites, it really means the absolute WORLD

yeah i love to hint sometimes at the fact that unlike us, merlin and arthur don't have the ease of being able to reread their own lives, and even though it's obviously a lot of words and a lot to keep track of even for readers, for them entire years full of memories and experiences are passing, some things are bound to slip through the cracks !!!

to answer your question (and truly there are never too many questions i love talking about oafk, it's my baby) yeah you're absolutely right merlin doesn't remember those snippets of visions at all, they were much more for the reader - and the sword scene aligns with the one in 'the sorcerer's truth' !!! you've 100% got the right idea there

i hope you have a lovely rest of your day/night too 💕💕

[ridley-was-a-cat]

What I Watched Last Month – November 2024

Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle – Crunchyroll finally added this sequel movie to their catalog, and I have to admit that I found it a little underwhelming compared to the rest of the series. Past matches had me on the edge of my seat like I was watching live sports, genuinely unsure if my team was gonna make it, but there was so much friendly banter between the teams’ players, and so many cuts to flashback scenes, that the volleyball action didn’t really get to shine until the last third of the movie. Still, it was great to see and hear all the characters again, and when the movie eventually decided to turn the screws and ramp up the tension, it was as thrilling as ever. 8/10

The Big O – I picked this one up almost entirely based off the style, which can be best described as a cross between the film noir-inspired Batman: The Animated Series and the retro-futuristic Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still, but the story and characters are what kept me watching. Set in a mid-century styled city 40 years after a cataclysmic event that wiped everyone’s memories, the story follows an independent negotiator named Roger Smith, who takes on a variety of cases with the help of his butler Norman and his companion/partner android Dorothy. The characters have great chemistry together, especially the deadpan Dorothy and righteous Roger, and the mystery of what happened in the past had a number of wild and exciting twists. I’m not entirely sure what to make of the ending, which felt a little abrupt, but the art, animation, soundtrack, and everything else made this a lot of fun to watch. 8/10

Murai in Love – I’ll forgive people for turning their noses up at the premise of a high school boy persistently in love with his teacher, a teacher who’s torn between duty and love when he looks so much like her favorite video game character, and I completely understand why people could see the extremely limited animation in the first episode and decide to pass. But anyone willing to stick around until episode three or four for the story to really get going is in for one of the best romcoms of the year. The cast of characters is hilarious, the voice cast does a tremendous job, the direction makes the animation work somehow, and the romance doesn’t play out the way you’d expect, keeping me guessing until the last episode. Just a nice little comedy I really looked forward to every week. 8/10

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt S1 & S2 – Set in the Universal Century timeline during the one year war, these two four-episode OVAs follow a Federation and Zeon company duking it out in a sector plagued by electrical discharges, hence the Thunderbolt moniker. The first season felt the most focused and complete, with a fairly narrow focus on a duel between one hotblooded Gundam pilot and a talented Zeon sniper, and a clear idea about how war uses people up. The second season felt less coherent, with a much wider focus and larger cast, then ended on something of a cliffhanger, making it feel like it was the middle piece of a trilogy. The action was well done, and the jazzy soundtrack was a great touch. S1 8/10, S2 7/10

Hyakushou Kizoku– It’s a real shame this adaptation of an autobiographical manga by Hiromu Arakawa about life on her family’s farm isn’t licensed, because the four-minute episodes pack a surprising amount of information, and it’s as entertaining as it is educational. Her father sounds like a wild one, and her mother has an impressive amount of energy. Definitely check it out if you liked Silver Spoon. 7/10

Delico’s Nursery – In the midst of a struggle against a shadowy organization causing chaos in a society of vampires, four noblemen set up a headquarters at one of their estates with their children in tow to balance solving the criminal case with raising their children. With a long delay at the start and in the middle, the production was obviously straining at the seams, and the story decisions don’t always make sense for either side in the conflict, but the character interactions and the vampire society details were good enough to keep me watching. 6/10

Marginal Prince – I have dozens of well-regarded series sitting on my watchlist just waiting for me to get to them, so lord knows why I decided I should use my limited time to watch a bad anime adaptation of a visual novel from the 2000s. Set on a fictional island in the middle of the Atlantic, the story follows a first year high school student who has just arrived at the exclusive all boys school attended by the sons of high society where he’s set to enroll as a scholarship student. Told as though the main character is talking to his sister via video chat, the plot is mostly episodic, with each installment being a one-off adventure centered on one of the boys in his dorm tackling anything from finding a missing jewel, to surviving a mafia war. It makes very little sense half of the time, and it’s coupled with a mix of extremely low budget visuals and straight up bizarre directorial choices. There was a bit of fun in watching something so ridiculous that was constantly able to surprise me, but only a bit. 5/10

[inkdemonapologist]

BatDR: Joey's Final Scene is Weird (+ Ink Demon Audrey AU I Guess)

I'm sure I'm not the first person to have this thought but I keep thinking about it, so, some thoughts!! Grain of salt as always since I've mostly osmose'd the game through friends and cutscenes, so there may well be significant things I've missed.

In BatDR, the initial vibe is that Joey Drew has turned over a new leaf, and finally found a better person in himself as a father. It's a good direction for Joey -- rather than trying to be accepted by people who do not owe him forgiveness, instead moving forward and being better for someone new.

But... there's a lot of evidence that isn't quite true. Joey's response to letting go of his hatred for Henry wasn't to admit what he'd done or to end the cycle or even apologise, it was just.... to put an invented Allison Angel in there -- because of the existence of Allison, we know the hellish experience we see in BatIM is what Joey figured it was probably fine to leave Henry looping through after his supposed change of heart. And his imperfect attempts at creating a child apparently only get to see him as an uncle -- only his perfect, special Audrey is Good enough to call him "dad." Maybe Joey genuinely is a little better (it's a pretty low bar) and loves her with a sincerity and humility he wasn't able to find before, but... a decent part of that seems to be because she came out right, because she made him happy.

Thren described it as the "authentic Joey Drew experience" and I love that framing; we all KNOW everything he did in BatIM, everything he's responsible for -- but he's charming, and he loves the player character so much, and it seems like... he must be better! When Joey Drew likes you, Buddy tells us in DCTL, it's the best feeling in the world. And.... I don't think Joey's lying, it's just that loving Audrey (just Audrey) doesn't actually make him a kinder or better person.

One of the places that stands out to me the MOST is his final scene.

This scene is DELIGHTFUL on its own but becomes EXTREMELY WEIRD ONCE YOU PONDER ANY CONTEXT AT ALL -- Joey stands before the Ink Demon, his greatest failure to be kind to a "grinning thing" that once wandered Thomas Connor's office before being locked away in the infirmary, and refers to it as an "evil face" before telling Audrey that she's special, more special than those cartoons he once brought to life, that she's his greatest creation and his family whom he loves, and that they shouldn't dwell on the past. NO WONDER THE INK DEMON MURDERS HIM??? What must it be like to hear your creator tell someone else that they got all the love you were denied, that they were better, more important, and you're still a monster? JOEY YOUR SON IS RIGHT THERE HE CAN HEAR YOU

Part of me thinks this is REALLY GOOD. I'm honestly into the idea of Joey believing himself to be a changed man when he's still falling into old habits, and the idea of a narrative that seems on the surface to be a redemption, when closer inspection reveals it to be just, seeing Joey's biased story, is such an interesting idea? But, since the story itself doesn't really acknowledge it, just glossing over every point to the contrary with a more sincere-seeming emotional beat, it ends up feeling kinda discordant with the story we DO see. As if it were an accident. No one, not even the villains, calls Joey's change of heart into question -- when the Ink Demon pushes back, it's not with justified anger at being openly dissed, but just because the demon's Evil and Audrey has to fight back against it. The idea of Joey as an unreliable narrator of every one of his scenes in BatDR is conceptually cool, but emotionally jarring; I feel like I need an entire extra fic of Audrey coming to terms with the idea that her father really did love her, but maybe he wasn't actually a better or kinder person in the end (and what if Memory Joey could actually face his mistakes in a way her IRL father never managed to....).

But I wanna focus in on one odd other odd thing Joey says to Audrey.

This doesn't quite feel like it goes with what's happening to Audrey -- she has no real reason to be genuinely tempted by the Ink Demon or to believe that her past dooms her to this (Joey Maybe You're Projecting); she's just reasonably freaked out that a big monster subsumed her into himself. It sounds like it's a line from some other scene in a different story, one where Audrey has always been the ink demon and this statement would have some emotional weight.

AND MAN LIKE........ ACTUALLY THAT SURE WOULD SHIFT THE TONE OF THIS SCENE, HUH. Maybe that would actually be really good in a different way???? lets think about this

Joey regretted his actions and, just as Allison had seen the good in him, he sought the good in the Ink Demon -- no longer trying to force his perfect Bendy, but just to give it a choice to be something else. And after many many tries, he was able to give the demon a piece of his own soul, make the demon something almost human. That's Audrey. the ink demon can be trans as a treat

aUDREY HAS EVEN BETTER REASON TO BE ANGRY ABOUT THE REVEAL THAT SHE'S THE DEMON

The demon that exists in the cycle is, like Joey, a memory. It's literally a representation of the past, it speaks to Audrey because it's her own memories, and it starts to take over Audrey as a resurgence of her grudges and anger from when she WAS that creature. She has a reason to have conflicted feelings here.

