#...oh yeah what's the context for this exchange anyway?

[rhymaes]

Mysterious Lotus Casebook // Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red

(continuation of x)

[iruiji]

SAGAU but Creator Reader has been tagging along with the Gourmet Supremos.

If you didn't know or have forgotten, Gourmet Supremos are one of those quest series that is randomized because some part of the questline can only be accessed with dailies (like Whispers in the Wind or Snezhnaya Does Not Believe in Tears or Garcia's Paean).

This questline spans from Inazuma up to Sumeru. I think there were 6-7 quests in total? I forgot. (it's 8).

(These are Julie, Parvaneh and Xudong in order.) There are more characters that made a cameo in here but we'll just limit it with these three.

Context dropped, onto the short HCs.

• Okay so, I didn't really read the whole story of this one so I'm just going to make some random HCs on the fly. I'm aiming for a goody-feel with this one so no heavy angst will be involved.

• Alright, so. Xudong is the leader of the Gourmet Supremos, and he only found you because when you land in Inazuma, you literally dropped into their camp and was about to steal a sausage from Julie's backpack (but there were so many ingredients there!!!)

• Xudong was fuming, lmao.

"THIEF!! SOMEONE, HELP!"

• Aight, geez, made you run a marathon there.

• The next time you've met, all three were together and they saw you roasting some lavender melon in some dilapidated tent you found while walking aimlessly. Hey, better than no shelter at all. For some unfathomable reason, your inventory only consists of food materials - with everything, and I mean everything, missing.

• God damn. It's like the heaven is telling you something. 🙄

• Anyways, yeah. So for some reason, the only access to the goddamn ingredients are locked, and you can't use it and you don't know when you would be able to use it, so you have to scrounge up whatever pitiful sources you can get.

• Sadly, it's mostly lavender melons.

• Like, you already made several dishes from this and it's really starting to grind on your gears, so you took a dive in one of the caverns and found some meat and was happily grilling it with the melons when the trio came out of nowhere.

"Thief!"

The hell. "I didn't get the sausage, though."

"But you still tried to!"

"I mean, I was dying of hunger, so.. you know."

Julie, bless her heart, gets in between you two. "It's fine, Xudong. They needed help, did they not?"

"But-"

This time, Parvaneh chimes in. "As they've told you, they didn't get anything, so let it go. And you." She points at you with calloused finger. "Who are you?"

That caught you off guard a little. Told them your name and, to Xudong's bewilderment, started chatting amicably with you. Some time later though, he softened a bit but still a little cautious. They traded cooking tips with you, and, to their utmost surprise, you exchanged many tips on cooking as well.

"How do you know all this?" Xudong asked as you finished explaining the difference between sauteing onion and garlic first.

"Oh. I'm uh, a professional chef back in our place. Been years though, so yeah." You replied as you took a bite of their chicken. "Holy shit, why is this so good?"

Julie and Parvaneh just smiled proudly.

• So like, you became a new addition to their team - but you actually specialize in desserts. Xudong has many a great views in cooking, as well as the two ladies, and together you journeyed the whole of Inazuma for rare ingredients and made some two or three journals that have been since published and loved by people. (The fangirling/fanboying is real when you saw Xiangling's message drooling about your own version of Tiramisu).

• One day, however, you lot came across a shrine - it doesn't look abandoned, oddly, but it looks really, really old. You asked them what's the deal with this one, and they explained about the Creator.

Oh.

You're in SAGAU?

Shit.

"People said they've come back, but we don't really know.."

Double shit.

• With that knowledge, you try and avoid the main cities as much as possible and only let the three buy on populated areas. Thank God they didn't really notice you suddenly covering half your face with a mask - which you only shrugged when asked.

"I like masks."

Fair enough, they suppose.

• ..oh fuck, is that Yae Miko?

"Ara, and who is this?"

Xudong, Julie and Parvaneh bows and you hastily followed.

"She is our new companion, Lady Miko."

She looks at you with an impish grin. "Oh?"

Dont act suspicious. Don't act suspicious.

"..yo."

Nice.

• Coming across the main characters from the game are very, VERY rare. You can actually count on one hand the characters you've met:

Yae Miko;

Thoma (he was going around asking for favors as usual and you bump into each other and only had quick apologies as interaction);

Kujou Sara (she was patrolling the area and asked about your mask - which you replied that it's part of your outfit. damn, her glare was fucking menacing!);

Kuki Shinobu (you were side to side buying groceries once), and lastly;

Kamisato Ayato (you actually didn't meet - you just saw him giving speech in a podium for some event you just came across).

• You figured, hey, maybe you're NOT the creator or whatever. And just tried to live normally after some time. The mask stayed though, because you just survived the pandemic back here and was cautious.

• About a year and six months with the team, Xudong suggested you come all to Sumeru to expand your knowledge. Holy shit, yes please!

• ..and then you met the Traveler on your way.

"Your Grace..?"

Triple shit.

😭 sorry for disappearing for about a year - i was too lazy finishing anything. And now, I added another idea not to finish on the list 💀 wrote this whole thing in like 30 minutes motivation really is a wonderful thing, huh?

[demigod-shenanigans]

Valgrace fic idea #1 that I’m probably not going to write (feat. some minor-ish pipeyna)

Context: at the pride parade I went to someone gave me a folded note that said “give this to a person you think looks cute” and before I could really see/register what was happening they’d already dipped (strategy I also used to pass on the note lmao A+ way to give a compliment as a shy person and make someone’s day without actively hitting on them)

Anyway Piper and Leo are at their first pride together and Leo gets the note and uses the same strategy to pass it on to Jason and bolt

They don’t know each other at that point, Leo also didn’t feel like his flirting has actually worked very well for him lately so he’s like “eh I’ll just make this person’s day and move on with my life”

And then Piper pauses and stares at Jason and is like “hang on I think this is my comphet summer camp ex from last year”

So now she’s curious and wants to go say “hi” and Leo is sweating because what if the guy realizes he was the one who gave him the note

Piper tells him it’s fine she doesn’t necessarily have to say hi if Leo is too uncomfortable but at that point Jason’s already spotted her and drawn the same conclusion and is dragging Reyna over to them (Reyna gone at least once before and she’s carrying this huge ace flag and Jason just accompanied her as an ally because he didn’t know he was also queer at the time)

And Piper is there with her little sapphic flag sew-on patch and Jason has a gay flag painted on his cheek and they just look at each other and burst out laughing because “you too huh” and then just chat for a bit because “what are the chances” and kind of regretting the fact that they didn’t stay in contact after camp ended

And Leo thinks he’s gonna get away with the note but then Jason looks at him and goes “oh hang on you’re the one who gave me that note!” And Leo freezes and starts nervously chuckling all “yeah can we please not make a big deal out of that I just thought-”

But Jason goes on to say “I think you gave it to me by mistake since we didn’t even know each other. Don’t worry I didn’t open it, here I’ll give it back” and Leo is absolutely dying inside

But then Piper tells him to open it and Jason asks Leo if it’s okay for him to and then he does and his face splits into a huge grin and he says “I think I’ll give it back anyway”

And Piper bursts out laughing because “he did not have that much game when we were dating”

Anyway they exchange numbers. Jason invites Leo to grab some coffee (cocoa because Leo doesn’t like coffee) afterwards and Reyna and Piper look at each other all “I can’t believe they ditched us” but then they decide maybe they can go grab coffee too and actually maybe they’re not too mad about this :)

Piper gives Leo shit about the fact that he ditched her for her ex for years despite the fact that she got a girlfriend out of it

[cimerran-714]

Well, as many people love to claim that Ron's not at fault for abandoning the Trio in Deathly Hallows (some Ron stans instead prefer to shift the blame to Harry instead by reading things out of context), I thought I'd analyze the entire scene here.

So, to start with, I really like Ron. But I do not think that you have to excuse everything a character does in order to like him. Now, Ron fans would probably just claim that I am lying about liking Ron, but I don't care about that.

Let's get started, shall we?

“So, would he have hidden the sword well away from Hogsmeade then? What d’you reckon, Ron? Ron?” Harry looked around. For one bewildered moment he thought that Ron had left the tent, then realized that Ron was lying in the shadow of a lower bunk, looking stony. “Oh, remembered me, have you?” he said.

Okay, so it begins with Harry looking for Ron, and he notices him lying next to a bunk "looking stony". He makes a comment asking whether Harry's remembered him.

Now, how does Harry respond to that?

"What?” Ron snorted as he started up at the underside of the upper bunk. “You two carry on. Don’t let me spoil your fun.” Perplexed, Harry looked to Hermione for help, but she shook her head, apparently as nonplussed as he was. “What’s the problem?” asked Harry.

