#Luggage is my favourite character

[yewstronaut]

stayed up all night reading The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett, no regrets

[regnigt]

Why did this never occur to me before

Discworld's Luggage and Gintama's Elizabeth. THEY ARE SO SIMILAR

[jhoneybees]

It's been a long long time

Back with another fic! Hope you like it❤️

Characters: Army!Elvis X Little!reader

Warnings/triggers: missing someone, crying, little!space, little lifestyle, age regression

_____________________________________________

It’s been so long since you’ve seen Elvis, one year to be exact. Might not be that long for others but to you, felt like an eternity.

You’ve missed him, and during most of the lonely, dark nights alone, you often replace your favourite stuffie with something else, like one of his shirts.

Which Elvis would always tease “Now that is a crime, little”

You do have the occasional call from him but it wasn’t enough, moping around the big mansion without hearing that hearty laugh of his and being held in his arms was just torture for your poor heart.

But when you were told that you were going to meet him in Paris, in France, you felt so relieved and excited.

You didn't want to waste any time and immediately started to pack your luggage.

You thought of what you’re gonna do when you see him and all the things you’re gonna tell him. You even drew him a picture of both of you with love hearts all over the paper, nicely put away into a pink envelope and written on the front of it gently.

Oh you’re just so thrilled that you’re gonna see your daddy again.

_____________________________________________

Brushing the creases out of your pink dress, you take a deep breath.

Your excitement is boiling over, you’re very excited, of course but that tiny anxious feeling still itches at your mind.

Elvis always reminds you that he doesn't mind you slipping into your ‘little mind’ he likes to call it but this time you want to meet him without him having to deal with it.

It's what you want to do for him-

Just then when your eyes shift up at the door opening into your hotel room, you gasp softly when he peeks his head in with that famous grin on his face.

Your adult mind immediately falls head first into your ‘little mind’.

“Daddy!”

Jumping onto your feet, you run into his warmth. Wrapping your arms around his waist as your head is buried into his military jacket, smelling that scent you've been longing,

Those shirts did no justice.

His chuckle chiming brightly making you giggle, you lift your head to look up at him, smiling widely as he does the same “How’s my good little girl, hm?” stroking your hair with his firm hand.

You nod silently as you look at him in awe, your smile falters as your eyes grow watery and a pout forming on your lips.

Blurting out in a small sob “I missed you, Daddy” whimpering sadly as you rest your head back against his chest. Feeling his arms tighten around you “Oh darlin’...” your fists balling up on his chest as you sniffle quietly. He places a kiss on top of your head “I’ve missed you too, Baby…too much”

Both of you staying in the moment for a little while, Elvis pulls away to cup your cheeks in his large hands, gently thumbing away your salty tears as you delicately hold his wrist and lean into his touch. His eyes soften, knowing that little spark in your eye “My sweet girl…” his lips giving you a small smile.

Looking behind you, his smile grows when he spots a pink envelope discarded on the bed with “For Elvis” written carefully on the front “Got me a gift, darlin?” he questions to which your eyes light up and you excitedly nod, grabbing his hand. Making sure to sit him down before giving him the envelope.

Elvis being extra careful as he opens the gift, his eyes crinkle at the corners as they land on a drawing. Knowing that you would've put all your effort into it.

Chuckling quietly, he looks at you “This is beautiful, doll…Thank you” admiring the art as he brings his hand up to palm at stray tears on his cheek.

Your eyebrows begin to furrow, shuffling closer to his side to hold his face with your small hands “ ‘m sorry” His blue eyes looking down at you with so much adoration, awe, love.

Letting out a breathy laugh as you wipe away his tears with your thumbs “Don’t be sorry, Honey” leaning down to peck your cheek and shaking his head as he snickers.

“Just so happy to see my sweet girl again…it's been a long long time”

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Grey Zone 4

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon, manipulation, age gap, bullying, toxic parental figures, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Your relationship with your parents has never been good, and that with a family friend takes a strange turn(goth!reader)

Character: Lloyd Hansen

Note: We're back

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me <3

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

Your bedroom door swings open, the handle knocking against the short shelf of figures behind it. You clutch the black skirt in your hands and face your mother as she gives you that look. The one dripping in disappointment and loathing. She’s hungover, you can tell by how she squints.

“Are you not ready yet?” She sneers, a Louis bag dangling from her elbow.

“Almost,” you assure her, rolling your tongue nervously, “mom, are you sure I should come? Work isn’t very happy about the time off and–”

“How dare you,” she accuses, flinching at the spark of her own temper, bringing her manicure to her temple, “Lloyd has been very nice in inviting us all to the lake house and I will not have you spoil it with your attitude.”

“I wasn’t trying to… I just thought…”

“Stop thinking,” she points at you with a long shellacked nail, “you’ll ruin everything.”

You snap your mouth shut. For her, this is another vacation. You know her plans don’t extend past wine and naps in the sun. And it is supposed to be a ‘family trip’. If you don’t go, your father might just tell her to stay behind too. It’s not that she wants you to go, but she wants to be sure she gets to go.

“I’ll be ready in like ten,” you spin back to your bed and tuck the skirt into your duffle.

“Make it five,” she huffs with the click of her tongue.

She prances off and you shake your head at the stacks of clothes in front of you. You cut it down as you roll up each piece to fit into your bag. You don’t need much. You shove your chest of makeup at the end and tuck your toiletry pouch inside.

You grab your leather knapsack and slide your laptop inside with your textbooks. You wonder if you’ll even have a signal all the way up north. If not, you’ll have a lot of catching up to do. Oh well, maybe it will be nice to get away. Or maybe you’ll be in hell, trapped in an isolated cabin with your own parents.

And him.

You shove a few novels in along with your computer and zip it up. You drag your stuff towards the door and grab your jacket from the clothes rack against the far wall. The long black trench goes well over your wide-leg curtain paints and razor back halter. You pop on a wide brimmed black hat and your favourite pair of sunglasses; black lenses framed with silver.

You grab your bags and haul them out of your room, making the slow and perilous descent to the first floor. You leave your bags right behind your mother’s pile of matching Louis luggage and wiggle your feet into your clunky Mary Janes. 

Your mother emerges with a sunhat and a pair of large square framed sunglasses. She winks at you as she tucks a flask into her purse. You say nothing and cross your legs, perching on the bench impatiently.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” She harrumphs.

“Yeah?” You look down.

“You don’t have anything… lighter? It’s sunny out.”

You shrug, “we’ll just be in the car.”

You stare at her bags. How much does she need to bring? The physics of packing all of it into the SUV worries you. You fully expect to be crammed in next to her bandouliere bag.

“Constance!” Your father’s voice booms as his steps pound onto the porch. You look at the screen door as he rips it open, “well,” he stops short inside, “I told you to start bringing your shit out.”

“I told you, my shoulder,” your mother pouts, “yell at your daughter, she’s the one sitting around.”

Your father huffs and grabs her largest bag, pointing at you then the rest of her things, “well, let’s get this going. I don’t wanna be driving past midnight.”

You get up and grab two of the lighter bags. You roll your eyes behind your lenses, knowing you won’t be caught. You follow your father out the front door, the weight of your mother’s excess chafing your fingers. What did she pack?

The hatch door of the SUV is already open. Your father’s things are neatly placed against the wall of the trunk. He hikes up your mother’s suitcase in the other side and it takes up much of the remaining space. You place the two in hand on top and ponder the last three. It’s like a very unfortunate game of Tetris.

“Go,” your father snaps his fingers, “get the rest.”

You don’t argue. As you come up on the porch, your mother emerges with a bright pink travel tumbler in hand, slurping on the straw as your left to wonder at the contents. You dip inside and retrieve her smallest bags; a perfect circular valise and two more oblong ones.

You hand them off to your father and he grumbles under his breath as he tries to fit them into the hatch. You return to the house to get your own bags. You won’t mind sitting with your own things. 

The backseat offers little hope as you find a large cooler taking up more than half of its length and fishing rods across the floor. So, where exactly are you supposed to sit?

As you stare, perplexed by the puzzle of your own belonging, a horn toots and a car rolls up the driveway, coming just short of your father as he turns to stare down the Bentley. You keep your knapsack on your shoulder and your bag clutched tight.

You face Mr. Hansen as he climbs out of his car, leaning on the door as he looks over it at your dad, “Ray Ray, ready to go?”

“Just loading up,” your father answers.

“Holy shit,” Mr. Hansen snorts, “you know you’re not moving in for good, right?”

“Connie’s shit,” your father snarls.

Hansen shuts his car door as he strides up the tarmac. His focus shifts as he sees you standing listless. He flicks his sunglasses up and gives a crooked smirk.

“Hey, sunshine,” he greets, “uh, Ray,” he stops, just a few inches from you, pivoting towards the back of the SUV, “where exactly is the baby girl supposed to fit? You strapping her to the roof?”

“She’ll squeeze in,” you father dimisses.

“For eight hours?” Hansen’s fingers tickle along the back of your arm and he squeezes just above his elbow, “I got lots of room.”

“I don’t care. Take her, then,” your father barks, “I got Lonny bringing up supplies, I don’t needa worry about all that.”

“Hear that, starbright, go toss your things in mine,” Hansen twirls his keyring and holds it out to you, “lots of legroom.”

“Um, it’s fine–”

“Don’t argue,” your father slams the hatch door. “He’s right, we don’t got the space.”

You could suggest your mother leaves a few things behind but you know that will only end the same. You take Hansen’s keys and thank him. He grins and steps back, not much, just enough for you to pass, just close enough for you to brush against him.

You go down the drive, surprised to find yourself trailed by another set of steps. You glance over your shoulder as Hansen circles around you, “bottom button, sunny.”

You hit the fob and the trunk pops open. He seizes your bag before you can react and puts it in next to his. You slip your knapsack down your arm and he just as quickly has it in hand.

“Couldn’t imagine eight hours in a car with those two,” he says quietly, “you’re welcome.”

“Uh, yeah, thanks.” 

You cross your arms and step back as he closes the trunk. He keeps his hand on the sleek pant and eyes you up and down. He tilts his head and his tongue pokes out.

