#and skipped right over any form of writing class.

[astramachina]

no. no absolutely not. "this name that has stumped every scholar ever is actually the name of an island in Scandinavia and somehow nobody caught that" cut the shit. you're devising a way to lower the speed of light to one-tenth of its capacity and yet a Norwegian word stumped all your collective asses i am going to rip out someone's throat.

[writingwithfolklore]

Writing a Story from Start to Finish - Guide

                I see you guys in the tags and reblogs talking a lot about how you have a desire to write, but have no clue what to write about, or where to even start figuring that out. While starting any project can be incredibly daunting, I wanted to put together a little guide to hopefully make it a bit more accessible. Be warned, this will probably be a long post.

Step 1: Form an idea

All writing begins with this: an idea. Ideas can start as small as an object, or as big as a world or cast of characters. What’s important is that your idea genuinely interests you, and makes you want to explore it more.

                There are a million ways to gain inspiration for ideas, but my favourite method is a sort of brainstorm/mind map of all the little and big things you find interesting. Any tropes, characters, places, concepts, objects, animals, other stories, etc. you love—write them down. Then, start connecting the pieces. Each connection is one concept or idea you could explore further.

                If this doesn’t work for you, try using some writing prompts or check out 15 ways to spark new ideas.

                If you are a planner, proceed to Step 2. If you are a pantser, skip to step 7.

Step 2: Create your Protagonist

Now that you have a sort of concept or inspiration to work off of, you need your main character. There are about as many ways to create characters as there are characters themselves, and each method is going to work better or worse for every writer.

                At the barest minimum, all your protagonist needs is a Goal to work towards, a Reason for wanting it, and a Flaw that keeps them from having it right away.

                These three things can form a baseline character. Consider what the thing they want, why they want it, and what’s keeping from it says about them as a person.

                Rapunzel (from Disney’s Tangled) wants to see the ‘floating lights’ on her birthday. She wants to because she believes she will learn more about herself through seeing them. Her fear over disappointing and disobeying her ‘mother’ keeps her from it.

                My favourite character creation technique is actually Here—it takes you through creating character in order to create story.

                If that one doesn’t work for you, try this one. It is more focused on defining traits and figuring out the personality of the character first.

Step 3: Your Plot is your Protagonist’s Arc

As stated in the character creation technique I shared in Step 2, character is plot. By that I mean, the character’s journey is the plot of the story. We’re here to see the protagonist transform because of the circumstances incited in the beginning.

                So to form a plot, we need to know who the character is at the beginning, and what they need to learn by the end.

                Your character’s arc is A but B so C:

                A – your character and their flaw

                B – The conflict they go through

                C – how they change

“Obsessed with success, Jenny Beech works tirelessly to earn the approval of her strict parents and graduate top of her class, but when the new girl in town pulls her into a whole new world of excitement and fun, she must stand up for herself against her impossible standards and learn how to be a teen again.”

                This one sentence has everything we need to know about this story and character: “Obsessed with success (character trait/flaw), Jenny Beech works tirelessly to earn the approval of her strict parents and graduate top of her class (goal), but when the new girl in town pulls her into a new world of excitement and fun (conflict), she must stand up for herself against her impossible standards and learn how to be a teen again (change).”

                If you have these three things, congratulations! You already have a story. If you’d like, you may begin writing it now (skip to step 8). Or…

Step 4: Theme

                I did a whole post on theme you should check out here. Essentially, the big takeaway is that your theme is a lesson to impart to the readers—which means it is not a question, it is an answer.

                For the example given above, our theme would likely be something like, “Teens need to balance their additional responsibilities as they mature into young adults with the joy of being young and having fun.” Or, “Friends and a close social network is more important than having the best grades.” Or, “It’s important to take frequent time away from work in order to maintain one’s humanity.” Etc. Etc.

                Theme is conveyed through what your characters need to do to succeed (or what they do that causes their failure). If Jenny lets loose and suffers consequences for it in the end, we’re saying that she should have stuck to her studies rather than letting herself have fun. If she lets loose and is rewarded with a greater relationship with herself and her parents, we’re saying that was the correct thing to do.

Step 5: Outlining

                Now that we have a plot and a theme, we can outline our story. An outline is like a roadmap of what you’re writing. It can be as specific or broad as you want. My outlines tend to follow this structure, and I improvise the little stuff in between, but if you need to get all your ideas within your outline, that’s good too!

                Just make sure your notes make sense to you so when you need to know where to go next, you have a handy tool just for that.

Step 6: Worldbuilding

                Worldbuilding is probably where you’ll spend the most time because there’s just so much. However, I also find it one of the most fun parts. The minimal thing you need to know is your world’s normal, and how that normal is disrupted in the inciting incident.

                Jenny’s normal is school work and trying to impress her parents. The disruption is the new girl in town.

                Rapunzel’s normal is the tower and her hobbies. The disruption is Flynn breaking in.

                I did a more in-depth post on worldbuilding here, but the basics is just ask questions, explore consequences, and do plenty of research.

                Which brings us to…

Step 7: Research

                This can also be done after your first draft, but can’t be skipped entirely. It’s important when trying to convey experiences that may not be wholly your own, or unique perspectives, that you understand the context behind those things in the real world.

                Once again, ask questions, talk to people, and remain open to what you find.

Step 8: We can start writing now

                Now that you have all your planning ducks in a row (or have a good inspiration to jump from) it’s time to start writing! Either go from the outline you built, or just try out scenes. I have some tips for actually writing the dang thing that I’ll put here:

                Let me know how your writing goes, good luck!

[fooled-around-and-fell]

do you write for jjk men? if yes, can i please request some suguru geto hurt/comfort? any plot, i just need my heart broken and mended back together

thank you! 🌸

i do! i hope you like this and i hope you're okay ❤️‍🩹

your best.

summary: suguru says some hurtful things after a failed mission. genre: angst to fluff pairing: suguru geto x female reader warnings: cursing

Masterlist

-----

gojo told you that suguru had gotten hurt during their mission. as one of their healers and as suguru's girlfriend, of course you worry when you can't find suguru in your office, ready to receive some of your lecture because he's not careful enough and some love because you're glad he's okay.

"suguru," you knock and open his door slowly.

his room is dark, only his bedside lamp is on while he's sitting on the floor, head resting on the bed. you can tell he's been hurt; the blood on his shirt, the cut on his cheek, bruises about to form...

you quietly sit next to him, inching closer to use your technique to heal his wounds. he slowly sighs, opening his eyes and holding your hand to stop you.

"i failed."

"sugu-"

"he got away, i couldn't stop him." he continues, "i should've been faster, should've- fuck."

you place your other hand on his wounded arm and begin your technique. "you did everything you could."

"you don't understand..."

"...but i know you gave it your best shot. you always do."

"what do you know? you can't even fight." that one comment hurts because it's true, but hurts regardless. suguru knows he probably hurt your feelings, but he's too angry to say anything else. what if he says something worse?

with a quiet sigh, you finish patching him up and leave a kiss on his forehead. "goodnight."

and it burns on his skin.

"you can't even fight"

it's true, you can't -- not well, at least. you're a healer, so your studies in Jujutsu High are focused on medicine alongside shoko. now that you think about it, compared to everyone else, you're probably the weakest.

shoko's also a healer, but you're not at her level. yes, there are some things you specialize in that shoko can't do, but shoko has more of those - she can do more than you, she's better than you, she's-

"hey."

your head snaps up to see suguru standing in front of your door as you open it. you take the yakult he offers and stab the straw in.

"about last night.. i'm sorry. i didn't mean it."

suguru's worried when you don't say anything, not even taking a sip of your drink. he knows it's a sensitive topic, so his comment last night was truly a low-blow.

"'s okay." you shrug, but the sadness in your eyes tells him otherwise. "how are your wounds?"

"all healed, thanks to you." he tries to smile, but ends up being awkward because you only hum in response. "can i come in?"

you step aside so he can come inside, and you sit on the bed, suguru following you shortly. you've fought before, but not like this. this doesn't even seem like a fight. suguru's wary of his actions and words while it feels like you're constantly dozing off. it's too quiet.

"talk to me." suguru says, "please."

you sigh, "it's fine, suguru, really-"

"no, it's not." he insists, "what i said was wrong-"

"is it, though?" you frown, looking at your hands. "you're right, i can't fight. i can't even throw a punch."

"and that's fine, you're a healer-"

"..not a good one." you mutter under your breath, but suguru catches it.

suguru makes you look at him, hands on both sides of your face. "hey. no one else can heal me like you do. you think shoko can heal my wounds and leave butterflies? no, only you can do that."

you punch him playfully. "...she better not."

"see? you're throwing punches already." suguru jokes, a warm smile on his face. "hey," he traces his thumb over your cheek, "we always give our best, right?"

you give him a small smile. "right."

"good." he says, smushing your cheeks together and kissing you. "now let's skip class and cuddle, i need more of your healing."

