#and is around my age so we can get to know each other beforehand to see if the marriage is gonna work out so that in three years when

[dragonairice]

They should make dating apps for aroace people where we can find others to platonically be with either for QPPs or because we're being pressured to be married or want a relationship without romance / sex with someone who wants the same thing

[spacebarbarianweird]

Soooo, tell me, do you think Astarion would be jealous or possessive at times? Do you think he gets nervous about losing his partner?

Oh, he would definteley be possessive! I think it would come out of fear. Like, what if Tav dumps him for someone better?

Thanks @brabblesblog and @rachelle-on-the-run for beta-reading!

Doubts

Synopsis: Astarion thinks you are going to leave him for someone better and accuses you of infidelity.

Tags: Hurt/comfort, a heated argument

Read on AO3

Masterlist

Headcanons

Astarion can't process what he feels.

Anger? Disgust? Disappointment? Betrayal?

You stand in the sunlight, bathing in the warm rays. You smile, sincere and happy, while he stands in the shadows like the monster he is.

A man, a handsome half-elf, with long and dark hair practically dances around you like a bird during mating season. He openly flirts with you and you giggle at his jokes.

You don't try to shut him down. You smile. You laugh.

Astarion can't hear the conversation, but he is sure you wouldn't talk like that if you knew he was near.

If it was night, he could easily grab your hand and threaten this man with the daggers.

But he can't.

He is useless.

The only thing he can do is to watch. He sees you taking the man's hand and then hugging him. Warm and tight.

It's too much even for him. 

He dissapears into the tunnels below the city. When he returns to the camp, it's already dark and you light a fire.

"Astarion,good news", you tell him. "We - What is wrong?"

He looks up at you. The anger is replaced with poison.

"If you wanted to fuck someone else, you should have just said so," he mutters through the teeth.

"What?" 

You dare to look surprised. Sure, why not. You aren't less manipulative than him. Learned from a professional.

"Oh, stop with this innocent smile! You know what I’m talking about! I've seen you flirting with that man. Tell me - is his body warm? Does his back look new and perfect?"

"You followed me."

"Answer the damn questions, Tav!"

You stand up.

"That was my friend. I knew him ages ago! I just didn't expect to meet him all of a sudden!"

"Come on, any common fool could see you were all over each other. You want to sleep with him? Fine. At least, you could be so kind as to tell me beforehand. I think I deserve it."

"Astarion, stop."

Your soft voice annoys him even more. 

He bursts. It's like a firestorm, unstoppable and cruel. He yells at you, spitting all the most disgusting insults as if it can numb at least some of his pain.

A whore. A slut. A bitch.

He yells at the top of his lungs. And then suddenly…

A slap.

Loud and painful. His cheek burns of how hard you've slapped him. It sobers him up and Astarion stares at you in shock. He wishes he could take all the words away. To go back in time and make himself stop before spitting all this poison.

"Tav..."

"GO AWAY!" 

He has never heard you screaming like that. You hate him. And he deserves it.

"GO FUCKING AWAY! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU!"

Tears stream down your face as you sit on the ground. Your body shudders.

And Astarion runs.

He disappears into the woods. In the darkness. In the cold.

The cheek still burns. You've never gotten physical with him - except for that first time when he almost drained you. Astarion sometimes remembers how you kicked him in the ribs.

But, maybe, it's all for the best? You can find a living person to spend your life with. Because what can he even offer? His nightmares? His pain? His tainted touches?

The very thought of you in someone else’s hands makes him sick. But at the same time, what did he expect after calling you all these awful names? 

He needs to disappear, forever.

But the further he goes, the worse he feels. The invisible leash tugs him back and his undead heart bleeds. 

The very idea of not seeing you, being alone, spending this condemned eternity on his own… He would prefer being flayed by a razor rather than living a day without you.

He needs to apologize. He needs to crawl back, begging for forgiveness. The same way he did when he was a slave.

Don't beat me. Don't torture me. I will do anything.

Don't leave me. Don't hurt me. I will do anything. 

As he returns to the camp, he sees you by the fire. You notice him and turn your head away.

"Please... I am sorry... I didn't mean it."

You look at him but instead of the softness he craves there is only cold. 

The only thing he desires is to hug you, to be pressed against your chest. To hear the words of love and comfort.

But there is an invisible wall between you two.

"Please… Don't leave me!" he begs. "I can't… I don't know how to live without you."

You sigh. "Astarion, I am not leaving you. But I am angry. I am angry like all the devils of Avernus."

"Then… I am sorry! I am sorry for calling you all these words, I am sorry for..."

"No, Astarion. It won't work like that. This relationship won’t work. "

Astarion is taken aback. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"I don't want you to do anything. But you need to understand that I have feelings, too."

Silence. Astarion is motionless.

"You are apologizing out of fear." you continue. "Because you’re used to expecting violence. I want you to apologize out of honesty. You hurt me. You accused me of infidelity. You called me all these slurs people used against you, perfectly knowing how much that hurts. You offended my friend, the person I grew up with, someone who I thought was dead. The person who gave me a very good contract just because I asked. For that, I need you to apologize."

You both are silent. Astarion looks somewhere in the distance. 

"Listen, Tav, you know I am like that. I can’t control it."

"You do! That's the thing. You were infantilized for two hundred years. But you are a man. You are not a boy, not a pet, not a slave. You don't need to be trained or taught. You are a man. And you must learn to be responsible for your actions. I understand why you are like that. But it doesn't mean I have to allow you to say anything you want."

The words hurt like daggers when he finally manages to say them out loud.

"I am sorry. I am sorry for thinking you could leave me. I am sorry for hurting you. My emotions took the best of me. I am afraid, I am constantly afraid. I am afraid you will leave me for what I am."

A touch. Soft and delicate. He feels like crying the moment your tender fingers caress his skin.

"And I am sorry for getting physical. I shouldn't have slapped you."

"I deserved it"

"No one deserves beatings. Especially, from their loved ones." 

You press your forehead against his. "You aren't an easy person to deal with, Astarion. But I knew it from the beginning. When you confessed to me, I had a chance to stop it. I didn't do it. Because I love you. But I am a living breathing person and if you hurt me, I bleed. "

He nods. "But if you ever want to end all this - "

"I won't"

He smiles and presses his finger against your lips. "If you ever decide it's too much, tell me. Just be honest. "

You wrap your hands around his neck and tug him close. "You know, when he hugged me, my first thought was "damn, his skin is so uncomfortably hot". And he told me we should stop it because his husband is jealous. I think they are having a very uncomfortable conversation right now."

You sit together in silence looking at the campfire. Soon, Astarion notices a stripe of light in the distance and his vampiric senses send a shiver down his spine.

You yawn.

"Let's get some rest. Astarion, I hate asking for reciprocation, but since you probably want to make amends…"

"What do you want, my sweet?"

"Can you please not leave my side while I sleep? Just be with me till I wake up."

He closes his eyes and lets out a short laugh. And this is your idea of making amends? A few hours ago he would beg you to let him touch you, let alone cuddle with you.

He cocks his head. "Only if you make amends for slapping me."

"And what do you want?"

"I want to be the little spoon."

--

Tag list

@tugoslovenka @marcynomercy @wintersire @vixstarria @not-so-lost-after-all @ashiro20 @theearthsfinalconfession @herstxrgirl @starlight-ipomoea @micropoe10 @astarion-imagine-archive @veillsar @elora-the-slutty-songstress @fayeriess @lumienyx @astarion-beloved @tallymonster @caitlincat-95 @tragedybunny @valeprati

[thewertsearch]

AG: It was kind of an intense sym8iotic thing, a particularly demanding lusus-troll relationship, and only really strong kids are supposed to 8e a8le to handle it.

Sure. Symbiotic. Let's.... let's go with that.

AG: I really didn't think I would make it. I was sure I'd fail, and my lusus would either get angry and eat me, or she'd just die and then I'd 8e culled.

It's a dark thought, but I did wonder if Vriska could have just quietly euthanized the spider. It's not like she really depended on it after infancy - quite the opposite, in fact.

Also - why does Alternia even prosecute trolls for killing a lusus? They clearly don't care if trolls kill each other. I guess the monsters are more valuable than the children.

AG: 8ut then I saw a shooting star one evening. AG: I tracked down where it landed, and found a chest with my sign on it.

Sounds like a Sburb meteor to me - but Vriska obviously didn't find her own ancestor in the chest, so this wasn't one of the Player or Guardian meteors.

Perhaps her ancestor was hiding in her session, just like Grandpa Harley. If so, she could have arranged for an extra meteor to get sent down during the Reckoning.

AG: A sign is an insignia we must wear, specific to our class. Each class has a huge alpha8et of signs, so when someone shares yours, you know you have a lot in common. I was so excited to see it.

If you didn't know about your ancestor beforehand, how did you get your sign in the first place?

I guess the Empire could just DNA-test every troll at birth, and add them to a database. Then, if your DNA is sufficiently close to a troll who came before, you get their sign.

What happens, then, if you don't have a recorded ancestor? Do you get a random sign? A new one? Does the government just assign you a sign that sort of matches your DNA?

The Marquise certainly looks like Vriska writ large. She doesn't really resemble any other troll - although her massive hair does being Gamzee to mind, and her vampiric fangs evoke Kanaya. I'll lock in a guess that those are the trolls she contributed DNA to.

AG: She documented all of her amazing adventures as she sailed around the world, commanding a notoriously deadly fleet of Gam8lignants. AG: It was so thrilling reading it. It really felt like she wrote it just for me, like she was talking right to me and telling me how to 8e like her. She even left notes on where she 8uried treasure and stuff, which I followed l8er when I started RPing. I found her dice that way, and so many other gr8 things.

She was also clearly aware of her descendant's strange fate, did what she could to prepare her for Sgrub's trials, and equipped her with a grossly overpowered weapon to ensure she'd be a winner.

...mind you, Vriska's dice are only as overpowered as they are because she can rig their outcome. Did Serket Senior even predict her descendant's Title ability?

EB: it really sounds like our situations are not so different! […] EB: i never even knew my nanna. […] AG: You had it so easy! You don't have to go hunting for clues a8out your ancestors at all. AG: There was a picture of her hanging RIGHT THERE on the wall of your hive. […] AG: Your lives are so simple and easy. It must 8e really nice 8eing a human, even though you're all so weak. AG: 8ut may8e it's ok to 8e weak, if that's what's normal.

Vriska has no idea how huge it is that she was able to say that.

[kaciebello]

And they were girls together

Masterlist Clarisse La Rue x Aphrodite reader (platonic) Summary: News gets to the reader about someone's crush., Clarisse wants to hear none of it. Warning: biblically ( book) accurate Clarisse, no use of y/n author note: English is not my first language so I am sorry for any mistakes beforehand. Proofread by me and me only (Ｔ▽Ｔ) word count: 1,1k

The Ares kids liked to fight. Among themself and other cabins, they did not care as long as they got to win at the end. Clarisse was not that much different from her siblings. They enjoyed a brawl as any other person would, in their opinion. On the other hand, Aphrodite kids did not like to fight as much. They were more cunning than the Areses kids, who often used force as their way.

Clarisse was winning against her opponent when she saw a certain aphrodite girl making her way over to them. She quickly slammed the poor Apollo boy on the ground before focusing on the girl. She smirked at her.

“Came to get your ass beat, pretty?” She asks her, spear still in hand. The girl just smiled at her and shook her head.

“From you? Never.” She answered stopping in front of her. Her eyes slipped to the boy on the floor, who looked like he was contemplating whether to throw himself into the sun or not, for a second before returning to Clarisse. Sun shines into her eyes so she makes a shade with her hand.

“What do you want here then?” Clarisse asks, from her knowledge, her cabin was on painting duty today. 

“I ran as fast as I could-”

“ That was hardly a run.”

“I RAN AS FAST I COULD, to tell you I heard a rumor.” Clarisse groans, not interested in her friend's banter. The aphrodite girl just giggled and spun around like an excited dog. She clapped her hands as fast as she could.

“ I heard that certain someone from Hermes cabin-” A palm lands on her mouth before she can finish her sentence. Wide eyes Clarisse was making sure she couldn't utter another word. She turned to the Apollo boy still lying on the mat, no longer looking into the sun, but instead looking at them.

Clarisse gave him a look and what seemed to be a growl, before the boy got up and left in a hurry. She turned to her friend who was checking her nails, her mouth still covered with her hand.

“ You can't just say that shit aloud!” Clarisse hissed before removing her hand.  Her friend just shook her head. Clarisse was very private about her crush. That private that even she found out about a few weeks ago, although her friend tells her she has known for months. Aprodies kids are weird like that.

“Listen nobody knows you have a crush on Chri-”

“LA LA LA LA.” Clarisse covers her ears and starts to yell. The girl just shakes her head putting her hands on her hips.

“Fine, I won't talk about it. Do you wanna do something else?” She suggests and sits down on the mat. Making sure only her feet touch the grass floor. Clarisse sat down next to her, her spear resting by her feet.

“I do want to talk about it, I just…” She started but stopped when a few of the younger campers ran by.

“Don't wanna talk about it in the open where anyone could hear?” The girl asked smiling at her.

“Yea… How do you always know what I'm feeling.” Clarisse says playing with her laces.

“We have that twin flame,” she said. Clarisse just nodded at her shoes before looking at her.

“Yeah, that quadruple bonfire or whatever.” She added, not understanding what the girl was saying but agreeing with her. She jumped up and brushed off the nonexistent dirt off her knees. Extending her hand and helping the other girl up.

“Wanna sneak to the armory for lunch?” The other girl gasps.

“We haven't done that in ages!” She yelps before squeaking and hugging Clarisse, almost knocking them out. Clarisse just rolls her eyes. 

“Is that a yes?” 

“Of course is a yes! It's a great idea! Nobody will hear us talking about-”

“Stop!” Clarisse yells holding her hand up to the girl. She raises her own hands in defense. They looked at each other before laughter escaped them. Making their way to the lunch slowly. The aphrodite girl was talking about her love for pasta and hoped that spaghetti would be on the menu today. Clarisse wasn't listening, her mind stuck on a certain someone.

“Right, sorry.” The girl smiled sheepishly. 

“ Do you have any other rumors?” Says Clarisse carefully. She may look like a tough girl, but she is just that, a girl. No matter what kind of play she puts on, she does enjoy gossiping a judging all the other campers. Some more than others. Granted, she probably doesn't enjoy it as much as the aphrodite kids, but still.

The girl gave her a side look before nodding carefully. Before she could answer the two run into some campers. Clarisse wanted to yell and be herself but when she looked up she went red and looked away right away. In front of them stood Luke, Percy, and Chris.

The aphrodite girl smirked and struck up a conversation with them. After some time and exchanging shy glances with Chris, Clarisse just yelped lunch and grabbed her friend by a hand. Dragging her away. She heard a laugh behind her stopping near the forest when they were far enough.

“You have a crush! You have a crush! You have a-” Clarisse jabs her in the gut. The girl just bends over. It takes her a minute before she gets up.

“I deserved that. Anyway, that was cute.” She says checking her nails again. Clarisse looked at her nails too.

“You got them done?” She asked. The girls just nodded turning them to her. They were long and decorated with charms.  Then she looked at her own nails, they were short and colores, almost cut to the meat. Great at fighting, but not so at getting someone to like her. The aphrodite girl notices her studying her nails. 

“He doesn't like them.” She says. Clarisse looks up at her and gives a confused look. The girl points to her nails. “The long nails I mean.” She continues.