Harry's understandably confused. He says "What?" and then exchanges a look with Hermione, who's similarly perplexed. And then, Harry asks him again what the problem was. He just says "What's the problem?" and nothing else.

“Problem? There’s no problem,” said Ron, still refusing to look at Harry. “Not according to you, anyway.” There were several plunks on the canvas over their heads. It had started to rain. “Well, you’ve obviously got a problem,” said Harry. “Spit it out, will you?

Ron refuses to elaborate & just says that according to Harry, there's no problem. Harry replies by asking him to "spit out". Well, that maybe he considered rude, but how would you even respond to it? They were discussing Horcruxes & Ron's talking about how the others "remembered" him now, that Harry shouldn't let him "spoil their fun", and that Harry doesn't think there's a problem.

Considering the context, it's a valid thing to say.

Ron swung his long legs off the bed and sat up. He looked mean, unlike himself. “All right, I’ll spit it out. Don’t expect me to skip up and down the tent because there’s some other damn thing we’ve got to find. Just add it to the list of stuff you don’t know.” “I don’t know?” repeated Harry. “I don’t know?”

Ron looks unlike his usual self as he then implies that he doesn't care about what they had found out, and that it's Harry's fault. That's why Harry repeated the same thing. He was just surprised and shocked.

Plunk, plunk, plunk. The rain was falling harder and heavier; it pattered on the leaf-strewn bank all around them and into the river chattering through the dark. Dread doused Harry’s jubilation. Ron was saying exactly what he had suspected and feared him to be thinking. “It’s not like I’m not having the time of my life here,” said Ron, “you know, with my arm mangled and nothing to eat and freezing my backside off every night. I just hoped, you know, after we’d been running round a few weeks, we’d have achieved something.

Ron talks about how the Horcrux hunting wasn't similar to his expectations.

Again, Harry responded calmly:

"I thought you knew what you’d signed up for,” said Harry. “Yeah, I thought I did too.” “So what part of it isn’t living up to expectations?” asked Harry. Anger was coming to his defense now. “Did you think we’d be staying in five-star hotels? Finding a Horcrux every other day? Did you think you’d be back to Mummy by Christmas?"

For Harry using the phrase "back to Mummy", remember that Ron agreed to come to help even though Harry said that they shouldn't, and now he's upset that it's not working out & is sulking. Anyone would have gotten angry. Seriously, Ron just makes it sound as if Harry forced him to come along.

"We thought you knew what you were doing!” shouted Ron, standing up, and his words pierced Harry like scalding knives. “We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!” “Ron!” said Hermione, this time clearly audible over the rain thundering on the tent roof, but again, he ignored her. “Well, sorry to let you down,” said Harry, his voice quite calm even though he felt hollow, inadequate. “I’ve been straight with you from the start, I told you everything Dumbledore told me. And in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve found on Horcrux—”

Ron's words are scathing, but remarkably, Harry is STILL calm in his response. He's composing himself as he explains to Ron that he did tell them everything that he knew.

"Yeah, and we’re about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them—nowhere effing near in other words.” “Take off the locket, Ron,” Hermione said, her voice unusually high. “Please take it off. You wouldn’t be talking like this if you hadn’t been wearing it all day.” “Yeah, he would,” said Harry, who did not want excuses made for Ron. “D’you think I haven’t noticed the two of you whispering behind my back? D’you think I didn’t guess you were thinking this stuff?"

Well, Hermione IS being unfair by blaming it on the locket. We do know that Ron left even after he removed the locket, and like Harry said, they were whispering behind his back.

Further on:

"Harry we weren’t—” “Don’t lie!” Ron hurled at her. “You said it too, you said you were disappointed, you said you’d thought he had a bit more to go on than—” “I didn’t say it like that—Harry, I didn’t!” she cried. The rain was pounding the tent, tears were pouring down Her- mione’s face, and the excitement of a few minutes before had van- ished as if it had never been, a short-lived firework that had flared and died, leaving everything dark, wet, and cold. The sword of Gryffindor was hidden they knew not where, and they were three teenagers in a tent whose only achievement was not, yet, to be dead. “So why are you still here?” Harry asked Ron. “Search me,” said Ron.

Read the last part. Harry asks him why he's still there and Ron replies by saying that he doesn't know. THAT is when Harry asks him to leave; Ron made it clear that he does not even want to remain there any more.

Remarkably, Harry is STILL replying calmly when he asks him to go home.

"Go home then,” said Harry. “Yeah, maybe I will!” shouted Ron, and he took several steps toward Harry, who did not back away. “Didn’t you hear what they said about my sister? But you don’t give a rat’s fart, do you, it’s only the Forbidden Forest, Harry I’ve-Faced-Worse Potter doesn’t care what happens to her in there—well, I do, all right, giant spider and mental stuff—”

Ron talks about how Harry doesn't care about what happens to Ginny.

And incredibly, Harry is STILL calm.

“I was only saying—she was with the others, they were with Hagrid—” “Yeah, I get it, you don’t care! And what about the rest of my family, the Weasleys don’t need another kid injured, did you hear that?” “Yeah, I—” “Not bothered what it meant, though?”

“Not bothered what it meant, though?” “Ron!” said Hermione, forcing her way between them. “I don’t think it means anything new has happened, anything we don’t know about: think, Ron, Bill’s already scarred; plenty of people must have seen that George has lost an ear by now, and you’re supposed to be on your deathbed with spattergroit, I’m sure that’s all he meant—” “Oh, you’re sure, are you? Right then, well, I won’t bother myself about them. It’s all right for you two, isn’t it, with your parents safely out of the way—” “My parents are dead !” Harry bellowed

There you go. Ron insults Harry's parents greatly by talking about how his parents are "safely out of the way". At this point, Harry, who has been remarkably calm overall, loses his temper.

Honestly, you know what happens after that. Harry responds to him by asking him to essentially fuck off, and Ron begins to escalate it physically and attack Harry (a fight was averted by Hermione's shield charm).

And then Ron left even AFTER having removed the locket. Don't blame it on the locket, it's a weak excuse.

So, to summarize:

Ron started the argument.

Harry replies in a mostly calm manner.

Ron insults Harry's dead parents upon which the latter finally loses his temper.

Ron leaves after removing the locket.

Yeah, sorry, I am still 100% going to blame Ron here.

[yourplayersaidwhat]

Battle of the High What?

A bit of context - my younger brother is currently running a campaign of Shadow of the Dragon Queen which is set in the Dragonlance verse, which me and our dad are both part of. Our party was on the way to return to the inn we’re staying at after attending the funeral of the adventurer Ispin Greenshield before we got stopped by a mercenary leader who was helping with the festivities.

I’d like to mention that everyone around the table are Swedish and sometimes english can be hard. So anyway, the conversation went a bit like this:

Cudgel Ironsmile (the NPC): Oh hey, you were at Ispin’s funeral weren’t you? I was about to ask, are you six up for participating in the annual re-enactment of the Battle of the High Hills that is tomorrow?

(note: My brother mispronounced ‘Hills’ but I, kind sister as I am, tried not to bring attention to it)

My Half-Elf Paladin: Oh, the Battle of the High Hills? Taking part in it was a childhood dream of mine, of course I will!

My dad’s Tiefling Rogue in all his smarmy glory: OH I misheard and thought you said Battle of the High Heels! Yeah sure, if I don’t need to wear heeled boots I’ll be fine.

Everyone promptly died of laughter, my brother did the Obligatory DM facepalm and this entire exchange led to a running gag of us never getting the name of the aforementioned battle correctly.

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box Series— Imagines Edition: Best Friend Number Twos

request: “Sissy and Cole! Okay so, Cole just goes dibs one day? Like rocks up to the lake house of even to Anaheim and is basically like *scoop up sissy* "I'm borrowing this. Mental health day bye." And everyone is like can he do that? That's an option?”

warnings: cursing, we*d (underage)

word count: 1.3k

SERIES MASTERLIST

a/n: when i tell y’all idk timeline of their life, i mean that shit. ik alex lived with them at some point (from what i put together from context clues) and trevor said he lived with them at one point (idk if that’s separate from the 5 weeks) but this is DIY timeline so trevor isn’t living with them but he visits a lot bc he’s dating sissy (duh) during NTDP days

ps i high key hate this and i am so sorry but every time i hate something it does well soooo here it is :) lmk what you think (i wrote in inebriated)

— — — — —

Sunday afternoons tended to be the calmest of all the days of the week. It was mainly spent with catching up on homework assignments, running errands, or just relaxing on the couch with your boyfriend, Jack, and Luke. Today was one of those days.

“Sissy, I love you, and if you weren’t Quinny’s entire world, you’d be mine. But I am—“

“Why can’t I be both of your entire worlds?” you cut him off. Jack tilted his head and gave you a ‘really?’ look, “Shut up, nobody asked you. Anyways, as I was saying, I love you, but I do not want to watch Catching Fire again.”

