#Pacing may be a bit fucked but I think they're doing the best they can with what they've got

[theboredbori]

I've seen a lot of people over on twitter talk ab how fast paced this whole season is, especially there last two eps, and how we rlly should've gotten 10 eps (and fuck yea we should've, I would never say no to more of these fuckers pls MAX y'all better give s3 a good runtime at least) but honestly I feel like the pacing kinda makes sense, if you're looking at the story from Ed's point of view.

We've heard Ed say "this shit is going way too fast" twice now and I actually kinda enjoy being able to relate to him bc of it, bc yea the whole story is going a mile a minute and I completely understand him being overwhelmed by the whole thing bc same, bestie. My guy can't keep up with the speed everything around him is going at (after yknow, being left behind and then in a months long drunken rage/depression/whatever else happened there and then fucking Dying? And suddenly being reunited with the guy who left him who's acting like it's all okay, more or less) so I bet everything that's going on in his head is just ab as chaotic and messed up as everything we see on screen.

That being said, how they're going to wrap this mess up in 30 minutes next week I have no clue, it's either gonna be unhinged as fuck or they're gonna pull an extra ep out of thin air who knows

[crazyyluvr]

heyy I've heard your requests are open! Could you do like a Jason Grace x gf reader where the reader has severe anger issues, but since Jason is rlly calm he is the only one who can handle her, and calm her down? I'm such a sucker for sunshine bf! X grumpy gf! trope haha

How to Anger a Demigod as a Horse 101

pairing: jason grace x gf!ares!reader

summary: in which you're very tempted to murder Hazel's magic (magically annoying) horse, but Jason's there to prevent that from happening.

genre: fluff, grumpy x sunshine (i think)

no particular place in the heroes of the olympus timeline, but they're on Argo II.

wc: 1.2k

warning/s: cursing, jason may be ooc, she/her pronouns, anger issues, jason's nickname for reader is pompeii because volcano n stuff

note: thank you for your request anon <33 i hope this lives up to your expectations. enjoy!

short oneshot under the cut :: not edited

The Argo II became more of a home to the eight demigods during their months of travel. Even though the ship would most probably get destroyed beyond even Leo's repair by the time they finished their quest of destroying Gaea, that didn't stop them from finding comfort within the Celestial bronze walls.

During that morning, most of the demigods were in the dining room, enjoying their breakfast. They were all tired and sluggish, since the night before wasn't kind to them. Usually they would take shifts when it came to guarding the ship, but everyone was awake last night due to the mini army of winged terrors that came across the flying ship, which caused them to set down on the sea near the land.

They all slept for less than four hours, and they all wanted nothing more but to add to those hours of sleep.

"GODDAMN THIS STUPID HORSE!"

Well, most of them slept. It seemed that one of them didn't find sleep as luxurious as the rest did that night.

"How does she have this much energy? It's like, seven in the morning," Percy groaned, almost faceplanting into his blue pancakes if it weren't for Annabeth's quick reflexes to hold her boyfriend's head up.

"I SWEAR TO MY DAD'S ROMAN COUNTERPART I WILL TEAR YOU TO TINY LITTLE PIECES YOU HUNK OF SHIT!"

"She's a daughter of Ares alright," Frank chuckled tiredly, rubbing his eyes. "Only she can be heard this clearly when she's all the way on the other side of the ship."

"What horse is she talking about? I thought the stables were empty," Piper wondered, not bothering to tame her typhoon hair as she sipped her orange juice.

"THAT'S MY SHIRT YOU DUMBASS — ARION THE FUCKING HAY IS RIGHT THERE — STOP CHEWING MY DAMN SHIRT!"

It seemed that Arion decided to pay them a little visit now that they were set on a monster-free dock. That would explain Hazel's absence from the table, and how she reappeared in the doorway. She turned to Jason, who was trying to shovel as much food into his mouth as he could so he can go to the stables.

"She's gonna explode again," Hazel panted, putting a hand on her knee to support herself. "I tried getting her to breathe, like you normally do, Jason, but she's not listening. She might actually go through with killing Arion this time."

Jason swallowed, wiping his mouth as he stood up. "I'll go handle it. You," he pointed to Hazel, "eat."

Leo looked up from his rubber band helicopter to stare at his best friend. "Good luck, buddy. She hasn't bit off your head yet, but that could happen any day now."

Jason chuckled. "Thanks, Leo, but I'll be fine." He left the room.

More cursing and shouts that sounded dangerously close to war cries made Jason quicken his pace as he crossed the deck to go down into the stables, where he could see flickering shadows of a girl and a horse.

"If you bite at my shirt again, I'll shove a grenade down your throat and use your insides as monster bait."

Jason stopped walking, to see if you could actually control yourself this time.

Chomp.

"THAT'S IT, I'M GETTING MY GRENADES —"

You're thundering footsteps grew louder as you approached the doorway to leave the stables. Jason stepped forward just as you were about to exit the room, putting a placating hand on your shoulder. "Woah woah, slow down there Pompeii. No need to resort to violence so quickly, hmm?"

Strands of hay were poking out from your hair — which wasn't as messy as Piper's but it was well on its way there. There were dark circles under your angry eyes, indicating that you didn't sleep a wink that night. Your knuckles were white from how hard you were balling your fists, and heavy breaths escaped your lips. Jason swore that he could see a little bit of smoke coming out of your ears.

"That goddamn horse is gonna die," you seethed, your chest rising and falling from your angry inhales and exhales. "Step out of the way, Grace."

Jason shook his head, a calming smile on his lips as he moved his hands to your hair, picking out the hay before resting on your flaming cheeks, flushed with annoyance. "Breathe with me."

"I gotta give that stupid piece of shit what it deserves —"

"I know, I know, but you gotta breathe with me first, okay?"

"But —"

"Breathe. In..." He took a deep breath in, sending you a pointed look when you didn't follow. His scolding glance made you mutter some colorful words under your breath before following along with him.

"Out..."

You exhaled with him. You could feel your anger boil down, and Jason saw and felt your shoulders let out the tension in it.

"In..." you closed your eyes.

"Out..."

You opened them once you sensed that Jason was done. "How are you feeling?" He asked you.

"Better. Still a little annoyed, but I'm better."

"Remember what we said?"

You glared a little at Jason, before sighing and looking away. "I shouldn't act on my anger unless necessary."

"And was it necessary now?"

"No..."

Jason's smile grew, putting his palm under your chin to make you look at him so he could give you a small peck on your lips. "You look like you haven't slept. How about you rest in your cabin for the day, let the rest of us handle the monsters and the bird crap on the deck?"

You shrugged, acting like you didn't really care, an act that didn't convince Jason, judging from the way you leaned into his touch. "Sure, whatever. As long as someone else makes sure that damned horse is gone by the time I'm awake." You casted a heated glare at Arion behind you. The horse simply snorted, bending down to eat the hay that you were trying to get him to eat instead of your shirt moments before.

Jason nodded, his blonde hair swaying slightly with the movement. "Deal. Let's get some food in your system before you head to bed, okay?"

"Fine."

You let Jason lead you out of the stables and into the dining room, where everyone was.

The silence that followed your arrival was awkward and tense, like they were still waiting for some aftershock of your anger.

They finally breathed when you and Jason squeezed into a chair and Jason gave you food that you ate in silence, a pensive expression on your face as your eyes were focused only on the food in front of you, paying no mind to the stares of your fellow demigods."

"How do you do it?" Leo sighed, launching his helicopter, which flew out of the room. "Even back at camp, not even her siblings could contain her. That takes skill, man."

Your half sister Clarisse, despite being known for her issues with controlling her anger, could hardly restrain you when someone decided to tick you off.

Jason shrugged, staring lovingly at you, his girlfriend, cheeks slightly puffed from the food you were chewing. "I don't know man. I just do it."

But deep down, Jason knew the truth. You would never calm down unless you let yourself be calmed down by someone you completely trusted.

Being able to make you see through your anger was not a skill Jason had, it was simply the one of the perks of being your boyfriend, and the one person you trusted more than yourself.

And Jason would rather jump into Tartarus than let anyone else have the privilege that you entrusted to him.

[thefatedthoughtofyou]

Lost And Found

Okay so Steve comes over to Eddie's for some reason and finds the poor guy fucking FRANTIC. and he's trying to calm him down but Eddie is pacing back and forth and keeps looking under the trailer like he thinks something is under there, he just can't see it and Steve is starting to get worried when Eddie finally has a word vomit and is just like,

"She's gone Steve!!! I can't I can't find her. She was here last night!! She's so pregnant Steve. And there's blood on the carpet! She's having the kittens but she's gone!!! I don't know how she even-" he hickups and wipes at the tears on his cheeks, shoves his shaking hands into his hair.

Steve's heart melts when he finally understands what's happening. But Eddie just keeps chattering, his nerves so tight by now Steve just wants to hold him. But they aren't... they haven't... Steve wants to, but he's scared. So he listens to Eddie a little longer.

"How did she even get out??? The door was locked. And Wayne knows to watch for her. He'd have left a note if she got past him. I don't know what to do?! I had a little box for her and the babies and now she's gone what do I" he cuts off on a sob and Steve grabs his wrists to keep him from yanking on his hair. Soothes his thumbs over the soft hot skin there.

"Hey. Just breathe okay. What does she look like?" Steve cups his face, his hands being careful with the scars on Eddie's face, he knows they're still tender. Eddie sniffles and hiccups again, clearly doing his best to calm down, for Steve.

"She's a big fluffy orange cat. Huge tail." He rubs at his nose with his sleeve. Steve nods.

"Okay. Hold tight for a sec okay?" And he runs to Max's trailer, does his and Max's special knock. She answers almost immediately.

"Whats up?" She looks curiously over Steve's shoulder at Eddie. Her brows furrowed.

"You got some time to lend?" Steve asks, she looks back to him and nods, immediately  grabs her coat, and shoves her feet into her boots. They bound back over to Eddie. Her hand going to his arm

"What's up buttercup?" She asks, cheerful. It's unlike her, but it makes Eddie smile through his tears, and Steve knows that was the point.

"She's gone." Eddie whines, doesn't meet Max's eyes, ducks to look under the trailer again. Max's face moves straight to concerned

"Princess Fluffybottoms?" She asks, ducking to look too as Eddie nods .

"There was blood." Max sucks in a breath and hugs her arms around her to fight the chill.

"The babies." She says, looking to Steve. They frown and then nod to each other. Steve cups Eddie's elbow, wipes at his red cheeks with his sleeve.

"Go get your coat. We'll find her. I promise." Eddie sniffles again but stumbles up the stairs to get his coat.

And of course. That's not exactly a promise Steve can make. One he may not be able to keep. But he does. Well, Max does. About half an hour later. They hear her yell from across the trailer park.

"I GOT HER!!" Steve has never seen Eddie  move so fast. And he knows he shouldn't be running like that. His scars still cause him pain sometimes but Steve doesn't have the heart to stop him. Eddie yells over his shoulder for Steve to grab the box from the living room. He does as he's told.

When he finds them, box in hand. Eddie is sitting cross legged with Max pressed to his side. He's holding a huge fluffy orange cat to his chest, there's a bit of blood on her but it doesn't look to bad. Max has her hands gently cupping a small kitten. The big cat is clawing Eddie's shoulder, pulling him closer to her, not wanting him to let her go. Eddie is whispering to her, and Steve thinks he might actually turn into a puddle.

"Hey it's okay girl. I got ya. How'd you get out huh? I had that door locked tight." The cat nuzzles closer to him, Steve can hear her purring. He kneels down, lets Max put the kitten in the box while she stands. She takes it back to keep it warm as they walk inside. Steve helps Eddie up and they go back to the trailer. They settle her by the heating vent while she has the rest of her littler. Eddie laying on the floor right next to her, petting her softly as she mewls in pain a few times.

The kittens are all healthy, they're so small. Steve had never seen anything like it. And Eddie had been amazing. Just helping keep her calm. She bathed them and fed them and then they all fell alseep. The mama purring as Eddie laid there watching them for a moment. Max patted Steve's shoulder and headed for the door.

