#I don’t care what anyone else says I love The Meep

[bagadew]

This is going to be of no use and interest to anyone on this site because they have not heard it, but The Meep (innocent mode) talks with the exact voice I use to impersonate a Victorian Urchin.

[shreddedparchment]

Perennial Pt.07

03/11/2022

Don’t Dream, It’s Over

Pairing: Bucky x Reader          Word Count: 4,163

Warnings: angst, hot super soldiers, jealousy, flirting, Bucky being a dumbass, SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Featured Flower: Lilac and Tulips

A/N: We all knew this was coming. There has to be a catalyst! Enjoy! xoxo

Please don’t steal my fics and post, translate on any other sites.

Don’t be a dick.

You and Kamala collapse against the counter dramatically. Arms flail and then fall to your sides as Kamala sighs loudly, roughly, as if simply existing is an impossible task.

“I agree,” you tell her, staring at the back wall of your shop where several of your interior displays stand empty now after the rush of a busy Wednesday.

You shut your eyes, ignoring the press of what you know is the stem of one of the dethorned yellow roses you’d just used to make the last bouquet of the rush.

Now that it’s over, the shop is dead.

“How many rushes is that today?” Kamala wonders, lifting herself off the counter but resting on her elbows as she stares outside as the sky begins to turn a warmer orange.

“I don’t know. Like, seventy-two.”

She laughs, “No. More like eighty-seven.”

You laugh too, an exhausted giggle as you hug the top of your counter. The crinkle of brown paper breaking the otherwise welcomed silence.

“Why are so many people buying flowers today?” Kamala wonders.

“I have no idea. I don’t care. We made so much today. I’m never taking another Saturday off. I lost so much money last weekend.”

“Hey, you said you enjoyed your days off,” Kamala gripes.

“I did. I do enjoy the time away, but I can’t do it on weekends again. If I had someone else to work the shop then maybe, but until I can afford to hire someone else, there’s no way I can take the time. I’ll just do my days off during the week.”

“When?” Kamala demands, knowing you’ve been working straight since last weekend.

“I’ll start next week, okay?”

You ponder the days that might give you the least lost income. Mondays and Tuesdays aren’t exactly big date nights so you’ve almost settled on them.

“Fine, but if you don’t, I’m stealing your keys and throwing them into some random river.”

“I’ll fire you,” you threaten.

“You’d die without me,” Kamala counters.

“I know!” you growl. “I hate you.”

“You love me.”

She giggles, then the bell rings and both of you shoot up ready to assist.

Instead of offering help, both of you freeze.

The tall man in your doorway is familiar to you but only from a distance or a TV screen or your phone in videos and news articles.

“Uh…” you start, voice a little shaky from nerves more than anything. “Hi.”

He smiles, pink lips pulled up slightly before he breaks into a full smile. It’s shy and sweet. He has his blonde hair loosely slicked back, the darker patches of brown at his temples add depth to his blonde locks.

He’s wide at the shoulders. So very wide. But then he narrows at the hip and you didn’t know he looked like that. On TV and in pictures he looked good, no doubt about it. But in person?

How does anyone get anything done around this man?

“Hi,” he finally says.

His voice is deep and smooth. Not as deep as Bucky’s but it’s less intense and the softness in it is hard to resist. It puts you at ease instantly.

“You are-I mean, were Captain America.”

This observation draws a strangled meep from Kamala and she backs away slowly until she can move around the counter and hide behind you.

She’s all talk until she’s facing one of her idols. It would be funny if you didn’t understand the intimidation this man is making you feel.

“Steve, please. Like you said, I’m not Captain America anymore,” he moves forward, his hand pulled from the pocket of his black leather jacket to ease you again.

“Right,” you agree. Smiling you move a step closer, your counter still between you. “What can I do for you, Steve? You looking to get some lucky lady some flowers? Or maybe some lucky guy?”

Steve smirks, shakes his head, and shoves his hand back in his pocket before planting his feet and leaning back slightly onto his heels.

He’s bashful a bit but there’s a charm that exudes from him. He’s confident but humble about it. Different from Bucky.

Bucky wasn’t confident, not in the way Steve is. He’s more determined. His energy was a little panicked compared to Steve's calm.

Like a raging sea and a tranquil lake respectively.

“No, um…I’m not here for flowers, I’m just here for-” he gestures over his shoulder with a nod of his head just as the bell rings again and familiar heavy boots shuffle in behind Steve Rogers.

“Oh good, you’re open.”

Bucky comes around his friend, half of his lips twisted up into a smile as he pats Steve on the shoulder as he passes him.

“Bucky,” you begin. “Hey.”

“Hey. Hi, Kamala.”

Kamala’s hands tighten around your elbow and you shove it back into her.

“Er…h-hi,” she manages. “Holy shiiii…”

“Kamala!” you gasp.

“Sorry, I’m…I’m Kamala. And you’re America’s Cap. I mean, Captain Steve. I mean, Rogers C-Captain,” she mumbles, making almost no sense.

Steve and Bucky watch her flounder, smiles pushed down just a little bit in what is probably an attempt to be less intimidating.

“I’m gonna go die now,” she suddenly says and walks stiffly out from behind the counter and into the back room.

“Kamala,” you call after her. “I thought you wanted to meet them?!”

“Is she okay?” Bucky asks, drawing your attention back to him and Steve.

“Yeah. She’s just…a teenage girl meeting her idols. She’s a really big fan,” you tell Steve in particular. “She loves Captain Marvel.”

“Carol? I can set something up if she ever wants to meet her. I’ll tell Bucky to give you a heads up next time she’s on Earth. Carol would love it.” Steve’s offer clearly carries into the backroom because there’s the sound of shattering glass and a clattering of one of your stools.

“I’ll clean it up!” Kamala calls out, then rushes to shut the door to the back room.

“Jesus,” you sigh, laughing once before turning back to the two men. “She’ll love that.”

“Great,” Steve smiles, dazzling with that shy confidence as he looks down at his feet.

“So, what’s up, Bucky? To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” you wonder and begin to gather up the stems and petals from your counter into the small basket for composting later.

“Nothing. I just wanted to see what you were up to and Steve wanted to meet you.”

“Yeah, he talks about you a lot,” Steve says.

“Oh?” you ask, smiling from ear to ear and meeting Bucky’s eyes.

“Also, I kinda wanted to see if you could fix up something for Kali? We’ve got a date and I know she’ll like something you make more than any other place in town.”

“Oh.” Of course he’s here for Kali.

As he should be, you make sure to remind yourself.

“Of course, one bouquet, coming right up. Any requests?” you tap your fingers against your clean counter, waiting and expending your disappointed energy as much as possible in the few seconds before you must focus on Kali’s bouquet.

Just because you know that Bucky has no interest in you and you have no right to be jealous doesn’t mean that those feelings just disappear.

"Dealer's choice." Bucky says, moving to lean on your counter. "You always know what's best."

You flatten your lips, running what you have leftover in your mind. You'll have to make a run to the flower market tomorrow morning.

"If it helps, they're going to dinner at the compound," Steve suddenly offers, moving to stand closer but keeping his hands in his pockets. "Casual dinner. Just the team."

"Oh," you say, realizing suddenly that this us a meeting-the-family type of situation. "I see. Big step."

You nod and watch Bucky with wife eyes, trying to ease the ache you feel. It actually isn't too bad at the moment and wonder if you'll torture yourself about it later.

"Biiiig step," you repeat.

Bucky’s eyes shoot from Steve and back to you, searching nervously before taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, well, I thought it was time."

"Okay," you nod. This is your defeat. This is the end and you know you have to accept it.

No matter how hard it is or the fact that his hands are literally resting right by yours, his pinky finger and his metal thumb both unintentionally grazing your own.

You know it's unintentional because his focus is back on Steve.

"Is it really that big a deal that I'm bringing her over?" Bucky asks him.

"Buck, when was the last time any of us brought someone to meet the rest of the team?" Steve asks, shrugging his shoulders.

You move away from the counter heading to your buckets of unused flowers and pull the lilac and leftover tulips in deep purple, white, and soft pink.

For greens you decide against the baby's breath as there is already so much white with the tulips and instead opt for myrtle to give the arrangement a splash of green.

Bucky and Steve are so busy talking about what the rest of the team will say and think about Kali and the possibility that Sam might tease him or say something embarrassing in front of her that you're able to arrange the bouquet in silence.

You can see the years of friendship in the way they speak to each other. Steve doesn't hesitate to chastise Bucky and Bucky is free with his attitude and teasing.

"Alright Casanova, since you know so much about girls now, where's your girlfriend? Why don't you go on any dates?" Bucky pushes. "All that serum to make yourself taller and you're still that skinny kid at the fair ignoring girls."

"Hey, I didn't ignore them. They ignored me. I know you were too busy charming their socks off to notice but they weren't there for me, Buck."

"Hmm," you say, drawing both their attention to you as you finish the bouquet with a pale blue ribbon. "So, Bucky has always been a flirt?"

Steve smiles, "Yes, he has."

"I'm not a flirt!" Bucky argues 

"Dude, you are," you insist. "You've even flirted with me."

"What?!" Bucky looks astonished, steel blue eyes wide and dismayed.

"You danced with me right here in the shop, remember?"

"Dancing is not flirting!" He argues.

"Yeah, it kinda is." Steve agrees.

"He took a piece of cucumber from my hand the other day at the park," you tell Steve, pointing at Bucky feeling accusatory. "With his mouth!"

"Wow," Steve shakes his head, looking down at your counter with overplayed shock.

"Huh? Wha-? I-that wasn't what-I mean-I didn't mean it as flirting! It was just-you're my friend." Bucky’s discomfort gives you both pleasure and despair.

The idea of him flirting with you seems to be so far beyond his idea of possible but he also deserves to be dragged for doing the things that made your heart tremble.

Maybe after being teased, he'll cool it and let you get over him?

"Okay, tell your girlfriend you did those two things and we'll both take your word for it," Steve says, speaking for you and moving to stand behind your counter beside you.

Bucky scoffs, amused but also looking slightly ashamed, "I…I can't tell Kali that."

You tut, shake your head, and sigh.

"See? Such a flirt."

Steve laughs. "So much for knowing the ladies, huh Buck?"

Bucky looks away from both of you, standing straight and fisting the hair on the back of his head in frustration before pointing at the bouquet.

"Alright, fine. You both win. Are you done?" He wonders, not upset but clearly embarrassed.

You let him sweat for a few more seconds, watching as he shifts nervously from foot to foot the longer you stare.

Finally, you hold the flowers out for him, "Yeah, I'm done."

"Great, just…Steve is paying." And without another word he hustles out of the shop, ears bright red.

"Bucky!" Steve protests, but he's already walking out the door.

"Okay, bye to you too, I guess!" You yell after him.

Bucky throws his hand in the air as a goodbye then walks out of sight.

Steve sighs and moves around to the front if the counter, pulling a shiny gold card to pay.

"That was fun," he says, smiling smugly. "It's been a while since I've gotten a rise like that outta him."

You chuckle, amused by their dynamic.

"We should all get together again. Tease him some more." Steve offers, and it's so easy that you don't even think twice about it.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. I'd love that. I don't get to spend a whole lot of time outside of the shop. What did you have in mind?"

You run his card and turn the pin machine towards him.

"Oh, um just run it as credit. And I'm not sure. Anything you want to do?" He wonders.

"Not really. Although, I haven't been bowling in a long time."

"Bowling?" Steve repeats, nods, then slowly smiles and takes his card. "Bowling sounds great. How's next Saturday?"

"Ooh, no weekends for me. I can do a Monday or Tuesday."

"Okay, Next Tuesday. We'll all meet here and then walk to the alley a few blocks over." Steve's plans sound solid and his confidence makes you excited for the day to come.

"Great! We can tease him about not knowing how to use his phone," you suggest.

Instead of chuckling, Steve stands up straighter, pouting a little as he takes a step back.

"Hey…" he argues.

"Oh, right," you laugh. "Guess you're also really old."

You laugh again and Steve's dismay softens into a playful but knowing smile.

