#I'll add her bio a little later

[starcrossedreaders]

HI! This is my very first time asking for a request, am so nervous! I was wondering if you could write a short story with Re4r Leon were he and his fem! reader are both married and have meet each other in raccoon city and are separated from Ashley and run into Ada in the room were you solve that tile puzzle in the game and she flirts with Leon and says the line “I might give you that greeting you were looking for. And it makes the reader feel like she is not good enough for Leon and remembering the shared kiss both him and Ada had back at raccoon city. You can add more too it if you would like.

This is so cute, nothing beats a jealous lover to comfort. Hopefully, you love reading this as much as I loved writing it, Enjoy!

Author's Note: This is so cute, nothing beats a jealous lover to comfort. Hopefully, you love reading this as much as I loved writing it, I could not find this scene for the life of me so hopefully you will Enjoy it!

Warnings: jealous reader, mentions of death, guns, injuries, some fighting, little bit of angst

"Ashley wait!" Your hand reached out for the girl before a door slammed down causing the ground to shake.

"Fuck," Your hand slaps down to your side as you turn around to look at your partner, Leon.

"It's okay, we'll find a way to get to her." He unholsters his gun as he roams around the room to find a way out.

You and Leon had been attached at the hips since the police academy. Have being the first ones in the room you two naturally sat next to each other striking up a conversation. The moment Leon had stuck his hand out to greet you the connection was instant. From there on you guys did everything together, from hand-to-hand combat training to study partners you guys naturally gravitated towards each other. Like the sun and moon, Bonnie and Clyde, or Adam and Eve. So when it came time to choose a department to work at naturally you both went for Raccoon Police Department. This is when your troubles began, and your relationship furthered. After almost losing you Leon knew he had to make you his. Life is too short to not take risks. His messy confession and rosy cheeks had quickly led you guys into your 5th year of dating.

Government training was punishing and pushed you guys to the brink of extinction. That never stopped you guys from going onward, always moving, never stopping to enjoy the beauties of life. Which is what led you guys here. Trying to save the president's daughter was no easy task, not when bio-weapons and the past came to haunt you guys.

"Over here!" Leon called out to you from afar. His voice led you through a small tunnel into a bigger room than the last. In the middle of the room stood a podium with various tiles. Further past that was a door with a huge empty piece where you assumed the tiles went.

"Another fucking puzzle seriously?" Walking towards the podium you gathered the tiles and walked to the door.

"I'm tired of this weird village's antics, these puzzles are annoying." Leon only snorted in agreement as he stood at your side focusing on the task at hand.

"That one goes there," His gloved hand pointed to space in the puzzle.

Lifting the rather heavy tile it clicked into place causing the door to groan a bit.

"That's something I guess," You guys continued on with the puzzle before you heard a loud clank above you.

Whipping your head up to the noise you examined the ceiling.

"Did you hear that?"

"I'll go check it out." Leon pulls out his gun to look around the room while you continue the puzzle.

A few moments later you heard a few muffled words and a groan before the clicking of heels filled the room.

Those god-forsaken heels. The heels belonged to someone who has been the point of many arguments between you and Leon. The heels were filled by a beautiful federal agent who had ruined your self-esteem. How could she be so beautiful at a time like this? You looked like you have been through hell and back, dried blood coated your hands as your tank top was ripped. When the one and only Ada Wong looked like a model.

Turning around you watched as your own husband walked into the room with his hands up on either side of his head and Ada right behind him with a gun pointed at his head.

"Ada what a pleasant surprise," You turned back around to put another tile in the slot. The door shook the ground as dust fell around you.

"And who's this Leon?"

"I don't do greetings Ada," You sang your words as you placed another tile in.

This door started to move up a little bit. The crack was big enough to fit your hand through.

"Well, I might give you the greeting you were looking for," Ada's voice dripped with sexual tension as she utters those words towards your OWN husband.

Leon was getting impatient, the gun pointed at his head made him antsy. His hand moved slightly before he grabbed her wrist to make her drop the gun. Ada's foot flew through the air aiming for Leon's neck before he twisted and grabbed it just in time. This fight went on like this for a few heartbeats before Leon pulled his knife out on her.

Pressing it against her neck his voice grew deeper as he spoke, "A bit of advice, use knifes next time, it's better for close encounters,"

Ada could only smile as he slowly pulled the knife away strapping it back in its rightful place.

"I'm surprised, you're better than the rookie I last saw," She paced the room as she spoke to Leon.

"Yea, well, people change Ada,"

"Do they now?"

Your back faced the pair as you tried to focus on the puzzle at hand, the last few pieces were tripping you up, or maybe it was the small voice eating away at you. 'He still loves Ada.' 'You're just a filler for what he can't have.' 'You are the second choice, don't think otherwise.' Sighing heavily you tried to not focus on the past, but the present. You have a daughter to save, you can't be wallowing in your own self-pity.

"Well, why don't we test that out," The clicking of her heels stopped as she stood in front of Leon.

All your mind could do was race and think back to the events of Raccoon City. That horrid train ride was the worst ride you have ever been on. Watching Ada press her lips onto Leon's made you want to scream but watching Leon kiss her back made you want to cry. Nothing was as painful as that. Trying to steady your breathing you thought back to the kiss that you and Leon shared at the altar. That is the kiss that matters the most. Not the lousy kiss that he and Ada shared on the train. It had to, you are his wife for crying out loud, not some sleazy federal agent that teases men and almost gets them killed whenever she's around.

"Can you shut up Ada, I'm trying to figure this damn puzzle out, not listen to you ramble nonsense," She could only click her tongue.

"You should really teach your partner some manners Leon," He could snort out a small laugh.

Whipping your body around you walked over to the pair, "No Ada, I think you should really learn how to not be a liability. Every time you show up on these missions you almost get Leon killed. So why don't you go back to your little agency and stick your nose in someone else's mission. AND MIND YOUR OWN GOD DAMN BUSINESS!"

You didn't really need to yell during the last part but there's something about her stupid beautiful face that made you even more upset.

Turning around you placed the last tile in place. The door groaned as the ground shook. A few heartbeats later the door was fully open. You pulled your gun out with your flashlight underneath as you walked toward the dark and dusty room ahead.

"Y/N Wait," Leon called out for you as he jogged to catch up to you. Ada only shook her head as she shot her grappling hook up into the ceiling. The line zipped her up till she was gone.

Twisting your body from either side to side checking for anything that could harm you guys. You were very content with finishing this mission in silence. Leon on the other head was dead set and determined on figuring out what was wrong.

"Y/N stop, please," His hand landed on your elbow in hopes to stop you. Yanking it out of his grasp you tried to move forward once again.

Leon soon stopped right in front of you and grabbed your shoulders. "Y/N talk to me... what's wrong,"

Leon was always so attentive, "What was that back there?" His soft voice filled the dark room. Your arms slacked to either side of your body as your head dropped.

Small sniffles filled the room as your feelings hit you dead on. Leon's eyebrows furrowed as he heard your sniffles. "Hey, talk to me," His right hand reached up to cup your face and swipe your tears away.

You felt awful right now, you guys were on a mission to save the president's daughter, you should not be involving your own personal matters in your work life. Your shoulders moved up and down as a shiver ran down your body. Ada is not the woman he wants and loves but for some reason, it just doesn't feel that way when you see them together. The kiss during Raccoon City haunts you from the late hours of the night to the early hours of the morning. The rubber band he got you for your one-year anniversary sat heavily on your ring finger.

"I-it's just ugh- y'know what, forget it. We have more important matters at hand,"

"No. We're going to talk about it now, I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong," His voice was stern as his grip tighten slightly.

"Fine! Everything about Ada makes my gut turn. I feel as if I'm not enough for you. Ada has everything I don't. I know we're married and that should mean something but- The kiss- it's just..." You ran out of breath as you revealed your hidden feelings to your husband.

Leon's grip lightened as he slowly dragged his hands down your arms to your wrists.

"Baby... You know she means nothing to me You are the one I want. You have everything she doesn't love. I married you because you have been there through everything, thick and thin. There is nothing and I mean nothing anyone can do or say that would tear me away from you. We're going to build the brightest future together, two kids, a white picket fence, maybe even a dog," Your slight laugh made Leon smile, a rare occurrence these's days, too bad you could barely see it.

Leon leaned his forehead against yours. "I love you, forever and always okay?" Leon pressed a chaste kiss against your chapped lips.

Leon could barely hear you as you whispered back to him, "Forever and always."

[ask-lab-rats]

A little explanation-

Lab Rats is a human au where Cobs has created 14 specimen as test subjects. Basically a "created in a lab" au. Some have powers relating to their objects, while some of them don't. Unlike Cobs and his family, the subjects have object names such as OJ, Taco, etc.

TW overall for: swearing, torture, abuse, experiments, and general hospital stuff (Ex: needles)

You can ask these characters at the moment:

OJ - 001

Taco - 002

Paper - 003

Pickle - 004

Bow - 005

Marshmallow - 007

Bomb - 008

Paintbrush - 009

Salt - 010

Lightbulb - 011

Pepper - 012

Balloon - 013

Nickel - 014

Knife - 015

Baseball - 016

More will be added as the story progresses. [Powers]

You can ask them anything! Just no inappropriate asks because most the characters are around 11 years old :)

And for funsies, I'll tell you Cobs family aka his bio children.

His oldest and only daughter, Apple Cobs - 20 yrs. Shes in college.

Middle child and oldest son, Gabe Cobs (3Gs) - 18 yrs. Just joined the military.

And the youngest, twins Michael and Shawn Cobs (mephone4 + 4s) - 11 yrs.

You can ask them stuff too if you want. But they're kinda busy.

You can also ask the doctors/staff (+ Fan)

Dr. Parker (Cabby)

Dr. Spoon (Silver Spoon)

Dr. Berry (Blueberry)

Tessa Thomas (Testtube)

Finley Harrison (Fan)

Asks are open!

For the askers

You guys are just normal people on the internet reading about these unfortunate children. You don't really have any special powers. You can still try if u want but it probably won't end how u want.

Be nice and be patient plz I promise I will get to everything

Fanart is always welcome!

Now about me, the creator!

I go by she/her go check out my main acc @dicediceking

@dicedice69 , @babygirls-alt-acc and @ask-ii-bfdi-shipkiddos are also me. I don't post on the 1st one, the 2nds my reblog acc, and the last is my other ask blog

You can ask me any question u want too (but nothing inappropriate, I'm a minor ok)

There will only be ships with the older characters that I plan on adding later.

I apologize if some are out of character. I'm only human. I will also add in a few headcanons.

CreatorNotes are when I'm ooc. Any post without tags will also be ooc

Inspirations

[tillthelandslide]

Insufferable Arsehole Part 12 : (When In Rome) : I'm Just Fine 'Cause I Know That You Are Mine Insta AU (pt.1)

a/n: hiiiiii everyone, this is a little sneak peak into the next chapter of IA I guess (i'll probably post it tonight <3) hope you enjoy.

Taglist: @scooby-doodoo @thereisaplaceintheheart @theoriginalwhatsername @eaglestar31 @thefrontofmymind @fallingforel @partoftheairforce @procrastinatinglikeapro @poisonmedaddy13 @xthe1975 @all-things-fic @jstbeeingme @rossgirly @juliardk @you-muppet @moodyyyychickx (add yourself using the link in my bio 😊)

Series Masterlist

Previous Part

thisislou:

thisislou alexa play 'oh daddy' by fleetwood mac

Liked by charli_xcx, mynameismia, rass1975, trumanblack and 439,102 others

trumanblack you're insatiable

↳ thisislou you love me

↳ trumanblack i do

mynameismia ew gross...