"Thanks Red." Eddie calls gently over his shoulder.

"Anytime sunshine. You let me know when I can come give those critters some love okay?" She says, smiling and giving Steve a salute as she leaves.

Eddie gets up a little bit later. Washes his hands. Changes his clothes. He asks Steve if he needs a change of clothes. But he hadn't been crawling under trailers the way Eddie had been for who knows how long before Steve turned up. Steve's sitting on the edge of the couch watching the kittens sleep when Eddie comes back. He sighs and sits down next to Steve.

"They're so small." Steve whispers. And then leans back. He glances to the side and sees Eddie nodding. A small smile starting to curl his lips.

"Sorry I freaked you out." Eddie says, glancing at Steve and biting his lip.

"Dont be." Steve says, too serious, he knows. But today was... so fucking Eddie. He turns on the couch to face Eddie. His arm moving to rest on the back of the couch. He moves his fingers slowly into Eddie's hair. Steve's breath catches as Eddie's eyes flutter shut at the touch.

"Don't ever be sorry for how much you care. Okay?" He moves his knuckles across Eddie's forehead, down over his cheek, the skin there is still pink from being out in the cold. Eddie nods, softly, sweetly, his eyes blinking open to look at Steve.

"Thank you."

Steve nods, feeling awkward. He hadn't done anything. And then eddie grabs his free hand. The one he'd left resting on his thigh, he squeezes.

"I'm serious. Thank you." He puts emphasis on it.

"I- for what?" Steve hadn't meant to say that. He'd opened his mouth to say you're welcome. Eddie's brow furrows but he doesn’t move his head. A part of Steve deep inside tells him maybe he doesn't move because he doesn't want Steve to stop touching him. But the way he's looking at him, all open, and maybe a little sad. It makes Steve move a little, feeling self-conscious. Eddie moves. Finally. His fingers curling around Steve's wrist and pressing. Hard.

"For caring too. About... everything. About the kids. About the cat. About... me." His teeth dig into his lip again, and Steve's heart thumps in his chest as Eddie presses closer, their noses brushing.

"Is this okay?" Eddie asks, nervous. Steve can hear it. And he can't have that. He turns his hand in Eddie's grip, curls his fingers around Eddie's wrist. Mirroring his grip and breathes,

"Yes." Against Eddie's mouth as he closes the distance between them. Finally.

The kiss is short. And sweet. And soft and warm. The perfect kiss after the day they've had. Eddie pulls away first, smiles a big dopey smile at Steve before tucking his face into Steve's neck, holding him close.

Steve laughs into Eddie’s shoulder. Both of them giddy from the nerves of the day and the release of finding the cat and kitten and getting to safety and warmth.

They fall asleep like that. Next to the box of sleeping kittens, tangled together on the couch. They wake up covered in a blanket, both of them smiling as they watch Wayne cooing down at the babies in the box.

@friendly-jester said something very clever here in our messages about some of the party taking the kittens home and such which prompted this little ending:

Max obviously gets first pick! And Eddie keeps two. Because Steve says "no thank you." and he knows it's because his parents would flip their shit if they found it, even though Steve doesn't say that.

So the next time he comes to Eddie's after the babies have all been housed Eddie is like,

"I have something for you." As he's sitting on the couch, his kitten curled up on his shoulder under a blanket of his hair. And Steve says,

"oh yeah?" All suspicious. And Eddie nods to a shoe box on the table. Steve lifts the lid with one finger, waiting for something to jump out at him or something, but he gets the lid off and a little, mostly white, kitten just pokes it's head up slowly and blinks at him all sleepy before letting out the softest meow as it looks up at him.

[factorialsotherfandoms]

As suggested by @becauseplot, xcomau sparring with Codebreakers! (I'll save egg times for later and have some planned out but may swap eggs before I get there). I... apologise for the invading Fit?

Hidden... not quite injury? There's some angst in here. It was supposed to be fun. Well I had fun. Also some non-graphic nudity and a distinctly unsexy shower scene. It is a bit homoerotic though. Welcome to qsmp.

"Phil. Phil. Phil. Phil."

"Etoiles, I said no!" Philza half-laughs with the words, used to this nonsense from everyone; at least from Etoiles it is genuine respect, not simply a dare.

"But Pomme! You love Pomme. I love Pomme. She wants to see you fight me, yes?"

Philza looks over to Pomme, who honestly looks like she could not care less as she shows off her new shoes to her siblings. He is about to say as much, before his eyes catch on Chayanne. His son has wonder and excitement in his eyes, quickly blinked away as he turns back to also compliment her outfit.

"That's a low blow," Philza half teases, already walking over to the rack of training weapons. "Using your daughter like that."

"So you will fight me? Properly? With swords."

"/Training/ swords," he forces. "I haven't touched a blade in years, you ain't getting me close to something sharp."

Etoiles brightens like the stars he is named after, running over to pick one for himself. Philza looks them over, trying to remember how to pick one even as the excitement of his son bubbles in his mind. If Chayanne has managed to infect the other children with the idea... God, they're going to have a fucking audience, aren't they?

Sure enough, by the time that Philza has warmed up, a not so small crowd has gathered in the gym. The kids are sat on the floor at the edge of the mats, while at least half of the adults are either sat on the benches, or standing around behind them.

Pac, Mike, and Tubbo are very obviously running bets, scampering around with a set of notebooks. Fit... seems to be wrangling them, except that he glances over to Philza with a grim - concerned - expression on his face.

Everyone else looks excited, and the weight of expectation is as it is; Philza makes a small gesture for him to back down. Fit catches it, and returns to herding cats with a solemn nod.

Nobody else seems to catch the interaction at least. Philza really, really does not want to make a show of it, but now a show is here...

He rolls his shoulders. Despite the careful stretches his back smarts. He swears, pretends he stubbed his toe on the corner of the mat, and prepares.

Etoiles is of course ready. Etoiles is a great many things more than a swordsman, but he is always ready, even when he is bouncing slightly in anticipation.

They do not need words to communicate, just eye contact and a nod. The crowd chatters as they circle each other. Philza has not fought a human since... some guards, back when guards were still human. Fit, once or twice. Techno...

Etoiles thinks he sees an opening, darting in. Philza parries, ducks to the side, and the fight truly begins. Once Philza was a god of the battlefield, now time and injury leave an abyss in their wake.

He is not, however, as stupid ass to fall for the tricks.

Etoules is honourable, straight forward, and fights friends only to help them keep themselves safe.

Philza is treason, and deception, and has always fought to rip the world back into shape by the skin of his fucking teeth.

They don't realise that, here, just how dark he can be - he hung up his sword for good reason, and he does not want to be that fucker again.

He doesn't want to be, but it was also always him.

Etoiles comes close. Philza twists, moving as though to raise his sword and instead kicking the other man in the ribs. He does not hold back - five years ago he would have broken ribs with that kick, but he knows he skips gym these days.

Still, Etoiles stumbles back a few paces, grinning as he does, "good kick! Good kick!" He calls, "I told you, you're the best!"

"The only best here is you," Philza calls back, watching close as Etoiles uses the banter to come close. "Etoiles, the goat."

Philza darts forwards this time. Instinctively, his wings move to assist. With difficulty, he holds his mangled musculature in place.

"This? This is just me hitting silly sticks," Etoiles calls as they clash their weapons together. "You're the real goat! You see everything!"

Philza does not fucking see everything, but he forces his grin into a smile and keeps up a relentless attack. Every strike he tries, Etoiles blocks. Every block he makes, Etoiles gets a little closer.

Sloppy. He has gotten sloppy with time.

Lost in the fight and the play and the laughter, Philza darts in again. This time Etoiles kicks him. Philza stumbles back, seeking his footing again.

He flares his wings.

He falls

He *screams*.

He tries to convince himself it is a shriek of rage, but he sees Fit stand, feels Chayanne and Tallulah's worry, hears the murmur of the crowd. By rules of the fight he has lost, sprawled on the floor as he is.

By the rules of the fight...

"Phil?" Etoiles immediately softens, stepping close and lowering his blade.

Philza has two choices: admit his weakness, or pretend it is a fucking game.

He keeps his wings entirely still as grabs Etoiles' wrist, pulling himself up and twisting it sharply - not enough to break it, but nearly.

The sword falls to the floor. Without thinking Philza grabs it, pushes Etoiles to the floor, holds it to his neck.

He is breathing hard, body straining under the position.

Etoiles looks at him not with fear, but concerning his eyes.

"Ça va?"

It's barely a whisper. Philza...

Philza drops the sword to the side, rolling off Etoiles' stomach and fighting the fucking pain to find his breath.

"You won the fight," Philza says. "But our enemy is a fucking shit. Don't let your guard down. Even when they're dead they might fuck you up."

Etoiles nods, eyes calculating.

Behind them, Fit whispers something to Pac, who nudges Mike and Tubbo. Between the three they stir the crowd into arguments over the betting.

"Good fight," Philza offers Etoiles.

"Good fight, good fight!" Etoiles agrees. "Next time, you will win properly."

Philza laughs, "I doubt it, mate; I'm out of practice."

"Then practice with me!" Etoiles offers. "At least help me train the kids! Chayanne would love to have you there."

"Etoiles," Philza does not have he fucking oxygen to laugh. "Don't give him ideas. I'm gonna get a shower, you coming?"

He doubts that anyone else could see the strain in Etoiles' smile as he waves him off, mentioning something about a bet with Antoine. Philza leaves it be, ducks around the now excitable crowd, and vanishes himself into the shower.

Under the water - hot, thank Tubbo - his muscles sting. His arms and his legs and his chest, all fine, but his back - his wings - where he cannot reach...

It is not just a sting, not really.

He grits his teeth through the shower gel, and rinsing it off. Cleaning his back without getting soap on his feathers is a nightmare, but one he's lived with his whole life.

But once the cleaning is done...

He rests his head against the tiles, eyes shut, and tries to remember how it feels to breathe.

The water is hot, and the tile is cool, and the agony begins to cool.

Nearly ready to face the world, there is a knock on the wall besides the shower curtain. Startled Philza turns, relaxing only as he sees the familiar form of Fit shadowed on the fabric.

"Hey Fit," he calls. "I was just finishing up."

"Yeah?" Fit replies. "And what was all that about then?"

"I'm fine."

"Philza. I've known you since you were twenty one and stupid. You're not fine."

Fit already knows - Fit was there - and Philza does not have the energy to argue.

"Come in, then, if you really want to see me naked."

"I always do, big boy," Fit responds.

The shower curtain shifts, and then falls back into place. Fit, also naked, prosthetic removed, joins Philza in the shower.

His eyes, immediately, fall on Philza's back.

"What did you break?" Fit asks.

Philza laughs in reply.

"Can I touch?"

"Go ahead, I can't stop you."

"Don't you know it."

Fit presses in close, and places his hand on his back. Gently at first he traces over smarting skin, and then combs his fingers through feathers as he checks.

"I think I just strained it is all," Philza replies. "I'll be fine in the morning."

Fit keeps working; Philza hasn't been fine in a very, very long time.

From gentle, assessing touches, Fit moves on to massaging across Philza's shoulder, and down his spine. Philza has no doubt the man will drag Missa into a joint preening session later, but for now...

"Etoiles is worried, you know?" Fit says. "He knows something is up. Most of them do."

"So long as they keep it to weird looks not questions, I don't fucking care," Philza replies. "I can fight fine with a gun and Crow, I don't need this."

Fit runs two fingers across the mangled tops of Philza's wings, the bones twisted where they healed out of shape, but in such a way it just looks like he was born with them malformed. It's normal, for an Avian, for their wings to be fucked up. Why wouldn't Philza's be the same?

He misses the sky. Fuck, he misses the sky so goddamned much.

The fingers press into an especially sore spot. For a moment Philza is blinded by the memory of much crueller hands, of something purple and something sadistic.

He gasps, and it is gone, just him and Fit in the shower again.