“But you love it!” you whined.

“Yes, but I don’t want to watch it every week! I don’t care how in love with Finnick you are, I’m picking the movie,” Jack stated. You crossed your arms and pouted, “Fine. Cars?”

Jack sighed and slammed his head down on the arm of the couch, “fucking dammit, fine!”

You cheered and fell into Trevor in celebration when the doorbell rang. Jack got up to open the door, “Oh hey! What are you doing here? Come on in.”

You and Trevor looked over and saw Cole entering the house. You both perked up and smiled at his arrival, “Cole!”

Trevor stood up to greet his friend in one of their weird handshakes they refuse to let you in on, “Hey! Whatcha doing here, buddy?”

Instead of answering immediately, Cole voted to just pick you up right off the couch and into his arms.

“I’m taking her,” Cole stated as if it were the most obvious thing int the world.

Jack, Luke, and Trevor all exchanged confused glances.

“Can he do that?” Trevor asked.

“Well, none of us are Quinn,” Luke said perplexed.

“Can I ask why you’re taking Sissy?” Jack turned to Cole, who was slowly walking to the door to keep conversation.

“I’ve been stressed, so I thought a Y/N day would solve all my problems,” Cole answered. “It works out great for you guys, I thought I’d give it a try.

“She is good at that,” Jack agreed. “Is this just a thing now? We can take her wherever?”

“Not when I’m—“

“With Quinn! Yeah, yeah, we know,” Jack interrupted.

Cole started walking closer to the door with you still i’m his arms. You situated yourself so that your legs were wrapped around his waist and your arms wrapped around his neck.

“Cole! Where are you taking her?!” Trevor shouted at his best friend.

“Anywhere she wants!”

“Can we come?”

“I can’t have a detox with Y/N day with her brothers and boyfriend hanging around!” Cole called out while he opened the front door.

“Bring her back by 6 for dinner!” Jack told him. You saluted him and allowed yourself to be carried out the door to Cole’s car.

“Alright, Caufield. You got 5 hours with me, what’s your game plan?” you asked as you placed your elbow on the middle console to prop your head up to look at him.

“I thought I’d take you out to lunch and then back to my dorm for some video games and maybe smoke a little?” Cole answered.

You quirked and eyebrow, “Where did you acquire bud?”

Instead of answering, Cole reached into his pocket and held up a disposable pen.

“That’s not smoking,” you rolled your eyes.

“Do you want it or not?”

You snatched it out of his hand and inhaled, relaxing back into your seat on the exhale.

“Good?” Cole smiled.

“Hella.”

Cole took you to Chipotle, which you both voted to take it back to Cole’s room to eat so he could rant. You sat perpendicular to the head of his bed and had him lay his head down in your lap so you could play with his hair as he spoke. Most of it was stress handling school and hockey practice four days a week, plus games. Other parts of it was little things, such as missing home and a much comfier bed.

“What if once a week we all get together and do assignments together? And we can get you a comfier mattress topper for your bed to try and make it comfier, and I’d have to ask mom but maybe you can stay in Quinn’s room every once in a while. I sleep in his bed all the time when I miss him so I can confirm it is a top notch bed to sleep in,” you said.

“How do I know if it’s actually top notch or if you just miss your best friend so much you gaslit yourself into liking it?” Cole inquired.

“Do you really think Ellen would let her favorite child sleep on an uncomfortable bed?”

“Good point,” he laughed.

This started to make Cole feel better, so you both decided it was time to play some video games and get a little high for further nerve easing.

“Cole-Baby,” you said after a hit, “it’s time to go.”

“One more round,” he said.

“Uh huh, you are not ten and I am not your mother that you bargain with. Rap it up, pretty boy.”

Cole turned off the game and looked over at you smirking, “you think I’m pretty?”

“I think it got you to turn the game off,” you smirked back and kissed his cheek as you stood up.

You spent the entire car ride practically inhaling water. It won’t sober you up completely, but it’ll ease it. It wasn’t the first time you’d come home a little high, and it certainly won’t be the last, so you didn’t worry. Plus, it wasn’t bud.

You skipped through the door and jumped on top of your boyfriend on the couch when you and Cole walked in.

“Trevy!” you screamed.

“Well hello to you, too, Princess,” Trevor laughed.

“Kiss,” you said, lifting your head up. Trevor gave you a small kiss, since you didn’t like to put on a show when your entire family was around.

Jack eyed you suspiciously. You knew he was onto you, so you snapped twice to signal ‘yes, I am high’ so that he could help cover for you if need be, which was hardly ever needed. He, however, needed it frequently, which is why you two created the signal.

“What was that?” Trevor asked.

“Hugheslepathy. We’ve been over this,” you stated as if it were obvious.

“As your newly declared best friend I would like in on this Hugheslepathy signals,” Cole said.

Everyone looked at him as if he were crazy.

“Buddy, Quinn’s her best friend,” Trevor said.

“Since she was 6,” Luke added.

“They’re Hugheslepathy is so much crazier than ours that I don’t even understand it,” Jack said.

“Plus, I’m your best friend,” Trevor finished the back and forth.

“You can have more than one best friend!” Cole exclaimed.

“Clearly, you haven’t been around Sissy and Quinn enough,” Jack laughed. “They’re a different breed of best friend.”

“You can be best friend number two, Coley, but only if I’m yours!” you exclaimed as you sat up.

“Alright, I’ll settle for number two best friend,” Cole laughed. “Shall we legalize it?”

“We shall,” you nodded. You held out your pinky finger to Cole and he looped his around it and you shook hands. “That’s a pink promise! It’s legally binding!”

Cole smiled and agreed with you.

“Dinner’s ready!” Ellen called out.

Jack walked by you as you got up, “How bad?”

“I barely feel it,” you answered. “My best friend number two does not have strong stuff.”

Cole came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, “Last time I share with you, then.”

You gasped and escaped out of his hold, “We’re best friend number twos! That means something!”

“Best friend number twos?” Ellen asked. “What about Quinn?”

“That’s why Cole’s number two, Mom,” you laughed.

Ellen smiled at Cole, “Best friend number two, huh? That’s a big role to fill. Are you ready for it?”

Cole slung his arm around you, “I think I can handle it.”

[bookwyrm-art-stuff]

[SOC modern au headcanon]

So Nina and Jesper are besties right? We know this. I think that they both love to text people the most random shit. Just the dumbest fucking things, especially to Kaz or Matthias because they give the funniest responses. Anyway, I think instead of just texting people this unhinged shit themselves, instead they text each other the things and then the other one texts it to someone else. So it goes like- 

Jesper: okokok here send this to Kaz: Why is olive oil sometimes called virgin or extra virgin? Cuz like, you have to smash the olives to get the oil. 

Nina: LMFAO that’s great was that a conversation you had with Wylan? I’ll send it to Kaz one sec.

Jesper: Mayyyybe… 

Jesper: Send the screenshot when he answers!

Nina: ofc

…

Nina:

[screenshot:

Nina:

Why is olive oil sometimes called virgin or extra virgin? Cuz like, you have to smash the olives to get the oil. 

Kaz:

“Extra virgin” on olive oil has nothing to do with sex and neither does the word smash in this context. Please stop with your innuendoes.]

Jesper: Bets it took him so long to respond because he asked Inej for help?

Nina: Oh TOTALLY

Nina: WAAAAAIT HE JUST TEXTED ME AN ENTIRE EXPLANATION OF WHY OLIVE OIL SAYS THAT AND THE PROCESS USED TO MAKE IT

Nina: HOLY SHIT I DONT THINK ITS EVEN PARAPHRASED FROM THE FIRST RESULT ON GOOGLE HE KNEW THIS ALREADY

Jesper: LMAO HE WOULD

I also think this arrangement is very useful for them both since they each totally come up with jokes that wouldn’t work for them because of gender or race or just general situation but the other could totally use, like Jes definitely knows how periods work he has Nina for a bestie, so sometimes he’s just like “Nina I came up with another new term for you- how about your monthly week long blood sacrifice for the ability to have children? Or just monthly blood sacrifice.” And Nina LOVES these. Another thing! Wylan, Inej, Jesper and Nina have a gc for things related to these texts, like 

Inej: Jesper, Nina, why did Kaz just get me to tell him what to reply to this text? 

[screenshot of olive oil thing]

Wylan: Jes didn’t we have that exact exchange yesterday?

Jesper: Yeah I thought it’d be funny to text Kaz that

Nina: Wylan, you got your answer! 

[Screenshots of Kaz’s explanation]

Wylan: Interesting.

[nakanotamu]

good day madam, i am a hungry lesbian in need of your gayest wresting moments. can you spare me a cup of gay?