Clarisse gives aws in understanding before dropping her hands to her size. 

“I don't know what you're talking about.” She says before turning and walking to get her lunch. The behind her just shook her head before trying to catch up with her.

Later they were both sitting in the armory, eating away the bowls of pasta they each had. They put up the sign on the armory door so no wandering camper can walk in. They giggled and laughed. They talked about boys and girls. They judged outfits and fighting styles. And despise being demigods, they were simply being girls together.

“Do you think we get along so well because our parents hook up?”

“OH MY GODS, CLARISSE!”

[vermutandherring]

I've always felt that there was something missing from the romance in The Sims 4, though I can't quite put my finger on what. The depth of the relationship? Passion? Variety of interactions? Now, 10 years later, when our characters have learned how to raise children and organize weddings, we can finally teach them the art of love. At least that's what you'd expect from a Lovestruck.

Meet Julianne - together with her we will discover a never-before-seen world of romance, the journey to which starts from the phone (let's ignore the fact that I chose to play in my historical save file). Game doesn't give us a separate option to create an account on the dating app. As with Social Bunny, it works by default. From the first minutes of playing for another household, several sims called my character: some claimed that they got this number from friends, others that they were impressed by the profile in Cupid's Corner (which I did not create) and wanted to get to know each other. Arguably, your large social circle and popularity will attract more potential love interests. Or it's just my imagination and your acquaintances will have no effect on the appearance of calls with offers to get to know each other.

You can take your own profile photo, but without corresponding skill it will take some time. Actually, I love how cute it looks.

However, the best way to succeed in anything is to take matters into your own hands. The game offers us 6 candidates every 12 hours, which you can immediately add to your contacts and go on a date. These are both homeless NPCs and sims you create. I did not check whether it is possible to meet profiles of characters with romantic relationships, but all the households I came across were single, which is obviously the main condition for Cupid's Corner.

I also can't tell if the game selects profiles according to a certain principle. Only 1-2 sims had the same traits as Julianne. The rest were matched by age and gender. All this gives the impression that the application for dating is made somewhat lazily. There is very little information about the characters - only 2 traits, age and living place. And this despite the fact that in CAS we can choose an incredible number of hobbies and traits that can attract our sims.

It was funny to see profiles of the sims' I made before. You can say Wesker is always in my saves ✨

Perhaps there is logic in this, if we take into account that sims themselves have to learn more about each other during dates. So, having chosen 3 candidates, I send Julianne on the first date. Here you have to be careful and send your sims exactly on a date from the EP. Now, in addition to the huge and chaotic menu of communication, you will have another type of dating, which does not overwrite the basic one, but exists separately (which, in my opinion, does not make any sense, since they are identical in essence). After looking through the buy catalog beforehand, I purchased a picnic tablecloth and a board game, hoping to try out some new interactions.

Oh, this iconic arrival on the lot where sims stand around, waving their fingers until they want to drink water or to do the push-ups. I don't think that you are obliged to gift something on the first date. However, here we are talking about a game with a somewhat hyperbolic reality. It would be very nice if your partner greeted you with flowers, candy or a funny gift. But… no. Do you remember the phrase about taking matters into your own hands?

Dating in Lovestruck is no different from basic dating, except that it is now organized as an event, for which you will receive a reward. To finish it successfully, you need to complete as many tasks as possible: talk, flirt, and do activities that you have previously chosen. Like always, everything on the date depends only on you. This is the first and not the last time when I want to remember previous Sims games. Unlike the fourth part, in Sims 2 you can't spend the perfect date relying only on your whims. You should pay attention to your partner's wishes by asking what they want or checking their wishes on the date panel. This way, you make sure that both characters have a good time interacting with each other. In the Sims 4, those moments when your love interest takes the initiative are rather annoying, because their actions may not count towards the dating success scale, wasting your time.

Let's return to Julianne. A bit of grilled cheese, light conversation and a board game were a good start to getting to know each other. The picnic tablecloth is officially my absolute favorite part of the DLC. You can do relatively many things together, and it looks a lot better than sitting in different corners of the room with plates in hand. For me personally, this is exactly what I was missing - to watch how sims adequately communicate with each other, without getting up from their seats to play on the computer. This date ended with gold, for which Julianne received a sweet photo with Vittorio.

Without wasting time, Julianne goes on a second date. It was a bit more boring as I sent sims to a bar to explore the new town. Ciudad Enamorada is a new world, which represents the countries of the Iberian basin and Latin America. It is difficult for me to clearly state my opinion about the city. On the one hand, it is very reminiscent of San Myshuno, but feels more empty and sham like in the case of Tomarang. I suspect that EA have been planning for a long time to move to more modern versions of DirectX and started making bigger worlds full of large, carefully decorated areas to create an open world feel. In the already mentioned Tomarang, you can view the whole neighborhood, while being on the same lot.

But this attempt to deceive the player does not save the situation. The streets look empty due to too little traffic of cars and characters. 10 characters in the cozy Willow Creek neighborhood add life to the town, while the same number of characters in the huge Ciudad Enamorada give the impression of a ghost city.

There's not a lot you can do in these areas, and it turns this beautiful city into another one empty box.

Although there are also pleasant moments. For example, in parks you can meet characters spending time together. Just don't look at them for too long, otherwise you will notice that they sit on the benches for whole days, poking their fingers at the clouds and at the starry sky.

Now your sims can stargaze on the benches and this animation is really sweet. I'd wish it were just a bit more diverse, maybe with kissing interaction (my man deff doesn't understand hints).

Julianne's date with Hosea went well. It was the usual conversations about interests and jokes over a glass of root beer and a little flirting. Since this is the first meeting, Julianne did not insist on extremely frank details, stopping at superficial facts about herself, because now you can not only ask your beloved ones about their likes, but also share your own. The developers tried to deepen the relationship by adding more psychological moments. It would seem that the preferences of sims should be based on this, which would influence their choice of a partner. But to be honest, I couldn't feel it. The information you learn about the characters constantly bombards you with an endless number of messages, reading which is very tiring. Even after reaching the maximum relationship, my sims never developed any specific preferences and could not tell each other anything new (or maybe I create too boring sims).

The second date quickly tired me out, as it was not much different from the first. I managed to finish it for silver, after which Julianne had a little rest. As a reward, she received a teddy bear. I expected that partners after successful dates would quickly want to see each other again. But the rare times they did call, they were asking for advice on relationships with other sims. This is another gap that the devs didn't try to fix or simply ignored its existence - the game does not take into account your current relationship and romantic level with other characters. I think this is an interesting option if you are playing for a polyamorous relationship. But for Julianne, I set the goal to find a partner and chose the exact settings for her in CAS, which the game ignored. Frustrated by this, I sent her on a third date.

It was awful. Julianne couldn't find approach to Omari, and each of their lines turned the date into a complete mess. Neither jokes nor attempts to find a common language helped. It ended up with bronze and little flower as a reward for wasted time. You can also end the date early, or ask to extend it if you don't have time to collect the reward (the additional time decreases with each attempt). Maybe things would have turned out better if Julianne had practiced her romance skill. This is another controversial point for me, with which I cannot decide.

Of course, we must learn to find an approach to each other, train patience, be able to accept our partners and talk about our problems and complaints to each other in order to solve them. But in Lovestruck, romance skill is geared towards unlocking additional interactions, such as kissing or sharing candy box. Do I really have to go on multiple dates and get into relationships with different partners to finally learn how to present sweets? I understand that this was done mostly in order to make the gameplay a little more difficult and exciting, to add some time before you get completely bored.

After all, this skill exists because there must be new skill in Expansion Pack. It's very reminiscent of a similar parenting skill in Parenthood, but some things look absurd. Skills from WW has more sense, but for obvious reason devs can't put something that spicy into the game. Eventually, I got tired of developing a talent for romancing other sims and had to use a cheat code.

Julianne ended up with Hosea. Not because he called after a date or wanted to see her. But because I accidentally bumped into him while was hanging around in the park doing quest (this is really tiny quest you can find in the park and finish it within 10 minutes, 5 of which is loading screens). As we know, nothing makes you closer and helps to grow connection like fishing. But this I would do without paying 40$ (or 999 UAH, for God's sake).

I got tired of Julianne's love story. I tried pushing their progression with Hosea to see what else the game can propose. Not that much. So I switched on other married couple.

I adore new furniture. It embody well the atmosphere of romance and erotic mood, which can be supplemented with wallpaper with interesting animal patterns (I missed zebra and leopard prints since Sims 2). It looks like something you expect to meet in the 'certain places for adults' and I like that devs went a bit further than just a bunch of cute stuff. The only thing that does not go well with the 'strip-clubs-velvet style' is art deco. Why don't make more club/bar furniture with booth seats, puffs and huge mirrors in soft cloth is beyond me. But now, if you want full art deco collection, you should get Hight School Years and Lovestruck altogether. I find it quite funny, not sure either in bad or good context.

As I already mentioned, picnic tablecloth is my absolute favorite from the whole EP. It also has the bear rug variation, which fits just perfect for your romantic evenings by the fireplace. I'm sure Victor and Lily will agree with this.

Same interactions are available for both the rug and the cloth because these are literally the same object.

But what if I tell you that it already was in The Sims, 20 years ago?

Gif made from this video. All credits to the original creator.

I don't like to think about it as an "easter egg". Almost every DLC for The Sims 4 is repeating of the same content and functions from the previous games, but with less functionality. And EA charges extra money for it over and over again. Now let's just wait till they figure out how to implement the biggest easter egg of The Sims series ever - cars.

You can make your sims sitting with drinks like in The Sims 1, but of course it has different vibe.

Time to talk about the "hottest" part of this add-on - the seductive dance. To do this, you will have to develop a little not only relationships, but also romantic skill. Dressing up in erotic outfits is optional and not a requirement. That's where all the fun ends. Your partner will begin to move to the rhythm of the dance, which lasts several minutes and during which nothing happens but monotonous movements. Again, this can be described with the words "cute" and "funny", which fits perfectly with the whole family friendly concept of the game. To be honest, I am not categorically against this, because the step towards real erotic and sexuality makes The Sims 4 hover over the abyss of what is appropriate for its age limit.

This review is already too long, but I would like to add a little more about the interactions. I counted a dozen new romantic interactions with animations. For some of them, you will have to increase your romantic skills. Other parts (such as questions or flirting) use the same animations as in the base game. The menu of relationships has become even more chaotic, the description of preferences is even more complicated and unclear. If you want to make the gameplay more varied, you will have to spend a lot of time reading the explanations and noting these details in your head. And even then, I'm not sure if it will make your game more diverse.

As It's been told many times before, Lovestruck EP makes the romance too complicated. Obviously, the developers tried to add depth to the relationship that was so lacking, but in the end they went in wrong direction. Maybe I should play more to understand new features better. But I just don't have the desire for it. The gameplay became so full of text that I started to turn a blind eye to it. I have no doubt that the new features will give someone more variation to play and build their stories. But for me this DLC doesn't cost neither full nor discount price at all.

I love suits and Lily in butler's uniform wins my heart 🖤 Pose is CC.

There are also some features I didn't mention (like therapy for couples which broke my relationship) so there's a bit more to discover. You are free to argue with me of course. Sometimes I think I'm too biased about the game.

[thewalkingwillowtree]

Courting Ayelýn

Series Listing Found Here

Aonung x Original Na'vi Female Character

Summery: Pressured by his parents to enter a formal courtship, Aonung rebels in his own way and what starts as a ruse, turns into something real. 

Note before reading: This is a spin off of my Safe Haven Series.

Reading Safe Haven is not necessary to follow this story.

Some characters have been aged up. Aonung in particular is 25.

Ayelýn is my own creation. *Pronounced Aye-Lin

~

Part 2 - When They Agreed

“Absolutely not!”

The smile on his lips died. “No? What? Why?” 

“W- what do you mean, why?” she implored. “I should be the one asking you that! What is this about, Aonung? You have to explain yourself! You can’t just-” 

“Hey, hey, okay,” he tried to sooth, as she turned upset. “I’m sorry! You’re right.” He was already messing up, forgetting everything he and Lo’ak had practiced beforehand. “Will you at least give me the chance to explain?”

Ayelýn scoffed in disbelief.

What in the Great Mother’s mighty name was happening?

“Ayelýn.” 

Out of habit, she nervously tugged at her tail, staring at him with no response. Lýn wanted nothing more than to desert their present conversation. She was uncomfortable and trying very hard to stay respectful. For the fifth time, she had to mentally remind herself she was talking to her future chief. Cursing him out would not bode well. 

“Lýn?” he called again. 

Reluctantly nodding, she agreed to hear him out. “Okay.” 

His shoulders slumped in relief. “Okay.” 

“So,” she said lamely. “I’m sensing there’s a story here?”

“A tiring one, yes,” he agreed, turning away and plonking himself on a mat around her family’s tiny crafted table.  

Ayelýn watched dumbly as Aonung made himself comfortable- body sprawled in a lounged position that showed off his- well his everything. Abs, thighs, chest- arms that held him up as he leaned against them. 

Eywa, the man was large!

He patted the space beside him expectantly, and she complied, but not without a dramatic huff. 

“I need your help. More specifically… I need a courting partner,” he started. “I’ve been instructed by my parents to find one.”

“And your first thought was me?” she snorted, thinking this was all some kind of cruel joke. 

“Not exactly,” he replied with a chuckle that seemed more sad than amused. 

She fidgeted as he launched into his story, telling her everything from his parents’ expectations, to his elaborate plan that heavily relied and involved her… Technically she was right. He didn’t exactly want court… he only wanted her to pretend. 

And when he was finished, Lýn was just as confused and no less convinced. “Your story is sad and all but I’m sorry, I-”

“It’d be for a short while, Ayelýn. Just long enough that it seems real.” 

“Real?” she frowned. “Alright, let’s say we did… We’d make that happen how exactly? Have you noticed we can’t have a single conversation without breaking out into an argument?” 

“That’s not fucking true. I-”

At her pointed look, he bit his tongue. “Ayelýn, all I’m asking is for you to show up to a couple feasts and ceremonies with me, maybe hold my hand or kiss my cheek, bat your eyelashes and pretend that we-”

“Are in love?”

“Like each other,” he bit out. “Just enough to get my parents off my tail.” 

“Why me?” 

“Why not you?” he tried to tease, but she wasn’t impressed. 

“Will you stop behaving as if this is no big ask and be serious for once?! You came to me of all people to help you. Why? I’m sure you have a slew of women who’d be more than willing to play pretend with you, Aonung. There are rumors you know? About you and- and your-”

His lips quirked, entertained at how flush she was suddenly getting. Her blush was fucking adorable. “My what, gorgeous? Go on, you can say it,” he taunted. “I believe in you.”

The stinging smack against his chest in retaliation was well deserved, and it was taking everything within him to not burst out into laughter at her expression when she realized what she’d done. 

“Again I say, you are such a child!” she seethed, too caught up to apologize to her future chief for her violence. The man was ridiculous!

“Me? You’re the one that can’t say the word, co-”

“Your playmates, Aonung!” she belted. “I don’t know what you were thinking, but I was going to say playmates.” 

The smug skxawng had the audacity to look disappointed that she hadn’t said what he was actually thinking. 

“And judging by just how many rumors I’ve heard, I’m sure they are very true!” she continued. “Just look at you!” she emphasized, moving her hand up and down towards his body.

“Aw thanks, gorgeous. You think I’m attractive?”

“Aonung!”

