#‘they say every world is connected by one great sky’ that moment you realize baby Riku saw Sora as Sky

[blowingoffsteam2]

The way you just know Riku would say he’s been in love with Sora his entire life

[camslightstories]

Tolerate It - Part 13

Lena Luthor x reader, Kara Danvers x reader, Alex Danvers x reader. Baby Danvers. Female Reader.

Notes: Hey! I hope you guys are doing great and if you are not I promise things get better. I’m sorry I haven't updated but its just work and home are being hectic but I’m trying to get everything in track again. This chapter took an awfully long time write, i hope you guys like it!

My inbox is open for suggestions, recommendations, questions, and more. If any of you need help I will be honor to help you, always! Please fill my inbox with theories, comments and more i wanna hear what you guys think of the story! Hope you have a great day!

Taglist: @multi-images​  @captain-josslett​  @aznblossom​  @venteen​   @coxmicbabygirl​  @lezzzbehonesthere​

The smell of fries and burgers invaded your nose as you sat on the floor, glancing at your sore hand. Your legs extended on the floor as you held your head against the column of the place. The uncomfortable ache on your hand had seemed to increase by the second, as you sat down.

Confusion was the main thing in your head, the confused heavy feeling in your chest when you close your eyes, the twisted and ached void confusing you when reality sets in. It felt like a war between your mind and heart that neither of the two you understand. It felt like the reasons that your brain had were now gone, the reason part of feeling nonexistent.  

“Didn't think I would see you so soon” You claimed when you felt the presence of the brunette behind you. Two bags in her hand as the archer sat beside you. 

Thea replied teasingly, and flirtatiously grabbing fries from her bag, after hitting you softly in the shoulder. “Neither did I, princess”

“Thanks” You whispered as you started to eat, both of you sharing a knowing and somewhat comforting. The Queen woman smiled and kept silent giving you a nod. 

Thea had known you for a long time, but not until three years ago she saw you as her older brother’s best friend. She and Talia had taught every skill, you needed and wanted to learn. She had seen you put all of your anger everywhere you could. You were there subtly with alcohol after every break-up and make-up she had with Roy, showing your care as you sat with her drinking in silence until she couldn't anymore. 

The small creek sound of the door took both of your attention. Your mother stood silently with a white medical kit in her hand and an understanding expression on her face. You glanced at the brunette beside you, meeting her glance. A small spark in her eyes which you had never noticed before, you stopped in your way to comment on it when you heard the knowing clearing throat of your Mother. 

“Can I come in?” The Queen woman smiled reassuringly before leaving the room. Your mother stood at the side of the door, watching curiously and carefully before speaking. 

You looked up and met her eye glance, giving her a small nod as you spoke almost inaudible. “Sure”

Your mother had been making the small notes, and remainders when she saw you. She couldn't lie about the fact that her heart joined in joy and broke in less than 24 hours. It had been difficult to maintain a straight face when your oldest sister called her explaining the situation, letting her know and Jeremiah that after days of trying, they were the last option to bring some feelings to you. 

She saw your father way too comfortable yet nervous when they got the news, the trip had been too questioning and secretive that she suspected something had happened with the two of you. But seeing you with her own eyes as you stood in the room with void eyes, and rage protecting your walls. 

The complete silence from your party told her more than you knew. The isolation, the hidden pain, the calm and silence. It all reflected in one thing and it was you trying to understand your feelings, your world, yourself. It had happened when your dad had supposedly died. The heavy feeling in her chest grew as she sat beside you, while you stared at the wall quietly debating with your thoughts and feelings. 

Flashback - February 2005

You sat in the backyard of the house, dressed in black attire. Your eyes watching over the waves as they ended in the sand. The way the breeze moved the palms and softly touched your face. Your hands gripping the blanket covering you. 

You waited for everything to process in, you waited to wake up, you waited for him as you walked down the stairs that morning, you waited for your sisters to tell you it was a lie, you waited for your mom to serve his favorite lasagna as he came back home, you waited for the sound of cheer when he and your oldest sister finished repairing another part of the old car, you waited for him and Kara coming back from the forest at night after watching the stars, you waited for him to sit on the small bean bag of your bedroom as you played him something new in your instruments, you waited for the loud laughs and scolds that would come after you and your sisters would create an eating contest ending with Kara smiling proudly as you and Alex throw up, you waited for the ‘pizza and tacos night’ where the five of you somehow cooked without burning the kitchen down, ending with a marathon of movies and smiles on everyone faces. But it never came. 

The distinct voices from the house gained your attention as they felt closer. You closed your eyes, trying to focus on the sound of the waves failing in the attempt. Turning around to see both of your sisters standing side by side as one of your family members expressing their condolences to them. Kara seemed to keep it together as she nodded shyly, while Alex clenched her jaw giving a small thanks before walking away, your blonde sister watched the redhead walk away before looking at the floor excusing herself too. 

You looked away back to the beach, before deciding to get up and walk down the small hill entering the beach. Taking off your shoes, you put them at the side of the beach entrance before wrapping the blanket tightly around you. The voices began to zoom out and the sound of the ocean began to fill your ears. The soft sand on your feet as you walked closer to the shore felt grounding. The soft breeze that moved your hair out of control felt comforting as you sat down. 

Burying your feet in the sand as you closed your eyes trying to remember something, to have something to hold on to. It felt weird, out of place, like something was missing. Your mind tried to wrap up with the fact that your father was dead but even if you knew what was happening, you still had questions. Sitting on the sand, you stared blankly at the ocean, as the waves came, as the breeze moved the palms and touched your cheeks, as the soft salty smell invaded your nose, and the coldness of the day began to increase.

It was like a debate between what you wanted to believe and what was happening. There were running thoughts in your head that made you feel exhausted. It was unpleasant and even tiring to think of how this event would change your and your family's life. You avoided the thought as much as you could, wishing and hoping to wake up from the nightmare but it was real and as much as you didn't want to accept it, your father was gone, and he was not coming back.

You didn't even realize when the sun that was high in the sky had come down and reflected in the ocean, you didn't feel the breeze and air get heavier or the way the only thing illuminating the night was the light bulb you dad put at the entrance of the beach. 

It felt like time went in seconds, long seconds that you wished to take back and at the same time to move faster. It wasn't easy, it didn't feel easy, and the hole in your heart was unmistakable. You weren't a person who liked change, nor a person who easily understood what was going on around you. 

Sure when Kara came into the family, it was like the missing piece. It didn't take you long to warm up to the blonde, but she was suffering from the loss of her planet so you stayed behind the doors and waited the right moment to comfort her and make her as welcome as you could. You saw her hesitate when she was doing something that would make her happy, you saw her doubt herself as Superman came into the news, you saw her shed tears when she tried to find where Krypto would be. 

You tried constantly to win her affection, her trust, her intelligence, and more but you couldn't make her happy if she didn't heal. So you stayed awake during the night waiting to comfort her, you played with melodies on the piano so she could have a similar bed song as she had in Krypto, you ran as fast as you could after school to help her with her English or to watch and sing along with Wizard of Oz. You keep trying and trying even though she was legally your sister, you wanted to have a connection with her just like you did with Alex. So when the blonde the morning of your birthday hugged you and in English told you, you were her sister and she could be prouder than to call you that, you shredded in tears hugging her closely. 

But it was different, everything was different, it felt different, it sounded different, it even tastes different. There was a silence between your family, Alex kept her feelings inside and bottle them in trying so hard not to break, mad at the world, mad at dad, at you, at your mom, even Kara. Your mom was understanding but quiet, she tried to be your and your sister's rock during the day but at night you can hear her crying her heart out. Kara kept silent, mad at the world for taking another person from her, holding you close trying to be helpful as much as she could even if she was hurting as much as she was when she first landed. And you, you kept quiet, trying to understand, trying to find the lie, trying to reach and understand your feelings but couldn't. So you waited for the time to pass by and for things to get in order, just like your dad used to say ‘time heals things, everything gets better with time’ but as the words rounded your head you couldn't feel more than the biggest lie of the world.

Flashback ends

The soft wrap with alcohol against your knuckles ached as your mom determinately disinfected your hand. You felt her eyes constantly glancing at you when you kept silent, trying to ignore the slight throb from the small wound in your hand. You glanced from the wall you stared continuously into her eyes, before speaking. “I tried”

“I know sweetie” Eliza looked up while finishing wrapping her hand before speaking in a motherly tone. As soon as she heard you talk she knew, she knew what you meant. Just your silence gave it away, she knew your conflicted feelings weren't going to help now and they didn't before, but what scared her was how long you were going to take to heal, to flash a familiar smile, to laugh until you couldn't anymore, to look at the eyes of your significant other, to sign with your older sisters until either of your throats wouldn't give more. 

Fighting back the tears your eyes had swollen, you claimed again making eye contact with your mother, your mother's eyes redating with comfort and sadness as she looked at you. You clenched your hand into a fist but immediately opened it again when you felt the strong throb in your knuckles. “I tried, and it didn't work out. It didn't do anything”

“Healing isn't about not feeling sad or feeling numb, it's about letting in, letting go, and finding yourself again but you can't do it if you are not ready for it” She answered brushing a strand of your hair behind your ear. 

And the understanding in her eyes and voice made you doubt, as your feelings started to fall in place. Heartache, anger, sadness, disappointment, pain, and more began to feel your chest and your mind as you took the words of your mother in. Your now bloodshot eyes looked away from her as you felt your lip tremble.

You nodded quietly, and before you knew. You threw your arms around your blonde mother, tears furiously leaving your eyes as she soothed you, with comforting and reassuring words. Your head was hidden in her neck as you cried your eyes out. 

The feeling of heartbreak and pain overwhelming you as everything started to come down on you. And you wanted to cry, for minutes, for hours, days, weeks, even years. Because somehow after everything you still didn't feel enough, you felt everything you did was wrong, that you could have been better and you could have changed differently, closing your eyes you wished for it to be gone, but deep down you knew it wasn't.

“Please just make it stop, mom. Please, it hurts so much”

Flashback - February 2005

“Please just make it stop, mom. Please, it hurts so much”

You don't know how it happened or how long you had been furiously crying until you stared at the small seashells in the sand getting wet thanks to your tears. The once beige shell now was white. Grabbing the seashells from the sand, you started to throw them angrily at the water. 

The sound of the rock making contact with the water somewhat comforted you, longing to throw everything away for it, for the broken shells to absorb your problems and leave with it. Soon enough you fell to your knees sobbing out. As the night lighting shot in the ocean, as the ocean tide had gone up, the once breeze became violent air. 

One second you were crying furiously on your own, and the next you sobbed into your mother's arms, as she reassured you that everything was going to be okay. You gripped her shirt hugging her closely before looking up to her, touching your chest as your bloodshot eyes glanced in hers.

Your lip trembling from the cold and your sobs, her heart broke, even more, when you hid in her neck which made her look up as she soothed your back. She was trying so hard to keep it together for you and your sisters but the moment she caught sight of Kara and Alex with blankets around themselves walking straight to where the two of you sat, made her break into tears. 

You looked up from your mother's neck as you felt a hand rubbing your back and others grabbing your hand softly in reassurance. Each one of them by you and your mother's side, your cries had slowed down when your redhead sister asked with a crack in her voice to your mother. “Are we gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, we will be but it will take time to heal, we can't rush it, we have to be ready”

“We are going to be okay” Kara claimed as a statement of reassurance after your mother responded, but her trembling lip, bloodshot eyes, and the high tone she used made her sound more like a prayer than anything.

Your mother reassured, making you three nod slowly before falling into a reassuring silence. “Until then we have each other, and one of the most precious things you girls are going to have in your life is each other, your family.”

Flashback ends

Unknowingly to you, your sisters had been watching from the door the moment Kara heard your heart spike. Tears in their eyes as they watched your mother rocked you slowly as you cried. Silent sobs and bitten lips coming from them as they stopped each other from walking into the room. 

Alex kept her jaw clenched as her hands gripped each other hard as she tried to keep the tears inside. The redhead felt responsible for your crying, the urge to run in and comfort you debating her self-control. Doubts, questions, and more gained in her head as she saw you sob into your mother's arms, rage slowly consuming her emotions as the protectiveness over you began to show up.

Kara let out silent sobs, with her hand on top of her mouth. Her bloodshot eyes and red cheeks had overwhelming tears. The superheroine hated herself, as she felt responsible for your crying. She just wanted to hold you in her arms and tell you everything was going to be just fine, she wanted to see your sunny smile when you saw her or the bad jokes and puns you used all the time, she wanted you, she wanted her little sister but a part of her told her you needed the same space she once received from you. 

The two of them standing next to each other with broken hearts and tears in their eyes, a small sense of hope in their chest as they watched the scene. Sharing a knowing, Alex came closer putting her arm around your blonde sister’s shoulder before speaking. 

“Everything is gonna be okay, we are getting her back, I promise,” She said quietly reassuring Kara even when neither of them fully believe it.

[baroquebucky]

protective

a/n: here is the little Drabble i made based off these headcanons!! sorry if it’s messy i wrote this w no sleep LOL

Timothée rarely got jealous, mainly because you guys rarely went out, and anywhere you went everyone knew you were timothées and he was yours. The two of you always cuddling on each other or dancing together, looking like love sick puppies.

“let’s go to the party tonight! It’ll be fun mon amour i promise!” Timothée stood in front of the tv, blocking your view of the movie you were watching. Furrowing you’re bored you paused the movie, looking up at your boyfriend. “Timothée please, im trying to watch a movie” you pouted and he rolled his eyes, refusing to move.

“It’ll be fun angel! We can party with all of our friends and dance and get tipsy” he spoke, giving you a small smile. You groaned, knowing he wasn’t gonna stop until you gave in.

“Tim if you wanna go so badly then you should go! I wanna just stay in and watch some movies” you sighed, trying to shove your boyfriend out of the way, pressing play on the remote once again.

“what are you even watching?” Timothée sighed, plopping himself next to you and looking at the screen, quickly recognizing the movie. “Star Wars? You’re turning down a party for Star Wars?” He smirked at you and you smiled.

“it’s good! You just don’t care enough to watch it” You smiled shyly and he chuckled, quickly moving to cuddle up to your side. You glanced down at timothée watching the movie with little to no interest, mainly by your side only for cuddles.

“fine, let me find something to wear i guess” you mumbled, he quickly got off you, shouting in triumph and kissing you all over the face, “I’m not dressing up, all you’re getting out of me are some jeans and one of your old button up shirts” you replied sharply, and he only smiled, already swooning at the thought of you in his clothes.

As you quickly changed into the clothes timothée texted his friends, informing them that he would be on his way shortly, rushing to get changed while you did your makeup haphazardly. Timothée finished getting ready before you did, he sat on the couch and scrolled through his phone while he hummed along to the music coming from the bedroom. Soon enough you emerged wearing one of his silky button up shirts, tucked into some black skinny jeans and some white converse, you makeup was simple and you had barely put any thought into the outfit yet timothée still had the wind knocked out of him when he saw you.

“God you’re so fucking beautiful” he muttered, quickly getting off the couch and wrapping you in his arms, kissing your forehead as you blushed. Of course before heading out he took pictures of you, some of you in his arms in the mirror, setting them as your lockscreen and replacing the one of only him you had.

As you arrived to the party timothée was quickly greeted by his many co workers and friends, making small talk with everyone. Your fingers were intertwined and you smiled politely at everyone, suddenly feeling out of place considering you weren’t very close with anyone here.

As timothée talked to one of his friends you tried to listen to what they were talking about, quickly getting lost when your eyes wandered around the club, eyes landing on the bar. The conversation had shifted onto the topic of a possible casting, timothée was talking excitedly, letting go of your hand in order to move his hands around while he explained something.

Too shy to interrupt you quietly slipped away, heading to where the bar was and ordering yourself a water, slouching in the comfortable chair and closing your eyes for a bit, enjoyin the feeling of the loud bass vibrating throughout your body.

Of course until someone interrupted the immaculate vibe. “well hello” the young man spoke as he slid into the seat beside you. You didn’t recognize him, maybe he was someone’s plus one or just some rich person, you didn’t really care. “hi” you smiled politely, turning back and facing your water bottle.

“not in the mood for drinks?” He pushed and you shook your head, “didn’t wanna really come in the first place” you replied, facing the man as you talked so you didn’t seem disrespectful. He gave you a sympathetic smile.

“Im sure you’ll have a great time” he replied, scooting closer, you gave him a small smile. “nah i doubt it but you know how it is” you chuckled nervously, drinking some more of your water, looking around for timothée.

“did you come alone?” He pressed, his hand brushing against your arm, you quickly moved it out of his way. “No I’m here with my boyfriend actually, timothée chalamet? You know him? Academy award nominee?” You spoke, boasting about your boyfriends status in hopes of scaring him off.

“I’ve heard of him yeah, must be an idiot to leave you alone though” he smirked, you felt your stomach drop.

“he can be dumb at times but he’s actually very smart” you defended, heart racing.

“ma cherie! There you are” timothée laughed breathily as he approached the two of you, you let out the breath you were holding, smiling at your beautiful boyfriend.

“timothée! I was just talking about you!” You smiled, he wrapped his arms around your waist, immediately sending your discomfort, he kissed the top of your head, and stared at the man next to you. “All good things i hope” he joked, the man simply rolled his eyes.

“how about you and i get out of here for a bit? He obviously disregards your needs, can’t imagine what he’s like in bed” the man snickered, his hand reaching for your thigh.

Timothée was quick move infront of you and grab ahold of his wrist, holding it tightly mid air. “You make one more move and you’re gonna regret it buddy” he spoke in a low voice, his jaw clenching as his grip loosened.

You quickly got out of the chair, timothée stood in front of you, blocking you from the mans view. The man rolled his eyes, mumbling something you couldn’t hear. What you did hear though was a low growl from timothée before his fist connected with the mans face, his nose bleeding.

“Timothee!” You screeched, hands flying over your mouth. The man stumbled back, a small smile on his face, “that’s all you got? You punch like a bitch! Just like your little toy!” He laughed, spurring timmy on, of course he fell for it, punching him once more, which caused the man to fall of the ground, wincing in pain.

Timothées cheeks were flushed in rage, “don’t you fucking dare talk about her like that” he growled, his voice low and intimidating. His posture was much more tense now, enough to intimidate anyone in the room. Despite the lack of muscle on him, the way timmy carried himself exuded powerful, people moved out of his way when he walked, some too scared to look into his eyes until he became his shy, sweet self. But right now there was no trace of the person who chuckled every other word because he was nervous.

He grabbed the man by the arm, lifting him up quickly, you could see the bruise forming on his cheek, “apologize. Now.” He demanded, the man quickly rushed out an “im sorry” timmy let him go, the man stumbled back before running towards the exit.

Timmy turned towards you, his face softening the moment he saw you. “Oh baby I’m so sorry i left you alone” he spoke softly, quickly pulling you into his chest and hold you tightly. He pushed you off him slightly, looking over you to see if anything was wrong with you.

“it’s okay I’m fine angel” you smiled back weakly, now realizing everyone was looking at the two of you, you shifted uncomfortably under their gazes, timothée quickly took note.

“how about we go home okay?” He smiled softly at you and you nodded, he grabbed your hand and the two of you left quickly, not saying goodbye to anyone.

You let the cool New York air hit your flushed skin, letting out a small sigh as you headed to the car. “Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?” He asked, looking at you with concerned eyes.

“you were so invested in your conversation and it was a potential role, i don’t wanna hinder your career” you replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Timothee stopped walking, looking at you in disbelief.

“what?” He looked at you puzzled, you sighed and looked up at the sky before looking back at your boyfriend. “Timothée youre surrounded by people who are famous and worth millions, you have friends who actually know what it’s like to live like you! I have no idea what that’s like and it makes me feel so out of place when we go to things like this!” You replied anxiously, afraid of how he would retaliate.

“out of place?” he emphasized, brows furrowing as his eyes scanned your face for a moment.

You quickly crossed your arms over your chest, shifting your weight onto one leg, “yes out of place, i don’t know what the fuck you guys are talking about half the time, I’m not famous like you! I’m just kinda there while you guys discuss all your actor things, obviously im gonna feel out of place” you huffed.

Before he could even reply you turn away from him, beginning to walk to the car, “just forget it lets just go home” you spoke, walking quickly to the car and leaving your boyfriend dumbfounded behind you.

After a couple seconds timothée caught up with you, processing what you had said and thinking back to all the things he had unintentionally disregarded you next to him while he spoke of acting, directors or other things regarding his career.

He remembered how the one time you had taken him to a little party for your work he had gotten upset because there you were talking with your co workers about who know what, and he stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do and just wanting to go home.