"Do you need some of my painkillers?" Fit asks, quiet despite his voice, almost hidden in the noise of the shower.

"I'll be fine. Just need to let it rest," Philza replies. "I should get to my shift. It's probably time, right?"

Fit hesitates, but hums an agreement. Philza has no doubt that some will appear at some point, probably on his tray with lunch. Still, if neither asks, neither tells.

"You should tell him," Fit says. "Etoiles. If you're going to keep fighting together, he needs to know."

Philza winced as his back tensed, "later. I'll do it later."

"Phil."

"What? Are you going to tell Pac about-"

Fit slams a hand over Philza's mouth.

"That's different!"

Philza licks him. Fit pulls away; Philza wins, and turns so they're face to face.

"I've got work. Will be seeing you. Want me to send Pac over?"

"Phil!"

Philza doesn't care for the mock offence. He laughs as he ducks around Fit. The showers are empty, except for the two of them - suspiciously empty. He can hear Fit follow him out of the shower, but ignores him as he dresses.

They don't ignore each other - not exactly. Fit helps Philza tie his shit behind his neck, back still too sore to reach up himself, and they brush arms when the vulnerability has them loose themselves in fear for a second or three. Still, they say nothing more - what else needs to be said?

Outside the door, Etoiles waits. Philza is a little surprised to see his kids are not, but maybe Missa woke up already.

Etoules watches him, but does not say much. Its uncharacteristic how quiet he is - or maybe not, as he analyses.

Philza greets him, and walks past.

As he walks away he feels assessing eyes on his ugly, scarred back.

[boylikeanangel]

can you please share a bit more of your thoughts on the spoilers? i haven't seen them anywhere and it would be nice to know them coming from you

hiii tumblr mobile does not give timestamps for asks so idk if this is in regard to the spoilers from the interviews or the screenings but all my thoughts are kinda connected to both so SPOILER WARNING FOR THE FIRST TWO EPISODES OF SEASON 2 UNDER THE CUT LALALALA

I don't even know where to start like. I have been in a state of shock all day because literally everything my friends and I speculated about is real. literally all of it. all of our wildest theories about aziraphale and crowley's first meeting were confirmed by the fans who saw the screening. I have never won this fucking hard and ive won AT GOOD OMENS OF ALL THINGS. 2022 me would be laughing. june 2023 me would be laughing. two days ago me would be LAUGHING. I genuinely think this may be one of the best seasons of tv ever guys

like. do you understand. how much this changes. how our understanding of crowley and aziraphale's dynamic throughout time has been totally flipped on its head. aziraphale approached crowley first. crowley was the one who sheltered aziraphale with his wing. so eden was aziraphale returning the favour. DO YOU UNDERSTAND. AZIRAPHALE FELL FIRST. HE DIDNT TAKE SIX THOUSAND YEARS TO CATCH UP. HE HASN'T BEEN CLUELESS THIS ENTIRE TIME. they've literally been connected this entire time, right from before sides or the concept of evil or hatred or enemies were even invented. of course they'd never buy into the whole "hereditary enemies" thing. AZIRAPHALE KNOWS HIM. HE KNOWS CROWLEY. HE'S ALWAYS KNOWN HIM.

and it doesn't even feel like a retcon. it doesn't feel like we need to ignore a bunch of stuff from season 1 to accept or enjoy the added content this season. it's literally just. more shit to help quantify the depth of their love for each other. their connection over countless millennia. I mean if you go back to the very first scene in season 1, aziraphale literally does a double take when crowley appears next to him. that's him realising who it is. he fucking recognised crowley and freaked out for a second. that's why he didn't hear what crowley said!!! he was processing!!!! AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON HOW MUCH MORE SHIT FROM SEASON 1 HURTS NOW. AZIRAPHALE PLEADING WITH CROWLEY BECAUSE HE WAS AN ANGEL, ONCE. CROWLEY WANTING TO TAKE AZIRAPHALE AND RUN AWAY TO LIVE IN A GALAXY THEY HELPED BUILD TOGETHER. AZIRAPHALE ALWAYS TELLING CROWLEY NOT TO QUESTION GOD AND BEING SO AFRAID TO DO THE SAME BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT'S EXACTLY WHY CROWLEY FELL IN THE FIRST PLACE. it's not retconning its just making everything worse!!! azcrow is canon and everything is worse now!!!!!!

the biblical minisode. well. I cannot think about that without having to pace around my house like a person going into labour. I literally stress cleaned my entire house earlier to distract myself from thinking about it. crowley has always always ALWAYS protected aziraphale. always. literally the only reason aziraphale has never killed anything is because crowley has protected him from ever having to do that. crowley's dedication to preserving aziraphale's goodness and allowing him to be his own definition of angelic/holy is the greatest act of service he could bestow upon him and it makes me SICK because him pushing aziraphale to kill adam in 1x06 after all that shows just how desperate he was. both of them realising and understanding at the exact same time that the only person in the universe who really understands them or knows what they're going through is the other, the only person they can rely upon is the other, its just. we've been so wrong. about aziraphale. about the extent to which he knows how important crowley is to him. he's always known. he's just been so afraid. him being prepared to fall to keep doing what he believes is right is so fucking heartbreaking and weve done him such a disservice all these years for calling him naive and mocking him for being slow on the uptake. HE'S ALWAYS KNOWN. HE JUST COULDN'T DO ANYTHING WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE. AND THAT'S SO MUCH WORSE

basically I have never been more scared in my entire life because if they packed this much into the first two episodes and it was deemed tame enough to show ahead of release then what the fuck is in the next four. what are we getting ourselves in for . it's really dawning on me the scope of what this experience is going to be and I simply dont think im going to survive it. again I never expected any of this. this was my definitive "high hopes low expectations" season of tv and it's now it's shaping up to be one the best things I've probably ever seen in my life and. it's cognitive dissonance in its crystallised form. how did we fucking get here.

AND GOOD OLD FASHIONED LOVER BOY??????? PLAYING IN CROWLEY'S CAR AS HE GOES TO MAKE UP WITH AZIRAPHALE?????? SAY SIKE RIGHT NOW THIS ISN'T FUNNY

in conclusion

[yandere-fics]

♡ How They Affirm Their Transfem Darling's Gender ♡

(I got this request in the dms, they aren't the best at it but my ocs are really trying, they're just all really stupid and all have their own ideas of what would be helpful, their intentions really are in the best place though! Anyways I hope this is what you wanted.)

♡ Despite Miriel being trans herself she really doesn't know much about what to do for a human, she takes special estrogen that was provided by the elves but she's unsure if that's even safe for you to take or if you even want to take her elf estrogen, she will be consulting the elders back home though because she really never checked if her elf estrogen is safe for human consumption or if it'll start elfing you, obviously even if you can't take it though she has enough money to pay for whatever you need or want to get done. Be warned that any notion of personal style is thrown out with her regardless of gender and if you want to wear clothes that fit your own style instead of the clothes Miriel is likely to dress her darling in, you will have to convince her. Also Miriel lacks ANY tact at all, if you haven;t come out or realized you're trans yet she'll realize it for you, since she was young she knew her mate would be a girl/fem leaning even if she didn't know many other details and she will come up to you and proclaim you are trans, she knows it. ♡

♡ Eliza shockingly has more tact that Miriel when it comes to this, she may be stupid but even she knows that such comments might be too pushy at first, once you do come out to her though then she's going to be a bit obnoxious with how hard she's trying, opening doors, carrying all your bags, she can't let her precious girlfriend do all that stuff, it's a bit infantilizing but she really wants to make you feel like she is your big strong wolf who will do everything you need and you can just be her petite girlfriend while she's your big butch wolf, though she doesn't really mind how you want to present, if you like to dress more masc she's not going to mind, just know she is always going to treat you like her little puppy. She has a very good care package working for the boss too so anything you want to get done will happen, just be warned you will have to sedate her during your surgeries otherwise she's going to be in the room growling at the doctors that they better not fuck up and making them all really nervous. Btw being trans is not going to stop her from getting you pregnant so do not think you're safe, she will find a way. ♡

♡ Selene has a harder time affirming your gender mostly because she lives out in the middle of nowhere wolf territory and so she'd need to take you to the city for any clothes or new things you need to get or want done, she'll act all moody about being in the city until she sees your happy face, though do expect her to ask for lots of affection for this, she won't ask for dick sucking, she'd feel bad asking for that in exchange for something this important, she is thinking it, she is willing to go to the city for you as many times as you need, though if you keep going for clothes, expect a "damn woman how many clothes do you need?", she's not seriously bothered though, she'll do it as many times as you want, eventually you may want to online shop or ask the temple dedicated to her mate to get you stuff from the city so you don't exhaust poor homebody Selene. Eventually she'll get so used to it that she'll be sad if you don't ask her to go to the city for new clothes or whatever it is you want at least once a year. ♡

♡ Likely the best of the bunch, she knows this is a very important thing and she'll be slow and patient with it, going at your pace and only pushing you when she knows you need a little bit of a push and courage to take the next step, she can also control herself in hospitals even though she's raging inside about them potential injuring you, still she manages to get through everything without you freaking out and she's amazing at aftercare, she memorized everything the surgeon said perfectly, though it can get a bit annoying when she's correcting you on what the surgeons said and making sure you do everything down to the letter. She's also in a very great place to be able to take care of your every want and desire, she's close to the boss and has priority on things, isn't afraid of being more in debt to the boss if it gives her more power to help her mate, and beyond that even without help she makes a lot of money and has a lot of time she is able to take off so she'd be able to spend entire weeks with you changing your wardrobe if that's what you want, it also affirms her cause she gets to be your big strong butch lesbian mate. ♡

♡ Much like the elves, angels have developed their own HRT, just be warned if this is the route you're going on, you're going to be so sleepy and you'll notice every part of you suddenly feels soft, squishy, and very cuddly, congrats, you have just become an optimal angel nap partner, you're not actually an angel but you will notice you act more meek towards her so if you don't want to have to listen to her and be tired very often this is not for you, she won't really understand if you don't want angel estrogen but she'll allow it. She's very scary in the operating room, no one can sedate her and every doctor in there is praying to escape with their life. If anyone even messes up a pronoun once, you'll have to convince her not to disintegrate them or don't honestly they really should be more careful in the city, they were begging to be killed by a supernatural one day. ♡

♡ Runa is a massive pervert and so she thinks the best way to affirm is to be so sexual and make it clear she thinks of you as a really really hot girl, making sure you know just how much she wants to fuck is her way of trying to be helpful even if it isn't the most helpful, she'll also force you to put on a million different cosplays and take pictures while giggling and being like "my adorable cat girlfriend!". Also she does not care about what you have going on, you're going to sit on her face because how could she have a girlfriend who has never sat on her face, if you don't have the right parts for it, you'd better get used to ass eating real fast, she's going to do it. If you want surgeries or new clothes she'll have to kidnap a doctor and have it done in her apartment, there are programs for cheap or free surgery in the city but she really just can't have you taken from her so it'll have to happen in her apartment, she'll steal HRT too even though that's free and easy to get ahold of in the city, any clothes will get purchased online, don't worry she'll take your measurements very thoroughly. ♡

♡ Nora actually is pretty confident about this for once, she has no reason to fear messing up because why would she? You're her reason for living and that's all that matters. She also has the method of making you feel petite next to her and I mean she's so fucking tall, she's very solid, and very strong so how can you not feel dainty next to her, unless you're somehow taller, if you don't like that method she will change it though, she just wants to do what will make you happy, even if that means pretending to be a bit more submissive and calling you mommy, she'll do it even if she really doesn't like it cause affirming your gender expression matters most of all to her. She's in a decent enough spot to get you what you need and though she hates having to interact with Sawyer, she will for this, she'll barely sleep too, she'll spend all her days getting a new wardrobe with you and then at night she'll do all her work. She has to be sedated for your surgeries so she doesn't have a anxiety attack. ♡

♡ Sawyer can just nap her finger and make what you want to happen, happen and she has an infinite amount of resources at her command for you so buy whatever you want honey, seriously buy it because it's how she shows love, she'll be sad if you don't buy a whole new wardrobe, she needs to adorn you with her cash. You'll also have to forgive her after she transforms you because she'll have to sit down and hide her boner, just using her powers on you so intimately and seeing your smile made her really turned on, she didn't mean to and she feels a bit ashamed that she got turned on even when it shouldn't have been sexual, just give her a bit to cool down then she'll be happy to take you out on a date so you can finally enjoy this new body you have. ♡

[imaginespazzi]

i know washington gotta be so dirty at indy cause they prolly thought indy would be at least a little bit better this season and they could tank "subtly" or "respectably". i think mathematically washington has to lose at least 7 more games than indy this season to have the worst 2-yr record, and so they prolly thought ok well if indy can get to at least 15 wins or more, then maybe it'll look kinda ok if we only put up like 8 wins or so 🥴 and here they are now, like indy's on pace for barely an 8-win season, meaning washington can at best win 1 game if they're really committed to the tank, but like bruh that's just beyond embarrassing, like just let it go atp and let your team fucking play!

also, la would have to lose at least 5 more games than indy and phoenix would have to win at most only 3 more games than indy (and something tells me neither of those will happen)

so, we really gotta manifest some sort of miracle that any of the other 3 lottery teams get the #1 pick despite that having only happened twice in the last 10 years. It may be improbable, but not impossible! 😭

Damn thank you for doing out the math for how many games! Like I knew the chances were not looking so good but this really puts it into perspective.