"Now I know why he likes you." He says, throwing your heart for a loop.

~~~~~~~~~~

The steam is still wafting from your open bathroom door, the condensation building on your mirror again as you move to the window in your bedroom and throw it open to air out the small space.

Your apartment isn’t luxurious and in fact is only just larger than a studio. Still you’d done wonders with it by refurbishing old furniture you’d found online for super cheap.

Home is a place of DIYs and cheap fixes to give your tiny personal space away from work a luxurious feel on a budget.

And of course, every room has flowers. The tiny kitchen, the living room, bedroom, and even the bathroom has a small bath mat made of moss.

Switching off the bedroom light, you meander into the kitchen to grab a glass of juice then settle on the super comfy sofa that you spent an arm and a leg on because hey, you’re gonna be using it a lot, right? Might as well get a good one!

A worthy investment in your opinion.

You take a sip of your drink, place it on the coaster on your coffee table, then lean back and switch on the TV.

Just as you’re relaxing, your phone buzzes and you reach for it from the arm of the sofa to see who might be calling so late at night.

Since you’re already leaning in that direction, you let yourself fall against the throw pillows and for a moment, all you can do is stare at the name flashing on your screen.

Reminding yourself that it’s normal for friends to call each other, and that this is exactly what you’d asked for, you swipe the green bubble sideways and bring the phone to your ear, muting the TV with the other hand.

“Hey. You asleep already?” Bucky asks, and his voice steals your ability to speak.

You don’t answer, trying desperately to catch your breath.

He says your name. A question really. Waiting and listening. “You there?”

“Y-Yeah, sorry. I couldn’t hear you for a sec.” A believable excuse. “Signal’s a little shoddy here. What’s up? It’s late. I figured you’d be asleep.”

That’s not actually what you figured. You often assume that Bucky is up late with Kali. Doing couple things. Clearly.

“No. Not yet. I’m in bed, but not asleep yet.” He explains, and breathes in slowly.

You can almost picture him laying on his bed, phone pressed to his ear. Is he wearing sleep pants and a shirt or…?

“S-so what’s going on?” you shut your eyes, nerves getting the better of you.

“I just wanted to talk to you. We didn’t get to at the shop earlier.”

“Well, that’s because you brought Steve Rogers,” you remind him.

“He kept bugging me to meet you. I figured I’d get it over with.”

“I see.” You can’t help yourself. You chuckle. “He seems like fun.”

“Yeah, fun. I didn’t appreciate the tag team, by the way.”

You laugh a little more heartily this time, amused by his tone and the flustered way he left the shop.

“You asked for it. Why do you try to tease him when you know he knows all of your darkest secrets?”

“Do you really think I was flirting with you?”

This startles you and your laugh dies slowly. It takes you a few moments before you can find your answer in all of the possible ways you can put off this conversation.

“I mean, a little I guess? I guess you weren’t.” Because why would he want you?

“Was it bad?”

In what context does he mean? Was the flirting bad? Or was it bad that he was flirting?

“Are you questioning your lady skills right now?” You decide to joke and tease him again instead of answering seriously.

The throbbing in your chest is hard to push past.

He chuckles, “Lady skills? I don’t have those anymore.”

Idiot. “How the heck do you think you charmed Kali then?”

“Sincerity!”

Well, that’s probably true.

“No, but seriously, was I really being bad?”

“I think you know the answer to that question, Bucky. Or you wouldn’t be asking.”

Why is he asking you this? What if he sees through you and notices you like him?

“The cucumber thing was a little over the top,” he agrees. “You just looked so funny with that shocked expression on your face.”

“Lovely,” you frown.

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop with the teasing.”

“Really?” you ask eagerly, wondering what kind of changes to his behavior he’ll make.

“Of course. So long as you and Steve never tease me again,” he insists.

“Oof, then I guess I’ll just have to deal with your flirting because there’s no way I can abandon my newest friend in our newest hobby. We even made plans to do it again!”

“Yeah, I heard about that at dinner. Bowling, huh?”

“I haven’t been in ages. How did dinner go, by the way?” Was Kali a hit?

“Good. It went great. Kali charmed all of their pants off.” He breathes in deeply again and breathes out slowly. “She really liked them.”

This is how it should be.

“You’re bringing her bowling, right?” you push on, invested in moving on from this hopeless crush.

“Can I?” he wonders, slightly surprised.

“Of course! She’s your girlfriend, Bucky. You should bring her.”

“So, what? Is this like a double-date? You and Steve gonna sneak off to the-the bathroom or outside to make out or something?”

The question catches you off guard and you laugh nervously, realizing that it sounds like you’re being shy despite simply being thrown off guard.

“What? No! Why would you think that?” you ask, voice slightly shaking.

“He really liked you,” Bucky informs you, voice slightly tight. “More than Kali actually. Not that he hated her or anything. But he really liked you.”

“Well, I like him too.” You tell him. Hoping that he both thinks you really like Steve as a man, but also that he doesn’t get the wrong idea. “He was very sweet.”

“Hm.” Is all that he says.

As the line goes quiet, you bite your lip, poking at the sofa cushions beneath you.

“You getting up early tomorrow?”

“Um…yeah. We had a really busy day today and I need to restock on a lot of my popular flowers. I’m also running low on twine and vases. So, it’ll be a big haul.” The idea of having to lug everything back to the shop tomorrow worries you.

“How are you gonna get it to the shop?” Bucky wonders.

“I’ll have to borrow Dhar’s delivery van. He’s always up super early and is also so nice to lend it to me when I need to make a big delivery.”

A sudden thump makes you gasp and you shoot up into a sitting position as you stare towards your bedroom doorway.

Bucky calls your name, worried by your reaction. “You okay? What’s wrong?”

From the other room drifts a familiar voice. Harmless so far, but a voice that always makes the hairs on the back of your neck prickle.

“Aybabeh, yewake?” the slur comes through, loud and clear.

Getting up you move into your room as Bucky says your name again, with more worry this time.

“Paul?” you ask, noticing the movement on the fire escape outside your open window.

“Who the hell is Paul?”

“Go home, Paul.”

“Awe, kumon babeh, dunbe lakdat. I l-lubyew! Gamme a kisssss,” he continues to slur, reaching through the window to grab at your wrists.

“Paul, you’re drunk. Remember what we talked about last time?” you sigh, pull on his hands but he’s got you in a vice grip on your left wrist and your phone is gripped tight in your right.

“No,” he lies.

“Paul,” you warn.

He scoffs long and loud, blowing a torrid of beer breath at you. You wince at the odor, turning your face away.

“Tol’me to no window visits,” he stumbles on the words but gets the general idea out. “And no drinking.”

“So, if you know, why are you bothering me?” you ask him, irritated by his inability to listen to what you want.

You can hear Bucky calling your name from the phone, but with Paul’s hands around your wrists, you can’t put the phone to your ear.

“Yurso bootyfil,” he murmurs. “Mm’really wanna fug yew.”

His words send a shudder ripping through you, and your stomach goes shockingly cold.

“Paul, let go of my hands. Go home, and go to sleep.”

The fear that encompasses you shoots you with adrenaline and somehow you manage to pull your arms free. The force of it causes Paul to fall backwards against the fire escape railing and you hurry to shut the window.

Locks in place, you take a step back, phone held tightly to your chest as you stare at Paul. He’s the typical brown haired, brown eyed white guy with a day and night personality. When he isn’t drunk, Paul has been nice and understanding.

It took you too long to realize just how much of a threat this man poses for you.

“ANSWER ME!” Bucky’s voice cuts through your blood pumping loudly in your head.

“I-I’m here,” you tell him, voice a little weak and shaking.

“What the hell just happened?!” Bucky demands.

“There’s…this guy that lives two floors above me. He’s usually really nice, but sometimes he gets drunk and he comes to my window.”

“He comes inside?” Bucky’s voice is hard and fast.

“No. I mean, once, yeah. But I was having dinner with a friend so he just scared us and I was able to get him to go home.”

“You asked him to let you go,” Bucky reminds you. “What was he doing?”

“He grabbed my wrists. I’m fine, Bucky. He’s gone. He’s not even on my fire escape anymore.”

“I’m coming over,” he declares and you can hear the sound of keys through the phone.

“What? No. Don’t be crazy. He’s gone, okay? My door is locked. My window is locked. I’ve gotta be up in like five hours anyway. I’m safe. Don’t come over here, Bucky.”

“I’m coming with you to get your flowers in the morning,” Bucky insists.

“Why do I hear an engine, Bucky?” you demand.

“I said I’m coming over. So you either let me into the apartment or I’m sitting on your fire escape all night.”

You sigh heavily, and yet, through your annoyance you can’t lie. You’re a little glad that someone will be in the apartment with you.

Paul has never been so explicit with you before and you’d be lying if you said you aren’t rattled.

“Why are you so fucking stubborn?” you growl, sweeping your hand across your clammy forehead now that the adrenaline is wearing off.

“You’re letting me in right? I really don’t wanna sleep on a fire escape.”

“You’re an idiot!” you yell, and hang the phone up.

After standing there frozen for a few minutes, you grab a blanket and one of your pillows and start to make up the couch, grateful for the first time that your friend is a super soldier.

[readyplayerhobi]

Flower | 34

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Smut, fluff

; Warnings: Anal sex, vaginal sex, unprotected sex, protected sex

; Word Count: 4.1k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: The final smut chapter of Flower! It’s not too long, and probably not as hot as you’d anticipate but I hope you all enjoy it anyway lol please reblog if you do and let me know what you think :D I mean...I know it’s smut so it’s going to be hard to actually talk about it but still, I like to hear what you think about Flower. I haven’t proof read cos I only finished this about...fifteen minutes ago lol

; Flower Masterpost

-

“Ahh, Hoseok.” You whispered eyes tightly closed as a particularly hard thrust from him has your body jerking up the bed slightly more. Tightening around him without even realising it, he responds with a quiet moan of his own and you smile, running your hand along his back to play with the short hair on his neck.

It makes him shudder, his whole body quivering above you and goosebumps rise on his arms. He was surprisingly ticklish, so it came as no surprise that even in the middle of sex he ended up giggling from the sensation. Opening your eyes to watch him, you bit your lip in amusement at the sight of his beautiful smile.

His response to that was just a roll of his hips that had you gasping, pleasure shooting through your body. Almost two-and-a-half years together and sex still wasn’t boring or dull with him. You weren’t sure if it was because you were madly in love with him or if it was just because he was good at sex. All you did know was that you enjoyed it a lot.

“Do we have to do it? Can’t we just keep going with this?” The question makes Hoseok pause in his movements, shifting until he could look at you clearly without causing himself any strain. Brow furrowing, his lips twist in confusion and you have to bite back the urge to poke at them.

“I mean...we don’t have to do it. If you’re not comfortable with it then we won’t do it. Just finish off like this. I will point out that this is your fantasy though.” A sigh leaves you at that, causing you to nod before you rub at your face. Hoseok doesn’t move, just staying where he is and watching you.

“I know, I know. You’re right. And we’ve already prepped. I just...what if something goes wrong? Or it hurts? You’re not small and...you know.” Your voice has a whine to it, causing him to smile. Or try to hide his smile, but it doesn’t work. 

Tracing your fingers along his the tattoos on his chest, you waited for him to comfort you. You’d never really thought of yourself as a needy person before, but you found it nice to have Hoseok reassuring you. It wasn’t necessary, but you got the feeling that Hoseok liked to do it as well. Probably liked the feeling of being wanted.

His response is to push himself up with a grunt, the muscles of his torso working in a way that had you clenching around him. Until he slipped out of you, his cock glistening with your wetness and the lube he’d used earlier. Thanks to his vasectomy a few months ago, the two of you had decided to forego the use of condoms during sex now.

There was a pack in the drawers just in case it was needed, like the situation that was soon about to begin, but otherwise, you both thought it was just a waste of money. You’d gotten tested and Hoseok officially had no sperm showing in his semen, so he couldn’t get you pregnant.

It also helped that him orgasming in you had been one of your fantasies that you’d wanted to experience. You hadn’t been disappointed, even if it felt slightly gross from how wet and thick his cum was in comparison to...well anything else that had been there. Still, you’d enjoyed it. And the look in Hoseok’s eyes when he’d seen it the first time had been pleasing.

There weren’t many things that you’d been able to be the first of for Hoseok.

You still weren’t entirely used to seeing his cock bare though, and it was oddly arousing. Was that normal? Or was it just because you were mid-sex and you found everything about him ridiculously attractive right now? The way his skin contrasted against his colourful tattoos and how each heavy breath made the definition of his stomach more obvious.

It was only when Hoseok gently trailed his fingers along your inner thigh, tapping occasionally with a bemused grin on his face that you realise you’d become way too invested in checking him out. Not that he was opposed to it if the twitching of his cock had anything to say about it.

“Oh, hey, there she is. Back with me. You had that lusty look in your eyes,” Smirking, he rests a hand on your knee and rubs at it almost reassuringly. “Right, serious talk. I don’t want to do anything you’re not comfortable or happy with. So if you’re still too worried then we don’t do it. I’m perfectly fine no matter what.”

Body heating in embarrassment, you squirmed a little and looked away from his intense gaze. His lips were a little swollen and flushed in colour from the earlier kissing and gentle biting, made even more enticing when his tongue swipes across them.

“No, no, I want to try. You’re right, it’s my fantasy. I’m just...worried. You know me.”

“I do know you, which is why I know that you’re probably thinking about this too much. I know that you’ve researched extensively on how to do it safely, on how to try and do it cleanly as well. We’ve prepped as well as we can, you’re pretty comfortable with where we’ve got to. If you’re unhappy then just tell me, okay? Trust me, I’ll stop.” Staring into his dark eyes, you felt his care so strongly.

It helped to soothe the worry in your soul, to let you know that you were in capable hands. You did trust him. More than anyone else in the world right now. The very fact he was knelt there, with your naked body on full display for him and there were almost no worries about your appearance going through your head was proof enough.

There were other worries this time though.

“But what if there’s...you know. Like when you’re in there. What if you get...stuff on you?” Hoseok sighs softly, it’s almost not audible but you heard it. The knot in your stomach was still tight, but you don’t feel embarrassed.

“Meeps, I’m going to be in your asshole. I mean...it’s not made for a dick, it’s a poop chute. So if I happen to get some on my dick then I do, I can’t complain about it. It’s what I get for going in there. Please don’t stress over it.” He’s stroking along your thigh, each movement reinforcing that he cares for you and only has you in mind.

“You promise?” 

“I promise. Tell me if you’re uncomfortable at any point, please. Go straight to red if you’re hurting. I’d rather stop if it’s hurting a lot, especially as it’s your ass. Probably not a good sign.” Frowning slightly, you reach out for his hand and half link your fingers together.

“You won’t stop completely right? If I say red then we can just do normal sex?” The last, and only time, you’d ever called out red to him had been during your last experimentation with fantasies and kinks. You’d wanted to know whether you’d enjoy being tied and blindfolded during sex and Hoseok had obliged.

Only you’d discovered that having your hands tied to the bedframe so you couldn’t move properly combined with being unable to see had triggered a huge panic attack. All you’d been able to focus on was that you were exposed, with all the parts you didn’t like being visible and you couldn’t see a thing. Even though Hoseok had been right there, you hadn’t been able to push past your fear that he might just leave you in that compromising position and you’d been begging him to let you go, spitting out ‘red’ over and over until you were free.

Hoseok hadn’t re-engaged in sex after that time, instead just focusing on coddling you and making sure that you were okay. Your vehement reaction had convinced you both that while you were okay with being either tied or blindfolded, you couldn’t cope with them both. 

It made you feel too vulnerable, even with Hoseok.

But you didn’t want him to stop completely this time. If you were uncomfortable or hurting from the anal then you just wanted him to stop and have normal sex with you. There was no reason in your eyes for the fun to stop just because something had been a bust. Not this time.

“If you’re okay with continuing, then yeah. We’ll just do it normally. But only if you’re comfortable with it, alright? You have to be honest.” His index finger on his free hand is gesturing to you, his expression stern and you can’t help but smile as you nod. It was hard to take him entirely seriously when he was naked as the day he was born.

“I promise. We should do it. Now, while I’m feeling a little confident. Do we need to do anything else?” He’d already spent a good half an hour earlier getting your ass ready for him; using a small range of butt plugs that increased in size to try and make it as easy as possible for you. You figured with the size of the last one he’d used on you that you could probably take him. He wasn’t small but he also wasn’t a porn star either, thankfully.

“You sure? I think you’ll be good, just let me know.” Nodding to him, you watch as he grabs the foil packet from the bedside table and carefully rolls the condom on. Neither of you wanted this particular sex act to be bare and you’d forgotten how weirdly attractive it was to watch him put one on.

Next, the bottle of lube was used to squirt generous amounts onto his cock. One large hand, the fingers long and elegant, coats it evenly along his shaft in firm strokes. You knew that you were incredibly horny right now because just the sight of it had you shivering, a quiet moan leaving you without meaning to.

“It’s really hot when you jerk yourself off.” It’s only when Hoseok laughs that you realise you’ve just said that out loud. But it’s a testament to how much you’ve grown into your personality with Hoseok that you don’t feel embarrassed about it. Instead, you just give him a bold look with raised brows that has him grinning, looking away from you first.

“You’ve mentioned that a few times.” He’s muttering it though, his cheeks flushed with rose from shyness now and not from anything sexual. It pleases you though that he doesn’t stop his movement, instead gripping himself a little firmer and almost showing off with each slow stroke.

Biting your lip, you sighed to yourself as you watched him for a few seconds. Each move of his arm had the muscles in his bicep flexing, the weights he’d been lifting at the gym lately making themselves well known beneath the colourful tattoos. Your boyfriend was a masterpiece of nature who had only been improved with human talent and skill.

The knowledge that it was all yours was more than a little heady, and suddenly your worries dissipated a little as you whined at him.

“Hobi...come on, please.” 

Now it’s his turn to chew on his lip, considering you carefully before shuffling himself a little forward. His thigh muscles tighten from the movement and his position, looking thicker than normal and you whine softly. Would you ever get to a point where you didn’t consider this man to be the most attractive person in the world?

The tip of his cock rubs against your clit slowly, sending sparks of pleasure through you. Sighing, you lift your hips in an attempt to encourage him downwards. It surprises you how much you want him there, despite your earlier worries. But you hadn’t hated the prep earlier, hadn’t loved it either but this was something you;’d always wanted to try. 

And something you’d always been way too embarrassed to ask for. Hence why it had taken you almost two and a half years to finally experiment with this with Hoseok. You trusted him though. Trusted him to take his time and most importantly, to take care of you and love you.

“If it hurts-”

“Yes, yes, if it hurts then I’ll let you know. Just...go slow, yeah?” Nodding at you, he finally moves down until he’s pressing against your asshole. There’s resistance to him as he pushes, an uncomfortable sensation that has you wincing slightly. The toys you both had didn’t quite go up to his size, so there was still a tiny bit more stretching to do, but you’d felt that you could cope with it pretty well.

Still, it’s not the most pleasant feeling and you let out a breath of air in a rush, eyes widening as you feel a burning sensation when he finally manages to start entering you. A deep groan escapes you as he keeps going, the blunt head of his cock the biggest part of him at the moment and you know that once that’s in, it should be a little better.

It’s just getting there.

Hoseok uses his free hand to rub your stomach gently, the movement something that would’ve horrified you years ago but that is reassuring now. Like you can feel comfort from the touch rather than revulsion and horror.

“Hey, hey, you okay?”

Nodding to him, you take a deep breath to try and regulate yourself. It’s more discomfort than pain right now, thankfully, but you just try to relax. You’d read plenty of sites that said relaxing would help to make it a smoother experience, and the last thing you wanted was to cause yourself unnecessary pain.

“Yeah, yeah. Just...go slow, ya know? It’s a little burning but I think you can push a bit more. Just...slow.” He acknowledges your words with a smile, moving to grasp your hand with his while he moves a little deeper. There’s an almost painful sensation that has you whimpering out loud but then the tip of him suddenly manages to make it past and an inch or so of him accidentally slips in too.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m sorry.” He blurts out, looking a little panicked as you squeeze his hand tight without even realising. Thankfully, he’s paused and you take a few deep breaths, trying to centre yourself as you let them back out slowly. After a solid minute or so, you finally feel yourself relax once more and smile at him.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s good, you’re in. Just...give me another minute or so, I’ll let you know when you can move again. Slow, still slow.” 