Suddenly it was like he was being flooded with emotions; guilt, sadness, anger, and a mix of emotions he couldn’t describe.

You were waiting for him in the passenger seat already, he quickly got in the drivers seat, not turning the car on yet.

“mon amour im sorry that you felt like that, i should’ve realized sooner what i was doing” he spoke, looking at you, his eyes were soft and he had a small frown on his face. You sighed and looked at him, giving him a tight smile.

“it’s fine let’s just go home” you sighed, he shook his head quickly. “no! it’s not fine! I’ve been so careless and i just disregard you all the time and i don’t even realize! what kind of boyfriend am i? Im so sorry baby” he spoke, running his hands through his hair as he looked at the steering wheel.

“timothée i know you don’t mean it, you just get really passionate when you talk about acting, its sweet at times, just not when I’m surrounded by a bunch of famous people” you chuckled softly and he smiled a little.

“how can you just forgive me like that” he spoke, a smile on his face while he gently shook his head. You shrugged your shoulders, “i know you never meant to, and plus the moment you realized that i was uncomfortable you always do something to include me or we just go talk to someone else” he giggled a little, because yeah he accidente cut off one or two of his idols for the sake of your comfort.

“and plus, no ones ever punched a guy in the face twice for me” you smirked and he groaned, a little smile on his face. “you’re never letting that go huh” he chuckled, you shook your head and he let out a sigh, turning the car on.

“in my defense he very much deserved it” he quipped, a grin playing on his lips and you smiled at the curly headed boy, your heart swooning at his soft expression.

Yeah, timothée had some flaws, but the moment he realized he had them he tried his absolute best to fix them. Especially if they hurt your feelings because he loved you so much he would punch any guy any day for your sake.

[nbrook29]

💞 My ultimate Sobbe fic recs 💞

Recently, I have gone through Robbe/Sander tag on ao3 and I decided to compose a list of fics that are absolute gems for me. A few disclaimers first:

✔ I didn’t include works in progress (WIPs), however I did include fics that are only on tumblr

✔ the order of the fics below is random

✔ this is the list of my personal favorites so if your favorite fic is not on the list it doesn’t mean it’s bad or that I consider it bad - we just vibe with different things :)

✔ if there’s a fic on this list that you decided to give a shot and loved it, please remember about leaving a comment under it to let the author know that

✔ I’ve been trying to add the “read more” thingy but it doesn’t show, I’m sorry, I know long posts are annoying af

under 1k

we’re keeping it simple by noobishere | G

Summary: Sander comes over unannounced and attacks Robbe’s very person (a.k.a the one where Sander teases Robbe on Eenvoud)

This is a guaranteed mood lifter. It’s short, sweet, to the point, and oh so funny. The banter. And I’d die to see that in the show. 

1k - 5k

Fizzy Colas by Foxsake5 | M

Summary: Let’s say this is a clip (hopefully not as short as the standard 1:40 of this season) with Sander as the main on a ‘bros night out’ 🍻

This author is my queen/king alright? They take a simple idea and turn it into the most lovely/cute/soft story. This fic is exactly that. Sobbe’s chemistry here is out of this world and the banter is to die for.

high for this by flowersmaze (@bowieskam) | G

Summary: In which Sander remains a Flirt™ and in love with Robbe even when he can’t feel his face after a medical procedure

The summary says it all. Loopy Sander is the cutest and funniest thing.

Pull Me from the Dark by TheOceanIsMyInkwell (@theoceanismyinkwell) | T

Summary: Sander discovers that Robbe has recently been prescribed antidepressants, and Robbe opens up to him about the night he almost stepped off the bridge. Only love will show how much they’ve grown and pull them through.

This time, the boys talk about Robbe’s mental state which is unusual in fics. This oneshot is communication 101. And this line is just 👌🏻 “But after the dust of their first kiss and their first vows of commitment settled around them, Robbe took a look at the space in which he floated and realized, somewhere along the line, that finding the love of your life doesn’t fix you.”

diminuendo by noobishere

Summary: Waking up feels like an ordeal. His eyes are heavy, arms a dead weight, he isn’t sure if his limbs are even in the right places, but eventually, Sander comes to. (a.k.a a take on how Sander fairs after Robbe left for school.)

Sander’s POV after Dinsdag 7:27. It’s a great insight into his headspace during that time. This could be a scene in the show because it fits so well.

you’re wonder under summer sky by nothingbutniall | M

Summary: Two city boys go camping. What could go wrong? (Everything, apparently.)

Those boys are a chaotic mess okay? They’re such dorks. This fic has the best kind of grumpiness there is and sobbe is written so in character here.

if we can make it through december (maybe we’ll make it through forever) by nothingbutniall | G

Summary: Robbe and Sander at the Christmas market.

Can you imagine those two dorks at the Christmas market? Well you don’t have to anymore because this fic is everything you need and more. And this line “Couldn’t,” Sander sulks. “You can’t hold hands properly with mittens on.” makes me go all gooey inside every.single.time 😍

A New Sunday Feeling by Foxsake5 | M

Summary:  Sander before Robbe: Ugh, Sundays 😒 Sander after Robbe: 😏🥺🥰

The way this author writes sobbe’s intimate moments is just pure talent. They have such way with words.

memories painted with much brighter ink by nothingbutniall | G

Summary: Saint Nicholas is the perfect excuse for an evening of gifts and banter with the flatshare. (Basically all five of them being cute together, and then Robbe and Sander being cute with just the two of them.)

This is the perfect fic for an October evening, when Christmas is just around the corner and you’ve just made yourself a cup of coffee and want to read some heart-warming well-written christmassy fluff. 

5k - 10k

Let’s Dance by msleviss (@sander-driesen) | G

Summary: Robbe and his friends go to a club to check out Amber’s DJ cousin.

THIS PERSON PREDICTED DJ SANDER Y’ALL. And Robbe thirsts over him. And there is an instant connection. And Robbe dances. And it’s so cute.

video phone by tokyometropolis (@luludemauryyy) | E

Summary: AKA OH MY GOD, THEY WERE QUARANTINED…except not together, because life is cruel. Thankfully it’s 2020 and when Robbe has an…er…intense dream about Sander in the middle of the night, all he has to do is press one button and Facetime him about it. Thing is…sometimes FaceTiming isn’t enough.

Look. I get that smut fics are not everyone’s cup of tea. And that’s totally fine. But. If you’re looking for a well-written smut that’s in character and where you can feel the love between the characters, this is it. Hands down. Sorry not sorry 💁🏼‍♀️

10k - 20k

our camp of dreams by robbesanderx (@robbesdriesen) | M

Summary: a summer camp!AU where robbe and sander are both co-counselors

Misunderstandings lead to pining. Teenage angst at its finest. I really like camp stories, it’s my thing.

Falling For You by silver_etoile (@azozzoni) | T

Summary: Robbe only knows one thing about football: that Sander Dreisen is the hottest player on the FC Utrecht team. When Jens drags him to a match, the last thing Robbe expects is to meet someone so perfect, and it’s all he can do not to mess it up, but will he succeed?

Sobbe in a different setting with a bit different dynamic yet still having that special something. It’s a nicely written story of the development of their relationship, first meeting, falling in love, ups and down, all the best things in fics. And Sander as a soccer player is a pretty 🔥 concept (and I think Robbe agrees).

This isn’t our first time around by noobishere | E

Summary: One moment they are in the kitchen of their shared apartment, the next, they’re in this strange but familiar room.(a.k.a the au in which they accidentally go hopping through multiple universes)

The universe takes matters into their own hands and shows those silly boys that they are meant to be. Sign me up for the ride.

Coffee and Croques by peaceoutofthepieces (@peaceoutofthepieces) | G

Summary: Sander works at the on-campus coffee shop with Eliott, and he might just have a crush on the cute boy in the brown coat.

I’m a sucker for coffeshop fics. There is just something so good about them. This one is the coffeshop!AU that sobbe deserves. Oh the pining, and the secretive looks, the silly boys, and a pinch of Elu. Me likey ☕

The finest of the meadow by allforyoumylove | M

Summary: The universe brings two lonely boys together in a flowering meadow. They fall for each other fast and hard among delicate daisies, warm summer breezes, and shooting stars.

This is magical. My comment on the work was “So soft, so beautiful, so THEM, ugh.” and I MEANT that. This is just the right amount of sweetness. This is a must read. I’m not messing around. 

two side of the same coin series by MajorAccent (@acespaceacepilot) | E

Summary: the valleys and mountains of sander’s bpd

How the boys handle Sander’s ups and downs. Robbe being the best boyfriend ever. I love how good he is for Sander, being there for him, not treating him like a baby, and not controlling him. How much he tries to make it at least a little bit easier for him. If you don’t want to read explicit stories, at least give the first part a try since it’s not E rated. 

Zaterdag 9:58 by Foxsake5 | M

Summary: What happened after the croissants dropped to the floor 🥐🤭💕

I meant it when I said Foxsake5 has great way with words. Every single piece of theirs is just “chef’s kiss”. This fic is a definition of a domestic fic. Oh, and it happened. Totally. It’s my headcanon now.

its an unrequited love by eggsntoast | G

Summary: Sander works part-time at a museum every Sunday. Robbe is a frequent visitor.

A Sander POV fic. I was sold from the beginning. The development of their relationship here is so cute, and they’re being so stupid with their pining instead of just talking to each other and you just want to shake them but at the same time you’re rooting for them so hard. Oh and did I mention pining?

20k+

Jij Verliest series by ravenbrenna09 (@djsander) | M

Summary: For the past three months, Robbe’s life—and what it once was—had been stripped away and rearranged. Now, if anything, his life had become a bit repetitive: homework, stream, ignore Thomas’s Instagram, repeat. But one Friday evening, Robbe meets a hurricane in the form of a platinum-haired tattoo artist who just might show him everything that he’s been missing.

This is a long series okay? But oh so worth it. It’s captivating and you don’t want to stop until you finish. And once you finish you’re sad it’s over even though you’ve just spent 8 fucking hours reading it. It’s amazing. But you probably know that because it’s quite popular (rightfully so). The best thing is that you expect it to go bad halfway through because it’s difficult to keep the quality on the same level in a fic that long. But it doesn’t.

Visitations by lucidpantone (@lucidpantone) | E

Summary: Does Robbe and Sander’s relationship survive into adulthood. This fic takes place in two simultaneously timelines: the past and the present.The present occurs in one entire day. Both timelines are completely out of chronological order. Everything is in clips.You can be dropped in at anytime of the day in any timeline. So clip by clip you will need to piece together what happen to Sander & Robbe and why the present looks the way it does and what happened in the past that got them there.This love story is a journey. So be prepared.In the words of one of our Even’s. It’s a complicated love story between complicated people.

This is not a regular fic. The author put so much thought into it, there are so many gems, so many little things that you have to pay attention to because it.all.matters. And there is not one interpretation. Don’t you just love when a story forces you to think and use your brain? Cause I do. Not gonna lie: this story hurts, and like the author says themselves, it’s a journey. But oh my god get in because it’s amazing. And the ending is just sjsjsjsjsddhdhsdsgdsg 🤯

the night we met by themoongirl (@dearsander) | T

Summary: Robbe Ijzermans has a brain that won’t let him sleep, a chest that feels far too heavy and thoughts that never stop.During his first year of college he meets Sander Driesen. Robbe finds what he never went looking for.

A college AU. This fic is a journey of pain and fluff and humor. It has awesome friendships. And sobbe falling in love. And liminal spaces. I read it a while ago so I don’t remember it as well as the others but you know what? I still remember that it was great and I’m lowkey happy I don’t remember it that well because now I can go and read it again. 

The Stars Look Very Different by @peaceoutofthepieces 

Summary: Robbe is bored. He’s bored of listening to his friends talking about girls, and his other friends making out, and no one ever doing anything. He’s tired of having to put in all the work, of making his own fun. He’s tired of feeling nothing so he doesn’t have to feel like nothing. His party stunts are pushing the limit, his thrill seeking beginning to worry even his friends, and his carelessness is toeing the line of dangerous.

He’s a little tired of being ‘dangerous’, too.

Sander may or may not have a crush on the older boy with the apparent death wish. He wouldn’t mind a little danger.

Once I started reading this fic, each day I was waiting for an update at the edge of my seat which was a feeling I expected from s4 that did not deliver. TSLVD definitely delivered. My favorite sobbe social media AU

Ziggy Stardust Series by skamsnake (@skamsnake) | M/E

A collection of fics taking place throughout the season. Most of them are E rated so be aware of that but it’s a really cool mixture of fluff and spice *fans myself*

[inseongsfoxybae]

Fireworks

Pairing: Hwiyoung + Female Reader; friends to lovers

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None

Words: +1,6k

Requested by @geminirules​: This is the first I ask for a request from you Blue!🥰 I was wondering if I can have a request with Hwiyoung where him and the reader are on their first date together in the amusement park, please? 🥺 Thank you so much love you lots! x

Author’s message: Hey, baby! Your request made me so soft and in love and I really had a great time working on it. Now, it’ here and I hope you like it and feel free to send in more requests later 🥰 Love you too, Luna ❤️ Foxy kisses 😘

P.S: As english is not my mother language, it may contain misspelled. Also, sorry for any other mistakes :)

Synopsis: After keeping your feeling just to yourselves, you and Hwiyoung finally had the chance to take one step further in a lovely and funny way to enjoy each other. 

so precious 🥺

You were close friends with Hwiyoung. Best friends. More than friends, maybe. But not valentines.

None of you went out on dates or flirted around. You knew he liked you, he knew you liked him and everyone knew you liked each other. But the two of you were too shy to take the first step to turn this into something more. 

Although you used to be together all the time, it was always working or studying or just doing nothings in a bookstore, each one minding your own business. 

In an afternoon, when the two of you were working together, heads very close to each other and hands touching, Hwiyoung looked at you and got the courage to go further.

“Do you have plans for saturday?”, he asked in a low tone, his eyes meeting yours for a moment. 

“No, I’m free. Why?”, you answered not really understanding his intentions. 

“Wanna go on a date with me?”, he spat his words so fast you almost didn’t get it. 

But you did. You clearly understood every single letter he just said to you. For a moment, you couldn’t believe what your ears just heard, your confused mind running  hysterically, unable to form a decent sentence as response. 

“Earth calling Y/N”, Hwiyoung waved one hand right in front of your frozen wide eyes. He looked a little nervous, maybe embarrassed, as if he regretted what he said.

“Yes”, you said a little too excited, your hands shaking and voice cracking. Oh, my god. Kim Hwiyoung asked me out finally, a voice screamed into your head. You locked your eyes with Hwiyoung’s and repeated. “Yes… I want to go on a date with you”, you tried to answer calmly, but you were sure he could hear your heart pounding hard into your chest. 

Hwiyoung smiled, that sweet gummy smile that always made you melt, and you couldn’t help grinning too, soft giggles following, as you felt your cheeks burn at an unknown happiness. 

~

Sunlight broke into your room through your thin curtains, signaling that a new day was beginning. But it wouldn’t be like any other day, because today, specially and unexpectedly, you and Hwiyoung were going on a date. After more than a year keeping your feelings just for yourselves, this moment was really happening. 

You jumped out your bed and walked into your closet to carefully choose the perfect outfit. Hwiyoung hadn’t told you where you would spend the day, but you wanted to give him a good impression and show all your beauty and cuteness. You picked some shorts and a shirt that matched with your favourite sneakers - cute and simple clothes that made you pretty and comfortable. 

Hwiyoung picked you up at 10a.m and you had breakfast together in a cozy café, but he still didn’t tell you where you were going after that. “It's a surprise and I’m sure you’ll love it”, he winked and you laughed, getting more excited at every minute. 

Hwiyoung drove you to a place a little far from the city. The road side was beautiful, with flowers and trees all around, matching perfectly with the bright sun up there. 

You were so amazed with nature, that you didn't realize where he was taking you till he parked at a place you didn’t know it. You two got out of the car and your heart raced faster when you found out you were spending your day in an amusement park.

Your parents used to take you to this amusement park when you were a child and you loved playing around and ate junk foods. It was a long time since the last time you were here and it brought up great memories from you. 

“I bought the tickets online. Let’s go”, Hwiyoung grabbed your hand and led you to the entrance. You felt like exploding, but you didn’t know if it was because of your excitement of being here or because of the warmth of his hands on yours. 

Both of you were like children in an amusement park for the first time, grinning and laughing non-stop. “Where do you want to go first?”, Hwiyoung asked and you said you wanted to start it slow and decided to go on the bumper car. “Is this slow for you?”, he wondered, but went with you and of course he enjoyed it as well.

And it was like that throughout the day: Hwiyoung always asked you to choose the next attraction to play. Also, he paid for all the junk food you had and won a stuffed unicorn for you. 

When the sunset was approaching and the park was getting more alive with its beautiful lights, Hwiyoung said he wanted to go on more two attractions - the carousel and the beautiful ferris wheel on the center of the park. 

His eyes met yours and got stuck on them, his gaze was deep as you felt your legs getting weak. You could get lost in his look, could give yourself to him effortlessly. Right there in that moment, you wanted to be his.

Hwiyoung took your hand and his thumb caressed your palm before leading you to the carousel, where you sat on horses right next to each other. When it started to spin, you glanced at him and caught him looking at you, but it was not any look, it was like he was in trance, it was like he was in love. 

You felt your cheeks burn but didn’t look away and both of you kept staring at each other, light smiles gracing your faces as you got lost in the words your eyes spoke. 

When the carousel stopped, Hwiyoung helped you to get off your horse, his hands lingering longer on your waist as you held out on his broad shoulders, eyes locked. “Let’s go to the last one”, he mumbled as you stared at his mouth, falling deeper and deeper for him. You nodded and he guided you to the ferris wheel. 

It was the main attraction of the amusement park, so you had to wait a little on the line while sharing a cotton candy. “Do you know what they say about this ferris wheel?”, you heard a girl talking behind you. As the other person said no, she continued. “If a couple kissed at the uppermost, their fate is to be together forever”. 

Hwiyoung choked at her words, but tried to play cool when you looked at him. Suddenly, he seemed nervous, his hand was sweaty when he took yours to enter the cabin. You sat next to each other, knees touching, but looking forward. You heard Hwiyoung taking deep breaths to calm down as you stared at your lap. 

“Y/N,”, he called you, his voice only above a whisper, “can I hold your hand?”. You nodded and Hwiyoung carefully took your little palm in his, squeezing it a bit. “I like the way our hands fit together”, he softly murmured, analyzing your sweet connection. “And I like how soft your hands are”, his index finger drawing slow patterns on your palm.

You lifted your head and your eyes met, a loving warmth feeling the cool air inside the cabin. “You’re beautiful”, he confessed without breaking your gaze. You smiled, melting by his side, as the two of you got closer and closer, faces just inches apart. 

But you took too long staring at each other and you were about to seal your lips, it was time to leave the cabin. You were visibly disappointed and Hwiyoung chuckled when he saw your little pout. “Don’t worry. There’s one more place for us to go”, he reassured you, placing a hand on your low back and guiding you to the little lake of the park, where a crowd waited for something. 

“What-”, your question was interrupted by an explosion and you looked up at the sky, the black frame being colored by hundreds of colors as fireworks lightened up the night. “WOW… THAT’S SO BEAUTIFUL”, you exclaimed with a wide grin. Hwiyoung was right by your side, but his eyes were fixed on you, his lips curling up in a loving smile and, in that moment, he was sure he wanted you. 

The next thing you felt was Hwiyoung’s strong arms wrapping around your waist, pulling you closer to him, embracing you tight as you instinctively hugged him back. He inhaled deeply the sweet scent of your hair, his nose running through your soft strands. He broke the hug and looked at your illuminated face, pressing your foreheads together. 

“I like your scent”, he said loud enough for only you to hear. “I like the warmth of your body close to mine”, he leaned back a little to meet your eyes. “And I like you”, he completed and you could feel yourself turning into a puddle between his arms. 

He kept looking at you, his gaze loving and cloudy as he waited for a movement yours. You moved your arms to his shoulders and neck, trying to take more of his warmth, getting your faces closer and noses touching slightly. 

“I like you too”, you mumbled against his lips and closed the little distance between both of you, kissing him softly but passionately. Hwiyoung immediately kissed you back, his hands roaming through your back as he deepened the kiss. 

When you were like this - together, very close to each other, lips moving in sync -, it was like there was only you and Hwiyoung and that little moment in the world. There were no words, no songs, no pics able to beat your feelings right now. 

You felt like about to explode in thousands of pieces of love and devotion. Hwiyoung, of course, felt the same way. Your hearts were beating fast as one into your chests, your breaths were being shared to one another. 

