#and I know they're not doing it maliciously! they're just not as meticulous as me

[lasenbyphoenix]

Because I am predictable, Trust Fall and Xiao Fo please. 😁

All the FuBa for Gaia!

Seeing as you already know the ideas behind the stories, I'll treat you to some snippets that I haven't shared yet 😁

Trust Fall

Did he even remember the first time he looked at Ba Ye and felt more than he had before? If he was honest it probably snuck up on him - he'd never been much one for looking at relationships. He wasn't oblivious to the feeling of attraction or the attention of others, he had just never prioritised searching it out for himself. Too young, all the time in the world for that later. Did he even know then that he would live this long? No, that hadn't been a thought then either.

Ba Ye probably knew long before he did.

Ba Ye was so different from himself and the other soldiers he spent most of his with. It wasn't easy to overlook Ba Ye, but it was easy to underestimate him - a folly that Zhang Rishan fell into at the beginning, but after repeated exposure to Ba Ye's antics soon learned that they're was so much more to the man. It puzzled and occasionally infuriated Rishan, but the subterfuge wasn't malicious but more survivalist. Ba Ye wasn't a fighter after all, he was clever and observant and meticulous, his mind was a sharper weapon than a knife blade, and making himself seem harmless was his biggest defense.

But if push came to shove, he wasn't one to fight his way out and so it fell to Zhang Rishan to protect him at the instruction of Fo Ye, and it became ingrained in him as a second nature, always to keep Ba Ye safe.

And our beloved Xiao Fo 😼

He's doing it AGAIN. is it not enough to insist his Buddha has to sit on the breakfast bar in the kitchen, but now I have to endure the stare down from his sullen little face when I'm making food??

(Yes I'm talking about Xiao Fo. Rishan doesn't stare at me while I'm cooking. He'll just get in the way by insisting on getting a drink from the fridge and stealing a bite out of the wok on the way past - as if I don't know that was his plan all along. And he definitely doesn't question my cooking ability, he only did that once when I first moved in but as it turns out I like things as hot as he does so he's never doubted my food again.)

I DO know how to cook, thank you very much Xiao Fo! My mother made sure both my brother and I knew our way around the kitchen and my NaiNai taught me the special family recipes for Mid Autumn and New Year's and every other important festival, and just because I get busy and dont necessarily have the time to do the really elaborate meals that I still totally know how to cook! Doesnt mean I need to be JUDGED. By a CAT.

And life isnt going to be any better if Rishan has to do all the cooking because HE gets all pouty if he has too cook for more than 3 days in a row.

😁😘

[ohthethingswedoforlove]

I totally don't have a crush on Tiago, and want to know whats hes like with a Portuguese reader who is just a casual idiot and always asks him for help in Portuguese because they're scared that others would bully them because they don't understand the subject, I swear. also you have really cool ocs that I want to draw fanart of.

And he totally doesn’t like you that much at all, no! Pfft, what makes you think so? Ah, those photos of you that just fell out of his pockets are nothing, he swears! He’s just... Keeping them for a friend, that’s all! 

...Unless?

Also, thank you! And I’m incredibly flattered that someone would even think of drawing any of my characters, I’ll be more than happy to see it, if you do end up doing it!

Warnings: yandere character; manipulation and gaslighting;

Tiago

No matter if you actually are Portuguese or if you just happen to know how to speak the language, it's very likely that he's going to feel more confident around you way faster than he normally would.

Tiago's usually very cautious when he's trying to break the ice, he likes to meticulously plan his first impressions in way that, preferably, makes others feel very comfortable around him while he himself still gets to keep his defenses up.

But you kinda pulled a uno reverse card on him with this one.

It also helps that you're more on the casual and sillier side.

You two hit it off pretty well from the start, actually.

Which almost disgusts Tiago with how buddy-buddy he unconsciously got with you right on first meeting. As if he didn't know that he shouldn't let his guard down around others. As if he didn't have a strict self-made list of rules that he religiously follows.

A less serious part of him might also be a bit disappointed by the fact that you speak his language, mainly because now he can't have fun by confusing the absolute hell out of you.

But oh well. That's a small loss compared to the numerous inside jokes you two end up coming up with in this scenario.

And of course he would be willing to help you with the subject!

What are friends for, after all?

Besides, how could he possibly pass up this perfect chance you just handed to him on a silver platter?

You basically went up to this guy and said "here's a perfect opportunity to manipulate me into becoming emotionally dependent on you".

Welp, you kinda dug your own grave rather quickly.

If you were already a bit worried and self-conscious around others, prepare to become full-blown paranoid.

Because Tiago is going to feed into your fears any moment he seems fit.

It's going to start slowly and even somewhat reasonably.

He's patient, gentle and genuinely helpful. You honestly couldn't hope for a better tutor. Or friend, for that matter.

He tries to calm your concerns and panicked assumptions, while still subtlety shifting the blame onto everyone else.

He's very careful about the way he phrases and constructs his narrative, especially in the beginning.

But as soon as a small incident occurs involving one of your fellow students, that’s when he starts getting serious.