“You feel like driving,” he asks, “I don’t mind.” He pats the butt of the car, “she handles well.”

“Um, it’s okay…”

“Come on, you get the first hour and we can switch at the rest stop,” he goads, “I woke up fuckshit early.”

“Alright, I guess,” you keep the keys in your hand and go to step around him.

“Wait, wait,” he blocks your path, “one more thing.”

“Alright?” You frown.

“I didn’t say…” he reaches to tap the brim of your hat, “you look fucking good.”

You don’t know how to respond. You’re unused to compliments and a simple thank you would do but something about his tone has you tongue-tied. You wipe away your chagrin and try to smile. Your lips just quiver and fall straight.

“Right, let’s stop dragging ass,” he spins and struts up the driveway, “Ray,” he calls to your dad, “here’s the spare key. In case you get ahead of us.”

You chew your lip and slowly walk along the side of the car. You unlock the doors and open the driver’s side. You reticently get in and take off your hat, twisting to throw it in the backseat. You turn straight and adjust the seat and steering wheel. It’s a really nice car.

The passenger door opens and Lloyd drops in, sliding the seat all the way back as he stretches his legs. You leave the keys in the cupholder and push the ignition. The engine rolls as you take in the breadth of controls. Nothing too unusual.

“What’s that shade of lipstick called?” Lloyd leans on the armrest of his seat, “how many shades of black can they sell?”

“Um, I don’t know,” you fix the mirror.

“Like those glasses. Where’d you get them?”

“Amazon,” you answer as you shift into reverse, the camera showing on the console screen. You grip the wheel and slowly back out.

“Now, don’t be afraid to put that foot down once we hit the highway,” he says, “she’s got a lot of power. She can handle it.”

“Mhmm,” you stop at the end of the driveway and look both ways down the street. “Got it.”

🖤

As promised, you trade places with Lloyd after the first hour. He’s a bit more heavy-footed and you find yourself with your hand on the door as you brace yourself with his careless and aggressive passing. You’re a cautious driver and his style has you almost dizzy. You’re not bold enough to tell him to slow down.

“Isn’t this nice?” He asks, “no squabbling middle-aged assholes to listen to.”

“Sure,” you grasp the seat belt as you keep a wary gaze through the windshield.

“Hopefully it’s only more of this, baby,” he continues, “my house, my rules. You don’t worry about mommy and daddy.”

You nod and hold back a squeak as he swoops in front of another car. You wish you had kept driving. You hate this.

“I’ll be working on my tan as daddy does all the hard work,” he scoffs, “been a long year.”

You listen, almost curious as he’s rarely anything close to transparent. You would never imagine him having a bad day. He seems to carry it with that no fucks given strut. He swerves again and you can’t help but elicit a rather pathetic noise.

“Mr. Hansen, can you… slow down a little?” You ask.

He doesn’t answer right away but he does as you request. “I get it, you wanna enjoy our time together,” he snickers.

“Uh, well, I get a bit carsick,” you utter.

“Ah,” he accepts with an air of disappointment, “can I ask you something?”

“Okay.”

“Can you call me Lloyd? This Mr. Hansen business makes me feel old as shit. I’m not, you know, I got all my faculties,” he lets out a small chuckle, “just so you know.”

“Right, Lloyd, sorry,” you say, “dad just… you’re his friend so he–”

“Yeah, real tight ass but damn good at what he does. The biggest fuckers always are,” he scoffs.

“I guess…”

“So, those girls, they bug you again?” He keeps the same pace in conversation as he does driving. You’re disoriented by the flip.

“Haven’t seen them, no…”

“You know, they’re just jealous,” he says, “I know girls like that. I’ve f– met a lot. They’re not worth it.” He shakes his head and laughs, “hate to say it, but your mom is one of those. Never a nice thing to say about anyone but herself.”

You lean into the seat and bend your arms in front of your stomach. You know that. Deep down, you know your family is imperfect, you just didn’t realise how obvious it is.

“You’re young. Shit’s tough when you’re figuring it out.”

“Yeah,” you murmur.

“You got Spotify or something?” He asks abruptly, once more jarring you. “Got bluetooth in here. May as well put something on, we got time.”

“Right, uh, I could…” you dig your phone out as he pushes buttons on the steering wheel with his thumb. The screen flashes with the pairing symbol.

You find the right connection and scroll through your playlists. You don’t know if he’ll like any of those. Maybe you could find something generic.

“What do you like?” You ask.

He answers with a chortle, “nah, you put something on. I wanna hear your music.”

“Well, it’s a bit… of an acquired taste.”

“My car, my rules, put your music on,” he demands.

You resign and tap shuffle on your weekly mix. Joy Division drones from the random selection and you black out the screen. You’re comforted by the familiar tones.

“Holy fuck,” Lloyd says, “this is old shit. Before my time, even.”

“Uh, yeah,” you reply, “it’s just a shuffle–”

“Not complaining,” he smirks, “glad I actually know this one.”

You exhale and try to relax. It’s going to be a long ride and you're thankful he opened that door. You don’t know how much longer you could handle his chaotic conversation. Only six hours or so, you can make it if you have music.

[bowieandqueen11]

Dylan Lenivy With A Protective S/O Would Include...

Request: Dylan from the quarry with an s/o who’s like really strong. Like wrestle bears strong (or in the quarry case wrestle werewolves strong) and is very protective. Like i mean picking Dylan up and running or taking hits for him.

I genuinely love Dylan so much time to work through my writer's block for him bby!! :)

Warning: Strong language, mentions of blood/ injury, mentions of guns and werewolf attacks!

(I do not own the Quarry or its characters, all rights go to creators. Gif credit goes to @moafleco.)

☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°

Dylan Lenivy: darling boy, absolute light of my life!! I full on expected to come into this game and have Max be my favourite because I loved Skyler Gisondo in Booksmart and Night at the Museum 3 but Dylan really side swept my ass here and stole my heart I've got to be honest.

You can bet your ass during the whole Werewolf Attack night at Hackett's Quarry, Dylan will use whatever battery is left on his phone sending you cheesy texts just to check in and make sure you're okay. Be ready for your phone to ding about a thousand times a minute, until Kaitlyn finally cracks and shoves it, still vibrating, into one of the cubbies in the nurse's office.

'Hey sweet... baby-heart! Wait that sounds weird let me start again. Hellooo there sweetheart!❤️🥰 just wanted to make sure ❓that you’re still alive! 💘😖 and not ripped apart! 🤞❌ anyway love you please don’t get eaten by a swarm of bears!! 🐻😘'

Ryan had the joy of reading that one over his shoulder in the radio shack, and the groan he emitted was so loud they both ended up having to pitch over each other and duck under the table because it drew Caleb back up onto the roof.

The poor guy keeps peering out between the slats of the radio shack window like a scared meerkat popping up from behind towering rocks, thinking he can see you float past in a mist of lucent white, weaving through the treeline. He keeps pacing back and forth, back and forth sweating buckets because he's so terrified, and so ashamed that he's cowering in here while you may be in danger out there. Even Ryan's awkward offer to let Dylan borrow his earphones for a while: to sit with his knees drawn up to his chest in the corner and just breathe for a minute while Ryan kept watch, was met with an uncharacteristic sharp intake of breath and manic shake of the head.

So when you come bursting through the rickety door: drenched from head to toe in Nick's metallic reeking blood and propping Chris Hackett's shotgun in your arms, neither of the two men know what to do. But when a crash of lightning makes the full moon glowing behind your head shudder, making the pulsating umbra shrouding your head seem all the more monstrous, Dylan suddenly does.

The man starts screaming in a key that only dogs had a chance of hearing.

When he finally realises that it's you and not - you know - the 'Hag of Hackett's Quarry', and he's spent enough time bent over with his hands resting on his knees trying to catch his breath, the nervous butterflies in the pit of his stomach suddenly turn into somersaults. You came back for him. You came to save him. You care for him that much: love him that much, that you were willing to risk your own life just to try and save his.

Even though he's known you since you were seven years old: even though the two of you had met all those years ago during your first week at this very same camp, catching each other's eyes and waving as he bundled up to Chris' office with a brand new tape player he had restored in his arms, and you helped one of the younger girls pull her luggage out from the back of her parent's van, the true extent of how much he could fucking love someone hits him like air freshener to the face.

Even though the two of you used to sneak out of your bunks and meet up at midnight in the Shady Glade, bumping down beside each other on the dewy grass, constantly craving each other’s company. You made him blush one night, when you suddenly grabbed his hand and intertwined his growing fingers over your smaller ones, pointing up at the moon, and the glowing stars, not realising the little side eye, euphoric look he would give you. 

Even though his heart had flipped over there and then: greedily gorging and festering in his chest, even though he had spent years stifling the feeling until he learnt that he was lucky enough to have it returned, it still shocked him to realise you didn't see him as a waste of space. As a spent joke.

And then his hand gets bit, and everything changes. It must have looked at least a little bit funny when it happened, considering there was not a chance in hell you were about to let any mystical creature drag off your poor boyfriend. As soon as Dylan got swung up to the roof: screaming and begging for you and Ryan to get him down, you jumped onto the desk and latched yourself on Dylan's back like koala bear. Your legs are quick to wrap around his waist until your heels kick up onto the slats, your arms wrapping around his waist until you manage to reach past and grab onto thick handfuls of warm... oozing fur.

With a swift punch to the snout, the two of you fall unceremoniously to the floor in a resounding crash. You managed to cover most of Dylan's moans during your fall by cradling him into your stomach, taking most of the brunt of the force. The poor guy for a moment just curls up on top of you in a state of wide-eyed shock, the side of his cheek heavy as he smooshed it against the side of your jaw. It's almost domestic: almost sweet, as he tugs his legs up between your knees and hides his eyes by turning his head into the curve of your neck. It's the same manner in which he wakes up every morning, hiding himself by nestling himself into you every time the sunrise comes falling through the dusty cracks of the Quarry's alpine blinds and makes him jolt awake.