“Yeah, yeah of course. Did I hurt you?” You know he’s not going to let go of this anytime soon, so you squeeze his hand softly.

“A little, but we both knew it wasn’t going to be sunshine, right? Like you said...it’s not meant to take a dick.” He snorts at that, the movement causing him to jerk ever so slightly inside you. There's another burn but it’s more manageable now, the sensation not painful anymore and you give him another smile of encouragement.

“Okay, try a bit more.” This continues for probably ten minutes, Hoseok going as slow as humanly possible. To the point that you’re worried his erection might be becoming painful from how long he’s had it. But the two of you work together, slowly moving until you finally feel comfortable enough to start having some form of sex.

Though not the kind you normally have, you doubt you could handle him going fast right now. But there was something strangely erotic about having him somewhere that was still considered a little taboo. And you liked the feeling of him there. It wasn’t pleasurable obviously, but you were enjoying it more than you’d thought that you would.

Reaching down between you both, your fingertips found your clit with relative ease and you let out a small gasp as pleasure burst inside you. The sensation made your hips jerk upwards, causing his cock to slide out a little and your gasp turned into a moan quickly.

Wow, okay. That wasn’t expected. Brows rising, you glance down before looking at Hoseok in surprise.

“That felt good. Like...better than I expected.” Now Hoseok looks intrigued, glancing down to where his cock was buried inside your ass to your fingers which are lazily rubbing at your clit. Pursing his lips, he looks at you with an intrigued expression with more than a hint of mischief before pushing his hips forward slowly.

Inch by inch, his cock slides back into you, the lube he’d added making his movement smooth. The intense way he stares into your eyes has you inhaling sharply, his movements achingly slow but just enough to make you shudder and keen. 

“Oh...oh, you like that,” Hoseok murmurs, lips quirked into a smirk as he watches you play with yourself in fascination. “Meeps...do you like getting it in the ass?”

He’s teasing you, the light tone to his voice telling you so, but you just nod your head. Closing your eyes, you keep up the same rhythm on the swollen bundle of nerves between your legs, occasionally pausing to add more of your sticky excitement to make it smoother. Hoseok is right, and it kind of surprises you.

You like getting anal. Even though you’d been the one to want to try it with him, with it being your fantasy, you hadn’t expected anything from it. Maybe just an okay experience that you’d do again occasionally with him if he wanted it, but you genuinely liked this.

The actual act itself didn’t feel as good as vaginal obviously, but there was something that was causing you to get a different kind of pleasure. Almost like the very knowledge that you were having it was making it feel so much better than you’d anticipated. 

Which is why you’re beyond surprised when the build-up of pleasure seems to be slow at first but then it bubbles over quickly, a pressure you hadn’t even realised was there bursting and ricocheting through your body violently. Moaning loudly, each sound almost guttural from how intense the orgasm was.

It’s bizarrely helped by the sensation of Hoseok moving in you, his strokes still slow and steady. Even though you know logically that you’re not getting any pleasure from there, if anything there’s still that uncomfortable sensation, it almost seems to intensify the sparks inside you.

To the point that your body almost rises off the bed, back bowing violently while your thighs tighten around Hoseok’s waist and your toes curl. You can’t ever remember an orgasm this intense, which is odd as you get the best ones when you have some vaginal penetration as well. But this seems to get you going.

By the time it finally finishes, it seems to go on far longer than normal, you’re left exhausted on the bed. Limbs twitching while your chest heaves for breath, you don’t see the dumbstruck way Hoseok stares at you.

“Did you just...after...I mean...I barely did anything!” He finally exclaims, causing you to open your eyes and watch him lazily. “You really just came after like...a few minutes of me in your ass and a bit of clit action! I can be in your pussy for half an hour and nothing happens!”

You can tell he’s not angry or annoyed, instead more amazed. It makes you giggle at him, the endorphins rushing through your body after a good orgasm making you feel even more loving towards him. Reaching forwards, you tug him down until he’s almost laid on top of you, his cock shifting inside you as he moves but not slipping out.

“Oh...oh, someone’s being loving too. Damn meeps, you like getting it in the ass, huh?” Humming, you ran your fingers through his hair repeatedly and pressed kisses to his shoulder. A graze of your teeth on the soft skin there has him shivering, hips jutting forward automatically and you sigh in contentment as he moans.

“Your turn,” Whispering into his ear, you trail your nose along his cheek before kissing the strong line of his jaw. “Probably not going to enjoy this as much but I want you to feel good.”

Hoseok nods slightly, a strangled gasp leaving him when you experimentally squeeze around him. It’s not comfortable to have him thrusting when you do that so you relax again, encouraging him to start a very slow and steady rhythm. Not nearly as fast as you both would normally enjoy, but it’s as much as you can handle without it getting painful or too uncomfortable.

So you try and help in other ways, dragging your nails down his back and playing with the small hairs on the back of his neck. Tiny nibbles of his jaw before pulling him into a deep kiss, shifting slightly to make the position a little better for you.

It works, mainly because you know all the little spots that do it for Hoseok. Which is why it’s only minutes after that he’s pressing into you, his face pushed into your neck hard as he lets a loud grunt while his body quakes above you. Smiling, you kiss his shoulder and contemplate for a moment how different it feels to have him orgasming there instead of in your pussy.

You can still feel his cock jerk inside you with each spasm, ejaculating into the condom. It’s not like normal though, like the sensations are almost dulled. But it’s still hot as hell and you feel a little pride, grinning as you kiss along his jaw and murmur softly to him.

It’s probably silly, but you always feel an intense amount of pride every time Hoseok cums in you. Almost like you’re proud of the fact he found you so attractive that you could satisfy him sexually. Although he probably didn’t need that much to get going, it was still a boost to your confidence.

Finally, he shifts until he can look at you properly. There’s exhaustion written all over his face but it’s bad, instead, it’s that exhaustion from a good time. He has that lazy look in his eyes, that one he always gets after a good orgasm.

“Good?”

“Good. You?”

“Good. I mean, I don’t wanna do this every day but...I want to do it again. Did it feel different?” He snorts, letting his weight rest on you for a moment. It’s heavy and a little stifling from the heat but you relish it, wrapping your arms around him. If it was weird to be so affectionate after anal sex then so be it, he’d given you a damn good orgasm so he deserved it.

“I mean...I liked it. Felt tighter but only really at your actual ass, after that, it’s kinda weird. I prefer your pussy, for definite. But I’m down for this more, especially after how hard you came. Damn, who’d have thought my shy, awkward girlfriend would be so into that?” He pokes your side gently, causing you to smile.

“Surprising to me too. Anyway, come on, let’s go clean up. I don’t even wanna know what it looks like so...I’m gonna close my eyes and you can go get rid of the condom. Then we’ll shower, get all nice and clean.” Hoseok hums, pressing a gentle kiss to your lips.

“Okay, sounds good. Love you.” Smiling as you close your eyes, you gently poke his shoulder in response. A soft chuff of laughter lets you know he understands before he’s pulling out carefully, a wince on your face until he’s out.

“Do you need anything? Need me to go anything?”

“No, it’s okay. Just...go, start the shower. I’ll be there soon. I enjoyed it.” He acknowledges you quietly before getting up off the bed. There’s the sound of him peeling off the condom carefully before he puts it back into the foil but you don’t bother to move. Instead, you lay there for a moment with that boneless contentment that comes from a good orgasm and some good sex. It constantly amazed you that you’d come this far in yourself, feeling confident enough to open up about the fantasies you wanted to do.

Sighing happily, you can’t help but snort as you hear Hoseok yelp from the bathroom.

“Kasumi! No! My dick is not a toy, ow!”

[lord-explosion-baku]

The Kiss of Death

Bakugou x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, angst, mentions of death

A/N: I really wanted this to be short and sweet, but that didn’t really happen. Anyways, my name is Meeps and I don’t have emotions.

“One reason.” 

“Give me one good reason.” 

You were crushed under the pressure that was Katsuki Bakugou. It wasn’t that he was being unnecessarily rough with you, nor was he being any more forceful than throwing his muscular arms out on either side of you, keeping you backed against the wall, locked into place simply by the weight of his beautiful, crimson glare that you were trying vigorously to ignore.

Once upon a time, you thought being around Bakugou would be easy— safe for the both of you. Bakugou didn’t like anybody, he never let anybody too close to him, and he never showed off an ounce of vulnerability. He was virtually indestructible— perfect for a person with a curse such as the one you had. 

You didn’t know that Bakugou would see you smirking when he made idiotic or demeaning remarks about the people surrounding the two of you and you didn’t know that he would like it when you shot back at him with an equally idiotic or demeaning remark when he made his quips at you. You didn’t know you would like it so much when he blushed. 

He was never supposed to smile at you, or say your name, or have his warm hands brush against yours. You were never supposed to let him walk you back to your dorm room, or stay up late with you talking about bullshit for hours on end, or go on spur-of-the-moment curry runs when both of your stomachs growled. 

You shouldn’t know his favorite songs, or where he grew up, or why he wanted to become a hero, but you did. He shouldn’t know all the ways to make you mad, or that you didn’t like the texture of certain foods, or that you cry after finishing a good book, but he did. The two of you should never have been able to be so comfortable around one another, but you were. 

You let yourself be selfish. You were indignant— mad at the universe for damning you to never be close with anyone other than your soulmate. So, even though you knew it was wrong, you let it happen, figuring that it would just be one more thing you could let yourself be tortured over in solitude, never once imagining that Bakugou would reciprocate your implausible feelings. You should never have let this happen, not unless you wanted Katsuki Bakugou to die. 

“Give me one good reason why you won’t let me kiss you.” 

The first kiss you’d ever had was with a boy you met at Summer camp going into sixth grade. You had spent the entire day with him: jumping off the pier into the lake, weaving each other lanyards, and sharing ice cream. He had kissed you right before lights out— a simple peck before he scurried back to his own cabin. The next day, he had drowned in the lake. He was an excellent swimmer. 

The second kiss you shared happened two years later with a boy you met at a park. You were hanging out with some friends after school when you all decided to play truth or dare. Your friends knew you thought he was cute because you complimented him on his skateboard. They dared you to kiss him. He got hit by a car on his ride back home. You watched his mother cry at his funeral. 

Your aunt took you to see a psychic. What the psychic told you was hysterical to your aunt until she took you to several more who all relayed the same message: anybody you kiss who was not your soulmate will die within twenty-four hours. From then on, you promised yourself that you would never kiss another person. 

It was a chance you were not willing to take on anybody. What could you do, really? Smooch everybody and the first person that didn’t drop like a fly, you would stick by and live happily ever after with? What of the trail of corpses you’d leave behind? That was evil— sinister to even think about. Why kill anybody for the sanctity of finding your true love? How would you even know that your soulmate was even out there? Odds were, you would never find them. 

Bakugou didn’t speak to you for two weeks after the first time he asked you on a date. You could tell he was nervous because he was mumbling more than usual and his ears were bright pink. It hurt your heart to say no, but dates often lead to kisses, and your kisses often lead to death. 

The second time he asked you on a date was more sporadic. You were raving about a new restaurant you wanted to try out. He asked you if you wanted to go with him and you told him that you absolutely wanted to go with him. He said, “so like a date?” and you told him absolutely not. You still haven’t gone to that restaurant. 

The third time was a sneak attack. In fact, he never even called it a date. The two of you went on a hike to an abandoned mine. Boldly, he dared you to go into the mine with him. You told him that you never took dares. Regardless, you braved the underground depths. It was dark and you couldn’t see, so you clung on to the back of his shirt, careful not to touch his skin, until you heard the screech of a bat that made you nearly jump out of your bones. You screamed and he was on you in a second, laughing at first until he was petting your head, squeezing your shoulders, calming you down. It was a simple, “hey,” dark and alluring that got you thinking there was a plan behind this little adventure. When he lodged his knee between your thighs and caressed your cheek with the back of his hand, you feigned another scream, explaining that rats were skittering around your feet. You ran out of that mine and promised yourself that you’d never set foot in a dark place with Bakugou again. 

“I can’t,” you whispered, trying to keep your voice even, trying to make it seem like you weren’t burning on the inside, but your voice was hoarse and you were sure Bakugou could see through to the flames searing you alive. 

He pressed, thickly, “why not?” 

A tear escaped out of the corner of your eye. You couldn’t tell him. He either wouldn’t believe you, or he’d see your confession as a challenge. Bakugou wasn’t indestructible like you once thought, but he believed that he was. If he knew Death was coming after him, Bakugou would wait for them, ready to fight fate with explosive fury. And he would lose. 

“I don’t want to,” you spat through gritted teeth, trying to look anywhere other than the pupils shrouded under thick lashes that were focused on you. 

“That’s a damned lie and you know it,” he snarled, and for a moment, you thought that maybe this could be easy. Bakugou’s temperament was his biggest downfall next to his pride. It was one of the things you couldn’t stand about him, and if he got angry at you now, it’d be easier for you to walk away from him. It’d be easier for you to never talk to him again. 

But Bakugou would never make anything easy for you. Instead of calling you names like ‘bitch’ or ‘tease’ like he could have, he cupped your face and forced you to look into his stupid, gorgeous eyes— eyes that should have been furious, but instead were soft and wet. 

“You love me,” he said, his own voice cracking. “You love me and— and I love you! Damn it!!” 

You tried shaking your head, but his hands held you still. He was impossible. 

“I see the way you look at me when you think I’m not watching,” he continued miserably, “you respond to my every move. It’s like you’re synced up to me! And— you tell lame jokes that shouldn’t be funny, but they always are… and when you smile-“ his eyes flicked down to your lips “-your damn smile…” 

When his thumb brushed against your bottom lip, you knew you were in trouble. His face grew closer like he was going to try again. You couldn’t let that happen. You would not let that happen. 

You tore your face away, crying out with an abrupt, “Katsuki! No!” 

You should never have let this happen. You should have never let yourself fall for Bakugou, because now you felt a hot tear fall into the pocket of your collarbone, and it wasn’t from you. Bakugou’s breath was hot on your neck, the tingling sensation distracting you from your digging your nails into the palm of your hands.

“Just give me one good reason,” he whispered lowly against you, his lips bare centimeters away from your skin. You very well near broke your resolve and sentenced him to death then and there. Giving in would be so easy, but not worth it to see the boy you loved lying in a casket. 

You knew there was only one way out of this. You had to break his heart. 

“I won’t kiss you because-” you voice shook as you tried to raise it so he could hear you well enough to believe you “-I am afraid of you, Katsuki Bakugou.” 

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” he said, punishing himself, “I would never hurt you…” 

“How can you be so sure?” You shot back, gaining some composure. “You’re a tyrant— King Explosion Murder! You lose your cool at the flip of a switch! You threaten to kill people like it’s nothing!” Your heart throbbed. He threatened to kill people when the real killer was you. 

He shook his head, knowing too well that you were making excuses. You knew him better than that. You knew him better than anybody else. His nose brushed against your neck. “I would be so good to you. I’d take you on dates, pay for your meals, open doors for you, treat you like a princess... I’d let you use me as a punching bag when you get angry, or let you wipe your snot on me when you get sad… I’d hold you and love you and—” 

You closed your eyes. As if you hadn’t already snotted all over him after crying to him about bullshit. He already was too good for you. Horrible Bakugou was too good for you. 

Round two: damage his ego, his downfall. “You think all of that is love? Honestly Bakugou, you will never be enough for me.” 

You heard him click his tongue. Maybe this could be it. Maybe that was all it took. Act haughty and then never see him again. The two of you would part ways, you’d grow up lonely, and he’d find someone else to fall in love with, and the two of you would stay alive. The end. 

“I’ll prove you wrong,” he growled, shaking you back to the present. “Whatever the fuck you think you have figured out, I’ll prove that you don’t know a goddamn thing.”

His words bit at you dangerously. They pulled you in. 

“Just give me a fuckin’ chance.” 

“What part of the word ‘no’ don’t you understand?” You pushed off and away from him. You looked him dead in the eye and shot out venom. “I don’t love you and I never will. We are not supposed to be together, and you’re just too arrogant to accept rejection. Honestly, Bakugou, it’s pathetic and not a good look for you. I’m sorry, but-“ you wavered and you hoped he couldn’t see “-this discussion is over and I never want to have it again. Better yet, I don’t ever want to see you again. So just— just leave me alone! Forget about me!” 

You turned on your heel, not bothering to look back to see if your performance was believable. You stalked away, holding back tears. He didn’t come after you and half of you was grateful for that. The other half? Shattered. 

This was for the better. You knew you were doing the right thing. All you could hope for was that he didn’t actually try to prove you wrong. 

TAGS FOR EVERYTHING: @ayeputita @yandere-inamorata @dee-madwriter@unboundbnha @rizamendoza808, @rubycubix@smbody-stole-mycar-radio@zellllyyyy @sarcastictextstuck@kpanime @captain-sin-allmight-queen@psionicsnow@wickedlewicked@ghost-of-todoroki @kattariapenn @im-an-adult-sometimes @bnhya@local-senpai@eggpienutbuttercroissant@usernamekate94@reyvenclaww @hi-ho-and-hello 

This will not have a part 2

[theshy1sout]

My never ending list of what I want to see in Trollstopia

(It's really endless. Abondon all hope you who enter here)

1. Broppy

2. Friendship between King Peppy and King Osborne Trash. And maybe their musical duet. (Why do we still call them kings? They are like super retired)

3. Barb's queenie problems. I mean, she'd still feel lonely as a Queen, I wanna see her befriending with her rock subjects. She would looks for something or someone that makes her happy.

4. Dj Suki big rising from the dead

5. Broppy

6. Something like a giant performance of all of the tributes (like in the "New Anthem" from ttbgo, when every main character sing on the stage)

7. Some epic ROCK VS CLASSICAL (like in the deleted scene "Breaktime" from TWT)

8. Pop trolls telling others their history and then introducing Bergens

9. Poppy and Trollex friendship

10. Happy Carol in the girl group:)

11. Riff. Just more cutie moments with Riff

12. Broppy

13. Branch playing electric guitar

14. More Thistle and Branch just being buddies. I miss them so much

15. Keith and Tiny Diamond rap battle

16. Branch singing and playing country in the cowboy hat

17. Mr. Dinckle being Mr. Dinckles (meep)

18. More details about culture differences between trolls

19. Cooper and Prince D pranking everyone in every episode and then laughing dorkly together so loud and so long

20. Dickory yodeling happily in the branch's bunker so the echo makes his sing so loud and breaks all of the jar in the bunker

21. Branch and Growling Pete growling together

22. Poppy taking care of Gary like a professional babysitter (or loving mother :))

23. Barb driving VibeCity xd

24. I found Delta Dawn and Dickory's relationship pretty cute. I wanna see them too

25. Did I mention Broppy?

26. More techno trolls characters. And big techno party ones again, please

27. Trollazart playing hard rock. And then dropping the mic and leaving the stage

28. Specific foods of every gender. I wouldn't be surprised if Rock Trolls eat rocks xd

29. SCRAPBOOKS

30. Royals scrapbooking together

31. An episode where poppy tries to solve her problem and it's something in which branch is really good and poppy is really bad, but she is so stubborn and she wants to prove branch that she can do it on her own. She does not say anything to branch and runs away from him, ask everybody for help, just to do the thing without branch helping, but it ends by broke poppy sitting in the woods, tired and sad. And then branch walks in and asks what happened xd

And then branch would comfort her like this: "Oh poppy, you're not weak because you can not(idk open a pickle jarxd). Don't be silly, i won't stop loving you just because you can't do sth. To be honest, I really like helping you. It makes me feel I'm a good boyfriend :D"

"Cause you are :)"

"Yea, and you are bad girlfriend cause you can't open a pickle jar"

"Okeeeey, maybe I was a bit over-worried about it"

"Only a bit, hm?"

"Maybe more than 'a bit'..."

"And you know what else is more than a bit?"

"What?"

"Your silliness. And my love for Ya"

"Aww"

32. Switch-tributes day or ep! Xd

33. Barb discovering snow and having fun with it like 5 years old child

34. Branch and Poppy holding hands NOT because they are friends, but cause they love each other and they are a legit couple, and they just like it and they don't ashamed of holding each other hands public.

35. Good songs, good remixes, some Skylar Astin's solos