Anon you have come to the right person. Everything's been leading up to this. This is what it's all been for. This will probably be long.

Anon I got so excited about this I even solicited my friends for THEIR gayest moments so I'll do those first. You were recommended:

Mahiro Kiryu briefly getting a takarazuka gimmick in TJPW's Hyper Misao produced show HYPE

Giulia vs Konami from the 5 Star GP 2021, which was described as "the first match I remember watching and going OH MY GOD KONAMI AND GIULIA ARE FUCKING", and their feud did later give us a promo where Konami was like "Hey Giulia, you know how I bully you and you like it?" and Giulia was like "Ahaha, yeah?" and Konami was like "Well that's basically our entire relationship, so there you go." She did have examples.

pretty much anything with Raku/Pom Harajuku/Yuki Aino in TJPW, who my friends have lovingly dubbed the Pomycule

Okay enough from them though. You didn't ask them, you asked me and I asked them. Now for the me. I think it's important to note as well, anon, that not all of the gay shit in wrestling happens in a match, or even in the ring. Sometimes it's just shit on social media, a lot of the time it happens at press conferences, you must maintain constant vigilance. Anyway.

Whatever the fuck Syuri and Utami have going on, which I wrote about here.

There was the time Himeka kissed Syuri last year

There was Komomo enjoying getting beat up by Saki Kashima a Little Too Much, which I wrote about here.

There was the exchange between Utami and Syuri at the press conference for Stardom Gold Rush last year

There was Tam Nakano starting an entire faction to, in her own words, surround herself with women with big boobs (their focus has since shifted)

There was AliKaba, the tag team of Giulia and Syuri, which was basically just one long enactment of gay longing from Giulia

There was the time Giulia posted this picture with the caption ^-^ and then deleted it

There was the time FWC, the tag team of Hazuki and Koguma, spent 5 hours in the bath together (sadly they just talked about that I don't have pictures)

another time FWC both got matching bruises at the same time, and then later confirmed that yes they got them together. In the bath again

There were both Cosmic Rules matches at Stardom in Showcase 1 & 2 which I unfortunately don't have any great screenshots of but I'm positive were inspired by lesbian porn

There are constant small exchanges like this that don't even have a lot of context they just happen all the time

There was the time Hikari Noa had a hardcore match against Nao Kakuta and after they did this

There was the time Mina Shirakawa spat on Saya Kamitani and then licked her face

There was this shit in Act Wres Girlz, which for the record kind of depressingly does not do gay stories super frequently but has legitimately I think the highest percentage of out wrestlers I've seen in any company

There was the brief Tam Syuri feud which shockingly somehow did not involve anyone kissing but had the vibe that they were kissing mentally the entire time

There was every single exchange Tam and Natsupoi had before they realized they were still in love with each other but ESPECIALLY their cage match

And, for my money, the gay moment that lives the largest and dearest and most bittersweet in my mind was when Tam and Unagi had their singles match as part of the 5 Star GP last year, which was, unknown to us at the time, something of a farewell tour for Unagi before she went freelance, where afterwards they hugged in the ring for two minutes and then kissed.

I'm gonna cut myself off there but trust me I could go on and on and on for way too long but that's why I think you should watch for yourself. Wrestling is always moving and new gay stuff is always happening. In conclusion,

[kingovharts]

I want to see more Oblivious!MC and RO.

Someone is actively flirting with the MC right in front of the RO. A person touches their arms, shoulders and MC thinks they're just friendly. Even the expression on the face of the MC says, "Oh yes, this will be the beginning of a good friendship."

What will they do?

I was laughing for like an hour when I first saw this because that kind of a dumbass is me. :D <3

Anyway, I will try my best to not disappoint my fellow oblivious MCs!

As always, under the cut because I love getting carried away. ^_^

Yudai Sakaguchi: Too dumbfounded to speak. :O

Yudai was strolling around the park with his beloved pet dog when he saw you talking to someone. Talking might be an understatement—why are they standing so close to you?

Concerned you might need help fending off someone annoying, Yudai walked towards you. To his surprise, he saw you animatedly responding to the person's lame attempt at flirting.

"What's happening? Is MC interested in someone else?" Yudai thought, feeling a pang of fear.

"MC, who are they?" Yudai couldn't help but wonder. It was his first time seeing that person.

"Oh, hello there, Yu! This is James, and we're just talking about stuff," he heard you say.

"What stuff?" Yudai asked, unable to hold back his curiosity.

"They wanted to invite me to watch a movie with them, but I don't think my dad would agree. So instead, I suggested we exchange phone numbers to talk about the movie!" Yudai stared at you, his mouth slightly open in shock.

"And you're okay with it?" Yudai asked after recovering from his initial shock.

"Yeah, I think they want to be friends with me. So, I agreed." Yudai couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Friends? Do friends touch and bump your shoulders repeatedly? Do friends want to spend all day alone with you?" Yudai couldn't help but refute.

"I mean… that's what we also do… I thought we were friends…"

"…"

Yudai stood there, speechless, not knowing how to respond to that statement.

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

Vivienne Ramos: Too concerned about you being taken advantage of.

Vivienne is sitting on the sofa in your living room, waiting for your father to arrive. He summoned her here, but she doesn't know why.

As she patiently waits in the spacious living room, she hears you talking on the phone with someone. She can't understand the context of your conversation, but your enthusiasm makes it clear that you are genuinely enjoying the chat.

When you finally say goodbye to the person on the other end of the line, Vivienne looks away. Yet, she can't help but ask, "Who was that?"

"Oh, hello Viv, I didn't notice you there. That was Jenna. They invited me to go to an amusement park, just the two of us! Do you think my dad will let me go with them?"

Vivienne stares at you, her brows furrowed, and asks in a more serious tone, "Why?"

"I think they want to be friends with me! They were smiling at me the whole time when we first met. And oh! They also said my hands are pretty after holding them. They're full of compliments." You sound excited, but Vivienne's mood grows sour.

"MC, they were flirting with you. It's unlikely that someone you just met would invite you to an amusement park alone. They are interested in you," Vivienne says. She is about to say more when she notices the downcast look on your face.

"I'm sorry, MC. I'm just afraid they might be taking advantage of your kindness."

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

Héctor Alonso: Will be too worried if this will be a normal occurrence.

Héctor was with you when the two of you went to the mall to shop for new clothes. It was supposed to be a quick trip until a certain someone decided to make you stay a little longer.

Héctor watched silently from the side. He saw that the stranger was being way too comfortable touching your shoulders, as if you had been friends for a long time.

He knew they were clearly flirting. But by the look on your face, it was obvious you genuinely thought they just wanted to be friends.

Héctor shook his head and decided it was time to go. There should be a fine line between being oblivious and naïve, after all.

“MC, let’s go. Your father is waiting.”

“But…” Héctor heard the hesitation in your voice.

“They’re not trying to be friends with you. They were flirting. So let’s not waste time and go.”

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

Matyáš Dvořák: Bro is whipped.

Matyáš was busy transcribing records when he saw you talking to someone.

Even with your hushed voices, it was as clear as day that you were excited. About what? He didn’t know.

He was about to shrug it off when he suddenly saw the person casually putting their arm around you. The worst part was that you didn’t seem bothered by it.

His brows furrowed further when he saw the person touching your hands, and again, you weren’t disturbed by it.

Matyáš was torn between letting it go since you didn’t look uncomfortable and disrupting whatever conversation you were having with that person. It seemed his mind decided on the latter.

“MC,” Matyáš called, not too loudly, mindful that they were still in the archives room. He saw you look up from your seat.

“Hello Mattie, I’ve made a new friend here.” He looked at the other person and examined them. There was a smug look on their face.

“What did they tell you?” he asked.

“Oh, they told me there’s a beautiful garden somewhere in the Pantheon. They said they know where it is and invited me to go.” The sirens in Matyáš's mind blared loudly.

“And you agreed?” He was hoping you’d say no.

“Yes. I want to see it. I know you love plants, so maybe I’ll go with you next time.”

Matyáš fell silent after hearing your words.

“They’ve thought of me,” he thought, smiling inwardly.

“I understand, MC. However, you have to bring your familiar with you. It’s unwise to go somewhere without them. Just promise me that.”

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

Genevieve: Uncharacteristically of her, she would stop the person before they made the attempt. How did she know? Only Genevieve knows.

You saw someone waving at you and walking towards you. Before the person could even get close, Genevieve appeared out of nowhere and blocked them.

You turned your head to look at her and noticed that her usual bright expression was replaced by a serious one.

"Is she mad?" you thought to yourself.

"MC, they will try to flirt with you and invite you somewhere alone. They are interested in you, but not in the way you think. It's best to be careful about whom you interact with. Despite being a place for supposedly divine beings, this place is not full of good individuals. I hope you remember that," Genevieve said as she ushered you away from the person.