All of Joey's exhortations to not let the past define you, telling Audrey "you don't have to be this" when she becomes one with the demon -- these suddenly actually apply to her instead of just Joey projecting his own baggage onto her. When he says that she's his family and that he loves her, in this version, it wouldn't be just because she's better than his other creations; it's reaffirming that a love he'd failed to show for a long, long time still applies even when she's big and weird and angry. That family is more important than perfection. It's a resolution, finally, to one of his biggest failures in BatIM.

It would change the scene tremendously; Joey could say a lot of the same things and it would have more genuine emotional weight because it's no longer him ignoring and dissing the ink demon in favour of this shiny new person who makes him feel a lot better about himself, but him specifically refuting how he'd felt before, and saying "I love you so very much" to someone who maybe... really needed to hear that, actually.

The struggle between Audrey and the Demon also becomes emotionally relevant -- it's her grappling with whether she's willing to reset things, or to fall into the same cycle of mistreatment.

Other potential benefits to this change:

Baby Bendy showing up at the end has weird vibes when you know that it's a form the Ink Demon was forced into as a prison, actively doesn't want to be in, and escapes whenever possible... but if the Ink Demon is a representation of Audrey's past resentment, it seems a little less troubling that he could become the cute cartoon once Audrey is at peace with who she is and how she came to be.

If Audrey explicitly has a piece of THE SOUL OF JOEY DREW within her, then there is an immediately intuitive reason why Wilson would need her in order to control the Ink Realm -- and also why she realises that it's hers to influence in the end. I think you could already sorta headcanon this with what we got, but with how important souls were in BatIM and DCTL, it'd be nice to have them come up again.

Anyway I think that's.... enough for this post. Some Joey thoughts and AN AUDREY AU I GUESS!!!

[thatgiraffefromtlou]

Do You Hate Me Now?

summary: This is just me rushing through the time skip in the came. Some cute scenes with Ellie and the reader. wrd count: around 3.6k warnings: cannon violence is really it. the reader has a panic attack. other: I'm so sorry this took so long to write. it was a lot of trial and error and my tone changed with this. I'm not used to writing like this but I wanted to try it out. I also rushed it a little bit because I'm so excited to write the hospital chapter! I have some serious crazy plans for it. either than that, I hope you enjoy!

pt. 4 The Swan

Joel had guided you and Ellie to the abandoned house they had been using as a temporary shelter and administered first aid to your and Ellie’s injuries. You were disoriented, the events leading up to your current situation hazy at best, and the silence was heavy. Your mind was too clouded to form coherent thoughts, let alone articulate them. 

Joel attempted to break through the awkwardness with small talk, asking unimportant details about yourself, and the circumstances that brought you and Ellie together.

However, the words fell on deaf ears, met only with blank stares from you. Ellie, on the other hand, seemed to at least acknowledge his presence, albeit with a fake attentive expression. Joel soon realized that he wasn't going to get any answers from you and gave up, heading upstairs to give you some space to rest.

You didn't know when it happened but one moment you were sitting alone against the cold wall, and the next she was there with you. Her head was rested on your shoulder her knees to her chest. Her presence somehow helped and grounded you. You had felt a sense of calm wash over you, and for the first time in a while, you could breathe. 

However, that feeling was short-lived when your thoughts came back to you in one drowning wave. You remembered the things you had been trying to forget, and the memories flooded your mind. You were riddled with anxiety and hoped she couldn't feel your body tense up under her weight.

Ellie had been infected for some time now, and yet she still hadn't turned. You were unsure when she had been infected, and the thought of it made you uneasy. Was the right time to ask her about it, or should you wait for her to bring it up? What if she never did?

As you looked at Ellie, you couldn't help but wonder what was going through her mind. Was she thinking about her infection? Was she thinking about David and what she had to do to survive? Or was she simply trying to block it out like you were?

You thought about how Ellie had to deal with David on her own, while you had been too weak to help. You felt guilty for not being there for her when she needed you the most. You wished you could go back in time and change things, but you knew that was impossible.

Now, Ellie had to carry the burden of what she had done alone, and that made you feel even worse. You wanted to run away from all of this, returning to your solitary existence, where you didn't have to worry about anyone but yourself. But where were you supposed to go? Could you even stay with Ellie and Joel? Were you welcome to join them?

As you felt your breath getting heavier and your thoughts spiraling, a feeling of suffocation seemed to take over. You could feel your throat closing up and tears starting to blur your vision.

Suddenly, you couldn't sit still anymore and your body started to shake. At that moment, Ellie lifted her head from your shoulder and gently grabbed your hand, her warm touch calming you down a little. You slowly turned your head to face her.

“Hey… shhh… breathe…” she instructed. You appreciated her efforts to comfort you, but you still felt an immense sense of guilt weighing down on you. You couldn't help but release a sob of pain and sadness as she tenderly rubbed small circular motions on your back with her free hand. 

Sitting there, looking at her, you were left with a lingering sense of self-blame, unable to shake off the negative thoughts. “Just breathe, like this, do it with me.” She started taking slow deep breaths in and out, and you mimicked her breaths. You closed your eyes and focused on the sensation of the air moving in and out of your lungs, and the sound of your breaths.

Eventually, you opened your eyes and looked down at your lap, and started to fiddle with the seam of your jeans. “Ellie..” She just looked at you, waiting for you to continue. “I need to ask you some things.” She was fully aware of what you were about to ask and she didn't want to talk about it, but it seemed unavoidable at this point.

��Ask away.” was all she could manage to get out. “I know this is a shit time to bring these things up, but I don't think there will ever be a good time.” You huffed out, ending with sniffles. You rubbed your nose and looked at Ellie.

Perhaps it was the way you looked at her, your eyes burning with curiosity and concern. Or perhaps it was the silence that hung heavy in the air, begging to be broken. Either way, she knew that she couldn't avoid the topic forever.

Memories flooded her mind, memories that she had long tried to bury, but she took a deep breath and prepared to speak. “Okay…” was all she said. It was a reassuring tone, but you could tell she was still nervous.

You took a  deep breath. “First, the elephant in the room.” You dryly laughed, more out of also feeling nervous than it being funny. Ellie took a deep breath and you continued. “When... well- you, uh, your bite.” Your words stumbled over each other as you struggled to figure out how to proceed.

Ellie let out a small sigh, took her hands away from yours, and rolled up her sleeves. “It happened last summer. I got jumped by an infected and nothing happened.” As you gazed at Ellie, your eyes softened, drawn to the bite on her arm.

You reached out and gently took hold of her arm, pulling her sleeve down to conceal the wound. Ellie felt her body tense up at the sudden contact, uncertain of what to do at the moment. Despite the frank and vulgar exchange that had just transpired between the two of you, your touch was surprisingly tender and gentle. 

“Okay.” You smiled at her. As she looked at you, a mix of confusion and disbelief crossed her face. Every time someone learned this information about her, they would immediately try and kill her, but you, on the other hand, did something completely unexpected. Instead of turning away, you embraced her immunity. “Okay?” she asked you.

“Okay.” You reassured her. You noticed that Ellie seemed to be somewhat hesitant as if she was weighing her options before responding. You wondered if she was questioning the authenticity of your words or perhaps still in shock from earlier.

After a few moments of silence, you decided to elaborate. “Your immune. So what? It was bound to happen to someone, right?” you asked her nonchalantly. “I mean- people's first instincts are usually to try and shoot me-” she tried to explain but you cut her off.

“Well, I'm not some people.” You giggled. The moment was filled with relief for Ellie, and she let herself surrender to it. “No, you definitely aren't.” she agreed with a chuckle. You raised your hand from Ellie's arm to your chest and let out a gasp.

  “What is that supposed to mean!?” you asked, fake offended by her comment. She just shrugged with a smile, teasing you. “You are insufferable. Has anyone told you that? Insufferable.” You laughed.

“Yeah yeah” she grinned. Ellie was thankful for your reaction. You were indifferent to her immunity and treated her like a normal person. You didn't push her on details or pry things out of her.

There was a moment of comfortable silence before Ellie perked back up. “Was that it?” she asked. “No… “ you said to her and then took a deep breath in and out before you continued. “I have quite a lot, actually…. but I guess it all just boils down to.. what I am supposed to do now and…” you hesitated, “are you… okay?”

The air seemed to get thicker, almost like a weight atop your shoulders. You continued to look at Ellie, hoping to find some sort of explanation or confirmation, but she just looked back at you with a smile. 

You had found yourself enjoying her company more and more. She had a way of making you feel at ease like you could just be yourself around her. You weren't ready to say goodbye to that yet, and Ellie seemed to feel the same way too. She didn't want to go anywhere without you. Being with you made her feel secure and protected.

