#also the title is a name pun!

[supreme-leader-stoat]

Still scratching that Halloween itch. This is Willa. Technically speaking, she's not a ghost as she was never human to begin with; she's more of an urban legend come to life. It is advised that you not point this out if you value your safety.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson.

I'm buddy reading this with @asexualbookbird! Ey have a library reading challenge going on, I need a masterclass in Dread Building for writing revision purposes (and yeah okay you can never start NaNo prep reading too early, catch me trying to write a haunted house story this year), the timing works out great, so! Here we go!!

[coquelicoq]

well i've caught up on the double. which means i am depressed!!!! at least [redacted]'s death scene was homoerotic. (me fully weeping: at least this is being directly paralleled with a het lovers death scene. at least [other stuff i am redacting for spoilers but just trust me bro].) anyway to pass the time until 29 drops does anyone want to help me with a reference post i'm writing about the names of jiang li's family members? let's play a game called Name That Hanzi! wherein i give you an image of some hanzi and you give me text versions that i can copy and paste. i did my best but i hit a wall on this one. here's the image:

[ID: Screencap of Jiang Li from The Double showing her title card with her two names, Jiang Ruoyu and Jiang Li. The names are also displayed in hanzi. /end ID]

so far i've got 姜若雨 for jiang ruoyu on the left, but i'm not confident about those second and third characters (like those strokes are not even all in the right direction. but maybe it's the script?). and on the right we have 字 (zi, courtesy name), SOME CHARACTER THAT HAS STYMIED ME (help me studio audience), and 梨 (li).

(also sidenote is it just me who totally missed that she has a courtesy name? and that apparently it's li that is her courtesy name, and it's the other name, ruoyo, that no one ever uses? also sidenote of the sidenote the ruo character is the same one in her sister ruoyao's name. so maybe they have a generational name? their dad and his brothers all share a character as well (yuan, 元). their little brother bingji doesn't have ruo in his name though. so maybe not.)

[sincerelyandyourstruly]

tales told in morning light

insp.

—

Keqing wakes up one morning to find her beloved sitting at the window sill, nibbling a fruit pastry they made together the night before as she watches the pale, grey dawn.

"Good morning," Keqing says as she plods over to join Ganyu by the window. "What are you…"

Keqing doesn't mean to trail off. There is very little in Teyvat that can distract her attentive gaze, but a new and unexpected detail about her lover certainly falls under that very short list.

"Tail," she says aloud, a little dumbly.

Ganyu tilts her head at Keqing.

"You have a tail."

Ganyu pauses mid-nibble as her eyes widen slightly. "Oh!" she says, and the fluffy tip quivers slightly as she curls it closer to her chest. Her expression turning a bit sheepish, she says, "I guess I just thought that since you found out about my horns so long ago, you'd eventually conclude that I must have other non-human traits tucked under my skin."

(Keqing resists the urge to reach out and touch Ganyu's tail out of pure awe and wonder right then and there.)

Ganyu's brow furrows. "Does… does it bother you?"

Keqing blinks rapidly, her momentary reverie evaporating. "No, not at all!" she assures Ganyu. (She soon flushes, embarrassed that it had never even occurred to her that Ganyu's qilin heritage gave her more than just her horns. Every day, this woman finds a new way to challenge her assumptions.) "I think it's nice."

The faint tension in Ganyu's brow smooths out. Her tail first uncoils at its fleecy tip, then gradually unfurls like the first bold glaze lily bud in the spring: beautiful and soft, pale blue color threaded with bright, opalescent gossamer in the morning light.

Ganyu laughs, the familiar sound warm and comforting like wool, then swishes her tail away. She pats the free space next to her— just wide enough for Keqing to squeeze in next to her.

"It's silly," she admits as Keqing settles next to her. "For a moment, I was worried you were mad."

Keqing reaches out to take Ganyu's hand, taking care to lace their fingers together tightly. "What is there for me to be mad about?" she asks. They've known each other long enough that Ganyu knows her most every quirk and tell, so for her to worry like this— surely, it must be something serious.

Ganyu meets her gaze from the corner of her eye for a moment, then returns her attention to the brightening blues of the sky. "That's why it's silly," she says. "I know you'd never really be mad at me for letting my Adeptal blood show."

Keqing strokes the back of her partner's hand as the latter leans against her. "Well, I was" —kind of still am— "surprised," she says.