36. Kpop trolls finding Dickory and Hickory so cute and fangirling them every time they see them and the yodelins blushing a lot cause of them

37. Some lonely sad Chaz playing sadly smooth jazz to yourself...

And then Barb walks in, tries to comfort him so she pats him so hard that his face meets the ground. And then Barb "Oh, I'm sorry, man..." And chaz starts crying

I feel weird that I find it pretty cute and funny xd

38. Broppy first date. Especially I want to see Branch giving poppy flowers or kissing her nose. Aw

39. Poppy and Branch all alone in their bunny pajamas, their funny pajamas, their bunny pajamaaaaaaa

40. Many references to the movies and ttbgo

41. Dickory's big trauma because of the Trolls World Tour.

42. Trollex's parents or siblings or a whole colorful and glowing family!

43. Kpop trolls gang and Bridget girl self-care night

44. Branch in Poppy's crown. And then he runs away from poppy with it

45. Barb caring about her dad. I wanna whole ep only about it

46. King Gristle and King Trollex big buddies' performance

47. Some romance between different tributes

48. Poppy sleeping with a head on branch's shoulder

49. More Smidge and Milton

50. Guy Diamond and Trollex autotune voice duet or battle

51. Satin and Chenille trying to dress up Barb on the Hair Bal

52. Riff hugging Barb in the Hug day. Or Barb hugging her dad without any occasion. Just because she loves him

53. Branch's 'the Giver' factory

54. History of Fuzzbert's adventures

55. King Quincy and Queen Estesce Estes Ensteece Stacy Queen of funk waving aggressively their head up and down, listening hard rock

56. Archer Pastry big rising from the dead

57. More Branch and Peppy father-son relationship

I have more expects than that but I doubt anyone could read them all xd I appreciate that you read this all and went on the very end, you're the winner

And as praise, you can answer this question:

What do you want to see in Trollstopia?

[closer-stars]

Spoiled

Member: Seonghwa Genre: Fluff, some angst Word Count: do i have to.... Content: Stressed Seonghwa deserves some love and care. Food mention. Note: kind of a product of a talk I had with a friend. meep.

[ You ] : Are you free tomorrow?

Seonghwa stares at your message. Surely he told you of his schedule this entire week?

[ Seonghwa ] : I didn’t tell you my schedule?

[ Seonghwa ] : Hmph, anyways, after tomorrow, I got three days free. What’s up?

You grin at his message. You were a little hopeful now.

[ You ] : Wanna sleep over? I haven’t seen you since promotions, and I uh, kindofmissyou

His lips curve into a strained smile, the heat from the hair dryer slightly stinging his skin.

[ Seonghwa ] : sounds like a plan, see you then.

[ Seonghwa ] : Don’t forget to watch my stages too !!! (sulking apeach)

-------

He arrives back in their dorm after their last stage. While the rest of the boys drift to their rooms to remove all the make up and take a breather before the next preparations, he practically zooms to his room. Hongjoong stares at the eldest in surprise until he remembers why he’s so excited. “Hwa, are you gonna be there the entire three days?” He questions as he follows him into their room, greeted by Seonghwa packing some of his things for the stay.

“Looks like it. I need the quiet time too.” The male muses as he gazes around the room, wondering what else he might need. “I’ll be on time for practice, if anything happens you can just message me. You know how the kids are.” No wonder the rest of the group and you call them a married couple.

The blue haired leader shakes his head. “You need the break more than anyone else.” He shoos him off, throwing one of his pillows at him in jest. “Tell them I said hi yeah?” Hongjoong says, carefully removing all the makeup from his skin.

-------

Seonghwa’s already outside your apartment, waiting for you to answer the door. He hears your footsteps rush over and he smiles, endeared by your excitement.

“Seonghwa!” You exclaim as you open the door, throwing yourself into his arms. You could still smell the hairspray and his perfume when you bury your face against his neck. His chuckle vibrates through your figure and you pull away to look at him properly. The signs of exhaustion clear in his sunken face and eyes but you say nothing about it. “Did you come here straight from your schedule?” You beckon him to come inside, and it’s only then that you notice that he still hasn’t removed his makeup.

The taller male says nothing but hum, relieved to be greeted by a quiet peaceful environment. He kind of missed how your place smelled. “Yeah, I was looking forward to this honestly.” He admits as he drops his bag by the couch. On your tv screen was a movie already playing, your pet cat, Cloud, dozes off on her cat pole. He kind of missed how peaceful your place is.

You follow him into your apartment and you let him take in the new changes. “Let me get the shower ready for you then. The food won’t come in until an hour later anyways.” You state then make your way to your bathroom. He follows you this time, not expecting the steam of the hot water running in the bathtub already relaxing his strained muscles. “Come here.” You order, applying a generous amount of make up remove onto a piece of cloth. From his point of view, he can’t see what you were doing but he obliges. Once he stands behind you, you spin on your heels, bringing yourself up to sit near the sink to reach his face. “I know you have a lot of stories to tell me, so tell me about them.”

It takes him a few moments to realize what you were doing. You were removing his makeup for him as the two of you wait for bathtub to fill up. So he entertains you with his stories of the promotions the past two months: how shooting the music videos were exhausting but the end product made it worth it, how recording the songs strained him greatly but he didn’t mind, how performing and recording day in and day out was demanding in all aspects but he loved it all. He closes his eyes as you start to remove his eye makeup, his tanned skin starting to show. You were slowly seeing Park Seonghwa, your boyfriend, rather than ATEEZ’s Seonghwa now. Once satisfied, you let him work on his skin care routine. This time telling him stories of how things have been on your end: job hunting, freelance work, and so on. Once he was done, you let him ease himself into the filled bath tub that had some bath salts to relax his muscles.

“Are you going to join me?” He asks as he looks up at you, hopeful. As much as you wanted to, you still had to wait for the food to arrive. “I would love too but who would get the food hm? I’ll cuddle with you later, I promise.” You do make up for it now though, giving him a gentle massage, working on the knots on his shoulders. At your touch, he finds himself relaxing, either leaning into the comfort or squirming from the pain of the strained muscles. A small part of you knows he was burdened by other things but you knew better than to press him. For now, it was better to spoil him.

Minutes pass and you know the food would arrive at any moment now, so you press a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Go wash up, the food’s about to arrive, babe.” With that you slip away from the bathroom, leaving him be.

---------

He comes out of the shower in his sleepwear, the towel draped over his shoulders to catch the water droplets from his still drenched hair. The smell of food had caught his attention and you were already in the living room with food you had delivered. You wave your hand to have him come over to eat with you. “What’s all these?” He asks, mouth already watering at the sight of the chicken. Some of them looked like his comfort food mixed with food from his meal plan.

Once he sits next to you, you pick up a piece of chicken, placing it in front of his mouth. “I figured you deserve some good food, even just for tonight.” You say once he accepts your offer to feed him. “Heard from some of the boys that you’ve been too stressed with everything so...” You look around, already seeing Cloud wander onto Seonghwa’s lap. “I thought you might want a break from everything.”

At your explanation, he feels his heart flutter. It was true, the past two months have been demanding on him more than he’d like to admit. His eyes feel hot at your actions but he manages to swallow the heat with the aid of the food you’ve prepared.

You pull a small bowl towards the two of you. He knows that color from a mile away. “Babe, I’m not supposed to eat--” He mumbles, until he realizes that it’s homemade tteokbokki, just for him.

“I know what you’re wary of so middle ground: home made.” You state, offering the chopsticks for him to take a taste. He shakes his head, and in that moment your heart drops. His mouth falls open this time, and he points at his open mouth. “Ah~” His antics causes you to laugh lightly, and you give in to his wishes. You watch him carefully, hoping that your homemade tteokbokki would pass his standards.

He couldn’t speak. He admits that it’s better than store bought, and before he realizes it, he’s crying. “Babe, are you okay?” You ask gently, and he sees your concerned look. He pulls you into his arms and he murmurs his thanks over and over through the tears. It’s only at that moment he realizes just how much he kept to himself. Maybe Hongjoong was on to something. You say nothing, instead running your hand up and down his back as he tries to regain his composure, not minding his tears wetting your shirt.

For the rest of the night, he spills his heart out on everything that had been in his mind and heart. Things that he couldn’t tell you through text messages or calls or things he couldn’t tell you because alone time wasn’t an option lately. He didn’t really need you to give him advice, he just needed someone to listen to him. At his worries, you offer your shoulder and ears. The movie playing was already white noise at this point, providing comfort when the silence becomes too overbearing for him as he lets himself be vulnerable to you.

---------

Cloud doesn’t let Seonghwa move an inch, finding his lap much more comfortable than her bed. “Agh, Cloud. He’s my boyfriend!” You whine at your feline companion who pays no heed to your complaint. He chuckles softly, the crying and heart to heart session having taken more out of him than expected. You reach over for one of Cloud’s favorite toys, the clinking of the bell rousing her from her comfort. You shake it a few times in front of her face before tossing it at a random direction. The male watches the cloud of fur jump off his lap and chase after the object. He takes the chance to stretch his legs.

He watches you play around with Cloud, occasionally throwing the toy as well to amuse the little one. As she chases it for the nth time, he steals a kiss on your cheek, then snaking his arms around your waist. “Thank you for this, babe.” He murmurs softly, the two of you watching the feline play with the ball for a few moments before trotting over to you.

Even while you entertain the cat, you hum at his words. “You deserve to be spoiled too, love. Even if it’s just for tonight, I know you’ve got discipline but a little bit of comfort wouldn’t hurt you.”

He stares at you, while you were too busy playing with Cloud, he couldn’t help but feel touched by your actions throughout the night. If anything, it made him want to work harder to become someone you were proud of.

-----------

That’s how the next few days go: you helping him with his home training, him helping you with your freelance clients. In between the work, the two of you would catch up on other things, even going as far as messaging the other boys on how they’ve been.

[ Hongjoong ] : can you tell seonghwa that i said park seonghwa, idiot?

He sighs at the message and brings out his phone.

[ Seonghwa ] : no.

[ Seonghwa ] : (goodbye everyone meme)

At the sight of the meme, you giggle into your hand.

[ Hongjoong ] : stop with that meme, please...

[ Seonghwa ] : no :D

You get another message, again from Hongjoong.

[ Hongjoong ] : please annoy him for me ( grinning ryan )

Seonghwa looks at you with a pout but you shake your head. Instead, you press a kiss on his lips, and take a quick photo to send to Hongjoong.

[ Hongjoong ] : you guys are cute but Why

“You’re the best, you know?”

“Just for you, babe.”

[shayberri789]

I posted 6 393 times in 2021

45 posts created (1%)

6348 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 141.1 posts.

I added 602 tags in 2021

#mha - 103 posts

#show meep - 90 posts

#deltarune - 88 posts

#aftg - 81 posts

#loz - 56 posts

#tloz - 47 posts

#pjo - 41 posts

#shay posts - 34 posts

#pied piper fic - 31 posts

#deltarune chapter 2 - 31 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i’d do the tag but what i last wrote was character profiles for oc’s lmao i don’t even know what the last bit of creative writing i did was

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Okay but also, what if in the rwrb movie we get shots of Henry’s point of view during events? Please for the love of god I want to see henry Doing some royal bullshit in the palace or eating Jaffa cakes or whatever the fuvk they are at 3am and losing his shit at the weird texts Alex sends him.

OR OR OR. Henry’s reaction to the emails during meetings

And the TURKEYS. From an outside perspective. JUST IMAGINE

Like the directors don’t even NEED To change the plot to make the movie interesting to ppl who’ve read the books 6 times. Just make it the rwrb from Henry’s perspective. It’ll tick all the boxes for a great adaption:

- faithful

- yet new and interesting

- fulfill the undying desire of the entire fandom

- two hours of gay pining and panic

Like I would seriously kill for it sidndkdnd

108 notes • Posted 2021-10-20 02:54:51 GMT

#4

Ok but this shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone (but for some reason I have yet to see someone else say it) BUT.

Andrew’s love language is acts of service.

I don’t think I need to make a case for this; look at how/what he gives ground:

the halloween party

helping neil with his injuries both after christmas and baltimore

the time he spent with neil at the police

how much effort he goes through to keep his promises

his quietly doing things for people he cares for without a word 

80% of what he does for kevin

giving up crackers

I think a similar case could be made for gift giving. I know Nicky says that “Andrew isn’t one for giving gifts” in tfc but like. 

the keys. Come on. 

he gives neil cigarettes without being asked

the clothes he buys neil

bee’s figurines

he gives renee the keys to help jean

I’m blanking but there’s more, feel free to add lol

155 notes • Posted 2021-08-10 01:15:25 GMT

#3

Alright it’s been about 2 months since I read Carry On because Life but anyway from what I’ve seen the fandom is COMPLETELY sleeping on that part in CO when Baz returns to Watford after being kidnapped and he is LITERALLY like “I’m gonna announce myself before anyone else does and I’m going to be a Dramatic Gay™️ about it” and used magic to fucking FLING the cafeteria doors WIDE FUCKING OPEN while dressed all fancy like “I hope Simon notices me” Boy PLEASE

163 notes • Posted 2021-11-02 19:13:54 GMT

#2

If you think about it, the scene at the Hemmick’s house and Nicky’s relationship with his parents is a lot sadder when you consider what the foxes stand for.

In tfc, wymack said (paraphrased Bc j can’t remember it word for word) “it s about given you another chance - second, fourth, sixth, seventh I don’t care so long as it’s one more than you would’ve gotten otherwise”

That’s the foxes’ thing; second chances, they know they’re all fucked up and messing up and triggering each other left and right but they have faith in one another and even if they don’t always forgive they do give new chances. Nicky sees the benefit of it, he does it with his teammates and it rewards him, and they give him.

But he kept giving his family second chances, more than the other foxes would’ve, more than I would’ve (I would have never given them a second chance if they sent me to conversion camp, even if I had to live in the same house as them) because he hoped they’d do better like the foxes did, because surely they’re not as screwed up as the foxes right? But he didn’t fully realize that being fucked up is not the same as being filled with hate, and he didn’t realize they didn’t deserve his chances until they did something that made that fact apparent: they hurt Andrew, the person who Nicky gave second chances to and Andrew made them worth it, while all his parents ever did was hurt him further. And the parallels are just sad, ya know?

171 notes • Posted 2021-09-09 07:29:03 GMT

#1

My favorite thing about the aftg fandom is that we collectively decided Andrew has pierced ears and the twinyards have freckles.

266 notes • Posted 2021-09-22 20:46:30 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[mar1garden]

going batty part 16

masterlist

homestretch kiddos, story’s wrapping up quick! postin this 14 mins early bc i just finished writing it a half hour ago

trigger warning: in this chapter, marinette flirts with adrien to take his ring. as this chapter is from her perspective, we see some of her reactions to his past and present actions. it’s not detailed, but it mentions sexual harassment. if you can’t stand to read stuff like that, send me an ask and i’d be happy to summarize the chapter for you without that part. we’re picking up where we left off, so without further ado:

Marinette picked Damian up lightly, swinging down to Adrien’s window. Everything about this felt wrong. Why did Chat Noir have to be Adrien? She’d thought Adrien was just a pushy pushover. Why did he have to be the person who’d been sexually harassing her?

She tensed as they got closer to his wall of windows, looking around to see if he was in his room. She didn’t see him, which almost made her groan and turn around, but then the shower clicked on. Ladybug scowled. Of course the model boy was showering, when was he fucking not? At least she had confirmation that he was in the room, rather than roaming the streets of Paris as himself.

She dropped silently into the room, Damian beside her. She motioned for him to stay silent until she had a plan, and he nodded.

A thought struck her and she checked the tracker built into her suit. It was offline, which meant that Adrien wasn’t tranformed right now. Excellent, that would make retrieving his miraculous a lot easier.

A plan struck her, and she whispered for Damian to hide. It was only going to be a fight after she took the ring, unless Adrien saw Damian and knew something was going on. He nodded and ducked between two arcade cabinets.

Marinette delicately schooled her expression into one of regret and want, reminding herself not to pull away if he touched her until she had taken his ring. Then she could explain to him what the fuck boundaries were.

Adrien walked out of the bathroom wearing Ladybug pajamas. She blinked in surprise before fixing her expression again. Adrien saw her and stilled.

“My- Er, uh, Ladybug? What are you doing here?” he asked, bewildered. She took a careful step towards him.

“Adrien. I don’t know how to tell you this, but I figured out your identity. You were right, Chaton. I do love you.” It was everything he wanted to hear, and she knew it, because he’d been trying to make her say it for months. His eyes lit up and he crossed the room, ending in front of her. She smiled weakly at him.

He didn’t seem to notice how fake the expression was. She was glad for it; his unobservance would make this a lot easier. She placed one hand on the elbow of his ring arm and one hand on his chin, leaning in to kiss him as she trailed her hand down his arm, towards the ring.

Before her lips met his, she had pulled the ring off and taken several steps back. He looked at her in confusion, and then in horror.

“Oh god. You’re an Akuma, aren’t you? How did you figure out my identity?” he spat, lunging for the ring. She danced out of his way, snapping gently with the hand not holding the ring. Damian lept out of the shadows, sending Adrien to the floor and restricting his movement.

Without magical strength, Adrien was no match for Damian, uselessly thrashing on the ground.

“Adrien Agreste. I am not an akuma. I am the real Ladybug, Guardian of the Miraculous. I hereby rescind your right to the Miraculous of the Black Cat. It has the power of destruction, which you weilded recklessly to harm others. Destruction isn’t chaos, nor is it order. It’s both. Destruction is a balance unto itself, and you disrespected and broke that balance. You harassed and harangued your partner and you threatened civilians. You are no longer worthy to be a hero,” she said, putting the ring in the box she’d brought with and the box into her yoyo.

Adrien growled at her. “That miraculous is MINE! Give it back! I earned it, I need it! You can’t just take it away!” He thrashed uselessly against Damian’s restraints.

“It was never yours. All miraculous holders are temporary, as is the nature of life. You were borrowing it, and now you do not deserve it, so it will go to someone else. I may not even send it out; Tikki told me I had enough balance on my own to function without a cat.” She delivered the news solemnly, neither bragging nor offering sympathy.

Damian looked at her, nodding supportively. She steeled herself and drew unto herself all the willpower she had.

“Adrien Agreste. Aside from your listed crimes, you also sexually harassed me. For months.” She glared at him, stalwart.

“But, My Lady, I wasn’t harassing you! You love me, you just don’t know it yet! Besides, you never said anything! How was I supposed to know you wanted me to stop?”

Ladybug growled at him. “I never said anything? What about ‘no’? What about ‘I’m not in love with you’? What about ‘stop touching me, stop calling me Bugaboo, stop flirting with me’? I’ve said lots of things, Adrien, but you weren’t. Fucking. Listening. This is why I have taken the miraculous from you. You do not listen to anyone but yourself. You think no means yes, you think that whatever twisted fantasy of me just playing hard to get this whole time is the truth! You never stop, you never think about how your actions affect others!”

“That’s not true, My Lady! If you really wanted me to stop, you should have just said that,” he said, somehow coming off as both condescending and livid. She bent down and slapped him- not as hard as she would hit a villain, but pretty damn close.

“I did say something. I told you to stop. I told you no. I told you that I didn’t fucking like you in that way. Adrien Agreste, you are not worthy of a miraculous. Even if you were to learn some human fucking decency, I would not return the ring to you. You are not worthy of that much power. Your actions have consequences, and these are those consequences.”

With that, she picked a waiting Damian up and swung out the window, leaving a furious teenager behind her.

Back at the bakery, Marinette was detransformed and worrying. “Should Ladybug have been nicer to him? What if he gets akumatized before she picks a new cat? What would she do?” She paces back and forth in front of Damian, who had come back up to her room once she told him Ladybug had left.

“Do you think she regrets telling him off for harassing her?” Damian asked calmly. Marinette shook her head.

“Of course not, it was what he deserved!” she answered immediately. Damian smiled at her.

“Then it’s alright. He doesn’t deserve more of her time after what he put her through, and she shouldn’t have to comfort the person who harassed her.” She smiled thankfully at Damian. He smiled back, happy that he’d been able to calm her down.

Then, from somewhere by the Agreste Manor, they heard a giant crash.

taglist (closed): @bi-bi-papillon @fiendsangelical @copicmarkersniffers @kittycatwowmeow @fristi37 @mylife-demonstrates-murphys-law@myblacknightworld @magica-est-in-aerem @sassy-spocko @noirdots @captainmac6 @meep-by-boredom @shaismall @ladybug-182 @rikku052 @wisegirlrose @corabeth11 @dramatic-squirrel @mlbchaosqueen @kristycocopop @zalladane @fertileleaf @echpr @pr-y-sha @bigpicklebananatree @simplysslytherin @nixadmos @mandy984 @bluerosette23 @jardimazul @ladylucina28 @elmokingkong @emjrabbitwolf @lozzybowe @erick-rose99-stuff @finallyaniguana @renscorpio @littleacecutie