She finally spoke, “First off, you can come with us. Joels taking me to a hospital in salt lake city to meet back up with the fireflies. and no… but… I will be.” She continued to smile and redirected her gaze to the floor. “Endure and survive,” she joked.

Initially, you wanted to ask her about the hospital, like why the two of them were going and what would happen afterward, but her joke led you to decide to ask her later and enjoy the moment instead. “What??” you laughed. She looked back up, “It's from a comic book, I don't know, seemed fitting,” she said shrugging.

“Ah I see, you're a nerd,” you teased her. She scoffed and playfully punched you in the shoulder, saying, “Haha, fuck you.” The two of you shared a giggle.

As you both settled down, she had a thoughtful expression on her face and asked you, “Wanna see something real nerdy?” You chuckled, “Oh? You're such a nerd that you even have nerd things?” She rolled her eyes and reached over to her bag.

She eagerly opened the bag and plunged her hand inside, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Drum roll please?" she exclaimed, her voice full of drama. You couldn't help but roll your eyes at her theatrics, but you obliged and began tapping your hands on your thighs, creating a drum roll sound effect.

"Behold, ladies, and gentlemen! Feast your eyes on the most hilarious, magnificent, and rare book in the whole wide world!" she announced dramatically and with a flourish, pulling out a book from the bag. She turned the book in her hands, holding it up for display. "Introducing, No Pun Intended, by Will Livingston," she said with excitement.

You looked at her in surprise, stopping your drum roll and your eyes widened as she revealed the book. "No way!" you exclaimed, your voice full of excitement. "I had volume one! Where did you find this?" you asked eagerly, reaching out to take the book from her.

She teased you playfully, "Who's the nerd now?" You couldn't help but laugh and make grabby motions with your hands, eager to take possession of the book.

As she handed you the book, you began to flip through the pages with great enthusiasm. "Wow," you said in amazement, your eyes scanning the words as quickly as they could.

You were completely absorbed in the book, and Ellie couldn't help but admire the look of pure joy on your face. She was lost in the aura of happiness that surrounded you, feeling as though she could drown in it forever.

She fought the memory of Riley hard. She felt guilty about sharing this with you, but she couldn't help herself. And the look in your eyes helped dull the guilt in her stomach and replace it with warm tingly feelings.

“Oh! Okay okay, this is a good one,” you said before you cleared your throat. “What did the green grape say to the purple grape?” You looked up at the girl as she laughed. She already knew the answer to the joke but entertained your excitement anyways. “What?” she asked, grinning from ear to ear. You looked at her with a fake seriousness, eyes in slits. “Breathe you idiot.” And you lost it.

The two of you started going back and forth with the joke book, laughing your asses off. Some of them you understood and others you didn't, but you both enjoyed them either way. One of the jokes made Ellie think of something that had happened to her and that triggered a stream of sharing life stories.

Soon you two ended up lying down on the mattress on the floor. You laid side by side, simi-tangled up in one another as you sat in comfortable silence. Before you knew it, sleep had taken you away.

The next week seemed to pass by uneventfully, in fact, the three of you barely spoke to each other at all. During the day, you made small talk with Joel and tried to get to know him better. You discovered that he had a keen interest in guitars. You asked him about his family, but he remained tight-lipped and didn't want to talk about it, so you didn't press on.

When Joel fell asleep or went off to hunt, that was when you and Ellie would have a little conversation. You discovered that Ellie was fascinated by space and that she couldn't swim to save her life. In turn, you shared with her a bit about your uncle and how you had ended up alone, but you didn't go into much detail about it.

The wounds were still too fresh, and you were not quite ready to talk about it yet. Every time you tried to tell her, a lump formed in your throat and stopped you from speaking. Despite this, you found that talking to Ellie helped to ease your mind and you appreciated her company more than you let on, even if it was just small conversations at night.

Fortunately, you and Ellie shared a love for stars, and you happened to have a small book on stars that your uncle had given you. You gave her the book the day after she opened up to you about her love of space.

You were hesitant to part with it, as it was a gift from your uncle, but you had read it so many times that you felt it would be better off in Ellie's hands, especially since she seemed to be so keen on the subject.

That night the two of you stargazed with Joel. You suggested the idea of stargazing, and although Joel was hesitant at first, he eventually agreed. "Oh come on, what will it hurt if we lose like... an hour of sleep Joel?" you asked him, trying to convince him to join in. "Okay... but only an hour," he replied reluctantly. "We got a big day tomorrow. Probably gonna be lots of infected so I need you two well rested."

You couldn't help but tease him a little. "Yeah yeah, old man," you joked as you grabbed Ellie's hand. You pulled her down on the ground beside you and motioned for her to turn off her flashlight. "Lay back and look up at the stars," you instructed her.

She let go of your hand and did as you said before placing her hand back in yours. As you lay there, you pointed out different constellations and stars, discussing their names and significance. 

Fireflies started to fly around and the two of you bathed in the sweet moment. Joel sat back and watched the two of you point and giggle at the sky. He still didn't fully know your story, or even how to help Ellie heal from what she's gone through in the last few months. But his heart warmed at the sight of the two of you. He was glad that you had each other.

As you gazed at the constellation of the swan, you couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the vastness of the universe. You told Ellie how the Greeks believed that the swan was an important symbol of love and devotion, and how it was often associated with the goddess of love, Aphrodite.

You shared with her the story of how Zeus transformed Cygnus into a swan in order to save him from drowning, and how this act of heroism was immortalized in the stars. 

Cygnus was a constellation your uncle showed you when you were younger, and the story of it held no significance to you, but your uncle would tell it to you every time he saw it. Ellie listened intently, fascinated by the story and the beauty of the stars.

Unfortunately, the night was cut short by infected, and instead of going the way Joel had planned you all had to double back and take the longer way. Making your trip go from a few weeks to months. Everywhere the three of you went, there was either a plethora of infected or your path was blocked. It felt like you were going in circles and before you knew it spring was starting.

You were grateful for the chance of a wardrobe change, though. After searching through the abandoned houses you came across, you found a pair of cargo pants. You decided to get creative and cut them into shorts, using a stay shoelace as a belt. In addition, you found a small, stained, dusty green zip-up hoodie in one of the houses, and a black wife beater. Luckily, you also stumbled upon some Converse that fit you perfectly. You and Ellie were both quite joyed at your matching shoes, though neither of you would ever actually admit that.

Unfortunately, you lost your bag a while back and were just left with your knife in its holster on your thigh and your bow and quivers on your back. When you lost your bag, Ellie had offered to hold whatever need be in her bag along with Joel's until you could find a new one, so it wasn't much of a problem.

You three spent quite some time in the abandoned house, taking a much-needed break from the constant moving. While resting, you decided to work on your aim, honing your archery skills. You were grateful that you only broke one arrow, which prompted surprised looks from Joel and Ellie, who were impressed with your accuracy.

After seeing your abilities, Joel finally gave in and allowed you and Ellie to go hunting alone. “Be extra careful out there,” he lectured the two of you as you stood at the doorway, ready to leave. “And seriously, if you encounter anything you can't handle, come straight back here.”

“Joel,” Ellie said, turning the handle on the door with a roll of her eyes. “What was it you people said?” you asked him as you backed out of the door, “Scout's honor?” he just chuckled at your antics and reminded you two to be back before sundown.

You and Ellie nodded in agreement before stepping out into the bright sun. You both exchanged a quick glance before heading off into the woods beyond a clearning. You walked in silence for a while, taking in the beauty of nature around you. The trees swayed in the gentle breeze, the birds chirped, and the leaves rustled beneath your feet.

The hunting trip was also uneventful in the infected category but Ellie did find a polaroid in the houses you two searched on your way. She decided to keep her find secret until you were done scavenging through the bottom floor of the house.

She pulled out the camera and pointed it at you. “Space cadet!” she called out to you and you turned around to face her but were met by a flashing light. You put your hands over your eyes “Owww!! What the fuck was that Ellie!!” you heard a sound and looked back up at her. “I had to I'm sorry.” she giggled as she watched the film come out of the camera.

“A polaroid? No way??” you exclaimed as you stood straight up and headed toward her. She whipped the camera away from your grasp and stuck her tongue out at you. “Hey I wanna see the picture Els!” you complained and struggled to grab the camera from her. “It's gotta develop first, have some patience.” she teased you.

You reached your hand towards her and scoffed and she took the opportunity to quickly snap another photo. “Ellie!!” you laughed and started to reach for the camera again. She took off and shoved the camera under her arm, and the pictures in her pocket. “Catch me if you can old lady!” she shouted at you. “Old lady??? I'm like… a few months older than you tops-” you breathlessly yelled back at her, still chasing her.

The two of you ran round and round the house, until you finally cornered her, grabbed the photo out of the camera, and quickly turned the camera on her, “Your turn!” you giggled and snapped a photo. You stepped away from her and she accepted her defeat and waited for the film to develop. "Let me see," she huffed as she walked over to you. "First, let me see mine," you said as you pulled the film out of the camera for the last time and stuck it under your arm. “Fineee.” she sighed and pulled them out of her pocket.