You couldn't help but nod at Genevieve's words.

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆ ⋆⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺⋆

A Wadia: They will be straightforward in telling you what the other person’s trying to do.

You were eating in the dining hall with Amala/Amrit, talking about people who believe the Earth is flat. Just before you both became engrossed in your conversation, someone cleared their throat and asked if they could sit beside you.

You agreed, of course, but it seemed your companion didn't, judging by the way they looked at the newcomer.

The three of you got comfortable and started getting to know each other. You thought you might have made a new friend. After staying silent for quite some time, Amala/Amrit finally spoke up.

"MC, they were flirting with you. When they first sat down, they were about five inches away from you. But now, look—both of your shoulders are touching. And let’s not pretend we didn't see them hold your hand! And last but not least, they even invited you to go somewhere, who knows where, alone. A-L-O-N-E!"

[exo-raskreia]

hey again, thanks for replying to my previous ask! I have another ask, if you think AiTani (Aizen x Tanisha) have parallels with Ulquihime (Ulquiorra x Orihime?) What do you think are the similarities between the ships?

So in the TCACLOM (the captive and captor's liberation) fan made novel (it's a continuation of post-canon CFYOW events) there is this character named Tanisha Chōdhori, she is appointed the warden of muken and all, she's this stoic and almost nearly emotionless character and then she meets Aizen who she's guarding in Muken obviously and while she guards him, Aizen makes her so infuriated with his words about her true desires and how she desires a path free from soul society that she started feeling emotion in a long time, and she realized that she could openly explore these new emotions if she has Aizen with her so she breaks him out of muken for his companionship while he gets liberation and freedom from imprisonment. For context: Soul Society forced Tanisha as a young girl into this emotionally detached mindset that if she acts the way they want, she'll be a respected member of the Gotei 13 and if she acts in any other way, she'd be criticized for not meeting the standards of how a professional shinigami should be. (The soul society has a bias against Tanisha because of her grandfather named Saphir who ruled the chōdhori clan as the 20th head. The chōdhori clan was a minor clan ruled by the Shiba which was their parent family, so they're basically related ig. The 20th head of the chōdhori clan had attempted to assassinate Kaien Shiba (Before Kaien's Actual Death) to take over the branch of the Shiba clan that Kaien ruled, and by ruling this branch, he could sabotage the other branches of the Shiba Clan but was caught by Ukitake and executed while the rest of the chōdhori clan was exiled to the poorest district of rukongai to repent in place of the 20th head's crime. Tanisha's father named Raiten had obviously escaped Soul Society to the Human World with another elderly chōdhori who was also a Vice Kidō Chief that managed to open the Senkaimon for him, and that's how Raiten started a new life and eventually had Tanisha.) Tanisha has been severely misunderstood for her family's reputation and this damaged the image the other shinigami would have of her, so they became more expectant of her to follow their standards so she can at least fit in with the crowd. Tanisha only developed a strong bond and relationship with Aizen when she became his warden as he challenged her rigid belief that she had no capacity for any other desire besides serving soul society, basically Aizen helped her see a new world and that is why she liberated him from Muken. Tanisha broke Aizen out of Muken if he'd marry her in exchange for liberation, because he's the only one to show her a new world and a new trajectory that no one else has shown her before, and she would explore that path with Aizen).

Oh btw, u got great taste in ships. I love Ichiruki.

I don't have any interest in the Bleach novels (retcons & more nonsense) but this fan novel doesn't sound too bad. Based on what you said, it does sound like this AiTani ship has some similarities with UlquiHime. The girl sounds similar to Ulquiorra in the stoicism & stuff, & both became curious & intrigued by their captive. Aizen was being a manipulator but Ori was just showing her heart to Ulquiorra. I'm surprised Tanisha asked for marriage but I guess Aizen will do whatever it takes to get free, lol. Idk if the novel implies if he will develop any feelings for Tanisha, but I think that Ulquiorra would have definitely developed them for Ori had he lived (or maybe he kind of did?).

Anyway, so yeah, I can see some parallels there. Maybe the writer is an UH fan? Lol.

And oh, lol, thanks. IchiRuki FTW fr. Kubo fumbled big time. None of my main Bleach ships are canon (formerly established canon ships like ByaHisa don't count, for example 🤷‍♀️), and yet are still better than the endgame ones 🤣.

[looped-140-and-counting]

Mira looks thoughtful.

You notice it, sometime after Isabeau announces that the two of you were bonded and everyone congratulated you two. Mirabelle had asked about earrings, to which you'd had to explain that you exchanged cloaks instead, and then of course Odile had to be informed on what "bonding earrings" are because she'd never been told in the first place.

It was all a little hectic and embarrassing - everyone had insisted on having a feast to celebrate. Bonnie had made a lot of food, even while calling you and Isabeau gross.

Anyway, now Mira looks like she's been thinking about something. Rather deeply, too. It's been kind of hard to get her attention recently, and you're getting a little concerned.

It's not about the papers again, is it?

You know that you messed up last time, but... But if she's worried about dating and romance again, then. Then maybe you can at least hear her out?

You hate the thought of her worrying about this all by herself.

Then again, last time you tried... It didn't go well.

Maybe you should get someone else to help out. Like Isabeau? He loves romance, and he's super thoughtful! But at the same time, since Mira doesn't want romance for herself, he might not be able to sympathize.

Then maybe Odile...? She always says she's not good at feelings talks, but she's very logical. Maybe that's what Mira needs?

...No, you don't think either is a good fit. And Bonnie's out of the question, of course. Bonnie thinks all romance is gross, and would probably deem this as 'adult talk.'

Oh well. If talking to Mirabelle goes poorly, you can always loop - oh, no, you can't.

...You can always apologize.

You make your way to where Mirabelle's wandered off, silently vowing to keep your mouth shut as much as possible. Absolutely no spoilers, and no blinding comments.

She perks up when she sees you. There are no papers in sight.

"Hi Siffrin!" she says, smiling brightly. "Coming by to hang out?"

You hesitate. Where's the papers? Cautiously, you say, "A little. I was... worried?"

"Huh? Worried about what?"

"You just seemed sort of distracted lately," you say, plopping down beside her. "Anything I can help with?" There, that's familiar territory. You're good at helping! Usually.

"Oh!" She raises a hand to her mouth, brows furrowing. "...Ooh, was I that obvious?"

You don't nod, because that feels mean, but she probably sees it on your face. She groans.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to... I was just thinking, that's all!" Mirabelle pauses for a moment, her teeth worrying at her lip. "Um, can I ask you something? About your cloak?"

You feel hollow.

Hesitant, you say, "If I remember!"

"It's nothing bad, I just-! Well, um, you've offered all of us your cloak before, haven't you?" she says, quickly. "During our journey, right?"

Well... yeah. You did. Before you realized none of them wanted anything to do with your cloak.

You shrink into the collar of your cloak - thank the stars that Isabeau sewed one on - and try not to look too embarrassed. "I did," you mumble, hoping desperately that she's not somehow still mad about it.

Mirabelle looks... uneasy?

Then she says, "Does that mean we all unknowingly rejected you before?"

And you nearly nod before you - you realize that something about her tone sounds wrong. She sounds devastated?

"I can't believe you had a crush on Odile," she adds, and.

Oh! No! No no no!

You shake your head furiously. "It's not like that!" you yelp. "It was different! It was a gesture, not a proposal!

Mirabelle blinks. "Ah - a what?"

Oh stars. Oh STARS.

You lurch to your feet, remembering that Mirabelle doesn't want romance. But - Mirabelle thought you had confessed to her. You're so blinding stupid!

"It's like - it's like hugs!" you say, scrambling to explain. "Um, like when you and Isa and Bonbon hug! It's not, it's not a proposal, not in that context! There's a right way to propose, there's a ceremony and everything, you have to make your intentions clear or otherwise nothing happens, you know?"

Mira's eyes are wide. "Oh," she says, blinking rapidly. "Oh, so - huh! So it's, um, something you can do with friends too?"

You nod quickly.

You tell her, "It's kind of a way to comfort each other, or to just... hold each other? Like if, uh, if you handed me your cloak, then I'd know you're offering it to me for a little while, and then it'd be like I'm carrying around a piece of you!"

"Oh!" Mirabelle considers this for a bit. The tensions leaks from her shoulders as she smiles at you. "So cloaks are important in your culture?"

Relief floods you. She gets it now, you think, which means she's not offended anymore. "Yeah, of course," you tell her, grinning. "Without them..."

Something halts your tongue. Isn't this supposed to be a secret?

But this is Mira! You trust her.

So you continue, "We wouldn't be able to shift, right?"