↳ thisislou just block me at this point

charli_xcx i swear to god, this rat better count himself lucky

↳ trumanblack i do, trust me

trumanblack:

trumanblack Amore mio @thisislou

Liked by thisislou, jamieoborne, rass1975 and 672,198 others

Comments on this post have been restricted

thislou I love you so much Mr Healy

jamieoborne poor bloke had to silence his comments

↳ trumanblack too many comments saying she's too good for me... as if I dont already know

↳ thisislou ignore them my love, you're perfect for me

rass1975 come back, starting to miss you both over here

bedforddanes only one worthy of her is you mate

1975adam <3

healytymd you think you're cool for writing the caption in Italian... have to agree with the haters that say she's too good for you bro :P

↳ trumanblack 🖕🏼

thisislou:

thisislou the only one worthy of my love is you, you have redefined love itself and exceeded every fantasy i ever had of true love. You are my person, always. They don't know the Matty I know, the Matty the boys know. The Matty that loves his friends so deeply, the Matty that worries about his fans and whether they got home safely after a gig, the Matty that wishes he could call his mum more or visit her and hug her more. The Matty that hugs his brother too tight every time he sees him so he doesn't forget how it feels. The Matty that loves me, so fiercely every. dam. day. That's my Matty, the one who deserves my love @trumanblack

Liked by trumanblack, rass1975, bedforddanes and 891,284 others

Comments on this post have been limited

rass1975 our matty

bedforddanes we love you mate

healytymd love you bro

densie_welch thats my boy

1975adam couldn't have said it better

trumanblack you're the best of me, my love

trumanblack:

trumanblack my beautiful girl

Liked by thisislou, 1975adam, charli_xcx and 568,129 others

View all comments

thisislou missed opportunity for the caption: you share my shirt, looks so good

↳ trumanblack not using my own lyrics as a caption love

↳ thisislou booooo bad boyfriend

↳ trumanblack you're annoying but I love you

the1975updates GUYS SHES WEARING A RING ON HER RING FINGER OF HER LEFT HAND. THIS IS NOT A DREAL

↳ trumanblack it's flipped, I promise you we didn't get engaged or married (much to my disappointment trust me)

charli_xcx you lucky lucky man

thisislou via her stories:

caption: my love @trumanblack

thisislou:

thisislou Italy has been one of the best experiences of my life. This moment right here was a beautiful one, Matty and I saw an old couple on the beach with this really old camera (he went on about how cool it was and how it was rare... I didn't care but he rambled and it was cute). The couple came over to us and (despite the language barrier) explained how they took some photos of us and how they wanted to gift them to us... We gave the address of the place we were staying at and two days later the photos arrived. This is our favourite. I'll never be able to truly thank the couple for this moment, it was beautiful. They said our love is L'amor che move il sol e l'altre stelle: The love that moves the sun and the other stars. I loved that. To my Matty, I love you more than words can ever describe, thank you for the best holiday ❤️

Liked by trumanblack, mynameismia, rass1975 and 783,118 others

View all comments

trumanblack I love this so much

trumanblack I love you

mynameismia the best couple

bedforddanes this is cute... cant wait to see you both

[my-meadowlark]

Fic: Thermodynamics [Barbie/Gloria]

Title: Thermodynamics Fandom: Barbie (2023) Characters/Pairing: Barbie/Gloria Rating: T Word Count: 9,043 Summary:

Barbie has some serious trouble grasping the finer points of weather and humidity, which leads to her very first encounter with human illness. Gloria takes care of her, and some very confusing feelings accidentally come to the surface. Written for prompt #3 "Sickfic" of @tropetember

AO3 LINK

Water is extremely complicated.

Barbie honestly doesn't think humans realize just how complicated it truly is. And she's not even just talking about its fluidity and how infuriatingly hard it can be to contain it once it's decided to go everywhere at once (she's working on her accuracy when eyeballing the volume of liquid she can pour into a glass). Oh, no. That's, like, beginner level water-handling. It's the way water affects... everything else that keeps tripping her up.

Sometimes there'll be a day when the heat is so oppressive Barbie feels like she's trying to breathe with plastic lungs. And Gloria will nod sagely and simply say "it's the humidity" right before suggesting she take a quick cool shower like that won't just add even more humidity to the mix. But it works, somehow, until it doesn't because she's out of the shower and her damp hair has gone from keeping her scalp cool to weighing her entire body down until she feels absolutely, indescribably gross.

"Yeah. It's the humidity," Sasha will say when Barbie mentions how she can't even tell where the dampness from the shower ends and her own sweat begins and are they sure she's not melting? It's the humidity but if you add more humidity by hanging a wet towel in front of the fan it helps. Yeah. Okay.

Eventually, by the end of her first Summer in the Real World, Barbie thinks she has somewhat grasped the basics of water when it comes to temperature. Water can cool you down if you drink it or pour it over yourself or blow air through it (the bowl of ice trick Sasha saw on TikTok worked even better than the wet towel one). But it will warm you up if it's naturally in the air (humidity is her least favorite word).

She can work with that.

"If you go out later you may want to wear a jacket," Gloria says over breakfast one late October morning, "it's a bit nippy outside."

Barbie likes the sound of that. Nippy. It sounds fun. Playful, even. She's nowhere near bored of the Real World yet, but she'll admit some things have become so routine by now she barely even notices them anymore, and that makes her a little sad. She misses the feeling of absolutely every experience being brand new and exciting. So, nippy weather, huh? Sounds like a good time to her!

As it turns out, she enjoys nippy. The cooler air feels so different on her skin. She gets goosebumps like when she takes too long drying off after a shower, but they're not exactly the same kind. She doesn't notice when she breathes anymore because she's been doing it for several months now, but she does notice when she breathes in the colder air. She feels it going all the way into her lungs. Through her trachea and into her bronchi and bronchioles and filling up her alveoli like tiny little balloons.

She loves Sasha's Bio textbook.

So, when a couple months later, she hears the words 'cold snap' while watching the weather report, Barbie is nothing short of delighted. Nippy was fun, so she's sure a snap can only be even better, right? A snap. Fun!

"Do you think we'll get any snow?" Sasha circles the coffee table for the third time, open backpack in her hand, like she's expecting whatever she can't find to magically appear if she looks at the exact same spot the correct number of times. "Like, not downtown obviously, but nearby? Hey Barbie, where'd you put my Chem book?"

"Oh, I left it on your desk. Thanks for letting me borrow it! I loved reading the little intro about water's specific heat capacity but I need way more information than that so I think I'll go to the library later." She feels like she's found the path to understanding water and its weird behaviors, and she can't wait to pay a visit to her favorite librarian. Sasha insists she should just Wikipedia stuff, but Barbie likes the face-to-face interaction and the fun of going from book to book like she's on a scavenger hunt.

"Okay, Nerd Barbie."

"Tone," Gloria warns, one finger pointing in Sasha's general direction in a slight sweeping motion that means she's not really in any trouble at all. You can tell a lot from the exact way Gloria points a finger at you, especially when you pay as much attention as Barbie does.

"Sorry," Sasha lies (Barbie can tell when that happens, too), already on her way to her bedroom, "but you gotta admit it is kinda nerdy."

Gloria chooses to ignore that particular comment and focus on the earlier part of the conversation instead. "I don't know about snow. Maybe. We got some nearby last year."

Barbie's been in the Real World for long enough to know even the things they do have back home, like snow, are completely different here. Because they're real. "Gloria? What does snow feel like?"

"It's like—" Gloria stops pouring coffee into her thermos to think for a moment. She can answer easy questions while doing other stuff, Barbie's found, but when it's a hard one, or when she really cares about giving a thoughtful answer, she has to fully focus on her thoughts. Watching it happen makes a very particular warmth start somewhere in the vicinity of where Barbie's heart is and then spread out towards her lungs and down to her lower abdomen where it pools like... like something both warm and fizzy, somehow. Like warm soda pop, but not nearly as disgusting as that sounds. She hasn't found an explanation to that particular phenomenon in any of the human biology books she's read so far.

"It's like a snow cone, but like, without the syrup obviously." Sasha's voice travels through the open door of her bedroom and snaps Barbie back to reality, pulling her focus away from the mysterious Gloria-related effervescence in her belly. "And it's cold. And wet. It doesn't look like it should get your clothes wet, but it totally does."

See? Water. Doing unexpected things once again, even in solid form.

"I'd love to see it. Do you think it'll happen soon?"

"Maybe, yeah! You heard the weather guy." Gloria grabs Barbie's house keys instead of her own car keys, like she does nearly every morning. And like nearly every morning, Barbie notices before Gloria does and picks up the forgotten car keys, jiggling them to bring Gloria's attention to her mistake. "Shoot, thank you, Barbie. Sasha! We're gonna be late!"

"And, you know," Gloria continues, her voice down to a conversational tone once again, "even if it doesn't snow right here, we can plan a weekend getaway some time. Do some sledding, maybe skiing or even snowb—"

"I vote Switzerland," Sasha interrupts, walking past her mother towards the front door, "for the chocolate. And the cheese. Wait, do you have a passport? Can you even get a passport?"

"Right," Gloria says, "let's aim for Big Bear Lake or even Tahoe this year. I don't think we're at the international travel level just yet."

Gloria winks at Barbie like she's in on some kind of joke. Like they've just told someone Barbie's spent most of her life in Australia and that's why she's not fully confident with American money yet, and it's funny because they both know that's not the reason but it's a completely harmless fib. Barbie has no idea why Gloria is winking right now (international travel does sound complicated, and Sasha brought up a valid point about passports, whatever those are) but she smiles anyway, the kind of smile that's so wide she can feel it on her cheeks and in the crinkle of her eyes. She may not know exactly what the joke is, but whatever it is is between her and Gloria, and that's good enough for her.

"See you at lunch time?" Gloria is already halfway through the front door when she asks, like Barbie hasn't had lunch with her every single day since she arrived in the Real World. She even has a favorite taco truck that stops near the Mattel headquarters every other day.

So Barbie just lets her smile answer for her.

Later, Barbie finds out the cold snap is not fun. At all. As it turns out, there is a drastic difference between nippy and cold (Sasha's insistence that it doesn't even get really cold in LA does not help Barbie feel any better about it), and Barbie is firmly against cold as a weather concept, thank you very much.

It's interesting at first. It's like nippy, but more. Sharper against her skin and in her lungs and on the tip of her nose. But soon enough it becomes uncomfortable. Just like the heat in the Summer, it seems to permeate her clothes and then her skin and all its layers until she feels like it's inside her and there's no getting rid of it. Gloria recommends a warm shower, which helps just like the cool ones in the Summer did. Barbie figures she can let her damp hair do what it did back then and become warmer with time, but Gloria already has the blow dryer in her hand when she steps out of the bathroom, and Barbie is more than happy to let her play with her hair for as long as Gloria wants.

On the second day of the cold snap, the weather guy informs there's a low-pressure system bringing in higher humidity, and Barbie breathes a sigh of relief. Humidity makes things hotter. It makes you sweat. If heat plus humidity equals being slowly cooked in your own juices, then cold plus humidity should equal something between pleasant and slightly nippy, right?

See, she's been reading about thermodynamics. It's all about equilibrium, as it turns out.

So you can imagine her surprise (and, frankly, outrage) when she goes out in a light cardigan and finds herself standing in what can only be described as an outdoors fridge. Ridiculous. It's ridiculous and wrong and downright unfair, because the air is cold and the humidity is in there and she's been reading those books that say the heat will go from the hotter substance into the cooler one until they reach thermodynamic equilibrium so why is the moisture not heating up the cold air? Why is the air somehow even colder than yesterday?

Barbie feels her eyes sting with tears and she's not sure if they're from the sheer frustration of feeling like the laws of Physics keep tricking her, or from the cold air hitting her eyeballs. She figures it's a combination of both of those things.

All she wants is to go back into the warmth of their home, but it feels like letting the humidity win, somehow. Like going back inside is admitting defeat. And Barbara Millicent Handler may be many things (she's still figuring out which things she is, as a matter of fact) but she's absolutely not the kind of woman who gets defeated by moisture, of all things.

No way.

So, frown in place and arms tightly wrapped around herself and her puny cardigan, she marches towards the library determined to figure out this humidity nonsense before lunchtime. It can't be this hard. Everyone else seems to get it. There has to be something she's missing.

Her favorite librarian is helpful as always, even offering Barbie a cup of hot cocoa from the coffee machine when she notices the way her teeth chatter as she asks for another book on thermodynamics.

"Is there anything in particular you want to research?" She asks, and is kind enough not to mention the way Barbie's eyes water all over again when her nearly numb fingers wrap around the warm paper cup. "We may have better luck finding exactly what you're looking for if we narrow the field a bit more."

Fifteen minutes later, Barbie's sitting at her usual table with a book about weather that has her feeling so giddy she's no longer thinking about the cold. Well, she's thinking about cold as a concept. Just not about how cold she was just a moment ago. Sasha can insist all she wants: there's no way her beloved Wikipedia would've provided not only the perfect book, but also the perfect hot beverage.

Once she's finished her cocoa, Barbie opens the book and immediately realizes she's found a whole area of knowledge she didn't even know existed. Weather seems simple enough on the surface, but the more she reads, the more she realizes just how much there is to learn about it. By page four she's feeling so full of excitement about all the things she's about to discover that she actually giggles out loud. By page ten, she's wondering why the weather segment is always so short when there's so much to talk about.

"Barbara?" The librarian's soft voice pulls Barbie's attention from a two-page illustrated guide to cloud shapes. She's got to tell Gloria about lenticular clouds. "I hate to interrupt your reading, but you always leave at eleven, so—"

"Oh?" Eleven. Gloria. Lunch. "Oh! Thank you so much, Evelyn."

She rushes out of the library with the reassurance that Evelyn will make sure nobody checks out the book before tomorrow and makes it to the bus stop with six minutes to spare (running helps with the cold, she finds) according to the clock on her phone. And she has only been waiting for a minute when she feels a drop of water on the very cold tip of her nose.

"Oh, no."

It doesn't rain often in Los Angeles, but she's already experienced a couple of rainy days and she can recognize the first sign. Rain is a lot like crying, in that you get one drop first and then a whole bunch of them with no warning at all.

By the time the bus stops in front of her, she feels like she's spent the last five minutes taking a cold shower with her clothes on.