The two of you shifted your position so that you were standing side by side in front of the pictures. As you both gazed at them, you hated the way you looked caught off guard. However, to your surprise, Ellie appeared to be quite taken with the images, her eyes shining with excitement. You were about to express your displeasure with the photos, but before you could say a word, the sound of clicking behind you startled you both.

yeah, you get a cliffhanger this time, but it's okay cuz ill probably post the next chapter within the next few days!

[cc-tinslebee]

Okay, so, about a month ago, my brain just conjured up probably the most random au possible: Legally Blonde Adam Banks/banksway au.

Believe me, it's as chaotic as it sounds, but lowkey, I'm kind of in love with it.

Adam never joins the Ducks because there aren't any Ducks to join. Bombay never had to do community service with District Five so there was no one to realise that Adam was on the wrong team all along. He continues to play for the Hawks and, eventually, the Eden Hall Warriors, never getting the chance to become the well-rounded individual we know him as because he's never known anything other than his rich privilege and the "win at all costs" mentality. He ends up going to college on a hockey scholarship and not straight to the NHL or the AHL (shocking, I know). While he's unsure of his major and where his life is heading, he finds solace in the fraternity he joins, which, by some sheer twist of fate, Jesse and Guy have also miraculously joined.

And his life is perfect for a while. He's the star player on yet another school's hockey team, all of his fraternity brothers adore him (though, it took a bit for Jesse to warm up to him), and his secret, not-really-official thing with his former teammate is going swimmingly. (Not to slander my boy, but I was picturing Larson for the role of Warner, purely because the alternative seems to be Rick Riley and that's kind of an unsettling image-- though, maybe that's the point?)

But then his secret boyfriend breaks up with him because, with his high aspirations in life, he needs to be "more serious." And dating Adam Banks, a guy in a stereotypical fraternity who only really knows hockey, in 2001 isn't exactly the white-picket-fence life he's looking for if he's going to be a politician.

And since this non-Duck Adam clearly doesn't have the braincells that canon Adam does, in his devastation, he decides it's a brilliant idea to prove that he is serious by applying to Harvard Law. His parents try to talk him out of it, since they want him to pursue his dreams of hockey, but being a lawyer is a respectable career so they can't exactly argue with him.

He gets accepted thanks to Jesse, Guy, and the rest of his fraternity helping him study for the LSAT and keeping him on track. He's trying his darndest when he gets to Harvard, but (despite his struggle not being as significant as Elle Woods'), not a lot of people take him seriously as an aspiring lawyer, considering him a meathead jock who only got in because of daddy's money.

And that's about the time he meets Linda, who he vaguely remembers from his time at Eden Hall. What he doesn't remember is her being so competitive, because she's deliberately beating him at every turn, just trying (and kind of succeeding) at making him look like a fool. To make matters worse, all of the sudden, she's engaged to his ex-boyfriend, who is very adamant about never telling anyone that he and Adam were more than friends (because, you know, early 2000s homophobia and such).

But things get a little brighter for Adam when he meets Charlie, an undergrad teacher's assistant who gives him all sorts of advice about surviving the school. He introduces him to Professor Bombay, who Charlie claims is the only reason he survived his first year and quickly becomes Adam's favourite teacher, and Charlie's childhood friend Connie, who aspires to be a state senator one day. Charlie's charismatic and even if he's not the most well-liked person at Harvard, Adam feels a weight lifted off his shoulders once he becomes friends with him and Connie. Things become a little easier.

Just before he and Charlie start getting really close, Adam meets Casey at a local diner on a day he's feeling particularly upset and alone, and the two start bonding almost immediately. (He bullshits his way into scaring an ex-husband of hers with legal repercussions he has no idea about and she basically adopts him in return.) It takes him an embarrassing amount of time to realise that it's not just a coincidence that Casey and Charlie share the same last name, which results in poor Adam feeling extremely embarrassed for not connecting the dots sooner while Charlie's having the time of his life teasing him for it. Eventually, when the dust of that settles, Charlie and Adam join forces to set Casey and Bombay up, their schemes borderline ridiculous at times, but they'rere not exactly failing.

And after realising he isn't the Warriors moron she thought he was for going on five years, Linda starts warming up to Adam, which is surprisingly nice? She figures out on her own that there used to be something between him and her fiancé, and is more understanding of Adam than she is mad. Linda actually spills to him the lengths Adam's ex had to go through to actually get into Harvard, aligning more with the rumours about Adam's acceptance being bought than having the aptitude for the law that Linda and Adam share. (This may be me saying Linda and Adam friendship rights, what of it-- /lh)

To make things all the better, Bombay chooses Adam, Linda, Connie, Charlie, and Adam's ex to be on his legal team for a murder case he's responsible for (and while he knows about Adam and Charlie's ploys to hook him up with Charlie's mom, they're his favourites, so he doesn't say anything).

And this is just so much better than anything he had before. After all the initial unpleasantness, Linda and Connie become some of the most genuine friends he's ever had. He misses Guy and Jesse, of course, and he'd never take them for granted, but back when he was with them at the fraternity, a part of him was still being as superficial as he had been in middle and high school. Being authentic for once in his life is liberating.

And Charlie's just about the most considerate person Adam's ever met. Adam doesn't even mind when Charlie teases him over his absurd and juvenile insults because he's just this source of light for Adam, supporting him and always pushing him to be the best version of himself. His ex hardly even exists when Charlie's around because his energy is just so contagious that Adam starts falling for him long before he even realises it. (And when Jesse and Guy come to visit, there's a moment where it all clicks and the four of them realise their history together, however brief. I strongly maintain that they'd be that Starkid meme: "Fucking Hawks? We hated you guys!" "We hated ourselves!" But it does make Adam realise how much better off he would've been if he had Charlie and his team when he was little instead of the Hawks, and it just further makes him understand that people like Larson and Rick Riley just aren't worth it.)

But there's also another revelation Adam goes through. Between helping Casey, his rigorous studies, and his position working with/for Bombay, something just clicks for Adam. He likes being able to help people, fighting for the good guys who may not have the resources they need to be properly defended. Practicing law calls to him in the same way hockey did; it's the feeling of knowing this is what he's meant to do. He still loves hockey, he always will, but it helps him finally grasp that there's a world for him outside of it; when hockey ends for him, there's something equally as rewarding that he can pursue, which was something he never thought he would have.

I haven't a single coherent thought about this au past that point except for these little inklings of an ending--

There's absolutely no SA scene like the movie had; Bombay's just Adam and Charlie's favourite teacher and those are his boys, so he's going to make sure they succeed as if his life depends on it.

With that said, Bombay believes in them both enough to let them finish the case because with their joined determination/stubbornness (and Adam's in with the defendant), Adam and Charlie are a force to be reckoned with and he knows it.

After a handful of comedic failures, they do end up succeeding at their attempts to set Casey and Bombay up, and they start living together sometime during the kids' Junior year :) (All I'm asking is for one (1) story with a Casey/Gordon endgame-- I just think they're neat--)

Linda dumps her fiancé (as she should) and goes on to live her best wlw life as a successful lawyer. (If I'm not mistaken, Linda's actress actually is a lawyer, which is a pretty cool fun fact!!)

Adam and Linda's ex gets the Warner ending because, man, screw that guy /lh (rip to Larson if this is him, I'm sure you'll get a nice endgame in some other universe, king)

Honorary mention for Connie, who was going long distance with Guy this entire time to everyone but Jesse's shock, and they get their Game Changers endgame of State Senator Connie Moreau and stay-at-home dad Guy Germaine with their seven -- sorry, three -- children :)

Adam's an absolute bundle of nerves after graduation, which definitely concerns Charlie. So, when he asks if he's okay, Adam starts nervously monologuing about their time together until he runs out of breath. He ends it by proposing to him, and Charlie smiles so surely at him when he says yes. They both become damn good public defenders and stay engaged until the point they can legally get married, but they're practically husbands long before that happens.

Also, if I did my math right (which I should’ve, it’s my entire basis for my Share Your Address series), the Ducks’ would have the same graduating class year as Elle Woods anyway (2004), which is pretty neat!

Thank you once again for listening to me ramble :)

[mssirey]

can you write about alex and eliza reacting to kara packing?

I think I am going to get back to you on the Eliza front—I have to sort out my thoughts about how it would go, but here is Kara talking to Alex:

With most things that came up in Kara’s life, Alex was the first to know.

Packing was not like most things.

It took Kara a long time to even realize the significance packing held in her life, and it was Lena’s gentle hand she held as she ventured into that unknown. For months it was something that didn’t leave their apartments.

There was a distinct line at the threshold, sharply drawn, the jagged edge able to mar her flesh. She kept to her haven as she explored herself, guarded herself in her sanctuary, but the absence of her packer when she returned to the world outside was unmistakable.

Kara could feel the phantom sensation of it pressing against the inside of her thigh when she sat on Alex’s couch. She fidgeted, adjusted her pants as if it was there, shifted her weight with an acute awareness that it would never be right.