The fireworks were exploding up there, but you knew your heart was shooting tons and tons of love pounder into your veins that make you feel just like the sky in this moment. And none of you wanted this beautiful show to stop. 

[expectingtofly]

Angel in A Hoodie

~1.5k

also posted on ao3

@misha-moose-dean-burger-lover said the world needs more cas in oversized hoodie fics and i wholeheartedly agree, so enjoy some fluff, pining, and comfy!cas :)

“We really need to buy you an umbrella,” Dean said as he and Cas walked into Goodwill. He glanced at Cas, whose hair was still wet and plastered to his forehead from getting caught in the rain. His trenchcoat looked dark beige now, it was so soaked through, and water dripped onto the floor with his every step.

“I didn’t realize it was going to storm,” Cas said, his tone defensive. His shoes squeaked as he quickened his steps to walk next to Dean. “I wouldn’t have gone out to the woods if I knew.”

They had driven that morning to investigate a werewolf sighting in a town a few hours away. While Dean talked to the police chief, Cas went into the woods where the supposed werewolf had been spotted. It’d begun to pour rain, Dean had learned the werewolf was nothing more than a rabid wolf, and Cas got drenched for nothing.

Cas was leaving behind a trail of muddy footsteps, and Dean caught one of the employees giving them a dirty look. He smiled at her apologetically and she stalked away, probably to grab a mop. “All the dark clouds in the sky didn’t give you a hint?”

Cas shot him his own dirty look and Dean raised his hands. “Sorry, sorry.” He couldn’t help grin, though, at how bedraggled and grumpy Cas looked. Almost adorable—not that he would ever think Cas was adorable.

He hesitated for a moment, then lifted his hand to wipe a drop of rainwater from Cas’ face with his sleeve. Cas leaned into his touch and Dean tried to ignore the way that simple shift caused his heartbeat to quicken. “Maybe we should’ve bought you a towel first,” he said, dropping his hand.

Under normal circumstances, he might’ve argued in favor of Cas sucking it up and wearing the wet clothes—and that was not at all influenced by the way Cas’ white shirt was now see-through and sticking to his chest. He didn’t notice that at all, thank you very much. But they had a two hour drive ahead of them and sitting in wet clothes wouldn’t be very enjoyable. Seeing as neither of them had extra clothes packed, and Cas’ grace was too depleted to waste it drying himself off, Goodwill it was.

“Okay, pants are that way,” Dean said, pointing to a rack of clothes. He headed down another row where a sign read, Men’s Shirts. “I’ll grab you a shirt.”

The selection was sparse, and Dean scanned the rack before grabbing a t-shirt at random. A drawing of a man holding a fishing rod; the words, Mine is So Big I Have To Use Both Hands, emblazoned underneath.

Nope, nope, nope, Dean thought, shoving the shirt back on the rack. They were not that desperate. He didn’t want to have to explain that one to Cas. He selected instead a plain, light blue t-shirt, belatedly realizing he was choosing one to match Cas’ eyes.

At the squeak of shoes, he turned to see Cas walking over with a pair of jeans and what looked to be a grey hoodie, holding them away from his body so they didn’t get wet.

“This good?” Dean asked, holding up the shirt.

Cas nodded and reached out to touch it. “I like the color.”

Dean reddened. “Yeah, uh, great.” He took the jeans and hoodie from Cas. “Come on, let’s buy this stuff and get on the road.”

After paying, Cas went into a changing room to get out of his wet clothes. Dean was texting Sam to let him know they would be heading back soon, when he heard the sound of the changing room door open. “All good?” he asked, without looking up.

“I don’t think I picked the right size.”

Dean looked up from his phone to see Cas standing in the doorway wearing a massive grey hoodie. The sleeves hung down past his hands and the hem nearly reached his knees. Cas stared down at himself in disbelief and Dean stifled a laugh. “Yeah, I’ll say so."

“It looked so much smaller on the hanger.” Cas lifted his arms out to the sides—the fabric dwarfing his body—then dropped them with a frustrated huff.

“Well, at least you’ll be warm.” Stepping forward, Dean motioned to Cas, and Cas extended his arm, watched him roll the sleeve up to his wrist. “And everyone will think you’re part of a softball league, so there’s that.”

Cas frowned. “What? Why?”

Dean pointed to the purple text across the front of the hoodie which read, Wissahickon Softball League, along with a cartoon depiction of some sort of rodent in a baseball cap.

Cas sighed. “I liked the chipmunk.” He scowled at Dean. “Don’t laugh.” Dean bit back a smile and Cas let him roll up his other sleeve. “It is very comfortable, though. I like this store. I think it’s very considerate of humans to share their clothes.”

“Guess so. Though ideally you would wash them before you put them on.”

His hands now free from the confines of the hoodie sleeves, Cas put his wet clothes in a plastic Goodwill bag. “Who do you think wore these clothes before?”

“The hoodie? I’m going to assume a softball player.”

They walked to the doors leading outside and Cas pulled at the fabric of the hoodie to look at the design. “I wonder why they got rid of it.”

“Maybe they died.”

“That’s very dark, Dean.”

Pushing open the door to outside, Dean shrugged. “Alright, maybe they decided softball wasn’t their passion and quit, and are still very much alive. Speaking of which, we should go to a baseball game. You would like it.” He could picture it now: Cas's serious questions as he tried to understand the human pastime, his excitement as he completely missed the point and found some meandering way to connect it to a deeper, philosophical meaning.

Cas nodded thoughtfully. “That does sound interesting. I would enjoy that.”

They crossed the wet and shining parking lot to Baby. The rain had slowed to an icy drizzle and Dean hitched his shoulders to stop it from running down his neck. Cas blinked against the raindrops and Dean gestured to him. “Use your hood.”

"Oh." Cas pulled the hood up over his head, then slipped his hands into the wide pocket along the front of the hoodie. He smiled up at Dean, his eyes shaded. “These are very nice features.”

God, what a dork, Dean thought, though he couldn’t stop a smile. He almost put an arm around Cas, then quickly looked away, not sure where that instinct came from. He hurried his steps to Baby before the rain started pouring again and soaked through to his skin.

“Are you cold?” Cas asked as they got in the Impala.

“What? No. I’m good.” Dean turned on the ignition and rubbed his hands together.

Cas reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder and Dean froze, felt a warmth radiate from Cas’ palm down his arm, then spread across his whole body. He didn’t know how much of the warmth was from Cas’ grace or from the simple reason Cas was touching him.

The warmth suddenly faded and Cas sighed. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, pulling his hand away. “I wish I could do more.”

“It’s alright.” He felt the loss when Cas let go of his shoulder, felt now the cold radiating from the windows, creeping under his skin.

Cas frowned at his hands, palms up, and Dean hated the way he seemed so frustrated with himself, with his weakening abilities, so he tried to joke. “You know, I think it was your trenchcoat that gave you your super powers. This hoodie’s probably a cursed object that’s sapping them away. I should’ve tested for EMF.”

It was stupid, but a smile tugged at Cas’ mouth anyway. He met Dean’s eyes and, as always, Dean felt himself sinking into his gaze. The searching, intent look made every moment between them feel so weighty, like at any moment one of them might say something that would change everything between them forever. It was terrifying. Even more terrifying, the way the urge so often rose up in him to be the one to change it all. To say… he wasn’t even sure. He wasn’t even sure what he felt.

Clearing his throat, Dean tore his eyes away. Rain smattered against Baby and obscured the road as he pulled out of the parking lot. He glanced at Cas, who now stared out the passenger window, his hands tucked back into the hoodie pocket, the hood still pulled up over his head. He looked so warm. Dean allowed himself the fantasy of pulling over onto the side of the road, sliding over on the bench seat to press himself up next to Cas, both of them sitting silently as rain drummed on Baby’s roof, maybe Cas sliding a hand around him, running his fingers through his hair…

Blinking, he reached over and turned on the radio, turned it up too loud to distract himself from those thoughts. Cas glanced over and Dean motioned to him.

“I like this look,” he said. “You look very comfy.” His face heated giving the compliment, but Cas didn’t seem to notice, only smiled and ducked his head. Was Cas... blushing?

No, Dean decided, it was only an illusion from the orange glow of the lampposts outside. Returning his eyes to the road, he gripped the steering wheel and continued driving into the rainy night.

Tag List:

@becky-srs @xojo @marvelnaturalock @cas-you-assbutt-dean-needs-you @aelysianmuse @prayedtoyou @letsjustdieeveryone @spookyskeletonsandallthezombies @good-things-do-happen-dean

Let me know (message, ask, comment) if you’d like to be tagged in my other random destiel fics or removed from the list :)

[justanotherblonde23]

Ok ideas for writing...Iris and Marcus talking about her legally adopting the girls and then asking them for permission? Love your writing!

Will You Be My Daughters? - A Marcus Moreno Story 

Author’s Note: Ask and you shall receive, my sweet Autumn. Yes, Part V of ‘It’s Time to Be a Hero’ is coming. I’ve just been extraordinarily stressed this past week or so with school starting and having to balance that with taking care of my mom who is healing from some major surgery. I needed to write something fluffy and cute, so this is what happened! I really hope that you all enjoy this; it made my heart happy and I hope it makes yours happy too. As always, I don’t give physical descriptions for Iris so that you can hopefully see yourself in her xoxo

Warnings: None

Marcus and Iris had been discussing this for months. They both knew that they wanted to be together for the rest of their lives, even if they hadn’t made anything official yet. Iris didn’t want to pressure her boyfriend into moving faster than he felt comfortable. He still struggled with feelings of abandonment and insecurity since his ex had up and left not long after Jules was born. How could he not have a hard time when something like that had happened to him? 

The doctor was content to be Marcus Moreno’s partner; she had no pressing time frame. She wasn’t going anywhere. Missy and Jules called her “Mommy,” and everything in her soul screamed that she was their mother. She did everything a mother would do and spent her time going above and beyond for those children. The only thing left was to make it official. 

  They could just file the paperwork and call it a day, but that didn’t seem right. Missy remembered the woman that gave birth to her, and she remembered when that woman left without so much as a goodbye. She was old enough to know that Iris was the closest thing she had to a mother and remembered when she had first come into their lives. Jules was a year and a half old by now and only knew Iris as her mommy. Whatever they did was mainly for Missy and to remind her that she was loved, cherished, and special. 

Eventually, they settled on making a day out of it. Both parents agreed that their girls deserved something special. It was Iris’ idea to ask Missy if she would like to be formally adopted. She wanted the little girl to feel like she had a say in the matter and that she was the central figure. 

One Friday, the good doctor took her two girls out shopping in search of a dress. She told them that it was for an extraordinary occasion, some sort of surprise for them. Naturally, both girls were thrilled. Missy insisted on finding matching dresses for her and little Jules, stating that it was always the best to have sister sister matchy time. Jules wanted to be just like her big sister, so she was thrilled. 

Three children’s shops later, a pair of matching dresses were found. They were this gorgeous peachy pink, Missy’s current favorite color, with a tulle skirt full of sparkles and perfect for twirling. The sparkles were at Jules’ insistence; she could never say no to anything sparkly. The silver sparkly matching shoes were a great addition, too. As exhausting as it could be carting around an eight-year-old and a toddler, Iris was satisfied with a job well done. 

As much as the girls begged both of their parents to know what the surprise was, neither of them would cave. Missy wracked her brain, trying to figure out what it could be. There weren’t any birthdays coming up that she knew of, Christmas was over, and Valentine’s Day was next week. What could it be? 

Saturday came around, packed full of all of their favorite activities. The Moreno family had a brunch picnic at the park, played on the swings together, and even spent a few hours at the Natural History Museum. Jules was extremely obsessed with all things dinosaur at the moment. Every skeleton they saw left the little girl giggling, “A dino! It’s a dino! What it name, Momma?” 

Marcus watched as his girlfriend would carefully explain each fossil’s name to her, pronouncing it slowly so that his daughter could understand how it was said. Then she and the little one would pronounce it together, a little incorrectly, but Jules wasn’t even two yet, so who could blame the kid. He loved how gentle and caring his partner was with his kids. He could have never expected to find someone like her, not in a million years. He was thrilled to be finally taking the next big step with her and making his children officially hers too. Family was something that he treasured beyond everything else in his life. The fact that he had a family that was whole again made him thank his lucky stars. 

Their time at the museum went on like this for the next few hours. Each girl had their favorite exhibits, and the couple made sure that everyone got to see what they wanted most. Anyone looking at the four of them would see a regular happy family out for a Saturday outing full of laughs, giggles, and hugs. By the time they were done for the day, both girls each sat in a parent’s arms, cuddled close to the people that loved them the most. 

Last on the agenda for the day was dinner at their favorite restaurant. At least twice a month, the little family ended up at a local pizza joint called LJ’s Pizza, named after the founder and owner of over 40 years. The kids inhaled the pizza every single time they visited, danced around to the local music on the weekends, and their parents always enjoyed good conversation with the owner and his family. It was a win-win in every sense of the word. 

 As they walk into the restaurant, both girls gasp, taking in their surroundings in awe. The customarily packed restaurant was empty. Every single table had a photograph of the two little girls and Iris or the entire family together. The one table that didn’t have pictures was covered in all the girls’ favorite dishes. The owner, LJ, smiled at the kids, opening his arms as they barreled into him for a hug. After they had gotten their hugs from the older man and a piece of candy each that he slipped them, they turned back to their parents. 

“Mommy, what’s going on?” Missy wondered, looking around the room. 

“Well, Missy, Jules, your daddy and I have been talking recently, and we wanted to ask you something,” Iris began to explain. 

Everyone sat down at their table, the girls each crawling onto a parent’s lap. Once they were settled, Iris continued. “I’ve been your mommy for a while now, right?”

Both girls nodded simultaneously. Jules was a little confused because she had never really known any other mommy beside Iris, but she kept quiet and nodded. Her mommy was using her serious voice, and she knew better than to interrupt her. 

“Well, I want to be your mommy forever, if you’ll let me. I’m not ever going anywhere, and I wanted to make it official. What I’m asking is, would you like for me to adopt you and be your forever mommy?” 

Missy squealed, jumping off her father’s lap into Iris’. She grabbed her mommy’s face in her little hands and covered her with kisses. Even at five, she understood what Iris was asking her. “Do you mean it? You’ll stay with me forever and be my mommy?” 

“Yes, I promise that I’ll stay with you forever, Missy Mae. I love you with all my heart, and I never ever want to be without you. Thank you for letting me be your mommy, little one.” She pressed a kiss to Missy’s forehead and then rubbing the girl’s nose with her own. 

Jules was happily sharing her mommy’s lap with her big sister, not a care in the world. She leaned over and asked, “Daddy, Mommy is my mommy, right?” 

Marcus couldn’t help but break out into a grin, seeing his girls so enamored by his dear Iris. “Yes, baby, Mommy is your mommy.” 

Apparently, that was a satisfactory answer for Jules because she nodded, snuggling up in the woman’s lap, content with watching everything around her. She popped her thumb in her mouth and reveled in the palpable joy in the room. 

The family dug into dinner with enthusiasm. They had forgotten to grab lunch during the whirlwind museum adventure. Not much was said as they ate, everyone far too busy putting food in their mouths and gobbling it all down. Now and then, Missy would stop to say, “Mommy, Daddy, I love you,” and then hope right back into her food. Once dinner was finished, and the kids were cleaned up, Marcus grabbed the girls’ attention. 

“Mommy and I decided to get you both something to mark this special occasion. Would you both like your gift?” 

Jules lit up like a Christmas tree, her umber eyes sparkling. “A present? For meeeee?!” she asked, full of excitement. She reached out her chubby toddler hands, ready to open something. 

Her father handed her a box, which Iris helped her open. Nestled inside was a silver heart locket that matched the one that her mother wore around her neck. Opening it up, the little girl found a picture of both her parents. “So that Mommy and Daddy can always be with you, even when we’re apart,” he murmured. 

“Like Mommy’s! Same same!” she giggled, absolutely delighted to be matching her mommy. When Iris put it on her, she squealed, touching her own locket and then her mother’s. 

Missy was up next, curious as to what she had gotten. The box her father handed her was a different shape from her sister’s, so it wasn’t a locket. She opened her gift to see a silver bracelet. Picking it up, she realized that it had her initials in the middle of it. She looked up, grinning ear to ear. “MM, for Missy Moreno?”

“You betcha, Missy Mae,” Marcus replied. “Your mommy made this just for you. Those stones are moonstones because you are our sun, moon, and all the stars in our sky. Also, it connects to my watch and Mommy’s bracelet so that you can get in touch with us any time. All you have to do is press these two buttons on the side, and you’ll be able to call us.” 

She beamed, slipping it on her wrist and examining it proudly. It wasn’t just the fact that she had received a gift from her parents. It was that her mommy made it, all by herself, just for her. Iris was known for her inventions, and the fact that she had made something exclusively for her little girl made Missy’s heart overflow. She looked up to the woman and loved her dearly; the only thing she wanted was to have both parents loving her and taking care of her. This was Iris’ promise not to leave, and it meant everything to her daughter. 

Monday morning came, and the family of four went to the local courthouse to submit their paperwork and make everything official. The girls insisted that they wear their matching dresses once more and have Iris do their hair. Jules had her brown curls tamed in a little half ponytail on the top of her head that Marcus lovingly nicknamed “the fountain”. Missy’s hair was in an elaborate braid that fell over her shoulder. Both girls couldn’t stop grinning and giggling. Marcus was wearing a nice suit with a blue tie that matched that blue floral of his girlfriend’s dress. They were all dressed to the nines and ready to make their family of four official. 

The whole affair was brief, taking less than an hour to have everything submitted and filed away properly. Once the registrar told them they were all set, Iris burst into tears. She knelt down on the girls’ level, gathering them up in her arms, holding them tight. She kissed both of them, drying her eyes, and standing back up to embrace her boyfriend. Marcus scooped her up, twirling her around and kissing her soundly, the happiness contagious. Finally, they were a family both in name and in their hearts. 

A county clerk came up to them, offering to snap a picture of the precious moment. Iris stood, enveloped in Marcus’ arms, with her two beautiful little girls clinging onto her dress. That picture sits above the mantle in their home as a reminder of the day they became the Moreno Family of Four.  

Let me know if you’d like to be added to the tags list for the Marcus + Iris Universe series. It’s ongoing and I have SO MUCH more planned for our favorite little family <3

@autumnleaves1991-blog @the-purity-pen @cinewhore @f0rever15elf @pascalispunkie @frannyzooey @hdlynnslibrary @theclanof2 @jollyrancher87 @mrschiltoncat @cyaredindjarin @randomness501 @twomoonstwosuns @rosiesimone819 @hillarymurray4 @qhbr2013 @phoenixhalliwell @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @theoutsidelandhere @chouetteschaussettes @maharani-radha @maybege @moriamithril @revolution-starter @paniclana @flightlessangelwings @bisexual-space-slut @thewayofthemandalorian @stressed-the-fudge-out @evans-dejong @supernaturalcat7 @salty-sith-bitch @poguesvixen @plants-are-better-than-humans @omggiannarosa @theocatkov @roseuchiha97 @cheesehead0622-blog @impala1967666 @lydiascottage @themarcusmoreno

[leiainhoth]

Work summary: For so long, Din fought the reality of giving the child up, giving him to the jetii and moving on. He had prepared for it, packed a bag and left it all behind, so his son could have the life he deserved. All until he didn't have to. Or the one where Luke rescues Grogu on Tython, and Din rescues Luke in return.

Chapter summary: Luke, Din and the child continue their journey to Mos Espa, and Din makes a startling discovery

... 

The pre-dawn light stirs Luke from a dream, and he rises with a grin. It was the sixth morning of their journey, the sixth day of traversing the desert waste of Tatooine with strangers and friends alike, and he was  enjoying  it. Surely more than one should enjoy journeying across dunes on the back of a bantha. But he was. He was at peace—  true  peace— perhaps for the first time since he had left Tatooine in the first place all those years ago.

There was peace to be had, even when Luke thought himself incapable of relaxing outside of his morning meditations, this was it. This was what he had been searching for, this  feeling,  this realization that his endless searching would never be victorious. That perhaps what he needed was to be still, be still and listen.

The force was like the wind, here. It ebbed and flowed, the energy of all living things tangled in a web, connecting each and every thing to another. It swelled around Grogu, the child small in his father's lap, dipping and swaying around the Mandalorian. Luke looked within, pleased and in awe of the feeling of oneness that the force had always given him. There was still so much Luke didn't know. So many secrets and techniques that had been lost, fallen to time. He wanted to learn, wanted to listen, but his world was so  noisy,  engines and footsteps and clanging metal. There was no use for the force on Chandrila, on Coruscant, on any of the core worlds. Whatever the Jedi order used to be before the war was gone, now. It was up to Luke to decide how it would continue; if it would continue, the future of the Jedi was in his hands.