The bus ride to the Mattel headquarters is not very long, but when she gets off at her stop Barbie feels like even her bones are soaked through. Her clothes stick to her skin, cold and heavy and wet, and (thermodynamic equilibrium!) seem to be sapping every last kilojoule of body heat out of her. She feels like there isn't an amount of hot cocoa in the world that could possibly warm her back up.

"Barbie! Oh, honey, didn't you bring— I should've told you to grab an umbrella. Why aren't you wearing your coat?" Gloria is waiting at the bus stop like always, dry under her umbrella and toasty warm inside her fleece-lined rain coat. "Why aren't you wearing your boots!?" Gloria looks at Barbie's soaked tennis shoes like the sight of wet feet is something out of her wildest nightmares.

"I just—" Barbie feels her chin tremble. It's half shivers and half wanting to cry from just how uncomfortable she feels standing in the cold (at least Gloria's pulled her under her umbrella so she's not getting rained on anymore) in soaking wet clothes. And shoes. And socks. "I just thought—" Barbie shakes her head just as the first tear falls, "I just don't get humidity, okay!?"

"Humidit—?" Gloria shakes her head slightly, like she's decided halfway through her question that she's not actually going to focus on that right now. "Oh, look at you," Gloria's fingers feel soft and warm against her skin when she gently brushes strands of wet blond hair away from her forehead, "why didn't you go back inside when you saw it was raining?"

Barbie shrugs and sniffles slightly. Sometimes being a real person is a bit much for her. There are too many things to feel all at once. And she was already close to the point of being overwhelmed by all the terrible feelings from before — cold and uncomfortable and wet and sad and confused and frustrated — but now there are all these new things added to the mix, and she doesn't even have a name for most of them. The feeling of being very close to someone under an umbrella while it rains. Is there a name for that feeling? The feeling when someone's voice is so soothing it feels like you're being wrapped up in the softest blanket in the world. The feeling when being near someone makes all the bad feelings fade into the background until they barely register anymore.

The feeling of someone catching one of your tears with the pad of her thumb and then pressing her warm palm against your cheek. Is there a name for that? Because it spreads from the point of contact between Gloria's hand and her face, filling her up with whatever the feeling is called until there's simply no room for cold anymore and all she can feel is that.

"I didn't want to miss lunch," she finally says, leaning into Gloria's touch and adding another feeling to the mix when Gloria smiles.

And for a handful of heartbeats they just stand there, Gloria's hand on her cheek, thumb brushing softly against her skin, like they're both a bit too busy feeling to do anything else.

"Let's get you home," Gloria finally says. She moves her hand away from Barbie's cheek and holds the umbrella in her direction. "Here, hold this for me for a second." And when Barbie does, Gloria quickly unbuttons her raincoat and slides it off to wrap it around Barbie's shoulders instead. "Better?"

Barbie nods. The fleece lining is warm from being wrapped around Gloria and it smells faintly of her perfume, and "home" is the closest she can get to finding a name for the feeling in her chest.

"Come on," Gloria lets Barbie hold the umbrella and loops one arm through Barbie's so they can walk close together towards the car, "I don't want you to get sick."

—-

Gloria practically shoves her into the hot shower the second they walk through the door. And if her brain felt even just a bit less foggy, Barbie would've had a thought or two about one kind of water being the cure for another kind of water, but she can't focus on that right now. She's never felt worse in all her months as a human woman. She's cold even if her skin gets warmed up by the hot water. She keeps shivering but she can feel herself sweat. She keeps sneezing, and every sneeze makes her head hurt.

"This is the worst day ever." Barbie pouts, sitting on the couch with a flannel blanket wrapped tightly around her body. The words scratch against her throat as they come out in the most annoying way.

"I know," Gloria says, tone sympathetic from the kitchen area, "I'm sorry, honey."

They've been home for a few hours now — Gloria decided Barbie's first brush with sickness was more important than the rest of her work day, and Mattel agreed — and Barbie keeps feeling steadily worse with every passing minute. At first she was just cold and wet. Now she feels like she's been run over by a cold, wet truck.

"Here," Gloria hands her a bowl of hot chicken soup and sits next to her, "it'll make you feel better. I promise."

It doesn't work right away, but it's delicious and it soothes her throat as it goes down so Barbie can't complain at all.

"How are your feet?" Gloria slips one hand under the blanket to feel around for one of Barbie's feet, both of them safely wrapped in the warmest, fluffiest socks she's ever worn. Barbie doesn't think she's ever seen Gloria look as horrified as she did when she saw Barbie's drenched socks before.

"Warm," Barbie offers, even if she's sure Gloria can tell when she lightly squeezes one of them.

"Good. That's good." Gloria lets go of her foot and fixes the blanket, tightly tucking it under Barbie's legs. "That's good," she repeats, softer this time, like she's talking to herself. She doesn't speak again until Barbie's left the nearly empty bowl on the coffee table.

"I'm sorry you're not feeling well." In her time in the Real World, Barbie's learned people often say things like 'I'm sorry' without really meaning them. Just because it's polite. But she can tell Gloria means it in the most literal, true sense of the words. She can see the sorrow in dark brown eyes, in the worry lines on her face, in the way she moves around Barbie, like she used to be made of the most delicate porcelain instead of plastic. "I wish I had a magic cure."

Barbie can tell she means that, too.

What Barbie can't do is understand why the thought of Gloria snapping her fingers and making it all go back to normal doesn't sound nearly as appealing as it probably should. She wouldn't miss the shivers or the sneezing, but she thinks she'd miss the way Gloria's stayed close all afternoon, making sure she's okay.

"You should go to bed. Chicken soup and rest is the best remedy for the sniffles."

Barbie nods. She's not exactly tired, but she doesn't feel like being awake either. Being sick, unsurprisingly, is no fun at all.

"Shouldn't Sasha be home already?" Barbie stands up from the couch, bringing the blanket along like a long, fluffy dress. "It's Wednesday so she doesn't have practice."

Gloria smiles the specific smile she reserves for moments when Barbie remembers details about her or Sasha. She's noticed.

"She's staying over at Mei's to finish a project. She asked for permission in the car this morning." Gloria watches Barbie take the first few steps away from the couch like she's not sure she'll manage without falling over, and breathes a sigh that sounds a lot like relief when Barbie manages to stay upright. "I'm here if you need me, okay?"

Barbie smiles, because she already knows.

—-

"Hey." Gloria's voice is barely above a whisper. Barbie's bedroom is dark except for the warm light sneaking in from the hallway through the halfway open door. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Barbie has never had as much trouble figuring out whether she's awake or still fast asleep as she does right now, with Gloria sitting on the edge of her bed and tucking Barbie's hair behind her ear.

"How are you feeling?"

Barbie wants to answer. She wants to say she's not sure, because she isn't even sure this is really real or just a warm, hazy dream. But Gloria's fingertips brush against Barbie's warm skin as she moves her hand from Barbie's ear to her temple, and then Gloria's slightly cooler palm presses against Barbie's forehead, and all she can do is breathe.

"Oh, that's too warm." Gloria sighs, and Barbie feels the soft whoosh of the air leaving Gloria's lungs and hitting her skin as Gloria leans in to press her lips against her forehead.

It's not a kiss. It's just a press. The softest ghost of a touch. And Barbie realizes in that very moment that she's forgotten how to breathe, but her heart seems to have decided to beat twice as fast to make up for it so she figures she'll be fine.

Gloria remains so close when she pulls away that Barbie can't really tell if she's hearing her or just feeling the words against her skin when she speaks again. "Family trick. You can tell if there's a fever easier with your lips than with your hand."

Barbie nods, maybe a little dumbly. She's never had a fever, but she knows the concept of it. And she definitely feels like her body temperature is much higher than just a few seconds ago.

"Can you sit up?" Gloria turns towards the side table while Barbie rearranges herself against the headboard. The light from the hallway is enough for Barbie to make out a water bottle and a glass, and she watches with fascination as Gloria carefully pours some water and then shakes a little packet of something and adds its contents to the glass. "Here. Take this. If the fever hasn't budged by tomorrow we'll call the doctor, okay?"

Barbie nods again. She's never tried drinking water in bed — that seems, frankly, like the sort of advanced fluid dynamics she should not be trusted with just yet — but Gloria seems very sure of this whole process and Barbie doesn't think she can speak right now, let alone argue with Gloria's instructions.

As it turns out, she shouldn't have worried at all. Because Gloria's hands don't leave hers when she hands Barbie the glass. One warm hand remains covering Barbie's, steadying her fingers around the cool glass, and the other rests gently on the back of her head. It feels like a reminder that Gloria will catch her if she falls.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, it doesn't taste good at all, but I don't think this is the time to learn how to swallow pills," Gloria says, and Barbie looks into the glass even if she can't really see what the liquid looks like with such little light. She can hear it fizzling, louder and faster than any soda she's tried so far (and she's tried a few). It smells oddly... synthetic. Like it doesn't belong in the Real World. "It'll make you feel better. I promise."

It tastes even worse than she imagined. It tastes like nothing she's ever tasted in her short human life. It tastes like something not meant to go inside or even near a human body at all. It tastes so bad she lets out a horrified gasp at the end because she's honestly a bit surprised the awful taste didn't kill her.

"That was—" Barbie struggles to form the words around the lingering taste coating her tongue.

"I know." There's the slightest bit of amusement in Gloria's voice, even if she still mostly sounds concerned. "I know, honey, I'm sorry. Here, have some water. Wash off the taste."

Water only really helps a little bit. The aftertaste remains, gross and bitter and metallic— no. Not metallic. Plasticky. She wonders if her face will ever go back to normal again or it will simply remain in a slight grimace forever.

Barbie rests against her pillow once again with a sigh. She's oddly tired but in a nebulous sort of way, not in the same way she's tired after a long day or after a trip to the mall with Sasha.

"I hate being sick," she says, bottom lip jutting out in a slight pout. She hates that it makes everything she's slowly gotten used to about being human feel just off enough to keep her constantly uncomfortable. She hates that her thoughts feel fuzzy (not in a good way) and slow. She hates everything about it.

"That's a very human emotion, if it helps you feel better at all."

Barbie's never been to the desert. She doesn't know what a glass of water may feel like under those circumstances. But she thinks it must feel similar to hearing Gloria's soft voice right now. Like the one thing that feels good when everything else sucks.

"You help me feel better."

It's not the first time she's said something similar to Gloria. Barbie appreciates everything Gloria's done for her since coming to live in the Real World, and she makes sure to be very vocal with that appreciation. But it feels a little different when she says it right now. Like there's something extra weighing down the words.

"Yeah?" Gloria smiles, Barbie thinks, but there's not enough light to be sure. She thinks she hears it in her voice anyway.

Barbie nods and reaches for Gloria's hand. It's warm against her own even if it felt cool against her forehead before, and Barbie briefly wonders whether Gloria's lips would feel different against her hand, too. What they'd feel against her—

"That's good," Gloria says, soft and quiet like a secret, fingers squeezing Barbie's, "I want you to feel good."

And it feels like there's a weight to Gloria's words, too. It feels like the air around them is thick with things they both mean but neither say. And then Gloria leans in and Barbie thinks maybe she's going to check her temperature with her lips again, or maybe she's going to do something else entirely, and maybe Barbie's human body picks up on things her brain can't quite grasp just yet because she feels herself... react. Her skin tingles and her stomach flip-flops and her lips part because her breaths are just a little bit shallower and her heart beats just a little bit faster and she's fairly sure her entire nervous system has been rerouted to her hand and her fingers as they slot in the spaces between Gloria's and whatever Gloria is going to do Barbie just knows she wants it to happen, and then—

Nothing.

Nothing happens.

Gloria sits up straight once again and Barbie can tell what she feels is loss even if she still doesn't know what was going to happen.

"You should go back to sleep," Gloria says, a little breathless, fingers still tangled with Barbie's, "get some rest."

But Gloria doesn't stand up or let go of Barbie's hand, and honestly the thought of that happening — the thought of Gloria leaving her right now — makes something twist uncomfortably in Barbie's chest, so she decides to say something before Gloria can change her mind.

"Can you stay with me?"

Gloria doesn't answer right away. Her thumb rubs gently against Barbie's knuckles, and the air fills up with unsaid things once again, only this time it's uncomfortable and a little oppressive. It reminds Barbie of the humidity on hot summer days.

"I don't—"

"You don't have to." Barbie quickly clarifies, because something about this situation has clearly made Gloria uncomfortable, and that's the last thing Barbie wants. "Of course you don't have to, I'm sorry." But when she lets go and pulls her hand away, Gloria's hand chases it and holds it once again.

"It's not— that."

Is this conversation particularly cryptic and heavy on subtext, or is it normal and Barbie's cold-impaired brain is just a bit too slow to follow it like it normally would?

"I want to stay with you. I just wonder—" Barbie hears a sigh, and it's not an exasperated one or a tired one or even a sad one. It's a different kind of sigh. Barbie doesn't think she's ever heard Gloria let out that kind of sigh before. "Because you don't have all the context for this stuff, right?"