Alex’s brow was perpetually bunched, her eyes narrow and searching, her lips pursed in that deciphering way she got, but at every glance, Kara shied away. It was uncomfortable in a unique way.

Kara was not unused to lying. That was a given in her life. She knew how to skirt most truths, how to fake clumsiness or unawareness—all the things she needed to appear human.

It was not often she lied to Alex. She had little reason to, and Alex was remarkably good at seeing through her. Most lies felt gross to harbor, but the lie in question was especially unsettling. The lie Kara told was that she was whole, that she was happy, and she hated the way it rotted in her gut.

It wasn’t that she really meant to hide it from Alex. She just didn’t know how to bring it up, how to fit words to the feelings she had.

Kara shared her body with Lena, was comfortable exposing herself to wandering eyes, had regular conversations about what she enjoyed when her body was involved. It made sense for Lena to know those preferences.

Kara had a blanket bunched up in her lap, but it didn’t do enough to hide the absence, not when her leg bounced—just shy of shaking Alex’s whole apartment. She stared at the frozen image on the tv, finally realizing it was paused, but unsure if it was still the opening scene, having no recollection of what had transpired.

After another moment, Kara blinked and turned to find Alex staring. “What is happening right now?”

Kara chewed her lip, tore at her skin as only she could, peeled away bits until her lip felt raw. She was all too aware that Alex was giving her an opening, handing it to her on a platter, but still her throat tightened up. “What do you mean?”

Alex just crossed her arms over her chest and fixed her with a stare, her brows raised high, her head cocked slightly. “You’re too quiet.”

Kara snorted—a puff of indignant air. “We’re watching a movie,” she reminded, “or we were.”

Alex’s brow managed to creep higher still. “A musical.”

“You said I’m not allowed to sing along,” Kara exclaimed, more forcefully than she had meant, knowing it would only feed Alex’s suspicions, “that’s your rule!”

“That you have never once followed,” Alex shot back. “Kara, come on! What’s happening?”

The charade was never going to last, Kara knew that, and what was worse was the fact that she didn’t want it to continue at all and yet felt compelled to try. It felt like her control was slipping from her grasp, and more than anything that was where her struggle was rooted.

Kara felt so powerless to choose her expression, forced to consider how it would be received, constantly questioning if someone else’s discomfort was worth her comfort. Rationally, she knew that wasn’t how she was supposed to look at it, and she told herself as much, on repeat, pleading with her own heart to have mercy.

With Alex, there was the hurdle of bodies often being connected to sexuality and intimacy that didn’t fit into familial bonds. Kara couldn’t separate packing from privacy that Alex had always afforded her, as sisters. The closest they had gotten was commiserating with each other over the struggles of both human and kryptonian menstruation, but even that was just one-off grumblings they echoed; never a conversation that got deeper, never anything that brought closer attention to their bodies.

Kara brought the blanket up into her arms, hid her face in the soft fabric, muffled the cracking of her voice. “I’m just dealing with stuff.”

“What stuff? Did something happen with Lena?”

Kara squeaked as she stiffened, the air forced from her lungs, barely contained in the blanket. A lot had happened and it was nearly all that took up space in her thoughts. She could feel that constant swirl of warmth in her gut, always on the cusp of dizzying euphoria and spiraling doubt, but she also remembered Lena’s touch with such precision. Even then, she could close her eyes and Lena was there, whispering adoration against her neck, or slipping a hand beneath her clothes—

Kara squeezed her eyes shut, but shook the memories from her head. She didn’t need Lena to ground her in that moment. Alex was a safe person, always.

“No! Well, yes— but, no, not really. I mean,” she had too many lines of thought overlapping with each other, running themselves off course, until she was fumbling to form a single coherent sentence.

“Kara, breathe!”

Kara nodded, and let her hand fall, let it sit in a fist on the cushion between them, and Alex’s warm palm fit against the inside of her wrist.

“I… um, I…” the words didn’t come freely, catching over and over against her teeth, her lungs unable to give them the air they needed to form, “I want a… a thingy.”

Kara groaned at the mortifying way her brain had disconnected from her mouth, and the automatic way she filled in the blank was to use a term she would’ve when they were teens.

Kara didn’t dare look at Alex, the flame of her ears more than distracting, but she heard the stalled exhale and the confused blankness that settled about Alex. “A… thingy?”

“A penis, Alex!”

Silence lingered for a beat, but it wasn’t actually quiet. No, Kara could hear the little pops of tension in Alex’s rigid back, the dryness as she swallowed, the whispering movement of air as she blinked repeatedly, the patter of her heart—everything was so loud.

“Oh,” she breathed. “That thingy.”

Kara almost pulled her hand away, was compelled to as her nerves screamed and alarm rang in her ears, telling her to escape. But then Alex’s thumb shifted, slow and easy against her skin.

“Have you… um, is that… I don't know, new?”

Kara nodded, stiff and shaking. “I didn’t know it was something I could want. I mean, I did,” she corrected, “for other people, but... I never thought about it until I tried it, and—”

“Tried it?”

Kara made a little affirmative noise. “Wearing one.”

“Oh.” Alex cleared her throat, and Kara braced for her to pull away, but she stayed. “Is there something I’m missing?”

“No, I just… I just want to be myself around you… my whole self,” she managed, and it felt so selfish, so thoughtless, so—

Alex exhaled a sympathetic sigh. “Oh Kara, come here,” she scooted closer and wrapped her arms around Kara’s shoulders, squeezing until Kara let her head fall into the crook of her shoulder. “That’s all I want, too. Always.”

Kara felt so light, her heart racing, and still she sank into Alex’s hug, let herself be sheltered there. She could finally imagine being herself in the world, and the relief made her crumple into Alex’s support. 

[magnhild]

Nora Valkyrie, Identity, and Purpose

Hey everyone, Blaire here, and almost exactly a year ago, I made this mess of a post where I laid out all of my thoughts on Nora and what I thought the show could have in store for her.

And honestly, most of my ideas were way off, and not at all correct. Also, the post kind of flopped.

Thankfully, Volume 8 has given me a chance to redeem myself, and write another, more coherent, essay about my favourite RWBY character; where this Volume seems to be taking her character, and what it means to me, personally.

Buckle up.

To the vast majority of people in the RWBY fandom, Nora is the least-developed character, and the one most lacking in dimension. Most of her character seems to be defined by two things; her energy and love for fighting, and her relationship on Ren.

Volume 8 took note of these conceptions, and addressed them head-on.

Of course, any keen-eyed viewer will have noted Nora’s hidden depths even before this volume, which I noticed in last year’s post. She is perhaps the most perceptive of the main cast, at least, when it comes to people’s feelings and relaionships. She was the only one to really comment on Pyrrha’s crush on jaune, and the first to bring up Blake and Yang’s growing relationship. It was also her level-headedness that resolved RNJR’s argument in Volume 4, Chapter 9.

Volume 7 also showed us her innate desire to protect the weak, and her disdain to those who have the power to help, but refuse. I personally get the feeling that this was her driving motivation in becoming a Huntress; to protect people who cannot protect themselves, perhaps because she doesn’t want anyone to have to grow up as she did. Nora’s fury at Ironwood in V7C7 is esepcially signifigant, because it’s the angriest we’ve ever seen her before, even more so in that this anger is directed at someone with much more authority than her.

But these little details were only the tip of the iceberg. These were traits she already had, and while they help to add layers to her character, they’ve done very little in terms of her actual development. 

This is where Volume 8 came in stronger than any other.

Volume 7 hinted to us that Ren and Nora’s relationship was beginning to get more complicated, between their bickering, Ren’s dismissiveness at Nora, and their kiss in V7C6. By the end of the volume, it was clear that they were still struggling, despite their clear love for each other. Volume 8 carried this thread along, having them split into different parties, and Nora giving Ren a bit of attitude we’ve not really seen her direct at him before. 

She’s frustrated with him, and disappointed that he can’t see what she sees. But despite her tough front, V8C2 then hints that she’s sadder about the split than she’s letting on, after May brings up Nora’s ‘friends’. C3 then brings this to a head, where we get a conversation that sees Nora opening up to Blake and Yang, and revealing a deeply sad truth about herself- that she has no idea who she is without Ren, because she’s spent so much of her life with him and him alone, and her feelings for him have shaped so much of who she thinks she is. We’ve never seen her so hopeless and lost, especially after she reveals that, as far as she’s concerned, all she’s good for is hitting stuff.

Right in these few minutes, the show takes how the audience percieves Nora, and reveals to us that those two core traits are the gateways to a far deeper insight of her character. She’s known for her relationship with Ren, but wait- what about when he’s not there with her? She’s known for hitting stuff, but wait- that’s all she thinks she’s good for. 

It’s revealed to us that, not only is this how most of the audience percievs Nora, but it’s how she percieves herself. And for all her energy and upbeat attitude, deep down, she thinks incredibely lowly of herself. For all her confidence in her fighting abilities, she lacks confidence in herself as a person. 