"mmp-" you muffle out when suguru suddenly pulls you into his arms to lay on the bed. "i thought you're all healed?"

"yes but you didn't stay with me last night- entirely my fault, but i still missed you." he says. "plus you haven't lectured me yet."

chuckling, you pull him closer to you, inhaling his scent. "idiot."

"i'm glad you're okay."

[sturniozo]

Tutor

Chris x reader

Summary - Chris needs to get his grades up to be able to stay on his schools hockey team, and who better to tutor him than his brothers best friend, who he also has a little crush on.

AN: I want this to be a series but that all depends on how this first part goes over. I didn’t want to write something really long just for it to flop lol so that’s why this is so short lol. But please tell me if you like it so I know whether or not to put out more of it! Xoxo-Angel

masterlist

NOT PROOFREAD

Y/n’s pov

I’ve known Nick for 5 years, and Chris only 4. I never did hang around Chris one on one, I just mostly hung out with Nick. But I knew enough about Chris to know I liked him.

I was always too nervous to hang around Chris one on one. Just being in a room with him at all made my heart race. I could barely think around him sometimes.

I knew his grades weren’t the best either. So it came to no surprise to me when Nick was begging me to tutor Chris so he’d shut up about not being able to play hockey anymore. I still don’t know why I agreed.

I don’t want to sound conceded, but I understand why Nick went to me. I know I’m smart, I have perfect grades, I’m in AP classes, as well as having skipped a grade and I’m on track to graduate two years earlier than most people do. But I was still stupid enough to agree to tutor a guy I could barely even form words around. How am I supposed to tutor Chris if I can’t even breathe near him?

So here I am, pacing in my room. Going over my notes for the classes Chris is failing, which is basically all of them. He’s going to be here any minute. I made sure my bedroom was nice and neatly cleaned, and that my notes were organized and readable. Then I hear the dreaded knock on my door.

I walk down the stairs and to my front door. I open the door and am greeted by Chris. Butterflies flood my stomach. Chris smiles at me and holds up a flower. Butterflies part two.

“What’s this for?” I ask, trying to suppress the blush creeping up on my cheeks. Chris shrugs.

“It’s a thank you. For tutoring me.” He says. I step to the side so he can come into my home and I close the door behind him.

“It’s mostly for Nick. He kept begging me.” I reply and lead him upstairs to my bedroom. I sit down at my desk and motion him to sit in the seat next to me. Once he does I pull out the notes. “Okay, what class do you want to start with?” I ask. Chris shrugs. I look at him, and notice he didn’t bring any notes or textbooks of his own. “Where’s your stuff?” I ask.

“What stuff?”

“Your school stuff. Your notes, your textbooks.”

“I don’t have any.”

“What?” I ask, shocked. “Why don’t you have any?”

Chris shrugs again. “I never needed them.”

“I think we just found out how you’re failing.” I pull out the notes from our algebra class. “Okay so the next algebra test is on Friday, which means we have about a week to get you prepared for- are you even listing?” I look over at Chris and he’s smiling at his phone. “Chris did you hear anything I said?”

Chris looks up at me. “Sorry I got distracted, what did you say?”

“This isn’t going to work if you don’t pay attention.”

“I’m trying to. This is just boring.”

“You aren’t trying very hard.”

“No, you’re right I’m not. Let’s blow this off and go do something else.” Chris looks at me and smiles, waiting for my answer.

“What, are you serious?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“You want to leave?”

“Yeah. Can you drive? I walked here.” Chris starts to stand up.

“Chris you can’t go, you’re failing almost all your classes. You’ll be off the hockey team.” I remind him.

“I’ll get the test answers from a kid at school. C’mon let’s go. I want Subway.” He ushers me to get up.

“You can’t cheat, Chris!”

“Sure I can, let’s go! Isn’t subway your favorite?”

How did he know that? “Well… it is but Chris we-“

“How about, we go get subway, then we come back and study?”

“Subway, then you’ll definitely study?” I ask. Chris nods. I bite my lip and sigh. “Fine. Let’s go.”

[gyu-effect]

are your requests still open? if they are then can you write a, hoshi x f!/gn reader where hoshi falls for a quiet but well-known (not popular) STEM student of his school and tries to approach her but is always unable to until he gets so mad and desperate that he literally walks up to her in a hallway?

(did this request stem from reading your gut-wrenching angst about soonyoung the other day? yes.)

PAIRING || Soonyoung x Female Reader

GENRES || Angst, Fluff

WARNINGS || seungkwan uses shit once

WORD COUNT || 1.9k

A/N || congratulations anon, you've finally done something i've been to dying to attempt: write a god damned fic thats more than 1.5 but less than 10k TT thank you so much for requesting this! and asdfghjkl poor yn did deserve a proper ending in that fic. requests are open !!!

TAGLIST || ​@romeosbreastmilk @y00nzin0 @cecedrake2217 @candidupped @ashkuuuu @hanicore @alyssng @weebotakuboy @angelfeverdream @aaniag @sea-moon-star @thepoopdokyeomtouched @hrts4hanniehae @caramyisabitchforsvtandbts @amethyistheart @k-drama-adict [if you want to be added to my taglist, fill in this form!]

[02:10]

he watched you through the corner of his eyes, his lips quirking up involuntarily into a small smile when he saw you giggling at the book you were reading.

“did you even hear what i was saying?”

soonyoung flinched at the sudden voice intruding his blissful thoughts of you, glaring slightly at the two boys standing opposite to him, one looking mildly amused while the other looked thoroughly annoyed.

“what?” he asked seungkwan, causing the latter to roll his eyes. 

“seriously, if you like her so much, why don’t you just tell her that?” seokmin asked to which soonyoung shook his head. “i would tell her but there’s no way she would like me back. i mean, she’s such a perfect student! all straight a’s and perfect attendance and behaviour and what not. and i’m…the complete opposite.”

“excuse me?” seungkwan said. “how are you the complete opposite? okay, maybe you don’t get straight a’s but its not like you bunk class, talk back to professors or act like a complete delinquent or something. and who knows, she might like you back.”

soonyoung looked at him dryly. “might?”

“well, i’m pretty sure she would have noticed your fifteen failed attempts to talk to her-”

“oh god, please don’t bring that up.” he groaned, burying his face in his hands. 

talking to you shouldn’t have been that hard. it wasn’t like you were a very popular student and had a huge crowd around you (well, you were still very well known and always had people asking for your help in something or the other but that shouldn’t have stopped him from trying to flirt with you) but the number of times he had tried to approach and had failed was really, really embarrassing. how ill fated was he that right at that moment something would pop up and you would leave or someone else would call you away?

and just how big his crush was on you that he was this desperate even after so many attempts? soonyoung had always considered himself as a fickle person, if he couldn’t get to know the person he liked within a few attempts, he would just forget about it and move on in life.

but you, you had caused him to be stuck in the exact same place for months like glue. what had started as an ordinary admiration had quickly turned into infatuation and before he knew it, he was heads over heels with you.

soonyoung loved everything about you. he adored your mannerism, your dedication and hard work and especially how you always managed to take control of any situation thrown at you. and also, he loved, loved your cute smile and the sound of your laughter.

“hey, y/n’s free now.” seokmin commented. “why don’t you go and talk to her now?” 

soonyoung looked up and turned to you, his heart skipping a beat when you too happened to look in his direction right at that time. you smiled at him softly and waved, and all he could was chuckle back nervously trying not to look like he was going to melt then and there. 

“you’re right!” he said, looking back at his friends in happiness. but all of a sudden that happiness was filled with nervousness, when he realised he was finally getting to talk to you. “wha-what do i say to her though?”

“just say you want to talk to her, you dumbass.” seungkwan said, slightly slapping his arm. “say you want to talk to her, take her to the ground, and then say you really, really like her.”

“and if she says no?” 

“then say you respect her choices and will always be waiting for her. and that you’ll try your level best to also show her why she should come to you.” seokmin said.

“what the hell? are they getting married or something? why are you so romantic for no reason?” seungkwan asked, looking at seokmin dryly.

“and why are you so anti-romantic?” seokmin countered back, but soonyoung had already drowned out his friends’ banter, turning back to look at you. 

you had gone back to reading your book and he braced himself for the worst. 

it's now or never, soonyoung.

taking in a deep breath, he got up and began walking towards your desk. but just as he was about to tell you ‘hi’, you got up and swung your bag across your shoulder, picking up your books. soonyoung froze and unfortunately the two of your eyes met again, your eyes widening when you realised that he was about to talk to you.

“oh hey. uh, sorry i need to run to the staff room. mr. park said he needs me.” you said, flashing him a quick smile before running out of the classroom.

all soonyoung could do was stare at your disappearing figure, mouth hanging open in disbelief. 

wow. just wow. 

he turned back to look at his two friends, who too flinched and looked equal crestfallen.