Barbie feels herself nod even if she honestly, truly has no idea what Gloria is even referring to. Maybe that's the lack of context she means.

"So I'm not sure if we're looking at things the same way or if you even— if you know what's happening sometimes. You know?"

Barbie is nearly sure this has something to do with before. With the moment Gloria leaned in and something almost happened but didn't.

"The last thing I want to do is hurt you. And if I cross a line and then you didn't want to or— God, or you didn't even know there was a line, I just—" Gloria shakes her head and squeezes Barbie's fingers for just a second, and Barbie still doesn't know exactly what they're talking about but she knows she wants Gloria to not be upset.

"I trust you."

Barbie's words are soft and quiet but there's nothing unsure or tentative about them and she thinks maybe that's why Gloria seems to snap out of her previous thoughts as quickly as she does.

"What? What do you—?"

"I trust you," she says again, "so I'm not worried."

It's not that simple, she knows. She knows almost nothing in the Real World is ever simple or easy, and especially not things involving feelings and worries and potential hurt. But she thinks maybe knowing Barbie feels like she's in excellent hands, like she has nothing to worry about as long as Gloria is with her, will help. Maybe it can be enough for now.

And it looks like it may be, for a while. Gloria doesn't speak for a few moments, and the silence that settles around them is comfortable and light to the point where Barbie feels herself relax into the pillows as her body grows heavier with sleep. She's tired but she's not as achy anymore, and the room is mostly dark and her hand is warm and safe in Gloria's. It would be so easy to just fall asleep.

"I just—" Gloria's voice is softer than before. So soft, actually, that Barbie doesn't feel like she's expected to make an effort to stay awake. "I don't want to ruin things. I don't want this to change."

Barbie isn't sure Gloria is actually talking to her. She sounds a bit like she's talking to herself, like when she's going through the shopping list in her head to make sure it's all in there before she leaves the house. But Barbie feels like maybe this is a rare moment where she knows something Gloria doesn't. Or, more accurately, she knows something Gloria knows, but isn't thinking about right now.

"But that's life," Barbie says, and even she can tell her words sound a bit muffled by sleep, "it's all change."

Her eyelids are so heavy. The room is mostly dark anyway, so she can't see Gloria but she hears a huff of something that sounds almost like laughter, but not quite.

"You were right, you know," Gloria whispers, like it's a secret, "it is terrifying."

It could be the disgusting powder in the water from before muddling her thoughts. It could be the fever, or the cold, or really just being so close to asleep that her brain isn't working right. But Barbie feels like it's been years and decades and centuries since she was sitting on that patch of plastic grass, fighting against the notion of change and imperfection and the unknown.

She was right, like Gloria says, in some ways. The cold is awful. She could do without humidity as a concept. Being sick? She would not recommend it. Pockets weren't really a thing in Barbieland but they're a basic necessity in the Real World and there seems to be a global plot to not put any in clothes marketed towards women. And you do not want to know what happens to milk when you forget it on the counter overnight in the Summer.

But now she knows what it feels like to drink a glass of water when you wake up parched in the middle of the night. She knows what it feels like to bite into a blueberry muffin and get that perfect spot of soft, warm, blueberry-infused cake. She knows the feeling of freshly washed sheets against her skin after a long day. She knows the smell of Gloria's hair when it's late at night and they stay up too late watching old films Barbie's never even heard of but Gloria insists they are a 'must watch' but then she falls asleep halfway through and Barbie pays more attention to the weight of Gloria's head on her shoulder than whatever cinematic masterpiece is playing in front of her.

"Yeah," she finally agrees, because she'd be lying if she said she's not scared at all about all the bad feelings she's sure she'll inevitably discover in her years as a human woman, "but it's worth it."

She thinks she sees Gloria nod right before she finally gives in and closes her eyes. A little later, she thinks she feels Gloria's lips against her temple once again, but she's nearly sure it was the start of a dream.

—-

Barbie's cold lasts less than twenty-four hours.

She's fine the next morning. A little groggy from sleeping twelve hours straight, but all her body parts feel fine and free from aches, there isn't a shiver in sight, and if Gloria hadn't made her promise she'd stay in the house just to make sure she's fully recovered, she would have happily taken the bus and joined her for lunch.

It's one of the most boring days she remembers, but she's fine.

She's fine the day after that, too, when she returns to the library and to her Weather Encyclopedia. She's fine when the cold snap officially ends and the weather goes back to a very boring yet pleasant "mild". She's fine! She's fine.

It's just—

Sometimes she thinks about those few hours between getting home soaking wet and miserable after her mishap in the rain and feeling (or imagining?) Gloria's lips against her temple. And the memories are just hazy enough that she wouldn't be able to say what exactly she and Gloria said, or what she did beyond sleeping and drinking the most vile — yet effective — medicine in the world, but the feelings.

The feelings are so clear in her mind she feels like her brain is taunting her by interrupting her normal thoughts with flashes of Gloria's hand around hers and Gloria's lips against her skin and a moment when Gloria leaned in and then nothing happened. And that moment haunts her in a way that has her unable to fully focus on things like dew point and wet bulb temperature and tsunamis. Her brain keeps circling back to it over and over and over again and she keeps hearing Gloria's words — words about missing context and lines that may or may not exist — and it's driving her a little insane.

She could ask Evelyn, of course. The librarian is so smart, Barbie's sure she could explain or at least point her in the direction of the right book to research it, but it feels... it feels...

It feels hers. Theirs, maybe. Hers and Gloria's. It feels like something she doesn't want to share with anyone else. And a few times she considers asking Gloria herself. Asking her for context or an explanation or even just asking her if she's aware that something almost happened, too. But it's scary in a way she can't exactly pinpoint, and though so far all the risks she's taken since this whole humanity adventure started have worked out for her, there's something about this particular one that gives her pause.

So she doesn't ask. And she's fine. Kind of. Mostly.

Until she suddenly has an epiphany. She's watching daytime television, which may not be the pinnacle of cinematic arts but has its charm. Soap operas feel like crash courses in human emotions, and Barbie likes to indulge from time to time. And she's doing just that when she witnesses a scene that makes her understand why light bulbs are used as metaphors for having ideas. Because she sees a very beautiful woman about to die in a hospital bed, and she sees the Ken-like man standing by her with tastefully glistening eyes, and she sees him confess his secret love for her. And it all makes sense.

This isn't her first 'deathbed confessions' scene, but she hadn't made the connection until now: people say things when other people are dying. Things they may not say when nobody is about to die. And it doesn't even have to be something as drastic as dying, actually. When she was sick, Gloria talked about lines and context, about changes and being terrified. Barbie didn't have to ask, Gloria just talked about them on her own.

Clearly, the way to get the answers she desperately needs is to recreate the exact situation once again. It's a foolproof plan.

So she... lies.

Okay, calling it a lie may be a bit of an exaggeration. It's playing pretend. A fib, at most. It's nothing, in the grand scheme of things. She feels suitably guilty, if that helps her case at all. And when she calls Gloria to tell her she won't be joining her for lunch because she has a bit of a cold, she makes sure Gloria understands it's nothing serious and she doesn't need to take the afternoon off.

She thinks that's just about as ethically sound as she can make this whole plan.

"Hey," Gloria says when she walks into Barbie's room, quiet and soft like last time, "how are you feeling?"

And then Gloria does it again. She presses her palm against Barbie's forehead, and Barbie's eyes flutter closed because when you don't actually have a cold everything feels a little crisper and sharper than when you do.

"I don't think you have a fever. You don't feel too warm."

Barbie's not proud of herself for what she does next. She just wants to make that clear. She's not proud at all but she does it anyway because there are some weaknesses that come with being a human, and this is clearly hers.

"Are you sure?" Did she just infuse her voice with just a hint of a pained tone? Perhaps.

"Well, I don't know," Gloria concedes, and then she leans in and presses her lips against Barbie's forehead and her hair smells like her conditioner but not exactly like it does when it's in the bottle (Barbie's smelled it). It's an entirely different, unique smell that's a mixture of conditioner and Gloria filling Barbie's lungs, and she decides a fib can be worth it sometimes.

"No fever." Barbie can hear the smile in Gloria's voice. "Looks like you're already on the mend. I'll make you some soup for dinner and you'll be just fine in the morning."

And Gloria is already turning to walk out of the room, clearly relieved and happy to see Barbie's sickness was nothing serious. And it's not that Barbie wants her to worry. She doesn't. Not at all. She just feels like she's missing her chance to finally know the answers to all the questions in her head.

"Wait! Wait, I—" She what? She's not going to fake a serious illness, that would be just plain mean. But she needs Gloria to stay. "I think you need to double check."

Barbie sees the second Gloria figures it out, because her entire stance changes. She flicks the light on and looks at Barbie with a slightly raised eyebrow that reminds her of the look she gives Sasha when she says there is no homework on a Friday afternoon.

"Are you faking a cold?"

Barbie feels her blood immediately rush to her cheeks. They feel so warm she's sure Gloria would believe she has a fever if she checked right now. And she's bracing herself for a lecture like the ones Sasha gets when she's far from honest about her school obligations, but Gloria sighs and comes closer instead.

"Why are you faking a cold?" Gloria sits on the edge of the bed, close to Barbie, both hands resting on her lap.

Barbie shrugs. This is a new feeling, actually. She doesn't think she's ever felt it, but it's one of those she's heard about enough to be able to name it. She thinks it's shame. It makes her eyes prickle with tears that fall as soon as she blinks twice.

"Hey. Honey, I'm not mad. Please don't—" Gloria brushes tears away with her thumbs and Barbie doesn't know what she's feeling anymore. Shame and something else, something warm, something big. Shame and too many things at the same time. "What is it?"

"I just—" Barbie's chin trembles, and she's trying not to let this turn into actual crying because she's really not very good at sobbing and talking at the same time, but she's a bit overwhelmed by it all. By her feelings and the things she doesn't know and doesn't even know how to ask about. "I just wanted you to talk to me again."

"But we talk all the time," Gloria says, brows furrowed even if her voice remains gentle, "like, literally all the time I'm not at work."

Barbie shakes her head. "Not like that. Not like— like the other night. When I had the cold."

"I don't know—"

"When you said I didn't have the context." Barbie watches as realization washes over Gloria. As brown eyes round and cheeks darken and she stands a little straighter. "When you said there were lines. That you might cross."

Gloria nods, slowly. Barbie lets the silence settle between them for a few moments, because she figures maybe Gloria needs some time to figure out what to say. But she doesn't. And Barbie's not about to let this conversation end here so she can go back to thinking about it constantly for another week, so she decides to press on herself.

"You leaned in, and then nothing happened." The moment is so vivid in her mind she doesn't feel the need to clarify further. Surely Gloria knows exactly what she's talking about. "Was that a line you didn't cross?"

"Yeah, I—" Gloria looks down at her hands, and then at the coffee table, and Barbie wonders if she's just doing whatever she can to avoid looking at her, "I'd say that's right."

Barbie sighs, relieved to finally have at least one answer. That moment did happen, and it was significant, and it wasn't just her own inexperienced human brain making it bigger than it actually was.

"What was the context?"

"What?"

"The context," Barbie folds her legs under the covers and wraps her arms around her knees, settling in for what she hopes will be an enlightening lesson, "you said I don't have all the context, so I want to know what it is. What the line was and why you didn't cross it. You know. Context."

"Well, I just—" Gloria looks at one of the flowers on Barbie's bedding, and then at her left foot, and at one of the pictures on Barbie's wall, and the more she looks away the more flushed her cheeks look. "There was— I mean I—" Eventually after a few more failed attempts to get out a full sentence, Gloria shakes her head and looks at Barbie once again. "You can't just ask that. I can't just answer that. That's not—"

"See? That's why I had to fake a cold!" Barbie just cannot believe Gloria would simply refuse to answer a question. She doesn't think that's ever happened before. And it really only serves to fuel her belief that whatever it was had a lot to do with her being sick and a milder version of deathbed confessions. "You talked about it then, kind of, so why won't you just tell me now?"

"Because!"

"That's not a real answer!"

"Well, it's the only answer I have!"

Barbie could just cry again from the sheer frustration of knowing there's this apparently essential bit of knowledge she doesn't have and is also not allowed to learn. It's like the freaking humidity all over again. Obvious for everyone except for her. Because she doesn't have the context. And for the first time since she met her, Gloria is not willing to help.

She's watched enough movies (and soap opera episodes) by now to know she probably should say something right now. It's an emotionally charged moment. An argument. She's angry at Gloria for the first time in her life. But she can't come up with anything to say, so instead Barbie shifts under the covers and slips out of her bed. Gloria can stay seated on it for as long as she wants. She just needs to not be with her right now.

But when she's walking around the bed to leave the room, she feels Gloria's fingers wrapping around her wrist. Lightly. Light enough that Barbie could easily keep walking and they would do nothing to stop her. The touch feels like being asked to stay.

"Wait," Gloria finally says when Barbie stops walking, and her voice sounds quiet and almost small and Barbie feels the anger melting away, "I'm sorry."