“What does it matter?” He was getting slightly annoyed now. He was so used to getting his way with women. Why was she making this so difficult? Truthfully he knew she wouldn’t agree straight away, but he didn’t think it’d take this much to convince her. 

“It matters to me, you skxawng!” Her tail thrashed behind her, irritated and itching to whip him again. “I’m not stupid… I’m from Keftxo and not- not Awa’atlu.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” 

“Oh we’re pretending already, are we?” she asked sarcastically. “Have you thought this through enough? Who’s going to believe that you choose me out of all the options you have? I’ve got nothing, Aonung! Nothing! I’m from Keftxo. I have no status, no achievements-” she listed, gesturing to her body that bore no tattoos of any significance besides the small one for completing her coming into adulthood rites. “I’m a scrubber for Eywa sake! Who’s going to believe that you’d want me as your future mate, because I sure won’t!” 

He leaned into her personal space, arms practically trapping her as one rested on the table and the other on the floor- brushing her folded knee. “You sure don’t think very highly of yourself, do you, gorgeous?” 

“That’s not-”

“I promise you that the reason I picked you has nothing to do with you being from Keftxo, and certainly nothing to do with your status.” 

She licked her lips and he caught the action. “Why then?”

“Because for some strange reason, you’re immune to my charm. You didn’t even like the tongue thing I did,” he said, sounding almost disappointed. “They all like that.”

“Stop.” 

“Say yes.”

“No.”

“If I wanted another woman, I’d have done so. But I didn’t… I want you.”

That had no right sounding the way it sounded.

“Aonung…” her tone was warning.

“Ayelýn.”

“People will talk.”

“Let them. Their opinions mean nothing to me.”

“What about what it means to me?”

“You don’t care what people think.” 

“You don’t know me!”

“Then I’ll get to.” 

“I’ll get on your nerves.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.”

“You’ll get on mine.”

“Can’t be helped but I’ll work on it.”

“I might stifle you in your sleep.”

He grinned. “Already thinking of us sleeping together, are we? Naughty, naughty, Ayelýn.” 

“Aonung.” She tried to push him backwards needing space- and air to think. Eywa, he smelled good.

The bastard didn’t budge though. He was doing a weird pleading thing with his face that made her tummy give a little swoop. Ayelýn groaned and slumped forward, forehead smacking against one very firm pectoral… She felt her resolve slipping. 

Maybe she wasn’t as immune as he’d said.

She straightened up when she felt the vibrations of his chuckles. “This is an awful lot you’re expecting from me… It might sound selfish but what exactly do I get out of it?” 

“What do you want?” 

Ayelýn nibbled on the edge of her thumb. Given the sudden rare opportunity, there was one thing she really wanted, but it seemed too big a thing to ask. 

“The entire thing is insane, you do know that right?” she complained instead, backtracking again. She couldn’t even believe she was actually considering it either. 

“What else am I supposed to do?”

“I don't know, have you tried being honest with your parents?” 

“No. I really haven’t. I won’t either,” he replied candidly. 

“So you’d rather lie to them? You’d rather create this whole scheme- this… this ruse-”

“Yes,” he said firmly, cutting her off. “Ayelýn, please… This is my only option at the moment.”

Silence descended between them. He stared at her while she studied him. Desperate eyes dancing with searching ones.  

“You’re good at this, you know, convincing me to do things that I damn well know is going to end in disaster.”

That cocky smirk began to grow across his lips. “Well, you kn-”

“Don’t speak. Or you’ll ruin everything.” 

He pressed his lips together, unable to hide his amusement. The skxawng knew he’d won. 

‘When have you ever done anything daring?’ her mind mocked as she ran through possible scenarios of how badly this could all end.

“Okay,” she decided after her silent moment of deliberation. “Okay, I’ll help you.”

Aonung opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off before he could, index finger sternly pointed up at him. 

“But! I reserve full right to end this whenever I want to… If it’s too uncomfortable or- or too much.”

“Deal.” 

“And, only if my parents agree with your request to formally court me… As much as I hate this- lying to them- they can’t know the truth either.”

He was a little less confident about that aspect- only because her father didn’t appear to think much of him- but he nodded anyway. 

“Easy. Double deal.”

Ayelýn eyed his outstretched arm warily for a beat too long, then clasped it with hers- the size difference drastically noticeable since his swallowed hers entirely. 

“Double deal,” she repeated. 

~

The rest of the afternoon passed in a world wind. 

Right after they’d made their deal, Lýn’s family had shown up- evidently too eager to stay away any longer and Aonung was invited for dinner the moment he tried to apologize for overstaying his welcome.

While he and Aldurf- Lýn’s father, engaged in awkward small talk that was thankfully interrupted by an excited Kaiiff, Ayelýn helped her mother prepare a simple spread consisting of spicy, roasted fishtails, a fragrant seaweed and tslikllte broth and some leftover nectar dipped fruit. 

Throughout their meal, Bwena blushed profusely and flicked her wrist in an “oh stop” motion, every time Aonung complimented her.

He praised cooking skills after tasting each dish offered to him and Ayelýn had to force herself to stop rolling her eyes at each flattering remark given. Especially the ones when he admired her mother’s grand tapestry that had taken her many moons to complete.  

Kaiiff, on the other hand, bombarded their visitor with question after question. “Do you have your own spear?” the eight year old asked after a big gulp of broth. “Did you craft it yourself?” He wiped his mouth messily and pointed. “What’s this tattoo for?” He listened intently as Aonung explained, then, “Oh and that one? And what about the one on your calf?”  

Aonung thankfully took it all in stride, delving into tales of his adventures in the far oceans when he’d been asked, “Did you really defeat an akula on your own? I heard a rumor that you did.” He grinned at the wide-eyed, awed expression on the youngling’s face that so reminded him of his own little brother. 

To Ayelýn however, it was incredibly annoying how quickly her family became besotted with the skxawng. Thankfully she could rely on her father to show some sort of emotion other than instant acceptance. 

Aldurf didn’t glare per say, but sat back quietly while everyone spoke, staring at their guest with uncertainty. And by the time their stomachs were filled, the sound of her father clearing his throat lulled their chatter- future Olo'eyktan included. 

“Kaiiff, go play.”

The little boy pouted at being dismissed, but got up anyway, taking a long piece of driftwood with him. He’d apparently been trying to whittle it into a spear all week. 

“So,” Lýn’s father started, gaze trained on Aonung who shifted nervously. “What brings you to our home, son of Tonowari? What makes you seek out my only daughter?”

“Well I-” Aonung was suddenly anxious. When did that ever happen to him? “I was hoping to get to know your daughter, sir… with your permission of course.” 

When Aldurf made no effort to respond, Aonung glanced at Ayelýn who rolled her eyes at his silent plea for help.

Taking pity, she gestured to the man sitting beside her. “Sempul, the skxawng said he intends to court me.”

“Gorgeous!” Aonung chastised, the nickname rolling naturally from his lips as a whispered hiss. “You can’t call me that in front of your parents.” 

“Then you can’t call me that either.”

“Not happening.”

“Then skxawng it is,” she smiled.

“Wow…” He stared. “You should do that more often.”

Her smile dropped. “Do what?”

“Smile. I like it. It’s pretty. Do it again.”

“I only smile with people I like.”

“Ouch, and here I thought you liked me plenty.”

“Shut. Up.”

“Never.”

The clearing of a throat had them straightening up as though chastised- both reminded that the same thing had happened once before.

Bwena was grinning so wide, she appeared giddy while Aldurf finally seemed more at ease- more his usual relaxed self. Obviously they saw something Lýn didn’t.

Disappointed by her parent’s reactions, Ayelýn knew it wouldn’t take much for them to agree to Aonung’s request.

She guessed she was going through with this facade after all. 

~

A week later, Ayelýn was slowly placing the length of the beach near Aonung’s private hideaway. It would be the first time they saw each other since he’d approached her with this wild idea and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. 

The loud shriek of a skimwing alerted her of Aonung’s arrival. His water beast coasted expertly, finned wings causing large rippled waves before the future chief was soon lurched and landing on the sand with grace. 

“Show off!” Ayelýn called out in greeting, causing him to grin. “Skxawng, you’re late.”

“Only a little. I got back from my hu-” When he’d closed the distance between them and had finally seen her properly, his words got stuck in his throat, causing him to choke. 

“You, alright there?”

“Fine, mm,” he croaked, knocking his chest with his knuckles. “You-” He coughed and tried again. “I like your- you look beautiful.”

“Oh… Thank you.” 

Ayelýn had put some effort into her appearance for tonight’s plans. Hair tamed with a salt and sweet scented herbed balm, Lýn’s natural curls fell above her waist, shiny and defined. She wore her best top- an intricate creation she’d made with brightly coloured coral that was delicately woven. Her flowy tweng had detailed braided cords and beads along the edge and she’d borrowed her mother’s neck piece which glittered with rare stones her father had traded for many years ago. 

“Well uh, let’s go. We really are late.”

“Wait, wait!” She hurriedly grabbed his hand. “Shouldn’t we discuss this first?” At his confused expression, she huffed. “What are the rules? The plan?”

“Rules. Can’t we just go with the flow?”

“Aonung, this will be the first time anyone sees us together. Your friends are going to be at this feast… your family.”

Aonung tracked her expressions. “You’re nervous,” he concluded, feeling like a dick. He pulled her closer with the hand she was already clutching. “Alright. Tell me what you need to know.”

He felt pleased from her grateful sigh of relief, and listened intently as she began to explain herself. At some point, whilst she rambled on, listing her rules of do’s and don’ts and definitely no kissing, Aonung unconsciously zoned her out.   

Because Eywa… He couldn’t stop staring at her. 

~

Awa’atlu was an explosion of festivity. 

Ayelýn had been to her fair share of feasts and celebrations at other neighboring villages, but this would be her first one at Awa’atlu. Everything in the main village was bigger, grander… And tonight was no exception. 

The beach was packed, all in the name of celebrating the first harvest of the new moons. Lit torches along the shore glowed brightly in contrast with the dark sky and sea. And past the dancing bodies that moved to the thundering beats of massive drums was an archway- it was majestic, thick mangrove roots twisting and connecting, leading to an enormous communal space.

Lýn kept hold of Aonung’s hand as they made their way through a throng of clan members. Bows and signs of respect followed them with every step- along with whispers and stares of curiosity. 

When they approached the feast area, Aonung squeezed her hand. “Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, tilting her head upward to catch his expression, finding it closed off.  

Instead of responding, he changed the direction they’d been going in and Ayelýn quickly caught on.

They’d been summoned.

She didn’t think it’d be this soon. 

Ahead of them sat a line of regally adorned Na’vi. The council. And seated directly in the middle of that row was none other than Tonowari and Ronal. 

Growing up, Lýn had seen the clan leaders from afar on a rare couple occasions, but this would be her first interaction with them. 

At the impressive sight of Tonowari, she silently chastised herself for not figuring out who Aonung was sooner. Just like his son, the chief was a beast of a man- and even seated, Lýn felt small in comparison.  

Both she and Aonung bent with respectful greetings toward the Olo'eyktan and Tsahìk. The act meant the loss of Aonung’s grip, a comfort Ayelýn instantly missed. He’d gone completely ridged beside her, thus causing her anxiety to spike. 

“Late again, Aonung,” his mother voiced, tersely and although her words were directed to her son, her attention was trained on his female companion. 

“Apologies, sa'nok.” 

“Who is your friend?” his father asked.

“I am Ayelýn,” Lýn said. “It is an honor to meet you, Olo'eyktan. Tsahìk.”

Tonowari was kind enough to politely return her greeting, but Ronal’s gaze only intensified. 

Ayelýn knew Ronal’s stare was meant to intimidate, and she’d have cowered at any other time, but somehow a surge of boldness took over. She did not back down, did not break the fierce eye contact until Ronal blinked and bared a hint of a smile that conveyed her intrigue. 

“Ayelýn… I’m assuming this is your mysterious courtship partner?” Tonowari questioned, and before his son could answer, the chief was addressing Lýn. “Aonung has told us too little about you. It is good to put a name and a face to Aonung’s stories. I was beginning to think you didn’t exist,” the chief said, and though Lýn knew it was a joke, she tensed at the tone of his words. 

Sending a fleeting glance to her pretend partner, she caught the irritated tick of his jaw. The tension was glaringly extreme, so Lýn tried to break it with a chuckle that came out more shaky than amused. 

“It’s my fault for that actually, ” she lied, addressing the chief. “I wasn’t quite ready to take the next step. I’m grateful Aonung has been so patient with me.”

Her fingers reach out to tangle with Aonung’s as she ignored his burning stare. 

“Is that so?” Tonowari asked intriguingly. His gaze found her village’s beads. “How is it that you two met? I didn’t realize that Keftxo held your interest, son.” 

Head still bowed, a cloud of growing rage appeared on Aonung’s face and as his lips parted to speak, Lýn quickly cut in again. 

“That would be my fault too, Ma Olo'eyktan,” she laughed- more believable this time. “How we met is quite the story. You see I had narrowly escaped a dangerous riptide. My canoe got caught on some rocks and thankfully it washed up near here. Seeing that I’ve never been to Awa’atlu, Aonung was kind enough to take care of me… He was quite charming, and well… here we are.” 

Careful with her explanation, she made sure not to be specific about their timeline. As far as his parents thought, they’d been secretly together for months. 

“Here we are.” Tonowari gave an impressed, hum. “Well. I'm pleased to see that he’s finally settling down. And to you Ayelýn, welcome. I hope we see more of you. Aonung, we shall speak later,” he said, dismissing them. “Go on. Enjoy the celebrations.”

Later on and after she’d been briefly introduced to Aonung’s rowdy group of friends who gestured approvingly at her in the way men usually did with each other over a woman, the pair settled amongst them to enjoy the feast. 

Away from the leaders of her clan, Lýn finally relaxed somewhat- shoulders slumping as pent up tension slowly left her body.

Uncaring of the stares, she awkwardly shuffled closer to Aonung, leaning against his side as if it were natural- and after a while of them both figuring out what worked- it did… feel natural. 

She felt his breath tickle her hair as his shoulders shook. 

“Are you sniffing me?” 

“No!” she lied. Then, “Fine, yes. Only a little,” she whispered back. “I’m stressed and your scent is annoyingly comforting,” she huffed. 

Instead of teasing her for her comment like he’d usually do, he tugged her closer, one large palm curling across her hip. And sure it might have all been for show, but some small part of him fluttered happily at the feeling of him being her comfort. 

“Eywa. I think I feel my heart in my throat,” she mumbled. “Do you think your parents bought it? It felt like they saw straight through me!”

“You did good,” he mumbled in praise against her temple. “Far better than I did… My mother likes you.” 

“Really?” she snorted, peering up at him, dubiously. “How could you possibly tell? She said not one word to me and glared the entire time, you skxawng.”

Aonung shrugged. “She smiled. She doesn’t do that with just anyone.” He snickered as if realizing something. 

“What?”

“Seems like you and my mother have something in common.” 

“Mm… Aonung,” she said gently, shifting a tad closer so they wouldn’t be overheard. “Is it always like that? With them,” she clarified. 

His tongue poked the inside of his cheek and he shook his head. “Not always. They’re not very happy with me right now, is all.”

“Why?” she frowned. “Because of the courtship?”

“A little bit… My parents don’t love it when I rebel against the life they intend me to be living.” He smirked in faux amusement. “Unfortunately, I am a stubborn disappointment and I just can’t help myself.”

Ayelýn didn’t find any humor in his words, she felt sympathy if anything. “How would you like to live your life?”