It was a lot of pressure, Luke thought with a reflective exhale, a pressure that had been placed on him with the expectation that he would fulfill it. But he was older, now. Not necessarily wiser, but perhaps warier. Less anticipatory, more thankful; not often expectant of good things to come his way. It made him feel old, and Leia had teased him about it when he told her. But he was a Jedi master, damn it. What the order looked like, what it felt like, was up to him. And nothing Leia could say would change his mind.

Luke opened his eyes from his musings and looked around, not that there was much to look at. They were still far enough from Mos Espa that the landscape was unfamiliar. And even if he had, as a youth trapped here, he wasn't focused on the sand so much as the sky. Wishing beyond his wildest hopes that one day he'd be able to pilot something better than a landspeeder or a skyhopper, that he'd join the Academy and never have to step foot on Tatooine again.

It was a dream he had garnered for much of his childhood, unaware of his father's prowess as a pilot beyond what Owen and Beru had told him. Unaware, but still hopeful that there was something greater waiting for him out there.

But that was years ago, Luke thought with a pain of nostalgia, almost ten years. He wasn't a youth anymore, and any great hopes he held for his future were quiet ones. Find more force-sensitive younglings, set up a temple on a peaceful planet. Spend time with his sister, and Han and Lando, try and keep his droids running smoothly and his lightsaber in one piece. He wanted a life for himself that was different than that of a rebellion hero, something…predictable, something still. Something with a garden and a familiar bed, and… if he could be selfish, perhaps a companion. Someone to keep him company, someone to love and cherish and grow old with. Luke wanted that life, a quiet life.

He had spent his years in the rebellion being what the alliance needed him to be; a damn good pilot, a leader, an example: the poster boy for hope and peace across the galaxy. But he wasn't that man anymore. He didn't want to be a hero; he wanted  peace . Because with heroism came fame, recognition; Luke didn't  want  people to come up to him and thank him for his service. He didn't want those he didn't know to shake his hand and congratulate him on what he did for the rebellion. He didn't want the insignia of the damn Death Star painted on the starboard wing of his X-wing, a concrete and constant reminder of what he had done in the name of the rebellion.

A million souls had died that day, and there were still nights Luke woke up in a cold sweat imagining their fiery deaths. Still times when he sat down suddenly in great pain, still moments where he was overcome with the overwhelming swells of grief and loss. Leia tried to comfort him, as did the droids in the medbay after he came to that day.  It wasn't your fault,  they told him, pressing the personal comm code for the rebellion psychologist into his palm.  You did what had to be done. More people would've died, whole systems would have been destroyed had we not done it first.

We , they had said, and Luke remembered. Had not  we  done it first. But there was no  we,  was there? There were the half dozen pilots behind him, and later Han and Chewie in the  Falcon,  but it was Luke who made the shot and ended it all. Luke, who would hold those souls with him for the rest of his days.

And all because Luke wanted to be a hero, all because he wanted nothing more than to leave when all that he had ever truly needed was at hand, sitting on a moisture farm in Tatooine.

It was easy to say it was all behind him; the war was over. He was lucky that so many of his friends had survived, that he still had his X-wing and Artoo and Chewie and Han and Leia, but…something was missing. Of course, he had lost friends; he wasn't the only man to be orphaned and alone. But it wasn't just that; it was  companionship  that Luke craved. A companion who didn't care that he was Luke Skywalker of the rebel alliance, who didn't mind the lightning scars on his arms and belly, someone who didn't  care  he had a missing hand and debilitating nightmares; someone who wouldn't ask questions he didn't want to answer. Someone to joke with him, to  care  for him, someone who would hold him tight and not let him go.

Luke remembered crumbling the comm code in his palm, nodding to the droid so they would leave, promising to himself that he'd never call them no matter how bad it got. He couldn't bear the pity in their eyes, the looks of  disappointment  when they saw him for who he truly was. As if he'd let them down; as if the great impenetrable Luke Skywalker was a fluke, not a hero, just a kid from Tatooine with strange powers and a good trigger finger. He wasn't all that they thought he was.

And so, for five years, he tried to forget.

And frankly speaking, he was more or less successful. He watched with pride and happiness as Leia, and the other generals in the rebellion became the pillars of the New Republic, stood by their side when Han and Leia wed. He had held his twin's hand and congratulated her on her pregnancy, and when Ben Solo was born with early signs of force-sensitivity, promised to teach him the ways of the Jedi. And others did the same; his friends settled down with partners and friends, started families and adopted orphans from every corner of the galaxy. Started a new life, and Luke watched with a feeling close to loneliness as he failed to do the same.

It wasn't that he  wasn't  interested; there were more than one pilot and hotshot with a blaster he had taken a fancy to over the course of the war. Luke wasn't the only one to sneak a bedfellow into his compartment after dark, but it wasn't what he wanted. He wanted something deeper, something less desperate, something more than a stolen kiss in a cupboard and fumbling hands in the dark. Luke wanted something,  someone , he could hold tightly, someone to comfort him, to stand by him; someone who didn't sleep with Luke Skywalker for the rights to goading brags at sabacc tables and crowded cantinas. As if was a pawn, just another ace in an X-wing with no future and no past and no interest in living beyond the moment.

Leia tried to set him up once or twice, but Luke hadn't taken her up on it. He wasn't interested in senators or state officials, less so in their stories about the war. DIdn't they get it? Didn't they understand that all Luke wanted to do was to forget? Move on? He didn't  want  to be the grand hero for the rest of his days? Why couldn't anyone understand that all Luke wanted was for others to treat him like a person? Not a legend, not a hero, but just as  himself?

And then, out of nowhere, he received the distress call from Tython; and everything changed in a moment. His ill-timed philosophical musings of a better life put on hold for a child calling desperately for help.

The cost had been his X-wing and Artoo, who (no doubt) would have words to share with Luke when they returned to rescue him, but it had been worth it.

Because now, he had friends.

Friends who neither knew nor cared that he was Luke Skywalker of the rebel alliance; Luke Skywalker, the man who blew up the Death Star. Luke Skywalker, the Jedi, the last Jedi in the galaxy, and Darth Vader's son. They didn't know, they didn't mind. They treated Luke as one of their own with no questions asked. To them, he was just that,  Luke , and who he was to them was who he was inside. The one with an eye for mechanics, a love of flying, a fair knowledge of desert flora and fauna. He was Grogu's teacher, Scoeeri and Laele's friend. He was Varre's companion as Grogu played with her baby, A'vod and Cor's helper into the underground cave network Luke had  definitely  not known existed. He was the mechanic who helped Cobb Vanth with his modified speeder when it broke down the night before.

But to the Mandalorian, it was strangely unclear. What was Luke to him?

Surely a friend, Luke thought with careful consideration, trying not to be nosy and look behind him to see for himself. He was intelligent, but quiet, kind. Soft and generous with those around him, despite the thick armour about him at all times. They were friends, right? The man trusted Luke to watch his child, to teach him the ways of the Jedi. All Luke had done was meditate with the child, but so far, Grogu's father had accompanied them every morning, exiting the tent he and the child shared fully armoured with the baby in his arms. It became more difficult to focus with the Mandalorian so near (damn, his thoughts were  blinding),  but Luke tried. But even as he did, even as he taught the child about the bond he was forming between them, he couldn't ignore the primary strand Grogu had. Luke could feel the golden strands connecting Grogu to his father twist and fold together with time, evolving from strings to cords to bolts, impenetrable. And this man was apparently just that, not force-sensitive at all.

There was something amused in Grogu's consciousness when Luke asked the boy about it. Clearly, the baby knew something Din didn't, but he didn't pry. Whatever it was that had brought Grogu and his father together had been formed in and amongst significant loss. Grogu had told Luke about the day his father adopted him, describing the feelings of warmth and oneness he experienced whenever his father held him close. The warmth the baby exuded through the force when he spoke about his  buir  was blinding, and when the child asked about Luke's  buir,  his parents, he deflated with a brush of pain at the loss he had experienced. He didn't want to shock the child, but he told him that his parents were gone, passed on; but they had loved Luke very much.

The child sent a wave of understanding and affection, and Luke felt a small hand grip his own.  Together,  the baby seemed to say, his eyes wide and open.  Even if you have no  buir  of your own, my family is yours to share.

Luke let his eyes drift shut, a smile widening as a tear slipped down his cheek. What would it be, Luke wondered, his mind struggling to face the impossible, what would it be to take what had been offered? What would it be to have a family of his own?

Luke thought of the baby's father, the warmth Luke felt whenever he considered him. He and the child were so happy together, so content to stay close, and it brought a laugh to his throat when Luke remembered when the Mandalorian tossed his child in the air for his amusement when he carved figures out of tough stalks of grass for the children to play with. More so when he and his companion were alone, but Luke didn't quite know  what  to think about that.

It was easier to talk when the air was still, and the world was dark, Luke decided, trying not to look too much into his and the Mandalorian's time together. He remembered asking, just that morning, in fact, if his companion could teach him the language of the Tuskens. It had been an innocent enough inquiry, stemming from nothing but good intentions. For the whole time he'd known her, Luke had been using the force to read the baseline level of Varre's thoughts and emotions to communicate with her. He still felt uneasy about it and wanted to speak freely when Grogu and her baby played together. But the Mandalorian had stuttered out something unintelligible, gesturing strangely before Luke got the message. Too far. It was just as well, he supposed he could ask Cobb. Even the basics would be better than nothing.

But there was  something  to be said for having an excuse to spend more time with his companion. Luke enjoyed his company; it was simple, complimentary. The Mandalorian didn't ask prying questions, didn't seem to want anything of him other than his companionship. In the soft evening light when the day's travel was done, they sat together and watched the suns set, Grogu often lulling in his father's arms. It was in these times that Luke spoke, knowing that the Mandalorian wouldn't mind. He talked about his childhood spent not far from here, his family, his sister. Spoke about how proud he was of Grogu's growth in the short time they had been together, joked about the funny expression on Laele's face when he caught Cobb staring at him.

His companion laughed a little at that. Luke felt his chest warming, the deep tones of his laugh raising a blush to Luke's cheeks. Was that all it took to make him laugh? It  had  been funny, Cobb's expressions were longing and soft, and it was nice to take the piss out of someone else, for a change. For so innocent a recollection, for so simple a reason, his companion had laughed; and Luke wanted nothing more than to hear him do it again.

When they hitched up their bantha's the next morning to begin, Luke couldn't help but feel an itch on the back of his neck and turned without thinking to see the Mandalorian looking right at him. Luke had never found it difficult to understand his companion's expressions even with the helmet but blushed anyway. Even the implication that the Mandalorian had been looking in his direction was enough to bring a stuttering breath to Luke's chest. The suns were bright; perhaps he didn't notice the flush that had settled across Luke's face. Or maybe he had; Luke thought with a strange lurch in his gut; the Mandalorian  didn't look away  but tilted his head in recognition instead.

Kriff,  how was he supposed to turn away?

Luke closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing, turning his head firmly in front of him, refusing to budge his position no matter how much he might want to.

Luckily or not, their journey across the dunes was much the same as it always was, the steps of his bantha slow and lurching, massaging and opening Luke's sit bones and hip joints in a way they hadn't ever been massaged before. A sand crawler appeared in the far north-east, and Luke jerked at the sound of A'Vor, Cobb and the Mandalorian drawing their rifles.

Luke started at the sound of Grogu protesting in the Mandalorian's saddlebag. He turned, catching his companion's eye with what he hoped to be wordless understanding, halting his bantha in his tracks to let the Mandalorian catch-up.

"Can you," the Mandalorian said softly, not wishing the others to overhear. "Can you convince the Jawas to stay away?"

Luke nodded, "If you want me to. Do you want me to take the child? You'll need both hands to use your rifle,"

"Yes," the Mandalorian said, handing Luke the squirming child. Luke sent a wave of calm to the baby and felt him settle in Luke's lap, unhappy and concerned but willing to remain quiet for the time being. Luke took a deep breath, steadying his mind before reaching out across the sand, feeling inside him a flurry of activity. He had never fully mastered the Jedi mind tricks he had seen Ben perform; they felt so invasive, so personal, to actively work against one's will to achieve his ends. Luke didn't think the Jawas would mind, and at the very least, they owed him from the last time he was on Tatooine. He felt only a twinge of guilt in redirecting them to the southwest, far away from their little caravan.

"They seem to be turning," Cobb said from ahead of them, a pair of binocs in his hands. Luke blinked his eyes open with a smile.

"Imagine that," the Mandalorian said, and Luke smiled, pleased. Cobb lowered his blaster, and the Mandalorian did the same, lowering his heavy pulse rifle to its holster on the side of his bantha.

"Can I keep the child for the morning?" Luke asked, looking down at Grogu, calming down now that his father was still. "He could use a change of scenery."

"If you'd like to," the Mandalorian said but then hesitated, fishing in his saddlebag for something. "He's fine in the satchel, but I have a head covering for him."

That was how Luke found himself fixing a canvas hat to the baby's head, laughing at its floppy brim and too wide chin strap as the baby cooed at this strange thing on his body.

"It's a hat, Grogu," Luke said, adjusting the garment so it didn't fall. "It'll keep you safe in the sun; your dad doesn't want you to get sunburnt,"

Luke understood the hesitancy; he had applied a sunblock patch every day of his life before he left Tatooine and resumed the habit now that he'd returned without a hitch. But Luke recalled the Mandalorian's hesitancy in applying on onto the child, unsure if it would irritate his skin or cause a rash. Luke had watched with affection, helping the Mandalorian drape the baby in his tunics so the beating suns would stay off the child's skin. Grogu didn't seem to mind and was fascinated with this strange fabric in front of his face.

"Keep it on, Grogu, that's it," Luke said with a laugh, settling the baby between himself and the saddle horn. "Look, I have one too!"

Grogu turned and smiled toothily at Luke's sun gear, babbling happily about everything and nothing and all of the things around.

Luke felt the Mandalorian's gaze on him for the entirety of the morning, and when Luke turned with the pretence of showing the baby where his father was, Luke flushed, a hesitant smile on his face.

continued 

[bonsaiiiiiii]

FabFiveFeb 2021 - Virgil week (2)

prompts: a question, “I don’t understand”

ok, here we are with part 2 of this lil ficlet! thanks to all the people that supported the first part, that you can find here. a special thank you to all the people that supported it recently, such as @nourelle-tracy, @louthestarspeaker, @gumnut-logic, @weirdburketeer, @janetm74, @lenna-z, @cg29 and many more that liked my fic! here’s the part 2 you’ve been waiting for!

^naturally, please read below^

Virgil woke up, massaging his forehead and eyes. There was a lot of light in there. He looked at the white above him, noting that that was definitely not the Tracy Island glass ceiling. He couldn’t even hear the voices of his brothers.

He tried to sit down, but the moment he touched the floor retracted his hand as if he had burned himself. It was cold, and...soft, and...white. He looked around, noticing an endless expanse of snow. A white sky and a snowy ground. He sat down, looking better around, and was able to see snowy trees, a cabin.. and an avalanche raging in his direction.

Frightened, he covered his head with his arms, his eyes shut and his breath unsteady, waiting for the impact. Nothing. He listened, and only at that moment he realized that there was no noise. That deafening noise of snow that he remembered well...all too well. He first opened an eye, then closed it, then opened them both, looking in the direction of the avalanche that was suspended in the air, still, motionless, with his hands still on his head. It looked like a tsunami wave, and the snow making dust all around looked like clouds. He took his arms off his head, holding them in front of him, then he stood up. Strangely it was all familiar to him.

"It won’t hurt you." a sweet, harmonious, but still faint voice, reached the ears of Virgil, who turned his head immediately in the direction of its source.

"Mom?" He stopped to look at that figure standing there, as if she had never died. She wore a white dress, looked like a cloud, or perhaps a Greek goddess, and a veil, attached to the woman’s ring fingers, fluttered all around that angelic figure, her black hair voluminous. She didn’t even look real to him.

"You shouldn’t be here." she said in a hurry, her serious expression, the pain visible behind her turquoise eyes.

"But..." Virgil approached slowly, step by step. "...what is this place?" Without noticing he was already in front of the woman.

"This is the place where you will wait."

"Wait for what? I don’t understand!" Virgil asked, and then he was silenced by a sudden sound. He instinctively watched the avalanche, which continued to remain suspended in the air.

'Entering...fibrillation...' Virgil heard a distant voice, a male voice. He could not connect it to any of his brothers. Then a monitor, like those in the hospital, made a horrible noise. The noise of a heart without a heartbeat. Then a deep bang. 'Again...' the voice again. Again the bang.

"You shouldn’t be here!" Lucille repeated. "You have to go back."

In a moment Virgil understood the situation. But..." No."

"But the others need you. Your brothers..."

"I’m sure Scott and John will get away with it. I want to be here with you."

"And your dad?"

"Dad will be the first one to get away without me. He’s building a space station with Brains." Still that empty noise, still that male voice. "I want to stay with you. You left too soon..."

"I know...but it’s not what you think, Virgil." Lucille gently placed her hands on his shoulder. Wait, was he ever that small? "Please, do it for me. I know you don’t want to, but come back, baby. Live your life for me too."

"But I’m only 15 years old. What great life can I live without you? You just left!" Virgil sobbed, trying to dry his face with his black sweatshirt.

"Don’t think about that. Just think about my voice. Close your eyes and listen to me, baby. Think about coming back to life. Promise me."

Virgil looked at her, her face clouded with tears. She smiled at him, nodding her head. He sighed, and then nodded in turn. "I promise. I will miss you..."

"I know...but don’t think about how I died anymore. Just think about the good memories we all had together." Lucille held her son in a long embrace. Her mother was so warm...it seemed that she had never died...

Virgil closed his eyes, and Lucille began to sing a sweet melody, her voice as beautiful as the notes of the piano he occasionally played after school.

The deafening noise disappeared, but the melody remained etched in his mind, as if his mother was still singing it. Now, instead of that fixed, empty noise, there was a sound...of beats. That meant he was alive, wasn’t it? So, if he had opened his eyes now...

And in fact he opened them, seeing only darkness before him. Then was this the world out there? So ugly and empty? He wanted to see beyond, but he realized he was being held by something. His mother’s voice was still echoing in his mind... He tried to wiggle himself out, almost immediately succeeding and noticing that what obscured his sight was nothing more than a female chest. The melody stopped being heard.

Virgil looked up, over him...and realized that his mother was looking back at him, the eyes of both widened in surprise.

"Mom...? You told me I was going back..." Virgil whispered, confused.

"Well..." Lucille was speechless. She expected his son to return safely to his body. She thought for a second, coming to the conclusion that... "If you’re here it means you’re not out of danger yet, but you’re alive! Your heart beats!" her hand shifted from his shoulder to his chest, raised in feeling her baby’s heartbeat. "Do you feel it?" She took his hand, making him carry it on his chest. She was moved.

Virgil smiled. "I feel it, Mom! But shouldn’t I have gone back?"

"Yes. It means you still have to wait a little while before you go home. But what matters is that you’re alive."

"Oh..."

"I’m sorry..." she said, removing a lock of hair from his forehead. The hair he inherited from her.

"Mom...I’m a little tired now..." Virgil found himself rubbing his eyes with one hand, and in Lucille’s eyes he still looked like a child. For her, even if the Virgil in front of her was that of his now 27 years old instead of his 15 years old self she would still see him as a child. Even if he was 80. If only she didn’t die so soon...

"Rest here, on my lap." Lucille said, sitting on the ground and lightly patting her knees. Virgil didn't want her to repeat it twice, lying down immediately, the snow that wet his pants even if he didn't really mind, as long as he was with his mother. He closed his eyes immediately...

...and reopened them shortly thereafter. Now, in that white sky that he expected to find once he opened his eyes, there was some ray of sun that seeped through the clouds and sparkled the snowflakes, as if it were raining glitter. He liked it. He was still in his mother’s lap, but she looked far...in the direction of the avalanche which was now sure to have been the cause of her death.

"I didn’t get too much sleep, did I?" he mumbled, his voice small.

Lucille turned her attention away from what she was looking at, looking down at her son. She narrowed her eyes for a moment, before smiling at him affectionately. "Nah...you only slept 10 years."

"Eh?" he exclaimed, leaping to the perch.