I've come to peace with the Mystics tanking by just letting myself believe they're actually tanking for Azzi because as you've clearly painted out, they're really just not getting Paige.

Phoenix just doesn't have the incentive to lose and Indiana's so trash that I just don't see that happening. But maybe LA? It's seeming less and less likely but they really are my only hope.

Please Cathy just rig it for GSV, I'll never ask for anything else every again, just do this one little thing for me 😭

[hexhomos]

What’s the best way to write an unreliable narrator? How can we communicate to the readers that it is an unreliable narrator, without bluntly stating that in the author’s notes? How can we make sure we’re writing the “correct” narrative versus just mischaracterizing someone? What are the biggest mistakes when writing for it and how can we avoid them? Lastly, what do you think makes an unreliable narrative story compelling (or not compelling, depending on your stance)?

This ask has been in my backburner for a good number of months, partly because I think it's a really good (and really difficult to answer!) set of questions. It goes back to the original debate over how to spot or define an unreliable narrator, what difference the medium they exist in makes, what can be taken as authoral intent and what can be written off as the audience's projection, etc. This varies depending on the story. This is all complicated stuff people have written entire books on -a lot of which I have not read, so I'm no particular authority- but I DO happen to frequently enjoy unreliable narrators and tend to gravitate towards them in most stories that appeal to me. I like how they embrace the idea that No Point Of View Is Ever Neutral, that the act of writing itself or telling a story in any way IS choosing a side, a scope, a voice, a point you are trying to make or sentiment you are trying to evoke, and that "neutrality" is a flimsy illusion. In its most literal manifestation, neutrality is just... centrism. Centrism *is* taking a side. It just happens to be the side of pissbabies, most of the time.

The unreliable narrator throws away any pretense of narrative neutrality by way of Existing and hemorrhaging their opinions all over a text. And I think that's compelling, because in many ways they're the MOST honest type of character in fiction. They just also achieve that by lying???? It's that central contradiction which makes them incredibly fucking funny.

So yesterday I stumbled upon these tweets:

And they started marinating in the back of my head. That's sort of the whole thing, right? Its hard to give you a bullet list of "Things To Do When Unreliabling Your Narrators," because that depends on the type of person they are and what, specifically, causes the unreliability. A child who knows less about the world is unreliable in one specific way, an adult who knows too much and has an specific agenda is unreliable in ANOTHER way. They may be completely or partially unaware that the reality they describe is fabricated. They may be fudging the line of fact and fiction to save face, make a point, or convince you of a belief. And the thing is that... you cannot always tell? Sometimes a character is just stupid. Katniss hungergames is famously unreliable for just reading people wrong and having a shit judgement of social interaction; you could also argue that every character is a bit unreliable in that way.

In a lot of cases it takes a second perspective to show how someone's account of an event is flawed. Visual and written media can do this in different ways, and it only expands if you consider things like audiodramas or interactive games. (Consider how viktor's bio presents him as a prince of logic and measurement, whereas his voicelines have a deeply unreasonable guy ranting about his Absolute Truth having to be imposed on everybody, or have it destroy them altogether.) Personally, I can't really think of a way this could be done 'wrong' - it comes down to boring stories vs interesting stories if you truly need me to find examples, but that's a failure of things BEYOND just the unreliability of the narrator. Like structure, pacing, clarity of message, that kind of stuff. The only way I believe you can ever 'fail' at doing one is if you, as an author, notice that details you WANTED readers to take from your story are not at all present on readings of your text.

And even that is hard to quantify! People will misinterpret texts even at their simplest level, like ~'American Psycho Is not about a mass murderer, the murders never happened (despite them being described or shown in detail) that was just all in his head!' is an actual argument you will find on the internet. At a certain point you can't take responsibility for those who don't get it, or you'll never write anything out of fear. I DO think that fandoms tend to make that conversation a lot harder and run with most things at face value, and I worry about that a lot, so I plaster my stuff with context tags. Not everyone may enjoy this, but it makes me feel less insane when putting stuff online and fearing that.. it won't be properly questioned.

TL;DR - Find what makes your narrator unreliable. Exacerbate it when writing their point of view. What things do they emphasize? What things do they hide, through incompetence or omission? Why? What contradictions can be found in the things they say VS what they *actually* do? The biggest mistake any author can do IMO is to make shit boring. Aside from that, I think any sufficiently fleshed out character can be compelling, they just need to given a corresponding narrative to excel on.

[dandyshucks]

update on stuff (cw abuse i guess)

hi sorry for serious post but again things keep looking like they're going to get better and then they somehow get Worse instead.

tl;dr my brother will be moving in for a bit, and this disrupts the one space i have in the entire goddamn world where i can relax even a little bit, so I probably will not be around for. a while. unless i figure out how to cope enough to get out of survival mode so i can like... have fun.

brother will be moving in for an undetermined amount of time (hopefully just for a month, but it is hard to find places to rent in town so I feel like it may be longer than just one month). he'll be moving into my section of the basement, and I guess my stress is a little bit my fault because my parents have always told me I should be constantly ready for any siblings to move back home at any moment just in case, but unfortunately I kind of let my guard down on that one so this is hitting me badly.

as scary and unsafe as this hell house is, my section of the basement is literally the One place in the whole fucking world where i've been able to feel like I can just. rest. to some degree. because I do not have to be On and Masking and Hiding Myself from others (because nobody is around when i'm down here usually). so that "safe space" will be taken away from me (this sounds ungrateful and bratty, sorry, i do not know how to word it better and maybe i am being bratty and ungrateful idk) and i will ... have no space to just. let my guard down even a little bit. i can't even go for walks alone like I used to because of wildlife becoming a safety issue around our house.

anyways. sorry this is way more info than i need to give probably but i'm struggling to put any of this into words at all so... shrugs uncomfortably. i am going to step away from here for a bit bc i'm genuinely afraid I'm going to go into some kind of episode and I don't want to freak people out. also I literally cannot do anything Fun rn because i just feel so fucking scared and cut off from reality, so even though the stuff on this blog is literally a coping mechanism, i'm far below the mental ability to engage in that level of coping. the coping we're looking at rn is like... breathing and pacing and huddling and methodical cleaning for the sake of keeping myself from falling apart.

i want to end off with my usual "oh well! life goes on! just gotta keep trucking forward!" type of thing but to be entirely honest i just dont have it in me to do that rn. this also might sound really stupidly dramatic and I am sorry if it comes off that way - there is a lot of abuse and trauma that I do not talk about and will not talk about that is contributing to how this feels for me. i'll do my best to stay safe and all, and again I really do apologize for like. posting any of this. I think part of me wants to reach out somewhere for attention but also I do genuinely just want to sort of ... explain why I'll very likely be disappearing for a while. and as we know i am the rambling rambler and overexplainer :'''')))

[lnights]

@10yearsofblindchannel happy Joel Day!

Joel day 1,011 words, hinted JoelxOlli, baby channel

Graduation felt like it was looming upon him. He knew that was probably a bit dramatic, but it was really all he could think. 

His parents kept telling him he had to figure out his life, that he couldn't keep dreaming of being a rockstar forever, especially since his band had folded.

His father told him to be grateful he got as much as he had; there was a lot of bands that never got to release an album like they did, that never got to play the shows he was able to play with the others and he should be happy he at least got to live his dream for a little bit while he was still in school and still being supported by them.

His mother would tell him the same, that he was able to have his band and he should be happy with what he had and leave it at that

But it's not what he wanted, he wanted to rule the world with music.

Dorky looking Joonas Porko had been the last person he had thought would feel the same, but the two of them had ended up using the same rehearsal room at school because the others were full, and discussion had quickly started about how both of their bands had decided to dissolve, leaving them drifting right before graduation.

It only took a couple weeks of playing guitar and writing music before they started talking about forming a band together.

"We really have some great songs here." Joonas told him, "you remember Olli from Abhorrent Ritual? He would be happy to play bass for us. And our friend Tommi is a great drummer."

"I don't know," Joel replied, "I'm really not great singing-"

"You are though!" Joonas insisted, "I've heard you sing enough."

"Not on my own!" Joel argued, "I only did backing vocals before… and besides I don't think I could be a frontman by myself."

Joonas nodded a little, "we'll figure it out, but I think we should get Olli and Tommi involved."

Joel smiled a little, the idea of having another band appealing to him enough to override his nerves, "give them a call."

…

"They are literally babies," Joel muttered.

"They're only a couple years younger than me and they happen to be two of my best friends," Joonas rolled his eyes, "you heard them play, they picked up the songs right away, you know we can do this."

Joel sighed but Joonas was right, their new drummer and bassist may be young but he couldn't deny they had talent.

"Ok," Joel addressed the other two, "I was not able to get back into the same rehearsal space I used to use with Scarm, so we'll go with Joonas' garage for now. We can meet up there this weekend and have our first practice, assuming you two still want to do this?"

For a moment he really wondered if they would back out, he knew he didn't have the greatest reputation in school, he was often thought of as difficult to work with and moody, maybe they wouldn't want to work with him even with Joonas vouching for him. Maybe he was just too much and he'd never have a band again and-

"Sounds good." Tommi said, Olli nodding along.

Relief flooded through him and he gave them the address, packing his guitar while they talked about a house party they were going to on Friday night, trying to not listen too closely. It wasn't like he was ever invited to those things.

…

"Joel, you have to stop pacing." Niko told him.

Joel froze in his path, looking over at his co-vocalist.

"How can you not be nervous?" He asked, "we're in Germany, we're about to go on stage at fucking Wacken!"

"I know," Niko said, "but we've got this."

Joel sighed and flopped into a chair instead, looking around him.

When Porko had called him a year ago and convinced him to pick up some rapper he and Olli had met at a party the night before and bring him to band practice, he hadn't realized he was picking up the missing piece they needed to get their band off the ground.

Niko kept him balanced, stayed calm when he panicked, jumped for joy with him when they got their first song on the radio, even came up with their band name. He was exactly what they had needed.

It still surprised him sometimes, that he had ended up with a group that didn't just ditch him when he got to be too much; they argued and occasionally told each other off, but there would always be apologies later over a beer and everything would be forgotten.

Joel looked around their tent, Tommi was drumming to a tune only he could hear, something Joel had long figured out was a nervous habit and was best to not disturb him. Joonas was sitting with Olli and talking quietly, he seemed cheerful but their bassist looked pale.

He didn't know why but he always hated seeing Olli upset; of course he hated seeing all his bandmates upset, but especially Olli…

He was too sweet, sometimes a little bit of an airhead but at others serious and calmer than all of them put together.