This time, though. This time is far worse. Because then he starts laughing: a hoarse, shaking, unnerving noise that seems to seep through your throat and make you choke on your tongue. You do your best to grab onto his biceps as he starts shaking, his hands beginning to ball into your shirt as the reality of what's just happened to him settles in.

This man has seen enough horror movies in his life. If he's going to die, he wants to do it lying here in your arms.

Before he knew what was happening, he's being lifted up into your arms bridle style and rushed out towards the pool house. The whole way there, despite the agonising pain he's in, he keeps pressing his lips into your collar bone and giggling like a school boy caught head over heels by his crush. Even when your hands finally slip off from underneath his knees and you gently perch him on the edge of a sink, he's still cradling the side of his head on his neck and looking down at you as if you hung every star in that unbridled sky. It doesn't matter if you're trying to use a cloth to clear some of the blood from underneath his eyebags, or using some bandage Abi found in one of the pool lockers, this man is too busy trying to spend every second he has left as him enraptured by you. That means you have to work with him biting his bottom lip and smiling wonkily as he dodges the cloth and instead grabs onto your fingers, pulling them to his lips so he can kiss your knuckles one by one languidly. He looks so soft - so goddamn soft as he nudges his cheek against your intertwined hands, letting them rest against the side of his face.

He gets really fidgety, and it's then that you suddenly understand he's asking for a reassurance kiss: for the knowledge that you're not going to leave him. He’ll never say it outright, because deep down he’s too embarrassed and touch starved to admit it, but you can always tell. He has so many give away signs: he starts looking down at the floor, taps his feet against the tiles and fidgets his hips back against the porcelain, plays with his fingers by threading them through each other until you lean up to kiss the tip of his nose, and then he just beams with pure, unbridled happiness.

'You're so beautiful, you know that?' Even with the tendrils beginning to twist up his forearm, even half delirious with the stress of what had been happening that night, even thinking he's about to die he's still thinking of you. Worried about you. Desperate for you to know, that it's always been you. That it's all you.

'Dylan... I love you too, but if you keep putting yourself in danger to save everyone else I'm going to kick you into Lake Septimus ass first, okay?'

'Look, I've never met the guy, and although I'm sure he's lovely you're the only person I want to fall ass first onto', he replies, trying his best to hide how his eyes were starting to burn: how his eyes were beginning to crinkle with the effort of stopping his face contorting in pain by cupping your cheeks with his large palms and pressing a lingering, needy kiss against the side of your mouth.

'Ew. Gross, guys.' You turn your head to raise an amused eyebrow at Kaitlyn, but she only shakes her head and turns her attention back to the knitting gash on Nick's leg.

He seems to spend half of the time hiding behind your back! Like, you can just feel the slight tremble as his slender fingers touch your shoulder, and then the growing shadow against the lodge chimney as he jolts behind you. He's trying his best, bless his heart, even though the way he tucks the jut of his chin into your shoulder blade and grabs onto your biceps restricts you from shooting off Caleb when he comes clambering up the stairs towards the two of you.

But also even though he knows you're super bad ass he is 100% ready to launch himself, full-body starfish jump, in harm's way at the first sign of danger. Such as when Emma comes jumping out of the minivan, and Dylan straight away launches you away from him and nearly bearhugs her to the stony ground. Thankfully, you manage to tear off a branch from one of the encircling pine trees and strike the werewolf off Dylan; a near home run hit had her scrambling off into the woodland again as fast as her four legs could carry her. For a moment, your boyfriend just lounges against the dirt, shaky breath only interrupted by the sound of his wincing as he begins to flick pebbles off the deep scratches lining his elbow. Then, before you can even blink, he comes scrambling on his hands and knees towards you like a prowling predator, before melting into you. His arms are quick to lock behind your hamstrings; Dylan doesn't even bother to get up off his knees, he just shoves his head into your bellybutton and refuses to move until he can feel your fingers card through his scalp.

'Oh my god!', he finally starts, once you begin to unlatch his rusted fingers from around his legs by pulling at them one by one. 'I can't believe you never told me!'

'Told you what?'

'That you're secretly the sports coach! I knew Jacob was too much of a butthead - I just knew he was too busy playing hookup to look after the kids. That's the real tea from this summer.'

For real though - it doesn't matter where you are: turn around and Dylan's on your heels like your own personal walking, talking, screeching shadow. You have a bet with Kaitlin on whether he's managed to build a teleporting machine during his free time in the radio shack, because you could be down scouting the kitchen and he could be up looking at the weird family pictures in the lodge's attic, but at the first sound of any kind of howl he's there. You barely have time to duck down behind the counter before your boyfriend has made you jump out of your skin; he's standing right by the freezer (how tf did he manage to get all the way there without you hearing him??), completely out of breath and holding a cast iron skillet in his hands like a baseball bat.

'What?', he shrugs down at you with a tired smirk, putting his free hand on his hip and wiggling them a little. 'My mom always told me that it's better to be prepared than to catch anything unexpected. And I'm not letting you get bit too.'

'I'm... not quite sure that's what she meant. But thanks, sweetie.'

The nickname has his face burning a deep-set roseate for the next thirty minutes.

And then the two of you meet Laura, and this man's world just turns upside down. You turn down her offer to join her in trying to find Chris Hackett and end all of this for good, but from where Dylan was sitting on the bench next to the rattling window, he missed out on your reasoning why. He missed out on how you'd admitted that your sole focus: your one care now was to make sure that Dylan was safe. That you cared about him more than anything, and Mr. H could go to hell as far as you're concerned. You had to make sure Dylan survived the night.

Dylan's eyebrows crumpled when you came, cross armed, to unsteadily take a seat next to him again. He was too nervous to ask what the two of you had agreed, so he just fiddled with his thumbs and let the idea that he was holding you back darken his thoughts.

That he was a hinderance. That he was an annoyance.

He doesn't know what else to do, so as the two of you head out to the Hackett scrapyard in search of a new rotor arm, he takes up every silent moment by cracking wise. It starts to worry you - the way he can barely touch you. How he holds his hands in near claws against the meat of his biceps: how he barely lets his leg brush against yours before he jolts away again as if electrified. He even seems anxious when you reach out and grip onto his hand, his hold limp and loose as he lets it sway uneasily in the growing gap between your bodies.

He's just so afraid that if he lets go now, you'll be letting go of him forever. So he doesn't want to hold on at all. He feels it will be easier this way: kinder to you, to feel as if he's just drifting off with the breeze, a fond memory of long summers spent at some strange, long forgotten Quarry.

But you know him far too well not to register the full-blown panic behind his eyes as he dares to take a glance over at you. So please, shove this guy up against the nearest trunk of a tree, hold him up by shoving your knee in-between the seams of his thighs, and kiss him silly until all he can do is saunter off with a dopey smile and a brain so far up in the clouds all he can do is laugh rather than string together a sentence!!!

Literally I feel like this would heal him. Give this poor bby the love he's so desperately craving.

Straight up hefting him over your shoulder and carrying him away from Caleb in the scrapyard. The confused look on Kaitlyn's face as her head slowly turns to follow the set of you sprinting past with a screaming Dylan folded over your back like a snapped ruler is mfcking hilarious I'm not going to lie.

You refuse to leave him in the crane. Not even when he's gouging into the balls of your shoulders, crying and yelling and begging you to leave. To run. To get the hell away from him while you still can. Between his tormented yelps, you do your best to grab onto his face despite how forcefully his body's contorting. Despite how his fingernails are starting to cut into your skin and send blood blooming out in wispy tendrils across your shirt. You just place your thumbs up against the darkness obscuring the sides of his eyes and try to keep Dylan looking at you. To try and make him understand, to try and make sure the last thing he saw before he turned was you not leaving him. Not Ever.

[sofasoap]

Interlude: Here comes the insertion specialist

Pairing: König x  f!Reader ( OC aka Mini MacTavish )

Summary: Don't give König ANY alcohol.

Warning: M Rated. INNUENDO, INNUENDO!  Alcohol consumption ( be responsible people), swearing, sexual theme. Slight crack fic. English isn’t my first language, there will be a lot of grammatical and tense mistake.

A/N: This is part of the world what I dubbed “ Mini MacTavish Universe”. Inspired by  @saltofmercury ’s “ “The Favorite MacTavish”. Praise her for lending me her character and universe * starry eye *. Go read her brilliant stories!

 “masterlist” for more stories to this Mini MacTavish expanded verse.

You know König doesn't drink alcohol. No big deal. Each to their own. Maybe he just doesn't like the taste of it. What you didn't realise is he has ZERO tolerance to alcohol.

Kortac was in UK again after a successful joint operation with the SAS. To your surprise, Johnny rang you and ask if you want to travel to  Credenhill  to join the party. "That's rare, usually I have to beg you to let me tag along!"

"... The team was asking for you." " They are asking for their FAVOURITE MacTavish you mean?"

" Jesus Christ, do you want to come or not?"

" Just give me the date and I'll check my shift timetable."

You were secretly excited you will get to see König again after the chance meeting which turned into, according to Emma, a coffee date. Was that a date? You don't know. Do you like him? Maybe. For the moment you are just enjoying your time texting back and forth. ( or mainly him sending pictures of what his current little carving projects are or interesting things he notice while on mission. It's quite adorable really. )

Dropping off your luggage at the airbnb near the barrack, you make your way towards the bar frequently attended by the team. Walking in, loud noises hits you instantly. The pub was packed full of people, it's a popular spot for the SAS soldiers since the barrack isn't far off. You look around trying to find your brother. Soon enough you spot Ghost's tall figure with Johnny and Gaz playing a round of snooker. You ran up to your brother and tackled him from behind.

"Mini! you made it!" Gaz exclaimed. "What's a gathering without me livening up the atmosphere?" You high fived each other. Johnny turned around and gave you a big hug.

" How was the train ride here?" "Busy. Lucky I booked my ticket as soon as you told me about the gathering." Pointing at Ghost, " Am I allow to greet him? or is the no Ghosting rule still apply?" "What are you planning." he look at you deadpan expression. " Nothing. I am just being friendly." " Why does this sound familiar." You turned and smiled at Ghost, " Hey Simon. "

" ... Hey." " Mini." " Hey Uncle Price!" You left Johnny's embrace and went in for a hug with Price. Why does Ghost look slightly disappointed?