“it’s okay.” seungkwan muttered, patting his back as he made his way back to his seat. “maybe, uh, maybe next time-”

“yeah, sure.” he snapped, flopping down on his seat gloomily.

next time.

the next time soonyoung got a chance to talk to you was when his professor decided to hold a joint class in the lecture hall. as he and his friends entered the lecture hall, his eyes fell on you (you just happened to catch his eyes always even if it was in a crowded place; soonyoung swore that it was because of goddamn beautiful face) sitting in the second row all alone.

and even before he could turn back and signal his friends that he was going to sit there, he found himself darting to the second row, ready to grab the seat next to you. 

but his legs came to a screeching halt when your friend sat herself down on that very seat, foiling soonyoung’s plan in every single way.

what do i do? should i sit behind her? or should i-

“what are you doing soonyoung? come and sit in the front row. you too, seokmin and seungkwan. didn’t you three tell me you’re finding microelectronic circuits hard?” the professor barked from the stage. soonyoung felt his cheeks flame up, clutching his book hard as he prayed you wouldn’t think he was stupid (well, he was but that was a different matter).

begrudgingly, he made his way to the front and sat down, seokmin and seungkwan on either side of him.

“shit that was a great attempt.” seungkwan muttered, opening his books.

“thanks.” he replied dryly.

“talk to her after class.” seokmin whispered back. “i saw her look at you in-”

“pity?”

“i was going to say she looked at you with regret, but okay.”

“that is pity.”

“no, that is the regret of not getting to sit next to you.”

“thanks, seok.” he muttered, rolling his eyes. he loved the amount seokmin hyped him always but sometimes it got out of hand like now. he could finally understand why seungkwan got tired of him.

it was like the entire universe was against him because time seemed to take forever to pass. seconds felt like they had been stretched to hours and soonyoung could feel himself getting more and more impatient with each passing second. 

finally, after what felt like a million years, the professor concluded the session. trying not to look like he was in an immense hurry, soonyoung got up and stretched a little, packing his belongings in a hurry, pausing in between each time when he remembered that he had to slow down a little. 

“dude, what are you doing?” seungkwan hissed all of a sudden, smacking him lightly. soonyoung looked at him in confusion before looking up to your now empty seat. wait what- “she already left!”

true to his friend’s words, you were already walking out of the door, arm in arm with your friend. panic seized him as he hurriedly stuffed the rest of his things into his bags, before following you out into the hallway.

the hallways seemed even more crowded than usual and soonyoung had to literally push his way to finally get to you. 

he found you standing a few feet away from him but even then, you were talking to someone, that someone in this case being the campus heartthrob choi seungcheol and he felt a prickle of annoyance creep in. 

you were laughing at a joke he had probably just made before handing him over a notebook, being the helpful angelic person you were. 

now soonyoung was really annoyed.

hell, he had worked so hard on his grades hoping he wouldn’t make a fool of himself in front of you and that maybe one day you would notice him, and here was seungcheol, just flashing his killer dimpled smile and easily asking you for notes.

maybe it was his jealousy, or maybe it was the fact that he was tired of being unable to talk to you, but he found himself marching up to you, clearing his throat when he came and stood beside the two of you. 

you looked at him in mild confusion before smiling softly at him. “hi, soonyoung! could you just give me a minute-”

“no!” it came out louder than he had expected it to be and he immediately regretted his actions when he saw you flinch lightly.

“hey dude, how about you calm down-” seungcheol began pushing him back slightly but that seemed to set his gears in motion.

“i like you!” 

soonyoung felt the entire hallway freeze as your eyes widened (probably in horror) and he felt his entire face heat up in embarrassment. oh god, oh god, what had he just done?

“ignore- ignore me.” he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut as he balled his fists, turning around swiftly to walk away.

great. now he had ruined every single chance he had with you.

soonyoung began walking away quickly, wanting nothing more but to melt into his friends’ arms but then he felt someone catch him by his wrist.

“wait, soonyoung-” he turned back to see who it was, and to his surprise he found that you were the one who was holding his wrist. but you quickly dropped his hand when the two of your eyes met, looking down at the floor. “i, uh, i didn’t get to answer you.”

“huh?” was he hearing things correctly? 

“your- your confession.” you muttered, before looking up to meet his eyes. he felt his heartbeat quicken at the new determined look on your face. “you said you liked me.”

hearing the words come out of your lips caused his stomach flip, and he averted his eyes away as he slowly nodded. “yeah,” he muttered. “yeah, i like you a lot. but i’ll understand if you don’t want to talk to me anymore-”

“i like you too.” you whispered, and he looked back at you in surprise. you gave him a shy smile (that nearly turned his knees to jelly), before repeating your statement. “i like you too soonyoung. a lot.”

“oh.” was all he could say, before snapping back to his senses. “oh. i, uh, i- oh. i-i- like you too. oh god, i’m so sorry. i’m- i’m just so-”

to his delight, you just laughed lightly, before smiling at him fondly. soonyoung too smiled back, feeling like the happiest person in this world. 

“that was terrible, wasn’t it?” he asked, taking a step closer to you. oh my god. i’ve done it. i’ve confessed to her and she likes me back too!

you nodded, glaring at him mockingly. god, you were so adorable. “it was terrible. you’ve got to make up for it.”

this time, he laughed. “how does a canteen date sound like?”

© 𝐆𝐘𝐔-𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

[peacefxlmyko]

Family business

Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x mom!Reader, Nick "Goose" Bradshaw x wife!Reader, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell x platonic!Reader

Ask: "I had an idea for Top Gun, the reader was “Goose”'s wife and Bradley's mother, she is in the Navy and trains the squadron for the mission with Maverick. When Maverick and his son's plane are about to be shot down instead of Jake saving them, she is the one who saves them. Cute ending if possible" by @motherofdragons1998

Tags: Fluff, Angst, obviously Top Gun Maverick spoilers, hints to Hangster 👀, Reader is a widow, Use of Y/N, Reader's callsign is Shadow

Notes: I am SO nervous to post this omfg. This is the first thing I ever wrote based off an ask and I hope I did everything right with it lmao. This is also the longest piece I have ever written. I am not 100% happy with it, but I did my best and I hope ya'll like it! Apologies for any Grammar or in general writing mistakes, English isn't my first language. I am also open for more requests/asks!

Words: 2500+

Story under the cut! ✂️

Getting the call to return to Top Gun after years definitely wasn't something you expected. And finding out that you had to train the best pilots in the world for a suicide mission didn't make your anxiety any better.

After you arrived at the Academy, you were met with Beau “Cyclone” Simpson and Solomon “Warlock” Bates and they introduced you to the Mission.

“Captain Y/N “Shadow” Bradshaw." Cyclone began. “I'm Admiral Beau Simpson and this is Admiral Solomon Bates.”

“Pleasure to meet you, sir.” You replied.

“I hope it's no problem we will be introducing you to the Mission without the other instructor.”

“Other.. instructor, sir?”, your eyes narrowed a little in confusion.

"Yes, you will be teaching the class with another instructor.” Your curiosity was sparked, but you didn't get to ask anything else as they started explaining the Mission.

“The target is an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant built in violation of a multilateral NATO treaty. The uranium produced there represents a direct threat to our allies in the region.” Warlock started to explain.

After the explanation it as your turn to explain your view on the mission. Then, they revealed who the pilots tasked with the mission were. “We've recalled 12 TOPGUN graduates from their squadrons. We want you to narrow-”

As soon as you turned to the monitor your heart skipped a beat and your breath caught in your throat. Bradley.

“Is there a problem, Captain?”

“I just.. didn't expect to see my son there, sir.” You muttered, still a bit in disbelief.

“Bradley Bradshaw, aka Rooster. I understand his father was also a pilot? What was his callsign again?”

Ouch. “It was Goose, sir.”

“Tragic what happened.”

Daggers. With every word daggers were being stabbed in your heart. Not one day went by without you missing Nick. Your husband. The father of your son. The love of your life.

After the briefing, you headed to a nearby bar to try and gather your thoughts. As you walked into the bar, you suddenly saw a familiar figure sitting there. No, two. Two familiar faces.

“Pete?”

The man turned around with a stunned look on his face.

“Y/N?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” You walked closer to him, a smile forming on my face.

“I could ask you the same.”

“He pissed off another admiral.” Penny commented and you cracked a smile. “It's nice to see you again, Penny” You smiled and sat down next to Pete.

“Don't tell me you're going to-”

“Teach a mission here?” You completed his sentence.

“So you are the other instructor! They wouldn't even tell me!” Mav chuckled at your complaint and shook his head a little.

You heard some noises at the other side of the bar and glanced over at the pool tables. There were pilots gathered and you recognised them as the graduates that had been recalled for the mission.

A few more people joined the bar. It didn't even take you two seconds to recognise your son. Hawaii shirt, sunglasses on his nose, that damn mustache like Nick had. Bradley was the spitting image of his father. You also heard someone call out “Bradshaw! Is that you?”