[journey-to-the-attic]

3rd anni req 11: [NIGHTBRINGER] belphie, lucifer / deep sleep

ao3 link

note: i've mostly been doing these in the order i remember getting them so far, but i might start skipping around, since they're quite lucifer-frontloaded (not that i'm complaining). anyway - this is based on nb lesson 12, where mc's in that curse-coma, but! the twist is that ik can somehow still speak through it. since, y'know, special reaper curse

∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎

“...oh, you’re here.”

Lucifer doesn’t look up as Belphie slips into the room. He stays there, sitting in a chair he’s dragged from the dining room, half-hunched over, with his forearms on his knees. Belphie gets the distinct feeling that his oldest brother hasn’t slept in the last forty-eight hours.

He glances over at the wan face of the room’s only other occupant. “...still not up?”

“Solomon said not to expect it to happen soon,” Lucifer says blankly. “We don’t know the exact nature of the curse. By all means, it should have been fatal.”

They both look at IK’s blank face. The light flickers in a way that, for a moment, makes her look as if she’s blinking awake - though Belphie doesn’t dare hope.

“Weird kid,” He mumbles, more to her than Lucifer. “You can’t do magic, but you can survive reaper curses? If you can do that, why didn’t you…”

'Why didn’t you stop us from trying to hurt you?' is what he means, but he can’t finish the question. Lucifer looks as if he knows what he was going to say, anyway.

“So where’s Solomon gone, then?” He asks after a beat, frowning. “All that talk, and he’s not even staying to look after her?”

“He said he’d look for solutions in the tomes at the cave. And that he was leaving IK in charge.”

Yeah, that’s right.

“As if h— huh?”

They both whip around. IK hasn’t moved.

Belphie glances quickly at Lucifer. “Did you hear—?”

“Yes.” His response is short and harried. “What was that?”

They both fall silent for a moment, listening hard. Nothing.

“Maybe we’re just hearing things,” Belphie says reluctantly, though he’d swear it to anyone that he just heard IK speaking, loud and clear.

“Do you think that’s likely?” Lucifer stands up, staring around the room like a sentinel, a dangerous shadow falling over his face. “It could be any manner of mimicry. If something’s gotten in—”

Wait, did you hear me?

Lucifer goes dead silent. There's no mistaking that voice - but there’s also no mistaking the fact that the speaker has not moved an inch.

After a moment, Belphie tries, “IK?”

You did! She sounds downright joyful - the words don’t quite ring like speech does in a room, but the voice in their heads is clear as day. I was so BORED.

“You can talk?” He asks, bewildered. “Wait, you’re— can’t you open your eyes?”

No. Do you think I haven’t tried? Now she sounds aggravated. I’ve been awake this whole time. I just can’t bloody move.

“Watch your language,” He says automatically.

Don’t start. I’m losing my mind here. But you can actually hear me now!

“Yes, you’ve said that already.” Lucifer sits down again, leaning forward, practically on the edge of his seat. “How much do you remember?”

Hmm. I remember you both trying to kill me.

A pause. Then Lucifer asks, voice suddenly about half as loud, “What is your situation, then?”

There’s a sort of buzz, as if IK is laughing. Not much going on. It’s like sitting in a dark room. I can hear things coming from outside, but I can’t see anything. It sucks.

Say, if you were a shark, what kind would you be?

“What?”

I think you’d be a nurse shark, Belphie, because they’re usually chill, except when they aren’t. And Lucifer would be… a blue shark, because that’s his favourite colour.

They exchange mildly bemused looks. After a moment, Lucifer says slowly, “How do you know that? I’ve never told you.”

…uh… Belphie gets the distinct feeling that IK is panicking. ...context clues. You know, clothes and stuff.

“You’ve only seen him wearing red,” He says a little suspiciously.

And what’s the opposite of red? Blue. Next question.

It’s no use trying to pry. Every time this happens - every time Belphie gets the unnerving feeling that their attendant knows them better than they even know themselves - he tries to figure out why, and IK deflects. The dedication would be impressive if it wasn’t annoying.

Who is this kid? She shows up, completely out cold, and hasn’t even been awake for an hour by the time she’s been put in charge of the Devildom’s newly-minted residents. Then Solomon, of all people, that sorcerer whose reputation long precedes him, shows up calling her his ward, even though she’s got no magic to speak of.

Though Belphie doesn’t know what else to call her knack for making them… talk. She takes to the Devildom like a duck to water - practically skips through it all while they’re still mired in their own rotten souls. They should’ve been insulted that Diavolo would think this ridiculous little thing capable of handling the seven of them, but IK does it like it’s second nature.

That’s the frustrating part. They’ll tell her near-everything, and IK tells them absolutely nothing. And it isn’t that they’re stupid, or blind, or so self-absorbed that they don’t notice when she goes quiet - when she stares off at something that isn’t there, eyes filled with some inexplicable loneliness that should be far beyond her years.

Is Satan around? IK asks. He was in here, reading, before. He couldn’t hear me then, but maybe he will now.

“Um… he went out.” Belphie sits down on the foot of the bed. “Hey. I’m… not angry with you anymore.”

Wow. Do you want an award?

“No, I—” He swallows. His tail flicks up behind him, and he seizes it for comfort before he can stop himself. “—I’m sorry. That’s what I meant.”

Oh.

Okay.

He waits for a moment. There’s no other response. He looks at Lucifer.

His brother’s face is twisted into something that might resemble remorse. The ironic part is that Ik would probably know better than he does, if only she could open her eyes to see.

“We’re doing what we can,” is all Lucifer says after a while. “You will be alright. I can promise you that.”

That’s a relief, she says, a touch ironically. So am I just stuck like this until Solomon figures something out?

Lucifer’s jaw tightens. “...I don’t know. All we can do is wait.”

Great. I’ll get right on that.

Belphie scoffs. “I don’t know how you’re making jokes right now. You could’ve died. You still might now.”

Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, says IK dryly. I know what being dead feels like. This isn't anything like it.

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

No answer. Belphie shoots an apprehensive look at Lucifer, then leans forward. “Hey. I’m talking to you.”

Silence. He doesn’t know if IK’s refusing to speak, or if the connection has broken already. He makes as if to stand up, to go find Barbatos, or Diavolo, or anyone who might know how to repair it. He can't lose it now.

He’s poured his heart out to her once before, then hadn’t even waited a day to turn on her. He doesn’t know what, but he has to do something about it, right?

But, before he can, Lucifer takes a deep breath, then abruptly stands up.

“...I have to go,” He mutters.

That, at least, gets IK to speak up again - Belphie feels a rather distracted spark of relief. Where are you going?

“Out,” He replies sharply, then pauses, and sighs. “...I need to clear my head. You’re… incomprehensible.”

That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.

…hey. You’ll come back and talk to me, right? It’s really boring in here.

“Is that what you want?” He asks, softer.

It’d be nice.

Lucifer looks at IK for a moment, then leans down. Belphie doesn’t quite see what he does, but when he straightens up again, the blankest are tucked in more snugly, and IK’s hair looks a little neater than it did before.

“Then I will,” Lucifer tells her, and steps back. With one last, lingering glance, he turns on his heel, and walks out.

…

…Belphie, are you still there?

“Yeah,” He says quietly, and decides to take Lucifer’s seat. “Are you okay?”

Not the best I’ve been. Not the best week I’ve had, either.

He wishes he had some water. “That’s our fault, isn’t it?”

Sorry.

“Don’t— what are you saying sorry for? You always—” He stops himself before he can finish. “—you’re so weird.”

A pause. Then, That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.

“Stop it. Just…” He drags a hand through his hair and catches a finger on his left horn. “...just let me feel bad, will you?”

…fine.

He takes a breath. “...Beel’s okay, by the way. I don’t know if you’ve heard him.”

I did. I’m really glad.

“He’s worried. We all are. Look, I—”

Don’t bother, IK interrupts. …I get it, I mean. You don’t have to explain it to me.

“I really don’t get you,” He mumbles.

Another laughing sound. I get that a lot.

“Aren’t you scared? Aren’t you angry?”

Not angry. Scared… maybe.

Doesn’t matter, though. It’ll be fine. It has to be. I have to get…

Silence for a while. He doesn't quite dare to ask - have to get... what? What is it that she's so determined to hold on for?

…hey. If you wanted to, say, make it up to me… could you hold my hand?

He blinks. “Will you be able to feel it?”

I don’t know. But it’d be a nice thought.

“...okay. Sure, I can do that.”

Belphie drags the chair closer, untucks a corner of the blanket, and closes his fingers around a cold little hand. IK's voice murmurs a quiet thank you.

If he really squints, he can fool himself into seeing a tiny smile on her face.

"You'd better wake up soon."