Aonung blinked in surprise. No one had ever asked him that question. “I'm still figuring it out,” he whispered honestly. 

A high pitched whistle and bang of a drum interrupted their moment.

Everyone’s attention fell on Tonowari who stood before them. His voice was resonant as he greeted them and his speech was beautiful and full of praise for his people.

Then, after Ronal led the clan in a chanting, melodic prayer, they feasted.

Aonung begrudgingly untangled himself from her when the food arrived. “Are you hungry?” 

From the lavish spread they were sharing with others around them, he dished out her meal for her, adding more and more despite her feeble protests. 

“That’s way too much, Aonung!” she laughed, tugging at his arm and wrist to stop him from putting another serving. “I can’t possibly finish all of that.” 

“Then I’ll finish what you can’t,” he responded easily, swiping a slice of fish from her leaf and licking the juice from his fingertips. 

It didn’t take long after that for them both to start bickering.

And, so lost in the moment between the two of them, when Ayelýn finally glanced around- if she thought people were staring before, they most certainly were now.

Even Rotox was peering at them in surprise. Catching himself, he smiled at her and engaged her in small talk, making her feel welcomed. 

Midway through their meal, they were interrupted by two newcomers. 

An omaticaya male who Ayelýn figured was none other than Lo’ak- gave her a knowing smirk as Aonung introduced her to his sister. 

“I thought you were finally done with this, foolishness,” Tsireya chidingly whispered to him sometime later, while Lo’ak and Ayelýn were in the middle of a heated debate about the tastiest part of a fish. 

“Reya-”

“You promised you’d try.”

“And I am.” He gave her a meaningful look.

“Oh… So, she- Ayelýn’s the one you said you found then? The one you told us about?”

Aonung felt a stab of guilt for lying to his sister. He nodded. 

“I owe you an apology then,” she sighed. “I thought you lied… and that she was just another plaything of yours.”

“She’s definitely not.”

Tsireya smiled. “Good. Because I like her.” 

They both watched as a fiery Ayelýn and Lo’ak continued to argue their points- each trying to get poor Rotxo to take a side. 

“Me too,” Aonung agreed.

~

At Aonung’s instance, he accompanied her back Keftxo- her hanging off his back as his skingwing glided them through the ocean. Avoiding the long journey, they used a shortcut through a coral filled channel and arrived on the northern side of her village. 

But something was wrong… Lýn sensed it the instant they stepped foot at the edge of a dilapidated dock.

The loud roar of crashing waves could be heard from the south. In addition, orders being called out, mingled with screams and shouts of terror coming from every direction accompanied the clan’s mess of movement. 

Lýn ran to the nearest person- Aonung close behind, calling out, “Slwen!”

Slwen, an elderly Na'vi, held a crying toddler in her arms, whilst two little ones clung to her legs. “What is happening?”

“The terrace wall at the south side. A breach. It- it happened so fast. They tried to barricade it, but the waves were too rough.” She was shaking. “Homes collapsed, Lýn” she revealed. “They are searching for the missing.”

“Lýn, wait!” Aonung tried to pull her back but she slipped past him in a flash. “Fuck.” Moving quickly, he gave a stern order to a terrified teenaged boy- telling him to get to the nearest village and bring help. Then, he was running after Ayelýn.

Sprinting through her village, Lýn’s heart pounded as people ran in the opposite direction. The terrace wall was centuries old. There had been breaches in the past- breaches they were able to mend- but if it ever broke all the way… their little village was no match for the fury of the sea. 

“Ayelýn!” Aonung caught her around the waist, flinging them around so he faced her. “Stay!” he ordered loudly with a pointed finger. 

“My family!”

“I mean it! Don’t!” And with that, he took off in the direction of the commotion, leaving her behind. 

The further south he got, the worse he saw. 

Water came up to his shins along what was once a southern dock. It was rising alarmingly fast. He could see men and women straining to hold up the barriers- high waves angrily splashing over the illuminated natural wall that creaked loudly.

Snapping sounds rippled with every new crack and more and more water escaped between them- washing away Na’vi with its powerful force.

And just ahead he spotted the remains of collapsed maruis- the tops of their ceilings splintered and jutting out of the sea as they slowly sank. 

Quickly assessing the situation, Aonung began to call out orders. 

Those being rescued emerged one by one, and the entire time Aonung’s gaze was on the lookout for Lýn’s family. 

“You, and you, help me with this!” Directing two men- and three others who fell in, they used their knives to cut the ropes of a section of pathway. Lifting the heavy material toward a gaping section of the barrier, they successfully secured it.  

Catching on, many others followed suit- some even climbing high to stretch the material further up. 

On Aonung’s third patching, he caught sight of a familiar man emerging with rescues- a child in his arms and an injured elder leaning heavily on him. Aonung called his name, but the waves were too loud. 

“Aldurf!” Aonung called out again running towards him. He caught him by the shoulder before he could dive off again and the older man seemed surprised to see him. “Kaiiff? Your mate?”

“Safe,” Aldurf assured, panting as he wiped at his brow. “My Lýn?”

“Safe,” Aonung said as well. “Are there many others down there?”

“Ten trapped. Three still missing. There’s too much debris. I’ve got a team trying to find another way in.”

“I’ll go. Take over for me up here.” It was an order. 

Before Aldurf could agree or not, Aonung was diving deep without a second thought. 

~

Only when the faint rays of morning made itself known did things finally calm. 

Fatigued and aching, Aonung and many others made their way to the shoreline to where the rest of the clan were gathered and waiting.

Ayelýn spotted him first and ran towards him. Looking deeply relieved, she was trying to appear brave and unaffected, but the wringing of her tail and the way in which her eyes tracked over every inch of his body told him that she was nervous- that she was genuinely worried- about him. 

“I’m fine, gorgeous,” he assured, brushing a strand of hair off her cheek when she came within reach. Then, to his surprise, her forehead fell against his chest with a quiet mumble.

 “Thank Eywa.”

“You were worried about me,” he teased in a singsong voice, ducking so that his words got muffled in her hair. 

“Shut up, skxawng” she said without heat, slipping her arms around him. “Sempul told me what you did… Thank you.”

Surprised for a second time by her actions, he realized they were engaging in physical contact that was again not for show- or part of the plan, but for comfort… for them. 

His knuckles ran along her spine as he observed the beach. The people of Keftxo were hugging each other in relief. Over the top of Lýn’s head he caught sight of her family- all safe. They waved at him and approached. 

Bwena fussed over him, planting a fat smooch on each of his cheeks in thanks. Even Aldurf patted him on the back while Kaiiff launched into a story about how he’d heard that Aonung saved so many people. 

Soon, the entire village was gathered in their communal space, singing in unison a soft melody of thanks to Eywa until the morning burst from the dark. Although nine homes were lost and many were injured, they all still had their lives.

Aonung stayed that day to help pick up the pieces- along with the few others who’d come from neighboring villages.

With the waters residing, they cleaned away the debris, made more patches to the terrace wall and crafted makeshift temporary homes for those who’d lost theirs.

Ayelýn and her family’s home was thankfully still intact and had only suffered minimal water damage.

Aonung was already mentally making plans for how to reinforce their marui- he even voiced a couple suggestions to Aldurf who accepted his offer to help him execute the improvements.

They hosted him again for another meal, again thanking him for his efforts. And when he was finally about to leave, whistling low for his skingwing- Ayelýn called out his name. 

She jogged down the rickety dock towards him, determination ablaze in her eyes. “I know what I want.”

“Want?”

“You asked me what I wanted in return for helping you… Is that- still an offer?”

“Oh. Right…” he cleared his throat. “Of course.”

“Sempul said that you two are going to do repairs? To our home?”

“Ah. Yes. I’ve got a couple ideas.” Actually he had a lot. Not only for her home.

She nodded. “Can you- I was hoping…” Her arms folded and she shook her head as though thinking something was stupid.

“Ayelýn. Ask me.”

“Keftxo. You know we are sort of the forgotten village… We try but-” she hesitated. “I know that technically I should be going to our village’s chief councilor- and that it is a big ask, but, you have the power to make a change- a difference… All I want is for us to flourish-” She gestured to her village behind her. “To not be broken and always need mending… To not be known as… lesser.”

Aonung took in the view of Keftxo- really looked. Mauri pods were falling apart- familiar reinforcement like what Ayelýn had used on her canoe could be seen covering up much of the pod shells. There were numerous tears and rips and holes along the village paths, docks had missing gaps and that was only the half of it. 

The biggest issue was the terrace wall of course… an issue that if not properly tended to could wipe the entire little village. 

Without her ask, he been planning to bring it up with his father anyway- he’d been ready to head to Awa’atlu to ask the Keftxo’s councilor what exactly the fuck he’d been doing all these years for the village… and seeing Ayelýn staring up at him so pleadingly broke a tiny part inside of him. 

Suddenly all he wanted to do was scoop her up and hide her away somewhere safe and pretty. She deserved it. 

And she was right too. He did have the power to make a change for them. 

“Okay. I can do that.”

“Yeah?” 

Her grin was so blinding, he couldn’t help returning it. He almost teased her about it, but he didn’t want her to stop. 

No. Instead, he was going to try his damn hardest to see that gorgeous smile as often as he could. 

~

Hello friends! 💛

I hope you enjoyed this part. Please let me know, you know I love hearing from yall.

Little disclaimer; but because this is a mini series, there's going to be some time skips ect. Also, I have a tiny bit of it already kind written- but do we want smut in this series?

~

Tags:@jakesullyfatjuicypeen@granddearduck@riatesullironalite@strawberri-blonde@earthling55 @innercreationflower @duckworthbean @gyuventure @btsiguess-kpop@blkmystery@neteswife@luvteyams@isnt-itstrange@erenjaegerwifee@faatxma@ivysully@bakugouswaif@pinkpantheris @mntx666@ironcaptainnataliabarnes @staymentallystable @neteyamslovrr

[ckret2]

Here’s a thought experiment that could probably never reasonably happen for you. Let’s say the rest of the pines family was put in a similar position to ford: They have something they are attempting to do but cannot figure out on their own no matter how hard they try (For ford it was figuring out the weirdness magnetism). For the others, we could say that Dipper’s is functionally the same, Stan’s is trying to make a fortune so his family will take him back, and Mabel…I don’t really know what mabel would want.

For whatever reason, bill thinks that he can use this to get the portal made. Perhaps he thinks that if he basically holds their hand the whole time he can get them to do this.

Now my question is: Without knowledge of who he is beforehand, how easily could he manipulate them like he manipulated Ford? And for Stan specifically, would what Ford said about “seeing him for the scam artist he is” hold up when what is probably his biggest regret and fuck up prior to pushing Ford out to interdimensional sea is being dangled over his head?

Pretty damn easily.

He did manipulate Dipper and he did manipulate Mabel and they do know who he is. How much more easily could he have manipulated them if they'd only known him as a "muse" or as an "advanced alien life form, presenting as a triangle because his true form is incomprehensible to human eyes, because he's impressed by your potential" or as a "magical dream fairy, traveling through sleeping minds to help young girls' dreams come true!"

If they talked to each other, Dipper would probably be able to figure out Mabel's being conned ("if he's gonna make your dreams come true why do you have to do all this stuff for HIM? Has he SAID what he'll do to help you and why he can't just do it NOW?") and Mabel would probably be able to figure out Dipper's being conned ("bro, he's DROWNING you in flattery. If he really means it, why's he acting like you have to PROVE your smartness by doing this big dumb thing for him?"), but I don't think either would figure it out alone until it was too late. There's a reason Bill only targets them when they're isolated from each other.

Stan got suckered by a spider girl flirting with him after he knew she was a spider girl. We see him thinking that a lot of truly terrible ideas are gonna make him a fortune—searching for gold with a metal detector, becoming a door-to-door salesman, whatever terrible ideas he got roped into that landed him in prison... I think Stan would have the best odds of figuring Bill out, but I don't think he's immune to getting conned.

Stan's able to punch out Bill while Bill is trying to offer him power and fame and fortune because he already knows who Bill is and hates him for messing with his family. But if Bill had come to Stan at age 25, presented himself as something just sleazy enough to be believable—maybe not "divine muse" but something like "greed demon who helps promising but unlucky young entrepreneurs turn their luck around" ("Sure I'm the real deal, pal, why do you think my face is on every buck in your wallet?!"), and made the same fame and fortune offers, I think Stan's only hesitation would be "What's the catch? What's in it for YOU?" If Bill comes up with anything even SLIGHTLY plausible—"I feed on greed, kid, the more money you make the more power I get, and you don't even have to give me a cut of the profits"—then Stan's sold.

Even easier if he somehow identifies Stan's REAL priorities. "Your brother only turned his back on you because dear old ma and pa made him feel like the family's financial future rests on his shoulders. He's out there trying to make 'em millionaires and miserable about it. He hates it as much as you do. Come home with a fortune and he'd drop everything to go sailing with you in an instant. It'd be a relief, even. Don't you wanna be your brother's hero?"

While Ford put absolute blind faith in Bill up until the portal incident, I think Stan would start getting uneasy and suspicious before anything's wrong; even if Bill isn't waving any red flags yet, if everything is TOO easy it might worry Stan. But isn't easy GOOD? Didn't he always want a get-rich-quick scheme? He'd be worried, but he'd keep going—sunk cost fallacy—and tell himself it'll work out in the end. It has to.

[revlischarm]

Hydrodynamic AU

uhhh hi so. This has been cooking in my brain for a few months now (6???) and basically it’s a ROTTMNT Separated AU with Donnie as the focus but like, y’know. It’s all of them. I call it Hydrodynamic AU cause a lot of it comes from Donnie being more…water-based I suppose?? Either way. Yeah.

The story (if I ever find the willpower to draw it up) would revolve around Donnie going out and finding their siblings in the various locations; not to try and turn them towards the side of light or whatever. Donnie just wants to hang out. The universe has other plans, however.

More on each character under the cut!!! And lmk if any of you are interested in this!

Donatello Hamato

•Raised by Splinter

•They/them pronouns (Non-binary!!)

•Goes by the usual canon nicknames, but mainly uses “Dee”

•This Dee’s whole thing is being extremely water-based

•Donnie actually knows Repo Mantis before he got mutated! They started sneaking into his junkyard as a kid and got caught and they actually bonded

•When Don got older, they started helping Repo out with repossessing work; the two are even closer after Repo mutated!

•Don usually doesn’t wear their battleshell in this AU! It gets in the way of swimming stuff, so they prefer to be without it most of the time

•All of their stuff is painstakingly designed to the waterproof

•The whole lair has a ton of water slides in it, it’s super fun

•AUTISTIC!!!

•Don is extremely bad at socializing and doesn’t know how to mask (nor do they care for it). Can’t identify social cues well.

•Still friends with April; Don also hangs out with the Purple Dragons regularly (they give them ✨validation✨)

•Athletic only in how they’re an avid swimmer

•Really likes Lou Jitsu movies, and likes hearing their father talk about the films

•Splinter helps them train when they ask, thought Donnie also trains on their own with just. Copious amounts of research and looking up techniques

•Splinter is also extremely overprotective of D due to both their soft shell and the fact that he lost D’s siblings previously.

•More open to active destruction than canon Don?? At least in the way that’s like. More disregarding the well-being of others sometimes. Basically this Donnie doesn’t have their brothers to stop them from doing stuff. Violence and loose morals ensue.