You didn't want to admit it, but sometimes it hurt a little. The way Nick would have been so proud of him hurt. And knowing that you were the reason his papers were held back because you didn't want him to have the same fate as Goose.

As soon as Pete recognised Bradley he quickly turned away, as if to hide from him. “Mav, you don't have to hi-”

“I cost him years of his career.”

“I know, but that was because I wanted it that way. You did it for me, because of Goose. Don't you think it's time he finds out it was me?”

“No, god no. It'll be fine, just.. let it be.”

You sighed and turned back to your drink, taking a few sips.

“How about ringing me up before the evening rush?” Maverick suddenly said to Penny and stood up. You glanced over at Bradley, watching him with his fellow aviators. Hasn't even noticed his own mother yet. You chuckled a little to yourself.

“It's been declined.”

You snapped out of your thoughts when Penny said that to Pete and laid his credit card on the table in front of him. You curiously watched and tried to hide your amused grin.

“You're kidding.”

Soon enough, Pete was getting carried out by three pilots and you watched, not even hiding your amusement.

Then, you heard a few tones coming from the piano and your heart dropped.

“You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain. Too much love drives a man insane.”

Rooster was playing and singing “Great balls of fire”. The same song Nick loved performing, a little out of key but it was still always the most perfect thing to you. You stared at him in disbelief, his back turned to you. Other pilots were standing next to him, singing along. The whole Bar was watching him. Your little boy.

After he was finished you watched him perform a little funny dance as the bar kept chanting “Rooster! Rooster!”. God, when did he grow up so much?

You stood up and slowly made your way towards him.

“I assumed you would at least let your Mother know when you're on a new Mission?”

You could see the way his heart dropped and he looked like a toddler being caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

“Mom?” He slowly turned around to you, you had an amused grin on your face.

“This is how I find out you're back at TOPGUN?” You grinned. You could hear his friends letting out laughs and a few comments in the background. “I- uh—”

“Oh, shut up and give your mother a hug.”

________________________________________

The next day, all the pilots sat together in a hanger, ready to be taught about the mission. Admiral Bates was standing in front of them all, ready to explain.

“Your instructors are TOPGUN graduates with real world experience in every mission aspect you'll be expected to master and they are considered some of the finest pilots this program has ever produced. I give you Captain Pete Mitchell, callsign Maverick and Captain Y/N Bradshaw, callsign Shadow.”

Maverick and you walked in together, walking up to the lectern where Warlock stood at first. The pilots turned to look at you both and you could see their faces drop as some of them realized they kicked out their instructor last night.

You shot Bradley a quick small smile, meanwhile he gave Maverick a look that could kill.

You both started to talk to the class, Mav doing the most talking. After some briefing, you all got your Jets ready and then took off into the sky for some training and to show what they are able to do.

The next few days were spent preparing and training, trying to get them ready.

But once during some briefing in a classroom, a fight broke out. Hangman had made a comment about Goose and it set Rooster off, almost going for his throat but you all managed to keep them apart. Maverick dismissed them all for the day.

Bradley went back to the base to calm down, Maverick went to meet Iceman and you.. Well, you drove to the Hard Deck and sat down at the Beach there. The whole time you were lost in thoughts. Was he ready for this? Was I ready for this? Was anybody ready for this mission?

“Oh Nick..” You started to tear up. “I don't want to send Bradley out there. He's not ready. No one is! I-I can't risk losing him too! I.. I just can't lose my son too… He's my little boy.. Our little boy.. When did he grow up so much…? I need you here.. god.. I wish you were here..”

Even though he wasn't here anymore, you knew Goose was still watching over you and listening whenever he could.

________________________________________

It felt like the time until the mission flew by. It almost felt like a blur, as if it wasn't real. And burying one of your life-long friends made it even worse. Iceman could finally rest, but it was still incredibly painful. Seeing Maverick grief him made it even worse.

But in a blink of an eye, you were all on a ship in the middle of the Ocean, about to choose which Daggers would fly. You were going to stay back as Backup and Mav was going to fly with them.

You knew he was going to choose him as his wingman, but you secretly begged it wasn't true. You wished it would be Hangman, but it was going to be your son.

“Choose your two Foxtrot teams.” Cyclone said.

“Payback and Fanboy. Phoenix and Bob.” You both had decided these teams together, but the Wingman was Mav's own choice.

“And your Wingman?”

After a moment of anticipation, he finally said…

“Rooster.”

There it was. Your son was flying the suicide mission. And all you could do was listen through the comms and pray.

Everyone went on Deck and walked to their Jets. As you stood by your Jet, you looked over at Rooster and noticed him talking to Hangman. You had noticed throughout the whole preparation there seemed to be some tension and.. closeness between them. There was at least something.

You turned back to your Jet, climbing inside in case they needed Backup during the mission.

As the mission began and the teams flew away, your heart was pounding. With every minute you felt your anxiety increasing, scared for the safety of your son and also your friend.

You listened closely through the comms, listening to everything…..

“Bull's-eye! Bull's-eye! Bull's-eye!"

Yes! God, yes! They did it!

But now it was time to get back alive…

The rest of the mission was a pure air fight, raw dogfighting. They just needed to make it out alive. Please.

But to your worst fear the enemy planes were focused on Rooster.

“Dagger Two defending. Shit, I'm out of flares!”

“Rooster, evade, evade!” You heard his uncle shout.

“I can't shake ‘em! They're on me! They're on me!”

You didn't know what was happening., you weren't there. You didn't see it. All You could do was listen. Listen and wait. It felt awful not being able to do anything.

There was a moment of silence, only the heavy breathing from the pilots.

“Mav! No!”

“Dagger One is hit! I repeat, Dagger One is hit! Maverick is down!”

Your breath caught in your throat. Mav was hit.

“Dagger One, Status. Status! Anyone see him? Did anyone see him?! Dagger One, come in!” You heard the panic in Rooster's voice.

“I didn't see a parachute.”

Shit.

“We have to circle back!”

You felt your heart pumping, this was all so much. You knew this was a difficult mission, hell, a suicide mission but you still hoped this wouldn't happen!

“All Daggers flow to ECP. You have bandits headed for you.”

“What about Maverick?!” There was a strain in Bradley's voice.

“Dagger Square request permission to launch and fly air cover.” You suddenly spoke up. You had to help. You needed to help.

“Negative, spare.”

Shit!

“Dagger, you are not to engage. Repeat, do not engage.”

“Dagger Two, return to carrier. Acknowledge.”

Bradley, please. Come home safe.

You also wanted to save Maverick, but not with Bandits in the air.

The silence was killing you.

“Rooster, those bandits are closing. We can't go back.” You heard Phoenix say. “Rooster, he's gone.”

It hurt, but Bob was probably right. He was gone. He was with Goose. “Maverick's gone.”

Maverick had sacrificed himself for Rooster. Your best friend had sacrificed himself for your son….

Your heart began to pound as you realized Bradley was flying back. He wanted to save Mav. You wanted to scream at him to get his ass back to the ship, but you couldn't. He wouldn't even listen.

The not knowing was killing you. Not being able to do anything. Being stuck on the ship while your son was out there fighting for his life.

After minutes that felt like hours you heard the words you only wished to hear in your darkest nightmares.

“Dagger Two is hit.”

Rooster was hit.

You could barely hold it together anymore. You wanted to scream, you wanted to cry, but you had to hold it in.

“Dagger Two, come in. Dagger Two, do you copy? Dagger Two, come in.”

You were horrified. You might have just lost your only child and your best friend. Now you were alone.

One Minute turned into two. Two into five. Five into ten. Nothing. No reply, no sign of life.

You had no idea what the hell was going on in the tower, they weren't talking to you. Not one word. Was there a trace of the two? Were they still alive? You didn't know and it was one of the worst things you've ever felt.

After what felt like an eternity, you were finally given permission to launch and fly to their rescue after they had detected Rooster's ESAT.

Soon you saw them, they were involved in an air fight and obviously losing. You managed to bring your jet behind the enemy's plane without bringing any attention to yourself. That was the way you got your callsign. You were a Shadow, you could easily follow any planes without being noticed.

Just as they were about to shoot down Maverick and Rooster, you fired a shot and hit the bandit. The bandit was down and they were save. They were finally save and back with you.

You flew right through the smoke towards the F-14, you had never been happier to see a jet.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is your savior speaking.”

There was a grin on your face, you had never been so glad.

“Hey, mom, you look good.”

“I am good, Bradley. I'm very good.”

“I'll see you back on Deck.” You flew back and were the first to land. You got out of the Jet and watched everybody put up a net to catch the F-14.

Once they were back on deck you didn't hesitate one second to run towards them. “Bradley!” You shouted.

Everybody came running towards them, cheering and congratulating them.

Maverick got out and first went to Hondo, while Bradley came running towards you.