Barbie has already forgiven Gloria by the time she looks at her. Because she knows she really is sorry, and she knows she never wants to hurt her. Because Gloria's fingers are so soft and warm around her wrist, and there's something in Gloria's eyes that feels nearly as big as the feeling that lodges itself between her ribcage and her heart when she thinks about whatever almost happened when Gloria leaned in.

"I'll tell you. I just need to—" Gloria stands up without letting go of Barbie's wrist, and she reaches for the light switch to make the room mostly dark once again. "It's easier like this."

Barbie nods. Maybe it wasn't her illness making Gloria want to open up. Maybe it was just the lack of light.

"There was a line." Gloria's thumb presses against Barbie's pulse and Barbie doesn't tell her she's read you're not supposed to take someone's pulse with your thumb because you'll feel your own pulse instead. She just stays quiet and imagines the sound of both of their heartbeats at the same time. "When I leaned in." Gloria moves her hand, thumb sliding from Barbie's wrist to her palm, and Barbie's fingers wrap around Gloria's almost on instinct. "And what I nearly did— what I wanted to do," Gloria swallows and squeezes Barbie's fingers like she's keeping herself from running away, "was kiss you."

"Oh."

Barbie knows what a kiss is. She's never experienced a kiss — not a real kiss — but she knows what they are. And she wants one. It surprises even herself because if she's perfectly honest she doesn't know exactly what a kiss entails beyond lips touching lips (which really doesn't sound appealing at all out of context) but right now she wants Gloria to kiss her more than she's ever wanted anything in her life. It's a want that comes from somewhere she doesn't control, somewhere that's definitely not her brain because there's nothing rational about what she's feeling right now. All she knows is she wants the kiss that nearly happened that other night.

"I'm sorry if you—"

"Kiss me now."

"What?"

Barbie takes one step forward, closer to Gloria, and she feels like maybe she's stepped over one of those invisible lines herself. Because they've been physically close a million times before. They've hugged and held hands and fell asleep on each other's shoulders while watching movies. But this feels different. This jump-starts something, makes her feel like one of those magic balls that make your hair stand up when you touch them, gives name to a bunch of different feelings she hadn't been able to categorize before.

"Please," Barbie says, and she's so close now she can feel Gloria's breath against her lips, "kiss me now."

Gloria's lips feel soft and gentle and real. Barbie doesn't think she's ever felt anything as real as a kiss. It's short but it lingers, and when Barbie thinks it's over Gloria presses another, quicker, softer kiss to her lips that makes Barbie smile around a sigh.

"Good?" Gloria asks, still so close and so warm and making Barbie feel all kinds of things she now thinks are different flavors of want.

"Mhmm," Barbie manages, licking her lips and feeling a sudden urge to do the same to Gloria's, "again?"

She feels Gloria's silent chuckle against her skin just before she feels Gloria's lips again. And this time it lasts longer. Barbie's free hand moves to rest on Gloria's waist, to keep her close, and Gloria's lips part to suck on her bottom lip as Gloria's fingers slide into Barbie's hair, and Barbie feels like her world has changed completely once again and there's no going back from this.

She doesn't ever want to go back from this.

"Still good?" Gloria's whispered words come out muffled against Barbie's lips, and all Barbie can manage is an affirmative (she hopes) sound as she chases Gloria's mouth to kiss her once again, bolder this time, tongue nudging Gloria's lips apart and then sliding inside her mouth and feeling a new wave of want build up low in her belly at the sound of Gloria's moan.

They kiss for a long time. Barbie doesn't know how much time passes. She knows they go back to the bed eventually, sitting first and then Gloria is on her back and Barbie is on top of her and their bodies are pressed together, legs tangled and hands exploring warm skin under a work blouse and a sleep shirt and Barbie can't remember ever pondering the actual meaning of life, but she's pretty sure this is it.

Hours or days or weeks (under an hour, realistically) later, their kisses become less hurried. Less hungry. There's less urgency and more warmth, and they're back to just soft lips meeting soft lips until they're both smiling a bit too much to go on.

"Are you okay?" Gloria reaches up and tucks a wisp of blond hair behind Barbie's ear, her other hand still busy under Barbie's night shirt as her fingertips slowly trace the line of Barbie's spine.

"Yeah," Barbie's voice comes out low and breaks halfway through the word, and it makes her smile even more. "I'm very okay."

"We'll have to talk about all this," Gloria says, thumb brushing against Barbie's tingling bottom lip, "about—"

"The context?" Barbie offers right before she presses a kiss to the pad of Gloria's thumb. She's not sure whether Gloria laughs at the kiss or at Barbie's suggestion, and she's not sure she cares.

"Yeah. The context. We'll have to talk about that."

Barbie nods. She has a feeling kisses are like water, in that they're seemingly straightforward but there's a lot going on under the surface. She wonders, briefly, if there's an encyclopedia of kisses at the library, but then decides she'd rather learn from Gloria than read about it anyway.

"Will I have to fake a cold again so you'll talk to me about it?" She teases, and she feels Gloria's laughter under the hand she has pressed against Gloria's ribcage.

"No more faking, please."

Barbie nods and kisses her again. Just because there's nothing less fake than that.

[mrbottomhat69]

Evidence as to why I think Sarah x Jareth is one-sided (movie and novelization)

Addressing the massive elephant in the room, I know this is coming out later than I said it would. This semester was full of work and no time to actually sit down and watch the movie, since the only way I could access the movie is through my DVD edition.

Some of the evidence I have overlaps with the movie and novelization, so I'll start with the movie and continue with the novelization

The movie

.whether or not the events of the movie was a dream, Sarah clearly didn't expect anything to happen when she wished Toby away. Once it happened, righting her wrong became the main thing on her mind

.Sarah's stepmom mentions that Sarah should have dates at her age, implying either that Sarah doesn't have a lot of people she's close with besides her family or she's not interested in that kind of stuff

. A lot of the interactions between Sarah and Jareth carry this specific vibe that Sarah is less attracted to him and more trying to impress him like he's some sort of cool, older friend and she needs to prove to him that she's nonchalant and means what she says. The novelization leans into this a little more.

. Exception to the previous is the ballroom scene, where Sarah seems more dazed and confused than anything. She's just kind of going along with wherever and whatever the movement of the crowd leads her to until she realizes what's going on and breaks free.

The novelization

.The first chapter not only adds lore to Sarah's bio mom that was regulated to background details in the movie, but also gives Sarah the characterization of being fascinated by the idea of fame. Also in the first chapter, Jeremy is introduced via flashback/exposition. Who's Jeremy? The guy Sarah's mom left her dad for and Jareth's "real-world counterpart" (though more on that later). He seems aware of Sarah's fascination with fame (both in general and her mother's fame), with it being mentioned within the flashback to Sarah's 15th birthday that "he kidded her that a flashbulb meant they'd be all over the gossip columns the next morning, and all the way home he drove fast, to shake off the photographers, he claimed, grinning" (page 18). Both him and her mom are used to similar kind of stuff, so it makes sense that Sarah would admire having that kind of attention and that her mom would give her the chance to feel like a celebrity for a day as a gift.

.Going off of the above, this passage from page 16:

"Perhaps I will have a date, she thought, perhaps I will, but you will not like it, not one bit, when you see who's dating me. I doubt you will see him. All you will know about it is hearing the front door shut behind me, and you will sneak to the window, as you always do, and poke your nose between those horrid phony-lace curtains you put up there, and you will see the taillights of a wicked dove-gray limousine vanishing around the corner. And after that, you will keep seeing pictures in the magazines of the two of us together in Bermuda, and St. Tropez, and Benares. And there will be nothing at all you can possibly do about it, for all your firm views on bedtimes and developmental psychology and my duties and rolling up the toothpaste tube from the bottom. Oh, stepmother, are you going to be sorry when you read in Vogue about the cosmic cash that Hollywood producers are offering us for-"

She doesn't mention an actual thing about her fantasy boyfriend other than being a celebrity and them becoming the new couple everyone obsesses over (*cough cough* like the way Sarah's mom and Jeremy are described together *cough*)

.On page 65, at the point of the story where Sarah ends up in the oubliette, Jareth reminisces about Sarah and how she's "too young to be kept". Sarah, on the other hand, has no mentioned opinion on him.

.Close to the end of chapter 5, it's noted that Sarah only says "it's a piece of cake" to Jareth's question about how she was enjoying the labyrinth because she's trying to come off as nonchalant and not intimidated

.Honestly, the way the ballroom scene is described in the novelization makes me kind of uncomfortable. The other dancers leer at Sarah in a way that could be interpreted as sexual and one even makes a comment about her beauty after looking at her breasts and hips. She feels dizzy, but it goes away once her and Jareth are dancing together. He leans in to kiss her and she initially embraces it until she notices the room is silent and sees that the other dancers are around the two of them, attempting to hold back laughter. She tries to leave, but she can't and he kisses her in spite of her now being aware of what's going on. Only then does she break the bubble she's in and exits the ballroom scene. The whole point is that Sarah is uncomfortable with a capital U.

Extra point that @thehumantrampoline mentioned that I feel like should be mentioned:

"[Jareth's] an archetypal oxymoron. He's both the dastardly baby-stealing villain and the royal love interest trying to relieve the heroine's suffering, Cinderella-style. He's fucked either way by being both. [Sarah] doesn't know if SHE wants to be the villain or the heroine until he shows up and then she decides on the heroine... [Jareth's] just a story for a teen girl to grow up in, and as the villain [he has] to be defeated. He's so complex because his tropes contradict themselves, and he doesn't understand why he has to lose when he was only doing the job he was given."

(check out their post, it goes into a lot more detail than what I quoted)

Ultimately, this sums up what could be concluded from everything. Jareth isn't a reflection of love or someone she aspired to be with, he's a reflection of her desire of fame and the stories she caught herself up in. She doesn't love him, she loves the story he's a part of.

[gayhawkelatehomicide]

Updated Protagonist List

I'm going to add images to this, so it's going beneath a readmore for length reasons

Wardens

Aridhel Mahariel - bow rogue, romanced Zevran, straightforward dalish who neither understands nor cares about shemlen (or durgenlen) politics, blood magic is probably fine as long as you use it responsibly, anxious and blunt. "Let's focus on stopping the world-ending plague of darkspawn first, and worry about the rest of this bullshit later, hm?"

Saffron Cousland - sword and shield warrior, romanced Alistair, noble in every sense of the word but cheerful and friendly, Queen of Ferelden, Arlessa of Amaranthine (and Highever), killed Rendon Howe with her father's sword, fixated on duty. "Because it's the right thing to do."

Theodore Amell - arcane warrior mage, romanced Morrigan, bastardization arc powered by Morrigan whispering bad ideas in his ear, loves his terrible witch girlfriend, blood magic is fine and the chantry is oppressive, ambitious. "I am no longer baby, now I want power."

Renan Tabris - dagger rogue, romanced Leliana, exactly zero patience for shem politics, raised Andrastian (derogatory), canonically kind of a bitch, evil sense of humor, loves her stupid new shem baby brother, harden everyone, distrustful. "Like dogs, Shianni."

Valda Aeducan - two handed warrior, romanced Leliana, honorable and serious, trusts no one, girl raised in harsh political nonsense learns to trust her found family and forgive her bio family while unlearning bad lessons simulator, sneaky/quiet sense of humor, intense loyalty to her people, values tradition but values compassion more, genuinely regrets what happened with Trian. "For the honor of my house, though I myself have neither house nor honor."

Emmaera Surana - blood mage spirit healer, romanced Alistair, fey and strange, sweet but a little out of it, she and Merrill would get along so well because they both just say what they mean, falls for Ali like a ton of bricks after trusting him exactly 0% at first, has a council of spirits that advise her, definitely more than a little possessed, Templars aggro on sight, besties with Morrigan. "The Chantry won't tell you anything useful about the Fade, but I could. If you want."

Ashaterylen Mahariel - champion fighter, loves Morrigan but it's complicated, aggressive and no-nonsense, adopts Alistair as her comic relief to fill Tamlen's shoes, Not Okay™ but doing a good job regardless, my only warden who straight up dies, but we still get Kieran because magic, rather laconic, probably my most heavily headcanoned origins character. "Duty trumps sentiment. Every time."

Hawkes

Iris Hawke - knife rogue, romanced Anders, diplomatic but also way too intense for her own good, loves mages so much, circle mage Bethany, will do anything to protect what's left of her family, noble impulses but awful sense of humor, fanatic, very angry underneath her shell of politeness, diplomacy as a tool. "Why don't we try asking the Arishok nicely?"

Ian Hawke - elemental mage, romanced Fenris, sarcastic, sided with the templars because magic is an essential part of him but it's brought nothing but grief to him and his family, templar Carver, quip for every situation, never loses his positive outlook for long, self-loathing but doing his best not to make that everyone's problem. "Dad did WHAT for the Wardens? Why am I not surprised."