Lucille also stood up, patting away the snow from her dress. "I have to admit, that shirt doesn’t look bad on you." She added, and then took a step forward and took a flap of his shirt, inspecting the red-check lumberjack style and traveling with her eyes from the collar to the last button. She then took his shoulder, making him turn and looking better.

Virgil found himself blushing and stumbling on his own feet, embarrassed. He didn’t say anything, though, because when would something like that ever happen to him again? Sure, Grandma used to do that with all five of them every time one of them bought a new shirt, but if that gesture that came from his mother it meant something else entirely.

Lucille made him turn again so she could find his red face looking at hers. She gestured for him to lower himself, and he obeyed timidly. "Ah, I used to do your hair that way!" she exclaimed happily, removing some rebellious lock from his forehead and marveling at how much gel was on his head. "When you went to bed..." then she stopped.

"Continue..." Virgil implied, a silent pleading.

"When you were younger you always had your hair ruffled. You have so much of it, and yours is also very thick. When we used to take you to the barber, the cut he made only lasted as long as you got out of there. Look, bring some firewood to light the fireplace in, will you? You’ll catch a cold if you keep standing out here in the snow..." She diverted the speech, pointing to the wooden pile next to the cabin. That cabin that used to be their mountain house, and then got sold as soon as possible once they got back to the Ranch with one less person.

Virgil nodded, though he did not feel any cold. Lucille briefly entered the house, a small strip of smoke emerging from the chimney after a few minutes, a sign that the fire was lit. She came out shortly after. "I lit the sticks and bark; do not take too big wood, now is not needed. Anyway, I used to say that because of your thick hair no hairstyle fit you, and then I really liked seeing you with your hair on one side, like you do now." She continued to tell, raising her voice a little while Virgil picked out some thin sticks to carry inside. "You, on the other hand, had a time when you liked all of Scott’s hairstyles and copied them."

He chuckled in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, yes! When Jeff took you to the family barber, you always wanted what Scott did too. You were 4, more or less. I remember one time when Scott had his hair dyed blue..."

He turned, wood in his hand. "Uhm?" Then he brought it in, while Lucille followed him closing the door behind him.

"You know those colored hair gels? The ones you wash off with a wash? Even if it wasn’t enough...we were damned to remove the blue spots that formed on your brother’s linings!" Lucille was very talkative, and she always had the gift of finding a topic to talk about; this feature was passed on to Gordon, but Alan was also a bit like her. Scott and John instead took after their father: less chatter, more actions. And Virgil...was a mixture of both.

"Yeah, I remember...he was seven or eight at the time." Virgil responded, carefully inserting the wood into the large stone fireplace to revive the fire.

"That’s it. Well, he did this once, and you liked his hair so much that you wanted to do it yourself, naturally green. So you and Jeff went to the barber, only that..." she stopped to smile, a very pleasant memory.

Virgil sat down to look at her, waiting for her to continue and trying to remember at the same time.

"When you came home, you were in tears. You clung to me crying and screaming that your hair wasn’t like mine anymore, and since that day, you haven’t listened to what Scott was doing, following your personal tastes a bit." Lucille sat down in front of the chimney, telling Virgil to approach her.

"I understand." he replied, crouching next to her, the wood crackling in the chimney. "Listen...I have a question."

"Only one?" she giggled.

"Well...no." He admitted smiling, to then get back serious.

"What do you want to know?"

"I really want to tell you so much..."

"From the start, baby."

"Do you miss Dad? Do you miss us?"

Lucille wasted no time answering. "Always." Then she sensed what Virgil wanted to ask her again. "I don’t regret having planned the holiday here."

Virgil looked at her, surprised but in a negative way. "No?"

"No. Never. I was glad to see you all having fun together. I’m just sorry things had to go this way." she stopped talking. "But you know what they say, don’t you? Historia magistra vitae. If it happened, it means it had to be this way."

Virgil nodded, not too convinced. "Anyway, I’m starting to remember...Dad isn’t there anymore either. He’s gone." His eyes got sadder and sadder.

Lucille remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"I have to help my brothers. They're on their own, and without me...Scott might lose control."

"You saw that, too, didn’t you?"

"Yeah. He can’t do anything without me, the stupid. Not even to calm down."

Lucille smiled sweetly. "Maybe...but as long as you love him. You love them."

"How do I get back?"

"I don’t know how to answer that." Both were interrupted by a rather familiar voice.

"Speak of the devil..." Virgil said, listening to Scott’s voice, as silent as whenever one of his brothers got hurt. He was praying for Virgil.

(lol imagine not ending the chapter on a cliffhanger, can’t relate eheh. but worry not, here’s the 3 letters you were expecting!)

TBC

[dokifluffs]

thank you for the happiest years of my life

warning: *spoilers to like parts of basically the entire show and manga but also mostly crack. soo you have been warned* also warning, l o n g

thank you hinata for your toilet song and your sunshine persona, never giving up and also all your bowel issues getting you in the most uncomfy situations with other teams, for being the greatest decoy thank you kageyama for your jingru bell, jingru bell and all your hinata boke’s, milk breaks, and probably deformation of hinata’s skull from how many times you grabbed it thank you tsuki for your arara gomen and being tol boi #1with great character development but also staying the sassiest one omfg thank you yamagucci for your gomen, tsukki and being tol boi #2 with superb confidence building thank you yachi for being the best townsperson B thank you tanaka for killing dadchi. Tanaka, nice kill! and being literally one of the best characters thank you noya for your rolling thundas and being the coolest senpai and being karasuno’s guardian and also choosing to come to karasuno simply because you liked the girls’ uniforms thank you ennoshita for being best dad #2 and tutoring tanaka and noya thank you kinoshita and narita for existing even tho you two are the most slept on akjhdkad thank you suga for being the best mom and also singing under the sea  thank you asahi for being unintentionally scary and dressing up as jesus evry year for karasuno christmas  thank you kiyoko for always looking out for karasuno  thank you dadchi- deadchi- daichi for being best dad #1 thank you takeda for being the teacher sponsor of the club and having the best quotes out there homie, you really big brain thank you ukai junior for reminding the crows that volleyball is a game where you look up 

Thank you Karasuno, for teaching me to fly

thank you oikawa for teaching me that instinct is something you polish, talent is something you bloom. also for all your yoho, tobio chan’s and milk bread being your favorite food, for hitting it till it breaks. you were always enough and i wish we could’ve seen you bring your team to nationals. hope your knee gets soon buddy thank you iwa for always calling oikawa shittykawa and etc. best bestie out there and also, you did your best. you are not a failure as an ace for aoba johsai. also thank you for making sure oikawa rested  thank you mattsun and makki for being such an iconic duo  thank you kunimi for sticking out your tongue in season 4  thank you kindaichi for being onion head and having a great character development thank you kyotani for making me intimidated of an anime character like bruh. homie, your back said “C”-  thank you yahaba for being best setter #2 tehe and also putting kyotani in his place  thank you watari for being Aoba johsai’s guardian and being tanaka written in cursive thank you yuda, sawauchi, and shido even if i didnt pay you any attention adkjah im sorry 

thank you Aoba Johsai for teaching me how to rule the court 

thank you kuroo for your hyena laugh, befriending kenma when you moved in next door, and being literally everything  thank you kenma for being best pudding head and being the best sugar daddy after the time skip to our hina baby  thank you lev for being long boi and having one of the best glow ups in s4 like literally scrumptious. Cant want to see your time skip animated and also, you’re gonna be a great nekoma ace one day bb  thank you yaku for being literally the best libero im sorry noya kajdhas omg akjda goals and also putting lev in his place  thank you shibayama for stepping in as libero when yaku got hurt in land vs. sky you did great bb  thank you yamamoto for being tanaka written in magnum sharpie, punk font and getting into a dispute with Tanaka on S I T E thank you teshiro for being best setter #2 uwu  thank you kai for being one of many underrated characters that should’ve gotten more  thank you teshiro for looking the most like a cat and being a pinch server thank you inuoka for being a lil sunshine too 

thank you Nekoma for teaching me how to connect

thank you bokuto for serving all of us your juicy a$$ but also being the best hype boi out there, capable of being so strong and proving to be so much stronger by growing out of your emo modes, for making akaashi choose to come to fukurodani thank you akaashi for playing with your fingers, for always looking out for bokuto, teaching all of us that we are the protagonists of the world, having a list of his weaknesses memorized thank you konoha for doing what we all wanna do and knee bokuto’s voluptuous ass thank you waisho for being like a normal lookin type bokuto  thank you sarukui, anahori, komi, and onaga for being part of this great team and also boosting bokuto up

thank you fukrodani for teaching me how to pour my soul into everything (every ball) 

thank you ushijima for teaching me how to harvest and farm for the ripest of fruits thank you tendo for BAKI BAKI NI ORAE NANI WO and being a weeb too. you were never a monster as a child or ever in your life  thank you goshiki for being female jirou from my hero academia and also realizing how much you need to improve at the end of s3. made me cry man  thank you semi for being suga in punk rock font  thank you reon for being you cause you rock homie. you and kai would so vibe together man. good vibes all around thank you soekawa, yunohama, kawanishi, and sagae for existing even though yall were slept on thank you yamagata and akakura for having shiratorizawa’s back’s as liberos thank you shirabu for using ushijima to your disposal like he wished. you gon be a great doctor bb

thank you shiratorizawa for teaching me how to have an intense force to my persona thank you aone for being the best iron wall and having the cutest friendship with hinata like omg his current fear is no one wanting to sit near him on the metro akdjhahds i’ll sit with you  thank you koganegawa for being the best angry bird bb  thank you Futakuchi for getting knocked over when you chest bumped aone  thank you obara, onagawa, and fukiage for existinggg thank you sakunami for having Dateko’s backs 

thank you dateko student section for making the most iconic cheer out of the entire show that’ll never die also, check out the live action stage ones akjdhas nekoma is stuck in my head 

thank you dateko for having the best cheer in the show 

thank you saeko nee-san for being the best tokyo drift driver out there with your Taiko team and being the best leader leading the karasuno cheers for da bois thank you karasuno’s voice principal for not expelling our two celled boyos, kageyama and hinata   thank you third gym for all the oya oya’s  thank you bokuto for hooking tsuki onto volleyball when he blocked ushi  thank you takeda for scaring ukai junior in season 1 when he repeatedly went back to beg him to be the coach for karasuno, begging to so many coaches and making sure they could have practice matches with other schools thank you to hinata’s tennis friend who taught him how to splatter step(?) thank you ukai senior for teaching them about the tempos thank you to the old guy that goes to every karasuno game even tho literally no one knows him bruh  thank you to Shimada for teaching our bb boi yams to float serve thank you for the twins and sakusa and so many more teams  thank you for bringing us to brazil with hinata, reuniting him and oikawa  thank you for all the commercial breaks  thank you for all the memes aka haikyuu dubbed thank you for all the radio shows with characters we may never get to see on the screen together thank you tsukki for pressing hinata’s diahrea spot thank you for dub yams’ he he he waluigi laugh thank you hinata for inspiring asahi to join the team again thank you kageyama for probably breaking hinata’s back so many times by kicking him  thank you asahi for calling out to suga  thank you kageyama for scaring the living shit out of hinata when he hit you in the back of the head with his rushed serve in season 1 in the practice match against aoba johsai thank you for all the meat buns eaten after practice, the popsicles nishinoya ate in two bites thank you noya for all the epic saves and pancakes you dove for  thank you for kageyama’s “nuff, nis, niceu-” to tsukki  thank you for tanaka and noya and yamamoto for all women are queens club  thank you suguru for getting under kuroo’s skin and making him petty asf in land vs sky  thank you alisa for being literally breathing, you and lev look so goodd post time skip like haiba sibs rule the world thank you tv that hinata had happened to be passing by, playing the game with the little giant, inspiring him to go to karasuno  thank you kageyama’s grandpa for getting him into volleyball 🥺 thank you for all the races while running, all the flying receive laps, the hill runs, the training camps, practice matches thank you for all the disputes that could happen before all the gears could be made and put into place  thank you kiyoko for saying that tanaka for some reason looks good with a banana thank you for the meat god dance, the serve cheer poses  thank you for making me love volleyball tenfold thank you for moi pon  thank you kageyama for telling hinata that he’s the greatest when he’s around, giving him his first official toss thank you hinata for telling kageyama that he sets just fine

thank you to all the voice actors for starting and staying through all the years to bring all our favorites to life, never failing us once

thank you spyair, burnout syndromes, tacica, nico touches the walls, sukima switch, galileo galilei, and more for so many amazing ops and eps

thank you for all the memories, all the laughs, cheers, heart racing moments, the moments that made us grip onto pillows, the edge of our seats, tears, addicting chants, making me simp for like 50 people, making my cheeks hurt from smiling so much, my voice raspy for cheering and screaming so much. 

thank you to this fandom for being like a second family, sharing all our love and crackheadedness 

thank you for the happiest years of my life

thank you haikyuu, thank you Furudate for bringing this amazing story to all of us and touching our lives with it 

[hqprotectionsquad]

𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 - 𝒊𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒛𝒖𝒎𝒊 𝒉𝒂𝒋𝒊𝒎𝒆

⤷ 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒖𝒑? 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒋𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. ⤷ 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕'𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 ⤷ 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕

words: 2540

a/n: this is heavily inspired by the lyrics, so please listen to the song! it would mean the world to me if you did. I’m super proud of this piece, so I hope you enjoy!

Eighteen: rebirth.

The smile on his face is unmatched as Hajime’s eyes wait for his daughter to descend the staircase she has fallen, cried, and even mattress-surfed on. Even if he and his wife are adorned in crowns and jewels and dressed in the uniform and dress that has been passed down for generations in the Iwaizumi Royal Family, it is, unequivocally, his daughter’s day. Trying to convince his wife to have another child has been a lost cause for eighteen years now, so she’s the only baby he’ll ever have. 

There is the fear behind his smile though, something he wouldn’t even admit to his wife when they are face to face on their pillows at night. Who knows how she will fare in the real world? Her world has been within these walls of gold, teal, and white, spending more time with her tutors, servants, maids than her parents. She won’t be attending a university like the rest of the teenagers her age; she’ll be learning how to lead a country as either a lone monarch or one with a companion.

He wonders if you hated being born into this family and he hates himself for even thinking that.

Hajime understands what it’s like to live in the imperial family. His only friends were the ones he had from boarding school, the best three years of his life. Of course, they were all heirs to a throne somewhere in the world, but nonetheless, they were a great group of four who formed the school’s first men’s volleyball club.

She was never given that opportunity, despite the several boarding schools and even international schools in Japan that were a great fit for his daughter. Her father knew they were a great fit, but the other members of the royal family didn't believe so. Despite the arguments that were shut down, she provided a smile for all to see. Behind closed doors, she yelled at her parents for closing her in. If they had the chance to be a normal student, why shouldn't she?

Eventually, the palace was all she knew.

He hopes that she doesn’t mind and he hopes that she knows the world is her oyster. As a child, she accompanied her mother and her father on "business" trips. She drank high tea with the British children and dined with the Americans. She has seen portions, and soon enough, she'll be able to explore the rest of it.

Travel is just paperwork away to see these amazing countries while getting to discuss international politics with allies is just the bonus. Deep down, he knows that not allowing her that has prevented her from experiencing a whole different world outside of the one she lives in.

Hajime taps on the throne he’s sitting on, his fingers mindlessly creating rhythms on the chair arm farthest away from his wife because he knows she would make him stop if she could.

Having this crown on his head is heavier knowing he’s the leader of this kingdom. With the embellishments, it’s over a kilogram. Actually, the clothing he wears is much more burdensome on the body, but this is different. His crown around the circumference of his head squeezes against his temples and then the front of his head has a pounding ache that never goes away. It hasn’t begun, but it will soon, knowing this debutante ball will not be over until the wee hours of the night.

He taps the bottom of his shoe against the marble flooring. He and his wife are elevated on a platform one meter above the dozen tables, decorated to be identical to the glass and cutlery placement. The inhabitants also wait for the Iwaizumi heir apparent to reveal herself. The chairs are filled with dignitaries and officials, as well as potential suitors, most of whom are connected to Hajime by friend or ally.

What is he going to do when she gets married to another person? This kingdom will always remain hers, but what will happen if she marries another heir? Would she relinquish the throne to a cousin, even if she would break the ten-generation streak of passing down the throne from parent to child?

What would she do then? What would they all do then?

“May I present—”

Zero: birth.

“Iwaizumi Aiko.” It’s the first time Hajime has said her name out loud. Already at the beginning of her life, she holds great power, he already knows. From the moment she was pushed out of her mother’s body, it is decided that this will be her kingdom, and one day, she will have the honors of carrying the crown as her father has done.

Hajime isn’t wearing anything distinguishable; in fact, if they were in a regular hospital, they’d look all the same as the couple in the next room, besides all of the officers guarding the front door. Of course, he is not wearing the finest clothing the world has to offer. In the privacy of his home, none other than the royal palace, nonetheless, his hair is ruffled more than usual and the bags underneath his eyes do not suit him well. Overall, everything that is his looks ruffled.

The sunlight filters in through the thin curtains and he believes it's incredibly appropriate for the day in which their whole lives have changed. Just the night before, the stars in the sky emitted an aura around them, as if there were halos around each of the twinkling lights. It’s as if the universe knew of who would be coming for it. If only he knew what would come next for him as his eyes settle on his wife and then the bundle she's holding between her arms.

That's his daughter.

Her tiny limbs want to expunge the swaddle she is in, but it's clear she's exhausted, so she puts forward half-hearted attempts and Hajime wants to laugh at that. That is a sight he'll never forget and a story he'll never stop telling.

"Hajime, come here." His wife beckons him to approach her bedside, asking the nurse to provide them privacy as they embark on this renewed journey of life as a family of three now.

He scoots onto the bed, which has been cleaned of any medical impurities before he was even allowed to return after helping his wife give birth. Just an hour ago, she was squeezing the hell out of his hand. Now, he cuddles beside her, draping an arm around her shoulder. She passes the baby over to him and he’s about to shake his head — “no, I shouldn’t be taking her, not yet, she should be with her mother” — but his wife doesn’t take any of his excuses. Suddenly, his whole world changes, all because of this one human. She is one of many, but to the two new parents, she is the only one. They look at her as if she were the only one left in the world.

"She has your nose."

"And my eyes. You know, she definitely has your hair. Both of you were born with just the tiniest amount of hair."

Hajime's heart actually clenches as they discuss how beautiful their daughter looks. It squeezes as he traces the features on her face with his gaze. It tightens when he notices that she is a perfect blend of the people who made her out of love. This is the product of their atoms combined. Their daughter is nothing short of perfection.

Where he and his wife end, she will begin. Their ceiling is her floor and whatever she accomplishes will be greater than anything they have done. He doesn’t want to put pressure on her, considering she was just born, but he knows she would make a fine ruler one day. It’s their first child, so as of an hour ago, she’s been appointed the heir to the Iwaizumi throne. If Aiko’s presence can shift the position of the stars and make the sun shine brighter, then she is enough.

The earth welcomes Aiko into her loving arms, and soon, this crown princess will take over to tell her story.

Eighteen: rebirth.

“Her Imperial Highness, The Princess Iwaizumi.”

Hajime's mind goes blank when she is presented to the distinguished guests below her. It is hard to think when you realize your blood and flesh are actually something, someone.

That’s his daughter.

His breath catches in his throat and he forgets to know how to live for the moment. She carefully takes her steps, walking down the staircase as she had practiced with her etiquette tutor all of her life. She takes her sweet time, taking in the sight of every person’s face and features who is here today for her. When she makes it to the floor, her gown dips with her as she settles into a deep curtsy.

That is his sweet child, Aiko. Seeing her as this refined lady makes Hajime think back to her younger years. At five, she tried to feed grapes to the family dog, almost leading in her poisoning it. At ten, she began creating birdhouses and then promptly realizing she made them smaller than the birds themselves. She grew out of that phase though. She’s a natural-born leader, taking over a seat in the legislative part of the government, and in her free time, she works to help the less fortunate. Aiko has always been the kindest girl Hajime has ever met, and he is not saying this because it’s his daughter.

His wife squeezes his hand hard and this takes him back to when she was in labor. Hajime is sure she must have broken something that day because his hand seems to be crooked, but it’s the best reminder he has closest to him of his daughter’s birthday besides his daughter and his wife themselves. All of the parents were not lying; parenthood goes by fast. He’s upset that the only daughter he had with his wife was left behind to play in rooms while her “mommy and daddy talk.” If it’d been any other way, maybe she would’ve had a happier upbringing.

Her smile betrays his thoughts, however. Hajime knows his daughter’s fake smile and the one she’s sporting right now is completely real. “We did that,” his wife comments as she smiles at him. “We did pretty good, didn’t we?”