[inviouswriting]

Darkwardens au - Choices

Going full dark in this one. So warnings apply. There might be some death. Having an adult rating doesn’t always mean smut. :3

Credits to.

@maiden-born-in-snow​ for Shuri.

@meepsthemiqo​ for mentions of Meeps, Fae, and Fae’a. (just briefly)

Kivera is use to alot of things, she is able to read people better than themselves. This comes with the many years she spends as Purgatory’s caretaker. She never truly rules that realm, it can never be ruled by anyone. It is a world that is meant for people to understand their wrongs, their sins and work to absolving them. She adopted a thought process to not get into the affairs of humans at that point because she has seen the true depravity of humanity. She had felt it when she spent time in hell as a freshly fallen angel, she was like a scrap of meat to a pack of starved wild dogs.

She is use to being used by others for their merits. So when the Scion’s Thancred approached where she had been guarding Anubis. She knew they had some trick up their sleeve to try and ensure their victory.

All it did was infuriate her, she noticed new champions they rallied for their cause. For their “extermination,” Kivera scoffs at their approach. They were going to attempt to reason with her, get her to side with them. To betray someone she loves. She noticed a few missing in Y’shtola, Alisaie and Alphinaud. They took her warning to heart, wisely not stepping against her. They’ve seen the aftermath of her fighting with G’raha. they would be walking to their deaths if they approached her, like the ones in front of her now.

“Leave.” Kivera hisses, she did not want to entertain them with idle chatter. Nothing of her morals, she has heard that too many times. She knew the faces that would not approach her would be her successor in Kiya and her family, Alphinaud, and G’raha Tia. He learned the hard way not to anger her. 

“You are not even going to listen to reason?” Kivera feels her nerves stand on edge at Thancred speaking. He would be the one to act like he knew someone better. An orange eye glances his way, a warning to choose his words wisely.

“I already told you my stance. If you are here to kill her. Then my hand is forced. She is still in there.. give her more time. You did that for that kobold, and many others who had been tempered. Why not her?” Kivera notes them wandering closer, she kept her distance even using a miasma to warn them they were stepping too close. A burning clove scent in the air to ward off undesirable people. 

“This isn’t a tempering, it is a corruption. Like the lightwardens. There is no coming back from it once their very aether is tainted.” Kivera’s eyes narrow towards the gunbreaker.

“You do not see her daily. You fought hard to stabilize her before. Why not seek that again, figure that out. Or better yet, run away and let someone else do it for you. You are very good at that. That is the only reason that paladin with you is here for...” At her feet, Kivera hovers, she was ready for an attack. 

“Kivera, you can’t leave her like this. Isn’t it more torture for her to be locked away in an area? You did your best to contain her before the energy could spread. Yet I feel it from here, it is the same as a deeply rooted lightwarden. She’s too far gone. She would not want this.” Kivera turns her head towards them locking her eyes to Thancred’s. He tried this before with her, and she was firm the first time he tried to suggest what was better for Shuri like they were still lovers.

“I don’t want to hear that out of you. You have no idea what she wants. She wants to live, she wants to return to being a mother, she wants to see Estinien. She wants to break free of what holds her, but she is unable to. If it takes me removing her from this star and world altogether. I will make her a home in my world before I succumb her to your self righteous ways. Who do any of you think you are? When was it acceptable that you are the ones who decide who lives and who dies. Just because someone was tempered by a primal. You announce their demise, you rally people for it. You sent countless people to their deaths before the “right” ones showed promise. Yet when those ones too falter. Here you are ready to drop a guillotine on their necks. I said this before Thancred. You do not get to say what you feel is best for Shuri. You have no right for it, as someone who betrayed her trust a long time ago. Don’t think she hasn’t lamented to me her woes about it. You speak of knowing what is best for her, when you don’t have the first clue about her anymore. I will say this once more. Leave!”

“Damn it Kivera, you really will see this through then? I’ve seen the corruption first hand, in what it does to a mortal being. Remember Titania? How the pixies had to lock them away for the same reason, yet even they had to kill them for the greater good. It’s not about moral right, it is doing what needs to be done.” Thancred pushes it with the reaper, and as he steps forward a fire bolt is thrown at his feet to keep him back.

“Do not talk to me about what needs to be done. You and yours are the very reason I can never stand the self-righteous. Those who think they know the greater good. You tell yourselves that line to make it just. To remove any guilt that what you are doing is wrong. Like the many beast tribes you’ve had their guardian deities slain before their eyes. Visually destroying their hopes in front of them for the sake of “greater good.” Some of those tribes practice their prayer without the tempering. Yet if any of you spent time with those tribes. You would have learned a long time that the tempering does not happen without a reason. The call of a danger so much like what is happening now. We don’t know the cause of why Shuri tipped into darkness itself. If the sin eaters were a product of light, and their names of forgiven sins. Then the opposite here should be taken into account. Unless I am missing something. You were very much ready to end her life back before Emet. An acceptance then as the risk of a sin eater to ruin all of what you had achieved.” Kivera keeps her eyes on the group Thancred brought with him, a group of eight. Thinking that a full party of people would be enough to fight her.

Thancred realizes there is no way Kivera can be reasoned with, not when his own reason in this is questioned. The reaper notices his expression and folds her arms as she sheds the guise she had been in. The calm seeker of sun miqo’te for a form fitting of the nature they’re talking.

Her form shifting was as if breathing air to her, from dark wings, and clothing altering to allow her to move freely. She eyes them, sizing them up a party of eight people is nothing to her. She who has laid waste to worlds.

“This doesn’t have to end with your death Kivera.” Thancred hears her scoff again. The group that crosses the final threshold seals it for her. She would be taking lives today.

“Who says I am the one who will die here? Have you forgotten what I am? You better run away while YOU can. Unless you are wanting to sit back and watch the slaughter... How many more lives must stain your hands.. Just how many more must you lead along this path, dangling fame and money as a bargain for the lives you alter.” Kivera places her feet onto the ground and sweeps a foot across the earth to put a flaming barrier at the edges of the forest. 

“What made you have those opinions of us in the first place? I don’t see how your thoughts were just grown overnight because of Shuri.” Kivera’s attention on Thancred, he was delaying the fight, he must have felt that this is a losing battle from the start.

“Elidibus. You remember him.” Kivera entertains him further. She had summoned her scythe and stands on the arch of the blade. Here she looks her namesake. Angel of death, Thancred worries even more that the eight people were truly enough. How does one fight death herself.

“Aye, I do, what does he have to do with your thoughts.”

“More than you realize. Fae, Meeps, Fae’a. By your meddling with affairs that should have taken place. She lost someone she cared for greatly, loved deeply. Robbed a life of so much. I had to endure yelling on that behalf mind you. It made me think. That maybe you and the scions are not truly someone to lay your trusts in. Then you wanted to recruit Shuri out of her domestic life for the sake of another suicide mission. You want to pull Kiya out of the same. Lucky Aymeric has a brain and refused to allow that after she had hung her mantle up. Because they know the dangers, because they know “if they don’t, you will just make others do it.” Like now. What you promise them? Pretty coin? their names engraved in stone or books? Matters not to me. And to be fair. I’m done talking. Enough stalling.” Kivera summons a mirror behind Thancred and with a flit she moves in front of him swinging the blunt end of her weapon to throw him out of the area, out of the realm they’re in and back into Mor Dhona. Her successfully saying “get lost.” With evicting him out of the realm entirely.

Kivera’s attention now on the group of fighters.

“How sad that you are pulled into their cause. Just... more souls for the underworld.” Kivera sighs seeing the group ready themselves, unaware of what exactly they’re up against. She is just a stepping stone to them in their greater cause. But even stepping stones do not move from their spot.

The analytical side of her has already noticed their weak points, that the fighters who are not healers or meant to take alot of damage falling to their knees already. Her miasma had been working from the start as a slow poison to the unaware. How it leeches their life from them if she chooses to. With a well timed blast of fire from her, she catches the very area on fire ready to burn it to ashes under her word. Yet leaves the trees and foliage alone. Her mastery over her power to not harm what she does not want destroyed while sending enough fire onto the ones attacking her.

When she notices them withstanding her a bit longer, she moves them to a different plane of existence. Her wasteland in one of her realms. She shifts time and place with ease that they seemed to be at a loss of what to do.

Here she puts her scythe away in favor of something she hardly uses. A weapon similar to what the astrologions use. Kivera doesn’t need to think further of their endurance. She draws a card from the item, mocking the healer she had just slain. Tossing the card up as if to signify the loss of another soul letting it burn to ash as the very air around them bursts into flames.

“Forgive me Divinity.” Kivera murmurs under her breath, and without waiting further she cleaves half of the group down with most of her elemental magic. figuring out their weaknesses with flashes of each element. She knew how to deal with paladins, they were easy than most gave credit.

The fires dim down and spark into lightning, she throws streams of attacks till the last healer fell, singling them out before she started on the ranged and magical fighters.

She had summoned a different scythe and spends most of her time chasing down the mages. She petrifies the others and silences them. Witling down their defenses till she was certain they can’t recover.

She grants a reprieve once it was just her and the paladin. She leans on Antares then draws her weapon up underneath her to sit in the air as the energy swirls enough to make her ominous. The fighter left fumbling for something to revive a healer. A phoenix feather, Kivera sees it and snaps her fingers to burn it off.

“You want to watch that one die again? Accept the outcome. You’re not going to walk away from here alive.” Kivera brings her hands to her face and rests her head into her palms. She was biding her time, watching the knight falter from realizing he is the only one left. She changes domains again. Bringing them to a different one, one that overlooks a failing world. 

“Do you surrender? I’ll make it easier on you. Keep fighting and not even a Valkyrie will take your soul.” Kivera has no intentions of letting them walk freely. She wanted to send a message to Thancred after all. What better way for her than the bodies of those who he sent to kill her.

You know the answer to that, I can’t give up even if it is me alone. To the bitter end.”

“To the bitter end. I’ll commend you then.” Kivera starts after him, her weapon hooking with his, hers unfair in advantage of strength and power. A scythe is a versatile weapon with reach and heavier blade. Her hit alot harder than his, the curve of the blade digs in an arm at the seperation in his armor. Where she was aiming for. Her blade in his arm meant she could sever it.

The knight fends her off, and he is met with barrages of flames and lightning. Each stronger than the last throw. He noted her appearance change, not even the others have seen her true form, save for Shuri and her loved ones. strikes harder till she manages to remove the dominant arm. 

To Kivera, this was no one special to her, just another face they called upon. To her, the lives she just took were nothing but that. Her doing her role. 

“It’s over...” She says and without hesitation rends his head off letting it roll right off the edge of the platform. Kivera sends that through a portal to land timely in Thancred’s lap. Letting him see that she holds true to her word. That she will kill each and every champion he and the scion’s send after her and Shuri.

Kivera gathers each of the fallen, and sends them in a heap in front of Thancred.

“You sent them to their deaths. You bury them. You tell their families the suicide mission you sent them on.” Kivera’s words echo in his mind.

“Remember. That you had the choice to leave. I too had a choice to defend what is important to me. I will never lose another to a needless death. Send as many as you wish. I’ll cut them all down.”

Kivera ends it with returning back to her outpost to await the next group. She knows there will be more. It will never end unless she falls or they give up. 

[jq37]

The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 16 For Candia (Part 1)

The Second Most Stressful Conversation All Season

The Rocks family sails up to Cola River, concealed in Primsy’s ships with a small contingent of soldiers. As they go, they pick up another set of allies--the remaining knights from Theo’s order.

Ruby gets called to speak with her mom and dad and Cara asks her to close the door behind her. When she speaks, it’s with more candor than she’s ever used with Ruby that we’ve seen. She says that all she’s ever wanted for Ruby was her safety and she tried to secure that by protecting her from secrets but now she is truly a woman grown and the best way to protect her is by sharing secrets, an approach Ruby seems to appreciate. 

Cara fills her in on what she and Amethar learned last episode--Ghee died before she married Amethar. That means she’s still queen, he’s still king, and though Rina is still Amethar’s first born heir, Ruby is also trueborn. 

Ruby asks if they’re going to tell people and Amethar says he wants to wait. Things are heightened right now and it would make things weird in battle. Ruby says that if that’s what he wants, she won’t tell anyone. Ruby also says she doesn’t trust Rina’s people, something Amethar cites as another reason he doesn’t want to tell people yet.

Cara asks Ruby’s opinion on Rina and she says that she thinks she’s dangerous. Cara agrees and Amethar thinks she’s being a little harsh in her assessment but Ruby goes on. She thinks that Rina has tunnel vision in her hatred of the church and there are good people who follow the Bulb (again, Cara is a devout Bulbian). Cara chimes in that Port Syrup is in ruins because of her people. Amethar wants to delay all this talk but Cara drops an absolute banger of a line, “Amethar. The delay of conversation has been perhaps your most cardinal sin.” 

Ruby thinks that maybe Rina can be good but her people are full stop, bad. She didn’t order Port Syrup sacked (good) but it was by her people in her name (bad) and she doesn’t seem super bothered by the collateral damage (also bad). However, she does think that maybe if she wasn’t surrounded by these people, she'd make different choices. 

Cara says that with Rina on the throne, Candia’s future is written in flame. She says that Theo was pretty quick to join up with Rina and asks Amethar what he thinks he’ll do with the new info about his kingship. Amethar thinks he’ll be loyal so she thinks maybe they can tell him but Ruby points out that he’s not good with secrets. Cara says that’s a wise observation. She also says, in not so many words, that this is going to be a dangerous battle and during dangerous battles, sometimes people--like your husband’s pesky half daughter who is bumping your own daughter in the line of succession and has a merry band of war criminals--die.

“Hey, you’re talking about my daughter,” says Amethar.

“I am talking about the future of Candia,” says Cara. 

She tells Ruby that if she doesn’t think it’s a good idea to talk to Theo, that’s fine, but she should listen to her heart. She has the sight for the future to come and “If fortune cannot be on our side, we will have to do what fortune cannot.”

The Most Stressful Conversation All Season

The ship continues to sail upriver. Brennan makes a little roll that he doesn’t announce but seems entirely too pleased about. 

There’s a lot of debate about arriving and attacking and they decide to get to Dulcington late so they have cover but can attack when it starts to get light and have some visability for archers and such. 

It’s the middle of the night as they approach their destination and Rina hears a knock at her door. It’s Swifty and, wouldn’t you know it, he just eavesdropped on a *reaaaaaal* interesting conversation by the royal family (we get a quick cut to Brennan’s mystery-roll). But before he can spill the tea, she stops to tell him (and Gooey who is also there doing the bodyguard thing) that she was *not* about the carnage of Port Syrup. They NEED to be better than that. These people may never accept her but she doesn’t want them to *hate* her. Swifty is like, “lol, about that.” She tells her what he heard--or at least *some* of what he heard. He tell her about the death/wedding timeline and about the fact that they’ve been sitting on the news for a day (leaving out the bits where Amethar defended her and Ruby thought she might be good) and implies that they’re waiting for her to die in battle (something Cara implied in fairness) or kill her themselves (a little more of a leap--but not by much). Rina, not quite seething but something akin to it, says that if they had just told her this information, she would have worked with them seeing as the crown was only ever a means to an end for her but they had to be dishonest with her. Swifty says he’s excited to waste all their enemies during the upcoming battle and, once it’s over, if she wants them to turn their slaughter efforts a little closer to home, she just has to say the word. In response, she says she wants to speak to Theo so she can seek his counsel. She also reiterates that the Port Syrup debacle was a full war crime and shouldn’t have happened regardless of her relationship with the Rocks family (Swifty and Gooey exchange a glance she doesn’t fully parse) and then Gooey gets Theo.

After some weird flirting with Gooey (he makes an appointment to get “slammed big style” [sic] by her), Theo shows up to talk to Rina. She says that she’s been helping the Rocks family a ton in battle but she’s only been rebuffed. Is it worth it? Should she keep helping them? Theo says that he’s known the family for a long time and they’re good people who wouldn’t hurt her. Rina says that Theo is an honorable man and she trusts that even if he doesn’t side with her, he’ll do the honorable thing. Then she tells her what she knows, info that he is, of course, hearing for the first time. On an 18 Insight check, he knows he’s not being lied to and he knows he has a choice to make. He remembers Lazuli, all those years on their first meeting, telling him to think for himself and he amends his earlier statement. He might have spoken too soon about Amethar. He’s reckless, he wishes he could have worked for any of his sisters rather than him, and he clearly doesn’t have love for all of his family based on the way he’s treating her. He’s officially Team Rina (like he kinda was before but even moreso). She makes it official by casting the Dedication version of Ceremony on him and he feels more connected to her than ever before (also +1d4 to all Saving Throws for 24 hours). 

War is Hell (to Recap) 

The group gets into position with a bunch of stealth checks to get ready for their dawn attack. Despite pledging himself to Rina, Theo doesn’t want to work against Amethar and he wants to tell Cumulus. Rina agrees since she doesn’t fully trust her people and she thinks it’s good to bring another trustworthy person in on this.

Right before fighting breaks out, Theo gives the CliffsNotes version to Cumulus (ie: there is some weirdness in the line of succession and the family is plotting without us) and also messages Liam that Rina is potentially in danger, getting back the message that he’ll for sure help protect her. Ruby rolls Insight to see if she can tell Theo’s being weird but with a Nat 20 deception check from him, she’s sure that Theo is loyal to them above all else and would never betray them.  

OK guys, here’s the deal. Almost everything else in this episode is truly just chess. Moving units across the board. Taking out troops strategically. Placing minis. Stuff like that. Not at all interesting to recap or read. So all you really need to know is, “The Rocks family and their numerous allies (cheese sailors manning catapults, monks, Candian fighters) get into position and the fight begins at dawn, with them doing pretty well once it starts.” Pretty much everyone gets to do at least one clutch thing and you can check out the episode if you want more detail than that.

The only really important thing to know is that Kerradin is there, Grissini is there, and Plumbeline is there. In fact, not only is she there, she comes down from the castle walls so she can ride in on her meep chariot and knock Theo prone.  

Unfortunately for her, she hasn’t gotten the news about Peppermint Batman. Three attacks+flanking+sneak attack+favored enemy damage+bursting arrow+hail of arrows=58 damage to Plumbeline immediately.

As she stands over Theo, two crossbow bolts explode through her eyes and she drops down dead.

And that’s it for this episode! Join us next week for the actual finale of a Crown of Candy!

1 Million Years Dungeon

SWIFTY!

Man, Swifty really is the personification of Brennan’s craving for some sweet, sweet PvP action huh?

You homicidal little chaos gremlin, it is BAFFLING that you have the queen’s ear and I hate it.

Things I’m Concerned About

Emily had Rina use the word “fools” and I know that she grew up on the same Disney movies that we did where fools is an antagonist exclusive word. Hate the implications of that!

Do you remember what I said about Cara in her literal first appearance? I generally like her but I’m getting some light Lady Macbeth vibes. Well here we are. It was so weird to see her and Ruby getting along but I really loved the scene. So tense and so careful with every word. (Also, I *knew* that info was going to get to Rina as the conversation was happening and I was bracing for it but it was still like, damn).

We still haven’t gotten to, “Family is exposed, family is vulnerable.”

That look Gooey and Swifty shared? Don’t love that. 