•Builds Shelldon earlier on in life (was lonely and wanted company)

•Don has thoroughly explored the city’s sewers and set up tons of markers so they wouldn’t get lost; they’ve practically memorized the layout underground by now. Don has also installed a filtration system in the sewers to help take care of pollution because they don’t like how icky the waters can get

•Uses more turtle noises than actual words at times

•Fights with tech bō staff, but also knows the basics of other weapons; has the second most proficiency in daggers/knives.

•Doesn’t know anything about mysticism until meeting Mars and Draxum

•Technically, Donnie meets Mars first, then Leo, then Rento. However, we later find out that Don has met one of their siblings beforehand and knew of their existence. But that’s for later.

Marciano Draxum

•Raised by Draxum

•He/they pronouns

•Goes by Mars most commonly, but other nicknames include Marc, Marcie, Mar-Mar, Marky, Marce, and Marcus

•Draxum is actually a good parent okay

•Instead of Doctor Feelings and Doctor Delicate Touch, we get Sir Feelings and Sir Delicate Touch (they’re used as ranks, it’s some class thing idk. It’s ranked below Baron is all I know)

•Feral

•At a certain age Draxum started letting them out more (with supervision) and Mars got super friendly with all the yōkai he came across!! Due to this, Draxum has a much stronger active relationship with the Hidden City yōkai community.

•Mars uses their free time to create art around the Hidden City

•Has never seen the surface; wonders what the sky looks like

•Extremely strong mystic powers that were discovered early on

•Mars knows like, everyone in the city, and by the time they’re older are allowed to go about it from the lab as he pleases.

•Has a secret fascination with humans and their stuff that he keeps from his dad

•Draxum mellows out a tad raising Mars, being fatherly and all that. Still wants to take down humanity, he just wouldn’t do it if it meant endangering his child.

•Mars is an extremely adept fighter, having trained with Draxum since they were able to.

•Secret love for Lou Jitsu movies that he found one day in the yōkai markets

•He and Leo have met before and they have a very intense rivalry. Those two. Do not like one another.

•The reason behind the name “Marciano” is that I doubted Draxum would name his kid after some human artist. “Marciano” has French, Italian, and Latin origins, though I was mainly going for Latin when I chose it. It means little warrior! The name also has a lot of relation to the Roman god of war, Mars, which also happens to be the main nickname I picked! So it fits.

•Doesn’t like to kill; would rather thoroughly incapacitate a person through extreme measures instead.

•Terrible swimmer

•Draxum’s whole place is a lot more…nice looking? It’s got more style and creativity to it. Mars helped decorate.

•Fights with kusari-fundo and hand-to-hand mostly. Also knows the basics of fighting with other weapons.

Leonardo

•Raised by Big Mama

•He/him pronouns

•Trans man

•Goes by Leo most commonly; the other in-canon nicknames still apply too

•Both outfits are colored after Leo’s pride flags

•The paint designs vary a lot, Leo likes to show variety

•After meeting Donnie, he actually starts to incorporate more purple into his color scheme!

•Gay gay gay gay gay gay GAY.

•Fights in the Battle Nexus for fun; really loves the thrill of it.

•Spoiled

•Manipulative as fuck, picked it up from his mother. EXTREMELY good at lying

•Gets bored easily and will act out to negate this feeling

•Talks a whole lot while fighting; always making jokes, trying to throw his opponents off their game. (Think Spider-Man or Deadpool)

•Leo can actually get really violent at times

•Backstory behind Leo’s name is that they had an old name when they were younger and hadn’t come out yet, but upon realizing they were trans, wanted to pick out a new name. Big Mama gave him a ton of resources and books and stuff to help with that process, but it was actually in an old book of Lou’s that had been left behind that Leo found the name “Leonardo” and went with that. It’s a really stupid coincidence, but it is what it is.

•The fact that Leo chose that name from one of Lou’s books is bittersweet for Big Mama. And kinda funny lol

•Mars and Leo have a rivalry that formed because of BM and Draxum.

•Super fond of Lou Jitsu movies, but can only ever watch them in secret

•Leo will sneak out to Hueso’s whenever he can because he feels like it’s the one place where he can relax and not have to hold up appearances

•Leo still knows Spanish in this au

•He’s still a very cocky showboat in this, just dial that up to 11.

•Mainly uses ōdachi or katanas to fight, however, Leo tends to just use whatever’s on hand in matches. Knows how to fight with a wide variety of weapons semi-professionally (and I say that loosely, Leo mostly just wings it)

•Able to use mystic powers and uses them well, but prefers not to when fighting.

•LOVES stage magic with a passion, and actually practices it in his spare time.

Rento Jones

•Raised by the Foot

•She/he pronouns

•Goes by Ren for short

•Backstory for Rento is that little Cassandra was lonely and didn’t have anyone her age in the clan, and the Foot Lieutenant & Brute ended up finding this baby snapping turtle on a whim and gave him to her as a pet. Little did they know Cass just gained a new sister instead of a pet.

•Much more prone to violence than in canon (or at least to anger)

•The name Rento has a few meanings to it, but I mainly chose it because it started with an R and it fit. And was of Japanese origin.

•Cassandra is adamant about the two of them being siblings, and since Ren didn’t have a last name of her own, Cass shared hers

•Rento is still extremely soft on the inside, but is very afraid to show that side to people he doesn’t know.

•The entire Foot Clan will annihilate you if you hurt Rento in any way

•The clan is super fond of its spiky murder reptile!

•Ren doesn’t realize what she’s doing might be seen as “wrong”, he’s just focused on helping the Foot and being proud of that. Only ever hesitates when directly hurting innocent people or animals comes into the picture.

•Rento’s only issue is with hurting innocent people or creatures; she won’t hold back if something gets in his way.

•Cass and Ren have a habit of hyping each other up

•Rento is super proud of looking big and scary cause it means she can better protect the people she cares about!

•Cass and Ren can both speak Japanese to a degree

•She has a huge collection of plushies that have either been gifts to him or were stolen from large businesses; can’t sleep without at least a few plushies around.

•Only turtle of the four who doesn’t know anything about their backstory or having siblings

•Switches between sai and tonfa to fight, but mainly sticks with the sais.

•Second-best fighter of the turtles; also knows how to fight with other weapons in basics. Mainly relies on hand-to-hand combat.

•Doesn’t know anything about mysticism

•Not very good at origami

•Loves watching Lou Jitsu movies, though Cassandra doesn’t share the enthusiasm.

[akkivee]

The Yamada Family's Special Curry: Hypmic Curry Drama Track TL

Jiro: A curry battle huh…? They sure came up with a weird idea this time around…

Ichiro: I also think it’s a strange concept, but I still want to prove we’re the best. Will you two help me out?

Jiro & Saburo: Of course!!

Ichiro: Glad to hear it!

Saburo: We’re used to making curry so I think we should get started immediately!

Ichiro: Ah, about that… *places down a plate* I actually went ahead and made a prototype curry!

Saburo: As expected, Ichi-nii, you prepared something beforehand!

Ichiro: If we’re going to win over everyone, we can’t just use our usual curry. I was hoping you guys could help me perfect the ultimate curry!

Saburo: Then we’ll try the prototype so we can start ameliorating any flaws it may have!!

Jiro: A-Ameli…?? I don’t get what he just said but you can leave its flavour to me!!

Ichiro: Thanks, you two! Then, why don’t you go ahead and give it a taste?

Jiro & Saburo: Absolutely! *eats*

Jiro & Saburo: Mmm??

Jiro: This isn’t the flavour of our usual curry…! Did he really forget the most important part…??

Saburo: It’s greasy and tastes terrible…! I don’t want to say something Ichi-nii made is unpleasant but…!!

Ichiro: So how is it??

Jiro: I-I’ve never had anything like it before…

Saburo: W-what did you put in it?

Ichiro: *starts bringing out ingredients* So for the roux, I decided not to use anything you can buy from the store and made a completely original spice blend! I also used domestic A5 graded black beef and fatty mackerel!

Jiro: Yeah…?

Saburo: I see…

*phone rings*

Ichiro: Sorry, I gotta take this, it’s a work call. …Hello, how may I help you?

Jiro: *downs a glass of water* Hey Saburo, what did Nii-chan do to this curry??

Saburo: How am I supposed to know?? I can only assume he was so focused on beating the competition, failed to give it any rational thought.

Jiro: Damn it…! Even though Nii-chan’s usual curry is already the most delicious…!

Saburo: My thoughts exactly! He didn’t need to use these fancy ingredients, Ichi-nii’s curry is already exquisite…!

Jiro: We gotta bring Nii-chan back to his senses!

Saburo: As loathe as I am to work hand in hand with incompetence, there’s no other way…!

Ichiro: Sorry, guys, I’m back! So, what should I add to improve the curry?

Jiro & Saburo: *nods at each other*

Jiro: Aniki, I’ll give it to you straight. No matter what you add, this ain’t gonna be our curry!

Ichiro: What??

Jiro: I get where you’re coming from, but you shouldered this by yourself without even talking to us… Isn’t that messed up?

Saburo: I feel similarly to Jiro. If we’re going up against the other divisions, shouldn’t our bonds as brothers shine through?

Ichiro: Our bonds as brothers…?

Jiro & Saburo: And so, we should use our usual curry!

Ichiro: But, if we use our usual curry, wouldn’t you be able to tell the roux uses store bought curry and ingredients that were on sale? If we want to beat the others, then—

Jiro: But that’s what makes it our curry!

Saburo: Just like with our rap as the Buster Bros!!!, there wouldn’t be any point to winning if it’s not who we are!

Ichiro: You guys… *eats the curry* …Yeah, you’re right, this isn’t our curry. I understand what you mean!

Jiro & Saburo: …!!

Ichiro: Okay, let’s head out to the store to buy the stuff we usually use in our curry!

Jiro: Yeah! Once we hit up the shopping district, I’ll find the best bargain after a few rounds around the shops!

Saburo: According to my research, the type of roux that’s favoured across multiple age generations would be one that’s a bit sweet and hits the medium range in spiciness!

Ichiro: Thanks! I’m counting on you guys!

Saburo: Oh, there’s one more thing…

Jiro: What? We’re about to head out.

Saburo: No, it’s just, since we’re going to have to sell it, doesn’t that mean we need to come up with a name for our curry? I think the usual naming conventions revolve around the main ingredients used in the product.

Jiro: We got vegetables, fish, meat… If we go off of that, we’ve just got a variety curry.

Ichiro: We don’t even have to worry about that! No matter the ingredients, this is the “Yamada Family’s Special Curry”! And with it, the three of us will beat all the rest!!

[polyamorouspunk]

what’s it like going to a punk/metal show? I’ve always wanted to go to one but i live way too rural for there to be any nearby

Hmm, okay.

For me, personally, I always feel like I don’t belong there. But at the same time it feels like home.

And that goes for almost any show no matter the size.

There are exceptions! I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way at an INK show, and I didn’t feel that way going to see them with Metallica. There were people of all ages and race etc. at Metallica, from downright conservatives to queer as fuck folks.

Looking around at Beartooth I had a hard time not comparing myself to others. I wasn’t traditionally pretty like the skinny white sorority looking girls. I didn’t feel like I looked “hardcore” enough. I didn’t feel like I looked queer enough. But at the end of the day you’re in a stadium full of other people who get you in some way or another.

I’ve never been to a show where I didn’t end up talking to someone. I’ve always been able to make conversation with those around me with ease. It’s an ease that is different than talking to people in public. Maybe more similar to if you went to a convention and there are a ton of people in costumes and you’re able to just walk up to them and tell them you like their cosplay. Or you’re standing at a booth and a group of friends is fawning over a button pin or a sticker the artist is selling and you chime in and agree it’s super cute and you were thinking of getting it yourself. Small talk like that.

Smaller scene shows can be hard to break into and feel comfortable talking to people like that if everyone knows each other and you don’t know any of them. It’s a lot easier if THEY come to you.

Going to a show, by the time the opening acts are through, your hearing is fucked up, and you’re hearing everything as if you’re underwater. If you know the songs you can pick them out and sing along, but if you don’t, you’re not picking up on much because it all just sounds like noise soup.

Every once in a while you have to stop what you’re doing (filming, vibing, drinking, smoking, etc.) to help crowd surf someone. Sometimes you’re helping the same person crowd surf like 8 times.

I’ve never seen anyone say that someone was too big to crowd surf. Big tiddy goth girls? They crowd surfing.

You have to be okay with other people touching you. You have to be okay with getting grabbed, getting pushed, getting shoved, getting hands laid on you, etc. and you have to not freak out about it.

It becomes VERY easy to get separated from people you’re with, but everyone around you is cool, so it’s fine.

I saw a fight break out at Beartooth RIGHT inbetween my best friend and I, and we were on opposite sides, and it was enough Caleb stopped the show, and they cussed each other out, and then made up and hugged it out after. You have to learn to not be afraid of these people, even if they are people you would never associate with otherwise.

Of course shit happens. People get drunk, people get high, etc. and a lot of times if something happens you hear about it after the fact, but I haven’t had that happen honestly.

You get this sort of anxiety beforehand, waiting in line. No matter what I feel like I always have anxiety at shows. It goes away and gets replaced by this euphoric high though that a few days later leaves you deprived of that chemical and you FEEL a depression. Post-concert blues is a REAL fucking thing. It’s very hard to go back to your “normal” life after an amazing night. Truly “I shouldn’t be here, I should be at a concert right now”.

Trash everywhere.

Smaller shows are personal enough you can just hang out and talk to artists. A lot of them are just people with regular day jobs who do this on the side. Slightly larger bands might do music as a full time gig but work their own merch table and stuff so you can go talk to them. You can pretty easily find them outside the venue and just sit down and hang out with them. I ran into Remington Leith of Palaye Royale the first Warped tour I ever went to and I walked around with him a bit. I found Tallah outside the venue when I went the other week and just sat with them while I scrolled through tumblr and listened to them talk to each other and occasionally chimed in and talked to them. Alex said she liked my homemade Tallah shirt. They were looking at a weird bug. I asked about it. Shit like that.

When I went to see Beartooth I could see Caleb side stage and I excitedly pointed him out to my best friend and she was like idk who that is and I said he was the lead singer of Beartooth and I had to mime that I had a crush on him. Embarrassing shit.

The singers will talk to the audience on stage. Sometimes they ramble on, sometimes they perform bits, like comedy. Caleb was talking about how he’d played the venue we saw them in more times than any other venue.

Moshing starts off strong and then dies down quickly a lot. A singer will fire up the crowd and it does not last. People are tired.

Costumes? A lot of costumes. Both the bands and the fans.

Sometimes the merch line is worth it, sometimes it is not.

I personally never get food or drink at concerts. I also don’t wear hearing protection. I really, really should. But I don’t. There is nothing unsexy about hearing protection.

Someone’s head is always in the way and when it’a not it’s truly a magical moment blessed from the gods.

You may get stuff thrown at or dumped on you. It happens. Once again you just gotta be cool with it.

If you don’t want to be in the pit everyone just kind of shuffles away and if you do you gotta push through and be like “LET ME IN”. 90% of people there do not want to be in the mosh pit. We are old and decrepit. Also that much attention on me would make me anxious.

Every band is just a group of Some Guys™️ truly. Just some fucking dudes. Sometimes there are girls and they are hot. Hi Alex from Tallah.

Lead singers love to climb things. Guitarists love to spin in circles. Drummers like to go hard for drum solos and they’re right and they should s(pl)ay it.