"Who else is here?"

Price pointed towards the table near the bar. "Some of the KorTac members are over there, the rest are scattered around." "OHh I see new people I haven't met." " MINI" Johnny and Simon chimed in same time with warning tone.

" Yes Sir, I know Sir, I will behave Sir.” You gave the boys your best salute and wondered towards the bar to order a beer. While standing at the bar, you see König, per usual, hiding at the edge of the room, trying to make himself invisible with a glass of what looks like a coke in his hand, listening to his teammate's conversation. Doing your best you try to wave to him, he spotted you, his eyes lit up and timidly waved back. Horangi saw the interaction, elbowed König and teased him a little. König duck his head down, blushing. You felt a set of eyes on you, turning around you can see Ghost looking at your direction, eyes narrowed. What's his problem?

Soon you find yourself mixing with the ladies from both teams, gossiping away. They sure have fascinating stories to tell, tales of war to suitors or love interests they meet during their missions.

".... and would you believe, their pick up line was, "“I’ve lost my teddy bear! Can I sleep with you instead?”" You laughed, " Oh gosh, that sounded like me from last time!" " Look, if it comes from you, it sounds cute, but coming from that person??" Nova made a face. " Mini, come on, got any stories to tell? Any strange pick up lines?" " Sadly no. All the boys that wants to approach me been scared off by Johnny." " Pfft, for a casanova like him, it's bit contradicting. no offense Mini."

" None taken Kleo. I know my brother is a manwhore. A gentlemanly manwhore." Everyone burst out laughing. Out of corner of your eyes, you saw König swaying a bit in his seat. No one else seems to notice. His drink nearly finish. Maybe he is tired? All of sudden, he stood up, startling the people around him, and proceed to swagger towards you, full of purpose, you will be lying if it doesn't stir the heat up a little bit down there. Cocking an eyebrow, you turned your chair towards him. Waiting for his next move. Stopping right in front of you, he leans down, hands on both side of you on the table, trapping you. Gosh, he does have beautiful blue eyes, the piercing blue eyes.... wait, is that bit of alcohol you can smell from his breath?

"Hello Schatz." He purred. "Do you know why they call me insertion specialist? because I am VERY GOOD at ramming... " his eyes flickers down towards his crotch, " THINGS... especially into people." The whole pub just went dead silent. Your jaw dropped. Is he trying to flirt with you? Hearing a loud clank noise, your eyes darts towards the snooker table, Johnny had dropped his cue, eyes wide with shock, while Ghost looks like he was about to murder certain someone with veins popping out of his forehead. Gaz was laughing his head off, smacking Price's back, making him choke. " WHO THE FUCK ADDED RUM INTO HIS COKE!!!!"

Just think of the way König walks at the character intro screen. mmmmm.

lack of sleep does this to you. Oops.

[emotionless-puppy]

raihan X fem Reader (kalos queen)

(All characters of legal age) (English isn't my first language so sorry for any spelling errors) ( you have black hair and bright blue eyes and snow white skin also fang like canines that look like rihan's BTW) (most people 18 or over except hop)

Right let's start!

Y/N POV

I can still remember a year ago when I was on the stage in the finale waiting for the votes to say if I become new kalos queen or if the current queen keeps her crown me my shiny umbreon and zorua (all your Pokémon are shiny btw and your team is umbreon zorua lucario ponyta absol and dragapult ) stood their nervously all of a sudden the host shouts "and the kalos queen is ...Y/N!!!!"I was so shocked as they placed the crown on my head I shook the previous queen's hand

Now to current times I have decided to move me and my team to Galar but I have not given up my title or my modelling job (you are a world famous model as well now) so I will at least go back once a month for work and family I'm chose a little cottage in a small town called postwick as I say goodbye to my mum and pick up my designer luggage going out the door getting into the back of my car "ready miss?" my driver called from the front "yes let's go" your driver speeds off towards your private jet 24 hours later you land in Galar soon after landing you sprint off into the public area forgetting you had no security guard so when the public notices you there was a massive crowd around you soon enough you could see news reporters are there

Raihan POV

I was sat in the locker room after another gym challenger it was silence until Leon bursts through the door "at least tell when you are coming to visit" I say but I generally want to know why he is here "have you seen the news" he said snapping me out my thoughts "no why?" I started to get confused I turned on the news and the head lines read 'FAMOUS MODEL , KALOS QUEEN AND WORLD CLASS BATTLER Y/N L/N HAS MOVED TO GALAR' my eyes widen as finish reading and turn to Leon " we'll be able to meet her soon!" Leon announced proudly Hands on hip 'what does he mean we ?' my thoughts overridden by what the Champion has just said "what do you mean we?" I questioned obviously curious "me and you are going to meet her?" My mind has already exploded by that one statement "WTH we stalking her or something?" I said rasing my voice ever so slightly "no you dumbass we both of us will be meeting her at the battle tower" at that moment my brain is SHOOK all I could do is blink and breath I finally got my words out by saying "when will we be meeting her?" "Next week Thursday see you bye I'm also bringing hop" he left before I could even open my mouth

Y/N POV

A week later

I wake up to lucario jabbing me " ok ok I'm awake" I groaned I got up and got dressed into f/c (favourite colour) crop top and f/c short skirt I check my schedule for today and see that I have a meeting at the battle tower today so I start to clean my Pokémon ready for the day I go and get my z-ring, my mega evaluation choker (for lucario and me) a dynamax band all shiny for later i turn and smile at my Pokémon

RAIHAN'S POV

I get up to the sound of my alarm I groan annoyed but I then remember Y/N L/N to be honest I've always had a little bit of a crush on her so I i jump out of bed and get into my normal clothes but put some expensive cologne on and I'm ready to go I'm pretty excited

Y/N pov

I get out of my car putting some shades on I thank my driver before he drives away I don't have any security guard with me but I don't care as I turn around a kid looking around the age of sixteen with purple hair and bright gold eyes jumps in front of me all excited "hello" i say sweetly to the boy "hi my name's hop nice to meet you!" hop says nearly jumping of excitement all of a sudden a new voice enters my hearing "hop come back here" I look up and meet eyes with the person I believe is the champion so I give him a soft smile "you must be Leon" I say kindly he looks at me with wide eyes "ah you must be Y/N L/N" the purple hair champion says i nod my head vigorously. And from that moment on I knew my life was going to change drastically.

To be continued...

[kokusfluffyhair]

Well-Earned Back Massage Headcanons

In honour of finishing my move back to Budapest. 3 trips with 2 big suitcases each, approximately 35 hours on train, and throwing out a lot of stuff where I filled all the bins in my Prague building's rubbish area twice. This is tmi about my life but this was really. Fucking. Hard. And no, I don't have a car, and no, I didn't want to spend the money asking friends to send me boxes of my things through the post as I did when I moved to Prague during COVID because that shit costs a lot of money. Much more than those train trips.

So then. How would some of my favourite characters help or not to relax and get some body massage after all this?

Kokushibou

+ He's an aftercare king so he would make a comfortable, warm bath for you to soak in

+ Afterwards, he'd oil up his hands and give you a full massage

+ He'd be checking on you for many days after until he's 1000% (that's one thousand, not a typo for one hundred) sure that you're feeling better after your workout

+ Bonus points because he would not let you move all that shit by yourself. He'd help you and for free. All right, not for free because he will want your company in return, but it's basically for free

+ Even if you don't exert yourself because he helps you move, he still gives you the princess treatment

Muzan

+ Yeah, good luck getting him to help you move. That's servants' work, not for the Demon King

+ He would message you regularly to make sure that you're all right

+ But be sure, that when you are bored sitting on the train, that mf will definitely be busy in his god damn lab and will not entertain you

+ He will give you a massage though

+ It would be one of those rough massages where it feels like he's breaking your back but you end up feeling really fucking good after

+ Bonus points if you're a demon and he actually can break your back and give you some extra blood to speed up the regeneration

Gyutaro

+ Will call you pathetic for asking for a massage from him

+ And he will laugh at you when he sees you coming back with the luggage

+ But he will at least help you get from the train station to your accommodation

+ All while laughing at how shameful you look, of course

+ Look, he really doesn't know how to massage. He'll ask Daki how to do it, and the two of them will end up arguing because Daki will say that he doesn't do it right, blah blah

+ You end up getting a massage from Daki

+ But Gyutaro will cuddle with you after and promise that he'll find the time to help you next time you have to move with luggage

Douma

+ He hires you a limo to travel, enough said

+ He will complain about his ass hurting on the limo ride (which is shorter than the train ride by a couple hours)

+ He will ask you for a massage because his ass hurts from sitting so much

+ But you won't complain, because it gives you an excuse to manhandle him

+ You two have a hot night ahead of you

+ Bonus points if your new neighbours complain about the noise Douma's moans are making

Tahomaru

+ Another example of he will hire a ride for you

+ But maybe he can't, and if he can't, he will take the time himself to go with you so it's easier

+ If he still can't do that, then he will be messaging you all the time to make sure you're all right

+ He will entertain you on the train

+ If he hires the ride to help you move, he won't stop talking and will give you a headache

+ He'll get you a lot of food and a warm bath to ease your muscles

+ He doesn't know how to massage, so he cuddles with you while Hyogo gives you a massage

Daigo Kagemitsu

+ He hires a van and comes in a limo

+ You don't even have furniture but he still orders the van

+ He tells you that you have too much stuff but he still stops somewhere on the limo ride to buy you more shit

+ He drinks sake in the limo and passes out

+ You end up chatting with the limo driver for something to do

+ He brings you to a spa and hires a professional masseuse for the both of you

+ He probably almost pulls his back out trying to give you a kinky massage in bed

+ You don't exert yourself at all and you get a spa weekend

+ Bonus points if he lets Tahomaru tag along and you get to go with them both

This was a bad idea, because now I will be fantasizing about going to the baths with this man

Saburota

+ He'd help you move but would complain

+ He'd be a messy eater on the train and would get you stared at

+ He's cheap af and won't let you guys take an uber with the luggage so you're walking or it's public transport

+ He will definitely try to ride without a ticket on the public transport

+ He complains that you're weak when you ask for a massage

+ But he'll give it to you anyway

+ He's really good and should be a professional

+ He'll tell you about how he gave his mother massages which is sweet but definitely ruins the mood

Hyakkimaru

+ He also helps you move

+ Very quiet, doesn't complain

+ He's surprised when you say you feel sore

+ He doesn't know how to massage and he probably doesn't even know what a massage is

+ He rubs his forehead against yours and says that you need warm soup

+ He later cuddles with you and asks you several times if you're ok

+ Bonus points if Dororo tries to give you a massage and accidentally makes it all worse 🤡

[bethaven]

I finally scratched up enough energy and courage to watch the last two episodes of Sex Education. I cuddled my childhood teddybear and cried all through the last one. I always have a hard time dealing with final episodes, but this was particulary hard.