He could keep it together for him.

"You're right," he said loudly to Niko, "we've got this, we're going to go out there and dominate that stage."

Joonas and Olli looked up at him, both giving him a smile.

"He's right," Joonas patted Olli on the shoulder, "we've got this!"

"Fuck yeah we do", Tommi said from the corner, tone deadpan as normal.

"Thanks Joel," Olli smiled that soft smile he only seemed to show Joel he got up to grab his bass.

Joel smiled as his four bandmates started to show more enthusiasm, helping him to forget his own worries. Of course they had this, he had the best band in the world.

With the cutest bassist in the world.

With that blush-inducing thought, Joel got up to lead them to the stage.

[wolves-against-the-world]

Witchfinders

Jay started from a shivering half doze when their target finally appeared. May slapped his arm several times, making empty fwhoop-fwhoop-whoop sounds on his winter jacket.

"Told you!" She hissed triumphantly.

"Great," Jay said between chattering teeth. They’d first noticed him about two hours ago. Well, May had, because May was a psychic, something she never ceased to mention she hated.

"It's not like I picked this", she always said. "Do you know how fucking inconvenient it is to always see people's negative feelings and whatever lurks around without being able to do anything about it? If that was what I wanted, I'd have become a tabloid writer."

Jay wasn’t certain she was not exaggerating - psychic abilities were genetically recessive, and you needed a lot of luck to get more than a few psychics in any lineage.

She was admittedly a keen observer though, which had made her entire family fairly successful spiritualists until that sort of thing became embarrassing instead of impressive.

Jay looked at his radar and found the screen infuriatingly empty. He already regretted spending the exorbitant amount of money (about 70 pounds) on something this useless. The seller - a sturdy old woman who had been well known for being the only reputable psychic in the country, ironically because she didn't like the spotlight - had assured him it could detect latent magic. So far it had only been useful for detecting cellphones, microwaves, and one time, memorably, a minor radiation leak at a cancer clinic.

May was staring at something a bit away, which was impressive since there was very little to warrant more than a passing glance. To one side, there were the houses in their neighborhood that hadn't changed in about as long as they could remember, if one discounted the pressure wash of several house fronts that had made plaster drop on unsuspecting people for a week. To the left was a fence restricting access to the train tracks out of town, or into town, depending on your perspective. Current demographic surveys suggested the former.

May was staring down the street, her jaw set in the way it was when she was very certain of something. Now, very certain of something didn't mean she was right, not even in the supernatural realm.

"Absolutely not," he said.

"Why not??" Her voice carried the indignation of her entire heritage.

"Because last time you did this, we got laughed out of a theater AND a restraining order! You weren't even right! We need a better plan than just going up to random people and hoping for the best!"

“Then make a better one.”

They stared at one another.

Jay scowled. “Fine, then go up to a possibly magical human that might just zap us out of existence.”

"Oh don’t be stupid. He’s not a witch, I just think he's carrying some sort of magical item."

"You don't even know that's a he, how can you tell what he's - what they're wearing under those layers? Could be a tall woman, for all we know. And besides-" He had meant to bring up the frankly nerve-wracking cold, and was pleased to have found a logical place to slot the topic into. "It's cold as balls, we should go home and - wait-"

May gave him the sort of look that typically made people's toenails roll up, dampened slightly by its path over her shoulder. She left Jay to catch up with her as she strode down the street, catching up and then holding the pace of the figure she'd locked in on. May, full name Mayflower Justicia Borden, was very tall and the sort of person that was remarked on by being remarkable against her will. She hadn't spoken for most of her school life, until she realized people picked on you for things that were out of your control anyway, and from then on made it everyone else's problem.

"Excuse me, Sir, sorry to bother you-"

The personshaped black spot turned slightly and for a second she thought "fuck, it's a woman after all, she's gonna be mad" until the figure pulled off a pair of headphones and turned to reveal, indeed, a man, if the beard was any indication.

"What?"

The tone wasn't unfriendly per se.. but the man didn’t have a very welcoming face. If that was by accident of birth or a choice was to be seen.

"Right, sorry Sir, this is going to sound very odd-"

"So sorry about that, we're uh-" Jay came to a rather undignified halt with one hand holding onto a street light lest he turn his last step into a sledding trip.

The man stopped walking and observed them. He was in his mid-60s, tall, but not remarkably so, handsome but not remarkably so, with a long-ish, square-ish face and brown-ish skin. The only thing not -ish about him were his eyes, which were too blue to be anything but contact lenses. Jay felt acutely seen, in a way he hadn't felt since May's grandmother had read his future and been right all the damn time, too.

The difference to Mrs Borden was that this man wasn't trying to hide the cold calculation in his face. He'd picked the contacts well. It turned the gaze from smoldering to arctic, sending a physical shiver down Jay's spine.

"It's not very polite to follow strangers," the man pointed out. His voice reflected the same control, not using a syllable more than necessary.

Well, shit. Jay already saw another policeman call his parents to ask what the hell he was up to, and why he couldn't do this in his university town instead. "Uhm."

Even May seemed taken aback, visibly calculating how far they'd been away, then decided it didn't matter. "So sorry to bother you, Sir. Do you happen to be carrying a magical item?"

The stranger didn't even blink.

"If you're trying to rob me or sell something, that's an odd way of going about it," he said. His expression remained flat, which would have been funny if Jay hadn't been shitting his pants for a reason he couldn't pinpoint. Somewhere in his brain an instinct so old it preceded upright walking woke from a coma to scream "DANGER DANGER DANGER GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE". But Jay also had anxiety, so that was really not out of the ordinary.

"What, no!" Jay stammered. "We're, uh, we're paranormal investigators. She's a psychic!" He gestured to May, who nodded with all the dignity she could muster.

"Didn't know psychics used knives these days.”

May shifted uncomfortably, revealing a switchblade knife. A pink one.

"Where'd you even get that?" Jay hissed. "Aren't those illegal?"

May ignored him, easing her grip on the knife but not putting it away. "Going up to strangers can be dangerous."

"Undoubtedly," said the stranger.

"As my, uh, colleague said, I'm a psychic. You're carrying something with a strong magical aura, we just wanna make sure you're safe. And, uh, maybe take a look at it. For research."

"And I'm sure you're not just trying to sell your services." His calm tone stood in stark contrast to his words. Well, at least he didn't yell at them like the last five people.

"Absolutely not!", May assured. "We're volunteers. No money involved. Uh, unless we're doing like. An exorcism."

Finally, the man showed a physical response: he lifted an eyebrow.

"Right, uh, could you, like, warrant a guess what it might be?"

The man pondered this for a moment. "No." He cut May off when she wanted to speak. "Mind walking with me for a bit?"

May had already said yes before Jay could tell her how stupid an idea this was, so they walked. The stranger introduced himself as Zachary. When Jay asked where they were walking, Zachary told him an address that was vaguely familiar. He still spoke mostly in single sentences, but it was enough to reveal an American accent. Maybe they'd gotten lucky. Americans believed all sorts of shit.

Zachary told them he'd just gone grocery shopping, since his cousin wanted to make dinner. Even though the bag looked like a pimple about to burst, he carried it easily in one gloved hand. As they walked along the empty and depressingly gray street, May filled him in on their work, emphasizing their good intentions and downplaying how little they'd actually accomplished so far. She omitted the radiation incident, which was probably their biggest success, though in a different way than they'd hoped for. To his credit, Zachary didn't remark upon their names, which raised Jay's opinion of him substantially.

May described and then quizzed their new friend on various magical artifacts he could have come in the possession of, but save for a notebook bought in a second hand shop, he denied knowledge of all.

Maybe, Jay thought, they were being set up. Maybe the guy was wearing a microphone and camera, stuff like that was so small these days, shit, he could just use his phone for all they knew. They'd be laughing stocks for all the internet to see. Or maybe he was a psychic himself, or even a witch, fully aware of his item's traits and just entertaining himself. Staking out the competition.

The closest coven they had identified was in Sheffield, a circle of old ladies who used their abilities to enhance their healing potions and alcoholic beverages. Didn't mean there couldn't be others, more hidden ones, doing scary things.

Jay tried to get May's attention, but she was deep into explaining the intricacies of aura reading. They'd made their way from the train tracks to the square in a needlessly complex route. Maybe he was one of those guys. A manly man who didn't ask for directions. Or he was just enjoying the walk.

"So you can see everyone's aura?" Zachary asked. His voice was still the eery drone of pack ice moving, but there was a lighter note of curiosity now.

May paused longer than was necessary or comfortable.

"Mostly. Non-magical people don't know how to hide their aura, let alone that they have one. If it's gone the person is either dead, magical or, like, really introverted. The colors often give me a hint of someone's personality and the movement can indicate emotions. They get very bright when someone is using magic. It's not an exact science unfortunately, experience mostly. My grandmother was really good at it in the end."

"Fascinating." Zachary looked around and turned into a side street instead of returning to the road following the train tracks. "How about my aura, then?"

"I thought you didn't like people selling you things?"

"I don't like buying the cat in the bag. I'm sure my cousin wouldn't mind hosting you for dinner, though."

"That's really not nece-"

"Sure," Jay said, thinking with his growling, frozen stomach instead of his brain. The trip back home would take a minimum of thirty minutes walking. He'd also finally matched the address to the town's only pub (and B&B and event location). They were safer among people than out here, completely alone.

May gave him a searing look, but Jay was used to that.

"Look at that, we're already there." Jay decided to ignore how ominous that sounded.

Indeed there was the front of the pub, painted black and reading something incomprehensible followed by "goat" and the words "founded in 1367". How true that was had been up for debate since the pub opened.

"How are you liking Britain so far?" Jay asked conversationally. "Lotsa old buildings here compared to home."

If there was a physical reaction, Jay didn't notice.

"The weather could be improved upon."

"Yeah," Jay said unimaginatively.

The door moved disappointingly silently. Jay’s face began to itch in the sudden warmth and he hurried to take off his coat before he cooked to death. He'd been in the pub once and now found it no less unpleasant but all in all no different than any other several century old pub. The room was almost entirely made of wood, the woodworm probably doing more work than the actual struts by this point, blackened by smoke and maybe tar.

"Welcome back," someone purred.

Jay flinched, nearly flinging his coat at the figure. The woman gave them a smile, wholly unimpressed by the reaction and decidedly closer than social convention dictated.

She was stunning, simply put, though too short to make it as a model. Dark hair flowed over a shiny turquoise top, and tight black leather pants showed about anything anyone wanted to see. Around her hips hung a belt made of silver medallions.

"You've brought guests, how lovely."

While Jay was still working on rebooting his brain, he was dragged away from the door and the woman's hypnotic gaze. They were met by a short, middle-aged man on the verge of fat with a kind, round face. He greeted them warmly and hugged Zachary, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Corner of the mouth. Maybe.

Jay was still puzzling about that gesture in the context of the man's priest collar when the next revelation hit: It was quiet.

Not in the way of a forest near a predator, but in the way a theater is quiet waiting for the performance to begin. He could tell May was thinking the same. There were about a dozen people in the room, all of which were looking at them.

"Nice to meet you," May said stiffly. "Is the pub not open tonight?"

"We rented it out for a few days," the priest said in a very much not American or British accent. "We're doing a...reunion of sorts. Our friends came from all over the place, you see." He smiled. It was a very nice smile. He seemed like a nice, reasonable person, Jay thought. Hardly a witch of any kind. They hated churches, they'd never survive all the time it took to become a priest, even if it was a pretty good diversion.

"My name is Mayflower," May said, shocking Jay and probably all her ancestors. "I'm a psychic. Zachary is carrying a magical item and we want to make sure you're all being safe."

"We're not trying to sell anything," Jay added hastily. In a much smaller voice he added: "Though he said something about dinner."

Jay was aware he missed a lot of things in life. His brain just had different priorities than other people. He did not miss the sudden interest of the people at the back table, a short man with almost implausible golden curls and a duo of women with heights firmly outside the average in both directions.