Local shows you’ll probably end up knowing some people by sight at least if not by name if you go more than once. So far people have come up to me and introduced themselves so I know some faces. It’s hard to not have imposter syndrome about it, at least for me. It’s hard not to feel transient or like you don’t belong when everyone knows each other and has history and talks about “hey were you there when-” “YEAH I WAS” and you don’t see any of these people ever. They’ll include you as best as they can but it can still be kind of isolating.

I’m sure if you’re already a pillar in your scene, then it’s truly a life style. Drinking, smoking, hosting shows in your bedroom, going to other shows in other people’s bedrooms and living rooms, house parties ever weekend or shows at the local venue where you know everyone that works there. Shit like that.

This has been a mix of my experiences the last few shows I’ve been to, which in order, has been Tallah, Beartooth, Metallica, and then just a house party with DJs.

[appelia]

♡*♡∞:｡.｡ Craig's Gang Relationship HC's

IMPORTANT: all my characters in my fics are aged up to 19-24. Side note: excuse my poor English.

Warning: none applicable

Genre: general, headcanons

Reader Gender: neutral

A/n: I'm not much a fan of separating Tweek and Craig, so theirs will be loosely based on how they act with each other (but I'll still use the pronoun "you")! Also, this one is a bit short, I'm sorry!

Craig Tucker

He's pretty bad at expressing his emotions, which can get pretty tricky at times.

He's great at helping you overcome difficulties, as he's very logical.

His ideal date night: Stargazing near the pond, if it's a meteor shower, he'll talk all about space and the universe and whatnot.

If Stripe likes you, the relationship is going to last a long time (guinea pigs my beloveds)

With his monotone, it's pretty hard to tell if he's happy or not, so he'll make sure to reassure you that he loves you a whole lot.

Clyde Donovan

Everyone knows Clyde's a crybaby.

When he's sad, he cries. Happy, he cries. Angry, he cries.

It's a bit jarring at first if you don't know beforehand. You two will just be cuddling and he'll start crying out of nowhere.

"I'm just so happy ☹️!"

His ideal date night: I think Clyde's a bit of a shopaholic. He'll take you shopping at the mall, making you stop at every single store.

"Y/n, we could match!"

Jimmy Valmer

I like to think he'd be head over heels for you.

He'll practice his comedy to you before his shows, asking you which one you liked the best.

His ideal date night: Watching a comedy special while cuddled up together with a bunch of snacks all around.

He's not afraid of PDA, he'll kiss you anywhere at any given time.

He's the jealous type - the moment he sees anyone getting a little too comfortable he does the most so that they'll get the hint that you're off limits.

Tolkien Black

This one's a sweetheart

He'll definitely go overboard in gift giving. If you say you like something, he'll buy 50 of it.

His ideal date night: A romantic dinner at some nice restaurant, then just walking around the town.

He loves to hold hands, but he's not huge on PDA otherwise.

I think Tolkien's a candle guy (This doesn't really have anything to do with relationship I just think he loves candles.)

Tweek Tweak

He's kind of insane but in an endearing way.

He tends to freak out and have outbursts a lot, but with you, those outbursts lessen.

His ideal date night: Going to the beach. He freaks out a bit at first because he thinks there's going to be a shark in the water and he'll die, and when you guys are leaving he'll complain because sand is a bitch to clean. But during the date, he'll love it!

He's absolutely the jealous type - He's also most likely wickedly strong, so whoever's getting too comfy with you better watch out.

[jovenshires]

hi katie jovenshires im a big fan. if ur ok with sharing, what ships are in the botb au and what are the vibes for each 👀

thank you so much!! <3<3<3

hmm i've been thinking about this and i think i'm only deadset on spommy, ianthony, kolivia, and amangela as far as like. my canon goes. not sure what if any other ships im gonna include... ive gone back and forth with shaymien and shaynse too but not sure!!

but, i will say, for the most part the edits are mostly left up to interpretation so you can all decide whatever ships you want really!! (or if you don't want any ships at all that's cool too <3) like i've said to me the botbau is a little collaborative barbie world that we can all make whatever we want out of. like i told someone the other day - if you wanna write a fic or make an edit or something for this and it doesn't exactly line up with what i might write or think ab the au... PLEASE go for it. it is out there, public domain now, do with it what you will. and i will love and eat it up no matter what!!

as for the vibes in MY head, i will throw them under the cut so this post doesn't get too long KFNLKNKFNF

spommy: i've covered this a little before here so if you want the full version check that out but BASICALLY spommy is kind of rivals-to-friends-to-lovers except tommy has an Extremely one-sided beef and spencer just thinks he's cool and wants to be buds. eventually spencer wins him over and then... uh oh! love! once again skimmin some details that, if i ever Write A Fic for it, will be spoilers. but that’s the idea you know

ianthony: taking this directly from my dms to lilac but basically. ianthony botbau my beloveds....... to relearn how to co-pilot something with someone that should come so second-hand to you but you're both different people now but your feelings carry through anyway for who they were and are and will be........ yeah theyre everything to me. in a way it's a mirror to life/what actually happened to them with smosh (art imitates life) but the divorce era was even MORE famous because they're like a household name so it was a lot more pressure. idk yet if they were together beforehand and then broke up and now they're getting BACK together or if they had unresolved feelings they never dealt with and now they're struggling to reconcile them with their renewed friendship AND reunited band/the fame that comes from that... but either way they are Messy. im obsessed.

kolivia: kolivia in this au fascinates me because in my head keith is kind of known for being a player and fucking around but i think he stopped that Ages ago because. these two are basically dating. like they don't put a label on it and it's not public and i don't even know if THEY know how in love they are. but they live together. they sleep together "just to blow off steam" (come on now). they don't date other people. everyone can see it but them type beat. olivia's like "he's not my boyfriend" and then picks up the phone and is like "hi baby do you want chinese for dinner" NDLFKNANKSFLN like they are exclusive and they have deep feelings for each other but they are both so deeply in denial that they swear they're not dating. they have realistically been in a relationship for like five years.

amangela: RIVALS TO LOVERS AGAINNNN i have talked about this one a Lot with baflegacy bc like. they are my roman empire. at least these two have met on multiple occasions and actually fought with each other - they keep meeting at gigs/in bars and bickering. angela "clearly abba is the best band ever" giarratana and amanda "WHAT about fleetwood mac you DUMB ASS" lehan-canto. like they meet a bunch and EVERY time they end up bickering. meanwhile angela keeps seeing thirst traps of amanda on tiktok and being like "why are all the lesbians obsessed with her she SUCKS" and chanse and arasha, who have heard this three million times, are like "yeah okay buddy whatever helps you sleep at night." meanwhile amanda is living her bliss <3 and then they realize they're both in battle of the bands and uh oh! things come to a head!

[danvillecheese]

why do u think act ur age is fucked

[cracks knuckles] alright. essay time. you asked for it.

I’ve done a similar response to this before here and mentioned something else about it here but I’ll go over it again since those posts are both from a while ago. also bear in mind I haven’t seen aya recently bc I don’t like it. okay let’s get into it

[also im gonna preface this saying maybe i sound very pessimistic but im ranting and its just gonna sound like im complaining because i am. i mean no real malice by the way. im simply a person with a blog.]

first off. they don’t use the show don’t tell as well as they could. in the what might have been montage, sure, they showed potential scenarios and how phineas felt (very briefly) when isa stopped visiting his backyard but it just feels so rushed. I get that they only had like 11 minutes to show it but idk there has to be another way to write it. or just not have it at all idk its just from a writing point of view the whole episode feels rushed and out of place from everything else continuity-wise. why not use little easter eggs planted in the show beforehand? operation crumbcake? pharmacists? meapless in seattle? god theres so many episodes with evidence that phineas liked her back even if he didnt know. just. continuity!!!!

second. why did their friends not try something sooner. it’s not like they didn’t know. like phineas seems to be okay with saying “i wish! i am so in the friend zone there” in front of his friends (that quote alone makes me lose my shit but that’s a whole other point) so clearly they knew about phineas. and isabella also wasn’t quiet about it (source: pnf s1-4). they had like four years of high school to do something and they planned it the day isa left for college? nah its just the least realistic thing ever for me. also them being 18 is like yeah okay maybe the slow burn was worth it and theyre way more grown up (i love a good slowburn) but ohhhhhh my god SURELY their friends were getting sick of them dancing around each other. just me?

third. and I’m sorry to ash simpson but oh my god I hate the character designs like They Would Not Fucking Look Like That. it almost feels like it completely disregards their arcs during the original summer. like yeah child chub disappears over ur teen years but sometimes it stays a little longer! make phineas less twiggy!! make isa look more like her mother! (am i about to redesign them again? whoops)

four. and i know this is no fault of dan and swampy but the show was about to end anyways and yet the entire friend group was paired off into hetero ships?? get fucking real. none of those kids are straight. realistically, i know it was a different time and gay marriage wasnt even legal in the us yet so it wasnt all that common to have queer romance on screen let alone on disney channel but like i said, the show was about to end. what were the disney channel execs gonna do? cancel it? lmao

five. "I am so in the friend zone there." "we are guys. we do not talk about our feelings." WHAT!!! i cant believe this shit is real. these lines of dialogue are canon. what the hell. what kind of message does that even send to younger, impressionable viewers? if ur a 10 year old boy watching that (ok fine maybe that isnt gonna stick with you forever but listen) and you go 'oh its okay to just bottle everything up and not tell my friends about my feelings about anything ever' that is insane! thats not how things should go!! like i get the whole "im so in the friend zone" and yes, this also has to do with the era but like if they wanted to be a more progressive cartoon that kids look up to and enjoy maybe they just. shouldn't have put that whole conversation in.

i barely have any problems with the b plot. in fact id watch the episode just for the kazoo solo. because that plot lines up with the continuity. i can totally see heinz having bowling night with perry and carl and monogram every week! i can totally see perry and monogram retired! and carl running owca and getting payed for it! that all checks out! that one makes sense and works with the canon! if they got that plot so right how did they get the a plot so wrong?

i can answer this question: fanservice. its an awful word, i know. act your age is a fanservicey episode which is why i think it crashed and burned. mml season 2 is rooted in the same issue: doof is very present and takes away from the original plot of the show. like, the one he wasnt even in until the last episode of s1. slightly getting off topic but it is the crux of the issue. fanservice doesnt make for good storytelling. even if it brings in the big bucks. at its core, telling the story the way it should be told is the best one. even if it pisses people off. a good portion of the viewers will still appreciate whatever ending the creators come up with. and no, im not saying phinbella shouldn't have become canon, in fact i really like the ship and all their dynamics, i just think they went about it the wrong way.

as someone who's written and published fic about them getting together in different universes (granted, they were from when i was younger so its mildly terrible. take them with a grain of salt) there are a lot of other ways to tell that story canonically. honestly, i think the best way of doing it was to keep it ambiguous. dont tell that story. let the viewers pick their own ending for phineas and isabella. maybe they dont get together after all. who knows!

thanks for the ask! hope you had fun getting lectured <3

[phoenix-writez]

Decided to post entry #1 here as some people may not enjoy reading things on ao3 :D

I'm not sure how to format the fic on tumblr, so feel free to give me criticism! (Constructive. Criticism. I will ignore insulting)

So, have fun with Scar's POV! It's in first person, so if you're not a fan of that... Sorry! I try to analyze the characters beforehand and write them as themselves! Scar's a silly little guy, so I hope I got that down!

—

Entry #1

[SCAR]

August 18, 1997

This place is fun, honestly! I got here just four days ago!

A theater filled with red and pink strobe lights, it feels rather disco-ey, if I'm being honest. There's a rather large stage where people step up and say whatever they want. There's actors, circus acts, and even singers. Or karaoke.

Why is karaoke spelled that way? It should be kareoke, but to each their own!

Either way, I've gone up there a few times just to sing songs from my favorite cartoons. Had a few cheers from the crowd, but not many.

I loved it here though!

When I first got to the theater, I had been with a few friends. I don't know where they went, lost track of them. I remember this guy welcoming us, holding out his hand and grinning fancily.

“Welcome, all! This is the Eye’s Spy Theatre!”

Trust me, it's not spelled theater. I learned the hard way.

“Want me to take you to your rooms?” The fella acknowledged each of us. He had a towel folded over his arm, just like a butler would in a fictional story. I tilted my head to the side like a dog, “Sir? No offense, but I don't recall this being a hotel.”

“Perhaps you missed the sign, but all is well, Scar Goodtimes, your room is already booked. First floor, as always! Can't be giving you anything further than that with your given situation, can we?” He says, then steps behind me.

I raise my hands, “WAIT– Hands off, fancy guy! Firstly, what do you mean?”

“How do you know his name?” My friend asked. Fancy Guy looked over, “When you book a room, we get your names on the screen. Besides, I know everyone in this town.”

Right.

—

August ??????

I woke up with a start, hearing a bang nearby. I pull myself onto my chair and roll onward, out of the room.

“What?! What happened–”

I look towards the stage, my breath slows. “Oh! Obviously.” I giggle, then I do a double take. What the– “What am I doing up there?!”

On the stage, was me in a weird outfit. I've never seen this kind of outfit before, honestly. Maybe some new fashion shaped itself in the six days I've been here.

Wait… how long has it been?

I blink, but I can't really think. My memory is kinda foggy.

I see more characters on the stage, some blue haired guy and this ginger lady clearly tired out and breathing heavy. I'm not sure if it was Hollywood level acting, or they were actually just overworked out of their minds.

I roll towards the bar, and no, this bar isn't necessarily an alcoholic bar you see at night time when everything else closes. I'm sixteen! I can't even drink anyway! I doubt rules changed that much when I've been here.

I grin at the tender, “Do you have anything other than really warm milk? It was you, after all, who said you'd make this the best experience possible y'know.”

“I… we do, in fact. Anything you want, dear hero.”

“Hero? My name is Scar, did you forget that fancy pants?” I smirk. “No. I did not.” He said flatly.

“Oh.”

“I'd like just a simple water, honestly.” I said. “Ah, only the crispiest we'll hand out for you.” The man kneels towards the shelves.

Huh? I blink. He's reaching up at them actually, I swear I've been seeing things.

I spend my time drinking the water and distracting myself from the fact I may have just met my walking doppelganger. Though he's using a cane, still those legs can work and I'm jealous.

Just kidding, I don't care.

—

After a few minutes, I nearly jump, but I keep my composure. Another guy, looks around my age but surprisingly short. I'd give him a… 4’11? Jeez, really needs a growth spurt by now.

He ordered an orange juice and stared into the distance. That's when he spoke to me, “Fun act, right?”

“I wasn't really interested, too confusing. What was that back there, some kinda jester or whatever?”

“I'd give it a 5 out of tried their best.” The short guy said, then he turned to look at me and giggled. “You look like one of the actors.”

“Must be a long lost brother.” I put my cup down and look at him, and woah. My eyes widened and I smiled awkwardly. “Well! That's a… so what's your name, orange juice?”

“Oh! My name's Grian.” He smiled so brightly. I chuckled, “Cool! My name is Scar.”

“Oh I know–”

“Huh?”

“Sorry, long story.”

“Everyone knows my name in this place!” I look back at the table in front of us. “That would be a given. This place isn't really, well, real.” Someone walked towards us both.

Actually, a group.

The actors.

“Aw, I'm getting a standing ovation from the fellas themselves–” I look around. “Where's the guy who looked like me?”

“Hi.” This strange lab coat wearing guy– oh! I know him. Cub?!

I blinked. How long ago did he show up here? Two days ago I saw him on the news and he looked much shorter, and he'd been running away from a police department, some sort of forensics office he'd blown up.

Cub raked his hands through his hair, it looked really messy. “I sorta used this weird amulet to change my appearance.”