Surprisingly enough, the ‘who am I?’ character arc is one that was hardly explored at all up until this point, despite it being one of the most common and signifgant character arcs in fictional media. And I don’t think many of us at all could have imagined that Nora would be the one to get that arc, when she’s always seemed so self-assured on the surface.

And then, when Penny is in need of help, Nora takes Weiss’ advice to heart, and does the one thing she believes she’s capable of- being strong, and hitting stuff.

Nora overcharging her Semblance to take down the wall is seen by a lot of the fandom as some kind of win for Nora; as her ‘big moment’. But while it’s certainly a really cool and badass scene, it was far from a triumph for her.

This was Nora at perhaps her lowest point so far in the series. This was Nora figuring ‘well, if this is all I’m good for, I’ll do it to the extreme’. This was Nora thinking her only purpose was to greatly endanger herself for the sake of others, because she figured she was the only one who could. And she almsot got herself killed for it. 

While certainly a defining moment, it was far from triumphant. It wasn’t a win. It was a self-destrcutive act that reflected how little she thinks of herself; that she’s not worth anything unless she’s pushing herself to the limit doing the one thing she thinks she’s good at.

And to drive the knife in harder, it backfires horribly. 

Because now she’s bedridden and critically injured, with scars that are probably permanent; a reminder of her lowest point, forever marked on her body. She can’t fight now, can’t help at all, and Salem has launched her attack on Atlas.

And in her half-unconsious state in V8C7, she realizes this, delivering an absolutely heartbreaking line:

As far as she’s concerned, her last attempt at doing what she thinks only she can do- what she thinks is all she can do- has prevented her from doing anything of worth at all. She lost one half of herself when she split from Ren, and now she’s lost the other half too. The two things that she defines herself by are gone. And the worst part is, we don’t know if she’s awar of the fact Salem has begun her attack. We could very well see her fully wake up, only to realize that the world has begun ending while she was unconsious, and she can’t do anything about it.

Now, this scene, and Nora’s struggle in this Volume as a whole, hit home for me in particular.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’re probably aware that Nora is only of my hightest- and only- kins. And I’ve only been able to relate to her more and more after what we’ve got of her in this Volume.

I am chronically disabled. I have a connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which fucks up my body in a multitude of different ways, but signifigantly affects the joints. For me, it hits worst in my back, ankles, and my fingers. The fingers are my main problem. To make matters worse, I’ve also been victim to intense pains in my shoulder, which came out of nowhere a couple of months ago and have only gotten worse since. The slightest movement aggrevates it. As any follower of mine would know, I am both an artist and a writer. I create both for fun, and I’ve studied writing as a profession. It is these things I’m known for being good at, and not much else. 

Thanks to my disability and my shoulder though, I have to do these things less. Even on perscription pain medication, it still hurts. It hurts to write this even now; my shoulder feels like it’s burning up from the inside. It will only get worse over time.

So, I’m finding myself in Nora’s position. I can’t do what I’m good at anymore, and I don’t know what to do with myself as a result. Not doing these things makes me feel lazy and unproductive, and makes me feel that the people around me will abandon me so long as i can’t keep providing them content. And I’ve gotta say, it hurts a lot, and I don’t just mean physically. 

Because of what I’m going through, it’s especially important to see my favourite RWBY character just so happening to be dealing with the same problem; the same loss of idenity and purpose. We don’t know who we are or what we’re good for without the things we think define us.

While I’m unsure of my own future though, I find comfort in knowing that Nora’s problem will be tackled and addressed; that her friends will help her to rediscover herself and find her true worth. And while we’ve got a while to go until we’ll be able to see the Volume continue, I’m incredibely excited to see where Nora’s arc goes, especially if we can get some backstory along the way. I find myself wondering if her life before Ren is part of why she thinks so little of herself without him- was it the way she was raised to think? Is this the fault of her childood circumstances? Or is this just something she developed on her own, after becoming too dependant on Ren for comfort?

Whatever answers we get, I have faith that Nora’s story will be told well, and I’m very sure that it’s only just beginning. Even if she finds her worth before the end of the volume, her story won’t be over yet, not when we’ve still likely got at least four more volumes to go after this one.

In just seven episodes, Nora Valkyrie has gone from one of the least developed characters, to one of the most interesting and relatable, at least, in my eyes. There is so much more depth to her character than having a crush on Ren, and being the strong girl who hits stuff. There’s a layer of tragedy to her character that we’re touching upon now, and I’m excited to dive into it.

Thank you all for reading!

[mochegato]

Nannyette

Chapter 5 – Fairies Don’t Just Fly

Chapter 1          Chapter 4

“Just a quick in and out, right Tim?” Kon looked pointedly at Tim.  “Because I have plans with Cassie.”

“Right, just in and out.  I just need to grab the files from his room and we can leave.” Tim assured him quickly.

Kon stared at him, disbelief radiating from his entire being, because he knew Tim was lying.  To himself or to Kon, maybe both, but if Marinette was there, Tim was not going to leave quickly.  Something would come up.  Something needing his immediate attention and then naturally, he couldn’t just leave.  She might need help reaching something or she might need a break or she might have some valuable insights on… it didn’t really matter, Tim would come up with something.  “I’m holding you to that.”  He pointed at him threateningly.

Tim gave him a reassuring smile as he unlocked the door, calling out to them as they walked through to give Marinette and Mar’i a warning before they walked in on them.  He turned toward the living room and froze in his tracks, Kon running into him, almost bowling him over.  

Marinette was kneeling in the middle of the room pulling warm clothes over Mar’i’s swimsuit.  Marinette meanwhile clearly hadn’t gotten the chance to pull all her clothes on before helping Mar’i with hers.  She was in just an unbuttoned oxford shirt over her bikini.  It wasn’t a particularly revealing bikini but it didn’t have to be for Tim.  He had a hard time forming coherent thoughts when she was wrapped in a blanket.  But in a bikini?  Thank God breathing was an involuntary act because if it wasn’t, he would be dead now.

Marinette looked up at him in mild surprise before giving him a blinding smile.  “Hey guys, Kori said you guys were stopping by.”  Tim could feel his face turning purple as Marinette sauntered over to them, her open Oxford shirt swaying as she walked.  She held out her hand and looked at Kon with a strained smile. “It’s nice to meet you Kon.”

Kon smiled back at her, shaking her hand. “And you too.  Tim’s mentioned you… a lot.”

Tim fought the urge to punch him for the comment but Marinette didn’t seem to notice.  “That’s nice.  He’s mentioned you as well.  It’s nice to put a face to the name.  Dick said the stuff is in their room.”  She turned back to Mar’i, expecting Tim and Kon to move on, but Tim was still frozen in his tracks gaping at her, struggling to breathe.  

When she didn’t hear any movement behind her she looked back at them with concern.  “You okay, Tim?”

Kon bumped into him as casually as he could to knock him out of his daze.  “Yeah,” he started louder than he meant to.  Regulating volume was definitely a voluntary act and definitely required more brain power than he was capable of right now.  “Yeah,” he said again at a closer to normal volume this time.  “What a coincidence.  We were going to the pool too.”

Kon looked over at him in barely hidden shock, “We were?” he whispered.  Tim jabbed an elbow into his side and gave Marinette a strained smile.

“Oh, that’ll be fun.  Did you guys want to walk with us?”  She asked kindly.  Spending the day with Tim in a swimsuit, with his boyfriend, wasn’t exactly her idea of a great afternoon, but she knew Mar’i would love it.

Mar’i was jumping up and down next to her. “Yes, yes, yes.  Come with us!”

Tim’s smile turned a bit more strained, “Uh, sure. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” He turned to Kon and whispered as quietly as he could, “You need to go through Dick’s window and get our trunks as quickly as possible.”

Kon glowered at him, “No, no I don’t.  You promised.”

“Bikini, Kon.  She’s wearing a bikini.”  

Kon gave him an unimpressed look.  “We’ve both seen hundreds of women in bikinis and never cared.”

Tim gave him a pleading look, “But it’s Marinette.  Please, please do this for me.  Please.” His eyes turned desperate.

Kon sighed in defeat and rolled his eyes. “You’re paying for my and Cassie’s next date.  And it won’t be cheap.”  He turned away from Tim’s triumphant eyes.  “I’ll just grab our trunks from Dick’s room.  That’s what we were here for anyway.”

<><><><><> 

“I can't breathe.” Tim whispered to Kon as they walked toward the indoor pool a short distance behind Marinette and Mar’i after having removed and stored everything but their swimsuits and towels. He now had an unobstructed view of Marinette in her bikini and his lungs were starting to rebel.

“You can breathe.” Kon rolled his eyes at Tim.

“No, no, I can't breathe.” Tim repeated, panic clear in his eyes.

“Tim, you can breathe.  You're fine.  Stop it.”

“No, really I can't.  Look at her.  I can't.  I can't breathe.  I'm going to pass out.” Tim stopped and bent over trying to gasp for breath.

“Well, that'll be sexy. I'm sure she'll go for that.” Kon responded calmly, continuing to walk forward without looking back.