After having a massive breakdown after Erins funeral episode, which kept me up all night and ruined my entire day after, it took me several weeks to regain enough moxie to deal with the last two. Erin dying wasn't really a surprise, but what overflowed me in that moment was my reaction to her funeral. Both my grandfathers died this spring, so I recently been to two funerals for close relatives in a short time. Seeing the funeral-scene and seeing Maeve dealing with her mother's death turned out to be the tipping point for my brain and soul to finaly realize that my grandfathers really are gone and not coming back. I'll never call them again, I'll never hear their voices again and we'll never meet again. I think a big part of me really denied that up to that point.

With this in my luggage, I REALLY wanted things to end well in the last episode. Going in to the last season my only wish was for Maeve and Otis to end up together. That in mind you'd think I'm heartbrooken about the ending. Actually, I'm not. They could have made it easy and have Maeve stay or come back and she and Otis would live happily ever after. This was bigger than my sappy romantic brain ever could come up with, and still it was the most romantic ending to their story that they could've told. Maeve and Otis will always be together in heart and my sappy brain says that they'll find each other somehow, somewhere in life when they're supposed to. Faith, you know.

But lets also talk about Aimee a bit. Dear, sweet Aimee, my absolute favourite character in this series. And what a journey she does in this season! It makes me quite proud, to be honest. She's honest to herself, dares to speak up truly and lets herself be loved. She'll definitely go on to do big things!

Lastly I wanna talk about the journey that Otis's and Eric's friendship does in this season. Even though you've been friends forever it doesn't mean you can stop fighting for each other. It was natural for them to have a break, but I'm so glad they found their way back to each other because the truly complement one another.

That's it, now it's over. Thanks for everything!

[youngerfrankenstein]

So. What about Psychonauts ?

(<- only has very vague memories of the game after watching one let's play years ago)

*Vibrates* Okay SO-

On one hand I feel like I’ll just be repeating stuff I’ve said. Still.

Psychonauts is an older platformer where the platforming levels are the minds of the people around you, and you pop in to help sort out their trauma and get things to help you fix supervillain plots in the real world. It was co-written by Tim Schafer (who worked on, amongst other things, Grim Fandango and the first two Monkey Island games) and Erik Wolpaw (who would go on to write the Portal games). From there you can probably guess the tone, a comedy that is both completely absurd and pitch black.

Razputin Aquato is, I think one of my favourite player characters period? He’s simultaneously a gremlin and a sweetheart. Sometimes he talks like he’s 30 and sometimes he very much acts his age of 10. He’s violent and unhinged and incredibly kind. He ran away from the circus. He’s a kid.

The game manages to come up with in-game reasons for why he’s so good at platforming (he’s an acrobat!) and why any amount of water is a barrier (he’s cursed! …sorta, kind of retconned in a neat way by the second game)

The second game was crowdfunded (I helped!) and came out 16 years later. There are definitely some tone differences. Erik Wolpaw didn’t help with this one and the game is a little less… blasé? About its subject. It is still quite good though. The story is well told, with Raz learning more about the Psychonauts and his own history, and how maybe everyone here is more messed up than he thought.

And the creativity in the levels!!! A level where you get to wreck things as a Kaiju while news reports cry for mercy! A level based on the concept of Jungian archetypes in the style of a world made of books! The mind of a deeply paranoid man where you have to sneak past several “secret” agents by using “disguises”. A psychedelic level where you piece together the senses of a disembodied brain! A theatre where you end up having to defeat someone’s literal inner critic!!!

I guess I should warn that the first game especially is not super sensitive with how it treats the mentally ill, but I will say that they’re all still characters we grow to enjoy. And overall the series manages to be both dark with its comedy and kind with its message. It is also, perhaps fittingly, BATSHIT INSANE.

And yet I have been putting off finishing the second because my laptop is MADE OF POTATOES.

Edit: I DIDN’T EVEN TALK ABOUT THE COLLECTABLES!!! Memory Vaults that tell you even more about the character you’re snooping around the mind of! Figments of the Imagination! EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE REPRESENTED BY CRYING LUGGAGE!!!

[jennyandvastraflint]

Thank you for the ask!! Would you give me some snippets in return, please?

2. that makes me laugh (you know that's always my favourite <3)

4. with dialogue i'm proud of

11. with characters i want to write more in the future

16. from a recent piece i want to brag about

19. from that project that was SUPPOSED to be short but then i kept writing and now it is very long

21. that i liked, but had to cut

22. that is so blissfully self-indulgent

Please also feel free to skip whichever you don't feel like doing <3

Hiii, yes of course! Always giving you snippets <3 I'll put them under a cut though, because it's rather lengthy XD

2. that makes me laugh (you know that's always my favourite <3)

Here's a bit from a WIP <3

Strax held open the door for Madame Vastra and Miss Jenny, and was promptly greeted by Jenny stumbling out and running off to relieve herself of her lunch. “This is why human means of regaining energy are inefficient,” Strax complained, waiting for Jenny to stop retching after he had gotten all their luggage down from the carriage. Vastra glared at him from where she was standing next to Jenny, holding her hand. “I rather think your rampageous driving style is to blame for this, Strax,” she called, and she beckoned him over. “Do take the luggage up to our rooms, please, and inform the landlady we will be joining you shortly.” Strax agreed with a grunt, and he began heaving the cases in. Some of the humans inside the dwelling looked at him strange, but he had no time for their “con-versations”, and he waddled past them all until he bumped into one creature with two heads stacked on top of each other.

4. with dialogue i'm proud of

Have a snippet from my Holiday in the North WIP that I still need to finish!!!

“Oh, me darling,” Jenny coaxed, tracing a finger over Vastra’s jawline. A shiver went through Vastra, and she tried hard to maintain her sulky expression. Jenny decided to lay it on thick, and she threw herself to her wife’s chest. “Oh please, dearest Vastra, me strong warrior, forgive me!” She made a little weep and cried on, “Sweetheart, I love you so, please.” A cool hand brushed against Jenny’s dry cheek, and Vastra’s arm pulled her a little closer. She heard the telltale noise of Vastra’s breath hitching, and when she looked up, squeezing out exactly one tear, she saw the dark fluster on Vastra’s cheeks. “You fell for it,” Jenny then grinned, noting the bewilderment on Vastra’s face. “I did not!,” she immediately protested, nostrils flaring. After a few seconds, she couldn’t fight off a smile, and she said, “Well… If it is worth anything, I have already long forgiven you, my dear.” She placed a tender kiss to Jenny’s lips, then drew her down to sit on Vastra’s lap. Jenny adjusted herself until she sat comfortably, Vastra’s hands eagerly fiddling with the pins in her hair. “Mmmh, someone’s needy,” Jenny hummed before she leaned in for another kiss that swallowed up a grumble Vastra had just made. Jenny’s hands wandered to Vastra’s neck, and she undid the topmost button to gently scratch some of Vastra’s scales.

11. with characters i want to write more in the future

That would definitely be the Bloomsbury Bunch, Vella, Stonn, Tom! Giving you a snippet from a WIP because I don't think I've published anything about them yet?

In another place, a Sontaran paced around the room, staring down at his calculations. Vella lazily lifted her head from her nest of blankets in the sun by the window and rolled her eyes. “Stop pacing, Stonn, you’ll run the carpets ragged.” “Ahhh, heinous reptile! It is not like you have to organise an entire wedding! And it must be perfect!” “Mamma mia, here we go again,” Vella groaned, stretching her limbs before she slid from the blankets. She towered over Stonn as she came to a halt in front of him. “Stonn. It does not have to be perfect. Tom doesn’t care, so long as you two get to spend the day together. I will never understand the fuss you are making about this… You could just go to a local church. I could eat the clergy, so they can’t try and stop you.” Her tongue flicked forth from between sharp teeth, and Stonn shook his head – that is to say, due to his lack of a neck, he shook his entire upper body.

16. from a recent piece i want to brag about

Her mind crept to sacrilegious acts, violating the solely spiritual rites of worship she had been taught, and she craved more. To worship her goddess with everything she was, everything she had and could give. She would let her goddess make her scream with pleasure, and return the favour if her deity so wished. Her lips yearned to explore, to taste the spilt blood and clean her goddess’s hands and cheeks from it. She wanted to utter unspoken prayers, press them to Jenny’s lips with hers, sing in sounds deemed too passionate for prayer. (from sing unspoken prayers with my lips on yours)

Look I just. I love this bit and this entire fic. There's something so alluring about women splattered in blood, and Vastra 100% would be turned on by that. Like she has an almost religious devotion to Jenny anyway, and just <3

19. from that project that was SUPPOSED to be short but then i kept writing and now it is very long

Did you mean literally any fic I've written, ever? I think the most prominent example for this rn is Turn Loose the Mermaids, which I unfortunately haven't written the next part for yet... I'll give you a snippet from the last chapter again dhfgjskg They're just soooooo <3 (Also, this was a scene that wasn't in my original plan AT ALL, though most of that part wasn't... I planned to introduce the crew shortly, but I decided it needed the time.)