“Are we still acting?” I asked, “Amulet, you say? Well, I simply cannot!” Immediately, my hand impacts my forehead dramatically. “... We're acting, right?”

“No.” Grian said, “Though he is lying, listen, Scar. I'm gonna ask you a really weird question and you have to answer me.”

“Uh-huh…”

“What year is it?”

“Oh! That's easy, 1997, duh! Did you guys hit your heads or something?” I smiled, chuckling. The bartender finally came by and gave Grian his orange juice. Then he vanished.

Grian grabbed his cup and he took a sip. “1997, hm? What if I told you it's not?”

“I wouldn't believe you.” I giggled. “I've been here for a week, duh! Got here just Monday with some of my friends. Where did they go, though?” I looked around. I still couldn't see them.

“They probably got out.” The sassy blue guy said, “Yeah, or stuck.” The ginger crossed her arms. I looked at them. “They’re just in their rooms.”

“Why don't we take a look then, huh? Where are their rooms?” Grian asks, I shift awkwardly. “...Third floor.”

“This thing doesn't have an elevator for you?” Cub asks.

“If a building ain't as tall as five stories, there's no need.” I lean back in my chair. “Which is, uh, needless to say, no.”

The ginger thought for a moment, then she grinned. “Tell them the numbers, and we'll go on from there. I'll stay back with you, just so you have someone near you!”

“I'm fine on my own.” I looked at her. “Absolutely not,” she glanced at me up and down, “genuinely, if I had to guess. You're dehydrated, probably haven't eaten much, and the moment you see the sun your eyes will wish you'd gone blind.”

“With these strobe lights? Might as well have gone blind already.” I shrugged, she stared at them. “They're LED now.”

“Meh! I think they always have been, luminescent and whatnot.” I said, “What's your name, by the way?”

“Gem. That there is Scott, he's uh… something, alright.” She sighed. Scott, the fancy blue guy, waves. “I'll go up third floor, what's the room?”

“Rooms, uh… 307, 315? I think?”

“Why are they so separated?” Grian’s eyes widened. “The rooms might've been taken between ‘em.” Cub immediately began his journey towards the stairs.

“Eight rooms between them?! Cub, there's seven people in this room!”

“Most people got drained after the second day and went to sleep. Haven't seen them since.” I added.

Grian paused. He looked at Gem, and they both seemed to come to an agreement. I heard Gem mutter, “Hypnos,” and she sat by me. Grian stood up.

“I thought that guy was fine by now! What's going on?” He grumbled. My head laid on the table like my neck had gotten exhausted from holding it. “Maybe he changed his mind.”

“Or maybe, this establishment is really old and he forgot to tear it down.” Grian sighed, then he took a step forward and looked at the ground.

“What's… this symbol doing here?”

“Aren't you supposed to be heading up to the third floor?” I said, for some reason my body felt like all the energy was getting sucked out of it. I don't know how, but everything in my field of vision was getting blurry. And Grian had sharp-ish ears, and an elven face. I swore he didn't look real.

Because he didn't.

I glanced at Gem, and she looked completely normal. Besides the fact that she was actively plotting something and had a sword in her belt. I don't know what I saw before, but I guess I just assumed she was in some sort of costume.

Everyone wears costumes around here. I've seen a giant guy with a hundred arms walk around here demanding for some cyclops guy, then he exited the building fine as that.

I felt nauseous, and everything went black.

—

I don't know. I don't know what today is. Everything is the same.

I wasn't out for long, fainting spells don't usually last longer than a minute. I woke up and everyone was staring at me with concern. “We found your friends.” Scott grimaced, “And we found you, doing the same thing as them.”

“I passed out, I don't know what happened.” I groaned, “Grian, since when were you an elf guy?”

Grian giggled, “I'm not an elf, idiot.”

“Why are your ears all sharp then?”

“Oh! That's just normal, I was born like that.” Grian shrugged, “But back to you. You passed out on our watch, which means this doesn't happen when you're on your own.”

“Possible.” Cub gazed at the floor, then he leaned and played around with the tiles like it was a puzzle. “What do you mean possible? We proved your hypothesis, thank you.” Grian tilted his head.

“What if we're not registered here?” Cub lifted himself, holding a brick that revealed a gaping hole underneath the building. “What if we're just simply wanderers with no true meaning to this place?”

“We'd still be people, hun.” Scott said flatly.

“Not in this place. I think this is an entirely different world compared to, well, Earth.” Cub grabbed a coin out of his pocket, and he dropped it into the abyss.

“Scar, do you perceive things differently than normal people?” He looked up at me. I couldn't help but think that this situation is way too serious for a random questionnaire I've had billions of times when I was younger.

The answer is yes.

It's always yes.

“When I was, like, six, my mom found me digging at the ground. It's ‘cause I heard some rattling, and I wanted to free the thing that was suffering. When I finally did, it was a skeleton monster! She grabbed me and pulled me away, told me never to do that again.” I started, “That those things are dangerous, that my father would be back and he would never want to see me playing with creatures I can't define.”

“I mean, a skeleton monster is pretty much accurate.” Grian laughed, “Wait, you don't know your dad?”

“Nope!” I smiled, “Always asked, was told he died.”

“...So how would he be back?” Scott squinted. “We had a ouija board in our house, although it's only for eight year olds and older, and I was barely able to simply sleep on my own.” I sighed.

But, the presence of the board didn't scare me knowing what it did. I quite like the idea of ghosts, and I know we had some in our house. They slept in the corners, watched me do my chores, and stared at me when my health declined.

Not much they could've done anyhow.

I felt my hands clenching on my legs, and I released them. “Uh… I never believed that. There was no grave we visited. Ever. She just said it like it was a fact from years ago.”

Cub nodded, then we heard the coin ding and slam itself into what sounded like concrete. I glanced at the floor. “What was that?!” I press my hands to the wheels of my chair. “Cub?!”

“I heard what I needed to hear.” He smiled, then simply disappeared.

We all stared where he left. “UGH! CUB!” Grian grabbed a knot of his own hair and tugged, but not pulling anything out. I gazed at the underground, and I swear I felt a calling.

Like I needed to be somewhere.

That's when the stupid butler grabbed all of us and dragged us out. “I do believe your time here is over, thank you for being so kind.” He shoved us out the door. I locked my chair and looked around, frozen.

“Where's Cub?! WHERE'S IMPULSE YOU–” Grian grabbed Gem and pulled her aside. She'd been yelling at the guy the whole time we were getting kicked out. I had no idea there was another person with them that had gone missing.

I had a theory, but it wasn't so friendly.

And I swear I could see that guy in a different form now that I had been placed outdoors.

He was tall, almost goopy, and I swear he had one giant eye in the middle of his face that stared deeply into your soul.

Normally I saw him as just this generic black-haired guy. He had this way about him that felt, well, casual yet business.

Like he was familiar with you but he didn't want to get fired.

I covered my face with my hands. Just thinking about my mother made me realize something.

“Guys, what year is it?” My tired eyes felt like they were dragging on the ground. I could just feel the hot pavement scraping my eyelids.

“...Scar, it's 2025.” Grian said.

“...Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

I stared at the outdoors, and felt like I'd been through multiple disasters at once.

“It was just a week…”

But now I realize how much time I truly spent there. And it doesn't make me too glad to know it.

[saywha413]

insane cookie run headcanon time !!

romantic relationship the witches made a little. a little oopsie. cousins adopted child birth child siblings (both by birth and adoption)

under cut is my lore and I’m warning you now. it’s long

note beforehand. this is what I mean when I refer to witches:

Biggest thing of note: witches do not care about cookies. They are neutral towards them and can coexist. If witches want to eat cookies, they make nonalive ones. Like we all do.

Also. The whole beast yeast thing? I ain’t dealing w that. I haven’t kept up w the story as well 💀. We can have two alt timelines: one where the beasts stay chained up, everyone’s alive, and crunchyvelvet have 8 kids at 30 and one where crunchyvelvet die in each others arms at like 28 (and carrow dies too ig)

and also. “Cookie” is not a surname. No one refers to anyone like red velvet cookie or whatever. It’s just red velvet.

Traits

Already established in my fanfiction: cookies pick up traits of organisms they spend lots of time with.

The only major caveats are that they need to 1. enjoy spending time with them and 2. choose to spend time w them

When a cookie picks up a trait from another cookie, they typically get one back, regardless of “time”.

The amount of time varies from cookie to cookie, but typically cookies who know less cookies (like red velvet- born and raised with cod) pick up traits faster.

Children

Children are “gifted” by the witches to cookies that they think are both compatible and suited to raise them. The witches are humans though, meaning that there’s lots of human error lol.

The witches have some kind of spell/book/intuition that tells them the cookie’s life story and traits, letting them decide.

Babies are baked from something from the two parents- usually a lock of hair from each. The witches will cut it when the cookies are sleeping. (Sometimes cookies will wake randomly in the middle of the night, but see nothing. Most take that as a sign of a baby coming.)

The baby is baked with the two things and voila. Child. The witches will then leave the baby in the parents bed, again while they’re sleeping, so they can wake to it.

Because of the process, any cookies of any gender can have children. Poly relationships can also have children.

Aging

Different cookies have different “rates of aging,” as shown by mycookie growing to about 10 in a few months. All cookies will age differently until a set age (which also varies), where their age then shifts to grow year by year.

Sometimes cookies will randomly age much slower. They don’t know why. (Ancients and younger cookies are likely more prone to this.)

Specific stuff relating to this tree

Ages (as of a flame in the snow rn)

Dark Cacao (and other ancients I guess)- like. eighty to a hundred?? idk. let’s lock in: ???

Coffee Roll (second watcher)- 70s?

Dark Choco + Werewolf- mid to late 40s

Crunchy Chip- 26

Red Velvet- 25

Wizard + Strawberry Crepe- 15 (would turn 16 in the story I think)

Caramel Arrow- 27 (Financier- 27, Kouign-Amann- 25, Raspberry- 25, Pastry- 26)

Black Raisin- 26 (Latte- 27, Creampuff- 14)

Prune Juice- 24 (Capsaicin- 24, Stardust- ??? (presumably around 20s?))

Crowberry- 28 (Kumiho- ???)

Ages (when all the kids are born)

Crunchy Chip- 31

Red Velvet- 30

Wizard- 18 (starts aging at about 16, had slowed aging for a few years)

Strawberry Crepe- 19 (just barely started aging as of the story (unnoticeable just yet) but slows too)

Strawberry Cream- 16 (rapidly grew to about 13)

Onyx Cream- 20 (rapidly grew to about 18 (which is kinda insane))

Chocolate Cake- 16 (rapidly grew to about 14)

Black Velvet- 18 (rapidly grew to about 18, but then growth slowed)

Witchberry- 12 (rapidly grew to about 8)

Cream Ferret- 12 (rapidly grew to about 5)

Individual profiles and notes

King Dark Cacao + King consort Coffee Roll + Dark Choco + Werewolf

All use he/him

Dark Cacao- Witch of accomplishment

Coffee Roll- Witch of order

Dark Choco- Witch of perseverance 

Werewolf- Witch of loyalty

Post polyancients break up lmao (hollyberry/white lily/golden cheese and aroace pure vanilla). Dark Cacao had streaks of hair that were each of their colors once, but he’s long since cut them all of them but White Lily’s out. Because of how he feels about her, though, the white has become more of his own trait than hers and is able to be passed to those close to him.

Shortly after the witches gifted him and [insert name of partner] Dark Choco, [insert name of partner] died in battle. Coffee Roll (the first watcher at the time) helped care for baby Dark Choco, leading to him and Dark Cacao becoming closer.

They got married when Choco was ab 10 (Coffee Roll would be abt 40?)

Dark Choco met Werewolf when they were both 12-13 and he was playing by himself in the forest. They met sporadically over like 2-3 years and eventually started dating. They thought Dark Cacao wouldn’t approve (he probably wouldn’t rlly have cared lmao), so they never told him.

Dark Cacao and Coffee Roll “are eventually blessed with” Caramel Arrow. They rlly just like. adopt her. They prob call her their kid so the public leaves her alone.

After the fight™️, Dark Choco runs off (he’s abt 20 (CR 50 and CA 1)). He spends a few nights with Werewolf, which is when the witches “bless” them with Crunchy Chip (human error). They decide together that they’re not suited to raise a child, leaving Crunchy Chip with Dark Cacao (and Coffee Roll). Instead of dropping him and running, though, they decide to give him the baby by hand. Dark Cacao says something that angers Dark Choco, and he storms off before Werewolf or the others can stop him. (Werewolf has a grudge against Dark Cacao because of this.)

Dark Choco then joins the cod.

Dark Cacao and Coffee Roll raise Crunchy Chip and Caramel Arrow as siblings.

Eventual Coffee Roll/Dark Cacao/Elder Faerie I think (since beast thing doesn’t happen, he lives! yahoo).

Red Velvet

He/him

Witch of loyalty

He was gifted as a completely normal baby to a normal family. He lived with them until about 9 maybe?

He and his cousins (black raisin, prune juice, crowberry) also spent lots of time together.

When he was 9 though, the cod attacked his house, killed his parents, and set everything on fire. He both lost his arm and hit his head hard in the chaos. He mistook Dark Enchantress for his mother and wound up following her back to her realm. When she found him, she took him in as her own, rebaking him with some cake/cream parts- thus giving him his new arm and fucking up his genetics.

Because of the rebaking, his anatomy and physical abilities are different from average cookies. He’s stronger with more endurance and has keener senses. He basically has all the good stuff from both a human and a wolf.

The trust he has in Dark Enchantress slowly crumbles over time, especially bc of how she treats the cake hounds as disposable minions, eventually leading him to run away. (He asked his friends to come with him, but they still believed in her. They know this means they might meet on the battlefield one day, but they’ve silently resigned themselves to the idea.)

This leads to the plot of the fic: he goes to the Cacao Kingdom.

Commander Crunchy Chip

He/him

Witch of order

Crunchy Chip grows up as Cacao’s grandson and is called his heir. 

Cacao doesn’t talk about Choco or Werewolf if possible, but Crunchy Chip does know of them and what they look like.

He’s the commander of Cacao’s army- both cookies and cream wolves.

Caramel Arrow + polycule

Caramel Arrow- She/her

Witch of aspiration

Financier- She/her

Witch of efficiency

Kouign-Amann- She/her

Witch of harmony

Raspberry- She/her

Witch of aspiration

Pastry- She/her

Witch of order

All of the polycule excluding Caramel Arrow is already together. She meets them at the party organized by Dark Cacao in the fic, and is almost immediately asked to join the polycule.

Prune Juice + polycule

Prune Juice- He/him/they/them/xey/xem

Witch of insight

Capsaicin- He/him

Witch of perseverance

Stardust- He/any

Witch of observation

Prune Juice and Capsaicin (and Kouign-Amann) knew each other from before the tournament. They started dating before the tournament, and agreed that them dating wouldn’t affect the competition during it. After the events of episode 16 (slightly before the tournament), Stardust flies around without a real plan. He eventually stumbles into the two and bonds with them, and then they invite him to join their relationship.

Crowberry + Kumiho

Crowberry- It/its

Witch of logic

Kumiho- She/her/they/them

Witch of efficiency

Both Crowberry and Kumiho have animal forms and prefer roaming Parfaedia at night- that’s how they met. Crowberry was going to grab a jewel from someone’s house, but a fox quickly grabbed it before it could. It was annoyed, and started chasing the fox. They eventually shifted into their human forms while chasing each other and started talking while running across rooftops all night. When the sun rose, they collapsed in a heap together and laughed, deciding they were better off friends than rivals.