He's going to use every moment someone makes you anxious, even if they hadn't done it on purpose or with any malicious intent, as leverage to really drive his point home.

And you will start to fully believe him, slowly but surely.

He already has your complete trust by this point and he also made it perfectly clear through your experiences with him that he's the most understanding and caring friend you've ever had.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if his influence starts to affect the way you see others even outside of this specific situation.

Which is just perfect for him.

In a rather ironic twist, he starts to believe his own words as much as you do.

For as socially confident he has become over the years, he would still rather slit his own throat than to lend his trust to anyone around him. He even has difficulty trusting you at times, though you do grow become a rather... Fickle exception.

Despite his external attitude being nearly worthy of an angel, under that sugar-coated shell is an incredibly bitter interior.

And so he isolates himself. In a way that goes unnoticed by most, lonely in a way that one can only truly be while in the middle of a crowd.

That's why that, to him, it's such a important development that you start to see the world the way that he sees it.

For you to not trust anyone but him... For you two to not need any other person other than each other... Now, that's what he likes to call "ideal".

All in all, this might just be one of the best (and easiest) routes for Tiago.

You two sure are going to get real close, real fast.

And, if you're not careful, Tiago might also become the last person you'll be close with for a very, very long time.

[thesilkentheater]

open air coffee shop

Crisp autumn air flows through the cafe through the two open windows, keeping the more uptight customers away and leaving a group of about seven total within the shop. Two baristas behind the counter, one in training, and five customers, all of which are there alone. Four are regulars- the man who sits in the booth closest to the door, the woman who always buys two cookies and a seasonal latte, the young college student who's always typing away at their laptop, and her.

The final is some random passerby looking for aesthetics. They take a picture of their latte art and post it online before taking a small sip. From the look on their face, they don't actually like coffee.

Her order is always the same. Espresso and a slice of freshly baked tart, thanks, the change is your tip. She's halfway through both, idly scribbling away notes to give to Illiya.

The diagnosis must be wrong. There's a way around it. The expansive properties of the most recent sample (82-B-07 is the code I think) will be key.

But that doesn't really matter, because, well, it's not why she goes to this coffee shop every morning. No, none of them come here for their work. She can see it, the distortion in the air and the way the water ripples beneath the surface, casting reflections onto the walls. Everyone comes here because they've got something wrong with them.

It's subtle. But she can taste it in the air- the man in the corner booth pretends to be a watercolor artist who happens to like the coffee and atmosphere a lot, but his wrists are covered in scars and frantic motions of his brush often look like knives slashing through steel. The college student will stare off into the ceiling by none of their own volition, mid-sentence, mid-thought, and curse themselves for it.

The woman who buys two cookies always meticulously arranges them on the plate, the exact same way, bites into them in the same ways, and by now the barista has learned she appreciates always having the same art atop the similar white cups. She eyes the seat with a strange look if one of the other three does not appear on a given day.

And, of course, she sees things. She sees the spiders crawling on the walls and the breeze bringing in shadows that dark about and whisper in words that aren't in a language she knows but understands nonetheless; she calmly sips her drink and scribbles some more notes. No, they're all aware; it's the reason they all come back.

Something about this open-air coffee shop in the corner has kept all four of them enraptured, despite their eccentricities, and all four of them now keep coming in wonder of what keeps the other three here. It's not conventionally inviting- it's not closed off and cozy, but the walls are brick with some overlaid sections of dark, warm wood, and some gentle wall art is hung. The counter is a stark white, a remnant from whatever this place used to be.

"There you are," someone says, and belatedly she realized that Illiya has shown up.

"What?"

"What do you mean, what? Can't talk to a friend I see out in public?"

She only glares at the woman, who laughs something gentle but malicious. "Well, let me go get a coffee and I'll join you."

The other patrons, save for the random passerby who focuses on finishing the coffee they never wanted, watch this new intruder on their space like hawks. Perhaps they are empathetic to her discomfort, but it feels like they watch with laser-sharp eyes looking for mistakes or a slip of the mask. Maybe they are- maybe they validate themselves by seeing others fail, and they want that from her now.

Or maybe she's just the slightest bit paranoid. Hard not to be when the whispers in your ear tell you so.

Illiya sits down, having gotten a latte in the meantime. It felt like no time at all, though in fairness her sense of time has always been warped. It is a miracle she wakes only an hour before the sun most days.

"You got any info for me?"

"The most recent specimen should be key to treatment."

"You think it can be treated?"

"Certainly."

"With...?"

"You've seen that thing's expansive properties?"

"What, are you suggesting-"

"That we find a way to utilize them in this case? Absolutely. It's an obvious solution, frankly."

"Yeah, but that thing doesn't stop growing. How are we going to stop it?"

"We figure out how to stop it when we figure out how it grows. Simple enough."

She scoffs, getting up from the table. "Yeah, okay. I'll let the boss know."

"Go ahead," Vermouth replies, waving her hand vaguely. It feels like bugs are crawling all over it, which she tries to ignore as she closes her eyes. "You act like it'll get me in trouble."

"It should," Illiya replies, leaving the sanctity of the open-air coffee shop.