"But the Yuheng is as quick to adapt as ever to her situation," Ganyu lightly replies. The corners of her lips curl into a small smile, and she gently knocks her head against Keqing, who laughs.

"I suppose I was worried you'd think I was lying to you," Ganyu elaborates with a sigh.

"That's silly," Keqing immediately interjects.

"So it is!" Ganyu agrees, then quiets again as her amethyst gaze turns faraway. "Old habits, however burdensome they become to maintain, are always rooted in something, though. There still remains so much of me you do not yet know."

Keqing studies the glint of golden sunlight caught in Ganyu's eyelashes as they sit together in the stillness, in the silence before the lark greets the skies and the doves mourn the night.

For a long time, she had hated such moments of quietude. Lying idle was far from her idea of idyllic, but the ancient grace of Ganyu has since caught her by the hand and taught her how to smell the flowers: from the heady weight of glaze lilies filling up the air, to the fragile caress of qingxin dancing thinly on the breeze.

Ganyu's tail wraps itself around Keqing's waist after a moment, sturdy muscles holding Keqing gently like a hug. With the fluff now sitting so invitingly upon her lap, Keqing reaches out a hand to give it a pat.

"It's soft," she marvels, delighted.

Ganyu smiles again and curls her tail more strongly, more affectionately, around Keqing. "It's the love," she says.

They fall into comfortable silence again. Each second slips by with the grace of a pure mountain stream, which cuts through the ages into the steadfast, winding river.

Keqing takes the moment to listen to the ancient echoes which sing beneath their heartbeats. Indeed, there are parts of Ganyu she knows she cannot yet hope to fathom.

((But always, always, always, she is going to try.))

[epiphainie]

s8 thing that doesn't matter at all but i want because stuff like that makes me happy is an episode with a character name in the title. bonus points if a pun. extra bonus points if a film/book title pun

[onceuponanaromantic]

modus operandi

(Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial's prompt: FFF218 How Do You Use It? This isn't related to anything I'm working on but enjoy!)

It wasn’t much, but it had been her mother’s.

Maybe that’s what made it hurt all the more.

            She lets her face press to the cold stone of the bridge, trying to ease the ache of her heavy heart. It shouldn’t matter that she had hand sewn every one of the beads onto the bodice, that she had embroidered every stitch into the skirt by candlelight, that she had never worn it until today. She had stayed up late, squinting by the weak glow of the candlelight, eyes burning and fingers bleeding from where she had pricked them trembling with exhaustion, trying to finish the alterations in time.

            All she had wanted was one night. One moment to remember what she had used to be, what her mother had wished for her.

            The gash in the skirt bleeds where the ink pot was thrown at her. Where she rubs her fingers on it, they still come away black, instead of the blood red it looks under the moonlight. She feels the last sob escape her, bubbling through her throat.

            She is no scholar to win her freedom by sneaking out to take the Civil Service exam as Shen Xiumin did. She has no skill for singing, unlike Huang Meilin, to run away to the stage and hide her face behind the face paint of the opera. She is no warrior to restore her family’s honour as Hua Chenyi did.

            All she had were her hands. All she had were her eyes. The eyes that picked up the beads left behind where noblewomen dropped them from their hems, the calloused hands with unpainted nails that stitched them into the dress.

            “Hush, child.” A voice emerges from behind her. “Why do you cry?”

            She turns, bowing to the fox emerging from the undergrowth, her seven tails swishing. “Lady Fox.”

            The fox’s fathomless eyes dart to the dress. “I see, the Prince will choose a bride tonight at the masquerade, won’t he? He will choose based on the dress.”

            She could not admit that all she had wanted was a single night. She was no great beauty, but she had her skill.

            “You have always been kind to the water spirits and the forest sprites. I will reward you now.”

            The dress lifts into the air as she gazes upon it. The jacket lifts, the skirt puffs outwards before narrowing. When it descends, it is as soft as the mulberry silk only palace nobles could afford, the expensive deep green dye covered with intricate silver and gold where her own once laid.

            And it looks nothing like her mother’s dress.

            “Put it on. It will return to its former state by the hour of the tiger, but you should have time for a dance.”

            But even as she takes it into her hands, she finds her head shaking. “Noble Lady Fox, I cannot accept your gift. For this was my mother’s and it would be a disservice to both of us to wear the dress as it is.” She swallows. “I am sorry, Noble Lady Fox, I am honoured but I still have my pride. I cannot accept this. I cannot wear it to the ball.”