Kiera Hawke - two-handed warrior, romanced Isabella, sarcastic → aggressive, sad bastard warrior Hawke, everyone who gets close to her dies, Bethany dies, good attitude wrecked by the wear and tear of life, loves her buddies who are also terrible, angry and broken. "You tell me where Bartrand is, I'll help you wring his fucking neck"

Alice Hawke - knife rogue, romanced Merrill, circle mage Bethany, p much pure diplomatic, diplomacy as a way of life, mom friend central, no one is irredeemable, far too trusting, kind of a busybody, always thinks she knows best. "Clean your blades, watch your purse strings, don't be a dick."

Delilah Hawke - entropy mage, in love with Varric, pure sarcasm, sends Carver to the wardens, adores her stupid chaotic bisexual family, beat down by this world but stubbornly clinging to joy, flat refuses to talk about her problems. "Where would I be without my trusty dwarf?"

Quinn Hawke - blood mage, romances Anders, red from the beginning, low-key an asshole but also high-key he just doesn't know how to communicate, oldest sibling syndrome turned up to 11, inspired by Harker Zevsurana's Kier, fuck you mage rights. "Well, shit."

Andy Hawke - force mage, romances Anders and Fenris (it's complicated), strong purple laugh-or-cry type, so many canon alterations but the twins both live, grows a lot over the course of the campaign, big fuck the chantry, uses their staff as a polearm bc they're not great at magic, easily my most headcanoned Hawke. "Have any of you guys considered having a normal reaction to anything? Ever? Didn't think so."

Inquisitors

Miriani Lavellan - assassin bow rogue, romanced Solas, confused hardass Dalish girl doing her very best to navigate suddenly being in charge of all of this stuff, cares so much about everyone all the time, terrified but resigned to her responsibilities, self-sacrificing, sense of humor buried under all that sincerity. "I am the Inquisitor, through no virtue of my own. Vir suledin nadas."

Asher Adaar - two-handed warrior, romanced Sera/nobody (bc I meant to romance Sera but didn't know the right dialogue options so I kept waiting for it to pan out and it just sorta didn't), blunt and direct Tal-Vashoth mercenary who gets persuaded that maybe she actually is the herald of andraste, but honestly just wants to handle the things with as little religious and/or political nonsense as possible, blunt and violent. "We save Thedas TWICE, my hand wants to kill me, we save the exalted council specifically, and this is what we get?"

Stephan Trevelyan - rift mage, romanced Cassandra, a good sweet Andrastian boy, true prophet who has a meltdown when he finds out about Solas, best friends with Dorian, keeps the inquisition and wants to really save the world, a genuine idealist, stubborn AF. "Faith is a choice. The Maker set these events in motion so long ago we can no longer see His hand in them."

Samahl Lavellan - tempest knife rogue, romances Dorian, cheerful, sarcastic, and overwhelmed, insanely competent but good at hiding it, terrible little bastard, hates responsibilities, laughs in the face of danger (and Cassandra), keeps insisting he's not the Herald, kinda lazy. "I guess I'm learning now, aren't I, Mother?"

Riska Cadash - artificer knife rogue, romances Sera, direct and sometimes brutal but ultimately caring, criminal upbringing noble fashion sense, besties with Blackwall, andrastian and confused, consistently astonished by how easy it is to get things when you're the most important person in the world, one of my younger inquisitors but she doesn't act like it very often, really only when she's with Sera. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Dahlia Trevelyan - mortalitasi lightning mage, romances Blackwall, cheerfully irreverent young noblewoman flexing the edges of what she's allowed in this new role, filled with chaos and violence and entitlement. Fully does not believe in the Maker. Classically beautiful but with blue-gold eyes that go past "striking" into "genuinely unsettling" and, she caught some shrapnel from a spell gone wrong with her face a few years back so she's got distinctive scars. "Hey, look, at least dragons are real."

The Trio (all of whom have individual playthroughs but also come as a set)

Isene Lavellan - fire/rift mage, romances Iron Bull, primarily jokes and asks questions, basically a horrible mix of Miriani and Samahl. Sweet and a bit of a brat but ultimately up to the challenge. A disaster at the winter palace. Her general response to her workload getting heavier is to adjust the straps that hold the world on her back and carry on with a smile. "Bull, remind me why I accepted this job? Oh, right."

Harea Lavellan - knight enchanter and ice mage, romances Cullen, open minded and sweet, a bit naive but genuinely wants to make the world better, distressed by the mark and the everything but willing to bear it to keep others from suffering. Self sacrifice is a big theme here. Just a little (read: protected like Wynne) possessed by the actual spirit (of Wrath) who was attendant upon andraste, so she is quite literally the Herald. "No one is irredeemable!"

Rogelan Lavellan - sword and shield warrior, romances Josephine, kind of a hard-ass but willing to be romantic, would rather talk than fight but won't give up his ideals, careful and deliberate in everything he does but bold when he's made a decision. Stoic and pithy, but can be eloquent if he needs to. Understands shem bullshit better than most, because he's the kind of guy who studies the things that scare him. "Tell me how to help."

Continuities

Primary "Cannon" Continuity - Aridhel, Ian (or Iris), and Miriani - Protector, Catalyst, Survivor

Strong code of honor - Saffron, Iris, and Asher - Shield, Dagger, Sword

Fucked Up Andrastians - Theodore, Kiera, Stephan - Ambition, Sorrow, Faith

Terrible Senses of Humor - Renan, Alice, Samahl - Vengeance, Kindness, Laughter

Wrongest Choices - King, Viscount, Divine (I haven't actually made this playthrough but is a male rogue cousland, probably a guy Hawke as well and obviously not a mage but idk what class, and fem warrior Trevelyan)

Dwarf Run - Valda, Delilah, and Riska - Honor, Love, Trust

Definitely Not Possessed - Emmaera, Quinn, and Harea - Council, Temptation, Authority

Three Inkies - Ashaterylen, Andy, Rogelan/Harea/Isene - Sacrifice, Victory, Vigilance

[lumilasi]

I wanted to draw today but had little motivation, so I decided to try and finish something I've meant to do for ages; Shura is such a central character, but I didn't have up-to-date bio until now. I just reused some of the stuff I'd already made of him, with fixing some details about it. I took inspo from Helias' design as Helias is like their first prototype/Firstborn sibling.

(I decided to leave his battle form beefy looking instead of his squishy dad-bod, mainly to further empathize the point of how different he is in that form)

Info below: (more tba later)

Name: Shura Kano

Nicknames: Dummy Shura (Youko) Dear, Darling (Shika) Shuu (Jurou)

Age: He has existed for around the same time as his bestie Jurou (roughly 150 years) and is also considered to be middle-aged (I.E human equivalent of 30-40)

Height: 186 cm

Friends: Childhood friend Jurou Blackthorne, pretty much every other person he meets lol, he has giant golden retriever energy

Family: Fiancee Shika, niece Youko, baby brother-in-law Yago, Sister-in-law Uma. Mother/Creator Spectra, The Elder Sibling Helias. Honorary member Chouma

Love interest: Shika Kano

A Seemingly goofy himbo working as a beloved teacher for young children, as well as a Guardianship Caretaker on stand-by for any newly manifested moth spirits.

VIGOUR SPIRIT LORE

Shura's kin are creations of Ether's Guardian Deity Spectra, who initially created them to help her make the world thrive and guide its citizens. Shura's type specifically was created shortly after the Ancient War around 6000 years ago, so his type are relatively new.

There are 5 types of Vigour spirits, representing five different aspects of life according to Spectra: Heart, Spirit, Mind, Will, strength

MUSES: The original type of Vigour Spirit, represent "Spirit" as the original guides of life on Ether. Nowadays you only see Muses on Spectra's moon, looking after their younger siblings and newborns. (At this point Spectra doesn't have to create them consciously, the moon itself manifests them)

BATTLE SPIRITS: The youngest type representing Strength, they were created after the Ancient War by Spectra, their purpose is to prevent another massive threats and battles from rising on Ether. They are also often considered her army. (Shura is this type)

(I'll add the other 3 types later once I have a clearer idea of them)

Powers:

Basic Vigour Spirit abilities: being cosmic light spirits, all of his kind can perform lot of basic light magic spells, such as healing, exorcism or just create flashy lightshows and illusions. They all can fly.

Moon connection: They all can travel to their Moon anytime they want, and tend to become stronger when their home moon is closest to the planet, which happens once a month.

Battle Spirit power: As a special Strength type spirit, Shura has a battle form which essentially allows him to utilize light in offensive form, such as burning/melting heat, lasers, etc. He can also form his light into powerful blades that can burn pretty much anything. His kind are also far more durable than any other light spirit. They are the only spirit type with dragonic wings as well, and these wings can protect them from all sorts of attacks.

Multilingualism: Vigours can adapt and essentially assimilate any language their hear, meaning Shura needs only a couple of minutes of listening to locals talk before he can speak whatever the language is fluently. (Each spirit does end up with an accent still, and it is somewhat random what it sounds like to humans. In Shura's case it is an Aussie accent, strongest when he speaks English naturally)

Weaknesses:

Shura can be gullible and often falls for silly scams and nonsense, he's had his wallet stolen more than thrice in tourist traps.

(more tba)

Personality:

Shura is an easy-going, generous and kind person that tends to light up any room he goes into (sometimes literally). While he might come off like a goofy himbo, Shura is far smarter than he let's on, and tends to exaggerate his airheadedness as to not intimidate people so much; being a Battle Spirit, many tend to be a bit cautious of them, even if they are seen as forces of good.

he is very sappy and romantic with his beloved, the type to sing cheesy serenades under her window (mainly because it makes her laugh) and he is also excellent with kids due to his patience and high level of emotional intelligence.

FUN FACTS

Shura's kin don't actually have to eat food, they just do it as a social activity. They don't poop either as a result, given any food they eat just gets burned into oblivion inside their bodies.

Some of his kin choose to still keep their more spirit appearance even when living on Ether, Shura chooses to utilize a full human form, because its easier whenever he visits earth (typically as a guest for his best friend Jurou's father)

His kind are the only type with dragon wings, Spectra gave them those because they remind her of the first scary creatures from earth that appeared on her planet, the dragon's ancestors. (Aka Dinosaurs lol)

He made friends with Jurou due to noticing the emo goth Soul Eater kid was lonely, and also empathizing with the way people were afraid of him just because of what he was. While not as severe, Shura has had to deal with something similar.

Shura is very over-the-top dramatic with his mannerism usually, so when he gets serious and acts "normal" you KNOW shit is serious.

Shura is pansexual, which is pretty much the default setting for his kind. (They're either Pan or Ace.)

Youko tends to be rude and mean towards him, because she's afraid of growing attached to her uncle, after having lost her dad dramatically. Shura is aware of this fear and is patient with her, more so than many others outside her family. who find her bratty and annoying to deal with....

Shura and Shika were the caretakers for the Moth Spirit Chouma when he manifested. Shura had actually done this before meeting Shika as well, as it is a common duty taken by his kin, to look after newly manifested moth spirits.

Guardianship Caretakers are people who have agreed to foster/help guide any new moth-spirits manifested in their world from the 3 Life Trees at the start of their new life. (These spirits aren't always children, so it is not the same as fostering/adoption, although that can also happen) Shura specifically has agreed for any green Willow tree manifests, as those cases tend to be more traumatized and need someone with good level of patience and empathy. His current Guardianship is a moth spirit called Chouma.

Chouma doesn't live with them anymore, but he is still in regular contact with Shura and Shika, and typically for any incidents, injuries and health problems, they are informed and listed as his next-of-kin.

When Shura speaks, he tends to have a strong Australian accent, making humans assume he is Australian that just married a Japanese woman and chose to take her surname instead for whatever reason.

Shura's kin can naturally adapt to speaking just about any language, but they always tend to have some sort of accent that human brain translates into whatever they believe it sounds like.

When asked from Spectra why he sounds like this specifically, she tends to just go "uwu funni" (if she is serious or not is hard to tell...)

While Shika's brother Yago is still known as Yago Kano, her sister Uma (and niece Youko) have her late husband's surname Tanaka.

[mishkakagehishka]

hello !!! sorry this is v random but i just got into enstars recently and i was wondering about that funky little mika guy . just in general . seknots-izumimir said ur absolutely insane about him (compliment) and to go ask u about it so 🧍‍♂️

LMFAOOO my MikaP slay when I get rec'd as the person to ask ab Mika.

In general? I'll keep this relatively bare, in that case, so you don't feel overwhelmed :3

Mika is just a lil guy. A lil dude. His full name is Mika Kagehira, the "Mika" is written in hiragana (he disliked it bc it was "feminine", a different character compared him to Michelangelo for it, etc etc), and his last name is written as 影片 - "shadow fragment". He grew up in an orphanage where he is heavily implied to have been parentified (he speaks often about being in charge of "taking care of the lil ones" when explaining why he's good at doing household chores or taking care of others). There are a few stories where he mentions his parents, and his bio even states "parents" in his bio, but he has a lot more moments where he implies he was never actually adopted, so it's kind of up in the air, but I lean towards "never adopted" bc it comes up more often and in situations he is less likely to lie in. (Like, he mentions parents when he talks to the MC, but the entire tone of that conversation was him being lowkey annoyed with her prying, whereas when talking to his unitmate whom he idolises, he mentions stuff like "at one point I stopped wanting to be adopted" and "you know I can't meet my parents even if I wanted to").