“We did.” 

Soon enough, the royal family is reunited by the thrones, basking in all of the regal glory they were granted by birthright. They greet the crowd of the people most important to them. Aiko’s scanning the crowd for the men who might be the easiest to talk to, but she already knows who she’ll be speaking to when she gets the chance.

“You look beautiful, Aiko.” Her mother hugs her the moment the celebration breaks into several sections. Once again, they’re at the end and the beginning because they are where they began eighteen years ago, cuddled together in this group hug.

When Aiko steps back, Hajime doesn’t know what to say. From head to toe, she sparkles like the sun and the stars. This may be her debutante ball, but Hajime sees nothing but a future empress standing in front of him.

"Go ahead and talk to some of the uncles and aunties," Hajime instructs and his daughter nods at the directive. When he walks to sit back in his throne, the servants ask him if he's okay.

To that, his wife responds, "Don't worry. Just fatherly jitters. Would the two of you send word to the kitchen that we are ready for the first course? I know Miss Maria will be upset about that, but the sooner the better." She says this as if the head chef can oppose the empress, but Hajime knows that she has always had a heart of gold.

"I really can't believe she's talking with Tooru's son," Iwaizumi grumbles, both with his mouth and his stomach. "I guess good for us that Oikawa has always been a good ally and a greater friend, but that's our daughter we're talking about. Son of a b—"

"Oh, sweetheart." As she stands by the side of his throne, her hand cups his opposite shoulder. "I think we should be glad that she'll be courted by someone we know well! Though, of course, it's all up to her."

“That doesn’t mean I’m any happier.”

“Well, now you and ‘Shittykawa’ can be brothers of some sort. Didn’t you say the two of you proposed something like this when you were in boarding school?” When he looks up at her, there’s a smirk on his wife’s face and Hajime rolls his eyes.

“We were eighteen back then, we barely knew what was going to happen. We didn’t even know who we were going to marry back then, let alone know when our children would be born,” Hajime reasons, crossing his arms. He looks back to the crowd, wondering when the courses will arrive. They will be able to eat and then, start the debutante dances and finally see where Aiko’s cards will land. Of course, she’s going to have many interviews with all of the suitors reaching for her hand in marriage, but deep down, the parents know who she will be choosing.

“I just think that the sun and stars aligned for all of their lives and are starting to come together. Who would have known that our children would be born ten months apart and possibly start a union eighteen years later?” She shakes his shoulder and he looks up at her. “Come on, Hajime. Many of these marriages never turn out well, but look at us. We’re the example for her.”

They are the product of an emperor’s son and a diplomat’s daughter, born three years apart and arranged to be married at the ages of twenty-one and eighteen. Even though they were put together for the sake of the monarchy, Hajime found himself falling for his wife, Michiko, through every laugh, smile, and conversation they had. He won’t admit this to anyone, but when they first held hands, he let go quickly and escaped to the nearest restroom because it felt like his hand was on fire.

At the very least, Hajime hopes that Aiko will make the right choice for herself. Of course, there will be arguments and disagreements when it comes down to all of the logistics, but what truly matters is Aiko will be happy. After all, Hajime is a father before an emperor. He only wants the best for his daughter.

He watches from his throne, the one she will take over one day, and observes. He has no doubt of her abilities, and he’s certain she’ll only get better with age. From this point on, he leans back onto the back of the throne, folding his hands in his lap. She’s no longer the baby he’s known. She is the next leader of this country. The next steps she takes will be the ones walking her into the rest of her life.

“What are you thinking about, Hajime?”

“That’s our daughter right there” is all she needed to hear to understand how he was feeling.

a/n: this is a companion piece to my song fic, son, which is for oikawa. they do not connect, but they are companions because of the songs and the parent-child dynamic. also, thank you to @karasunology​ for looking this over! jae is definitely the reason why this is coming out as early as it is. i didn’t expect to post this early! this piece is probably the one i’m most proud of, and it took about a day to write it, which is super surprising. btw, his daughter does end up marrying oikawa’s son and they’re like the royal power couple LOLOL

also fun fact: i danced to this song with my dad during the 16 roses for my sweet 16 and i told him the name of this song and he had no reaction and i still think about that to this day KFJLSDJFK

general haikyuu tag list: @dorkyama​​ @kingkags​​ @clowninfortodoroki​​​ @ykchaos​​​ @kingkagss​​​ @alienvarmint​​​ @gogohaikyuu​ @keiyoomi​​ @n1sh1n0ya​​ @yams046​​

please let me know if you’d like to be removed from the tag list via ask!

navi! | master list | tag list form

[adenei]

Next Steps - Ch. 6

Welp, here it is! The engagement chapter. To the anon who requested a romantic proposal - I hope this fits the bill. Enjoy! There will be one more chapter with the party back at the Burrow :)

****************************

Will you?

The whole week had been perfect. It seemed to move quickly, but also incredibly slow at the same time. The ring was really starting to burn a whole in Ron’s pocket, but today was the day. After another leisurely afternoon by the pool, they were all going to get cleaned up and dress nice for a dinner reservation at a restaurant not far from the Spanish Steps.

Hermione had made mention once of how romantic she thought they were, and how after seeing them during the day, she’d love to see them illuminated by the soft glow of the streetlights and stars at night. So that’s what Ron had planned for. He’d made sure that Harry and Ginny had made a habit of bringing the camera wherever they went, taking pictures at their tourists' destinations to document the trip. 

Ron walked out of the bathroom after taking a shower and noticed Hermione standing on the balcony in the baby blue dress she’d chosen to pack. It was knee length and had a V cut in both the front and the back. She’d somehow managed to tame her hair in a soft plait that lay to the side. Ron stood there watching her in awe. I’m going to ask her to marry me tonight. My beautiful, smart, amazing girlfriend. He hoped she had no idea it was coming. It wasn’t often when he’d gotten to surprise her, but so far this vacation was full of surprises. 

Hermione turned around and smiled shyly when she noticed he was watching her. He smiled back and then continued getting dressed. It wasn’t long before Harry and Ginny were knocking on their door and they apparated to the point closest to the restaurant.

“Ron, this place is incredible!” Hermione said when they were seated. 

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to want to go back to English cuisine after all this for a week,” Ginny joked.

“We’ll just have to find all the good Italian places in London, then,” Harry resolved.

“Or learn how to cook some of these dishes at home,” Ron offered.

“All wonderful ideas. I can’t believe we leave tomorrow. It feels like we just got here,” Hermione lamented.

Everyone agreed as Ginny asked when they’re portkey was departing.

“Well, we leave Rome at 10:00,” Ron said. Our connection at Bern will be a little longer than last time though. They have a 10:30 we’ll catch to Paris.”

“What time do we depart from Paris?” Harry asked, playing along.

Ginny and Hermione both looked at him. “We thought you knew?” Ginny asked.

“I do, but there’s one more surprise Ron has up his sleeve,” Harry said as he grinned. The girls both turned their attention to Ron.

“We’ve made arrangements to stay in Paris for the night, so we’ll be able to explore a bit of the city before catching our 11:00 portkey to London on Sunday morning.”

“I’m most looking forward to French breakfast,” Harry said.

“Ron, that’s amazing! Which sites are we going to see, oh please tell us!” Hermione said excitedly.

“Well, actually, I was hoping you could help by picking out your favorites, since you’ve been there before.” Ron said.

Their dinner came and Hermione was eagerly chattering through all of the places she thought they should see and trying to prioritize them because they only had the day, and she didn’t want to thoroughly exhaust them.

Harry and Ron shared an unspoken glance, where Harry was impressed at Ron’s ability to throw her off the trail of what was to come, and Ginny noticed. She gave them both a questioning look, but they pretended not to notice her. 

They decided to get gelato from a nearby shop after dinner, and enjoyed it as they walked towards the steps.

“I’m so excited we get to see them at night!” Hermione gushed. “I hope it’s not as crowded as it normally is during the day.” She leaned over and kissed Ron on the cheek. “Thank you so much for the best vacation ever. I can’t believe I even entertained the thought of choosing work over this.”

“Well, as long as you do well to remember this the next time we’re planning a holiday and try to argue that work is too busy, I think I can forgive you,” Ron said playfully. He held her hand in his as they approached the steps.

Hermione led him up the first few steps as she looked around in amazement at the sight in front of her covered in the soft glow of the night sky. “This is beautiful, Ron. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy you’ve made me! This whole trip has been a dream come true!” she said as she turned back to him.

“Well, hopefully I can make you even happier now,” he said softly.

“What do you mean?” she asked him. Her puzzlement turned to shock as she watched him reach into his pocket. He pulled something out that was small, but he covered it in his hand as he spoke.

“Hermione, I’ve been holding onto this for about a month now, trying to plan the perfect moment, but it’s been really hard. It’s been torture to hold onto this all week, knowing that there was something really important that I wanted to ask you, hoping you wouldn’t find it on accident, and that I could keep it a surprise.”

It was then that he bent down on one knee, while he kept Hermione’s hand in his. Her other hand shot up to her mouth as she realized what he was about to do, and she was trying really hard to prevent the tears from welling up in her eyes, not letting the emotion overcome her. “I love you, Hermione. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, even when I was too young and stupid to even wrap my head around what it meant. Sometimes I still can’t believe we made it out of the war alive, and as well as we can be with everything we went through. 

“I’m secretly glad you’ve dragged me along to all of those therapy sessions to work through everything we’ve been through, and that you’re always there to listen, even when I don’t want to talk. You haven’t given up on me when there’ve been times where I deserved it. We got through a whole year apart, after we just barely got together, and I’m so happy that part of our lives is behind us now.

“I’m still amazed that I get to wake up next to you every morning when I’m not off on a mission, and I know without a doubt that I don’t want to live this life without you by my side. You’re it for me, Hermione. Will you marry me?” He let go of her hand for the briefest of moments to open the ring box, revealing the most gorgeous ring she’d ever seen in her life. It was perfectly suited for her, proving just how well he knew her.

Hermione hadn’t realized that both of her hands had moved to cover her mouth, tears were streaming down her face despite the fact that she’d tried to control them and she was nodding fiercely. She finally found her voice and heard herself say, “Yes, yes, of course!” It was almost like an out of body experience. They could have been surrounded by a million people and Ron would have been the only one there with her.

There wasn’t a thing in the world that could take the grin off of Ron’s face as he stood up and took the ring out of the box to slide onto Hermione’s ring finger. The ring box clattered on the ground as he took her face in his hands and kissed her with a great deal of passion.

“I love you so much,” he heard her say against his lips.

“I love you, too,” he said as his lips met hers again. 

Distantly Hermione thought she heard clapping and cheering, and it was then that she finally remembered that they were in public. In Rome, standing on the Spanish Steps. She remembered Harry and Ginny were probably there, too, and had witnessed the whole thing. Hermione looked around to find them, and saw them a few steps below, the camera in Harry’s hand and Ginny jumping up and down. 

“You’re engaged!” Ginny shouted as she ran up the steps and tackled Hermione in a hug. “Let me see, let me see!” Ginny grabbed Hermione’s left hand and inspected the ring. “Merlin, it’s beautiful! I didn’t know Ron had it in him.”

“Hey! I’m right here, y’know,” Ron said as Harry came up and hugged them both.

“Congratulations!” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Did you both know?” Hermione asked them.

Ginny shook her head. “I had no idea. Harry had to hold me back when I tried to follow you up the steps.” She looked at him. “You knew, didn’t you?” she eyed him.

Harry nodded guiltily. “What do you say we get out of here and go have a celebratory drink back at the hotel?” he suggested. 

“That sounds perfect,” Hermione said as she looked at Ron. “You’re amazing,” she said as she leaned in for another kiss.

“So are you,” he said smiling down at her.

“We’re engaged,” she looked down, admiring her ring.

“That we are. Thanks for saying yes, by the way. It would have made for an awkward night if you hadn’t,” Ron joked.

“You’re mental if you really thought I’d say no,” Hermione teased.

“One can never be too sure,” Ron laughed.

With that, they headed to the apparition point to go back and celebrate on their last night in Italy.

[black-streak]

Waiting for the Worms - Outside the Wall

Part 19

Hey guys, very short, laid back chapter. I finished up writing my timari spitefest work and then immediately had a 6 month old puppy brought into my life. She likes sleeping on my hand. If you guys want, I'll post a picture of her, but the point is that writing may slow down significantly due to training and cuddles. Sorry this is almost more of a filler.

Wonderfully patient CLOSED taglist: @northernbluetongue @thethirdwheelfriend @shizukiryuu @theatreandcomicfreak @michellemagic @karategirl119 @moonlightstar64 @my-name-is-michell @mystery-5-5 @zalladane @queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm @miraculousdisapointment @dorkus-minimus @jardimazul @allthebooksandcrannies @g-arya @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @persephonescat @mycupisbroken @luciferge @18-fandoms-unite-08 @dawnwave16 @alwaysreblogneverpost @kris-pines04 @emjrabbitwolf @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @weird-pale-blonde-person @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @kokotaru @naclychilli @slytherinhquinn @clumsy-owl-4178 @ladybug-182 @darkthunder1589 @evil-elf16 @dast218 @lysslovsanime @emilytopaz @naoryllis @iloontjeboontje @thepeacetea @danielslilangel @finallyaniguana @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @vixen-uchiha @yuulxd @bleeding-heart-romantic @magic-inthe-stars @st0rmy-w1th1n

~---~

Walking through the portal, Jason took in the sight of his team dropping their transformations one at a time, taking no mind to the kid who walked in behind him. Guess it didn't really matter. What are the chances he would recognize them in any manner that mattered? Plus, they wanted the kid to feel comfortable here. That he could trust them.

Marinette walked over to him, barely glancing at the awkward Robin standing out of place.

"Alright, reprieve is over. You'll never adjust to your body this way," she said with an apologetic smile, lacing their fingers together and both loosening their crushing grip on their bond they'd been holding for the last two hours. As they both relaxed their minds, they slipped back into their own bodies, souls settling happily into their rightful place. 

Placed properly, Jason turned towards the Robin in the room, offering a lopsided smirk, "Welcome to the shitshow."

He shuffled his feet, "I don't plan…"

"On staying. Yes, we know Timothy. It's okay," Marinette helped him out, smile soft.

His shoulders tensed and narrowed eyes stared them down, staying quiet.

"Look, replacement, we're not trying to intimidate you or anything. We know Bruce's identity. Comes with being one of his charity cases, you know? It's not difficult to figure out which kid ended up in his care next," he intoned, trying to help Timothy see their lack of intentions towards revealing his identity.

"We only thought it fair you should be made aware of what exactly we know. I imagine it would be quite unsettling to think you had the upper hand on us only to find out later that we knew the whole time," Marinette chimed in next.

They watched as his face screwed up with an off put expression only to nod his assent, "That would bother me more, yeah."

"My name is Marinette," she put her hand out towards him, waiting patiently.

"Tim," he carefully shook her hand, staying almost formal despite the informal correction, "So the part about you getting stuck in the former Robin's body during his death. That's why you share the madness you mentioned before?"

"Lazarus Pit insanity. So fun. Definitely recommend," Jason decided to butt in, noticing the way Tim focused on Marinette the moment they switched bodies, "we were both dipped in a way, though she got the short end of the stick. My body, her soul."

"So some of it transferred due to it contaminating her soul then?" Tim asked, finally looking at him.

"Pretty much. Splitting it up this way makes it easier to handle," Marinette answered.

Tim seemed to consider this for a moment, "why are you answering me so willingly?"

"What purpose would hiding it serve?" He countered, receiving a surprised silence in response.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that out there. I'm sure that couldn't have been pleasant," Marinette slowly brought her hand to his shoulder, leaving plenty of time to move if the kid decided the contact was unwanted. When Tim allowed it, eyes still almost glaring, she smiled up at Jason and led the boy further into the room while he followed behind.

Zeroing in on where Marc stood on the phone, he gave a curious look only for Marc to end the call and curiously glance at the screen before turning back to the room at large, "That was Alfred. He can't make it here for a few days due to the giant man baby that's currently throwing a fit, but apparently someone else will be coming by tomorrow to speak to you two," This was partially directed towards Tim, but mostly to himself, "Said one would know her as a bat, the other as the eye in the sky."

"Barbara's coming? Oh great! It's been entirely too long since we've seen her!" Mari perked up, "did he say when to expect her?"

"Around eleven," they easily replied, picking their way over towards the trio, "sorry about holding you down by the way. Couldn't let you get caught up in that mess. My name is Marc," was directed at Robin.

"So… you were the mice?"

"They were the mice, yes. I'm Juleka. I was the one who brought you to the portal."

"The fox then, and you were likely the cat?" Tim directed towards Kagami.

"Kagami. In the next room over is Chloe."

"The one who opened the portal."

Jason felt a strange sense of appreciation for how quickly Tim placed the identities together. As well as a sense of dread. This kid was too bright, too sharp, based on what Mari told him, to be so easily fooled by Bruce. To not see how toxic that environment was. What happened to his replacement to make him so willing to overlook it all?

At this point a small hand slipped into his as Chloe introduced herself to the boy, having entered the room a moment before. Looking down, he took note of Damian huddling closer to him, watching the scene unfold.

"Another one?" The kid grumbled, tightening the grip on his hand and looking none too pleased, "I know you said I'd have to adjust to new people, but isn't this a bit much?"

"I don't know, kid, you seem pretty accepting of me," Jason tilted his head, watching the kid stiffen slightly, a blush overcoming his face.

"I hadn't realized you changed back yet," Damian replied, though he remained gripping his hand as they watched Tim interact with the others, "Will they all leave already?" The kid added, drawing his eyes back down to the uncomfortable shifting. Glancing at the clock, he figured he might as well indulge Damian every now and then.

"Chloe, lead the herd, would you?" He asked, maintaining eye contact to get his point across.

"Alright you lot, time to head out. Surely Robin won't be too comfortable around all of us for very long."

There was a touch of an argument over this, but eventually the team picked themselves up around the apartment and headed out, saying they might stay away for a few days. Jason caught the grateful smile on Marinette's face and took his small victory in how Damian pulled him back a little when he moved, as though afraid he might leave as well. 

When the apartment quieted down and everything went still, he took a deep breath and led the kid over towards the kitchen, feeling Marinette move behind him to follow. He set a pot onto the stove and filled it with milk to heat up, turning to look through the cabinets while it heated up, "Have you ever had Hot Chocolate, kid?"

"You mean melted? Once. I was given a piece to hide, but it melted a bit," Damian answered, sounding disappointed, though at only having it once or having to admit letting it melt, he wasn't sure, "Why?"

"Not quite what I meant. But I'll take it as a no. We're gonna have some tonight then," Jason responded, pulling down a bag of milk chocolate chips. They'd have to do. He pulled his hand up to ruffle the kid's hair, chuckling as he yanked back with a sneer, shuffling over to duck into Marinette's side, who'd been holding easy conversation with Tim all the while, carefully not commenting on the way the Robin pulled off his mask carefully and was beginning to calm down now that there weren't as many people. Jason chose this moment to eavesdrop, now that he no longer had to occupy Damian.

"Why's the new one still here?"

"Damian, this is Tim. He needed a place to stay."

"Why does it have to be here?"

"The same one who wronged Jason and I has wronged him as well. I imagine being around people who understand his position and won't judge him helps."

Jason chose to speak up now, "Marinette took you in when you had no one. When the two of you understood each other and felt connected for it. That's how you came to be family. He and I have a similar understanding."

"So he is family to you?"

"Nah, think more like when you first met her."

"You are… Wanting to protect him despite not personally knowing him. Instinct."

"Now you got it," he responded, pouring four mugs of the beverage, ignoring the calculating gaze between his shoulder blades. Then went about handing them out despite Tim's reassurance that he was fine, "drink it or don't, won't bother me either way, but I'm not going to leave you out."

Damian remained silent up until this point, observing the young teen curiously before passing his final judgement, "okay, as long as he sticks with you," the unspoken threat to keep away from Marinette did not go unheard.

"No one will take your place in my heart, little one. That place was created for you. If I become close to anyone else, they'll have to find their own place. Yours is occupied," she assured, as they both pretended not to hear his unbelieving grumbles. That lesson would be learned with time. 

Through it all, Tim kept to himself, sipping slowly and watching their interactions. Jason couldn't know what the boy thought, but if he had to wager a guess, he probably felt suspicious over how open and honest they were. Confused by their relation to Damian, but unsure if it was safe to ask. Likely, the teen just wasn't sure what to make of it all and wouldn't for quite a while. 

It'll take time and reassurance, probably even multiple visits from Alfred and Barbara to convince Tim that this was a safe place for him, but they had time to spend.