            The fox gazes at her, her dark eyes inscrutable. “Is that your final answer?”

            She nods. “Then very well.”

            The dress disappears from her hands altogether and when she looks up from the ground, the fox is gone too.

            She swallows past the bitterness suddenly in her throat, for she knows better than to demand her dress back.

            Days pass, and the prince announces his bride. She watches as the noblewoman steps up beside him, her hand dainty and soft, her nails painted elegantly, her face powdered and her lips as small and red as cherries. She moves on with her life, until one day, a courtier comes knocking at her door.

            “Are you Xiu Yanli?” The courtier asks, her eyes squinting to read the characters. “Please come with me to the palace.”

            She goes, even though the courtier doesn’t explain, not even when her stepmother demands to know where she’s going, demands that the walnuts will not shell themselves nor the tea steep itself in its pot. She goes, even though she knows she will never be able to come back after this.

            All she had left that meant anything was the dress anyway, and that was taken from her too.

            She stiffens as they reach the palace, but relaxes as they go around to the back. Then, she stiffens again, as she is led through a corridor opulent with gold dragons on the windows and through staircases with deep walnut wood engravings in them. Only the emperor is allowed gold dragons.

            But she doesn’t say anything as she is led into a room. She sinks to her knees, bowing fully as the new empress-to-be stands before her.

            When she raises her eyes though, she cannot help but gasp.

            Her dress lies beautifully against her body, exactly as it looked that night, except the gash was now a silver and gold inlay that spiralled like a cobweb and the ink stain curved into beautiful delicate patterns like a painting of lotuses and bamboo on silk.

            “I am told you are the seamstress who made this?” The empress-to-be’s voice is soft and high.

            “I did the alterations, your Highness. It was originally my mother’s.”

            “How did you make it do that with the beading?”

            She explains but after, she forces herself to speak. “How did you get it?”

            The empress purses her lips, and all of a sudden, she’s reminded that the empress is younger than her. “I’m new to the palace too. Another lady ruined my original dress and I was crying, except a fox came in and offered it to me, if I would recognise the seamstress later.”

            She looks shyly at her. “Would you come and be a handmaiden for me? It’s just… I need a friend. You would stay here, of course, but you can return if you want. I’m not- I don’t mean to force you.”

            She bowed. She bowed deeply and gratefully, before straightening up and smiling.

            “Of course. But can I have my dress back? It isn’t much, but it was my mother’s.”

[astro-b-o-y-d]

I'm trying so hard to make my chapter titles clever when it comes to puns while Alex Hirsch was out there giving a thumbs up to titles like The Last Mabelcorn

[netscapenavigator-official]

Diversity Win ✅

The weapon of mass destruction being used to kill everyone is called the Vulvarizer.

[ghostoffuturespast]

So It Goes: Ch. 34 - RAM RAID

Her lashes stuck together as she read the caller ID on the holo. V screwed her face up, curious as to what she’d done to deserve such a prodigious wake up call. The merc considered getting up to answer but her current comfortable position robbed her of the willpower to do so. Plus, there was the added hassle of having to climb over a mountain just to get out. She double-checked to ensure the holo was on voice only before flicking the call through.

“Hello, V.”

She cleared her throat, trying to dislodge the sleep that had stuck it together.  “Jefferson? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

He caught the waver in her voice.  “Is now a good time?  If you’re in the middle of somethin’, I can call back.”

The new mayor-elect didn’t need to know that an unclothed V was tangled up in the sheets in the middle of her bed, wedged between a naked cat and a very beautiful and very naked man.

“No, it’s fine.”  V murmured into tawny skin, cool hands gliding over a muscled hip and ribs.  Her fingers traced an old thin scar.

Jefferson started.  “Alright.  Listen, I need your help again.  Matter’s… private.”

“Can I ask what this matter’s about?”

Shifting in her arms and ruffled from his slumber, River rolled over to face her while his brown organic eye squinted at her in accusation.

“Don’t want to go into too much over the holo, but we’ve had a break-in.  Circumstances are a little unusual.  Come by, I’ll lay it out, explain everything in person."

[followmetoyourdoom]

Me: *sat at my desk*

Students: I wonder what the Hiss Master is thinking about

Me, in head: RISE... OF THE... TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES HEROES IN A HALF SHELL! TURTLE POWER! RISING UP AGAINST EVIL PAINT THE CITY GREEN RAPH IS READY FOR A FIGHT LEO'S MAKING A SCENE, MIKEY GOT MAD SKILLS DONNIE ROCKS MACHINES. WITH EACH OTHER THEY DISCOVER THEIR DESTINY AND RISE! COWABUNGA! RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES HEROES IN A HALF SHELL! TURTLE POWER! RIIIIISE!