[dansconcepts]

Diner AU - Toasted Bagels

I'm in my Komahina arc clearly so have a drabble of them in context to the Diner AU under the cut. I've got a couple more drabbles with them in this AU but I wouldn't want to make this post too long :'>.

When he first started working here, he didn’t expect to see him there. He was overly familiar with the guy at that point. White hair, a bullshittingly innocent grin, relaxed posture: peak asshole, wrapped up in a guy that became less of an asshole (at least to him). Every day, without fail, he would see Nagito Komaeda at one of the booths. And every day, without fail, he’d be there to get his order (what can he say? He tipped REALLY well). 

The first time he saw him at the diner, he exchanged pleasantries- simple “hey, it’s nice to see you” and “what would you like”s.

“What’s on the menu today, Hajime?” Nagito would ask. Hajime would tell him the special that Rantaro was cooking up, and Nagito would order it, sans certain things. It was interesting to hear, honestly. He was much pickier than he would've thought.

Then, one day, Nagito came in with his arms behind his back.

What immediately tips him off about the strangeness going on is seeing the white-haired man greet him with a mere nod, rather than the wave he does. Even if he didn't do that, he usually saw the guy crossing his arms, or them lazily dropped to his sides. It was always something even if he wasn't doing particularly anything.

The other thing that tips him off, which is perhaps the most obvious thing, are the looks and mild whispers he was getting from the other customers around.

“...Nagito.” The waiter deadpanned.

“Hello, Hajime.” The guy states, that ever-present serene smile on his face as if everything was normal. He almost wants to believe it, if only he didn't give a shit. Unfortunately, he does care.

“Why are your hands behind your back?”

Nagito shrugs. “I got tied up.”

How in the fuck-?! Why do the weirdest things happen to him? “Sorry, you got what?”

“Tied up.” He purses his lips, but he can see the smirk there, the absolute shit- “Do keep up, Hajime.”

“Wh- you don’t get to say that shit when you're tied up! How’d that even happen!? Who was it? I'll go after them right now-!”

“Oh, no no! You don't have to do that. After all, I can't say it was entirely unwarranted. I’m just here for my order anyway.”

The server eyes the other warily. “Your usual?”

Nagito nods. He still sends the other a we're talking about this later don't think you can get out of this look before walking to the back.

The back is always nice. The cook's pretty chill most of the time, and he gets that nice little escape from certain aggravating people for a bit. At the moment, Rantaro's got something cooking up, so he greets the other. Since he's busy, he can definitely prepare it himself. Even though Nagito's a picky guy, he's got pretty simple tastes...

He quickly washes his hands and grabs bagels from its bag.

“Ah, Komaeda's here?” The chef's voice suddenly says.

Hearing the name, he sighs. He turns to see jade eyes peering at him curiously. His favourite thing about Rantaro is the fact that Rantaro's a pretty good listener, and right now- “He showed up with his hands tied behind his back.”

His mouth drops. “Is he okay?”

Hajime waves the concern off, reaching for a plate. “Yeah, yeah, pretty sure he's fine. He's looking way too smug for his situation, so whatever this is about, I'm sure he'll tell me.”

Rantaro's eyes glint, and his lips quirk upward. “Well, good luck then.”

He sets the plate down rougher than he intends to. “Good luck?”

“And try not to jump him, maybe. It is a public space after all-”

Alright, never mind, he wants out after all. He takes a deep breath and quickly opens the fridge, shutting it gentler than he wants to (the last thing he wants to do is break the fridge) to grab the order's drink. “You're enjoying your back of house privilege way too much.”

Green hair rustles as Rantaro shrugs. “What can I say? Not my problem.”

He chuckles. Yeah, that's pretty fair.

Order complete, the waiter takes Nagito's plain white bagels (really fitting for him, honestly) and his common drink (Blue Ram, although he contemplates drinking it himself because his nerves could use it) and leaves it on the table. “Alright, enjoy-”

“Hajime, wait.”

He pauses. “What?” 

“Since I currently can’t use my hands because of the rope, I was wondering if you could feed me?”

“...” He should've drank it. He 100% deserves it.

“I know trash like me has no right to ask you of anything, but I truly haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.” “What the hell?!” He interjects, but Nagito continues, “Unless keeping me starving is your way of punishing me too-”

There is so much to unpack in that one statement, and Hajime chooses to deal with none of it right now. “Okay, okay! I’ll feed you.” 

He grabs a knife to chop off a piece and guides it toward the other's mouth. Komaeda opens and swallows, which causes Hajime's face to warm for some reason? 

“Hajime? Oh, Hajime, you are here. Great.” His coworker's voice suddenly chimes. Hajime turns to find Shuichi, who glances to the other occupant in the booth. “Hello Komaeda.”

“Always a pleasure to see a talented individual like yourself, Saihara.”

Shuichi nods appreciatively and turns back to him. “Makoto was looking for you.” Gray eyes take in the scene before him. “…Are you in the middle of something?”

Hajime whips around. “This is NOT what it looks like.”

“Ah, yes, I’m currently tied up right now and can’t use my arms.”

“Oh! I can get you out of it. What's the material? Handcuffs, zip tie, rope-?”

“It’s standard rope.”

“I’ll get some scissors.”

Ah, of course Shuichi would be familiar with this sort of thing, he's a detective. He probably deals with people being apprehended all the time. Or is that for officers-?

Wait.

Wait a minute.

Oh.

Oh shit.

Hajime wants to hit himself. He did NOT think to free Komaeda whatsoever.

As if on cue, Nagito hums. “Wow, it’s a wonder you didn’t try to cut me out, Hajime. Are you secretly into bondage?”

Hajime scoffs. He looks away, trying to ignore the fact his face is warming. “It’s definitely not that. Don’t overthink it.”

And all Komaeda does is grin.

[lacunasbalustrade]

what are your general thoughts on queer(gay n trans n all) people? like you dont seem to be against gay ppl from what i can see but i also see that you've like never really openly said something pro or against trans ppl. sorry if its out of the blue im just curious esp seeing your pov as a religious person who has trans mutuals/follows n all bcuz i (unfortunately) know plenty of christians that know trans people but only tolerate them instead of accepting them (which usually means they misgender/deadname them)

hi! I'm happy to answer your question - it's a bit controversial, though, and a sensitive topic for everyone, so I do ask for your understanding if anything I say happens to offend you.

as a Christian, I believe in the stance the Bible puts forth: that BEING gay is not a life choice, it's an inclination that came forth due to the presence of sin in the world. the continuation, however, of this choice, is a sin.

To quote so no one thinks I'm speaking out of some random, bibically incorrect bigotry, Romans 1: 24 NIV "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." ,Romans 1: 26 "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones." , Romans 1: 27 "In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error."

obviously my faith and beliefs should not be forced on unbelievers. I am not any holier than anyone else because I am straight. I am every bit as sinful because it's impossible to avoid committing sin.

so if I'm going to sum it up, it's best said as: none of my business because Who Am I to tell you how to live, right? you're my friends and 'preaching' isn't actually loving. the best form of loving others as a Christian is to accept them as a person before judging based on whatever life choices they've made or pronouns they call themselves. which brings me into the next part!

theologically, I have to admit I'M NOT VERY SURE about trans people. I genuinely cannot find many sources of literature on the topic. There are intersex people, there are people with gender dysphoria. The Bible doesn't talk much about those, enough to give any real objections anyway. To talk about my beliefs based off the context, if God made you as you are, you shouldn't be trying to change you...is the logic, but again, no reason to force biblical beliefs on unbelievers.

I do disapprove of the extent to which some trans people have taken this schtick. I've seen posts saying 'oh if kids can play soccer and do ballet which messes them up for life, they can also do trans surgeries!' I'm sorry. That just doesn't make sense. WHY would anyone want kids to have permission to do Very Risky Things when they are small enough to not know better or make informed choices? And I also know many posts say that 'common sense', kids aren't gonna do those things till they're old enough to feel like they need to do them....those posters need to remember the last time they regretted doing something as a child. Common sense can't be relied upon in my experience.

Plus, given the kidnapping laws in the U.S which basically allow children to be taken away from their parents if their parents disapprove...lol yeah now make a law where my child can be taken away from me if I'm not in the same fandom as them. It can be hurtful to receive dissent on your life choices, but that don't mean up and leaving is the solution, unless the living situation is physically dangerous in some way or you are an actual adult. Children are not trustworthy indicators of whether or not a parent is problematic. And I'm saying this having had problematic parents myself - sometimes we are part of the problem. And if it's difficult, you should still try not to give up on them.