This eventually flourished into a romance :).

Both are secretly glad that the other’s human form is slightly off putting (wings, ears, tail), making them feel a bit more confident with their own. Both are very protective of each other when they receive snide comments. aka they both seethe silently and then rob the person blind later.

Black Raisin + Latte + Cream Puff

Black Raisin- She/her

Witch of efficiency

Latte- She/her

Witch of improvisation

Cream Puff- She/her

Witch of aspiration

After the whole Vanilla Kingdom incident, Black Raisin decides to travel to Parfaedia to visit Prune Juice and Crowberry. There, she was introduced to both’s partners. She and Kumiho hit it off, and Kumiho then introduces her to some of their friends. That’s how she meets Latte. When they first meet, they both immediately feel a spark and ditch Kumiho to talk (and essentially go on a date). Kumiho was fine with it when they explained and apologized.

They go on many more dates, and Black Raisin even meets Latte’s adopted daughter Cream Puff.

Cream Puff was initially suspicious that Black Raisin would leave eventually because of Latte’s last partner (Almond- he realized he was gay and they amicably broke up). When she realized that BR was here to stay, she quickly warmed up to her.

After maybe a year of dating, they decided to get married. (The wedding happens shortly after the triple cone cup in universe.) When people commented about how “it was too early in the relationship,” they ignored them because they were happy.

Strawberry Crepe + Wizard

Crepe- They/them

Witch of imagination

Wizard- He/him

Witch of insight

Both are adopted by Red Velvet and Crunchy Chip after they choose to stay in the Cacao Kingdom after the party and become closer, since Dark Cacao makes them the duo’s responsibility.

Onyx Cream + Strawberry Cream

Onyx Cream- He/him

Witch of efficiency

Strawberry Cream- He/him

Witch of loyalty

Witchberry

She/her

Witch of observation

Crowberry and Kumiho’s kid. They were gifted her, but since they’re always moving, they didn’t think they were right to take care of her. They asked RV and CC to take care of her, and they agreed. They’re still in Witchberry’s life, but more as the “cool gay wine aunts” than second parents

Cream Ferret

They/them

Witch of happiness

Baked by the witches from Latte and Kumiho, but that was human error. They were just friends. When the baby was baked, the witch didn’t want to give them to either, and figured that Cream Ferret would be alright raised with the cream animals. They eventually befriend Crepe, which leads to them being adopted.

Black Velvet + Choco Cake

Black Velvet- She/her

Witch of equability

Choco Cake- He/they

Witch of ingenuity 

idk man. ship kids. (both will get a redesign at some point. especially since the mycookie thing lol)

[sugalaritae]

the safety zone (jhs) 1/?

summary: it's been exactly 15 years since you saw jung hoseok, your brother's high school best friend and the one who's virginity you took; you don't expect to have anything in common with him least of all a list of things like: living in the same city, enjoying sex (some might say a little too much... judgemental bastards), music, and fashion (amongst so many other things). you definitely don't expect a friendship to bloom or how complicated that friendship could be.

pairing: jung hoseok x f! reader (with background jeon jungkook x the same reader)

genre: the big three: (eventual) smut, fluff, and angst

au: brothers best friend, friends to lovers, based off the movie sleeping with other people, aged up characters (everyone is in their thirties)

rating: 18+

word count: 2.6k

warnings: another fic taking place in canada (this time ontario...which sort of needs a warning), slight mention of anxiety about returning to the town you grew up in, also anxiety over driving, talk of virginity (it's a social construct and absolutely stupid!!), drinking, legal drug use (marijuana), high school reunions (*shudders*), discussion of teenage sex, indigo namjoon and this fucking devastating hoseok

author’s note: oh look griddle has decided to start another drabble series!! this time for our dear jung hoseok because fucking hell i miss him already. i watched sleeping with other people today and i have been wanting to write a hoseok romance (heat waves pt2 is coming don't worry), so this idea slid into my head and then i decided to make it a drabble series and here we are. some of the chapters might just be texting or phone calls, some of it might actually be things that happen, some of them will just be smut (mostly hoseok fucking randos and reader fucking jungkook) i'm sorry for whatever this is. i hope you enjoy it just as much as i do. this is only LIGHTLY edited bc ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The road ahead of you is full of small hills. You’re fine with driving up and down them now but you remember what it was like to learn how to drive on these roads; the forest around you on either side, the long road down and then the seemingly longer road upward. It’s surprising how now, even years later, you can feel the slight bubble of anxiety in your chest. You can hear your brother’s voice from the backseat tell you that you’re being stupid for being anxious.

”Nothing is going to happen.”

”You do not know that!”

Still, you check the breaks as you’re going down the first hill and they’re working. So you take a breath and you remind yourself that you’re going to be okay.

You know the anxiety is also there because you’re returning home. For a stupid high school reunion, you can’t really believe that you let Namjoon talk you into this. Fifteen years is actually a stupid number that makes you feel old but still, you’re driving the three hours and you’re going to this stupid thing for at least an hour even if you don’t want to and even if you think it’s the dumbest fucking thing to do on a Saturday night.

Instead of concentrating on the anxiety you concentrate on the road ahead of you and the view that you have from the top of each hill. Slowly the town you grew up in begins to appear closer and closer.

You haven’t missed the town itself but you’ve missed the view.

Your phone beeps and for a brief moment you look down at it hoping that you’ll see a certain name flash across it but it’s only your Namjoon’s name. First a text and then the worst picture of him filling your screen. You press the green button on your car’s console.

“Hey.”

“How far out are you?” he asks.

“Like twenty minutes, why? You said the thing wasn’t starting until seven.”

“It’s not but there’s a few of us that are getting together for supper beforehand and I thought maybe, since you’ve been driving you would be hungry.”

This is your brother, kind and considerate while also being an incredible pain in the ass for dragging you to a place that you swore you would never go back to.

“Who is a few of us? Because I’m not super interested in eating with a bunch of guys that all thought playing on the high school soccer team was the best years of their lives like a fucking Bruce Springsteen song.”

“Springsteen never wrote about soccer players only baseball players.”

You groan, “whatever.”

“It’s a few from the team but I thought you’d want to come because Hobi will be there.”

Hobi. Hoseok Jung, the man who’s virginity you took (who also took yours but that’s irrelevant) the night of your prom night. The man who you left still sleeping in the hotel room he had paid for before you flew across the country to study art history. The man who you haven’t spoken to since that night.

Even though, sometimes, you still masturbate to the thought of him. Fifteen years later.

“Hello?? You still there.”

Your brother does not know that there was ever a you and Hobi and you hope that he never will. He’s not protective, just one of those things that you would rather keep to yourself because Namjoon has never really been great at not involving himself in your life (that goes two ways but again, not relevant).

“Yeah, sorry. I guess I’ll come. However, I want it on record that I’m still pissed off you convinced me to come to this thing.”

You hear him clear his throat as he puts on what you like to refer to as his professional voice, “Noted.”

“Thank you. Can I at least shower and change before I meet up with you guys?”

“Umma has your room ready and waiting.”

You sigh, “that’s the only good thing about this whole weekend, Umma and Appa.”

You miss dinner with Namjoon and his friends mostly because you don’t want to visit a restaurant that had been your regular hangout spot when you were a teenager, and you missed your father’s cooking; but now you regret it because instead of being in one of Namjoon’s friend’s car you are in being driven by your father to the school that you had sworn you would never return to. The whole situation makes you feel like a teen again. Well, except that you are dressed better than you had ever imagined you would be at 34.

“Have fun tonight. If you and Joon need a ride home because you’ve had too much to drink don’t be scared to wake Umma and I,” your father said with a smile on his face.

The whole situation is surreal and you laugh a little, nodding.

“Appa, if that happens then we’re going to walk home. I’m not going to wake you and umma up especially after she just said that you haven’t been sleeping well.”

Your father shakes his head and brushes the air with his hand.

“Don’t listen to her.”

“Appa!”

He gives you a smile that he shares with Joon as he returns his hand to the steering wheel and nods.

“Have fun,” your father says with a softness in his eyes that make you feel guilty for not coming home to visit more. They’re good people, your parents, and you are the daughter who can’t return home because she’s too busy.

“Thank you, Appa.” you say as you grip the car’s doorhandle.

You open the door and step out into the night air. Walking a few steps before you fix your blazer and wonder if maybe you should have worn a dress instead of a suit. Looking down at your heels you remind yourself that you look like the badass bitch that you are and whisper the mantra that your therapist had told you to say.

“I can do this, I am capable and I can do this,” you whisper feeling just a little ridiculous.

“You can do this,” a deep voice says behind you.

You turn around with a smirk already playing on your face knowing just who will be standing behind you. Sure enough, Hoseok Jung stands in front of you, one hand in his trouser pocket while the other one holds a joint and you watch as he brings it to his lips and takes a long toke.

“At least I don’t need drugs to calm me down,” you say and you watch as he meets your smirk with one of his own.

“You sure?” he asks with an arched brow and then holds out the joint and chuckles as you take it carefully.

You take a smaller toke at first but then follow up with another slightly longer one before slowly blowing it out. You’re not entirely sure if you should be concerned you don’t cough because that only means that your lungs are used to it and you don’t really want that.

“How you been?” he asks as you hand back the joint.

“Oh you know… busy.” It’s such a lame answer but it’s all you have. “You?”

He nods in response, then slowly rips off the lit end of the joint and closes off the end before tucking it into his blazer pocket.

“You look good. We missed you at the restaurant,” he says as his gaze lazily drifts over your body an action that makes you feel just that except it italics — good.

“Your shirt is ugly,” you say playfully because you do think it is actually a little hideous even though he’s pulling it off in a way that makes you just a little furious.

He chuckles and shakes his head, “it isn’t though. You like it.”

There’s a buzz already between the two of you and you know that it’s not just the weed. It’s a feeling that has been waiting for fifteen years. It’s mature now, a little more subdued, but still makes you feel excited at the possibilities.

“Come on, let’s go inside. Joon is waiting for us.”

You feel the pressure of his hand on your lower back and you step away from it as you slap at his arm.

“Okay Jung, I think I need a few drinks in me before you get to do that.”

He chuckles again and you’re suddenly aware that it’s not the laugh you remember him having, this one is deeper like it’s coming from his chest instead of his head where the higher, excited laughter you remember came from. You know it’s still there and you hope you get to hear it again. You always liked that laugh of his; it made you feel bright from the inside out like he was pulling happiness through the anxiety and settling all of your teenage hormones.

Hoseok and Namjoon met when all three of you were sixteen years old. Hoseok, a transfer from Vancouver, had joined the soccer team and become instant friends with your twin brother and his soccer buddies. You had hated them a little because they were loud and always kicked you out of the living room to watch bad movies teen-boy movies. Except you got to know them because Namjoon was your other half and you tended to meld your friend groups together.

You hadn’t really noticed Hoseok until the night of your prom, in the school gymnasium, and suddenly it was like you both became aware of the other at the same time. Your eyes locked on the dance floor and half an hour later you were pulled into the darkened hallway and being pushed against a locker as his mouth found yours. You had to pretend that nothing had happened as you all packed into the limousine and while everyone was getting progressively more drunk in one hotel room, Hoseok fumbled with your dress in another.

It should have been more awkward than it was. He was gentle and checked in with you and used his hands more than you thought he would.

“You know Hobi is moving to Toronto next month,” Namjoon says as the three of you walk in the general direction of your parent’s house.

Your system is still processing the mixture of alcohol with the weed even though it’s been three hours and you do not like the feeling that ricochets around your head with each step. Also your feet hurt. Heels are the devil’s creation.

You’re happy to be out in the fresh air though. Everything about the reunion was horrible, even though you only spent time at the table with your old friends, there were people there that you had never wanted to see again let alone make small talk with. You didn’t care how many children they had or how they had married their high school sweetheart.

“Oh? Really?” you ask turning to look at Hobi who is standing between you and your brother.

“Yeah,” he says with a wide grin, his gaze drifting just a little to your lips before he meets your gaze again. “I got a job there and I’m excited I think it will be a nice change from out west.”

You bump his shoulder with yours. “Congratulations. You’re going to have to take my number then because you need to know at least more than Yoongi, and Joon isn’t moving back for another two months.”

“I have other friends there,” Hoseok chuckles.

“No one as cool as me though,” you respond with another shoulder bump.

There’s a comfortable silence that settles over the three of you for a moment before Namjoon perks up and imitates Jessica Brookwood (one of the many annoying blonde girls you had gone to school with, who, at the reunion seemed just a bit too excited to have everyone together again) as he shouts, “OH MY GOD! The four of us all together in Toronto?! It will be just like high school!!”

The three of you burst into laughter and there it is — the laugh that lights you up. You grin wide as you watch Hoseok pause and bend backward as he laughs and gripping Joon’s elbow.

You’re surprised to realize that you missed him.

Your head has finally synced back up with the rest of your body by the time you change out of your suit and into your pajamas. You need water though and so you wander down into the kitchen only to find Hoseok also doing the same thing, except he’s only in boxers and a plain white t-shirt. Namjoon had insisted he stay at your family house instead of at the hotel because he had walked you home and the hotel was five blocks away. Hoseok had agreed but you hadn’t expected to have a run-in with him.

“Hey,” you whisper as you open up the cupboard and grab a glass out from it. “Couldn’t sleep?”

He shakes his head, “cotton mouth.”

He hands you the glass he just filled from the brita jug.

“I haven’t drunk from it, promise.”

“Thanks.”

You settle against the counter as you take a sip and watch him.

“I mean it,” you start as you tap your fingers gently against the glass. “We need to get together. I know some pretty great places to eat.”

He smiles and nods as he puts the water jug back into the fridge.

“I would really like that,” he says softly as he moves to stand in front of you and holds out his glass to you. “To reconnecting.”

“To reconnecting,” you say as you tap your glass gently to his.

That familiar buzz slips between you and up your legs. You know that you could kiss him here, that he could press you against the counter and lift you up onto it so you could wrap your legs around his waist and pull him closer. You think about how he could slip his fingers into your cotton pajama pants and make you wet; and for a moment you think it might happen until your phone buzzes on the counter beside you breaking the eye contact you shared.

“Goodnight,” he whispers and gives you a nod before he slips out of the kitchen and down toward Joon’s room.

You take a deep breath to centre yourself before you look beside you and grab your phone. This time, the name you had hoped to appear on your screen all night is there.

Jungkook Jeon: Miss you. Can I see you?

Your palms are suddenly sweaty and you take a deep breath trying to calm down the excitement that he’s texted you for the first time instead of the other way around. You hated that you had followed your friend’s advice and had waited for him to text you before you texted him.

You: I’m out of town.

Jungkook Jeon: When are you back, baby? I miss your taste. I fucking miss you under me

You look around the room and listen for any movement that might surprise you, but the house around you is silent.

You: Tomorrow evening.

Jungkook Jeon: Can I see you? Fuck baby! It’s been too long and I need you

You let the mixture of self-loathing and desire you’ve long made friends with back into your chest as you type out your response.

You: I’ve missed you so much Kook. I need you more than you realize.

Jungkook Jeon: Good. Come back to my place before anywhere else

You: Ok!

Jungkook Jeon: Goodnight, baby. I’ll be thinking of you before I fall asleep

You: Tell me what you’re thinking.

©sugalaritae. Do NOT repost, edit, or translate any of my work. I only post on ao3 and tumblr