[lovelesslittleloser]

Somehow my brain made me google if there were any stories called ‘Bee-incarnation’, and when I found out there was something directly adjacent, obviously I started reading it immediately. I once again cannot remember what happened for my brain to conjure the thought, but then I suddenly said aloud ‘this is all so incredibly BEE-ZARRE’ and I laughed and then I noticed my laugh sounded kinda ‘ohoho’-esq so I repeated the laugh in order to sound more like some cliche villainess in anime and now I’m here.

Also here’s the thing you’re welcome

[astranauticus]

been thinking about this for a while but like. wow i really wanna pick up my old hobby of translating chinese music again

[emeraldxsplash]

The amount of effort it took not to name my part 3 verse "I Was Brought to My Senses" ... ... ...

[aparticularbandit]

You know when something clicks and it just makes you mad.

You know how I keep talking about how big OAFC is and how I'm trying to pack in so much stuff into it.

Yeah, yeah, guess what.

It doesn't all go in that book, there's a third book, I'm so mad, actually.

But I know what the third book is and what it holds and the meeting the Remnants memories all go roughly in that one.

Because the end I had planned would NOT have actually been that easy just based on the end of book two.

-sighs-

I already know the title, though, so that's something at least.

If book one is Of An Endless Infinity, and book two is Of A Fatal Captivity, then book three is Of A Light Hope.

[insert-content]

a summar(ule)y of 196 culture

since the tumblr veterans have been kind enough to introduce us newbies to their site and culture, i think it is only fair that we explain the culture of our glorious former home to any tumblr users who might be interested in the #196 tag. keep in mind, all these things are based on my perspective of the situation.

first of all, some general information (that you might’ve already heard):

196 (r/196 on reddit) was a subreddit with only one (official) rule; "post before you leave." it was mainly a meme/shitposting sub, but it cultivated a large queer and left-leaning community. in protest of the recent api chances in reddit, 196 has shut down indefinitely until reddit reverts these changes.

now for some culture/references that you might come across

spronkus kronkus:

spronkus is this yellow, rabbit-like creature.

they were the mascot of our subreddit. their appearance can vary from images to image, but as far as i’m aware, their full outfit consists of a bandanna in the colours of the trans flag around their neck, a gun labelled as such (other wise you obviously wouldn’t know what you’re looking at), and an axe also coloured like the trans flag.

r/place:

this is a rare event on reddit where the entire website gets a huge white canvas and can start creating pixel art on it. 196 participated by collaboratively creating our mascot, spronkus with "196!" written next to them.

this version of the pixel art was recreated by me as i couldn't find a nice image of it. there were some changes between the first version and the end result, so this might not be exactly how it looked in the end

post titles/"rule":

reddit forces it's users to title every post they make. as most of the posts on 196 spoke for themselves, many user instead titled their posts "rule", to indicate that they followed the subreddit's only rule. some people also tried to make puns with the word or tried to include it in words that shared some letters (example: wor(ule)d).

anarcho-stripperism:

as the amount of cropped porn jokingly posted to the subreddit increased, the moderators decided that porn would be banned from the sub, with one exception: anarcho-stripperism. she made food fucking videos, in which she jokingly tested the fuckability of different food items (fruits, pasta, etc.)

bigotry showcase:

bigotry showcase was a post flair (basically the reddit equivalent of tags) on the subreddit and was later restricted to only be used on saturdays. under this flair people posted instances of different forms of bigotry to make fun it.

eating babies/hungryposting:

at some point, the subreddit started to pretend to like eating babies, which started a variety of memes regarding the subject. even a post flair called "hungrypost" was added because of this

goblinhog:

goblinhog is the most prominent and well-known member of the 196 moderation team. besides this, on 196 he was mostly known for changing people’s flair if you enjoyed him enough about it.

flairs:

flairs are little tags that are displayed under your name in posts or comments, they are also subreddit specific. most subreddits give their users a palette of preset flairs and the option to make your own custom flair. however, in 196 you only had the option to customize your flair during special events. if you wanted to customize your flair outside of those events (which was basically the entire time), you had to ask a mod to do it for you.