“Oh, my boy, I thought I lost you. I thought you were gone.” You sobbed and took him into your arms.

“You're not getting rid of me easily, Mom.” He laughed and hugged you tightly, not letting you go for a while. “You're a hero, Bradley. I'm so so proud of you. Your- your dad would be so proud, god-” You teared up.

“I know Mom, I know.”

You parted from him so he could celebrate with the others. The other Daggers immediately came to him.

Once again you could swear there were looks between Jake and Rooster, but you didn't mention anything.

“Captain Mitchell! Captain Mitchell!” You then saw Bradley approach Pete. Without hesitating, Maverick pulled him into a hug. A hug that meant the World.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

“It's what my dad would've done.”

________________________________________

Days after the mission the whole Dagger Squad was sitting in the Hard Deck together, having drinks and cracking jokes. Bradley, of course, sat down at the piano and sang once again. The whole Bar chimed in and sang “Great balls of fire” with him.

“Oh! You're fine, so kindGot to tell this world that you're mine, mine, mine, mine!”

You could have sworn he took a glance towards Jake during that line.

[hsangel64]

bandmates pt. 8 !

parings: bassist!ellie x fem!reader

synopsis: reader gets distant and decides to spend her time writing a song

warnings: more angst-, cussing, drama drama drama

a/n: another short one but the next one will be long i pinky promise!!! i hope you guys enjoy these as much as i do writing them!!

it’s been a couple of days and you’ve been miserable. you tried your best to avoid ellie at all costs even with staying in the same room. you get up every day at 6am and get ready to go to the gym. you bring all of your clothes for the day and makeup to the gym, so you didn't have to face ellie, you knew this wasn't right, but she seemed to be doing the same. she hasn't made an effort to text, call or see you.

you knew how she was, but it didn't make you feel any less miserable. in between classes you spend your time either at the library or a coffee shop doing homework and trying to get yourself out of that song writing funk. you felt a little productive today, so you ran to the coffee shop and decided to make the day about your productivity. you skipped class and got some breakfast at your favorite coffee shop.

you spent so long working that dina even texted and was worried at the fact that you were there from 7am to 5pm. you felt good about this one and felt good overall. as you were finishing up you had thought of an idea, and insane idea and possibly a little cruel? maybe...

you knew it wasn't the best thing to do but you thought about how much ellie has fucked you over so you shrugged it off and texted dina.

you hey dina i think me you and jesse should talk.

----

it was about a week later and you had completely gotten the song down and finished it. today you were going to meet dina and jesse to tell them about your plan. you had gotten a gig and that's when you planned on doing all of this.

you made it to your guys' meeting spot and saw dina's car was already there. you shook your nerves and got out of the car. you made it inside and opened the door, dina immediately looked over and got up and ran to you, you caught her in your arms and sighed.

"i haven't seen you in like a month what happened?" she whispered in your ear and you nodded.

"it's a lot i'll explain everything come on." you nudged her and wiped her face as you both walked over to jesse. he got up and hugged you and you all sat down.

"so please tell me why we haven't seen you."

"okay it's a long story so buckle up..."

"we've got time." jesse nodded at you and they both grabbed your shoulder.

----

you had talked to them, and they happily agreed to your plan. you spent all day together practicing the song. the gig was in about a week, and you all felt super confident.

you had all went back to the dorm but soon to find ellie and cat cuddling on the couch. your smile dropped and jesse put his hand on your back and gently pushed you to their room. you couldn't take your eyes off ellie and she couldn't either. it felt like betrayal all over again. it felt like slow motion, you heard dina start to tell off ellie as jesse pulled you into the room. you didn't even realize the tears forming in your eyes. you didn't look away once until ellie turned away and you found your eyes meet cats'. she was smiling, she had her arms crossed and was fucking smiling at you.

jesse closed the door and you fully came back to reality. you heard dina yelling at ellie saying she was an idiot and ellie yelling back, you have never heard them yell at each other like this before. it felt like all your fault, you didn't want this to come between anyone else but you and ellie.

jesse held you until dina came in shortly after. you were quiet staring at the door. you wanted to walk out there so badly, you wanted to ask ellie what she was thinking. you wanted to do so much but you knew it would've created an even bigger mess.

"hey are you alright?" dina put her hand on your back and you turned to her and nodded. you walked past her to the bed and sat for a second. a million thoughts running through your head, you knew you were thinking irrationally but fuck it right? you shot up off the bed and walked past dina to the door. they both couldn't process what you were doing so you made it out the door before they could grab you and react.

you stopped in your tracks to see ellie and cat gone from the couch and the door of your room closed. you stomped your way towards the door and slammed it open to find it empty. your breathing was heavy, and you felt hot. they fucking left, what a coward ellie is. you were livid, you didn't feel sad anymore just anger and frustration.

"hey hey what's going on." jesse and dina ran to the room and saw you on the bed with your head down.

"oh honey come here." dina said and walked over to me with her arms open. you let out a loud sigh in her arms.

"i am so frustrated d, i don't know what the fuck to do. first, she calls me "just a friend" and then she goes to get another girl's number now cat?!?" you huffed and felt the pain on your head from crying and the anxiety in your body.

"i know i know." she grabbed your head and put it against her chest, you felt jesse embrace you both in his arms and you felt so warm. you felt so safe and loved. you knew it would be okay eventually, but you wanted it to be okay now, you felt lost.

"here i'll make us some hot chocolate and let's watch a movie to calm down from this mess yeah?" you smiled at them both and nodded.

"we can deal with this later, we have more important things to worry about, like this gig." you nodded and followed behind them out of the room. you all had a great night; you had laughed hard for the first time in a bit, and it felt good. you forgot about everything for the time being.

jesse and dina had fallen asleep together on the loveseat, and you sat on the couch watching the ending of 10 things i hate about you. you smiled as the credits rolled; your head whipped towards the door seeing ellie come in.

"hey bee can we please talk?"

----

a/n: sorry another short one!!! the next one will be longer i pinky promise! hope everyone loves it, chapter 9 should be out tonight!

taglist:

@gold-dustwomxn @lil-elliesgf @hopelesssheaven @elliestears @cjrights @depressedbratsworld @amberputh

[orion4ever]

Omg my gosh. Can i request step 2 tamarack and qiu with a gn mc/reader who is like so smitten with them. And i mean always looking at them with the biggest heart eyes, always lingering with touches and always taking any chance to touch them, doing almost anything for them? They’re so obvious 😭

Author’s note: Hello , Thanks for the request! I found this idea super cute so I hope you enjoy!

Pairing(s): Qiu Lin x MC and Tamarack Bauman x MC

🍂🗒️

Qiu Lin🗒️

They catch on quickly and are smug about it

Qiu probably teases you a little about being so obvious

(They are a hypocrite, Qiu is also head over heels for you. They’re just better at hiding it.)

But deep down inside Qiu’s soul, I feel like they would think MC was just joking around

Giving them love-filled looks, giving them lots of hugs and always having a hand on either their arm or back, etc.

Yeah, just some big practical joke that you’re pulling

If you're the type to be really direct and either straight up tell them that they were like a angel sent down to earth because their greatest sin was being so amazing and their punishment is to roam this cruel earth, reminding everyone who looks at them that they could never compare-

Or just…yuuno. Implying that you have a thing for them

That works just as effectively

Qiu has a soft spot for you, so their touch always lingers on you as well.

-

Qiu and you were sitting around their hideout. They weren’t feeling it at all that morning and wanted to skip. You decided to give them some support by skipping as well, to keep them company.

Mx. Qiu Lin always felt comfortable around you and was happy with your company.

Qiu laid their upper body on the hideout while their lower half hung off it. You were sitting crisscross applesauce while doodling in a notebook, which you should’ve been using to write in your chemistry class right about now.

Qiu took notice of this and asked. “Are you taking notes on something?” They teased a little, sitting up, using their elbows to prop them up.

“Just doodling, Qiu,” you chuckled.

"Oo, lemme see that, please,” Qiu asked, now fully sitting up to properly talk with you.

“….Ok! Just don’t peek at the other pages.”

Qiu snorted while rolling their eyes. “No promises.”

You gave them the notebook, and they looked at the drawing you were working on; it was of a few characters from shows you enjoyed and detailed trees.

Qiu nodded and then flipped the page.

“Wha- , Qiu.” You said , crossing your arms with a fond smile.

“Sorry , I did say no promises.” Qiu started before faltering when they saw the page.

While this page also had drawings of trees and a big, detailed sparrow, a good chunk of the page was occupied with a sketch of Qiu.

They took notice of how you flattered and highlighted their features

their eyes when they crinkle slightly, and their shiny hair.

The teenager took notice of how you even added a little heart near the sketch.

“Oh.” Qiu said, a little blush forming before they closed the notebook. “You're really good at drawing, Y/N.” They complimented.

“It's easy when you have a good muse.” You sighed lovingly.

-

Tamarack Baumann🍂

*twirls her hair* omg, really?