So, as I’ve been concerned about for a while now, we’re gearing up for some PvP. It still doesn’t have to happen but things are getting dicey and lines are being drawn. Theo has made his allegiances known and Cumulus from way back when said he stands with the magic of Candia, not the Rocks family--plus he just pledged his whole order to her. Ruby and Amethar obviously are on the same side if this happens (though you know no one wants to avoid PvP more than him) and I think Liam would be more inclined to stay with the family if it comes to it, though he also doesn’t seem like he’d be down for this.

Continuing on from my last point, if there’s a big PvP fight potentially on the horizon and the other side has a DRAGON and also ALL THE HEALS...mmm, I wouldn’t love that. Oh also, I didn’t mention it in the recap but Rina said she wasn’t gonna waste her spells on Ruby/Amethar anymore which is a SCARY THING for your HEALER to say before the FINAL BATTLE.  

Edit: I forgot to mention (s/o to @fjordgofurther for the sideways reminder)! Because of the way it’s been framed (“we will have to do what fortune cannot”) and because of the poetry of it and, practically speaking, because they’re the two main casters, if it gets to PvP I can see it ending up being Rina and Ruby, head to head and...do not care for that image one bit lemme tell you. 

Five More Things

I am VERY happy that Rina told off her crew about their casual war crimes because it would have dropped by opinion of her HUGELY if she was just chill about it. 

I don’t want to downplay the amount of work that went into the battle stuff in this ep. There were a lot of cool large scale battle mechanics and home rules for fighting with troops and letting them use your abilities and stuff. But it’s very hard for me to recount that without sounding like a history textbook chapter on the Civil War or something and I’m not Ken Burns. 

Place your bets. Blessed Ally Nat 20 on the wish-egg-seed or on icing Kerradin?

Very wild that they destroyed the afterlife RIGHT before this fight. Like, before they knew that if they died, they could at least still talk to their loved ones to some degree. But now that’s gone. Perma-death is suddenly extra-perma. I wonder if that was a conscious choice on Brennan’s part.

Did I ever get to say, “newly *mint*-ed” with regard to Liam’s Peppermint Batman status? I don’t remember and it would be a shame if I hadn’t. 

I have more thoughts but this episode ends so clearly midway through the action that I feel it’s best to leave them for the actual finale. 

One More Thing!

As I’ve mentioned on here before, I’m working on an audiodrama podcast which should be dropping later this year! Absolutely No Adventures, a podcast about avoiding dangerous quests, making weird friends, and baking. It’s also a podcast about baking.  

The Twitter handle is @noadventurespod and we just got our art!

I’m very excited to start releasing stuff for it and I hope some of y’all check it out!

[mistwhisperexpress]

Types of SSO Players - Part Two

Because of the success of my first part (thank you all so so much by the way, it truly means so much that so many of you loved it <3), I decided to make a part two to this series, with the suggestion of possible future parts if people continue to enjoy this. I’ve been a little scarce lately, so it felt like now would be the perfect time to finally release this! Included are also the additions (with their permission) of those who suggested other types with my last one, so everything can be in a nice easy to find place. As always, please feel free to suggest more!

Part One

The lovely additions from other users, my additions to them are in italics;

The Loner @veronikamasterhouse - “Hi Bye” These players don’t ride with anyone and are more content to traverse the land and quests by themselves. Usually super polite for the two seconds you can converse with them. Then they’re off again galloping away for more solo escapades. May not even notice you, if they pay no attention to the chat.

SSO Is My Therapy @mirandashadowborn - Still running around even though they’ve done most of the quests (its relaxing). New horse breeds bring joy cause its something to live for. Quiet during meetups cause they feel like they’re bugging people. Plays at like 1am cause crowds make them nervous. South Hoof is likely a safe haven, and go to relax place, possibly Mistfall too. The soundtracks are just so beautiful okay, they ease my soul

The Horse Addict Please Send Help @sso-eden-dawnvalley - Has just spent the entire day at the barn riding/cleaning stalls only to come home and log on to continue taking care of virtual horses. Knows more random horse facts than any sensible individual. Gets regularly kicked out of roleplays due to correcting the other players’ horse characters if they aren’t accurate to real life horses

The New types;

The Role-Player - Any roles? “Wild role in Golden, say ‘meep’ to join! Tree stallys needed” I used to be this, do you guys still use asterisks? I’m always curious about what this scene is like now since RPing is how I found my love of writing and why I now write thousands of words at a time with my closest friend to create stories together, but I feel like it would be weird to just silently observe what’s going on. Is it a lot of standing? Do you guys actually do shit, like act it out? Is it all fancy and official? Or my like Animal Jam with all you see is zeniths? Anyway you’re cool, create your stories, you funky RPers, just remember to be safe and don’t do romance ones through the game, theres rules against it for a reason.

The No More - I am not getting another horse until I finish training the ones I have. I am not getting another hor- oops.

The Spender - I can hear my star coins crying. Has likely has 1000 or more star coins, and they’re all gone in a day. Probably less than an hour. How do I know this? Because this is me. I is this. Rest In Peace my star coins, you will be missed. 

The Character - Didn’t use their own name, gets very confused when both their real name and MC’s name are used. Has likely felt the infinite amount awkwardness of responding to the wrong name and then realizing they meant someone else, or accidentally ignoring someone for five minutes. Tiffany? Bitch who? Oh wait, that’s me.

Cherisher of Horses - Don’t talk to me or my son or my son’s son or my son’s son’s son ever again.

The Horse Lover - Has every horse, or at least one of each. Knows coat names and colorings and everything far too well. I envy you, you are the masters, I bow to you. Please share with me your infinite wisdom, oh wise one. I used to know all of this because I was a Horse Girl™ and collected Breyers like your bookshelf collects dust (I have over 300 and still try and go to Breyerfest every year please send help), but then my interest turned to writing and I uh, may have forgotten like almost everything except for roans and appaloosa variants like fleabittens and then of course dapples because any horse with dapples is my weakness, whoops?

The Explorer - Very close to the adventurous idiot, but with more method to their madness. Still tries to get into places they shouldn’t, though. Naughty bastards. They just want to see everything there is to see and climb all the things to climb. Probably also has routes to everywhere and each race memorized by heart.

And because I added them late and not many people saw them, here were my own additions to my last post;

The Collector - Stars, spiders, golden horseshoes, tokens, new clothes, horses, tack, EVERYTHING. The day is not done until every nook and cranny has been discovered and each horse and item is in my possession and the riches and spoils are mine.

The Achievement Hunter - Where’s the highest peak? Because I need to climb it. I will not stop until every page in this journal is gold. Gold, you hear me? Not silver, not bronze. Gold.

Witching Hour (because it was spoopy month time and still should be) - Always on at midnight, when the server is at it’s quietest. There’s not a peep from global, nor a pip from say. All the night is quiet on this darkest day. Players occasionally creep up from behind the upcoming hills of paths, but all is still silent as the world turns black. Probably sleep deprived with no schedule, likely an art person, though that may just be me since I write best at night and tend to play the game at night too whoops. Probably also The Loner, either by choice or by force because they're on at a time when no one else is alive.

[polar-stars]

Shigeo Eizan, Erina, Eizan Etsuya, Chigeo, Kimiko and Hayama for the character thing please?

Ohh, I didn’t think anyone would ask for my own characters but ;v; !!! Sure !

Shigeo

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life [Shigeo is a character I’m really proud of haha ; 7 ; But I’m glad he’s actually well-received. I can only repeat, that I did not expect that]

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang [Honestly, I feel a bit weird over commenting on the looks of my OCs ahdhd but, I gotta admit Shigeo is much of my type...but I mean, apparently I’m not alone on that? dshdfjFGJ So many have complimented Shigeo’s appearance now and I’m screaming. Y’all are making his ego grow.]

hogwarts house: gryffindor | S L Y T H E R I N, Shigeo’s a full-fledged snake...what do u think? | ravenclaw | hufflepuff 

best quality: I said it once already, but I would actually say his loyalty is his best quality. Now, the number of people that Shigeo is loyal to is extremely slim but...well, it is a very strong loyalty. It’s just, again, it’s only few who earn that loyalty.

worst quality:  lol. I could name numerous things in that regard. But as I also said once already, I guess his most fatal flaw is that he swallows up his fears, his trauma and a lot of other things in himself and never works through it. 

ship them with:  ShigeChi >; Chieko had multiple ship-options at a certain point, but Shigeo’s only ship options always Chieko and welp ahdh The moment I started fleshing Shigeo out more, their dynamic grew more and more onto me and she also sneaked her way into his character-arc so. 

brotp them with: There’s Moe & Kiyoko, who are really close friends of his and I really love their relationships. But I also gotta bring up Suzume here. Suzume’s and Shigeo’s relationship makes me so happy, despite it not being exactly friendly ahdhd. It’s a lot of fun to think of their banter and interactions to me. Also well, Umino & Yamada deserve their mention as well, so here they go ahdh.

needs to stay away from: Ai Kabutoyama. Pls, don’t ship them. 

misc. thoughts: If “Shokugeki no Kimiko” was animated and had it’s own soundtrack, Shigeo deserves to be having a jazzy theme for himself. 

Erina

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life  

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang 

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff 

best quality: I really love how much of a Boss Bitch Erina really is, she steps into a place and she owns it and she knows it. But at the same time, her social awkwardness and also obvious care for Hisako, the PSD later on etc. also make her a cutie at the same time.

worst quality: This is really more on Tsukuda’s part, but I do not like how she’s written in BLUE Arc at all, and how she honestly keeps pushing Soma away while he goes out of his way for her multiple times...

ship them with:  Soma is my favorite choice for her

brotp them with: Hisako !!

needs to stay away from: HER DAD. AND ASAHI. AND HER MOM MAYBE- IDK, give her a better family. 

misc. thoughts: Takumi said in his match against her that if she’d be on the Elite Council “She’d be the zero seat”. And honestly, I kinda found myself wishing for Tsukuda just having run with that instead. Just establish a new seat extra for Erina because she’s that good. It still sounds kinda dumb yes, but not as dumb as making her actual headmistress. With 16. What also bothers me about her being headmistress is that it’s a very busy job, I’d imagine....Let Erina be a normal teen, could you? She was already robbed off a childhood, geez. 

Eizan

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life  [ Or more of: An Angry Opposum, I found in the trash and that I decided to adopt]

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot [without bangs] | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang [wiTH BANGS]

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin [...duh] | ravenclaw | hufflepuff 

best quality: Eizan is SO entertaining to me, you all have no idea. He’s so god-damn funny at times and I’m just ahdhd I love him. Meep, he’s intelligent and tactical and I like that in characters? I wish, we could have seen more of him being smart instead of having him being blinded more and more by rage and vengeance ;v; 

worst quality:  Lmao, do you want a list? His obsession for money? His unscrupulousness? His disregard of fucking...decency?? ahdh I could go on.

ship them with:  //takes out megaphone// nENE KINOKUNI, LADIES AND GENTS. In my eyes, he legit seems to hold some sort-off respect for her and I hold the headcanon that Eizan is actually crushing on her a little ver since middle school. Come on, I do think it’s plausible that he’d find himself attracted to a person like Nene: She’s smart, she’s no pushover, she murders people with just a glance, her hair is green. One of the meanings attributed to the color green is actually...finances, profit, banks, moNEY- 

brotp them with: The few interactions Eizan had with Somei legit cracked me up so...hdhd yeah, Somei. But also...Momo, being real. And of course, Isshiki & Kuga. Can’t forget them.

needs to stay away from: PSD, lol. I’d say Azami, but honestly Eizan seems to handle Azami fine? Azami just shows up at his work and is like: “What u doing owo?” and Eizan replies with “Are you bored or something????” like ahdhd WOW

misc. thoughts: Honestly...Is it plausible to assume that Eizan and Nene actually had a Shokugeki?...A Shokugeki which he won? I mean, somehow he had to earn that seat above her’s......right? (Would have been nice, if Tsukuda could have explained the new Elite 10 Ranking or show what got them there but nOPE)

Chieko

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life [She’s the first fanchild I ever made. I love her so much]

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang [It would break my heart to say anything else...She has insecurities]

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff 

best quality: I do love Chieko for how feisty she can be. The girl will mouth off multiple times to one of the most dangerous people at her school and I think it’s neat. 

worst quality: She does take longer to make her moves at times though, sometimes she’s just too careful and overthinking instead of stepping into battle. 

ship them with: Shigeo Eizan. Both of them succeed mainly through intellect, booth in cooking and other areas of life. It’s kind off natural, that they’d get eventually interested in each other. 

brotp them with: Yasu, Hideyoshi & Daisuke mainly, but the rest of PSD as well.

needs to stay away from: Shigeo, according to Yasu.  I don’t know as of right now honestly ahdh

misc. thoughts: Funfact, but her wearing a hairband once she’s a 2nd Year is kinda inspired by Disney’s Cinderella haha 

Kimiko

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life 

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang 

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff 

best quality: Kimiko is brave and also most definitely an actor!! And as someone, who’s neither of those, I always admire these qualities ahdh. 

worst quality: Kimiko pretends that she can’t feel feelings like sadness for a good chunk of the story. She plasters a wide smile on her face, even if she’s really not okay and that’s not a good thing...I’m saying this from very strong personal experience.

ship them with: Hiroshi! It was a thing for me from the beginning on!

brotp them with: Mika and later on Kaori, mainly.

needs to stay away from: her brother, okay no ahdhd but well, the nasty part of her family she does not know too well to begin with I’d say

misc. thoughts: I’d LOVE to draw Kimiko more, you gotta believe me on that but her hair is super exhausting to draw ahdhd I love your twin tails Kimi, but they’re suffering. 

Hayama

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life  

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang 

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin(?) | ravenclaw | hufflepuff [I can also picture him win Ravenclaw]

best quality: I kind off love how he’s the straight man in every group of friends he’s in? Someone give the poor man a break ahdhd. But I also really love how determined and ambitious he is, it’s inspiring to see (Which is why I kind off hate, that his shown that he refused to go to BLUE, because he didn’t feel strong enough? Idk, I feel the Akira I met in the Autumn Election wouldn’t have passed out on such a chance)

worst quality: not.....Not a big fan of the Central!Hayama/Soma-Shokugeki being real. I did not really enjoy his performance during that ; 7 ; But that’s just how I personally feel ;v; I don’t really dislike the idea of him joining Central, I just think it could have been done better

ship them with: Hisako!

brotp them with: Alice and Ryo of course 😤!!

needs to stay away from: Azami, haha. (Also...Not into shipping him romantically with Jun. At all. It does kinda creep me out, ngl since I do see her as a sort-off mother-figure in his life...)

misc. thoughts: It’s kinda crime, how he basically triggered the bit of Character development Hisako had, yet they never truly interacted with each other again afterwards ever again?? Like...Why? Why would you do something like this?

HISAKO AND HAYAMA REMATCH, SOMEONE GIVE IT TO ME

[lubdubsworld]

A change of heart.  ( Kim Taehyung x OC)

[ Summary : 

Times are changing. 

After years of being oppressed, werewolves are taking a stand against humans , demanding equal rights and fair treatment. Heading the movement is Kim Taehyung, the breathtaking heir to the Kim fortune and one of the few remaining Alpha werewolves in the country. His disdain for the human race is well known and well warranted. They killed his family after all..... 

He wants to change the world , to put humans in their place but when his five year old daughter takes a shine to their very human neighbor , maybe he has to start with a change of heart , first.  ]

Pairing : Taehyung x OC

Genre : Romance, Explicit Content. 

Warnings : None. ( Some mild violence but mostly off screen ) 

Chapter 1

“.... however, the question of whether weres should be offered equal opportunity in fields such as construction and those including manual labour and access to possibly dangerous machinery is still a matter of hot debate , taking into consideration their superior physical strength and general lack of self control....”

“Rae, be careful!!” 

The warning came a bit too late and I felt the sharp sting of hot coffee on my palm, yelping as I tried to right the cup that I’d accidentally knocked over.

Park Jimin, the barista , gave me a long suffering look of disappointment.

“That’s the third one this week.” He said , staring balefully at the spilled liquid , now making its way across the polished mahogany surface. I flushed, flailing to grab a few tissues off the counter and soaking up the worst of the mess.

“I’m sorry... I've just been a little distracted.” I muttered under my breath, thankful that the place wasn’t too crowded . it was still pretty early, and the morning crowd was just starting to trickle in, most of the people looking worn out and despondent after a week of working. Outside , the rain lashed the concrete , loud and unrelenting. 

Thankfully it was a Friday. A long weekend curled in bed with a steaming mug of hot chocolate was the only thing I had to look forward to. 

He hummed.

"Is this about the custody hearing?” He said gently and i sighed , trying not to give in to the sinking feeling of desolation.

“it’s a lost cause, I’m afraid.” i whispered. “ My sister is definitely unfit to be a parent and her husband is rich and powerful. There’s no way we’re winning this.” I shrugged. 

Jimin gave me a sympathetic smile.

“I hope the weather lets up.” i said softly, staring out the embossed windows. Before Jimin could reply, someone cleared their throat behind me. 

I turned around, blinking when I found myself face to face with a starched collar and perfectly knotted tie. I looked up in surprise, feeling my heart jump into my throat when I saw who it was. 

The man was almost painfully good looking, his eyes glowing red with unsaid annoyance and his lips pursed impatiently. 

“if you’re done, there are others waiting to get their coffee.” The werewolf said sternly, voice deep and rumbling. I flinched and nodded,  moving to get my new cup and almost spilling it again. i could almost hear a faint growl behind me and I glanced back again, throat dry. 

He was staring right at me, eyes still glowing alpha red and eyebrows raised in a ‘why-aren’t-you-out-of-my-sight-yet’ , kind of gesture. I almost let out a strangled meep  and quickly paid for the spilled drink and its replacement, suppressing the instinct to bare my neck and run .

 I’d heard about how werewolves could intimidate just by existing, but I’d never experienced it so strongly or at such close quarters. He looked beautiful but deadly, his sharp features intimidating and his towering height only making me shrink in further. 

“I’ll see you around then Rae.” Jimin looked amused as he watched me fumble with my bag, my purse and the change. I shoved everything into one of the bags and stepped away from the line. 

“Thank you.” Taehyugn said primly, before reaching for a menu card. 

I swallowed, nodding quickly and shooting Jimin a smile before scrambling away.

 i couldn’t resist looking back though, as soon as i reached the door.

What was someone as exquisite as Kim Taehyung doing in a place as plain and drab as this coffee shop?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure you didn’t just mistake him for someone else?” my brother sounded bored as he listened to my rambling rant on the exciting encounter i’d had with Kim Taehyung. 

I rolled my eyes rather impressively, a gesture that was wasted, seeing as Yugyeom was a whole country away and although we were on skype, he wasn’t even looking at me, his gaze fixed on his phone where he was no doubt seducing some poor unsuspecting coed via lurid text messages. 

“I don’t see how anyone could mistake Kim Taehyung for someone else I mean...that face is a one in a billion kind of face. Us mere mortals, do not encounter beauty like that on a daily basis...” I said sharply.

Yugyeom chuckled.

“He’s running for the cabinet this term, for the ministry of Supernatural Affairs. I think he’s trying to build a presence ahead of the campaign.”

I hummed thoughtfully.

“Well, I hope he gets it . He seems like a nice guy.” I said, glancing at the clock. 

It was a little past four and the last ferry to the Preserve left at 7.00 PM. I wasn’t sure if I could take the bus to the docks, but a taxi just seemed like a bit too expensive. 

“Spoken like a true naive fool.” Yugyeom scoffed. “ Taehyung has every intention of banning humans from the Preserve. You will literally lose your job if he wins.” 

i blinked back at my brother, who had abandoned his phone and was now staring at me.

“What?”

Yugyeom shrugged. 

“Kim Taehyung believes that humans are the problem and co-existence isn’t the solution. He thinks there needs to be isolation and werewolves need to have their own space.”

I hesitated, not sure what to say. 

“Well, i’m sure he doesn’t hate all humans.” i said weakly. 

3000 miles away someone knocked on my brother’s door.

“i gotta go...You heading back to the preserve tonight?” He asked curiously and i nodded.

“I’m supposed to be reporting at the research center later.”

“Be safe.” He smiled and i waved , before ending the call.

His words stung a bit.

Did Taehyung really want humans out of the preserve?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apparently, he did. 

“i’m sorry.?” 