[emsartwork]

Sorry if you’ve already answered this but J was wondering if you could talk more the girls childhood/growing up? Love what you’re doing btw, absolutely adore how you’ve basically recreated the Winx world! 💗

Thank you!!! and sure thing! long post ahead

BLOOM: she never really had any problems family wise, Vanessa and Mike told her she was adopted at like…. Age 7 or so (in a positive affirming way obvi) and even if any kids teased her about it she never doubted her parent’s love for her. Even with Daphne’s spell helping her blend in with earth life, Bloom still had a nagging sense she didn’t “fit”, and got lost in fantasy books and art whenever possible. Growing up she deals with some body image issues that probably stem from the whole wrong fit feeling. Bloom grew up an artistic and quiet kid, Mitzi and Selina were her best friends from childhood, and because they both had really strong personalities, Bloom often repressed her own feelings in order to play peace maker. Up until high school, where Mitzi, who was always the leader, slowly started to turn into a bully in order to gain the approval/fear of her peers, targeting Selina specifically. Bloom was more of a follower at the time and just didn’t want to loose her friends so she didn’t stand up to Mitzi but tried to treat Selina as if nothing had changed, which was not cool with Selina and she not-so-subtly started to reject Bloom as a friend. Bloom, for her part, did get her shit together and stand up to Mitzi, loosing her only other friend right before her senior year of highschool (she was still technically friends with Andy but they had also just broken up and everything was awkward lmao). Bloom regrets not standing up to Mitzi sooner, and wants to rekindle her friendship with Selina (and Mitzi if she’s willing to tone down the bitchiness).  

STELLA: So Stella’s childhood is a little more complicated. Stella is the first SoLuna heir in Solarian history, and a very loud minority protested her very existence. Stella also had to stay close to the Second Sun of Solaria as a child, so she had a very solitary and confined early childhood in a wing of the Solarian castle. When she did figure out how to sneak out she was only 10 or so, and spent most of the time just wandering around the capital city. She didn’t have any problems in the city, but an off duty guard recognized her and took her back to the palace. Stella was then sent to an elite boarding school under a false name (Sasha), she formed close friends with Nova and Varanda, but the trio was the target of the rest of the school’s bullies (for various reasons). Junior high was peak nerd Stella, but she “princess Diary-ed” herself when starting high school and started placing all of her value in her appearance and status as a sex object. Her parents’ marriage was also starting to crumble and Stella felt like she had lost their love. Because Stella craves validation and affection, this lead to a couple bad relationships because the only way she could get people to “love her” in her brain was through physical intimacy, even if it didn’t really fill the void she felt. Nova and Varanda were her rocks during this period and Stella was able to learn to love herself first with their help. Stella was insanely nervous to leave her friends and go to Alfea, and tried to force friendships with other people originally, (this mostly lead to people thinking she was annoying and getting multiple censures from Griselda), and her first genuine connection on Magix was with “Prince Sky” (Brandon). Nova and Varanda were VERY worried when Stella first told them about “Prince Sky”(Brandon) and how fast they had gotten into a relationship and they may have stalked/threatened him on a visit to Stella but they eventually came around and started to like him. Stella being expelled was only kind of an accident, Varanda texted Stella in the middle of a Chemancy class her application to Alfea for the next year had been accepted and Stella got SUPER excited and blew up the classroom. She probably could have stayed in school but her response to Fraragona and Griselda’s “now what do you have to say for yourself young lady” was *giddy laughter* and “ i only wish the explosion had been big enough to send me forward to next year!!!!!” and griselda was like “either she goes or I go” and Stella was like “ya gurl i gone” of course her time back on Solaria didn’t go exactly as planned as her parents were just fighting every time they tried to do something together making her people pleasing/self blaming tendencies worse. 

FLORA: ahhh my baby So Flora does remember her father, not a lot and she feel guilty she doesn’t remember more, but she was only 7 when he died. Alyssa remarried when Flora was 13, and eventually she adjusted to having a younger sister who she loves very much now. Due to Rhodos’s nature preservation needing a lot of room for study Flora and Miele grew up pretty far away from any town and didn’t have a lot of friends. This is primarily why Flora and Miele are so close despite their age difference, and why Flora took her role as protector so intensely; she was the only one there (I mean besides the parents obviously). Flora did well in school though she was quiet and reserved, which made making friends even harder than living in the middle of nowhere. She figured out the best way to make people like her was to give them what they wanted, and this snowballed into Flora becoming kind of doormat not comfortable with voicing her true feelings and faking a lot what people expected from her. Flora has a lot of repressed…… everything (Bloom mostly just has a lot of repressed anger she’s good with other emotions lmao) she has trouble identifying what she’s feeling and for the most part is content to leave her feelings buried as long as the surface remains calm. The Winx do help her start to access her feeling more, and encourage her whenever she does voice an opinion. Helia is a perfect match for her in the sense that his quiet nature leaves Flora to express herself without trying to mold herself into whatever she thinks he wants (of course on the flip side this also means Flora and Helia have issues with communication and repression but that’s another topic). 

AISHA: hoo boy another complicated one. Aisha was raised in a strict environment, this mostly stems from her parents and their more…. anxious natures, but royalty on Andros is not as free as some of the other planets. Aisha’s world consisted of lessons and adults and rules and she had very little control over her own life. Aisha met Anne in a rare moment of freedom in the tidal gardens where Anne’s father worked. Anne was biding her time waiting for her dad to get off work so they could grab some dinner and was dancing. Aisha just watched her for a while before Anne noticed her and asked her if she wanted to play. The two formed a fast friendship, and Aisha finally started to feel like she had some sort of influence in her own life as she snuck out of lessons to play with Anne every evening she could(obviously their favorite thing to do was dance lol) Unfortunately Anne and her father disappeared one night. Aisha lost her only friend, the only social outlet she had, her one source of freedom, and couldn’t even figure out what had happened. Feeling so out of control lead to a pretty bad anxiety disorder for most of her teens, primarily triggered by the dark or being trapped in some way. She also has issues trusting others and letting people help her. Aisha started to act out, trying to exert any kind of control and relieve some of her anxiety. Her risk taking behavior got pretty bad, but she had started to tone it down after she met and bonded with Piff(royal business trip to Magix she skipped out on). Of course when the pixies went missing she wasn’t going to let her friendship vanish again and tracked them down with a not so healthy single minded determination.

TECNA: born to higher class parents, Tecna had greatness thrust upon her from an early age. She received extra training and education basically from birth, which she was fine with for the most part. Tecna grew up being able to handle academic pressure very well and met all of her teacher’s and parent’s expectations.  She and Riven had a brief collision as preteens in a school before Riven got expelled. Tecna’s one issue was that of her emotional intelligence, Zenith doesn’t really place an emphasis on that, so she was able to advance through high school very predictably until she attended a non-Zenith based workshop for magic. She found herself socially ostracized and very very confused. Of course Tecna had never met a subject she couldn’t master and emotions wouldn’t be an exception right??? Wrong. Zenith’s information about the brain and the chemicals produced was of no help, her teachers and parents didn’t understand why Tecna suddenly had this new interest in such an illogical subject, and worst of all, Tecna realized she didn’t understand her own brain chemicals. Tecna had a mini existential crisis, realized she had no idea what she even wanted to do with her life or why it mattered and applied to the Alfea Fairy program because “FAIRY MAGIC EMOTION MAGIC HELP” also it would offer her strong emotional experiences(transformations basically require it), the opportunity to work closely in groups, and personally obverse her dorm-mates emotional states. She got way more than she bargained for but doesn’t regret it a bit.

MUSA: my angst child T-T so basically, the first half of her childhood is p good, her parents work really hard and don’t always have enough money but the family unit is pretty stable. At around 12, Musa’s mom gets sick. Nobody is too worried at first, but she never seems to get better and she takes a big turn for the worse when Musa is about 16, Matlin is finally diagnosed with Core Failure Syndrome. CFS is similar to Core Fatigue, but while Core Fatigue can be remedied fairly easily with rest and magic, CFS is virtually incurable unless it’s caught really early. The causes are still unknown, and the symptoms (fatigue, nausea, cognition issues, and muscle weakness) can be prolonged but mild until it’s too late. In the later stages (extreme fatigue, numbness in the extremities, chest pain, joint pain, memory/focus issues, inability to keep food down)  all you can do is try to make the afflicted comfortable. Ho-boe is understandably distraught, and tries to freelance write for music but goes into a pretty bad depressive state. Musa has a few odd jobs here and there, and thats mostly what’s keeping them afloat among heavy medical debt. Musa latches on to her mother for emotional support as Ho-boe is super dissociated. When Matlin does pass as Musa turns 18, Ho-boe finally breaks, and violently destroys every last reminder of Matlin because he can’t deal with the pain. Musa, who has suddenly had her one emotional anchor cut off, is super freaked out and scared by this and it really damages their relationship going forward. Musa becomes incredibly anxious, and can’t really process her mother's death because her father won’t talk about it with her and is still shut off emotionally. Moving to Magix only worsened it as Musa rebelled and went after music with a desperate passion. Applying to Alfea was a way for Musa to get out of the house, and she and her father weren’t on speaking terms when she did leave for the college. Musa had planned on learning more magic to further her career as a musician, special effects infusing magic into a song rubbing shoulders with rich and well connected people who could possibly get her connected to the big shots in music….. The winx situations had her change some of her long term plans a little, but her connection with the group + her separation anxiety and fierce loyalty didn’t really leave any other choice lol 

[purplerose244]

Thinking journal for season 12 Prime Empire 😎😎😎 (2/2)

Here we go with the next part! I really hope we get some major big plot twist at some point, because it's all really cool but I need something to really change from good to GREAT

For now, let's focus on the next episodes!

It's the 17th of April and here we go!

GENERAL

I feel like there's little time to really pull up something, I don't know. Like, what plot twist could happen now that there just half season left with only Unagami/Dyer's identity and maybe Scott's past as mysteries? There's little space for more plotlines, that's what I think

Overall fighting scenes, character designs and game backgrounds are AWESOME!!

Let's see how it goes, maybe I'll be surprised. Wouldn't be weird for Ninjago to pull a bomb last episode 😅

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

ZANE AND PIXAL FINALLY!!! IT'S DETECTIVE TIME!!! 😎

Okay, so there is a photo, and there is a friend. As I thought, Dyer might not be Unagami at all, I feel like there's a lot of backstory coming along. I wonder if Scott has a part in this... WHERE IS SCOTT 💙

Ah, of course Kai would spend his credits on an avatar, I should've known, my flame babe can be such a dummie sometimes I mean why would you even do such a thing as buying an avat-

NEVER MIND I LOVE IT 😍😍🔥🔥 I thought him being blonde was going to bother me, I actually kinda like the change. Still prefer my baby brunette, but it's really cool as well. The best of this season are definitely the characters designs

Was that "let's fight an ogre mission" a hint for next season? I wouldn't be weird, but it's been a while since I've seen forshadowing for new season in this show

HECK YEAH THE DANCING EPISODE!!! I was waiting for this, Jaya is so cute while they are on the dancefloor 😍 They have chemistry 😘😘😘

I like the implication that Nya was really bad at dancing before Jay, like Kai covering his eyes because he cannot handle her sister not being perfect at something 😛

And Cole being the dance expert, that little tango moment with Kai I bet made many lavashippers super happy 🖤❤🖤❤

THE TRIPLE TIGER SASHAY ALL THE WAY FROM SEASON 1-2 ABSOLUTELY YES YES YES!!! AND HE DIDN'T ROAR, HE STRAIGHT UP SAID "NO ONE PUTS COLE IN A CORNER" I'M DYING!!! With this and Nya's 'catch me', I expect so many Dirty Dancing AUs from this 😂👌

JAYA BEING AWESOME HECK YEAH ❤💙❤💙

JUST LOOK AT THEM!!! Nya better say I love you back soon, like Kai and Skylor are a little behind, Zane and Pixal already said it, Jay can't stop doing it, come on girl it's your turn! 😎😎

RACER SEVEN

SCOTT IS BACK YES!!! 😍😍😍💙💙💙

Okay, I think my theory won't happen 😅 Feels like there are not enough episodes for a good reveal, and it doesn't seem like Scott is that influenced by Jay. My last idea is that perhaps he has spent so much time in the game like Jay said (POOR BABY 😭) that he doesn't remember. Maybe the moment he will come back, we will find out that it is Jay's brother/twin, I mean he still has those dragon and lightnings drawing on his back... yeah I like this theory a lot, gonna hold on to it!

So Scott is indeed a person trapped in a game, at least that's confirmed 👍

Also he's got some major issues, the poor thing, and I think there is some special reason behind him not wanting to race besides having just one life.

HERE IT COMES

OH MY GARMADON 😂😂😂 Okay, okay, it's actually better than I expected really. The scarf is cool, and so are the golden tattoos, the suit and the golden sleeve. It's just the mohawk that will take time to get used to, it's not even bad, just weird 🤷‍♀️

Racer Seven is so cool! Always nice seeing a new female character in this show that is not a love interest. I do love Nya, Pix and Sky to death, but I love variety too 💪

Really, really nice the piece of all Racer Seven's crashes! Impactful and sad, a never ending loop that she wants to break through from. That's the heavy stuff I like!

Okay, ready for the race! And I'm... scared? Like, a lot of they guys have one life?? KAI HAS ONE LIFE?? 😱😱 I hope for the best I guess 😅

THE SPEEDWAY FIVE-BILLION

Might be my favorite episode yet

Seven is SO COOL, it's another reason why I'm sad these episodes are so short! I really would had liked see her more, truly have her bond with the guys

Soooo... I guess since Scott's been in the game for 30 years it's safe to assume he's not Jay's brother/twin. To be fair it's really hard to tell a LEGO person's age😅 At this point I guess he could be either Dyer's friend, even if it sounds unlikely, or... idk, still think he could have a connection with Jay. Maybe he's like... an older brother? Libber had him a long while ago?

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WHY DID SCOTT HAVE TO DIEEEEEEEE??? 😭😭😭 Just when he was getting more involved, come on! He even said he wanted to try that hero stuff, I love him! WE WILL SAVE YOU MY TECH BABY!!!

Cole getting a ride from Kai, this season has some pretty good lava material ❤🖤❤🖤

I've got some major Ninjaball Run vibes from this, that brings me back 😂 Even the no rules thing is there, come on, there has to be a little bit of inspiration from it!

Still don't know what I think of the rats, kinda seems useless and annoying, gonna be honest. But it's a nice race, exciting with nothing big happenin-

Kai and Cole sacrifice for Jay

I KNOW I THOUGHT ABOUT IT BEFORE BUT I'M NOT OKAY WITH THIS!!! MY FLAME BABE AND MY ROCKY BABY!!! 😭😭😭😭 WHY PEOPLE KEEP DYING IN THIS EPISODE???

I so, so enjoyed how they did it. Like, one look between them to realize that yes, this is it, Jay is the expert and needs to go on. This is the end of our race... AAAHHH!! (Infinite shipping potential too)

Omg Nya screaming her brother's name and Jay his best friend's name, while Lloyd looks so devastated (those masks are actually kinda espressive, I really like them). Wow. This is the angst I needed, finally👌

YES SEVEN WON!!! HECK YEAH GIRL!!! SO HAPPY FOR HER!!! Also Okino in the background being happy, nice touch!

And now they are three... it's gonna end up with only Jay huh. I... I'm not ready actually, my heart 😢 They better all hug when this is all over!!!

STOP, DROP AND SIDE ROLL

I CAN SEE THEY ARE KEEPING THE FEELS FOR LAST APPARENTLY??? 😭

The music of the old school section was actually very nice, reminds me of the past, I kinda hoped The Fold were going to release some game themed songs. Been a while since I have one of those 😍

Lol, explaining the side scroll games was actually pretty cool

YES THEY ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGED THE AIRJITSU!! Maybe they will remember they can used it, right Cole? The ladder scene? YOU CAN FLY???

OMG NYA ACTUALLY SAID CICLON-DO JUST HOW CUTE IS THAT!!! All the way from my favorite season Possession, Jay's definition of airjitzu that I actually still kept in one of my fanfictions 😂

Okay the design of the temple of madness is REALLY cool, you can immediately tell it's from an old videogame. Gives me the double vibe the googles for the first 3D movies used to give me 😂

Also look at this

THIS IS ADORABLE!! 💙💚💦 Really old style videogame 😂

And there we go!! Harumi!! Since I saw her in the set I was wondering what she was going to be, maybe an avatar or an NPC of some sort... THIS HURTS WAY MORE!!! And of course pure heart BABY boy Lloyd doesn't feel good fighting her, he had a crush on her! AND HE FREAKING SAW HER DIE!!! It's really sad that he still hopes for her to be good...

The fighting scenes are really, REALLY good! So fluid and active! This fight was really pleasant to watch, not gonna lie 💜

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! NOT MY GREEN BABY BOY!!!! I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BUT STIIIIIIL!!! 😭😭😭

Okay, down to three members. Remaining Zaptrap and water godess... omg Nya will totally die first and at that point Jay will go completely nuts. I'm both scared and DYING TO HAPPEN!!! ANGST FINALLY!!! THIS IS THE STUFF!!

Got some major Skybound feeling, like when it was only Jay and Nya... will Nya finally say I love you back?? I HOPE SO ❤💙❤💙

With the three keytana now, what will happen? I'm actually curious now, this is the exciting stuff I need! And yes I do realize it's a little weird that for getting hype I need my faves to die 😅

NINJAGO CONFIDENTIAL

OMG THEY ACTUALLY DID A DETECTIVE THEMED EPISODE BLACK AND WHITE I'M DYING 😂😂😂

The Weekend Whip with sax, never thought I needed this in my life 😍

Bet Brent had a blast recording this

Okay this is the third Chima reference I see, they better throw some Nexo Knights hits as well next season! Come on, it's about freaking knights!!!

This is not what I expected when they said there was going to be an episode with only Zane and Pixal but I'm sure as HECK not complaining 👌

Oh, seeing Pixal joining in so normally is so beautiful, I really wish we could have her even more often

Dareth's karaoke bar! From Sons of Garmaron! Also him guessing first try because the ninja really do get post in other dimensions very often 😂 Gotta love them indeed

Pff Zane narrating and getting stopped every time because of it, how I missed this naive little nindroid

So the bartender Tony is the friend? That's it? A little easy really, hoped for more... still calling him Milty is cute 💕

Buddy's Pizza from season 2!!! This season is killing me with references and I LOVE IT SO MUCH 💜💜💜

So, the mechanic is free again (the Kryptarium dudes should really learn how to do their job right 😓), Zane is kidnapped, and Pixal has a fedora that makes her possibly even cuter. I have emotions

AH!! KNEW IT!! UNAGAMI IS NOT DYER!! FREAKING CALLED IT!!... kinda expected really, but still called it 😅

So Unagami was the first name of Prime Empire and is also an AI that got crazy and was shut down, but now is back after programming the game itself and wants to get to the real world?... I'm down with it

So I'm guessing we won't get much of a Scott backstory... Eh, let's see how it goes!

THE PRODIGAL FATHER

I was seriously confused by why those dudes wanted to kidnapped Wu, but it made sense later. Still come on sensei, you're a freaking half god or something, pull yourself together 🤦‍♀️

Very nice that Pixal is the one to bring up the argument about feelings and AI. So very nice to have her in this!!!

I THOUGHT ZANE WAS GOING TO TAKE A BREAK FROM LAST SEASON, WHY ARE THEY MAKING HIM SUFFER AGAIN??? 😭

Oh finally the backstory of Unagami I'm really curious about what happened in the past and what exactly brought the shut down of Prime Emp-

I LITERALLY CARE ABOUT NOTHING ELSE BUT THIS BEAUTIFUL GAMER BOY IN REAL LIFE!!! 😍😍😍😍😍

So Scott was the first beta tester, Milton asked Unagami to make the experience as exciting as possible, and that ended very badly so the game was shut down and THEY LEFT HIM INSIDE FULLY KNOWING HE WAS THERE??? I HATE DYER NOW!!!

Although it is really interesting knowing a tech genius like him, until now we got Dr. Julien and Cyrus Borg that were plenty open about the idea of AI with feelings as meaningful as humans'. While he doesn't get that, they are only machines for him and that's the reason why he doesn't understand how much Unagami is mad and filled with need for revenge.

This is why I want more than 11 minutes, the themes of this season are really, REALLY cool. I would have loved more introspection and development.

I guess Scott being Jay's brother is officially debunked 😅 Although I am curious about the life he left behind, since he was stuck in that game for 30 years. He still has those lightnings on the jacket I don't understand...