"A magical item?" The priest did not seem too alarmed. "That is indeed something worth investigating. Come and sit with us then, we'll have dinner soon."

May looked around, scanning everyone, but not coming up with an excuse. They went to sit at a table near the front, where the woman in blue had already taken a seat, one leg in knee-high boots lazily draped over the edge. She unwrapped a piece of blue bubble gum and tossed it into her mouth.

"My friends, this is Eliza. She has an interest in the occult herself." He was interrupted by an enormous man with alarmingly ginger hair throwing himself into one of the seats. "You shoulda told me there's stuff going on. What's that about magical items?"

"These are our guests Mayflower and..." He looked at Jay. "Jayden?"

Jay just shrugged, too taken up by May trying to break his hand. He didn't want to draw back so obviously but she pinched his finger really hard and -

Ah.

Jay shot a stealthy look towards the priest. His radar was vibrating in his pocket. Both men were wearing a silver sigil in the form of a pendant and a brooch. They looked different than Eliza's, the wolf head combined with some sort of pointy cross, but unmistakably related.

Jay considered if they had in fact not stumbled into a witch coven but some weird nationalist fraternity. Not fraternity, specifically, considering there were several women, but some sort of... Cult? They were all different ages, too, the woman, Eliza, looking no older than 25 and the priest being in his 50s at minimum.

"Really cool, uh, pendant you got," Jay said before his brain could tell him this would get them killed. "You into, what's the name again, that fantasy show where people die all the time?"

"Didn't like the ending much, but the books are good," Eliza said in that way too sultry voice. The big man made a face between distaste and amusement. He leaned onto his elbows, resting his chin on one large but surprisingly delicate hand. A lot of things about him were paradoxically delicate, from his pale, freckled skin to a face looking surprisingly young despite the visible lines around his eyes and mouth. His hair was the color of wildfire, curls pulled into a ponytail that left bangs spilling over the side of his face.

"Sooooooo, what kinda psychics are you?" he asked. "Telling the future? Making potions? Kinda hard to find proper witches these days."

"You've met proper witches?"

Eliza loudly popped her bubblegum.

"I just said they're hard to find, didn't I?", said Red.

"I'm not a witch," May said stiffly. "I read auras and magical signatures." Not for the first time, Jay wished desperately he could see what she saw. What were these people's auras like? Were they dangerous? Upset? Laughing at them?

"Yours is blue," May said in the tone of voice she used when making shit up on the spot. "Light blue, a bit silvery. Like a tuna."

Red didn't seem offended by the comparison. "Neat. How about Sasha?"

"Who?"

"Zachary, sorry."

"It's grey," May said without even turning around. "It's a pretty rare color, but it means he's a very controlled and logical person."

Red nodded enthusiastically. "He is! How about me?"

"You're curious," Jay said. "Silver and blue are the colors of the sky and sea, you like to travel, can't be in one place for too long. You're also not really into pointless workouts, but like to apply yourself."

May had meant to kick his leg, but had thought better of it. Jay felt vindicated.

"That's something every half-baked carnival psychic could tell you," Eliza huffed. She swung her legs off the table, heels thumping the wooden floor. "Tell me something secret."

There was a long pause.

May knitted her brow, then held out her hand. "Okay."

Eliza observed her, still chewing her bubblegum. Then she placed her manicured hand in May's. Her nail polish was bright blue. "Knock yourself out."

The moments May sat there seemed to draw into eternity. Eliza kept the vague expression of distaste, while Red was leaning forward in obvious interest.

Jay tried to get an overview of the room in case things got ugly. Zachary was speaking with a tall man behind the bar he hadn't noticed before. Under the beanie he'd taken off, Zachary had shoulder-long brown hair with a white streak at the front. He hadn't seemed the type for that trend. The other man had waist-long black hair, a goatee, and wore sunglasses inside.

The table in the back was silently sipping on their drinks, clearly trying to listen in. The priest - if he was one - had disappeared.

The tiny bell over the door rang and then took a nosedive, hitting someone with a muffled thud. "Aw man," the someone said.

"There you are!" The priest was back, somehow. It was quite disconcerting.

The newcomer was a lanky youth, looking to be barely out of secondary school. His pale cheeks were flushed from the cold, a thick scarf wrapped around about everything above the belt.

"My apologies, this place wasn't too easy to find. Are we still on schedule?"

Under the thick jacket, the youth was wearing a white shirt and black bow with matching suspenders, meaning he was either a nerd or a waiter. Hired help meant paperwork, meant questions asked if someone disappeared. Jay relaxed a bit.

He really was being too paranoid. The worst thing that had happened on any investigation was being forced to drink bad tea and being laughed at. And the radiation exposure. That was pretty bad.

Still. Nothing supernaturally bad had happened.

He liked May a lot but her abilities were nothing to brag about. They were just two kids who liked to dig into things most people didn't take seriously.

The young man hung up his coat and immediately began sorting things behind the counter, finally removing the man with the sunglasses. Coming around the corner, the man revealed an arm covered in Nordic occult tattoos. Enthusiast, witch, or fascist? Impossible to tell by looking.

"You're a con artist," May said suddenly.

Jay turned back to the table. Eliza had raised one very accurately formed eyebrow. "Takes one to know one I suppose."

May didn't take the bait. "You're from Scandinavia, liv

[onyxmilk]

May I also request a match-up? I'd like one for jjk and chainsaw man. I'm chill with either gender and I'd like both SFW and NSFW.

In terms of my likes/dislikes, I REALLY like fruit and fruity drinks, it's a very important detail that I tell everyone, but other than that, I enjoy reading (usually fiction works but I've gotten into classic literature the past few months), video games (usually horror), and I have a huge love for the fantasy genre (lotr, hobbit, got, DND, ect). Dislikes are a bit harder, but one main one is I absolutely despise loud and continous noises (pens clicking, loud chewing, drink slurping, ect) they drive me mad, other than that, my Dislikes are pretty basic, I don't like the heat, salty food, coffee (plain coffee, I'll drink a latte or mocha but not really enjoy it) and that's the basic stuff, we'd be here a while if I kept going. I'll also throw this in, I've been really loving mma the past few years so I've been taking classes for almost a year now, it's more than a "like" to me so I thought I should add it.

As for my appearance, I'm definitely taller than the average lady, I'm 5'10 according to my doctor. I have black hair that reaches just below my shoulder blades, grey-blue eyes (they look more like a pale blue in the sun) I'm super pale (I'm very Irish on both sides so 🤷‍♀️) and I mean like glow-in-the-dark or vampire pale, I have quite a few freckles but none on my face, they're all on my arms and legs, and I have 3 tattoos on my arms (cherry blossom branch, spider lily, and a bumblebee).

And lastly, my pronouns are (she/her)

I think that's everything, sorry if this is longer than the usual request.

thanks for the follow, toe gobbler!! - me, to the jjk server im in, nsfw under the cut, minors/ageless blogs dni

JUJUTSU KAISEN ; CHOSO

SONG; Apocalypse - Cigarettes After Sex

sfw;

THIS WAS HARD!!! I really thought on this and it was him or Megumi tbh- but then I thought harder and thought 'toe gobbler needs a fix me up man', so here he is!!!

Choso doesn't mind that you're taller or even the same height, he loves the comfort you bring.

He also loves to share drinks with you because you tend to know the best ones out there, that's how the two of you discovered he also has a thing for the fruit drinks.

He loves tracing your tattoos with his fingers, he finds the designs different and unique.

He loves to see what you're doing constantly when he's home and you're home too, often over your shoulder watching you read a book or even writing.

nsfw;

Something interesting he realized with you is that he feels more... safe, so that means being vulnerable with you.

He enjoys a slow pace, he gets to admire all his doing, even if you need to guide him through every move and how a woman's body works.

He likes to be able to trap your hands above your head, fucking you slowly as you moan and whimper out his name.

Choso is also learning his kinks, and so far he loves when you're quite literally begging for him to speed up and tears are pricking your waterline.

He tends to be rough too, despite his slow pace he will go as hard and rough as he can when gripping your hips or wrists.

CHAINSAW MAN ; AKI HAYAKAWA

SONG; Little Bit - Lykke Li

sfw;

You two met at a restaurant, you were his waitress and he was your guest. He laid eyes on you and immediately fell in love with you, asked for your number and you gave it!

He loves being able to brush back your hair and kiss the back of your shoulder in the mornings when you wear a tank top to bed.

Aki doesn't know the amount of times he's counted your freckles on your arms while you slept, he just does it and it helps him relax.

He finds your taste and his taste funny, you're into fruity drinks and writing while he enjoys a black coffee and reading. Sure, when you do read, its fantasy- Aki is more of a history enjoyer.

He's surprised you have tattoos, but similar to the person above, he tends to trace them when he can't sleep.

nsfw;

Fast and rough, that's the best way to describe sex with Aki.

He loves the way your nails dig into the skin of his shoulders or drag down his back, leaving pretty red lines in your wake.

He loves loves loves when you scream his name, makes him speed up even more which results in even more noises escaping your lips.

He tends to suck hickeys and such on to your skin, sometimes such different levels of intensity its hard for you to cover them up.

He enjoys biting at your thighs before eating you out, but never deep enough to leave marks.

[eldritchmochi]

Word prompt for the letters! SWORD TIME

mina pls that is so many letters lmao

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

okay, if it is not obvious, i have thought SO MUCH about disability in exandria, so heres a general worldbuilding headcannon vs character based hc but it's shown that disability isn't overly impactful in exandria. basically everything we've seen ranging from pcs like shakaste to big npcs like dancer and also smaller one off pcs like the moorbounder dealer in the city of beasts, whatever the name is, they're fully functional within society despite major physical disabilities and theres functionally not a whole lot of ableism at a surface level when it comes to worldbuilding (thanks matt).

however..... its not hard (for me) to extrapolate how the dynasty in particular would have a not great view on disability (thank u cherry for putting it into words as i was charlie day-ing over coping skills early on). it's not something that i talk about explicitly in coping skills (and may not since it would be really info dumpy and not vibe with the way i write or characterize the wizards lmao) but it's something ive spent a great deal of time thinking thru for the dang fic and my in-head notes are basically a) in a modern setting like coping skills, the healthcare situation moves at a glacial pace partly because elves live forever so what is a several year wait for a non emergent specialist issue and b) major disabilities, things that impact daily living to a significant degree that cannot be "fixed" with magic, are at best really only tolerated until anamnesis or consecution so the body can be reset into a more perfect form

i could wax poetic about the nitty gritty as it relates to coping skills specifically, but that is like, the base premise of 90% of the fic lmao

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

okay so, heres the thing: with the exception of a few squicks, if something is well written with some fukken *heart* i will eat up just about anything. theres some tropes i don't really get myself and haven't found anything with it that's interested me, like hanahaki, but i have fav fics involving things i notoriously avoid, like kid fic and hs aus. like legitimately, my absolute fav fic is a non explicit hs au, which considering i basically dont read non explicit fics OR hs aus is fucking wild

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

lets see, i did one here for an ashrym fic, and one here for general shadowgast so lets go with a single character, and a delightfully weird song for her

obviously imogen, again, because its funny. do not ask me why spotify recommended this german edm country album to me a bit ago but i listened to the whole thing and it fucking slapped, and this song immediately went on my hells playlist

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

I AM ONLY DOING ONE BECAUSE I DONT TRUST YOU MINA (ilu but also damn many letters lmao)

but callowmoore is just chefs kiss. i don't see anything necessarily romantic between them but i love the idea of the two of them bonding over being absolute gremlins. ashton definitely needs a charismatic wingman and fearne definitely needs someone who has (some level of) smarts re Doing Crimes, so the two of them playing off each other is just delightful and i love how soft they are with each other in cannon and in turn all the fanart (especially the forehead kiss???? im still not normal about that)

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

hmmmmmmmmmmm okay i guess maybe reylo? the rots kiss was absolute garbage rey deserves better BUT i am in theory into her domming the shit out of him but reylo shippers as a whole soured me on the ship and now i just hhhh no thank you, even from authors i trust to write it in a way i'd enjoy :C