“There’s a tentative stay order on allowing non-supernaturals on the official ferry . There was an incident last week with some guy pulling a knife on a were. We’re trying to work with the authorities but tensions are running a bit high...” The woman at the ticket counter gave me a sympathetic smiles, eyes flashing blue.

“You don’t understand , i need to be there tonight and-”

“I’m sure us wolves can survive a few weeks without your help Ms Yoon.” A voice said right behind me and I stiffened. 

Park Seo Joon was the biggest thorn on my side and I couldn’t escape him, apparently. 

But this time, he wasn’t alone.

Standing next to him, tall and strapping was Kim Taehyung, dressed in what looked like a way too expensive Burberry coat. 

i swallowed.

“I work for the government.” i said stiffly.” this isn’t a pleasure trip. I’m supposed to be submitting a medical report on a strain of influenza that even your superior immunity isn’t keeping away.” 

Seo Joon rolled his eyes.

“you just love the idea of us being vulnerable, don’t you Rae? The thought of something killing us all off, definitely fills you humans with giddy joy...” He sneered.

Next to him , Taehyung chuckled.

I felt my hackles rise.

“We’re trying to help.... Most of the infected are young wolves. Seeing as you have a kid of your own, i would think you’d be a tad bit more sympathetic.” i snapped, before i could stop myself.

Taehyung froze, eyes going red as he scowled.

“What did you just say?” He said, voice quiet but shaking with fury. I resisted the urge to cower and raised my chin defiantly.

“You heard me.” My voice barely shook. 

Taehyung tilted his head, curious.

“Yoon Mi Rae. Aren’t you Yoon Jae hyun’s daughter?” He said thoughtfully.

I felt my heart leap at the connection. My adoptive father had been a sad, cruel son of a bitch and being associated with him had literally no benefit.

“He’s my father , yes.”

“Your father cut off funding to the preserve by twenty million dollars last year. infant mortality rate rose by 17 percent because we couldn’t afford quality healthcare.” He sneered. “ And you’re here acting like you or your kind give a damn about our health?” 

I glanced back at the counter, the woman who looked embarrassed as she pretended she wasn’t watching us. 

“Fine. So you’re saying i can’t get on that boat?” I bit my lips and Taehyung didn’t respond.

“i’m saying that even if you do get on, the security guy at the dock isn’t going to be letting you in.” Seo Joon shrugged. 

“Fine .” i said shortly, mind already racing with possibilities. There was a private ferry a few blocks away and it was generally unsavory and uncomfortable but there were seven seriously ill kids at the research center, and this report could be a step up in curing them. 

“Good Bye then.” I said sharply, turning on my heel and stalking away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After wandering around the dock for an hour or so, sticking to the shadows and hoping not to be caught,  i’d managed to hire an old, crumbling skiff with a tired looking werewolf helmsman. The man agreed to take me across the channel for a sum of money but warned me that there was a forecast of heavy rain and slightly turbulent seas. I didn’t protest, joining the half a dozen other passengers and climbing into the rickety old boat, trying not to flinch at the way the wood groaned and protested the added weight. 

This wasn’t a vacation. i had a job to do. 

What I hadn’t expected , as i stepped out of the boat three and a half hours later , soaked to the bone from the endless rain and mildly terrified from all the leering and name calling  from the weres on board, was Kim Taehyung standing at the entrance to the dock , his eyes flashing with disbelief

Taehyung’s eyes narrowed.

“What on earth were you thinking?” He growled striding over to grab my arm, yanking so hard he nearly wrenched it out of its socket. i whimpered, clutching my bag tighter to my chest, scared of dropping it into the water as he bodily dragged me out of the boat and into the wooden platform  . 

Taehyung let me go but not before giving me a little shake of anger. 

“Don’t you know how dangerous it is to travel alone with unmated weres? Are you looking to get raped?” He snarled. I flushed, shaking my head and smoothing my crinkled blouse. 

“I have to give this report at the center.” i said through gritted teeth. There was going to be a nasty bruise on my arm. I wanted to rub the skin there but I didn’t want to draw attention to it. 

“You’re not even a doctor here. i checked.” He frowned and I swallowed.

“I’m a lab Tech in the mainland lab. I work on the preserve four days a week and then head to the mainland to analyse and compile the results. I left this morning and I’m supposed to report back by 9.00 “ 

It was already a little past 11.00 PM.

Taehyung growled.

“the security is still under lockdown and-”

“Daddy!!” A voice said out of nowhere and I peered over his shoulders.

A young girl, about 4 or five years old came hurtling across the slippery wooden planks of the platform, her arms thrown up and eyes wide with unshed tears. Taehyung’s face softened in a flash and he held his arms out quickly, crouching down to hug the girl as she crashed into his chest.

“Luna...what are you doing here?” He sounded confused as he glanced over at the gate, where a harried looking woman was stuffing her umbrella into it s cover, looking upset and angry. 

“Kim Luna, what have I told you about running on the streets!” She said shrilly and Luna groaned burrowing deeper into her fathers chest.

i stood there feeling ridiculously endeared by the whole scene. 

“She wouldn’t listen Mr. Kim... Apparently, you promised her you would be home before dinner and she refused to go to bed . My shift at the brewery starts in two hours, i need to head home.” The lady gave me a cursory glance but turned back to Taehyung. 

Taehyung sighed and straightened, his daughter wrapped around him as he reached for his wallet. He fumbled a bit , unable to balance the child  and said, “ Lulu, sweetheart could you get down for a minute so I can pay Ms. Lee?” 

Luna pulled away from his neck, suddenly staring right at me and holding her arms out. i stared, completely thrown, instinctively holding my hands out. She all but leapt into my arms, chubby arms and legs wrapping around me as she quickly buried her nose into my neck.

“you smell nice.” she sniffed some more. 

i stared, horrified, at Taehyung who looked like he’d been stuck by lightning.

“I...it’s alright.” My voice cracked a little. “ You can pay her.. and i’ll just....”  hold your beautiful baby daughter, oh my god, what is happening, right now?!!.

 Taehyung hastily pulled out his wallet, handing over money to Ms Lee who looked amused . Once she had left , Taehyung turned back to me but Luna kept her arms tight around me.

“Baby,  You need to let go..” Taehyung sounded a little strangled and Luna merely sniffled.

“No. She smells nice. She smells like mommy.” She said brightly.

i felt blood rush to my face, so fast that i almost felt dizzy. 

Something like pain flashed across Taehyung’s face and he bit his lips before reaching out and gently pulling her arms away from me. 

“Luna, you need to let her go now.” He said sternly and as if on command, the huge doe eyes filled with tears.

“Don’t you want me?” She cried out staring right at me and my heart lurched. 

“I’m.. No.. i mean yes.. I mean... You’re so beautiful...” i said helplessly. Luna frowned like she really didn’t care for the compliment.

“Whats your name?” She said sharply , refusing to stay in her father’s hold and climbing down to stand closer to me..

“Rae... My name’s Mirae.” I said softly. She gave me a small smile.

“Will you come play with me?” 

“Alright, Luna, that’s enough. She’s not like...” He glanced at me , his eyes hardening again. I realised what he wanted to say. She’s not like us. Meaning , not a were. i felt a shaft of pain at that . Did he think that just because i was a human, i would hurt his daughter?? 

 “ She’s from a different place. she has to go back tonight.” He finished.

Luna gave me a soft smile.  Then her eyes brightened up. 

“My mommy’s gone to another place too” She said cheerfully “  In the sky. She’s there with the angels...right daddy?? “ She glanced at Taehyung who looked stunned. “ Are you going there too? Do you know her??” She asked eagerly.

Okay, this was just too much of emotion for a day, i thought miserably , as tears prickled before i could even control myself.

“No, sweetheart. I don’t know your mother. But i’m sure she was a lovely lady, seeing as she made someone as lovely as you.” i lightly booped her nose. Apparently, that was the right thing to say, because she giggled happily, smiling shyly and hiding behind her father’s legs. 

“It’s getting late. We should leave.” Taehyung said softly and his voice cracked a little. i didn’t look at him.

“You should finish whatever you came here for and talk to your superiors about transferring out of your job. There are qualified weres here on the island who could replace you. “ Taehyung said stiffly. “ You should go back to your family.” 

i didn’t argue, merely nodding and staring at Luna. She really was beautiful, wide eyed and happy, with bouncy brown curls and soulful honey eyes. 

And Taehyung was wrong. i din’t have a family to go back to. I was an orphan and my adoptive father had long disowned me. My brother was 3000 miles away and my apartment in Seoul was going to be renovated next week. i’d hoped to move into the Preserve permanently, because at the least I had friends here.

But apparently, Kim Taehyung with his myriad of political connections wasn’t feeling generous enough to let me make a home for myself. 

I glanced back up at him and he looked away, refusing to meet my eyes. Luna made a move to move closer to me but he held her back.  

“Good night Mirae ssi.” He said stiffly, pulling her up into his arms and walking away quickly. 

Luna waved cheerfully over her father’s shoulders, even blowing me a kiss with her chubby little fists. i stared after the pair till they disappeared around the corner. 

Suddenly, everything seemed way too gloomy. My wet , dripping clothes. The gentle wind that was starting to pick up. I sighed deeply, the cold seeping into my bones as i trudged wearily to the gateway. 

I had a job to do. Those kids needed me. 

[mysticandskepticmuses]

@anonymous sent in a question for me about saori & rori.

How did you come up with the ideas for the girls? ( rori and saori) They're really cool!

    Meep!  First off, THANK YOU SO MUCH ! As I’m sure everyone knows, I’ve been watching Altered Carbon pretty consistently the last month or so and I really loved the setting, the scenery, the ideals, the conflicts, the problems with and just the whole concept of the Envoys and the Uprising as led by Quell in the series.  I’d considered making one of the Envoys, there’s a female Envoy that’s played by the actress that played Sarah in the Crow series that I’ve always been a huge fan of and I had considered picking her up – she has like, five minutes of screentime and says two things, I think, but I always have a lot of fun fleshing out those characters but I was waffling about it, hadn’t quite decided.

    Then somebody on my dash had reblogged a photo set of Jessica Chastain in the Huntsman: Winter’s War and she was in leather and had a bow and arrow and it looked like she was covered in ashes (pretty sure it was snow but whatever) and it just struck me as very High Key Envoy Aesthetic.  And I kind of waffled about it, and reblogged a few things w/ Jessica as a potential face claim and then I thought about it some more, and made a couple sample icons.  And I’d been talking with @suburbanrelapse about some AC plots w/ Sage which included writing a verse w/ Elias & Tak & Sage & whomever else where Sage had been an ally / working with / scout for etc. the Envoys, where she’d known Takeshi, etc. and they’d worked together some but w/ Sage being either out on a mission or back in town for supplies or something during the attack on Stronghold and

    That got me thinking about how there were probably lots of other stragglers, go-betweens and allies / sympathizers for the Uprising, there has to be for any rebellion to work and Quell constantly emphasized the importance of making assets, of gathering allies, of taking advantage of any and all help that the locals in any area could provide, even if it ended up getting the locals killed, etc. because the Cause was what mattered and I figured that would be doubly important on Harlan’s World; they’d need constant help with supplies, intel, information about military ongoings, whether anyone knew they were there, where they were, etc. etc.  And honestly at first I kind of waffled between making Saori a straight up Envoy, because they’re bad ass, but I didn’t want to detract from the importance / trauma of Takeshi being the -last- Envoy and I waffled about how important to make her and how much she would actually know about the Uprising / how involved she’d be because I didn’t want to be a Power Player type when making her but I also wanted her to be important enough to actually have Plot Points and options when it came to interactions, whether it was with Envoys, day to day people in the city, Protectorate agents investigating her, whatever.

      So I mulled on that a bit and then I made a post about the things I was waffling about: whether to make her an Envoy, whether I wanted her to survive til Tak’s re-sleeving, general IDK WHAT TO DO WITH THIS SHIT and Liz poked me and suggested that it could be a descendant, same face claim, different personalities and histories etc and I was like !!! Yes, good !!!  So then I settled on having Saori as the daughter of a high ranking military officer on Harlan’s World, which would give her access to the information and supplies that would make her of interest to Quell / the Uprising at large, and then I had to decide what kind of personality she’d have, whether she’d be willing to help the Uprising out of anger and spite, or out of a genuine desire to help / true belief in the hazards of what Quell foresaw for the future, and it just sort of built itself in pieces from there.

       As far as spinning Rori off from that, one, I had to settle on how Saori got to Earth, why, and why her son would still have Dearing as a last name (Liz had also suggested that Rori could be the sister for her Claire, giving us a fun connection to play off of and tying in the connection to Takeshi & Harlan’s World).  And Liz and I talked options about personality and the relationship between Claire and Rori and Liz suggested Black Sheep vs Golden Child because we could – I decided to keep to the more idealized version of rebel child, as (an unknowing ic but fully aware ooc) homage to Saori, also with the intent of it being a little more like seeing a ghost in the flesh for Sage and Liz’s Takeshi / or anyone else that would have known Saori and sees her doppelganger in the flesh in Bay City, 250 years later.  I’ve had a lot of time to think about the various flaws in the system when it comes to the way that the penal system transformed over the centuries in Altered Carbon’s universe, and had so many problems with it as a concept of anything that is supposed to equal reform.  There’s so much debate between reform and punishment now in our world, in our time; the system in the future world represented in Altered Carbon literally removed any potential for reform, re-education.  It literally just puts you in a time out and the body that you came in with has to be rented by your family / friends if they don’t want it being rented out / sold off / handed off to the next batch of prisoners that are being released.  

      It doesn’t actually punish the hard core criminals - the only ones it punishes are the ones that actually care about their families and friends - it entirely removes the ability to think about your actions and consequences - it punishes your family if they are trying to come up with the money to keep your sleeve on the slab waiting for you - it punished your family if they can’t and they see someone else walking around with your face – there are just so many ethical issues and that’s assuming that the people that run the prison systems aren’t so corrupt that they’re literally just doing it for the money that can be made –

     So really, that seemed like something that I could very easily write a character being up in arms about, plus it’s the kind of thing that, as coming from a Meth family, she should be totally oblivious to or uncaring about, especially in contrast with Claire who as a Meth and a doctor / scientist, works at Psychasec in the field of developing the latest and highest end synth and cloned bodies that exist ��� so the contrast in concepts of basic morality and basic acceptance of the penal system and sleeving / resleeving norms of the age between the sisters was super appealing.  Plus, it was something that I figured Sage would be right there with, which would give plotting opportunities with @suburbanrelapse‘s awesome ac concept / verse – and it was something that both Liz’s Elias & Tak would respond well to / create potential plot hooks / thread ideas / Trouble plot points for etc.  

     Deciding on random personality bits, what kind of tattoos, piercings, body mods, how much trouble she’s actually gotten into, age, where she lives, what kind of income she uses vs. has access to etc. just kinda fell in as I was writing stuff up.  And I’m still fleshing things out for both of them, I probably will be for a long time but.   Yeah!  I hope this is the ramble you were wanting out of your question - if you want to know anything else at all let me know ?????

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 109: Last One Out of Beach City

“What if I told you that the world was gonna end, and you had fifteen minutes to spend with me or your friends?”

Steven and the Stevens and Hit the Diamond are my two favorite episodes of Steven Universe for reasons I’ve written about at length, but beyond encapsulating the essence of the series and characters and all that, it should be noted that they’re just plain fun. Last One Out of Beach City is smaller in scale, zeroing in on one of the show’s earliest defined relationships and basking in its evolution from a feud to a deep friendship, so it’s harder to use as a stand-in for the show as a whole. But even if it isn’t my third-favorite episode of the series, it stands hand in hand with my top two when it comes to the charm factor.

Last One Out of Beach City is a delight from start to finish. Jesse Zuke’s legendary “Bad Pearl” sketch comes to life in the best way imaginable, and Deedee Magno Hall solidifies her place as my MVP of a killer lineup of voice actors. Actual human being Mike Krol gets tossed into this alternate universe like it was nothing. Crimes are committed. Swears are censored by screeching tires. Juice is spat. Cups, spilt.

This is the promise of Zuke’n’Florido’s brilliant opening sequence of Beta fulfilled: Steven and some Gems hanging out not for half an episode, but an entire one. It’s got sight gags aplenty, supplementing some of the best comedy writing in the series, mixed with the soul-warming joy of watching characters we love getting along. So lest I just turn this review into gushing about individual jokes and lines and moments, let’s dive into why each character we see is terrific, starting with the scofflaw herself.

Last One Out of Beach City does for Pearl what Back to the Moon does for Amethyst and Mindful Education does for Garnet: we see the result of her character growth in Act II, and even if the Mystery Girl looks a lot like Rose, it’s still a huge step forward for our lady of perpetual mourning to develop a crush on someone new (and to be so low-key polite to Greg). The romantic subplot alone could drive an episode, but Pearl gets so many more hats than “girl with a crush” here: she’s a nerd, a badass, a criminal, and a middle-aged mom all at once. She vacillates between genuinely cool and desperately uncool until she fuses these extremes together to become a confident square; it’s perhaps Deedee Magno Hall’s best Pearlformance that doesn’t include singing, and that’s saying a lot. Between her voice acting, the lines themselves (“This is why we buckle up”), and the sheer sense of catharsis from seeing her choosing to move forward with her life, this is my favorite Pearl episode. And that’s saying a lot.

Pearl has always had a weird relationship with humanity. She's distant from modern culture compared to Amethyst, and her misunderstandings about human stuff is often played for laughs, but she’s also a crack car mechanic and is enamored with human concepts like knighthood. She’s not completely removed from society, but chooses not to engage unless something in particular catches her fancy. So it’s fascinating to see her associating moving forward with performing more human activities; she’s embracing Earth as it is, not as it was when the Gem War was raging, and she’s not letting lingering envy from Rose’s love of humans like Greg get in her way.

The reason this works so well is that it’s clearly performative, rather than an actual sudden personality shift. She’s still a homebody who likes puzzles and hanging out with her kid. She’s still snooty, both with her friends (dismissing the idea that anyone could be nostalgic for something as “new” as suburbs) and with her crush (“By the way, I saved your planet and your species and you're welcome”). And she’s still nervous as all get-out, but brave enough to push forward anyway.

Pearl’s maternal nature isn’t ignored, but used as fuel for her attempt at rebirth. There’s a huge difference between an awkward person putting themselves out there for the first time and a semi-retired hellraiser who, after settling into a comfortable groove, seeks to relive her glory days. She’s been dwelling on the negative for so long that she feels out of touch with her adventurous side, to the point where wearing pants and drinking juice is adventurous, but because we know Pearl so well by now we can actually appreciate how big of a deal these minor accomplishments are for her.

While it’s refreshing to see Pearl moving on from Rose, it’s perhaps even greater to see how far her relationship with Amethyst has come. While their longstanding rivalry softened during the Week of Sardonyx, we haven’t gotten them alone together since, and it just feels so nice to see Amethyst ribbing Pearl with that extra burst of sisterly affection, and Pearl loosening up enough to not take every slight personally.

As with Pearl, Amethyst works here because her personality hasn’t been erased; again, she’s still ragging on Pearl. The plot gets rolling because of Amethyst’s well-established fascination with humanity, and Pearl’s decision to see the show is prompted in part by wanting to impress Amethyst, something she never would’ve cared about in Season 1. And for all her teasing, Amethyst encourages Pearl every step of the way, not just out of solidarity but because she’s legitimately impressed.

And in a world where Pearl and Amethyst are egging each other on, Steven has to step up and be practical. I appreciate that his sense of responsibility and realism doesn’t make him a jerk or a brat, but more of a peer than ever among his fellow Crystal Gems. When pointing out the pink-haired elephant in the room, he’s not condemning or teasing Pearl: he’s just clearing the tension, and showing that he’s more aware of the situation than a younger Steven might have been. In this episode, Steven is the friend who looks for a gas station when his buds are freaking out about running out of fuel.

By now Steven feels comfortable with his place in the team, and with his relationships with Amethyst and Pearl as individuals. A version of this episode placed earlier in the series might’ve been about Pearl and Amethyst fighting for his attention, or Steven vying for attention from either of them, but by now he’s happy to do a puzzle with Pearl and to go to a concert with Amethyst, and there’s zero conflict. Immaturity shouldn’t be a go-to character beat anymore, and I love that Steven is acting his age.