“But other- people, the ones we rescue, and in town, they always think I’m being rude when I don’t look into their eyes.” “They don’t understand it’s difficult for you, Vastra. But you’re already doing so much to make them comfortable, they could do that one thing in return, couldn’t they,” Jenny said, and she took Vastra’s other hand, the one with the pearl necklace. “They didn’t like you flapping your hands or squeezing them a lot either, so we got you the necklace you can wear because that is seen as more… acceptable by them, right?” “Hmhm,” Vastra made, and she ran her thumb over one of the bigger pearls. “I like the necklace too, it’s very smooth. But…” She put it away and grinned as she reached for Jenny’s tied up curls. “I like this a lot more…” The curl bounced back when Vastra let go of it, and she began twirling it around her finger. Jenny felt herself fluster, like she always did when Vastra was being so gentle. Eventually, a cool hand cupped Jenny’s face, and she was drawn in for a long, gentle kiss.

21. that i liked, but had to cut

I don't really cut things, and if I do, like a sentence or two, I usually delete them entirely? Sooo, unfortunately no snippet for you here? But have a second one that might make you laugh instead!

“So you admit you sang!” Vastra let out a quiet hiss, or maybe it was a muttered curse word in Silurian. “I don’t know what planted that idea in your head in the first place, love…” Well, if Vastra would remain stubborn, Jenny just had to use any means at her disposal. “Vastra?” “Yes, dear?” “If you don’t admit you sang, and in the worst Cockney impression I’ve heard in my entire life, I’ll ask Strax to give you some lessons…” Abruptly, Vastra halted, and Jenny was yanked close by her tie. “You wouldn’t dare,” Vastra growled, her face mere inches away. Neither the darkness nor the black veil could conceal the angry glint in Vastra’s eyes, but Jenny had to admit, that gleam rather served to stroke the flames in her heart more.

22. that is so blissfully self-indulgent

Okay, I don't have one as a WIP rn, but I'll just give you something from a published fic XD Quite frankly, the entire gentle hair brushing/braiding/playing business is awfully self-indulgent... So here's a snippet from a kindest heart made me believe the world as I wish it to be

“Jenny?“ Vastra’s voice finally reached her, and though her sight was blurry, Jenny found Vastra’s eyes. “’m sorry,” she instantly gasped, and only now she noticed the tears dripping down her face. “You do not need to apologise, Jenny. I… was just wondering whether I was being too rough, if I upset you.” Vastra seemed to physically hold herself back from touching Jenny, or wiping her tears. Jenny did it herself, and she gave Vastra a smile. “I’m fine. Sorry. I- Me thoughts were elsewhere. You are being very gentle.” Vastra opened her mouth, like she wanted to ask something else, but she decided against it and shuffled behind Jenny again. Even more gentle now, she continued her work of parting Jenny’s hair. Finally, she picked up the brush and ran it through Jenny’s hair. At the first brush strokes, Jenny tilted her head back a little, following the soothing tugging. One of Vastra’s hands lay flat against Jenny’s back now, and Jenny’s mouth felt dry at the touch, her entire body trembling. The pressure on her shoulder blade felt… good, nice, and even comforting.

I hope you enjoy these snippets!!

[bunnikida]

7, 8, 15 with dazai and/or ranpo!

Hi hello 🤗

Dazai

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I love love love all the disability headcanons. This man has chronic pain! This man has partial blindnes! He needs to use crutches after the whole elevator thing! He just treats himself worse than how airport staff treats luggages, there's no way there won't be any repercussions of that. And I love that the fandom explores this <3

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

There are so many horrible interpretations of dazai that I couldn't even count them... But one of the major things that bothers me is the excessive physical abuse situation people imagine he was in with Mori. I just think it does a disservice to both the characters

There's also how horribly people misinterpret his relationship with oda... But that's for another time

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

It's soukoku. I am a very vocal advocate for kunikidazai I know, but my favourite is undoubtedly soukoku. I have so many ships for him though, he just has/has the potential for really good chemistry with a lot of characters

Ranpo

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

Aroace headcanons

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

When they infantilise him or when they insist he's a selfish and manipulative character that's secretly evil

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

Okay so. I love ranpoe okay I really do BUT it's souheki/ranzai for me. Like queerplatonic souheki owns my soul fr

I'm also a big fan of kunichuuranzai

[eloisegrant]

We need Another Deity

A/N: Okay, so this story is based on Filipino mythology because I fell down a wormhole surrounding Moon deities. Also I have Filipina heritage so this is very close to me. Would kill to see more superhero characters from less popular countries, some fun. And After re-watching Khonshu’s stoning scene, this concept popped in my head because it seemed to be a cool concept for all mythologies to have common ground.

Background information: Reader takes form of the Philippine deity, Mayari Halla (last name taken from her father, God of all Gods ‘Bathala’), she also has a brother called “Apolaki”, God of the Sun. She is the Goddess of the Moon, Strength, War, Beauty (among other things). Also she’s blinded on one eye due to a civil war between her and her brother.

Summary: This story takes place in the MoonKnight timeline once Khonshu is trapped in stone. Steven alerts Marc at once, causing them to reach out to the only individual who can help, a Goddess herself.

Warnings: none necessarily, bit of fluff and violence

Marc was at a lost for words. Why did the big bird find it necessary to escalate this far? Steven should’ve known better, yet unfortunately, here they were.

So as Marc rummages through the hotel room, constantly stuffing the luggage as quickly as possible. Steven intervenes through the reflection on the broken mirror, “Could you just let me know who exactly we’re getting?” Steven’s voice was nervous.

“Khonshu talked about another deity…” Marc continues packing up, looking for his passport and clothes for the trip, “One capable of persuading the Egyptian gods and goddesses; at least that's how he put it.” Steven scrunches his nose confused with who they were going to fetch.

“And where exactly is this other deity?” He glances back at Steven in the mirror, as he places the luggage in his hands.

“Manila.” Marc laments, putting his dark blue cap, wiping away smudges of dirt on his face as he looks in the mirror.

“Excuse me? Manila? Ammit could be released any second!” Steven panics.

“Without Khonshu, there’s no suit. No suit, no me and you. And whoever else is up there.” Marc explains to Steven, “So we need to hurry.” Marc glances down his phone, seeing the flight to Manila was leaving in 45 minutes.

Without hesitation, he gets out of the hotel, hailing a taxi in one raise of the hand. He needed to get to Manila, look for this deity and convince them to help him. He wasn’t even sure who this deity was, all Khonshu gave him was a name and some stories.

-

“There’s another one?” Marc fixes his shirt over his head, the previous mission ruined his favourite jacket so he needed to change.

Khonshu, standing over him, answers, “Yes. Mayari, beauty and terror wrapped into the ideology of the moon.”

“And you said she’s half blind?” Marc asks to keep the ball rolling.

“Her brother was a treacherous man, he changed once he saw the pain he had inflicted her with.” Khonshu moves a hand and balances on his staff.

“Sounds like a good family.” Marc vocally says but internally he thought they were crazy.

-

As Marc entered the plane, all he could do was wait. Wait for Manila. Wait till Mayari. But a man in this position didn’t have enough time to wait, they were in desperate need of a literal hero.

———>Metro Manila, Philippines

Exiting the facade of the Philippine airport, Marc is met with Steven’s reflection against the shiny metallic pillars, “How are we going to find her here?” Marc pushes back his curly locks away from his face, adjusting his glasses.

“I may know a guy.” As Marc walks through the exterior of the airport, a fully bearded man holding up the sign M.K. caught his attention. Once they met each other's gaze Marc moved to his direction.

The man greets him with a smile, “You’re Khonshu’s avatar, I presume. My name is Antonito, I am the servant to the Halla family.” He grabs Marc’s luggage and brings it over to a pearl white Land Cruiser parked on the side of the road.

“When word of Khonshu getting stoned came, not all the deities were informed. It was only a matter of time until you reached us.” Antonito prompts Marc to sit on the passenger’s seat as he maneuvers to the driver's seat.

“I wouldn’t have reached out if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.” Marc adjusts his hips as the car begins to move, “Khonshu’s methods are becoming a bit extreme.”

“I must let you know Mayari may be kind and pleasant. But she is also unsure of most things. You must convince her that the tomb of Ammit is in real danger of being exposed.” Antonito bustles through the busy streets of Manila. Marc nods as a response and glances at Steven in the rearview mirror, “Mayari?” He mouths to Marc who ignores his voice. He didn’t need to concern this man with his condition.

As the roads eventually turned into more residential ones, Antonito turned to the right through curved and unpaved roads. Marc clutches his seatbelt, cursing Khonshu for having made a decision without even thinking about the consequences.

About five minutes later, they reach a tall gate, the words Halla encrypted in golden metallic styles.

The sight was incredible, the gates opened to a garden of Eden, trees filled with fruits and bearing flowers. It seemed to be entirely picturesque, like a piece of heaven on earth. As they went further in, people by the hundred surrounded the tall white facade of the mansion in the middle of this heavenly parade.

“The Hallas are having a party.” Antonito turns the car to one of the many parking slots, “It would be intimate, you know what they say… big parties are the most intimate places.” He backs up to the parking easily, turning the car off before letting Marc hop-off next. As Marc closes the car’s door Steven’s reflection comes to ask more questions, “I’m sorry but is the deity we are about to meet Mayari the Philippine Goddess of War, the Moon and so much more?” He asks kind of giddish in a way.

“Don’t tell me you know Philippine Mythology too.” Marc shakes his head at his reflection.

“You kind of get pulled into it a bit when you study history.” Steven mentally pats himself on the back, gaining a not shocked expression on Marc’s face.

He gets pulled out of his mind when Antonito opens the trunk of the land cruiser, handing him a bagged up suit. “Meeting the Gods and Goddesses of our country means looking the part.” He hands Marc the bag, as if to automatically ask him to put the suit on. First, he hesitates, but eventually caves in since the man did have a point. Antonito makes his way to the house as Marc tries his best to be inconspicuous, changing outside of the car.

Once all dressed, he takes a good look at his reflection on the now dimming sky’s reflection on the car. “We look dapper.” Steven admires his own reflection as Marc nods in agreement, “Showtime.”

Entering the mansion, a butler opens the house to expose a facade that appeared much bigger that what it let on outside. He fixes his tie and tuxedo, glancing around to find where the Goddess Mayari was.