DON'T YOU DARE LET ZANE BE DESTROYED AGAIN PLEASE I STILL CRY WATCHING "THE TITANIUM NINJA"!!! 😢😢😢😢😢😢

The portal is open, Zane might get destroyed, Unagami wants revenge, Jay and Nya are the only one left and I'm pretty sure Nya will be killed as well leaving only Bluebell so there's THAT. So yeah, this is actually pretty cool!

Two episodes left. Okay Ninjago season 12 Prime Empire, wow me 😎

THE TEMPLE OF MADNESS

This felt a little simple if I'm gonna be honest. I felt like the last mission before facing Unagami was a little basic, with nothing really exciting. Still liked it, but this is probably my least favorite episode 🤷‍♀️

Of course, put Jay is a sushi restaurant-themed level and he will kill you with puns 😂 I love this prankster

Again, the fighting scenes are dope. Definitely one of my favorite things since they changed the animation. You lose something you win something 😙

Wooo, Jay saying that he had trained for years just for kick his butt was actually cool! Bluebell is unleashing!

"And that's how we roll!". You rock we roll, am I right 😂

AH!!! CALLED IT!!! TOTALLY CALLED IT!!! MY POOR BABY BLUEBELL 😭😭

I wish Nya said that she loves Jay back though! Freaking come on girl, he is your yang!!! ❤💙❤💙

Unagami is not Dyer, he wants to get to the real world, I'm actually kinda curious about the confrontation that is about to happen... ALSO THERE BETTER BE LOTS OF HUGS WHEN THIS IS OVER

I... genuinely forgot about the dragon medallion 😅 Eh, I love dragons so I'm fine with it. Well, let's see how it ends!!!

GAME OVER

Wow, I actually love this ending?? A LOT?? After last episode I didn't have much hope, but after seeing it I gotta say, it was really great 👌👌

Thanks for not dying on us again Zane, much appreciated

Jay taking charge is quite rare and when it happens you know things are about to get crazy 😂 It was really nice seeing how sensible he could be, telling that Unagami wasn't evil after all, that he needed closure and answers

I know I miss the animation peak we reached with SoG and Hunted, but I gotta say the atmosphere of the city with the lightnings and the gray sky was really awesome. Very cool.

Pff, that part with the elevator though, reminds me of the one in season 1 that made me start watch Ninjago ✌ Also it's always Borg's Tower indeed 😂

OKINO KICKING BUTTS HECK YEAH LOOK AT OUR RONIN GO!!!

And wow. WOW. I didn't expect Jay to drop the I'm adopted bomb on us, I think I never heard him talk about it since Skybound (that technically never happened so 😅). It was SO good seeing him sympathize with Unagami because he was also left with no explaination. His desire to know, along with the hope that the past is the past, but they had a good reason for. Also he freaking said he didn't have the chance to ask because Cliff is dead and I 😭😭😭😭

And here I melted, because we finally see the situation for what truly is, the way Jay also sees it: Unagami is a kid, a child that doesn't understand how the world works, that just wants to make his father proud but got rejected instead. The confrontation was actually touching, I really wish we had more time for that. Even a little resistance from Unagami, another fight, and a finally reconcilliation with Dyer.

MY NINJA BABIES ARE BACK I MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! ❤💚💙🖤💦💎

Could you seriously be cuter than this?? ❤💙❤💙 I wished for more hugs but I'll settle for this I guess 😍

Okay, very nice to see Seven and Okino out there and deciding to live their lives in Ninjago, nice to see some others like the rats going back to Prime Empire. As Unagami said, he gave them a choice, it's up to them at this point

But I'm sorry, WHY ARE WE NOT GOING TO TALK WITH SCOTT??? That guy's been trapped inside the game the longest, not even a "Hey bud, you're alive, cool cool"? I know I've been overbearing about how much I love Scott, especially since I had all those theories about him (still don't know why he has lightnings on his jacket and hat, is it just a style thing? Idk), but come on! Well I guess if he's happy I am 🤷‍♀️

Is that his girlfriend or something? After 30 years? Or maybe she got trapped with him a while later? Or maybe that's his... mom? Look, we all know determine the age of LEGO characters is hard, give me a break please 😅😅

Overall, very nice ending, it brought everything together quite nicely. I'm satisfied, yes!! 💜💜

FINAL THOUGHTS

As I said, the episodes' lenght I really think gets in the way of making this an excellent season. There is so much that could be explored more, the choice matter, all the amazing characters, and the AI feelings stuff from the latest episodes. There is room for more, I wished we got that

The characters though were really amazing. Between Scott, Okino, Seven and Unagami himself, there were very different personalities with very different dreams and thoughts, that made this ride much more interesting

Fighting animation was 👌👌👌

Comebacks from past seasons were 👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

Maybe it didn't really focused on Jay as much until the end? Yeah it was about him, but we got to see his sensibility and his past only last episode. He loves Nya, he likes videogames, of course but there's more about him than meets the eye! Wished we saw that, but in general it was nice seeing him first line again 💙

I liked this season. It has flaws, but I enjoyed many parts and at the end I was left satisfied 👍

Just... wasn't Jillian supposed to be in this? Or is it next season? She said a mom was going to come back, I took for granted it was going to be Edna. I'm curious about next season now... FINALLY A COLE SEASON EVERYONE!!! 🖤🖤🖤

Thank you for leaving notes to my last rant, this helps me not jump excitedly every time a new episode comes out 😅 Well then, that's all from me!! Have a nice day everyone!! 💜💜💜

[doc-pickles]

livin’ for the hope of it all

Fun Fact: This is probably my favorite track from folklore (betty is a close second and they’re actually connected in the same storyline) so I created an AU College Sweethearts Jolex storyline just for this. I also needed to change things up because my fics for this week were feeling repetitive, but the good news is that I actually love the storyline and this piece!

(And while we’re at it, shout out to @odd-birds-and-booksellers for beta reading this and helping me clean this up for y’all. ILY and you’re the BEST!)

Also oops I slated this as angst and that just absolutely did not happen. It’s pretty fluffy but uh warning the ending is not happy… at all… So sorry about that.  So without further ado, the folklore fic that stole my whole entire heart!

But I can see us lost in the memory

August slipped away into a moment in time

'Cause it was never mine

And I can see us twisted in bedsheets

August sipped away like a bottle of wine

'Cause you were never mine

“Alrighty boys, can I get anything else for you?”

“Yeah how about your number, sweet cheeks.”

Jo rolled her eyes, used to the degrading remarks she would often get as a waitress in the greasy diner. The table of young boys didn’t bother her, they were a dime a dozen working in a college town and it was a sure bet that one of them would say something stupid or degrading to Jo.

Ignoring the comments and laughs from the table, Jo began to walk away but didn’t get very far. The boy closest to the edge had tugged her arm hard enough that she went flying backwards, landing in his lap as one hand came up to hold Jo in place against him. 

“Aw come on baby, don’t you want this,” the boy was speaking directly into Jo’s ear, a clear attempt at seducing her that was failing miserably. She tried desperately to squirm out of his grasp, but he only held her tighter. “I can show you a good time.”

“Hey dick wad, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that the lady doesn’t wanna talk to you,” a gruff voice sounded above Jo, the speaker holding his hand out to help Jo up. She took it with a grateful smile and stood, wiping off her apron while he continued to stare down the table of now terrified boys. “And don’t forget to tip generously.”

Jo watched in amazement as the man went back to his spot at the counter, eyes trained on the newspaper before him. She rounded the diner once more before walking behind the counter to stand in front of the mystery man, refilling his coffee as she eyed him. 

“Thanks for doing that. Those losers can’t take a hint sometimes,” Jo offered her hand to the stranger, a small smile on her face. “I’m Jo, by the way. I’ve never seen you around here before.”

“Alex,” the man shook Jo’s hand, a crooked grin appearing on his stoic face. “I just finished med school last month, I finally have time to eat breakfast and enjoy a Thursday morning.”

Jo’s response was cut off by her boss yelling at her, her hand coming up to wave to Alex before she bolted to the other end of the diner. Her eyes flicked back to him once or twice, always finding him staring back already. The small action left Jo with a near constant blush on her cheeks. 

By the time Jo makes it back around, Alex is gone. His empty coffee cup sits on top of a $20, which she grabs with a grin. A corner of the newspaper rests on top of the bill, neat block printing across it that makes Jo’s cheeks flame once again. 

‘If you get sick of stupid frat boys, give me a call.’

+

“I hate to say it, but you might be better at darts than me,” Alex let out a chuckle and grabbed his beer, taking a long swig from it as he turned back to Jo. “You have nothing better to do than practice your aim?”

After her shift at the diner, Jo had sat in her car and hesitated all of thirty minutes before calling Alex and asking him to meet up with her at the bar down the street from her apartment. Nerves flying all around her, Jo had finally made it down to Red’s Bar and Grill, meeting Alex with a wide grin and the first round of beers on her tab. 

“Mmm I practice between classes and work,” Jo rolled her eyes, throwing another dart and hitting just outside of the bullseye. “I’m about to start my last year of school at UI. Architecture degree, the boring stuff.”

“Hey hey, I don’t judge,” Alex shrugged, eyes glinting with amusement. “I’m sure that doodling buildings is just as thrilling as cutting people open.”

Jo let out a laugh, her eyes roaming appreciatively over Alex for the first time. He wore jeans and a t-shirt that hugged his arms and torso, the dark blue bringing out the flecks of gold in his eyes. The low lighting in the bar didn’t help Jo as she tried to concentrate on anything besides the way Alex looked at her, cheeks flushing as she imagined his hands running over her body. 

“Oh you should see me in class, I’m the only woman in my major so,” Jo blindly threw her final dart at the board, relying on Alex’s shocked expression to tell her that she had hit close to her mark. “Had to find something to beat the boys at, keep their egos at bay.”

Satisfied with the dark look that came over Alex, Jo swigged her beer and took a step towards him, her fingers trailing over the collar of his shirt. She’d held back through the three rounds of beers and the pizza they’d shared, but she couldn’t keep her hands off of him any longer. 

“I don’t wanna be too forward but,” Alex finished his beer with one gulp, one hand moving to rest on Jo’s hip. “You wanna get out of here?” 

“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life,” Jo breathes out, pulling Alex down to kiss her chastely before letting go and walking towards the exit. “Come on, Doctor Handsome. Let’s go.”

+

Two weeks after their first date, Jo is scrambling during the morning rush to touch each of her tables and makes sure they’re all taken care of. It’s just her and her boss Nancy working this morning, so she’s really busting her ass to make sure that she makes good tips. A hand reaches out, swiping her arm delicately and makes Jo sigh in relief. She was so used to the gentle brush against her arm that it felt like second nature at this point.

“Hey you,” Alex’s voice is soft, something that Jo can barely hear above the rush of the crowded restaurant. “Long morning?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe, Katie called out sick so there’s only two of us,” Jo groans as she reaches for the coffee pot to refill Alex’s cup. “I have the next two days off though so I’m just trying to make it through this stupid shift.”

Alex’s hand reaches out and grabs her wrist, holding it for the briefest second before letting her go with a grin. Jo can never seem to control the way her heart beats out of time around the man she just met, but she can’t say she hates the feeling of her heart fluttering nervously. 

“How about we drive to the lake and spend a day or two up there,” Alex shrugs, as if the idea of spending a few days away with Jo is the most natural thing in the world. “Just the two of us. I’ve got some camping gear and a hard top for the pickup. We’ll make a weekend out of it.”

Jo’s eyelashes batted against her cheek, eyes roaming over Alex with a focused stare. They hadn’t labelled whatever it was that they were doing (sleeping together, spending nights stargazing in the back of Alex’s truck, meeting up almost every night to drink cheap wine and order whatever takeout was offering a deal, actually just sleeping together) but spending a few days alone was something entirely different. Spending a few days alone was real. 

“You know what,” Jo laughed, leaning forward to peck Alex’s cheek. “Let’s do it. Let’s get out of this hellish town, god knows we both need it..”

The crooked smile that appears on Alex’s face made Jo’s heart stutter again, the look ingrained in her mind so well that she thought she might be able to paint it from memory. 

+

“I haven’t been up here in years, I didn’t realize how beautiful it was,” Jo stood at the edge of the small cliffside overlooking the water just a few feet down. Alex stood behind her, arms wrapped around her waist and head propped against her shoulder as they both admired the beginnings of the sunset reflecting on the water. “I’m glad we came up here.”

“Me too, I’m glad I get to spend some time with you,” Alex turned Jo around, his hands squeezing her waist as he kissed her gently. “And I’m very sorry about this.”

Before Jo could respond to him, Alex had lifted her off the ground and jumped off the small dirt cliff, plunging them both into the icy water of the lake. When she resurfaced, Alex was already laughing at her shocked expression. 

“You’re gonna pay for that, Karev,” Jo laughed, feet treading water as she swam closer to him. “Oh you’re so gonna pay for that.”

Alex seized the opportunity in front of him, quickly wrapping his arms around Jo and pulling her body flush with his. His lips meet her neck as she tries in vain to squirm away from him, loud peels of laughter escaping Jo as she let herself relax into Alex’s embrace. 

It’s hours later when they’re laying in the back of Alex’s truck, eyes glued to the sky as they lay wrapped up in one another in a pile of blankets and pillows. There’s a discarded wine bottle next to them and the last embers of the fire they’d built are still glowing. It’s peaceful and quiet and Jo doesn’t think she’d ever felt so relaxed in her whole life. 

“The stars look way brighter out here,” Jo noted as she rested her head against Alex’s chest, eyes closing as he ran his fingers through her hair. “I wish I could stay here forever. It’s the perfect spot.”

“Well this truck bed is uncomfortable as hell so I don’t think us living in the woods would be great on your back,” Alex chuckled as Jo’s hand hit his chest with a soft whap. She sat up then, reaching for her overnight bag and digging through it. “What’re you doing?”

“I got you something! It’s not much but,” Jo pulled out an immaculately wrapped box and handed it to Alex with a wide grin. “I figured it might be handy when you become a hot shot doctor.”

Alex cocked an eyebrow at Jo, before unwrapping the box and popping it open. Inside laid a wrist watch, a silver watch face mounted on a thick leather strap. Jo revelled in the crooked grin on Alex’s face as he took it out and handed it to her, silently asking her to latch it onto his wrist.

“It’s vintage, I found it at a thrift store the other day and I couldn’t resist buying it,” Jo gushed as she adjusted the strap against Alex’s wrist. “I read somewhere that most doctors want to keep a watch on because they’re easier to check and more reliable than digital. And it helps with counting seconds an-”

The rest of Jo’s sentence melted away as Alex pressed his lips firmly against hers. Jo couldn’t help the smile that overtook her, a giggle escaping quietly as Alex leaned her back and pressed her into the truck bed.

“Thank you, you’re more than I deserve,” Alex kissed Jo once more before moving his lips to her neck. “Maybe I can show you how much you mean to me.”

“Mmmm that sounds like a fun way to end the night,” Jo giggled as Alex moved his lips further down her body. “A really fun way to end it…” +

Once the thrill of their spontaneous weekend trip wears off, Jo is surprised at how normal her relationship with Alex feels. It’s August now, Alex’s short break between med school and the start of his internship nearing an end. He had applied all over the country, but the county hospital had been the only one to accept him. 

“I didn’t hear back from Hopkins, Mass Gen, Seattle Grace, or UCSF, but they were all long shots anyways,” Alex shrugged, slinging his arm around Jo’s shoulder and bringing her closer to him on the ratty couch in her apartment. The movie they had chosen rattled on in the background, neither of them paying much attention to it. “Besides, staying here means I get to hang out with you all the time.”

Jo leaned into Alex’s embrace, eyes closing as she relished the feeling of his heartbeat pounding steadily in her ears. She’d become so comfortable in spending so much time with Alex that she didn’t know what she would do when he began to work long nights and days at the hospital. Of course, her own classes would begin in two weeks and then who knew where the two would land up. 

“Mmm yeah I don’t think I can let you go even if I tried,” Jo felt Alex’s hand slip into her own, squeezing gently as he kissed her head. “I’m pretty sure I love you.”

Jo didn't register the hitch of Alex’s breathing, she didn't even notice that he was staring at her so intently. She had dozed off in his embrace, head heavy against his chest as he watched her carefully. He only moved when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket, stepping into the other room so he wouldn’t wake her. 

“Hello? This is him. Umm yeah, yeah absolutely. I’m definitely interested. I can be there, I will be there… Three days? Yup. Not a problem. Sorry, I didn’t catch your name. Thanks Doctor Webber, it’s been a pleasure. I’ll see you soon.”

+

“I have to take this stupid Calculus class and I can’t drop it and I already hate it,” Jo groaned as she plopped into the seat next to Alex. It was a Tuesday morning and the diner was near empty, allowing Jo a few minutes to breathe easy. “Honestly, I’m not excited to start classes next week. I’ve been absolutely exhausted the past week and I would rather just sleep until graduation.”

Reaching over, Jo grabbed Alex’s toast and took a bite and then returned it to his plate. She looked at him curiously, watching as he stared deep into his coffee cup and didn’t flinch at her quick action. Alex usually swatted her hand away when she stole his food, or at least said something to her. In fact, she didn’t think he had spoken more than a brief hello to her all morning. 

“Are you okay? You seem off today,” Jo rested her hand on Alex’s shoulder, a pang of relief coursing through her as he leaned into her embrace. “What’s up? You stressed about your internship? Because you’re going to do great.”

“No it’s just,” Alex heaved a sigh and turned to Jo, his normally bright eyes a dull brown. He looked sad, upset almost, but Jo couldn’t tell why. “You know I love you, right?”

A brilliant smile took over Jo’s face, a distinct glow coming about her as she leaned her forehead against Alex’s. 

“Of course I do,” Jo pecked Alex’s lips quickly, one hand coming up to rub his cheek. “I love you too. You’re pretty special, you know that?”

Alex responded with a nod, leaning up and kissing Jo once more. She left the seat next to him after that, checking on her tables and refilling coffees before heading back to him. Alex was shrugging his coat on as she walked up, coffee cup drained and bill paid. 

“Heading out?”

“Yeah I got stuff to do,” Alex pulled Jo in close, lips meeting hers in a kiss that was much more passionate than what he’d normally reserve for the diner. He pulled back and stared into Jo’s eyes, a look of longing filling the dark orbs. “I meant what I said. I love you Jo.”

“I love you too,” Jo whispered back, leaning up and kissing Alex once more before patting his chest and stepping away from him. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, I’m working a double today. Bye Alex!”

“Goodbye Jo,” Alex stood a moment longer in the doorway of the diner, watching Jo carefully as she flitted around the dining room. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open, stepping out into the cool August breeze. 

+

“Hey pretty girl, where’s your hotshot boyfriend now? Dipped out on you?”

Jo tried as much as she could to tune out the catcalls and insults flowing from the rowdy table of boys behind her. What she would give for Alex to come swooping in to save her like he did that first day they’d met, but she knew that he wouldn’t. She hadn’t seen him in so long, the August weather turning darker and colder as the months shifted to autumn. It was November now and between classes and the diner, Jo barely had a spare moment to think of the man she’d fallen in love with. 

Except that she did. 

Every minute of the day all Jo could think about was Alex and how much she missed him. His phone number had been disconnected, his apartment was cleaned out, and she hadn’t seen his beat up red pickup truck since it was parked outside of the diner the last day she’d seen him. She’d even gone down to the county hospital to look for him, but a nurse had informed her that there wasn’t anyone under his name working there, much to Jo’s dismay. 

She knew she was being stupid, that Alex and her had just had a fleeting summer romance and she needed to let it go. There was not going to be a magical reunion like the beginning of Grease, there would be no singing and there would be no happy ending for Jo. But she couldn’t let Alex go, she didn’t think she would ever be able to.

“You need to calm down, I know there’s a lot going on, but you are not helping me out,” Jo sighed, eyes closing as she took a moment to press a hand to her protruding stomach. “I know you get excited when we’re here but today… I can’t deal with the constant kicking of my bladder little boy.”

You know when you’re already down and out and then something comes along and just knocks you flat on your ass? That’s exactly what Jo was experiencing. After spending two weeks straight crying over Alex and insurance commercials and the grocery store being out of strawberry ice cream, she’d finally realized that her period was late and that she just might be carrying the child of a man who didn’t want to be found by her. Three stupid plastic tests later confirmed just what Jo had thought: Come April of next year, she would be a mom. 

“We’ll get through today and all the days coming,” Jo sighed as she spoke to herself, a few tears slipping out and dragging down her cheeks. “It’ll all be okay, things will change for us.”