Anyway. He speaks the Kansai dialect, and I talked a lot about how beautifully they subvert the "country accent = idiot" trope with him, but in short, he does call himself stupid, but he is actually kind of a genius. He met his unitmate, Shu, when they were kids, and idolised him since then. He enrolled into Yumenosaki just because he wanted to see Shu again. Yumenosaki has famously difficult entrance exams - that he was able to pass. He also found a copy of the Mabinogion, as it was an English manuscript, it was very likely written in Middle English, and he went and read it using only a dictionary. I could barely even read parts of Canterbury Tales, and I'm, like, fluent. Anyway. He joined Valkyrie when he was a 1st year💅 Although back then, Nazuna was also a member, but along came the War and uh. I suggest reading Reminiscence * Marionette bc it's really good :)

After Shu's execution (which is to say, when Valkyrie's reputation was killed on-stage, Nazuna left the unit and Shu had a mental breakdown), Valkyrie became inactive. While Shu was recovering, Mika was the one taking up odd jobs to keep Valkyrie afloat, as well as taking care of Shu. He's a hardworking lad :] He had a tsundere phase that I feel we don't talk often enough about, but when he was a 2nd year is when the story begins and the player character arrives - due to her association with Trickstar and fine (?), Shu didn't trust her and often said things like, "We don't need a producer" to get her to fuck off. Mika took up the same attitude of calling her an enemy of Valkyrie, but he also very obviously wanted to befriend her, so you're left with some hilarious scenes. Such as in Toy Box, when he was doing a part-time job washing the dishes, and the Producer tries to talk to him because he was there sobbing about his money problems. I have these lines burnt in my memory because of how funny they were to me, but he starts off by saying, "oh, you want me to tell you my problems so you can find my weakness, huh, you fiend?!", then he gets startled and almost drops a plate - says he could have "started hating you for real", and quickly adds, "not that i'd have a problem with hating you". He warms up to you later, though, and by the current timeline, will often offer you candy :) Because he's normal and alwaysss carries candy on him. He likes fruity flavours :]

Anyway. His character development is really neat. During the start of the story, he was pretty much a doll to be manipulated, he let Shu control him and all he did, and he didn't mind it as Nazuna did, in fact he was very happy to play into this role. But as of the current stories, they're both developing past that, with Shu becoming more open to accepting his opinions and individuality, and Mika learning to be more independent and assertive. In Hermitage, he changes the entire concept of a new song very last-minute, which is something he would never have dared to do in the early stories, for example.

I think that's like. The biggest things about him? So for more minor lil fun facts - he has a lower sense of pain and will often not realise if he's pricked himself while sewing (he's also pretty good at sewing! The wikia has a section for clothes he's made), he makes art that leans into eroguro and grotesque (he's also a big fan of horror! He and Ritsu watch horror movies together, and he has a collection of scary posters and images he puts up in his room, apparently to sleep better, whatever he meant by that). He's blind as a bat in the dark <3 He has a twin sister that was featured in Ensemble Girls! They've met in an enstars story, Milky Way, but they didn't know they were siblings, however in EnGirls, she mentions having met her brother. EnGirls takes place during the current year of enstars, so i'm hoping for a crossover story. And you'll immediately notice he's the token heterochromia character - he actually used to hate his eyes and would blame them for why he was abandoned as a child. He had some form of social anxiety for a while where he was too scared to look people in the eye or talk to people at all for fear of his eyes "creeping them out". But he's still very anxious about going on radio and talk shows🫶 Another way of subverting the trope for his dialect, and directly mentioning it, is that people expect him to be extroverted and funny because of the way he speaks (Kansai is the dialect spoken by manzai comedians), and he feels that he disappoints people by being an introvert because of that. (And this is why i headcanon him calling himself stupid as an act - he can't make himself funny or extroverted, but he can make himself seem stupid, which plays into the stereotype, to "avoid disappointing people") Magazines describe him as cool, mysterious and "frail-looking".

I think I failed at making this succinct. If anything opened more questions, feel free to ask me to elaborate tho :) i love talking ab Mika!!!!

[thelovelymachinery]

Food Questionaire Tag!

Tagged here by @wyked-ao3

Rules: Answer the food-related questions provided using the voices of your OCs. The yummier the descriptions, the better!

I will be kidnapping Joyce from WSFTI because she seems very loved and Aurelia also from WSTFI

what is one comfort meal that'll change your whole mood for the day?

Joyce: I love love LOVEEEE the fresh apple pie that Lia makes me and Aunt Vicky makes the BESTTTT hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies! Aunt Vicky can't have any of it so there is always extra for me! Aurelia: Joyce, dear, they meant meal. Not dessert. Joyce: Whatever. Your turn, Lia! Aurelia: I really enjoy a nice garden salad with a poppy seed dressing. Joyce: Ew.

what is an experience (good or bad) that has turned you off or on to a food completely?

Joyce: I was eating a jam cookie Lia made and wasn't told it was rhubarb and strawberry jam so when I bit into it I got the stringy rhubarb and threw up. I can't have jam cookies anymore. I liked jam cookies. Aurelia: It was my cookie. You stole it. Joyce: It was still gross! Aurelia: Fine. Okay. I don't believe my story is appropriate for young ears. I can no longer eat or look at meat. I have gained an addiction to apple pie from when Aereth made some with me, it was a mess and we ate most of the filling before we could cook it. The kitchen was a mess, we got in so much trouble.

if you could eliminate one piece of produce, meat, dairy or sweets off the earth what would it be?

Joyce: Chicken. It's so gross looking and feeling when raw, it makes me sick. I also don't like cheesey cheeses, it's too much cheese especially when eaten alone. I also don't like lettuce, it's gross. Celery and rhuarb are stringy, I don't eat them. Aurelia: Oh my gods. I will sound like such a child but I hate carrots. They're hard and taste gross.

and dessert is normally saved for last, but if you could what would you order for your entree at a restaurant?

Joyce: Spinach dip! Or mozerella sticks! What if we dip the mozerella sticks in the dip? I'll be back later, I need to do this! Aurelia: Joyce! That isn't- get back here! Fine, go try your thing. I like a nice apple turnover, Joyce loves anyting chocolatey or apple. She has my tastes.

what are some food fusions that should never be mixed?

Aurelia: This will be so weird but I don't like crackers or noodles in or with soup. Joyce loves them so I just give her my noodles or crackers. She thinks the second a vegetable is added a dish is ruined. Don't tell her but I add vegetables in all of her food.

what food spot are you gatekeeping and why?

Aurelia: Don't tell anyone but there is this little Dyntian spot in Flightsylvania that Drewy and I visit at least once a week. It's run by the sweetest old couple, I think they adotpted us as their's. Drew and I help out around and bring them gifts. Joyce will be annoyed but she loves this one ice cream truck. We don't want to have to make reservations or wait in line so keep this quiet.

cooking is a life skill, why haven't you started learning yet!?

Aurelia: I'm a fairly good cook, it's Joyce's excuse for not learnng to cook because she says that Vicky and I cook well enough that she never has to learn.

Is there a smell that reminds you of something you never want to remember?

Aurelia: Raw meat.

Interact here to be added to my taglist.

@thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd @wyked-ao3 @mysticstarlightduck @illarian-rambling

@the-letterbox-archives @bookwormclover @leahnardo-da-veggie @bio-blegh

[starrysupercell]

Do you know that a lot of brawlers descriptions are being changed this update?

Ohhh, for sure!! I scoured for a video with all of the changed descriptions, as soon as I found out!

I have mixed feelings, but generally positive! I really don't want to dampen anyone's spirits with my criticism so... that's the heads up to the mixed feedback in the post, lol.

Anyway! Spoilers ahead!

I love that it adds personality and some lore! It's highly interesting, though I am going to miss some of the more iconic ones, like Chester's. I also prefer Nani's old one. Sometimes, less is more, you know?

Ones like Jessie, I do appreciate because it coincides with my thoughts-- Pam's a little too overprotective, what with making Nani and all. but then with Pam, we get that she's busy and a little distant? That...that, I don't like.

Tara and Sandy are siblings!!!!! I distinctly remember it being confirmed that they weren't a long time ago? so I just think that's really funny. Or maybe it was actually Bo and the Twins? IDK.

Then there are ones like Gus', that I've seen people complain about. Because of retconning the heavy implications that he is a ghost. But luckily, I have a solution. (Which I apply to the other descriptions that I don't like.)

Starr Park is lying, of course. They're not going to publicly admit that they killed a child. Of course he just looks like a ghost, and of course he's just a fan of supernatural stuff.

I LOVE BROCK'S DESCRIPTION, in particular??

Two lil qualms I have is that a lot of the bios sound similar, so it makes me feel like only one, maybe two people worked on the bios. That's just me nitpicking writing things though :3

And the other is being told about things that should be shown... i guess another story telling thing. Bibi being a nerd, and Maisie liking/causing danger is such a 180.

No, Supercell, you can't just say it. PROVE IT. Or else I'll keep my Bibi with no thoughts headcanons, and be stuck with bland, but only sane man Maisie. (I'm trying to spruce her up in my own hcs.)

Overall! My reactions are /pos to neutral, with some negative feelings mixed in. It's fun though! I want to go more into depth, but it's 68 new descriptions... and I don't have time right now!

Maybe later on I'll do a post focusing on more though! ;0

[eclipsecrowned]

so. don't know where the back case is, but it is coming. i have done a few little drafts that will be either posted or queued once i have the ability to cut posts again. and mostly, i am in gb3 brainrot hell. i cannot guarantee anything before monday, and even then it's not for sure that my laptop will be repaired same day, but i do want to get something going with my muses for the setting asap.

like this for a small, 1-3 sentence starter from one of my gb3 muses, including a canon companion, an npc, three pcs, and an au for an extant muse. since i do not have the ability to add new muses of yet on this venerable desktop, i'll include mini bios under the cut. i will get to the starters just as soon as i have the ability to add icons/cut posts again, likely early next week.

gale of w*terdeep, a veritable renaissance man. wizard, poet, epicurean, and utterly doomed. his blighted love for a goddess drove him to desperate acts that put the entire world at risk, a shard of dark magic buried deep in his chest and eternally starving. he has done his best to subdue it, to distance himself from the world, but a recent abduction by interplanar forces has driven him back into the world, seeking to control his condition and help yon heroes save the day -- only to find a lovers scorn and holy orders to let the magic devour him in service of that salvation. his goddess, lover, abuser demands his sacrifice, while his companions demand his survival, and gale is somewhere in the midst of it, broken but not defeated.

bing bong, an imp from the hells that was summoned to perform simple tasks for an unscrupulous merchant. he is so named because he can only articulate the words 'bing bong,' which is incidentally the sound his door makes when he pulls the lever to admit customers. he's certainly a minor demon, but also has a little bow tie and loves cuddles, so how can you hate him. for a brief moment, he was cherished and coddled by sh*dowheart, but his joy was ended in a fiery demise, used as a projectile against the forces of evil. yet hope springs eternal, and bing bong is intent on making his way out of the hells -- for good, if he can help it.

aurelia rosegrove, a daughter of the wilds far from home. half-elf, ranger, outlander, she's never quite found anywhere suitable for her myriad natures. raised by a druid mother in a small grove to the east, the wilds were always home to her, and like a proper lady of the house, she was chasing out vermin from a young age. she made a name for herself among local communities as a monster hunter and peerless tracker, unmatched in skill and determination, til she suddenly disappeared in the night, her camp intact and the fire still burning when found days later. captured by illithid forces, she's seeking a cure and a way home, working with others for perhaps the first time in her life. not the most friendly or forthcoming figure, she nonetheless does her best by those around her -- especially the sort of gruff warrior women that have always weakened her iron will.

hel rautametsänen, the problem child of k*lemvor. tiefling, grave cleric, unclear origins, except that she has wandered the whole of faerun as a comforting horror. disfigured from birth, and sickly for as long, she was denied by her goliath mother's clan and raised on the road by her scoundrel father, til he was able to find sanctuary with a noble sworn brother just outside the gate. it was in this court hel first learned to perform, and there her fate was sealed. she has spent the twilight of her youth playing healer to various companies, and now grown acts as a wandering cleric playing priestess, gravedigger, funeral director, and grief counselor as needed. she was snatched from a fated meeting, a chance to put her past to rest, and left with a far more dire prognosis via tadpole. she tries to be a steadfast and comforting figure to the party, but is not above shenanigans or turning a blind eye. has a deep vein of violence hidden under her patient guile that is slow to blossom but effective when summoned.

sybelle riselin, the alleged baby of the bunch. human, wizard, sage origins, she hails from athk*tla and a great archive therein. pretty much her entire life has been spent in seclusion among the records and her fellow acolytes, but she was given a simple task that drove her from her comfort zone. as is common in these stories, the task proved anything but simple. snatched up by mindflayers, she has far greater worries now than the transportation of tomes. yet she has found good company, and seeks to do right by them, to be an asset despite her anxieties and lack of experience. the whole situation has encouraged her to gain more life experience, to live while she still can, to be more than a young woman collecting dust in a musty back room. mostly, though, she's delighted to be traveling with 'real' heroes and able to commit their daring deeds today to word that will be read many generations hence.