There!

Steven’s voice echoes in Marc’s ears as his body is directed to the woman leaning by the staircase in a glowy blue gown, hair draped ever so slightly in a bun with a few strands out to frame her face.

“You sure?” Marc whispers to himself.

Yes. 100% positive.

Marc grabs a drink from one of the waiters and asks Steven one more time, “How do you know? I don’t just wanna approach a woman randomly.”

The eyes. Mayari lost one of her eyes and that gorgeous woman over there has the exact depiction.

Marc was trying to convince himself that what Steven was suggesting was enough, but he had no time to banter and just walked up the stairs to meet the mystery woman by the staircase.

It didn’t take Mayari long enough to notice this olive-skinned man approaching her slowly and nervously.

So she starts to speak to him, “Why hello, handsome.” stepping down to meet Marc by her chest as he looks up to her. He grabs her hand and kisses it slowly, “I have never seen you around.” He gets a better glance at her eyes, one was beautifully deep chocolate while the other was an icy white

“First time here.” He steps up to meet her gaze as she looks him up and down as if he was a slab of meat. Mayari was known as the Goddess of a lot of things, one of which being beauty, and Marc looked very beautiful in his attire.

“I’m sorry but I’m here on business.” He catches on with how Mayari was slowly examining his physique, though she was an ethereal character, they didn’t have much time.

“I see.” She bows her head down and lifts one hand to Marc’s temples, confusing him. She just wanted to read his mind, trying to understand what his purpose was without having the stress of verbally communicating. As if lightning, 3 seconds and she already had the full story.

“My my… what has Khonshu done this time…” She gulps the drink in her hand, earning a relieved sigh from Marc’s lips, he didn’t have to explain anything like Antonito said. She grabs Marc’s hand and escorts him up the stairs to a more private and less noisy ground. Leading him into a room by the right wing which opened up to a massive dome shaped room filled with artifacts, armory and even its own coffee maker. Nice. He thought to himself.

Mayari began to speak once the door was shut, “When the night sky turned back to 2,000 years I thought it was a practical joke.” She moves to Marc, “It appears Ammit has tainted someone so desperately it drove Khonshu to madness.” She looks up at Marc who nods and shares what he needs.

“I wouldn’t have gone here if it wasn’t this-” Marc is cut off by Steven’s reflection roaming around Mayari’s hall of weaponry.

Mayari notices Marc’s glances behind her and looks, spotting Steven at a glance, “Appears like your mind is crowded.” She smiles back at Marc.

“Y-yeah…” He breathes out, causing Mayari to put her hand on his shoulder.

“He seems to like my things.” She looks at Steven who was gasping at the bolos in racks.

Marc shakes his head and chuckles, but gets back to the point of all this, “I need your help.” He clasps his hands into one another.

Mayari tilts her head and looks at Marc, “To bring Khonshu back?” She genuinely asks.

“Yes… No Khonshu means I can’t fight back… Which means, Ammit could be released.” He admits, making the woman tightly smile and nod in agreement.

She moves past Marc and changes as if in a blink of an eye, “Where do we start?” Mayari, now in casual attire, ties her hair and has both her eyes, instead of one.

Marc recalls what Steven said about her eye and couldn’t help but question it, “Um, how did your eye get better?” He asks.

“It’s already healed.” She walks towards Marc, “Whenever I have meetings or fights, I make it appear as the iconic look it has been for the past millennia.” She grabs a backpack with a swoosh of hand, as if she was ready to leave the house. Marc was sort of confused but let it slide but Steven was fangirling inside him.

“Not now.” Marc speaks to himself.

Marc just let me have the body on the way back and I promise.

Mayari laughs at Marc’s adorable banter to himself which makes her wonder why he was being so mean to the double in his mind, “I’d like to meet him.” She comments in the midst of Marc’s words.

“You do?” Marc raises his eyebrows as if to say no fucking way you do. But alas, Mayari nods in the most sweet and genuine way imaginable. Making Marc look at himself in the mirror, “Go ahead.” He allows Steven to front.

As soon as Steven turns around, he is met with Mayari and this makes him leap in excitement, “Is it true? That stuff about your eye?” He immediately asks.

“Ah yes… Well, I did truly get it from Apolaki.” She eyes him, “But when it healed, I decided the look was so badass, I made it stick. Plus, all my paintings are in that image.” Steven smiles softly at the thought of Mayari doing that for aesthetic purposes but it was something a Goddess of beauty would probably do. He didn’t even realize that he was staring at her with the biggest awestruck look until Marc’s voice echoed.

Hey, Loverboy. Remember. Egypt. Khonshu.

“Sorry, sorry” Steven stutters, “It’s just that… You truly are the Goddess of beauty.” His words make Mayari blush, he was quite a charmer.

“Please don’t forget, I am the Goddess of War, too. Amongst other things.” She prompts her walk towards the door, causing Steven to follow suit. “Now, let’s go to Cairo shall we?” Her hand reaches out to the body Steven was fronting but before anything, an abrupt knock disturbs them.

Mayari sighs and turns away from Steven, promptly letting his hand go. Steven was enamored at the thought that a Goddess like Mayari held him.

To Mayari’s demise, it was Apolaki, drunk out of his mind knocking on the door. “Hello sistaa-“ His words were slurred but he maintained composure as he leaned on the doorframe.

“Hello Apo, what do you want?” She shifts her weight between the left and right leg, replicating Apolaki’s lean.

Apolaki glances to the back of Mayari and spots Steven, well he didn’t know who he was so he assumed Mayari dear was getting jiggy with the man, “Oh sorry, was I interrupting a sensual moment?” Apolaki winks at Mayari. “A little too early in the night to be doing it, hm?” He wouldn’t stop teasing his sister.

In an attempt to shut him up she uses her mind control to shut his mouth, “This isn’t like that I’m afraid.” Apolaki grabbed his mouth and couldn’t open it up. He furrows his brows which was enough to earn a chuckle from Mayari. With a quick wave of the hand, she stops her mind control.

“Fucking-“ He breathes out as if he was gasping for air, “Who is that mortal anyways?” He adjusts his jaw, sobering up from his drunken stance.

Steven weakly waves at Apolaki, “The mortal is Steven.” Mayari answers his question, “… and Marc.” She adds on.

Apolaki, confused, looks behind her again. Wondering why Mayari mentioned two names when there was clearly only one man.

“They’re in the same body.” Mayari senses his confusion and answers before he could be vocal about about it.

“Ah, well…” Apolaki nods as if it was a totally normal thing, there have been more crazier things they’ve seen. But, in this world where giant purple aliens and metal men are constantly on the news, a man and another sharing one body didn’t seem to be impossible.

“Father wants me to ask you if you were going to do anything about the sky last night.” Apolaki becomes more serious with his tone.

Mayari smiles at her brother, “Yes, that’s what Steven and Marc are here for.” She extends her hand to the back for Steven to grab, which he openly accepts. Their hands intertwined.

Apolaki raises his eyebrow, “And who exactly are you?” He turns his head to the side.

Steven looks at Mayari who was staring at him, seemingly awaiting a response too. Wanting to see how he would answer. “I’m uh…” He stutters, “We actually are-“ He points to his chest, “…Khonshu’s avatar.”

Apolaki practically screams in joy, “Khonshu that son of b-”

“Apo!” Mayari scolds Apolaki before he could continue that statement.

“How is he?” Apolaki asks with a huge smile on his face.

“He is currently stoned.” Mayari answers, looking at both the men in front and beside her.

Steven nods to Apolaki’s shocked face, “Unfortunately, he pissed off the Gods and Goddesses enough… which isn’t fair cause we only want to stop Ammit from getting resurrected.” Steven explains, making Apolaki visibly change his expression.

“Ammit? Are you serious? Maya why aren’t you panicking?” Apolaki pokes his sister gently, wanting to gain a violent reaction of some sort.

“Because, if you panic you get distracted.” She confidently says with a smug smile on her face.

Steven nods and agrees with Mayari’s statement, “You gonna help?” Mayari questions her brother.

“Sadly this is on you. Send a post card though!” He screams as he exits their sights down the hallway.

“What a dick.” Mayari shakes her head, “Come on.” She pulls Steven’s body down the back of her room to a huge door that appeared to transform to a location Mayari sought out to go to.

“Ta…” she pushes a button, “…Da!” The door presents the streets of Cairo. Making Steven vibrantly clap, “That was amazing!” Steven compliments Mayari.

Blood rushes to her cheeks but she tries to be coy with it, “Oh please. It’s nothing.”

“No no, genuinely… You are amazing, Mayari.” Steven steps closer and looks down at her eyes, unaware of what he was even doing. He just knew she was hypnotizing.

She giggles at Steven’s poor attempt at flirting cause she finds it cute, “You can call me Maya.” She pinches his cheeks, “Both you and Marc can.” Marc’s voice was heard in Steven’s brain.

She sure is a beauty.

They stay like that for a couple of seconds until Maya moves away and brings them all back to reality.

“Right, so… Cairo.” She gestures to the portal door. Steven blushes at the embarrassment from his awestruck nature, so was Marc.

“Right you are.” Steven follows as Mayari crosses from her bedroom to a hidden alleyway in Egypt.

~

[shatteredsilverwing]

Different Stages of Life AU - First Sleepover Pt. 1.5

Since I have to split my First Sleepover fic up into two different posts (Thank you kindly, Tumblr~), I'm going to post the first part of it here, and the second part of it seperately... Part 1 can be found here!

Enjoy! Words and Characters in total: Words: 1,971 words Characters: 10,869 characters

DING DONG! There it was. That sound which made Sephiroth feel antsy the moment the sound reached his delicate ears. The doorbell. Well, actually, It wasn’t the doorbell itself that frightened him, but more the reason why it rang. Angel was supposed to visit him this weekend and moreover, she planned a sleepover at his place. No one has ever visited Sephiroth before, much less staying overnight. It was the very first time, so he was very jittery. His Mother’s encouragement, that he would play an excellent host to Angel, soothed his nerves a little. She also made sure to teach his son how to be a gentleman towards a lady and how to make sure that she felt comfortable and welcomed at all times.