Mystery Girl turns out to be more of a device than a character, as we never see her again. But I honestly think that’s fine; what matters is that Pearl is willing to put herself out there, and the result isn’t a new relationship with a new love interest but a new relationship with humanity. The Pearl of Bismuth Casual, hanging out with a posse of human friends and showing off her Gem powers with glee, owes everything to the Pearl of Last One Out of Beach City, and thus everything to Mystery Girl. Perhaps they had a thing at some point. Perhaps they still do have a thing. We don’t know, because Pearl has new hobbies outside of being a Crystal Gem, and that’s the victory.

An in terms of the show’s greater plot, if our new friend never gave Pearl her number, Pearl never would’ve gotten a phone, so A Single Pale Rose never would’ve happened. Perhaps one day he would’ve learned the truth, but certainly not before Yellow and Blue Diamond arrived to wage war on the planet. So thanks for saving the world, Mystery Girl!

The use of music from our universe lends Last One Out of Beach City a uniquely realistic tone compared to the rest of the series; perhaps any such music would do the trick, but a garage rocker is an apt choice for setting a grounded mood. We get a glimpse of Greg’s life outside of being a dad, as he socializes not only with Amethyst but Barb and Vidalia. The car chase lurches to reality when we learn that Pearl doesn’t have a driver’s license, and explicit references are made to the DMV and Pearl’s citizenship. It’s like knowing Steven’s exact age, or having Greg break his leg in Ocean Gem instead of getting a nondescript injury, or hearing Dr. Maheswaran describe PTSD using terms like “cortisol”: these concrete details make these characters feel more like real people. And considering this is a character-centric episode in a show where characters are pretty much always at the center anyway, that realism gives us a deeper connection to what our heroes are going through.

Pearl is by no means a teenager, and the critical element of reclaiming her mojo muddles direct comparisons to a teen protagonist, but the emotional honesty of Last One Out of Beach City makes me feel nostalgic, and not just for the suburbs. Driving around, not quite following the rules, and bouts of chasing meaning when you’re not as interested in traditional adolescent social activities? Those were my teenage years. I don’t always miss them, but this episode brings out the best of my memories.

There’s really not much else to say. I could spend another few paragraphs incoherently gushing about the writing and the animation and the voice work, but I promise the time you’d spend reading that would be better spent rewatching the episode. While I maintain my comparison to Beta, Last One Out of Beach City does stand in opposition to Peridot’s first Meep Morp: it has no functional purpose, it just makes me feel good.

Future Vision!

I already brought up how Mystery Girl’s number prompts A Single Pale Rose, but that episode itself shows that Pearl’s a lot slicker than she thought she was. That’s a lot of codes!

I’ve never been to this…how do you say…school?

Not sure why we get a Halloween-themed promo for an episode that has nothing to do with Halloween and aired in early September, but this is me not complaining about that. (Apparently it’s actually a reference to a Japanese tradition but I don’t watch enough anime to know more about that.)

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

It’s not my third favorite, but this episode is really high up there. The cream of the crop are episodes that give me the purest emotional reactions: Mirror Gem nails dread, Lion 3 and Alone Together embody two different kinds of wonder, and Steven and the Stevens, Hit the Diamond, and Last One Out of Beach City just make me unspeakably happy.

Top Twenty

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

Last One Out of Beach City

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Mindful Education

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Earthlings

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

When It Rains

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Chille Tid

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Catch and Release

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Back to the Moon

Kindergarten Kid

Buddy’s Book

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Bubbled

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

Know Your Fusion

Future Boy Zoltron

No Thanks!

     5. Horror Club      4. Fusion Cuisine      3. House Guest      2. Sadie’s Song      1. Island Adventure

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Open prompts, yay! How about anything with tsum tsums in it? I love them! Soulmates AU where you are born with your soulmate's tsum? Or tsums are like daemons? The little guys are the ones to fall in love first? Anything goes, really!

Come Up to Meet You

The Asset called the creatures 'Soft Pills', because he had to take pills often enough that he recognized the shape. He knew there was another name for them, something like 'Sum', but no one ever told him.

He liked the soft pills. They were warm and nice to touch and made pleasant noises. He didn't have one of his own, but that was reasonable. He didn't have a soul, so how could he have a Soulmate? The little creatures appeared for humans; not weapons. But sometimes, if he'd done very, very well on a mission, one of his Handlers would let him hold their pill for a little while.

On AO3!

"That's interesting," Steve said, "Bucky'schrysalis was doing that too."

"Hm?" Tony blinked up from his Starktab andglanced at the cocoon next to him on the end table of the couch.

(It was, in fact, a cocoon. 'Chrysalis' was themetamorphosis—supposedly—going on inside the cocoon, but 'chrysalis' soundedprettier than 'cocoon', so everyone used it. It did give a sense of somethingactually happening in there, though, which Tony appreciated.)

The cocoon was about the size of Tony's hand from wristto fingertips, and the sad gray color of old trees. Tony had recently replacedthe padded pickle jar with a lighter, less breakable plastic container, butotherwise it looked exactly the same as it had for the last 44 years. "What'sit supposed to be doing?"

"That. Look," Steve said completelyunhelpfully, pointing. His Tsum lifted zirself onto zir back legs, waving zirtiny forepaws like Tony needed encouragement. "Can't you see that?"

"See what?" Tony said, getting a bit annoyed.He put his tablet aside and leaned closer, finally just taking off thetranslucent lid. The cocoon lay on the neatly-folded baby blanket that had oncebeen Tony's and probably hadn't been washed since his mom gave it to him. Blueblanket, dull gray cocoon and nothing else, as always.

Or not. "Wait…is it…." Was that a spec of white? Tony gasped, then looked over his shoulder at Steve,close to panic. "Do you see white? Is it petrifying?" He whipped hisgaze back to the container before Steve could answer, lifting it closer to hiseyes. Oh, God, that was white. It was too late. His Tsum haddied, and—

"Hey, no! Tony, it's all right. Zie's not dead! Zie'snot dead, okay?" Steve got out of the armchair and came over to him."Zie's alive. Zie's still alive. I wanted you to see that zie's moving." He pointed again, this time with his largefinger hovering right over the whitish spot. "Look."

"Zie is?" Tony leaned so close his nose nearlytouched the cocoon, his eyes fixed on the white spot. There was almost…maybe….

Yes. That was definitely something: a tiny little lumpforming and smoothing out again.

(More after the break!)

"Oh, that." Tony let out a deep breath ofrelief, then carefully put the container down again. He dragged his trembling fingertipsalong the cocoon's skin, smiling wistfully at the familiar smoothness. It wasroom temperature, just like always. "Zie does that sometimes. Never meansanything." He shrugged. "'Haven't seen it in at least 20 years,though, so that part's kind of neat." It had been a couple days before hisparents died, like some kind of awful prophecy. "But, yeah. Once in awhile zie moves like zie's going to come out, but nothing happens."

"Oh," Steve said, crestfallen. "I'msorry."

His Tsum made a soft little 'meep' from zir perch onSteve's shoulder. Zir barely-existent little face looked sad.

"Eh. It is what it is." Tony shrugged again;he'd become an expert at feigning a nonchalance about it he didn't actuallyfeel. (He'd tried. God knew he'd tried to stop caring. It never stuck.) He gavethe cocoon a last, soft pat, then put the lid back on. He sat, picked up histablet, put his ankle on his knee and then gave Steve a big smile that wasn'tentirely fake. "I'm used to it. It's been that way my whole life. Istopped crying over my agoraphobic Tsum decades ago."

"It appeared like that?" Steve asked,dumbfounded. He sat down on the couch near Tony, instead of reclaiming hischair. His eyes were huge, like Tony had just confessed to somethinginconceivably awful. Well, maybe it was if you weren't used to it. "Youmean, it's always been in a chrysalis? You never…."

Saw it? Petted it? Played with it? Lovedit? Tony shook his head, nothing real in his smile now at all."Nope." And boy, was he sick and tired of getting the same reactionall the time. He was extremely aware of what freaks he and his Tsum were,thanks.

He patted the container's lid, thinking suddenly it'dbeen a bad idea to swap out the jar. The rectangle was too much like a coffin."Good old Dad always said it proved something was wrong with me, if Icouldn't even make a 'magic, fuzzy space worm work right'."

"He really said that?" Steve looked even moreshocked, which was nice of him. "But, the Tsums…unless you hurt them…howcould he think this was your fault?"

Tony leaned back and stretched his arms along the top ofthe couch, leaving his tablet in his lap. Steve's Tsum was on his shoulder, soit was easy to reach out and scratch the top of zir head. He quirked somethingnearly like a grin when zie chirped happily and headbutted his finger. At leastwhen it came to his dad he'd perfected pretending he didn't care.

"Well, I guess since he pretty much figured everythingwas my fault, no sense in not adding this to the list, right?" Tony wincedinternally at how bitter he sounded, then did his best to make his voice light,even added a chuckle for verisimilitude. "Makes sense though, right? Imean, who the hell would want me as their Soulmate anyway?"

Steve let out a breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose."I swear, sometimes I really wish I could go back in time and punch yourdad. He was a different man, then. I don't think I would've liked who hebecame."

Tony snorted. "Yeah, well. Join the club."

"I'm sorry," Steve said.

"Thanks," Tony said, his attention was onSteve's Tsum, though, as zie made the laborious journey from Steve's shoulderto the couch.

Zie nearly got to Steve's elbow before zir legs gottangled in his shirt and zie tumbled the rest of the way to the cushions. Zierolled upright, gave a quick shake, then waddled the rest of the way to Tony.Zie lifted up on zir hind legs and began climbing Tony's jeans.

Tony scooped the Tsum gently into his lap, thenobligingly petted zir belly when zie rolled over. Zie was still mostly white,though parts of zir downy fur were slowly changing into a mix of gray, blackand red. There were two tiny gray and red bumps on zir back that Tony joked werean extra set of arms. Steve was sure they were wings.

Tony enjoyed teasing Steve about his Soulmate being anairplane, but given their line of work, it was likely Steve's Soulmate was somekind of winged vigilante. Certainly the Tsum's normally adorably featurelessdot eyes now looked kind of like they were wearing adorable goggles.

Steve smiled fondly at the little creature while Tonypetted zir. There was a saying: Don't trust anyone your Tsum doesn'tlike. It was good advice in general, but it wasn't quite accurate.Yes, Tsums were friendly to pretty much everyone—and if they shunned someoneyou should run like hell—but that didn't mean they likedeveryone. Tony knew what an honor it was, that Steve's Tsum had asked to be heldthe first time they'd met.

Hell, Tony knew what an honor it was that he'd been thefirst one Steve brought his newly-hatched Tsum to, after zie had finally comeout of zir cocoon.

"I thought your Tsum was in chrysalis because ofwhat happened in Afghanistan," Steve said quietly. "After you'd beentortured, and what happened to your heart." He lifted his head, givingTony the full earnestness of his stare. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't haveassumed."

"Don't worry about it." Tony rubbed his chestwith his free hand, absently feeling out the scars where the reactor had been.It still hurt sometimes when he breathed deeply, but he'd take that over theconstant worry and pain. Steve's Tsum was still on zir back, nibbling on hisfinger; it felt like a minnow kissing him. "Almost everyone assumes that.A Tsum going into chrysalis because of their human's trauma makes a hell of alot more sense than a Tsum appearing in a cocoon but never emerging or petrifying."He rubbed the Tsum's belly and zie chirped again, stretching zir legs like atiny, stubby cat. "I used to hope it meant I'd really get a Soulmatesomeday." He grimaced. "That's probably selfish, worrying about mewhen it's my Tsum who never got to hatch."

Steve's hand landed warm and solid on Tony's shoulder."It's not selfish to want that, Tony. We all want to find our Soulmate. Iknow what it's like to grow up thinking there was no one in the world foryou."

"Yeah." Tony swallowed, then forced himself tolook up. "Howard told me how you and Bucky's Tsums were stillundifferentiated when he met you."

Steve nodded. "That's right, they were." He smirkeda little at his Tsum, reaching out to pet zir belly too. "And after 26years of my Tsum being plain white, I'd just assumed I didn't have a Soulmate.I mean, nobody else I'd ever met still had a white Tsum after that many years.Most of them had gone into chrysalis in high school."

"Smaller world, back then," Tony said."These days it's more common to be in your 20s or older."

"I guess. Maybe the War made a difference too. Idon't know. But, the only other person I'd ever met with an undifferentiatedTsum was Bucky." Steve grinned, chucking his Tsum under zir chin. Ziewrapped zir arms around his finger like zie was trying to give him a hug."Our Tsums adored each other, right from the beginning. Hell, the wholereason we met was 'cause Bucky's Tsum jumped out of his belt pouch to get tomine. A couple bigger boys had grabbed zir, and thought it was funny to holdzir out of my reach. Bucky kicked their asses and gave zir back to me. Then wespent the next hour trying to go home without our Tsums screaming blue murderabout it." His laugh was layered with old pain. "They loved each ofus, too. My Tsum treated Bucky the way zie treated Ma: like we were allfamily."

"That must've been nice," Tony said. Hecouldn't remember ever seeing his parents' Tsums together, though he didn'tthink they'd fought. Then again, his parents weren't Soulmates. Howard hadsneered at anyone who 'let their love life be governed by 'barely-sentient sausagesdumped here by aliens', which meant he sneered at pretty much everyone.

Howard's Tsum had been in a tiny corporal's SSR uniform,with a pale face and plain brown hair. Tony had always figured it wasn't Howardrailing against destiny so much as wanting somebody prettier.

Maria's Soulmate had died in the war before she couldmeet him. Her Tsum had a smart gray suit and glasses, with a tiny yellow staron zir chest. Tony never saw zir much. Tony thought zie would have liked him,but his mother wouldn't let him touch zir. It took decades for Tony to realizeshe didn't really think he'd hurt zir; just that she couldn'tbear the risk of losing her only link to a man she could have loved.

"It was nice," Steve said. He didn't mentionhow sad it was for Tony that he'd never experienced it, which was kind of him.Steve watched as his Tsum crawled onto his palm. "Maybe it was stupid, butit'd been…comforting, knowing my best friend was in the same boat as me. We'djoked about growing old and Soulmate-less together. How we'd be buried next toeach other, with our Tsums' petrified cocoons."

Tony cleared his throat. "I'm sorry," he said,meaning it. Tony had flown into the desert with Yinsens' wailing Tsum down thefront of his shirt, because that was the only place he could keep zir whilewearing the armor. Zie had been a sweet-looking thing, with dark brown hair anda dress with bright patterns. Zie was in chrysalis by the time he crashed, andhad turned to stone by the time Rhodey found him. It wasn't that he'd imaginedhim and Yinsen growing old together or anything, but….

Yeah. Tony could understand.

(He kept Yinsen's Tsum next to his parents'. Their Tsums'petrified cocoons had been in the ashes of the car.)

"Thanks," Steve said softly. His Tsum mewled alittle and nuzzled his palm. "Bucky never took his Tsum on missions,unless he had no choice about it. He couldn't stand the idea of zir gettinghurt. He asked Jim Morita to take care of zir before we ziplined onto Zola'strain. His Tsum had always been a reckless little thing, getting intoeverything and breaking stuff. Zie liked riding around on Bucky's shoulder, andwas always peeking out of his belt pouch to see what was going on. Bucky wasreally worried zie would get out of his belt pouch and be blown away in thewind. Later I always wondered if he knew…." Steve swallowed. "If heknew he wouldn't be coming home from the war. Maybe he figured somehow that ifhis Tsum wasn't with him when…when it happened, zie'd be all right." Stevesniffed, swallowed a couple more times. It was painfully obvious how hard hewas trying not to lose it. "Zie…zie was in chrysalis the next time I sawzir, after. I spent two days just staring at it, barely daring to breathe incase I missed it turning to stone. But it never did."

"I know," Tony said, then had to clear histhroat. He put his hand on Steve's shoulder, then slid it around to the back ofSteve's neck. "Dad, ah, hypothesized it must have been because the body would'vefrozen fairly quickly. Which doesn't really make any sense," he added,because it felt ghoulish and insensitive to be talking about Bucky's corpse at all.

"Yeah. Howard told me that too. I almost hithim." Steve's smirk had no mirth in it. "Peggy thought that maybe hisTsum didn't want to leave mine alone, so zie stayed, in the only way ziecould."

"That's…." Tony floundered for somethinghopeful. "Really sweet." It was also really, really sad, but Tonywould rather bite his tongue off than say it.

Steve nodded. "At the time I was grateful that Ihad…anything left of him at all, even if his Tsum was still mostly gone. I keptthe chrysalis in the same pouch with my Tsum, because zie refused to be awayfrom zir. Not even for a minute." Steve gently patted the breast pocket ofhis polo shirt, where the cloth bulged from holding the cocoon. "Zie wouldlikely be wrapped around it right now, if you weren't here." He gave Tonyanother of those miserably humorless smirks. "The agents who found me hadno idea which of the two frozen chrysalises was actually mine. But my Tsumnever hatched, even after I was awake." He petted his Tsum, running threefingers along zir back, over and over again. "After that, I startedwondering if it had something to do with us. Me and Bucky, I mean. Like, thesame kind of quirk that had ended up with our Tsums never differentiating alsomeant they stayed in chrysalis forever."

"And then zie came out," Tony said.

"Yeah." Steve smiled, and it finally lookedreal again. "I couldn't believe it. I honestly thought I was dreaming, orit was a prank. Or someone accidentally switched the chrysalis at thehospital."

"Any idea when you're going to meet them?" Tonypetted the top of Steve's Tsum's head. He couldn't not; it was like trying toignore a kitten. He didn't bother admonishing himself for the small flare ofjealousy, that Steve's Tsum had differentiated and Tony's never would. Tony feltjealous of everyone for that, but he'd never begrudged them their happiness. "Normallythey emerge differentiated about a month before you meet your Soulmate, but Idon't think you count as 'normal'." He grinned, making sure Steve couldtell he was just ribbing him, trying to lighten the mood.

Steve chuckled. "Fair enough. All I can tell you isthat my Tsum's been in chrysalis for nearly three years. This guy had better be spectacular."

"Well, you're probably going to meet him inWashington," Tony said philosophically, "you might want to lower thebar a bit."

Steve laughed and shook his head. "I visit you allthe time, Tony. He could easily be a New Yorker."

Tony's grin spread to wicked. "Better make that bar real low, then. Especially if he's from Brooklyn."

"Asshole," Steve said fondly, still laughing,but then his expression slipped back into something serious and sad. "Thisis the first time that Bucky's Tsum moved in zir cocoon. I don't know what itmeans." He hooked his thumb under his chin with his fingers splayed overhis mouth, staring at Tony's plastic-boxed chrysalis as if it could lend himinsight via serendipity. But whatever it might have told him just made Stevewince and drop his hand. "I'm worried," he admitted. "What if ziecomes out differentiated? What do I do then? Or…Oh, my God." Steve jerkedupright, as if something horrible had just occurred to him. "What if Bucky'sTsum comes out looking for him? What if it's because Bucky hasa Soulmate somewhere? He's dead! He can't…." Steveswallowed, and his bright blue eyes went red-rimmed and liquid. "Oh, God.What if it's because he has a Soulmate? What do I do?"

"Hey, hey, it's all right. It's all right, Cap. It'sgonna be fine." Tony moved closer so he could pull Steve into a sort ofsideways hug, making sure not to squish the chrysalis in his pocket, or tumble theTsum off Steve's thigh. "First of all, zie's probably not going to evencome out, okay? I mean, mine's done that before, right? Like, at least a dozentimes. It's never meant anything. And if…if it does,then…I'll take zir. Zie can live with me. I'll look after zir." he said,ignoring how badly the impulsive offer made his heart clench. Steve had justtold him how his and Bucky's Tsums were BFFs, back in the day; why wouldBucky's newly-hatched magic space worm want Tony instead? Hell, why would Steveeven trust Tony enough to look after Bucky's Tsum, when he'dnever looked after his own?

"Actually, never mind. That was stupid," Tony saidquickly, feeling like an idiot. "Forget everything I said after 'it'sgoing to be fine'. I know you wouldn't want me to look after Bucky'sTsum." He tried to laugh and hit somewhere around a rattled squeak."I mean, my own Tsum didn't even want me, so—"

"Tony," Steve said, and Tony shut up so fasthis teeth clicked. Steve pulled back so they could see each other's face."Bucky's Tsum and mine were family, just like Bucky and me. And thatchrysalis is all I have left of him. I couldn't bear—" He swallowed again,wiped his eyes. "I can't give zir to anyone else. I'm sorry. But if itwasn't…." He took a breath, then managed a smile that was only a littlewet. "If it wasn't for that…I've seen you with my Tsum. I know how wellyou'd look after Bucky's."

"Oh," Tony said softly, blinking. "Well,thank you."

"You're welcome. It's true," Steve said.

As if to prove to Tony that Steve meant it, Steve's Tsumrolled zirself off Steve's thigh back onto the couch, then climbed Tony's jeansuntil Tony picked zir up again. Zie headbutted his fingers, then leanedexpressively towards the chrysalis inside it's plastic box.

"You want to say 'hello', Goggles?" Tony askedzir. His voice was a little thick now as well. He obligingly put the Tsum onthe end table and opened the plastic container, then helped zir climb inside.Zir chirped happily and wrapped zirself around the chrysalis.

Tony's Tsum moved beneath the soft armor of zir cocoon, likezie was trying to hug zir back.

The rest is on AO3. :)