I think Tamarack would be oblivious to it.

She probably thinks you are just really friendly

It mainly stems from her insecurity issues. I mean, how could someone as great as you ever like her? Right?

If anyone told her that you were making heart eyes at her, then she’d think they were trying to pull a prank or something

If you were to heavily hint at her that you had a massive crush on her, then she’d probably think you were being silly

It drives everyone insane, like tearing hair out and clawing out the walls.

Tamarack does have a crush on you too; it's just that her underlying issues with feeling like an outcast make her feel undeserving of you.

You just have to remind and reassure her that you do have a huge crush on her and that she does deserve love.

-

It was late in the evening, and Tamarack was sitting in her room.

She couldn’t sleep today; her mind wouldn’t let her. She was stressing a little and overthinking about an event her orchestra had.

Tamarack was talented; the way she played was different and had a sort of uniqueness to it. She didn’t think the same, though.

Tamarack was about to try and sleep again when a pebble hit her window, startling her.

"Oh, oh.” She quieted down, remembering that her grandparents didn’t have her problem and were fast asleep in the other room. She made her way to the window and opened it to see something in the dark.

It was you.

“Y/N? What are you doing? It's so late.” Tamarack called down as quietly as she could without it turning into a mumble.

“I have something to show you! I know you can’t sleep right now, and I can’t either." You replied. “It will be quick, I promise!” They motioned for the orange-haired girl to come down.

Tamarack looked skeptically but thought that going outside might help her sleep—nothing like a calm nature walk with your neighbor to help.

It didn’t take long for Tamarack to creep down the halls and out the door.

When she came down, you started to walk, motioning for her to follow you. She followed you to your part of the woods.

You crouched down, and Tamarack finally asked after being silent. “What are you looking for?”. You smiled at her and replied. “Just crouch down and see.”

She did and gasped; it was a bunny nest, and a little group of bunnies were all sleeping. “Oh my god! Oh my god, bunnies,” Tamarack said excitedly, cooing at the baby bunnies.

"Cute right? As soon as I found them, I knew you would want to see them too." You smiled, watching Tamarack with sparkles in your eyes. "I-thank you for showing me." Tamarack calmed down a little and was intent on just watching the bunnies. "The bunnies remind me of you, cute and cuddly." You turned to Tamarack with a warm blush on your cheeks.

"..Pft, OK, you jokester." Tamarack deflected with an even warmer blush.

"....."

[inkblot22]

Truss

Woohoo Malleus woohoo! I'm making the trigger list a bit bigger because I keep thinking about how people will totally skip reading it if it's too small and then blame the writer for their own mistake. That shit is clown behavior but I don't want to be held responsible for someone else's case of stupid, so sorry to those of you who think this looks clunky. Line divider found here: @/cafekitsune. This is also a fic that is wildly self-indulgent, in that I mean that while writing I visualized my own physical form and quirks.

That being said, this fic is written with afab (assigned female at birth) readers in mind. No pronouns other than you are used for the reader, but the reader does possess a womb. Reader's chest is not described in the least, just the lower bits, and even then it's not at length. Malleus also refers to the reader as "beauty," but masculine people can be beautiful too so idk but here's a warning anyways.

This fic is DEAD DOVE, DO NOT EAT. TW for noncon, fae interaction rules used for said noncon, slight bullying if you squint, one (1) mention of blood (I'm beginning to think I have a problem.) Stay safe while reading. Possible OOC Malleus, I haven't read any of book 7 and if you spoil it I'll block you temporarily.

This is absolutely not your fault, and you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing. It’s awful. Crewel was for sure his namesake, because this whole thing was a steaming pile of-

Alright, from the top, just to organize your thoughts: you are the only non-magic student in a school of mages. The teachers are mages. Your best friend/roommate/monster friend is a mage. The plants here can do magic, but you? No. Thanks homeworld. Love the gift of nothing.

Thus, the faculty have seemingly created a game of “how to piss off and challenge the magicless student,” in which they give you various tasks to just make you lose sleep. Vargas had you running laps until your legs felt like jelly, doing pushups until your shoulders started sounding like glowsticks. Trein had you learning completely off the wall trivia, such as what type of fabric the Queen of Heart’s favorite bathrobe was made of and why it made her more powerful. That’s nothing, it’s easy because you apparently have so much free time in their eyes. But Crewel? Fuck that man. 

When you got the assignment, it sounded fun and exciting. He gave you seeds for a fast-growing rose thing. Honestly you weren’t paying attention to the name of it, but you retained what you needed to know. The plant only grew in moonlight, so you needed to cover it before you went inside at night. It needed a minimum of two hours of moonlight to grow per night. If the basket was overturned and it was exposed to the sun, then the plants would die. Moderate watering, no fertilizer, the usual.

Once the plants bloomed, you were supposed to take the flowers and make some kind of glamour potion, so here you are, failing at doing so. You only had four flowers, and you’re down to the last one. You wasted three tries and you still have no idea what the hell you’re doing wrong and it’s due next alchemy class and you’re breaking curfew on top of all of it. You glare into your cauldron with your latest failed attempt and hunker down to shoulder against the side so you can dump it out and try again. 

“Oh, it’s you.”

The voice makes you jump out of your skin. You turn around and you almost want to cry tears of joy, because if anyone can help you, it’s him.

“When I saw a little head duck down, I thought that something strange was happening. A crime, perhaps.” Malleus smiles, and it’s not a kind smile, but you’ll take anything remotely positive at this point, “What are you doing on the floor, child of man?”

“Oh, I have to empty the cauldron.” You puff out, still trying to throw your weight to push the cauldron. You did it twice earlier, so this must be the effects of mental and physical fatigue.

“Oh, that’s right. Allow me.” Rather than waving a hand or anything, Malleus strolls on over and uncrosses his arms, taking one hand and pressing his fingertips against the lip of the cauldron. The whole damn thing tips, the failed mixture pouring out into the nearby drain. With the same ease, he tilts it back and turns to you.

When he looks at you, it’s… weird. You know he’s lizard-like, as dragons evidently are, but even Sebek’s eyes aren’t this jarring. They aren’t soulless or cold or unfeeling, but it feels like he is looking through you. His emotions don’t reflect in his eyes properly. That’s what it feels like. They reflect, but it’s wrong. Fractured. His lips quirk into a smile and you blink.

“Uh… wait, what are you doing out here, Tsunotaro?” You ask, turning to gather more materials, following the transcript of your recording from class.

His smile grows, “Just on a walk. Will you tell me what you’re trying to make?”

“Uh, yeah. This glamour potion? I don’t know. Remember how I was growing those flowers?”

“Of course. And what happened to the rest?”

“I… uh… I messed up the other potions. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong here.”

“No?”

“No. Do… do you think you could maybe… help me?”

“Of course.” Malleus plucks the flower up, twirling it thoughtfully, “Why don’t you gather the other ingredients?”

That was simple enough. Petals from your tediously grown blooms, some kind of floral oil with tiny white flowers inked on the label, a ball of clay no bigger than a pea, something that really resembled a severed finger, something that was hopefully just someone’s baby tooth, a handful of crystals in a rainbow of colors, and water. Lots of water. Malleus watches as you put all your ingredients on the nearby table and hums thoughtfully before dimming the lights and turning back to you.

“And where did you hear that you needed these things?” He asks. It’s not something that he says with any indication that you’re right or wrong. The tone is bland but the words say enough. 

He has essentially told you before that he believes you inept, a babe in the woods when it comes to this sort of thing, but it doesn’t stop you from looking as hurt as you feel, “The headmage visited class and gave me some pointers?”

“You personally or the entire class? I don’t personally recall concocting anything like this when I was in your grade.” He says.

You suppose you’re grateful that he’s so blunt, but his flat tone makes the sting of your failure that much sharper. You thought he’d be nicer, since you two are sort of friends, and Lilia has told you that Malleus is fond of you, but it also makes just as much sense for him to refrain from easing up in his flatness because he supposedly thinks so much of you. He thinks you’re an idiot, but he’s not willing to treat you as such.

“The whole class. And no one else in my grade is doing this.” You mutter, staring at your assortment of items on the table.

He approaches the table and plucks up the beaker of water, twisting it in his hand, “Did you distill this?”

“What?”

“Tap water often has various minerals in it. If you haven’t been using distilled water, you’ve been adding an extra ingredient. Typically, most potions are much more forgiving and you can use tap water with little issue, but this particular potion is known to be disagreeable.” He murmurs, crossing the room with your beaker of water and setting it up to distill with a practiced ease. “That’s why it’s typically saved for fourth year students’ aptitude testing.”

The revelation hit you like a ton of bricks. You’d like to protest but it unfortunately makes sense. Malleus looks over at you, somewhat blandly, then turns around to face you, looking half concerned.