Tim glared at him, focusing on his annoyance instead of Marinette until his breathing slowed down.  It wasn’t enough that she was sweet and smart and strong and skilled, she had to be sexy too?  It was just playing dirty, really.

He was finally brought out of his thoughts when he heard Mar’i, Marinette, and Kon laughing as they splashed Kon.  He smiled at the scene.  Marinette looked over at him with a brilliant smile, “You coming in?”

He smiled back at her, an edge of nervousness still present.  He jumped into the pool, creating as big a splash as he could in the shallow water. Mar’i and Marinette giggled at the movement.  Mar’i ran over to the kiddie slide to hide.  Tim walked up behind Kon, keeping his eyes on Marinette, “Make sure I don't drown.”

Kon rolled his eyes but bumped his shoulder with his own.  “I got your dork ass.”

“That’s all I ask.” Tim nodded at him solemnly, making his way over to Mar’i and Marinette.

“Since when,” Kon scoffed quietly, following him over.

“Look at the mermaids, Marinette!  They’re like the mermaids from Peter Pan.” Mar’i grinned up at her, before her eyes grew wide.  “We should play Peter Pan!  Kon can be Peter and I can be Tinker Bell because we can fly.”

Kon’s eyes grew wide and he looked over to Tim in a panic, trying to catch his eye.  Mar’i was revealing their secret to Marinette, but Tim wasn’t concerned at all. He understood Tim’s interest in her, but he knew better than to throw away their secret identities.  Why wasn’t he reacting?  Surely he wasn’t that far gone.

Marinette smiled at her and crouched down next to her, “but we don’t fly at the pool silly, we swim.”  Kon stared at her and back to Tim.  Did she… did she know?  “But you can still be a fairy.  Fairies don’t just fly, you know.”  She leaned in as if to pass on an extremely important secret.  “I should know, I’m best friends with a few.”

Mar’i considered her explanation and finally nodded in agreement.  “I can be a swimming fairy!” She exclaimed excitedly.  “And Marinette can be Wendy and Tim can be… Captain Hook!”

“Why am I the villain?” Tim asked with a mock pout.

“Because you’re important and all the other main people are taken.”  She looked at him and cocked her head to the side, studying him carefully.  “I guess you could be Michael…” she mused quietly. “He liked to pout a lot too.”

Tim’s mouth dropped in mock offense.  Marinette tried to stifle her giggles but Kon flat out laughed hard enough he had doubled over.  Tim collapsed on Marinette’s shoulder, needing the support after that blow to his ego. Well, he didn’t need to lean on her, but he did it anyway.  With his head buried in his arm, he missed the way Marinette flushed deeply at the contact.  Kon however, was front and center for it.  He smirked at the reaction.

“How about we let Tim choose.” Marinette suggested instead, moving reluctantly away from Tim and his outrageously, unfairly toned, almost naked body.  “He can be Hook, or Michael, or another fairy, or a mermaid, or… oooohhhh he could be the Tick Tock Croc and try to get us!”

Tim grinned maliciously “Tick” he said quietly crouching down low.  “Tock” he moved closer to Mar’i who squealed in delight.

“Marinette save me!  Save me!” She giggled trying to run to Marinette but falling in the water. She turned toward Tim, still in scrambling in the water, a smile on her face.

Marinette rushed over to her and grabbed her out of the water trying to back away from Tim who was still moving slowly toward them to the tune of “Tick… Tock… Tick… Tock”.

“He’s getting close!” Mar’i called loudly with a smile.  

“Oh no!” Marinette grinned back at her before shifting her expression to mock seriousness.  “Time for plan B.  Kon, come take care of your man while I save the fairy.”

“Nuh uh,” Kon shook his head.  “He’s not my man. I take no responsibilities for him outside of… uh… cases.” Kon quickly looked for a replacement for missions. “He’s totally up for grabs.” He winked at Marinette.

Marinette stared at him for a few seconds unsure of what he meant, trying to process what he said.  Did he… did he mean they weren’t dating?  Did Tim think they were but Kon didn’t?  Oh God, poor Tim!  She was shaken out of her thoughts by Mar’i shifting in her arms, “He’s almost got us!” she squealed.  

Marinette turned back to Tim who was just a few feet away now and had dark pink dusting his cheeks for some reason, probably Kon saying they weren’t together.  Her heart tightened in sympathy for him.  But she wasn’t going to let Tim suffer.  She was going to make this fun for him and distract him from what Kon had said.  She gave Mar’i a determined look.  “I’ll hold him off, Kon can save you.  Kon, catch in 3, 2, 1.” She called to him before tossing Mar’i to him.  Mar’i landed in the water just in front of Kon, whose arms were around her before her arms reached the water and pulling her up, her face set with an overjoyed expression.

“I’ve got you fairy princess,” Kon grinned at her. They both looked back to see Marinette trying to hold off Tim.  He jumped at her, grabbing her around the waist as they fell into the water.  She popped up out of the water and wiped the water out of her eyes.  She looked around quickly to gain her bearings before seeing Tim who just emerged with a devious grin.  She narrowed her eyes playfully and jumped toward him, putting her hands on his shoulders to push him down.  Tim went under the water but pushed back up quickly, grabbing her around the waist again, lifting her out of the water and holding her so she couldn’t get him again. She giggled and squirmed in his arms before shifting her weight and twisting so she fell to the side, taking him with her.  She pushed back up to the surface and turned to Kon and Mar’i, “Go!  I don’t know how much longer I can distract h...”  Tim grabbed her again before she could finish her sentence, swinging her around with a laugh she matched.

Kon leaned over to Mar’i’s ear.  “I bet she could distract him for the rest of the day without even trying.”

Mar’i nodded at him completely missing the implication, “Yeah, she’s pretty entertaining and he always seems to get distracted by her. Not as much as her though.  She’s always falling for him.” She shook her head at the memories.  Her eyes suddenly lit up and she straightened up in Kon’s arms.  “Oh, they should go on a date.”

Kon smiled conspiratorially at her, “We should work on that.  We can come up with some ideas, but it will be a secret.”  He held a finger to his lips.

Mar’i smiled back and nodded at him.  “I won’t tell.”

They looked back over to Marinette and Tim in time to see Marinette slip on a slick patch of pool floor.  Tim reached out to pull her back up, wiping the hair out of her eyes with a concerned look.  Marinette flushed deeply at the contact.  “I don’t think we’ll have to work that hard at all,” Kon commented with a smile.

Chapter 6

Tags:

@timari-month-event, @ichigorose @stainedglassm @better-toast @theymakeupfairies @trippingovermyfeet

[towerfandoms]

3AM Encounters

A/n: I feel like everyone uses that title but oh well I’m uncreative when it comes to titles. I’ve been simping a LOT for Shinsou recently so here enjoy this <33 and ik requests are off but for Shinsou I make exceptions ✨✨✨

Summary: Shinsou had trouble falling asleep and was laying in bed, counting as the hours passed by. That is, until he heard footsteps outside

Pairings: Shinsou Hitoshi x reader

Word Count: 2.4k

Warnings: none just fluff

Despite the many times Shinsou had laid awake at 3am, he still could never quite get used to the eerie silence. It was times like this when he truly understood the phrase “deafening silence”. The quietness felt too loud. The nothingness made him feel uneasy. During the day, he despised hearing the loud screeches of jumpy teenagers but now, he almost misses it. He could hear just about every little thing, the slight gust of wind from outside his open window, the creaking of his bed every time he shifted to get comfier and the footsteps outside.

Wait,,, outside?

Shinsou grabbed his phone from his bedside table and squinted at the screen, the harsh light illuminating his room. It was 3:15AM. Trying to make as little noise as possible as to not draw attention to himself, he heaved out of bed and looked out the window that was overlooking the gardens. He was surprised to be met with the sight of a black silhouette scurrying across the gardens, making their way towards the equipment shed. They were dressed in what seemed to be a black hoodie and pyjama bottoms. He couldn’t make out their face, their hood masking all their features. Leaning out a bit to get a better view, he noticed they were holding something close to their chest. He wasn‘t sure but to him it seemed like a box.

Now this peeked the teenage boy's interest. He wondered what was inside the box to make them run so early in the morning. They were most likely a student in his year as these gardens were predominantly used by second years, since they were right by their dormitories. Should he go after them and make sure they weren’t getting into trouble? Thinking, he had nothing better to do and the chances of actually being able to fall asleep were slim so he decided to investigate. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say or do when he met the person but he just hoped they weren’t up to no good.

He pulled on the first sweatshirt he found and carefully made his way down to the backyard. He stopped when he thought he heard footsteps and thought of just going back to his dorm and letting the person do whatever they wanted. He wasn’t the class president or anything so he wasn’t obligated to check on every little out of the norm. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep influencing his decisions but for some odd reason he desperately wanted to know what the person was up to. When he first joined the Hero Course in second year he announced to everyone that he wasn’t looking to make friends. However that soon changed as he got to know everyone. He still wasn’t the most sociable person but hey who knows, maybe he’ll find a kindred spirit when it comes to the inability to sleep. So he let curiosity get the better of him and pursued onwards towards the equipment shed.