punching nazis:

from time to time, the same gif of a person with a nazi armband getting punched in the face, and promptly falling to the ground, was reposted to the subreddit. this became a sort of tradition.

discourse/drama

wasp discourse:

the wasp discourse was a one to two weeks long heated discussion that generally divided the subreddit into two factions. one side said that they were justified in killing wasps if they were attacked by them, while the other claimed that since wasps are just animals, they aren't aware of what they're doing in the same way humans are, and therefore should be spared.

drama about the british:

there was a time when jokes along the lines of "ew, british" became pretty frequent on the subreddit. as a response, some user claimed that this was akin to racism and tried to get others to stop with the jokes. a debate over whether or not it was important or necessary to stop followed afterwards.

pillar discourse:

this was a debate over which type of pillar should be considered the best (ionic; doric; corinthian). i have seen the question "which pillar is the best?" being used as a sort of greeting between 196 refugees on here.

related subreddits

195:

195 was the predecessor to 196, and also was a social experiment with the same premise as 196 (one rule, post before you leave). as the creators of 195 ended the experiment, the community wanted something with the same vibe to continue posting, and thus 196 was born.

197:

197 is another part of the 196 ecosystem and is commonly understood to be the more politically right-leaning and bigoted as 196, as some people who were banned from 196 continued posting there. besides that, the subreddits were essentially the same in terms of how they functioned.

19684:

this subreddit adds a second rule which banned all mentions of sex (that’s why it’s name is a pun on 1984). some people took this as banning all discussion of sexuality, which resulted in a community that was slightly less accepting of queer people. it is currently still up and running as the 196 moderation team wants a way to stay in contact with the community.

amendments to the posts:

u/femboy_expert:

another well-known 196 user. as the name suggests they're an expert on the subject of femboys, with their flair on 196 reading "phd in feminine boys". as the subreddit was somewhat obsessed with femboys, it's no wonder that they became popular.

u/shitcum_backup:

this was the main account of a pretty popular shitposter on the subreddit. although i didn't see them as much in the last few months, i remember them sometimes having a unique speaking pattern, in which they referred to themself in the third person.

u/monko74:

this user commented "Every day I thank god for not making me a r/196 celebrity," which led to many users of the subreddit treating them like a micro celebrity. there are even a few subreddits solely dedicated to u/monko74.

691:

a sister subreddit that inverts the rule of 196, here you would be (temporarily) banned for posting. some time ago the members of this sub initiated a rebellion/revolution against the bot who performed all the bans (roomba).

u/Smart_Calendar1874:

this wasn’t necessarily part of the subreddit, but it was a pretty popular meme. and since it’s getting posted on here again, and i know enough about it, i’ll add it to the post. this user made a post to r/AskReddit titled "How would you get a small cylinder (5.1in length, ~4.5in girth) unstuck from a mini M&Ms tube filled with butter and microwaved mashed banana? [sic]" it was pretty clear that they were referring to their penis, yet they continued to claim "it’s a cylinder," in the comment section. this lead to comments like "it is imperative that the cylinder […] remains unharmed," in response to people’s advice of cutting the m&m tube.

it's going to be very interesting to see which aspects of 196 culture are going to survive the tumblr migration, and which aspects won't be applicable on this site.

i'm obviously not the ultimate scholar on 196 lore. if i’ve missed or left out anything, or said something wrong, please comment it.

[lyrefromthesea]

oh! Since you also do requests with hybrids, could I ask for wolfhybrids (or fox) hashiras x reader? Like hashiras see the reader as the perfect mate material, so they try to get closer to them by courting them in their own ways

Male Hashira x Reader - Prey tell?

author's note: the title is a pun, my humor is dry. i fell down the stairs and sit in a hospital since yesterday.

pairing: Tengen x reader, Obanai x reader, Rengoku x reader, Sanemi x reader, Giyuu x reader, Gyomei x reader

content warning: wolf!hybrids, a/b/o, kny!au

i've been thinking a lot about this idea now, especially which rank each hashira would have. alpha? beta? omega? it was quite hard, but i allowed myself to create a little au for better understanding.

to not mess things up, i decided that the reader will be an omega in this au. all the hashira are considered alphas, which of course has a reason too.

i've went through the a/b/o thing over the past two or three days and to put it simply: alpha is the equivalent to strong, omegas are weak in comparison.

the hashira are the strongest swordsmen in the corp, it would only be right to rank them as an alpha (or a beta).

you, on the other hand, have been fighting your way to the top. omegas are weaker than most, but you possess a strong mind, which helped you work your way up.

naturally, the day will come that you catch their attention, if only for the fact that you're an omega. i also imagine omegas to be more rare than alphas and betas, since they take on a weaker role in this au.