You answer his question before he can ask, “I didn’t… know that. I guess it’s my fault for being from a different world…”

His lips twitch into a smile, and for a moment you can see amusement in his eyes, fractured with the underlying coldness, “Oh, it isn’t. It may be your fault for failing to ask questions, but having someone who is unused to this type of work take on an advanced project is cruel.”

“You think so?” You ask, voice lilting with hope.

“Of course I do. Why you’re expected to make a potion of this caliber is beyond me.” Malleus states blankly.

“Uh, yeah. I- I don’t know either. But thank you for helping me!”

His expression flinches. It lasts for less than a second before it smooths into an odd grin. You’re not quite sure what that means, but you’re too happy to stop and think about it. The water finishes distilling and you carefully begin crafting, using the tips Malleus occasionally mumbles towards you. Don’t put that ingredient in yet, stir clockwise, you need to grind that up with the oil, don’t rush you have time, et cetera, et cetera, and then you have a gorgeous violet mixture, glimmering with a pearlescent golden sheen.

Your jaw drops. Somehow the few ingredients you threw together is enough to fill several bottles. Malleus is making a smug face as you rush to the shelves of empty bottles and choose several fluted bottles, quickly using a ladle to deposit the final, successful potion into the bottles. You’re so giddy with your success that you hardly notice as Malleus walks towards the door and locks it. But only hardly.

“What was that for?” You ask, not actually caring. You’re too happy to be worried.

“Oh, we’ll need privacy.” He responds.

That part confuses you enough into caring. You turn around from where you’ve safely wrapped the bottles and slipped them into your bag and shoot Malleus a frown, “Privacy? For what?”

Malleus doesn’t say anything. He walks over to the table and you feel your body stand up, void of your control, and stagger over to stand in front of him. If you were concerned before, you’re frightened now. Malleus looks down at you with his strange gaze and folds his arms.

“Wh-what’s happening?! Why can’t I move?”

“You really don’t know?” He asks. Something about his tone sounds mocking, but you’re certain he doesn’t mean it to be. It’s his version of sarcasm, he’s spoken to you like this before.

Your body hops up on the table, taking a seat, and Malleus turns to stand before you, looking down at you with a soft smile. You shift your hips- what the fuck is going on- and Malleus very gently hooks his hands in the pants of your dorm uniform.

Your dorm uniform is legit whatever the hell you want it to be, so it would change on the daily. Today it was a pair of jeans and a hooded jacket. He kneels to remove your shoes and stands back up, leaning close as he tilts your chin up. His breath fans over your lips.

“You didn’t tell me that you were so lovely beneath your clothes.” His hand on your chin shifted to your cheek, and his other hand laid flat on the table. “And… your smell is much stronger. Are you aroused?”

“You can’t just ask me that! I don’t know what you did but you’ve got to let me go.”

“I didn’t do anything. This is your doing.” He retorts, pecking your lips very chastely. 

“What are you talking about?” When he didn’t respond, instead pressing the tips of his hand that was on the table against your exposed sex, your heart jumps but your body doesn’t move. You can’t, “Don’t do that!”

“Lilia informed me that making someone climax is similar to binding someone to you.” He mumbles, kissing you again as his fingers slowly slip inside. “It makes them fall in love with you. Isn’t that the most binding contract of all?”

You don’t know why he isn’t listening, but even less than that, you don’t know why he thought you could handle two fingers, much larger than your own, penetrating you. You squeal, but your body is incapable of tensing. Malleus pulls back, looking at you in a soft confusion.

“What’s the matter with you?”

“With me? What’s wrong with you? That’s too many- it’s uncomfortable!”

He blinks at you and withdraws a finger, which feels much better. You sigh. If you’re going to be forced to do this, you may as well not get hurt in the process. You close your eyes and Malleus hums.

“Is this better? You’ll have to forgive me. I haven’t had a dalliance with a human before.”

“I- I don’t think I’ll be able to… to forgive you for this.”

“No?” You can hear his smirk and the squelching noise as he pumps his finger gets louder. He slips the second finger in again and the burn isn’t so bad as last time, “Well, maybe you can decide that for certain after the wedding.”

“The wedd-” You have to bite your tongue to keep from moaning. Your body leans back, laying on the table, and your gentle assailant curls his fingers, leaning forward to mouth at your neck, “There’s not gonna be a motherfucking wedding. You’re-”

You can hear his horn scraping against the table, “Hmm. I didn’t think you were so entitled. You’re squeezing around my fingers. Are you close?”

“No!” You’re a liar. A ragged gasp leaves your throat and you feel the drop in the pit of your stomach, the burst of euphoria traveling up your spine as his thumb presses against your clit.

Malleus laughs, then leans up off of you. The sound of clothing hitting the ground is the first and only warning you get, but you can’t move, so it might as well have been silent. You feel something on your stomach, coming up about a half inch below your belly button. It’s… almost cool to the touch. You would think it would be warmer, but it’s not. Your eyes round as you stare at the ceiling, and Malleus’s face leans into view, his eyes boring into yours as though he’s reading your thoughts.

“You’re very warm. I’ve always thought this. You must be boiling inside.”

“I- what?”

He doesn’t respond, leaning back up. You feel the velvety head of his cock press against your entrance and as much as you want to jolt away, you can’t move your body. You can’t even look down to see what he’s doing. Your lashes flutter as the stretch sets in, the pressure worse than his two fingers. It burns, especially along the bottom, where his weight lays heavy thanks to gravity. You’re capable of wincing and letting out a whine, but nothing else.

“H-hey, that- that hurts.” You babble.

“Does it? You are squeezing me like a vice. I’ll stay still for a moment so you can relax some. Let me know when it stops hurting.” It’s very peculiar. Although he speaks with an animated tone, his voice is often detached. You would think he’d have more emotion since he’s inside of you.

You blink rapidly and decide that now is as good a time as any to ask, “What the hell is happening?”

“Must you tease me so?” He responds, his voice tense.

“What? I’m not teasing you. I can’t move!”

“Of course you can’t. You only just bound yourself to my will.”

“I what?” You shout.

“What, did you think I enslaved you? I could have, when we first met. You’re too free, giving people your name, thanking them, taking gifts freely… it drives me mad.” You feel a flash of heat, something warm rolling against your skin, like standing too close to a gas stove, “And now I find that you didn’t even know? I didn’t think you were such a fool.”

“That’s just called being polite!” You protest. “Oh my god-”

“I suppose I can’t blame you, really. Relax, lest I harm you.” He murmurs, rolling his hips further as though he can slide in deeper. 

You squeak, “N-no, that’s-”

“Too much, yes. Tell me, in your world, do faefolk exist?”

“I- I mean, if they do, most people don’t believe in them.” The oddity of the situation felt like a blanket. Having a semi-conversation while your friend- not after this- used you as a dick holster. It was almost comforting. “I don’t- I don’t understand.”

His voice was deeper than normal, an underlying rasp to his voice, as though it was coming from somewhere deep in his throat, “I will explain. I’ll tell you anything you’d like to know. But after I explain, I will begin to move.”

“H-hey, no-”

His voice sounded choked, half strangled as he stifled a groan, “I apologize for not being clear earlier. Among the fae, verbal contracts are common and binding. You do not give someone your name. You wonder why I never directly gave you mine? It is a way to bind someone to your will. You do not accept gifts. Invitations are fine, but a gift is a sign that you owe someone something. My help- a boon- is a gift. Typically it is repaid with another kind turn. And, most importantly, you do not thank someone without the sufficient power to break their hold.” 

You felt him draw back, that wave of heat rolling over you again, and then he slammed forward. The slick noise and dull smack were muffled by your squeal, his cockhead punching your cervix like it stole from him.

“Foolish little thing. I suppose it makes you cute.” He sneers, and your body sits up, arms wrapping around his shoulders.

The angle makes his motion a bit less painful. He’s no longer bumping against your cervix, thank the Seven, but the stretch remains. Your eyes flinch shut and Malleus tilts your chin up to kiss you again.

“St-stop- stop!” You whimper, “You’re hurting me!”

“If you would relax, beauty, that would not be a problem.” His chuckle is dark, the squelching from your coupling making a wicked duet that makes you feel dizzy, “And you said it to me so easily as well. Thank me again.”

“Wh-” One of his hands slipped under your hips, holding your bottom just under the split in your cheeks, and nipped your neck as a flat thumping echoed from where your bodies met, your legs bouncing with the motion. His member had gone back to bullying your cervix, and you wailed in the hopes that he would stop, “Thank you!”

“Heh… it escapes your lips so freely. Tell me, beauty-” He cut himself off with a grunt, panting against the column of your throat. “Tell me, what is it that you’d like? I would give you the world on a platter, should you want it.”

“I- ow! Y-you’re hurting me!”

There was a possibility that he was getting off on the pain he was causing you, just as much as there was a possibility of him not understanding that he was hurting you. With every motion of his hips against yours, despite the wicked pain, you felt that ever evil tug in your gut, like a stone growing heavier and heavier. 