'valas' d*vir, the wheel of fortune made flesh. half-drow, sorcerer, a noble-turned-outlander, he's been many things over his century of life, but he can never deny what he is at heart. the son of a great hero and his infamous lady wife, valas' charmed early life ended with the absence of his mother and the grief of his father. in the decades since losing his father, he has had no cause but to further his study of the world, and no lasting tether to others -- until his fathers divine relatives resurfaced. now he is a man hunted, an escape artist trying to put distance between himself and the bhaalspawn that would see shared blood spilt. he has escaped one nightmare temporarily only to fall into another more fully, imprisoned on a nautiloid and infected. he's utterly insufferable as a party member, but capable of great power and insight, and even of change if sufficiently persuaded towards heroic or villainy alike.

[amberlide]

Meet my OC:

Penelope Griffith a.k.a. Penton Griffin

[Notes: Self cut >.<, dragon hide gloves, willow + unicorn wand, hiding Chocolate frog, actual uniform, brother's uniform]

"And yes, Miss Griffith, actions have consequences." - Aesop Sharp

After the Quidditch accident at the end of her second year, Penelope knew, the only way she could survive her third year at Hogwarts, was to hide herself as a male student.

AO3 link to my fanfic (if you want to give it a try) :)

Bio: Name: Penelope Griffith [Hufflepuff] (14) Birthday: 10th October Mother: Bettany Linnert [Slytherin] (43) beater and trainer of the Quidditch team: Ballycastle Bat Father: Shik Griffith [Hufflepuff] (45) florist Brother: Roger Griffith [Slytherin] (19) Best friends: Angelina Jocelyn Bode [Slytherin], Amit Thakkar [Ravenclaw], Garreth Weasley [Gryffindor] -> maybe FIP (friendship in progress...) Passions: flowers, chocolate frogs, Quidditch Objectives: survive her third year and Sacharissa's experiments on her acne, Garreth goofiness

Penelope's birthday was on the 10th, but it took so much to draw both of them :O She used to be a lively little girl, but after the Quidditch accident her world crashed forcing her to hide as a male student. She met Garreth one night in the greenhouses, while both of them were trying to steal Bubotuber pus. The meeting leads them to a whirlwind of trouble and crossdressing shenanigans ;)

I'll add more details about her in a later post!

[acridcandy]

* ❥ ⎯⎯ hi there, my name is selene ( she / her, 21+ ) and today i'm bringing you your queen s, na aera! she's 25, a business administration student at snu and fashion and lifestyle influencer, part of the s 'n u subplot trinity, and is currently headed on the path to self-destruction now that gossip girl has put a target on her back. fun! i have her dossier ready which has a profile and background on her, but i'll put the tl;dr version that was on her application down below, along with some plots that i can think of! please like this post to plot and i'll head your way, or you can add me on disc @ paraselene woman#8196 which is currently preferred more than tumblr ims. thank you for your time and i'm excited to play out some mess with you all! ♡

⏤ sparknotes bio ;

saw na aera in seoul. they were playing tennis. i think they’re an student and influencer now? a lot of people say they’re kinda deceptive but they seemed super charming to me, tbh. they really look like cho miyeon and remind me of park gulmi though wtf. thought you might want to know because i remember your post about them that said she blackmailed a professor who had an affair with a student. still can’t believe that happened 1 month ago.

oh, how the mighty fall. while aera's life hasn't always been cozy, especially with an egoistic mother, she always had her father to depend on and alleviate her pain. born with beautiful looks and pleasant singing tone to boot, she was scouted on the streets of seoul as a young tween and trained under the top entertainment industry in hopes of becoming an idol. while not making the opportunity of debuting in their next girl group, she left the company after 4 years only with a growing number of followers on her social media due to the rumors, and popularity that spilled from online into real life. this is where she cultivates her sweet persona, one that drastically differs from her actual personality that she keeps under tight wraps. after taking a couple of years off from university once her mother passes away after aera turns 21, it's only a few years later that she finds herself becoming one of seoul national's most well known current students, and well beloved. it feels like she doesn't get enough time to savor her status before life falls to collapse. she finds out that one of her friends is actually her step-sister by way of her father, and then gossip girl marking her return by spotlighting herself and her friends, which internally shakes her to her core ⏤ especially since she was able to evade her watchful eyes prior to her disappearance. after the post about the tumultuous relationship between her, her sister and prince charming goes viral she chooses to power through the fretfulness, pretending as if it were nothing even though others start to look at her at a different light. the cracks in her armor fully show once gossip girl ups the anti to expose her best kept secret about the professor, which brings her budding career to a screeching halt despite an attempt to still play the victim. aera has always adored attention, but with gossip girl wreaking havoc in her life she feels as if she's spiraling towards full destruction ⏤ she's lost her mother, feels like she lost her father, losing her sister and flame, and now an attempt on her career. however, aera would be damned to give up anything without a proper fight.

⏤ currently ;

the cracks in her formerly impenetrable armor are clearly showing now. usually hard to anger, she's prone to emotional outbursts every now and then and is a little less friendly to the general public, not knowing who she can trust anymore. but her motto is to ignore it as if it never happened, despite the fact that isn't working out so hot for her.

just got off her one month "reflection" period on social media that was mandated by her management company. her following has taken an obvious hit, and it probably would have done her better to reflect for a longer period, but

girl is escapist central right now. drugs, drinking, sex, any vice you name it ⏤ anything to get away from this hellhole for at least a couple of hours or so. queen of also making bad decisions for temporary satisfaction.

⏤ plots and ideas ;

looking for the monet de haan to her julian calloway ⏤ moreso in the sense that someone who is close to her and she doesn't have to pretend with, but also fuels her bad decision making. a tight but vicious team to anything that could potentially stand between their goals.

in the same vein: party friends who also enable her hedonist ways and she returns the favor, her favorite group rn

someone who she really valued that now looks at her differently since the gossip girl's posts and has acted accordingly. she'd do anything to get them back on her side

former victims of her vindictive nature: maybe people who have tried to steal her thrown or blackmail her, others who have also tried to get prince charming's attention, rivals, people who just came across her on a bad day, whatever!

a specific friends w benefits / fuck buddy type of relationship that she loves to hit up to release stress. maybe things are starting to get complicated between them?

even though her mother is out of the picture, her mother's family is not. maybe they're trying to find a suitor for her to continue the family bloodline and are trying to marry her away to someone? maybe she doesn't like this dude because of that?

someone that's worried about her and is trying to help her get her act together?

and ofc the usual of general friends, ex lovers, cousins, enemies, etc.

tbh i think i'm a lot better at brainstorming but thank you for reading this far if you did!

[wildlygay]

𝗔 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴!

"Hiya! I'm Ava. It's nice to meet you all, uh. My ma said to introduce myself, so I'll just start. I'm 14, I like drawing robots or should I say cybertronians?" She gives a small shrug, "But anyways, I hope to make some new friends here. Mom also said there would be someone else joining too later on, she didn't say when exactly but, I think his name is Poli?" She smiled, "I'll be happy to answer questions, just be sure it's not too touchy. I'll also do rp memes.. or whatever there called! Just as long as ma adds my tag, starstruck wonder child; Ava. Wonder where she came up with that name."

Name: Ava (Full name is Ava V. Richardson)

Age: 14

Gender: female.

Nationality: Mixed Canadian and spanish.

Physical Description: A teenage girl who looks like she's gone through a few things.

Personality: A charming kid who loves nothing more then drawing robots in her notebook. She has a bit of anxiety but she'll be happy to make new friends.

Strengths: She's been through quite alot, so she has quite alot of mental strength. She is resilient with a heart of gold, don't let your guard down however, she's in karate classes.

Weaknesses: She's in therapy but she has a ton of issues, Quickshadow found her at a bus stop for goodness sake.

Hobbies: Drawing, she's started a bit of baking and likes making muffins.

Special Skills: None for now. Maybe she'll get some soon.

Likes: Quickshadow (her adoptive mom), the cats (she doesn't pick favorites but if she could she would pick Dough.) and staying in her room listening to indie music and drawing her silly little robots.

Dislikes: Being alone, having her hair bows lost (relates to her backstory) and her mom working long hours.

Bio: Her backstory is quite grim, features SA and a crappton of trauma for Ava. Her story took place on character.ai so please dm me if you want screenshots of her origin story!

Quote: "His name is starmaster and he's an evil one but he's in villain's therapy and has seven cats." - Ava, telling Quickie about a oc she came up with.

☆

[hallowgracie]

The Wheel of Fortune: Kas Beaumont

Initially to round out the starting quartet (and later quintet) of the coming-of-age crew, I wanted a pirate ingenue boy in the vein of Will Turner, Jim Hawkins, or Guybrush Threepwood. However, the more I worked on the other characters, I realized that an ingenue boy just did not fit this crew, which was a little more grounded in the reality of piracy (not by that much but I digress) than works like Monkey Island or Treasure Island.

As such, I changed direction for the other potential male love interest, instead looking to pirates like Nikolai Lantsov from the Grisha-verse. Smooth-talkers and gamblers, fortune's fool. This became locked into place as the final archetype of the quartet because of how Elodie's father, Captain Vance, fell into this as well.

I'll talk about this in the final character of the squad's bio, but history has repeated somewhat with Elodie's love-life mirroring that of her mother's, and this felt like a way to bring that theme home.

Kas also takes cues from gentleman pirates, the nobility like Drake and Bonnet and allegedly Blackbeard. As a result, Kas is the second son of a nobleman, and the paternity is dubious at best. That is why, when Kas was sent off to boarding school at age 14 and was kidnapped by pirates for ransom, no ransom or rescue came.

Kas instead employed his charisma and sheer luck to manipulate his way to the top, and has managed to escape indenture and end up on the privateering ship of Captain Jennings. However, there's a big mystery around why he doesn't just go home. Jennings would never pry, but there's speculation that it's because he doesn't want to go back to a family who pretty much abandoned him.

Others add the idea that Kas is out for glory, gold, and vengeance against the original pirates who kidnapped and indentured him.

Kas is an interesting character because while he's outwardly friendly and charismatic, he's probably the most ruthless member of the cast and the most down with some of the more horrific actions of piracy. However, he will come to care about Elodie, Ventus, and Carina in different ways, and he will (probably) not put a knife in their backs.

Another important facet of his character is his supernaturally good luck. Between that and his metaphorically silver tongue, some speculate that his true parentage may be one of the magi, a group of wizards in this world who keep to themselves. But I'll write more about them later.

I'm still deciding whether he ever figures out or not that he is truly magi and not the son of the Duke and the Beaumont clan. But I'm suspecting it might be a growing role--once I figure out more about the magi, that is.

[luky-soul]

BAHH PINNED POST JUMPSCARE!!

so straight to the point, this blog is just gonna be me talking about the story things i write/my oc's because i wanna scream about the weird gay people i made

the profile pic is of one of the main characters from "king of diamonds" but this isn't gonna be a strictly kod blog

(on the topic of the pfp, i didn't draw it, i commissioned gummy on etsy)

anyway, here's all the stories and a little description :3

King of Diamonds: in the far far future, so far in fact our continents reformed into pangea ultima, the unchecked acts of the government continue to make life worse and worse for the people, from shrinking the final remaining residential district JUNKS even more, to bio engineering beasts named "Carbonites" that feed off humans so they can sell weapons just for Carbonite removal, life is very grim. however, a group known as "Förgätmigej" aims to rectify this and "remind" everyone of better times

Divine Decay: world renowned, yet forgotten, scientist Zagreus Sunday invented something known as a "WATCH" back in 2006, and thanks to the WATCH humanity has withered away in it's immortality, his goal? maybe to repent, maybe to die for one final time, maybe he can't even remember anymore

Rotten Autumn Leaves: Autumn is a strange girl, a girl who's dealt with relentless bullying nearly her entire life, with her only saving grace being her friend Dís. until Dís moved away that is. since then, Autumn never functioned, choosing to rot away in bed and let mold take her instead of moving on. but amidst her jealousy of her friends happy life, one day, she awoke in the past? an alternate reality? the after life?

Flowers in Hell: in the city of Hysteria, any and all scientific or technological advancement was stolen from the nearly immortal Cronqvist family. known for devouring people countless years ago, now they remain chained away in the basement of the biggest building in Hysteria for whenever their knowledge is next needed. but one day, paired alongside the murder of the mayor, Alucard was broken free from his chains and kidnapped by a strange witch named Etro

so those are all the ones i plan to talk about :3

i'll probably add tags later to easily sort through them but for now with the whole lot of nothing on this blog i think it's fine to leave it as is lol