Once he was outside the shed, Shinsou leaned his head against the rotting wood trying to listen in. He was surprised to hear low whisperings but he couldn’t make out anything bar a few hushed be quiet’s. He stiffly stood outside for some time, unsure whether to knock or barge in. He decided knocking would probably be silly so he opted with the latter. In one swift motion, he swung the handle and stepped inside.

The scene before him was baffling, to say the least. Whatever Shinsou was expecting, it definitely wasn’t this. The black figure from before was kneeling down,  their back to him, petting a large grey cat while a kitten was on their lap. There were three more kittens around them, all purring and rubbing their heads against them, whining for their attention. When they heard the door creak open, they rapidly swung their head around, eyes wide at the thought of being discovered. So they were quite surprised when their deep e/c eyes met with Shinsous' own lilac hues.

They both stayed staring like that, neither pulling away and refusing to break eye contact. After what seemed like hours but couldn’t possibly be more than a few seconds, Shinsou finally pulled away, looking to the side while sheepishly bringing a hand to rub the back of his neck.

“Sh-Shinsou!” was the only thing you managed to say, confusion clouding your brain. Just what was he doing here this early in the morning? Then an even more alarming thought popped into your head. Was he going to report you???

Sensing your disarray, Shinsou quickly tried to explain himself, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Oh, um, you don’t have to worry about me snitching or anything haha,” he nervously fumbled out, “I-I just saw you running and was wondering what you were doing is all…” he trailed off, unable to look at you in the eyes.

Of all people he had to meet in the middle of the night, why did it have to be you. You were also in 2-A, in fact you sat behind him in most of his classes. You two had a few brief encounters but it was enough for Shinsou to feel butterflies whenever he crossed paths with you. You were really sweet to everyone, always smiling and happy to lend a hand to anyone in need. Well you were the class president, he supposed, it was your job after all. Still though, the level of kindness you showed them all was something that not even Bakugou wanted to push away. As if your looks and kindness weren’t enough, you also had a killer sense of humour. You were always sending the funniest memes, tweets and tik toks to their class gc and responded to his sarcastic comments with ones of your own. You were without a single doubt one of the most perfect people Shinsou had ever laid his eyes upon. And now here he was seeing you surrounded by cats??? Hell, in his eyes you were quite literally an angel.

“Oh! Whoops, I suppose I should’ve been sneakier,” relief evident in your voice as you chuckled softly. Thank God it was just him and not someone like Iida a stickler for rules.

However, the fact that he was here now meant that...

”Wait a second! Did I wake you up??? Oh my God no, I am so so so sorry. Ugh, I feel so horrible now,” your tone changing abruptly as you ushered out an apology.

“What? No, no, it’s fine. I was always awake,” he quickly replied back looking down to meet your shining eyes again. There was only one window and the moonlight trickled through, enhancing your eyes and accentuating all your lovely features. You really looked as though you were hand-carved by the Greek Gods themselves.

You met his eyes again, sharing a look of sympathy as you understood his pain.

“Oh, you couldn’t sleep either? That’s why I came down here. I found the mama cat and her kittens three weeks ago. No one seemed to be feeding them or even know of their existence so I was kinda like damn, alright I’ll take care of yous,” you rambled on, almost forgetting about the kittens beside you, desperately mewling for attention.

You stopped to take a deep breath and started playing with the kittens next to you, looking up at Shinsou awaiting his reply.

Shinsou on the other hand was so absorbed watching you play that he didn’t even realise you were finished talking until you gave a small laugh.

“Do you wanna come over here and play with them?” you asked a small smile splayed on your lips.

He could not say yes fast enough. He walked over to where you sat and carefully kneeled down so as to not scare away the kittens. He gently started petting mama cat who instantly became smitten with him. Shinsou slowly began to smile, the pure adoration for these kittens displayed on his face.

You allowed yourself to stare at Shinsou while he wasn’t paying attention. Shinsou was a beautiful man, even Kaminari noting his good looks. You two never had much interactions bar a few good mornings and complaining about training. The usual small talk. He was always polite and when in a good mood would throw a few sarcastic comments here and there. Though he was never rude, it always felt like there was a barrier between him and the rest of the class that no one could quite break down. However now, early in the morning you somehow felt closer to him. It was like he was slowly letting his guard down. Even though neither of you were talking, you enjoyed his company, the silence almost comforting.

Despite how much you enjoyed just being next to him and petting cats, you also wanted to talk to him. It was hard talking to him in class, what with the walls he surrounded himself with. You decided now would be the best time to get to know him if you ever wanted to make a lasting friendship with him.

You wracked your brain for a conversation starter, not wanting to be too dry to bore him away nor wanting to be too chaotic to scare him away. God, just why were you so nervous anyways? It's just Shinsou after all. Why did talking to hot boys always have to be so hard ugh?

You looked over at him again, admiring his toned body that could almost be seen through the sweatshirt. You let your eyes trailed down until you noticed his pyjama bottoms. They were baby pink with Hello Kitty printed all over it.

You had to suppress a scream of joy. They were without a single doubt the most beautiful pyjamas you had ever laid your eyes upon.

“I like your pj bottoms,” you said teasingly, though that wasn’t your intention.

“O-oh, thank you,” he muttered, surprising himself by getting out a coherent sentence. Inwardly though, he was cursing himself for not throwing on a pair of sweatpants. You probably genuinely meant it but it was still something Shinsou didn’t want to go around flaunting. Fortunately for him, it was too dark for you to see the tinge of red on the tip of his ears and cheeks.

When he looked back up at you, he was expecting a face of mockery but was pleasantly surprised to see you smiling, your eyes shining brightly under the dim moonlight. The peace he was feeling before returned and he started to feel more confident in your comfortable presence.

“Y’know,” he started, his deep velvety voice becoming more confident. “Aren’t you the class president? What would Iida say if he found out?” he asked, completely breaking the ice between yous.

“You wouldn’t dare,” you said in a low voice, feigning a look of mock fear.

“I don’t know, it just wouldn’t be honest. My guilty conscience would never be able to handle it,” he replied, a teasing smile dancing on his lips.

You couldn’t stop smiling at the thought that he was willing to continue the conversation. You wanted to see how much longer you could make it last.

“Hmmmm, well how about I make it even. If you want, you can join me to feed the cats. They need to be fed in the day too, so it’s not like we’re always breaking the rules.” looking down as soon as you finished, afraid of the answer. You didn’t want to seem like you were being too pushy but at the same time you really enjoyed Shinsous company. The morning was slowly coming to an end and soon you both will have to go back to your dorms. You’ll both have to continue classes the next day and pretend this night never happened. You wanted it to continue. So you waited with baited breath for Shinsous reply.

Coincidentally enough, Shinsou had also been thinking the same thing. He had thoroughly enjoyed his time. Though you both hadn’t spoken much, your presence really put him at ease. He felt so much more relaxed around you. It would be a shame if this was the first and last night of spending time with you and the kittens. So when you asked, he knew his answer straight away. He just had to somehow play it off cool and act unbothered.

“Deal. I guess I have enough time to visit the kittens. And you too, I suppose,” he added with his signature smirk.

You felt your cheeks heat up but managed to return a mischievous grin of your own. You quickly pulled out your phone and sighed with disappointment when you checked the time.

“Unfortunately, I think our time here has ended. It’s nearly 4am, the sun will be coming up soon. And we have annoying classes tomorrow,” you stated a bit sad about the fact that such an enjoyable night has come to an end. However he did say he’d continue joining you so that kept you somewhat excited.

Shinsou looked at you, mouth slightly parted in shock.

“4AM already? Shit, sorry for keeping you up for so long,” with that he tried to remove mama cat from his lap who had fully made herself at home on it. She lazily stretched and got off, a bit annoyed that her nap time was ruined.

You and Shinsou both stood up and brushed yourselves down, dusting off any dirt that may have stuck on to you from the old floors.

“I can walk you back to your dorm,” Shinsou offered, his hand rubbing the back of his next.

“How chivalrous,” you giggled slightly. “Don’t worry about it, besides we wouldn’t want anyone to catch you in those stunning bottoms now would we,”

“Shut up,” he rolled his eyes irritably but there was a pleased smile on his lips, indicating he wasn’t really annoyed.

You both made your way back to the dorms, whispering softly to each other occasionally. You broke apart to go to your separate dorms and try to get at least a couple of hours of sleep.

You lay awake in your bed, replaying the encounter and a bit upset at how quickly it had ended. You remembered his eyes, his smell and his deep velvety voice. You couldn’t stop smiling stupidly when you remembered your conversations. Somehow thinking about his voice managed to help you drift off to sleep, your last clear thought being Shinsou playing with the kittens.

A/n: I tried really hard to keep it gender, race and features in general neutral. If there’s any place where I could improve or switch up my words please let me know and I’ll be happy to oblige :)) constructive criticism/ feedback is always appreciated in fact encouraged so do not hesitate to tell me anything. Anyways thank you so much and have a lovely day yall <33