This might be the most important part: I'm wondering whether the gender stereotypes placed on girls and boys are the markers trans people want to overcome. Because from what I've researched, there are two different camps. 1: people who admit that they are biologically whatever sex they were born, and just enjoy dressing like and passing for the other sex because it makes them more comfortable. 2: people who actually believe they are the other sex because they feel that way and they are only effectively realizing that change to their 'authentic' self by transitioning.

I don't believe in gender stereotyping. Like, girls wear skirts boys wear pants. Boys can't wear pink etc etc. So the concept of a trans woman thinking they are a woman because they enjoy the markers attached to being a woman, like, for example, having long hair and wearing skirts, makes me really uncomfortable. Because that's not the whole experience of being a woman. It's only a small part of it, and it's not universal at all. And while no one can claim that ALL woman have experienced a certain set of conditions that make them woman...the only standard for BEING a woman, in my book, is to be a biological one, because it's the only defining trait. When people think of girls, I don't want them to automatically think of girls with skirts and wearing pink. I want them to acknowledge that all girls are different, and the only thing that makes them girls is the gender marker, not their conformance to 'gender norms' that have arisen from societal conditioning.

The idea that someone's feelings can be 'authentically accurate' makes me feel even more....nah. Feelings are valid but if I trusted mine all the time, I'd definitely be all over the place.

To sum it up: no problems with the trans behavior because I'm not into forcing biblical perspectives on y'all. But I definitely have a problem with the idealogy and the legislature.

dead name, misgendering wise...I believe people should be called whatever they want to be called unless it makes the other person uncomfortable. In which case the other person should just stop interacting with them since they're so uncomfortable. (E.g you want me to call you Baby Chicken. For some reason I have a problem with it. Maybe I have a strong fear of chickens.)

Basically I respect your life choices. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk haha.

[icedteaandoldlace]

⭐️

Oh, thank you so much! This is going to be fun! Gonna dig a little into my favorite moment from Reversing the Damage (chapter 1 of Nights That Never End). I have the snippet here, for context. I think it probably speaks for itself, but I'm gonna elaborate on it, anyway.

So what's happening here—and throughout most of the chapter—is that Cisco is trying to explain his Reverse Flash trauma to Kamilla without oversharing and making her uncomfortable. And when she has an emotional reaction to learning about both what happened and how it still affects him, he tries to play it off like it isn't as bad as it sounds. He doesn't want her to be upset, or to feel obligated to listen and be supportive every time something bad from his past crops up again.

My semi-canon headcanon is that Cisco knows exactly the kind of relationship he wants, but doesn't feel entitled to expect or to ask for the amount of effort it would require from his partner to achieve the level of closeness that he wants. So he's in this place where he feels like giving 70% and receiving 30% is a reasonable exchange, because that's what he's used to (see: asking Cynthia if they could work out a better arrangement than the one they had, instead of asking her to leave the collectors and move in with him, which is what he really wanted). He doesn't really know how to have a girlfriend who is truly a partner. So he tries to convey to Kamilla that he's fine, and she doesn't have to take on all his emotional baggage, and he makes the joke that he doesn't expect her to hold his hand every time he has a nightmare, both in an attempt to lighten the mood, and as a subconscious deflection; he's basically offering to shut up and not bother Kamilla with his problems if she'd be more comfortable not knowing about them, before she has the chance to make the suggestion first, that way her setting that boundary would feel less like a rejection.

But of course, that's not what Kamilla wants. And she knows exactly what he's doing, even if he doesn't fully realize it himself. And she kinda wants to argue with him about it, but she doesn't know how to reassure him that she wants to be emotionally available for him, without sounding like she's just saying that to be polite. So instead of saying anything, she just holds his hand—literally—because that was the thing he said he didn't expect her to do. Without saying it outright, she's telling him that he should expect support and comfort from her when he needs it, because that's what loving someone means.

And Kamilla doesn't even consciously realize she's in love with him yet, but she's about to. Yeah, I know, canon says she knew he was the love of her life the moment she met him, but I see that more as her being instantly attracted to his personality, and recognizing that he was different/better than the guys she'd dated before, and someone who had the potential for her to be truly happy with. But actually falling in love with him was a process that required spending time with him and getting to know him. And my intent with the last line of this chapter is that this is the night Kamilla realizes she's in love with him. Because this isn't easy for her. Secondhand trauma is a very real and very not-fun thing, and the chapter ends with her lying awake, still thinking about the fact that Cisco's life almost ended before she even got the chance to meet him, and about the danger that the Reverse Flash still poses. Knowing what Cisco has been through and knowing that he isn't safe from it ever happening again is going to haunt her for a while, and that's gonna take her some time to emotionally recover from. But she is actively choosing to be Cisco's confidant and to go through all this with him, because to her it's worth it if it helps him heal. That's the thing that causes her to realize that she loves him, because she wouldn't be choosing this if she didn't.

As a final note, when I wrote Kamilla holding Cisco's hand as a way of telling him that she would be there for him whenever he needed her, it was 100% meant to be a precursor to this moment:

Because I LOVE this little moment so much and I wanted to give it some layers, and expanding on where Cisco's head is at the beginning of their relationship, and connecting that to where it is when their relationship is more developed shows just how good having Kamilla in his life has been for him.

[silka73]

Dumbass idea: Traveller!reader who's very much in love with Kaeya and cherishes their relationship. Unfortunately Paimon has witnessed this and has a slew of nasty names to call Kaeya now.

It would be sweet for Traveller to comfort her, reaffirming she's still the very best travel guide in all of Teyvat.

Love the traveler idea 👀

also I made the traveler gender neutral for this, if you want it changed lemme know lmao

FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE —————————————————————���———|

“Why are we going here again?” Paimon said for about the 4th time if you were even counting at this point.

“We are going to the knights of favonious headquarters, I’ve told you a bunch of times now paimon.” You’d chuckle.

“And we’ve been here a bunch of times but you don’t see me countin’! “ She said, crossing her arms.

“Why do we keep going here anyways?” She’d say, moving on from her previous statement.

“I needed to talk to Kaeya about something, Just a few questions then we will be on our way.” You’d lightly blush, knowing the actual reason.

The truth is you had developed some rather ‘unstoppable’ feelings. You’d known him for only a few months but something about the way he smiled, the way he teased you, the way he’d-,

“Oh gods..” You had thought to yourself.

You really were going crazy! Is what you had said so many times before when you had thoughts like these. I mean come on, how could he have this feelings back? He was so much better than you and had so many other people he could get with instead.

At this point this whole ideal you’d created in your mind was really starting to sound like one of those cheesy romances you had stumbled upon in Lisa’s library by accident.

“Uh traveler?” Paimon said, waving her hand in front of you a few times.

“Huh? Oh sorry, zoned out for a minute.” You’d say, scratching the back of your head. Nervous habit.

“Whatever, we’re here!” She’d point up at the large palace looking building.

You took a deep breathe before entering the headquarters.

———————————————————————————————————|

You glanced around, looking for the knight in blue.

Just as how you had seen before, Kaeya was talking to one of the knights before drifting his eyes towards you and showing a quick wave as he finished up the conversation.

You’d walk over as the knight walked away.

“It’s good to see you traveler,” He said in a flirty ish tone.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you to!” He hadn’t even made an attempt to flirt with you or do anything yet you were already losing it.

Paimon just watched, slightly confused at this awkward interaction.

As you two chatted more and exchanged some flirty remarks she began to catch on.

Flabbergasted, Paimon would start to realize she had been experiencing third wheel for the past 15 minutes.

She also realized that you hadn’t done or asked anything you said you were going to. “Oh come on!” Paimon would blurt out.

“Something the matter paimon?” Kaeya would ask.

“What’s wrong is the lack of awareness you have to my existence!”

“You two have been flirting for 15 minutes straight, I’m really startin’ to suspect something other than friends is going on here!” She’d go on about.

Kaeya chuckled while you stood there, now red in the face.

“More than friends Mm? Anything to say about that traveler?” He paused his laughing but continued not long after.

“Well-..” You mumbled, looking away in embarrassment.

“Don’t think I’m done with you, you frenzy!” (For context, frenzy can be used as a synonym for disractions)

She’d snark the lack of nickname at Kaeya. He just continued to chuckle and laugh.

———————————————————————————————————|

It was now a few hours after the situation, even after completing several other baring tasks and things that would surely get one’s mind off of a subject, you where still embarrassed about it and hadn’t seemed to let it go.

Neither had paimon for that matter,

“Even as the best travel guide in teyvat that blue man still proceeded to be able to distract you and me!” She whined.

“Don’t worry paimon, Your still the best travel guide even when your drowning in a lake.” You said, holding back laughter.

“Heyy! Well atleast I don’t get distracted easily! Well not all the time.”

You’d burst out laughing, continuing to pick off apples from a random tree.

Even after all that, Kaeya still held a very special place in your heart.

Maybe someday it will be placed in his heart aswell.