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

T answered here! (basically no lmao)

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

homestuck :I like part of it was definitely the Fandom Cycle of falling out if interest with something, especially once there stopped being new cannon i could access but a bigger part of it was seeing all my fav artists and writers in the fandoms, particularly the ones 30+, PARTICULARLY Black artist, being absolutely shat on by kids for the crime of... being adults in fandom spaces basically, or otherwise creating fanworks that featured non-white, non-thin depictions of the characters. i live vicariously thru @/roundandtalented when they spam share hs art because i still love those characters but yeesh ye olde tumblr hs fandom got VERY toxic

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

answered once here with ashton and here with astarion so i guess i gotta keep the train going with "a" name characters

hmmmmmmmmmm

okay lets say abby from ncis (i have watched Many crime procedurals lmao). i imagine she and i would be GREAT fashion buddies, especially when i'm bubblegum pop kawaii to her scary goth. we could swap tips on breaking in big stompy boots and all the best places for cute clothes, and i think we're fairly close in size too so could even SWAP gasp The Dream

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

god i do not know if fandom as a whole has picked up on any of the various things i've built in my fics but tbh i think its absolutely hilarious how i inevitably write a porn/camming au for like every fandom i write multiple fics for. it happens, every single time. EVERY TIME. in fact, mine and cherry's sg camming au started with me lampshading this trend i have, laughing about how FINALLY here was a fandom where i couldn't write camming and make it work, except whoops i thought too hard on it and made it work. this occurred over the course of like..... a single evening. i had the basic outline sketched out within twenty minutes of me being like "theres no way i could write camming into critical role, NO WAY" i am not even exaggerating

so i guess maybe my hilarious contribution to critical role is the contemporary magical setting proof-of-concept???? cherry did say there werent really that many at the time i asked because i lov me some modern aus

there are maybe some letters left idk at this point lmao but here is the meme for those of u who made it thru all that

[tokkias]

Fanfic Writers: Director’s Cut: 🌟 🌟

fanfic directors cut . always open

indiscreet

for a lot of my requests it can take me a while to get around to it but this one plagued me so hard that i got it done in mere days after recieving it. i was working on heartstrings when i got it and so i spent the last part of that fic literally speeding through so i would be able to get to write this one

this was my first time writing wendy and carla - i had a bit of experience with happy, gray and erza from i don't want to be your friend (i want to kiss your lips) but i generally don't write non-nalu characters even though i really enjoy doing it, so this was a fun change of pace because it's a pov i've never written before

is it technically the best thing i've ever written? no, far from it. there's a lot of mistakes and the pacing is kind of weird, but i don't even care about that because this is such a fun fic to go back and reread for me

Wendy had been so excited at the prospect of being helpful to the rest of her team that she hadn’t even considered that it might be polite to knock, and immediately her hands shot up to cover her eyes in a poor attempt to pretend that she hadn’t seen anything. While the sound of the door opening may have gone under the radar, the terrified squeal of their young teammate caught the pair's attention quickly, and Lucy instinctively shoved Natsu off of her and covered her chest with her arms, despite being fully clothed.

jumping right in with things that made me commit tiny laugh. they're not doing anything dirty (yet), but wendy and lucy both freaking out as if she had walked in on them getting nasty was put in there just because i thought it was funny, which is a running trend in this fic. wendy is simply cursed to accidentally walk in on them having their moments, and lucy is so used to people seeing her naked that she intrinstically moves to cover herself even when she's not naked, probably because she anticipated being naked later on

"I think we should just tell her," Natsu said, flopping backwards onto the mattress, perhaps more casually than the situation called for. "Obviously I was going to tell her!" Lucy replied as she gave him a firm whack to his shoulder. "We have something we want to talk to you about," she said, as calmly as she could muster. "I-I know what sex is!" Wendy managed to stutter out, not wanting to put any of them through the perhaps traumatic experience of giving her The Talk.

this was the first thing i wrote for this fic because again. made me laugh. wendy's panicking so much about what she just walked in on that her first thought is oh my god they're going to give me the sex talk

"So? Are they coming or not?" Gray asked as he saw Wendy and Happy approach. "Um… no I don’t think so…" Wendy replied. "You don’t think so?" Erza inquired. Immediately realising her mistake, Wendy began to panic, scrambling to figure out the right words to ease Erza’s suspicions. "No-! I mean-" "They’re not hungry," Happy butted in, much to Wendy’s relief and the rest of the team's confusion. "Is everything okay, Wendy? You look a bit flustered," Erza commented, raising an eyebrow. She had truly thought that she was doing a good job of hiding it, but apparently it wasn’t good enough, and having Erza point it out only served to make her panic rise to the surface even more. "Um, yeah!" She tried to reassure in a poor attempt to divert the conversation. "I think she’s just disappointed that Natsu and Lucy aren’t coming with us, right Wendy?" Happy added casually.

happy is the true star of the show here. he's been on this for months now and while i think it's kind of popular thought that happy would need to be bribed into silence i sort of don't agree with that narrative? happy is natsu's best buddy and he loves him and lucy sooo much even if he's a pain in their ass sometimes. if they really did want him to hide it from everyone, he would, and it gives him a chance to fuck with everyone else which he deeply enjoys

"Unusual for Natsu to pass on food, wouldn’t you agree, Happy?" Erza asked, turning her attention to the exceed. "No, I wouldn’t," he blatantly lied in response, hoping to gaslight Erza into turning her attention somewhere else.

+1 to parts that make me fucking laugh. it's just dumb and stupid. happy is trying to see how much he can fuck with erza and she's just not having any of it. erza knows how to pick her battles and she knows that happy is just Like This sometimes so she's going to be confused but she's too hungry to put any effort into questioning why he's being like this

"You are acting awfully weird, child." She commented. "What on earth happened in there that’s got you all worked up?" "It must be Lucy’s weirdness rubbing off on her," Happy suggested. Wendy let out a nervous laugh as she realised just how hard it was going to be to hide this secret from her best friend and keep the promise she had made. "Oh, it’s really nothing," she reassured. "Why don’t we catch up with Erza and Gray? Some food sounds really good right about now." "If you say so…"  Carla replied, still not totally convinced but not suspicious enough to press any further.

i struggled a lot with carla because i didn't know what to do with her. i couldn't leave her out because it's a wendy focused fic, but i don't like carla all that much so i didn't want to spend too much time writing her in. this was my attempt at balancing the two of them and i think i did a pretty good job at doing that and keeping her in character

"Where are those two?" Gray questioned, glancing over to the clock to see that they were already a few minutes past their designated meeting time. "They’ve been late for every job we’ve taken for the past two months." "I’ll go fetch them then," Erza offered. "No!" Wendy cried out, earning her a surprised look from her teammates. "I- It’s just that…" "Lucy’s cranky because Natsu was being a pain in her ass this morning," Happy chimed in. "What did he do?" Erza inquired. "Oh, well, you know how he is," Happy replied vaguely. "Yes, I do," she said, nodding her head in agreement. "Well, I suppose Lucy has earned a late start for dealing with him all night. I’ll have to put Natsu in his place when they arrive."

vague allusion to the fact that they've been dating for way longer than necessary to hide it

poor wendy trying really hard to help them out without giving them away but she's not the best liar so she's just making herself suspicious in the process but happy comes in with the save, real mvp

again, just silly stupid parts that make me laugh. erza does not even take a moment to question it because it is so believable that natsu would be a pain in lucy's ass just because That's What He's Like, she doesn't need specifics

"Yes, I’m pleased that you both made it," Erza added. "But I’m not pleased to hear you’ve been making things difficult for Lucy." "What? What did I do?" He asked, whipping his head over to his partner, who looked just as confused as he was before realising that this was just the cover that Wendy and Happy had set up for him. "Yeah, what did you do, Natsu?" Lucy asked, deciding to play along. "I don’t know!" He cried, still a little slow to catch on. "I guess I used your hand lotion?" "You’ve been using my hand lotion?" Lucy asked, her face dropping, no longer happy to play along. "Natsu! That’s expensive!" She whined. "Yeah, well, it smells nice and it makes my hands soft," he ardently defended. What had begun as merely playing along had devolved into a full-on squabble, and Wendy couldn’t help but giggle slightly at how they were behaving exactly like an old married couple. "Well, if I had known it was such a contentious topic, I wouldn’t have brought it up," Erza commented, scratching her head slightly in confusion at the absurdity of it all.

erza is really thinking that she was helping out by telling natsu off but she's just caused a typical natsu and lucy squabble because there was no natsu being a pain in her ass (unless- *gets shot*)

i don't remember why i picked this for them to argue about? i think it was like, harmless enough that they're not going to actually fight about it, but it's enough that lucy's going to be annoyed and i mean. i headcanon that natsu's always using her soaps and shampoos so why stop at lotions? i imagine he likes the way it makes his hands feel and he'll totally just put his hands on lucy's face and be like. "look. soft."

Walking along the streets with Lucy, Wendy felt she could let out a sigh of relief. It had only been a day, but the pressure of keeping a secret so big was already beginning to weigh on her, so finally being around someone who was also in on it was a nice break. "Hey Lucy? Is it okay if I ask you something?" With her attention caught, Lucy’s gaze flicked over to Wendy before she replied. "Sure, anything." "Why haven’t you told anyone else that you and Natsu are dating?" She asked. Lucy was quiet for a moment as the gears turned in her head while she searched for the right words to explain their reasons. "Because… things are kind of new with us, and we just want to figure things out on our own first before we tell anyone."

i knew i probably had to give a reason for why they're hiding it at some point and i also wanted to give wendy a moment alone with lucy or natsu or happy or a combination of them, just to take a weight off of her shoulders lol. those were combined into this scene

i think that while natsu would be pretty gung ho about telling everyone that they're dating immediately, lucy is more reserved about it because she knows what could happen to both their relationship and the relationship they have with others if they happened to maybe date and break up (not that it would happen, but lucy is wary)

She understood why they had chosen to do that, but she also couldn’t help but feel a slight irony in it all. The group dynamic hadn’t changed in the slightest because their transition from friends to something more had been so subtle that she may not have noticed it if she hadn’t accidentally walked in on them swapping spit.

the whole basis for this fic was the idea that wendy now looks on their relationship through a new lens but nothing has changed. natsu and lucy are still the exact same because they've always loved each other so deeply. the change from platonic love to romantic love is a really subtle change when they're not straight up making out in public because they're still just best friends who are a little touchy feely

The walk across town went by uneventfully, but there was something about knowing—about being in on the secret—that had resulted in Wendy seeing Natsu and Lucy’s relationship with new eyes. Nothing had changed about the way they interacted with each other, but now that she knew the context of their relationship, she couldn’t help but see the romance in everything they did together. Suddenly she was hyperaware of how Natsu seemingly had to have his hands on Lucy at all times, and how all those touches that she had always thought were innocent, friendly gestures now held more meaning to them.

wendy is us frrrrrr. idk i don't feel like i have anything to elaborate on here. i was very literal and direct with my intentions. nalu is in love and it's not subtle to strangers, but to the people they know, they've just always been like this. im sure after a long time of lucy insisting that they're not dating they probably just assumed that if they weren't together by now it would probably never happen

Before she could even think of approaching Natsu to treat his wound, Lucy threw herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and holding onto him like her life depended on it, and Natsu responded with equal enthusiasm. Her hand rested gently on his jaw, and for a second, Wendy thought she was going to lean in for a kiss. Instead, but just as tender, she nestled into his chest, arms holding him close as he tucked her under his chin and it looked like a perfect fit. Wendy tried to turn her attention elsewhere and give the pair some privacy, but she couldn’t help eavesdropping now that her ears were tuned in to their conversation. "I’m so glad you’re safe," Lucy murmured into his chest. "Me too," Natsu replied as he rubbed soothing circles into her back. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, content to find comfort in each other’s presence, until Natsu spoke up again. "I love you," he mumbled, his voice muffled in her hair but clear as day to Wendy. "I love you too," Lucy responded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

okay well are they even trying to hide it at this point?

with this i knew i wanted them to say i love you. we've established they have a physical relationship but this is showing that it's going beyond that and showing (or telling, i suppose) that they are in love with each other.

i wasn't sure who was going to initiate at first. lucy was the obvious choice, she's the words girl and natsu is the actions guy but in the end that's why i went with natsu. i think natsu saying it first sort of packs a punch that you don't get when lucy initiates because she's usually the romantic of the two

In response to her weird behaviour, Carla placed her hands on her hips and let out a sigh. "What is going on with you, Wendy?" She demanded to know. "Wh-what’s going on with me?" She replied, trying to act innocent and pretend she had no clue what she was referring to. "You’ve been acting all skittish as of late, and you won’t even tell me why," Carla reprimanded. "What are you talking about?" She nervously laughed, "I’m just nervous about the train ride is all." "It’s not kind to lie, child," Carla replied, "and it’s even worse to keep secrets."

if anyone was going to make wendy crack, it was going to be carla. poor wendy doesn't like to lie and especially doesn't like to lie to carla. originally i was going to have it be erza confront her because i just didn't want to write carla but it was just the choice that made the most sense. sigh.