DING DONG! The doorbell rang once more, and even though he stood right in front of the entrance door, Sephiroth still hasn’t moved an inch. He took a deep breath and reminded himself of one of the rules his Mother taught him: Never keep a lady waiting!

“Okay, Sephiroth…”, he mumbled to comfort himself, “You’ve got this…” With a shaking hand, he grabbed the door handle and, to his own surprise, accidentally flung the door open, almost crashing into Angel. “Hello, Sephy!”, Angel greeted him with a bright, enthusiastic smile, “If I had known that you were that excited to see me, I would’ve arrived earlier!” Sephiroth’s cheeks turned scarlet when he realised what she just said and immediately adjusted his posture. “Hello, Angel. "Please, come in.” He stepped aside to invite her into his home and Angel happily obliged. Even though she was carrying one of her favourite rucksacks on her back and another shoulder bag, she entered the house at an easy pace. After Sephiroth closed the door behind him, he seemed unsure on what to do next. Should he ask her if he should carry her belongings into the guest room upstairs? Should he offer her something to drink first? Just when he was about to ask her, they both heard soft-footed steps from across the kitchen. “Angel, it's good to see you! Have you arrived safely, my sweet child?” Mother Jenova hugged Angel together with her luggage into a tight embrace, almost squeezing her. But Angel didn’t seem to mind, as her smile got even wider and nodded eagerly in response.

“That’s good to hear! Sephiroth, be a dear and help Angel to carry her luggage upstairs into our guest room, alright?”

“Y-yes, Mother…”, he replied and couldn’t help but feel relieved that his Mother began to speak before he got the chance to do so. Otherwise, he probably would’ve stood there for a few seconds in awkward silence, making both of them feel uncomfortable. Angel stripped off her shoulder bag and carefully handed it over to him with a bashful smile. “I hope it’s not too heavy… I couldn’t decide which stuffed animal I should take with me…” When Sephiroth took it, he smiled at her reassuringly. “It’s not too heavy, don’t worry!” And thus, they both went upstairs with Sephiroth taking the lead. Angel was mesmerised by the size of the upper floor and didn’t know where to look first. With all the paintings, family photos and shelves filled to no end with books and sketches, the upper floor resembled a museum gallery more like. There was a lot to discover! “Who drew all of these paintings?”, she asked without averting her eyes from them. “My Mother”, he answered briefly as he headed to the door of the guest room. Angel was speechless with amazement while passing all the paintings and photos one after another, until one particular photo caught her eye. She came to a stop to take a closer look at it. In the photo, there’s Sephiroth’s Mother, Jenova, holding her beloved son within her arms when he was still a baby. If Angel would have to guess where this photo was taken, she would bet on a hospital. Probably shortly after Jenova gave birth to him. When she moved her eyes to the right side of the photo, she noticed something unusual about it. The photo was torn apart and the part that was ripped off was missing. She blinked a few times before she tilted her head in confusion, but before she could say or ask anything about it, Sephiroth already came running and pulled her away from it. “I’ll bring you to our guest room now. It’s on the opposite side of my room. Come on.” Usually, Angel would’ve scolded him for this rude gesture, but her guts told her to keep quiet and to have patience with him. There’s probably a good reason why he reacted like that, so she didn’t take it with a grain of salt. Instead, she tried to change the subject when they entered the guest room to lighten up the mood again. The room was painted in a delicate pink that matched perfectly with the carpeted floor and the pale pink curtains on each side of the window. The window reached down to the floor and had a good view on the landscape that stretched out to the horizon. The blankets and the pillows, who would have thought, were also covered with delicate pink sateen bed sheets. The bed itself looked very comfy and bouncy, Angel already planned on making use of that mattress… In the same corner where the door was, stood a wooden rocking chair that felt like it didn’t belong in this room. “I thought I was sleeping with you in a room together. A lot of children don’t have the luxury of having a guest room at home.” “I don’t like sharing my room with someone else. B-but…”, he hastily added while he turned around to face her, “that has nothing to do with you! I just… Never had a sleepover before…”

Sephiroth looked down, ashamed of his answer. He worried that Angel might get mad at him for his stupid reasoning and didn’t dare to look at her. But she wasn’t mad at him. In fact, she was more heartbroken to hear that Sephiroth never got to experience the joy of a sleepover. She knew that he hadn't had that many friends to begin with, or, none at all, rather. But this… She tenderly grabbed his other hand as well, giving them a loving squeeze. “Don’t worry, Sephy. If you don’t like it, then I can sleep here. I don’t mind.” After hearing her reassurance, he got his courage back to look at her, and when he saw her smiling gently at him, he blushed heavily and relief spread through his whole body. He even managed to return a slight smile. “Do you want to go down to the kitchen? My Mother is making some pancakes for us.” “Of course! But first, I want to see your room!” Though Sephiroth could have guessed it, he was taken aback by her demand to see his room first. It’s not like his room wasn’t clean and tidy all the time, he just didn’t find his room to be interesting in general. “Okay, but it’s nothing special, trust me.”

[To be continued]

[shyvioletcat]

Made of Ashes ❤️

Ah, Made of Ashes, my beloved. Since it’s been a hot minute this snippet is on the longer side.

~~~~~

Rowan’s parents' time in Orynth was coming to an end and it was time for them to move on. That was why he found himself at an overcrowded shopping mall on a Sunday, a place he tried to avoid on the weekends if he could help it. But his mother had asked him to come along to help since they had returned their rental car, something Rowan had no issues—he would have offered it if she hadn’t asked him first. She had promised him lunch though, even if he would make sure he would be the one paying.

They were currently in a luggage store while his father looked for a new backpack. Rowan was idling browsing the suitcases, not really looking for something for himself, the one he brought with him was absolutely fine. Maybe just in case it busted a wheel or something he’d have an idea of what one to get next. Even then he’d be more likely to fix it himself before he spent money on something new. Rowan was not a browser, never had been. He was boring himself with his own inner ramblings.

Moving on, Rowan ended up in front of the children’s suitcases. Most of them were little hardcases that barely reached past his knees, brightly colours and all kinds of characters on them. He had very little knowledge of such things and could only assume which might be princesses from popular franchises. What he did find himself considering is which one Elspeth might choose if she was here. Did she have a favourite movie? A favourite character? Maybe she was into animals rather than princesses.

“So,” Iris said, appearing next to him. “Yesterday went well, didn’t it?”

Ah, yes. The now infamous park meet up.

[kyndaris]

Vivid Osaka

From our swanky rooms at the Hilton Hiroshima, bleachpanda and I found ourselves in smaller and more cramp conditions at The Flag in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. No longer were we the highrollers of yesteryear enjoying the fruits of our labours. In the big city, we had turned into frugal peasants. Or, at the very least, that was how it felt. In actual fact, our room at The Flag was decently sized and we were able to still keep our suitcases safely stowed at the hotel. But, of course, after enjoying such an expansive room at the Hilton, the size difference came as a bit of a shock.

Still, say what you will of the room, Shinsaibashi was a very busy and bustling area to stay in with countless stores from high-end retailers to other major department stores.

Although we arrived before our designated check-in time, our rooms were ready for us to head upstairs and rest our weary souls. We had, after all, booked tickets to check out TeamLab Botanical Garden right near Nagai Station.

But first, I had determined we needed another suitcase to offset some of the things we had purchased during our time abroad and which did not fit comfortably, or at all, in our oversized luggages. These included a number of snacks and a fair few plushies. Plus, since we were nearing the end of our trip, having hit Osaka, there would be plenty of shopping ahead of us and I didn't want to limit what we could and couldn't buy.

So, off we trotted to the local Don Quijote in Dotonbori - a mere eight minute walk from where we were staying. There, I purchased a Travelist suitcase and took it back with me to the hotel. Unfortunately, as we opened it up, I discovered it had no key to its lock! And, in my haste, I hadn't realised it didn't have a number lock either!

Without a key, I couldn't reliably lock the suitcase and it was with a heavy heart that bleachpanda and I returned to Don Quijote to see if a replacement could be found, or if a key to the suitcase could be produced. Alas, it was not to be.

Still, the staff at Don Quijote were sympathetic to my plight and so they refunded my purchase so I could buy another suitcase at the store. This time, I picked out an American Tourister and made sure it had a number lock, which I could set.

Yes, it might have been a boring grey but at the very least it could help store the overflow of items bleachpanda and I would be purchasing on this leg of of this trip.

Luggage in hand, we returned to our hotel before heading out again. As we meandered down through the streets of Shinsaibashi, towards Namba Station, we tried out the nearby Tako Tako King for some quintessential Osaka takoyaki before I gently guided bleachpanda to the Pokemon cafe located in the Daimaru department store. To my surprise, there was even a Jump! store (dedicated to all things from Shonen Jump). Like the weeb bleachpanda is, she bought several stickers (as did I) of some of our favourite characters, and which we could decorate our suitcases (or future suitcase as bleachpanda would buy a baby blue one in Tokyo).

Running late for our entry into TeamLab's Botanical Garden, we hoofed it to Nagai Station to see the pretty lights that were set up at the local garden. The pictures are below:

Despite the vividness of the displays, I couldn't help but feel it was a poor man's version of Sydney's own light how in late May. Granted, it was a limited display but I'd expected something more impressive. Especially based on the pictures used to advertise the event on Klook and Google. Still, it was worth the price of entry bleachpanda paid for the two of us.

Plus, it allowed us to get in some decent steps in on what would have been a day where we might not have walked much at all (as we would have been transiting between cities).

Once we had seen all there was to see, we returned to Dotonburi to grab some dinner and also see the sights of this bustling tourist destination. There, we enjoyed some high quality Kobe beef for a very steep price not too far from the Shinsaibashi arcade (and were given a fridge magnet to commemorate the event by the staff). Still, my poor wallet took a significant hit but I thought it worthwhile to treat bleachpanda and myself to something we might never see, or in this case taste, in the near future.

After our delicious meal of Kobe beef, we strolled down through Dotonbori where my impeccable sense of direction steered us back to our hotel: The Flag.