Tengen:

• he's smitten since day one - an alpha different from any you've met yet. smug smirk and tall body towering over you the minute your scent hits his nose.

• your scent gives him the same feeling the scents of his three wives do. you're so small, perhaps not physically, but your weak omega presence makes his protective instincts flare up.

• just another day or two and three women are by your side, two betas and another omega looking at you with happiness and a feeling of finally coming home.

• you'll learn to love all of them - courting one is courting all. Tengen's not surprised to come home and find all of you nuzzled together in a cuddle pile.

• and if that isn't enough to turn you into a proper mate of his, shiny presents and lots of time squished between four other people will surely do it.

Obanai:

• small and weak. how did you end up near the alphas? he's suspicious when he heard of you, no omega would be able to turn into a hashira. he needed to see that for himself.

• nearly falls off his spot in the tree when he sees you and a comforting scent hits his nose. he's almost embarrassed by the way his fluffy ears are twitching, trying to listen to your conversation with Rengoku.

• he follows you around for a few days, mustering up the courage to talk to you after nearly a week. you looked up when the man sat in front of you, another bowl of food in hand.

• he doesn't talk much, only telling you that omegas should eat more than you do. you awkwardly look at him for a while, taking the bowl after another minute and thanking him.

• the action alone got him blushing under his mask, bringing you food for the next month when he finds you eating somewhere around the training grounds.

Rengoku:

• he's one of the calmer ones when he hears about your rank as a hashira. an omega got ranked this high? what incredible talent you must possess!

• he's by no means against your way of living, but he can't keep his mouth shut about how "you should stay home and get protected by a proper alpha!" it's no insult and you can sense that much, but you find yourself disagreeing.

• once he's sure that you're the perfect material for a mate, he'll court you the proper way, just like his mother once told him.

• it's just that his "proper courting" nearly has you running away in embarrassment.

• "dear [name], allow me to show you my interest through the traditional ways of courting one's future mate!"

• your agreement only came a day later, after you survived his booming voice right behind you in the midst of a forest's silence. next time he shouldn't sneak up on you like that.

Sanemi:

• hah? ridiculous. a small thing like you is supposed to work midst the likes of him? don't make him laugh, he could eat you up for breakfast.

• with that attractive smell reeking from your body, you wouldn't survive a day. he would see you become a demon's snack sooner than later.

• his jaw nearly hits the ground when he sees you outsmart the lower rank demon in front of you with speed and flexibility instead of strength.

• he grumbles about your stupid cute presence, sweetly roaming around him. you're truthfully just going on about your day, but it's enough to make his mind go blank.

• you're the perfect mix of strong and obedient for him, listening so well to him, because "he's done this job longer than you and you were happy to learn."

• internally smacks himself when he tries signalling his courting intentions by gifting you clothes heavily drenched in his scent.

Giyuu:

• he didn't voice his worries, but an omega living this kind of life? any alpha would be worried, right? especially since omegas have gotten so rare these days!

• but, oh, you're so sweet and nice. you once cooked him some soup and he swore you needed an alpha's protection - his protection.

• if he could just steal you away and ensure your safety, but he knew that would make you unhappy. so he makes sure to keep you safe by following you like a lap dog.

• it's not uncommon to see the new omega and the gloomy hashira take a walk together. people tend to avoid you, feeling unwell because of the intense stare the alpha behind you gives them.

• some of them swore they have seen the two of you nuzzle against each other. a hint of his scent had previously started lingering on your uniform too.

Gyomei:

• is it just your imagination or have you been joining missions with the stone hashira more often? no, it's definitely true.

• ever since he has taken a liking to you, he had started courting you by ensuring your safety and happiness.

• he doesn't know a lot about proper courting, mostly because it didn't interest him for most of his life. his courting is really special, but you don't mind.

• instead of bestowing gifts upon you, he takes you to special places he has found, most of them with a unique smell - a waterfall or a meadow full of flowers.

• he tries to gouge your reactions, mostly trusting his ears and tail, because he sadly can't see your beautiful face.

• you find yourself blushing with the way his ears often twitch around you, trying to listen to your every breath and laugh.

• your favourite times are when a protective tail brushes against your back, inviting you into a long session of cuddling.