"N-Natsu and Lucy are dating!" Wendy blurted out before slapping her hand over her mouth, immediately realising her mistake. "Excuse me?"  Erza said, clearly taken aback by the look on her face. "N-no! Oh gosh, I shouldn’t have said that…" she murmured, "I was supposed to keep it a secret, but now I’ve just gone and ruined everything." Just as she was about to beg them not to mention it, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy made their entrance, and immediately Erza stepped in to ruin her plan of getting them to keep quiet about it. "You and Natsu are dating?" Erza asked, her tone more accusatory than questioning. "What?" Lucy asked, taken aback by the sudden question.

i think if wendy had told erza not to tell anyone, she would have made her feel much better about her inability to keep secrets because if her acting skills are any indication, erza is even worse. unfortunately erza doesn't give her any time before practically accusing natsu and lucy of dating which again, i think is really funny

"You know you’ve cuffed yourself with a moron, right Lucy?" Gray asked, not giving up an opportunity to take a jab at Natsu. "Hey! How ‘bout you say that to my face!" Natsu yelled at him, suddenly forgetting any of what had just occurred, much more occupied with defending his pride. "I will! You’re a goddamned moron!" Gray retorted.

gray will never pass up the chance to roast natsu and neither will i

"Everything okay, Wendy?" Lucy asked, noticing the way her gaze seemed to be cast to the ground. "I um… I thought you guys would be more upset," Wendy revealed, "you know… with me." "Why would we be upset?" she replied. "Because you said you trusted me, and I broke my promise…" Wendy murmured. "Ya can’t always keep every promise you make," Natsu shrugged, "‘sides, it’s not the worst promise you could have broken." "So you’re not mad?" "Of course we’re not mad," Lucy assured.

there was no way that either of them could ever be mad at wendy for literally anything. they both know that she did her best even if she caved so, so easy. poor wendy is so convinced they're going to be upset with her but they both know there's no point in being upset about it because it's in the past now and natsu got to punch gray in the aftermath of it so he's fine with that outcome

"We fought a group of like fifty bandits," he exaggerated, which was met with an eyeroll from Lucy as she sipped on the drink Mira had passed over to her. "The guys tried to catch us off guard, but I caught ‘em before they could get the jump on us, one of them tried to stab me in the head, Lucy and I are dating, and we got the full reward." Wendy choked on her drink slightly, head whipping back around to where Natsu had been relaying the story of their job to see if she had heard him right, and based on the gobsmacked faces of everyone around them, she could only assume she had. "I’m sorry, what was that middle part?" Mira asked, caught off guard by the sudden announcement. "One of them tried to stab me in the head," he repeated, gesturing towards the superficial wound that Wendy had stitched up after the fight. "Natsu and I are dating," Lucy clarified for him.

added this purely for my own amusement. natsu would just be so casual about it because he doesn't see a big deal with it and everyone else is so caught off guard by it

i imagine that they probably talked about it beforehand and were like. yeah wendy's not keeping this for more than a day, better we tell everyone now than keep all that pressure on her

"That’s okay," Lucy hummed before letting them fall into a comfortable silence as they watched the celebration unfold into a classic Fairy Tail brawl right in front of their eyes. "I think your timing was just right," she said, turning her attention back to Wendy. "I was scared that things might change if everyone knew, but you showed me that maybe that doesn’t have to be a bad thing."

i like to focus on change (or lack thereof) a lot in my nalu fics because i love exploring the way their relationship changes when they get together, and a lot of the time that's not a lot

here lucy is more worried about the external change. they've been dating long enough that she's comfortable in the way her relationship is with natsu, they're still best friends but with a splash dash of kissing and romance, but she's worried about the way that change will be perceived by others and how that changes the way people feel about or act around them. i think that type of change is inevitable, but that's a bit more nuanced than what i wanted to get into with this fic. for the most part things stay the same. to everyone else they're still going to be natsu and lucy, they're just a little more mushy now

[tfsroleplay]

"Deep breath... in... out..."

Sylvia paces in her living room, clearly distressed and holding a letter. Apollo isn't home yet, Haru and Zach were supposed to be asleep but she may have been a bit too loud and woke them. Now they're peeking at her from the living room.

"Doesn't she have anything better to do?? Does she have to come here now??"

She leans against the back of the couch, groaning. Slowly, she just slides down until she's sitting on the ground.

"Stupid fucking... ugh... Last time we got out of it by going to Splatsville, but apparently she's got people she knows there... If we do that again, she'll just go there too..."

She's getting angrier, tugging on the ends of her tentacles harshly as she tries to think.

"...Splatsville's the city of chaos, may as well go meet her there instead of letting her come here and possibly bumping into people we know here... Besides, at least when I get pissed it'd be just another fight to the locals..."

Haru and Zach look at each other, frowning.

"...What do you think she's talking about...?"

"I don't know... Do you think she and Dad are gonna go somewhere again...? Remember when they had us stay with the neighbors for a few days?"

"Mhm..."

Suddenly, they feel Sylvia's gaze on them.

"Boys, you may not glow as bright as me, but if you're gonna spy on me, make sure it's not dark out. I can see your ink glowing from here."

The two boys jump, yeah, they may not glow the way she does, but their hallway is dark and Sylvia could see them glowing when she looked around. Uh oh. Reluctantly, they walk over to her, sitting down on the ground in front of her.

"What's wrong? Who are you going to see...?"

Sylvia sighs, they've obviously been listening to her for a while. She holds up the letter, the boys reading only a little bit.

"..."

"...Mom wants to come see us?"

"Yes."

"Well, isn't that good news? I mean... We don't exactly remember Mom, and you and dad just never told us much... So... It's a good thing?"

"No, it's not a good thing, Zach..."

Sylvia sighed, shaking her head. She's never explained fully why their mother wasn't around, or came to visit. She's always avoided the topic, or at least changed the subject, but when they stopped asking she figured they'd just either forgot or something else...

"Look, Mom just... She wasn't..."

She looks at Haru for a moment, clearly trying to figure out how to explain it to them without hurting them. Haru especially.

"She wasn't someone that... we should be around."

"What does that mean?"

"...I... I think we should talk about this later..."

"Stop that."

Zach stares at her, a little upset.

"We're not 5, we're teenagers, we've gone through shit and aren't little kids anymore. Can't you just tell us instead of keeping us in the dark? It's not fair to us!"

Sylvia was silent, suddenly beginning to cry. Almost immediately Zach felt bad, freaking out.

"Ah— Wait I didn't mean to make you cry!!"

He starts trying to make her feel better, mixing up a bunch of words as he spoke quickly.

"I—I was just frustrated! You didn't do anything wrong!"

"Zach, you didn't... It's not you that's making me cry... Can... you two please go to bed...? We can... We can talk about this tomorrow..."

Zach and Haru look at each other before hugging her tightly, now quiet and just wanting to make her feel better.

"...We love you. You're the best big sister we have..."

"...I'm the only big sister you have..."

"Exactly, that's why you're the best..."

"Yeah!"

The two boys eventually get up, Sylvia watching as they disappeared down the hallway and into their rooms. She sighs, grabbing her phone and dialing a number.

"...Here goes nothing..."

[giratina-plushie]

I would like. Adaman, Irida, and uhhhhhhh [spins the wheel] Bianca thoughts. pleese :)

ouuuuu good picks good picks

for adaman:

First impression: oooh. Cool Guy. id wear that outfit. hell yeah

Impression now: YEAHHHH COOL GUY!!! doing his Fucking Best out here. i really like how he interacts with his clan he's very nicey to them (apart from one time when the world is exploding but i forgive him for that). i also love how much of a contrast he is to irida

Favorite moment: this is so hard to pick but i think when he's talking to arezu after she messed up her ankle. he's SO kind and gentle with her it's very heartwarming

Idea for a story: i think a story where he just decides one afternoon he's gonna poke his head around the timeline a bit would be funny. put that man in situations but as soon as it gets dangerous enough to threaten his life dialga yoinks him out of there. we've got a bunch of different time periods now with sv there's a lot you can do with it. specifically i want to put him in a secured area in the aether foundation and have people freak out about how he got in there

Unpopular opinion: i don't think i have one? i'll be honest i don't pay too much attention to these things

Favorite relationship: holds up mai melli and adaman. they are SIBLINGS!!!!!!!!! to me. and i won't let go of it

Favorite headcanon: i like to think he just hangs out with dialga. like it's this super formal legendary but he just leans on it and tells it about his day. yeah it's the god of time so what it's also a beast and a friend

for irida:

First impression: small. pink. frowning. friend..?

Impression now: I AM NORMAL ABOUT HER COME CLOSER i picked her to help me with the lakes because a) ive never seen anyone do that before and b) i wanted to fight origin forme dialga i think it's really cool and. OUGH it's such a good snapshot into her character. she's overly formal, sure, but she's also so caring and so stressed and augh!!! i love her. she's a delight

Favorite moment: at spear pillar when palkia's talking to her. there are definitely others but i think that one's just really cool. she's a bit possessed and that's ok

Idea for a story: i wanna write her hanging out with someone she usually wouldn't interact with. sabi, maybe, i like sabi. or arezu! i think they'd both be fun to write together MN

Unpopular opinion: again, do not think i have one of these, apart from the fact that i like her just as much as adaman i think there's a bias from the amount of art i've seen

Favorite relationship: her and gaeric. a family can be 1 funny buff icelands man 1 very small clan leader and a bunch of ice pokemon and eevees

Favorite headcanon: like adaman, i think she hangs out with palkia and also i think it picks her up like longcat. also she's buff. you can't take that from me. she was trained by gaeric there's no way she isn't fairly fucking strong

aand last but DEFINITELY not least, the bianca:

First impression: oh she's the ditsy girl to complement the serious boy, got it

Impression now: SHE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT I LOVE HER!!!! she's a ray of sunshine she's a walking beacon of hope she's a reminder that you don't have to have it all figured out right away she's a caring loving friend she's finding her own way in life at her own pace and she wears a funny hat

Favorite moment: honestly when she showed up in b2w2 just because of the sheer joy in my heart i felt when i saw her

Idea for a story: either something about her and elesa working together on designing clothes or just putting her and n in the same place for more than five seconds

Unpopular opinion: again, i don't know what the popular opinions are, so i have nothing for this

Favorite relationship: her and hilda/hilbert, actually! i can't remember too many details it's been over half a year since i played w1 but i always loved when she showed up. they're childhood friends. she's very kind to them. that delights me.

Favorite headcanon: i like to think she does end up working with elesa, at least for a bit. maybe not straight up doing the modeling, maybe she tries that and goes "hm, maybe not for me" and starts focusing on other aspects like clothes design or choreographing the modeling stuff! i also like the idea of her getting to travel to other places and see new sights even after she's done with her traditional Pokémon Journey. put her in kalos. let her run around in a boutique. enrichment