You tried again, because if this had to happen, if you were under his control now, you may as well not get injured. You would not be pissing blood if you could help it, “It’s too deep!”

He listened. It was odd, but he listened, his voice warming as he slid back a bit and continued ramming into you, but no longer beating the hell out of your internal organs.

“I didn’t realize. Is that better?” His voice sounded warmer, echoey against your shoulder. His teeth grazed over your skin again when you didn’t respond. He choked out your name and you sort of came back to yourself.

“U-uh- I guess?”

“Wonderful.” He mumbled, his free hand reaching between your bodies and slicked with your sweat, to tweak your clit.

It should be embarrassing, how quickly you reached your height. Whoever he had been with in the past couldn’t have been so sensitive, since you felt his body jerk against you, an uncontrolled undercurrent to his motions. You let out a quiet, squealing moan and barely even felt the break when Malleus bit you to muffle his own groan. You didn’t feel him climaxing inside of you. You felt the control return to your body and flopped backward onto the table, your hoodie damp with sweat. Malleus took a step back, then carefully redressed you, then himself. You looked up at him and saw nothing but adoration in his eyes, not the fractured appearance of such. It was like he was actually looking at you.

When he spoke to you, leaning forward to cup your cheek, his voice was warm, warmer than ever, “Now, let’s start planning for the wedding, my beauty.”

[darkacua]

The boys who I think prefer writing romantic letters over romantic text messages

Malleus

Not only is he the most obvious, but he is also one of the ones who puts the most effort into every letter he writes to you.

His letters are long and detailed, his day may have been extremely boring but that won't stop him from writing to you about how much he misses you.

He uses the finest paper and ink that can be found in the Briar Valley because you deserve only the best.

His handwriting is extremely beautiful and with a lot of garigole, is the type that if you don't know how to read and write cursive it will be impossible for you to make sense of it.

He writes to you at least once a day, although you usually find at least two letters on your desk every day. If you stop receiving your daily dose of letters at least once, you should check that he is not dead because according to him that is the only reason. valid for not writing to you.

Rook

Another guy who will let you know that he loves you through the forgotten art of letters.

He goes to great lengths praising your beauty in every letter he sends you, occasionally including other people's beauty in the process.

He likes to put small gifts or photos in the envelopes, especially if in the writing he is talking about an event for which he believes visual context is needed.

All of his letters are delivered through an arrow.

He has a bad habit of sending them at different times of the day, they have arrived in class, at lunch and in the early morning. You had to talk to Vil to get him to stop it at least a little.

Riddle

He firmly believes that it is the right way to express his love, respect and admiration for you.

He doesn't have a problem with text messages, he just feels that they aren't personal enough to be able to describe his feelings.

You won't find more scented letters in all of Twisted Wonderland.

The experience of romance is complete and he refuses to skip any steps that make you understand how much he loves you.

He will give you letters at least twice a week, he would like to write to you daily but his schedule does not allow it.

He has a notebook full of drafts, he will write there before transferring it to the official letter since he is afraid of writing something too insensitive.

Jade

Romance classes on the surface are not very up to date for this eel boy.

He doesn't do it for romance, that's more than clear.

He finds it interesting to see your reactions to his letters more than the idea of expressing his love for you in them.

More than love letters, they seem like improvised expedition diaries about his trips in search of mushrooms.

If he discovers that you keep the cards along with the little drawings he makes on them, he will put more effort into his explorations, this boy likes his effort to be appreciated.

Jamil

Started because his phone broke down and he couldn't find you anywhere, his first letter wasn't even romantic, it was more of a note with a little map drawn to tell you where his date was that afternoon.

He kept doing it even when hers got his phone back because he found out you saved that first note in an album.

His letters are more of a summary of his day than anything else, but he likes the sense of intimacy they give to their relationship when he writes them.

If it's a special date like an anniversary or birthday, he will write you a short poem in his native language and send it to you by letter.

His official messenger, as ironic as it may be, is Kalim.

His letters always arrive safely to you if Kalim is the one who delivers them, our white-haired boy takes that job very seriously.

Silver

Lilia told him that it was the only official way in Briar Valley for couples to communicate.

He forgot to mention the very small detail that it is the only form of communication because in his homeland THERE ARE NO CELL PHONES.

His letters are almost always short, simple and straight to the point, he is not very good at being poetic.

However, they always come accompanied by a small bouquet of wildflowers, picked especially for you by him and his little furry friends.

He writes to you daily but always at the end of the day, if for some reason he falls asleep and forgets to write to you one day he will send you an apology letter the next morning explaining what happened.

If you're the type of person who writes back to him, he'll have all your letters in a small, locked wooden box, away from the prying eyes CofLiliaCof of his other dormmates.

Deuce

He…had the bad idea to ask Professor Trein for advice on how to be romantic.

Trein was married, right? It's obvious that he has to know a thing or two about romance, especially if he talks about how much in love he and his wife were!

Well, let's just say that Deuce does what he can in the realm of romance demonstrated through writing…

His letters tend to be somewhat abrupt, both in letter and content, he does not know how to express his feelings correctly, and he is even less successful having 3 idiots as dormmates making fun of his failed attempts.

He doesn't give up anyway and he writes to you at least 2 times a week, his letters and handwriting improve a lot with time and practice.

Riddle is very proud of him for all the effort he puts into this whole letter thing, and ends up forcing all of his students to have a mandatory calligraphy class.

Español bajo el corte

Los chicos que yo creo que prefieren escribir cartas románticas por encima de mensajes de texto románticos:

Malleus

No solo es el más obvio, si no que también es uno de los que más empeño le pone a cada carta que te escribe.

Sus cartas son largas y detalladas, su día pudo haber sido extremadamente aburrido pero eso no lo detendrá a escribirte sobre lo mucho que te extraño.

Usa el papel y la tinta más fina que se pueda encontrar en el Valle de Briar porque te mereces solo lo mejor.

Su caligrafía es extremadamente hermosa y con mucho garigoleado, es del tipo que si no sabes leer y escribir cursiva te será imposible encontrarle sentido.

Te escribe mínimo una vez al día, aunque usualmente encuentras mínimo dos cartas en tu escritorio todos los días, si dejas de recibir tu dosis diaria de cartas al menos una vez, deberás de revisar que no esté muerto porque según él esa es la única razón válida para no escribirte.

Rook

Otro chico que te hará saber que te ama a través del arte olvidado de las cartas.

Se explaya demasiado alabando tu belleza en cada una de las cartas que te envía, incluyendo de vez en cuando la belleza de otras personas en el proceso.

Le gusta poner pequeños regalos o fotos en los sobres, sobre todo si en lo escrito está hablando sobre algún evento del cual él cree que se necesite contexto visual.

Todas sus cartas son entregadas a través de una flecha.

Tiene la mala costumbre de enviarlas a diferentes horas del día, te han llegado en clase, el almuerzo y en la madrugada. Tuviste que hablar con Vil para que lo detuviera al menos un poco.

Riddle

Cree firmemente que es la manera correcta de expresar su amor, respeto y admiración por ti.

No tiene ningún problema con los mensajes de texto, solo siente que no son lo suficientemente personales como para poder describir sus sentimientos.

No encontrarás cartas más perfumadas en todo Twisted Wonderland.

La experiencia del romance es completa y él se niega a saltarse algún paso que te dé a entender lo mucho que te ama.

Te dará cartas al menos dos veces por semana, le gustaría escribirte a diario pero su horario no se lo permite.

Tiene un cuaderno lleno de borradores, escribirá ahí antes de pasarlo a la carta oficial ya que tiene miedo de escribir algo demasiado insensible.

Jade

Las clases sobre el romance en la superficie no están muy actualizadas que digamos para este chico anguila.

No lo hace por el romanticismo, eso está más que claro.

Le parece interesante el ver tus reacciones a sus cartas más que la idea de expresar su amor por ti en ellas.

Más que cartas de amor parecen  diarios de expedición improvisados sobre sus viajes en busca de hongos.

Si él descubre que tú guardas las cartas junto con los pequeños dibujos que hace en ellas le pondrá más empeño a sus exploraciones, a este chico le gusta que su esfuerzo sea apreciado.

Jamil

Inicio porque su teléfono se descompuso y no podía encontrarte en ningún lado, su primera carta ni siquiera fue romántica, fue más bien una nota con un pequeño mapa dibujado para decirte donde era su cita de esa tarde.

Siguió haciéndolo incluso cuando su recuperó su teléfono porque descubrió que guardaste esa primera nota en un álbum.

Sus cartas son más un resumen de su día que otra cosa, pero le gusta la sensación de intimidad que le dan a su relación cuando las escribe.

Si es una fecha especial como un aniversario o cumpleaños, él te escribirá un pequeño poema en su idioma natal y te lo enviará por carta.

Su mensajero oficial, por muy irónico que sea, es Kalim.

Sus cartas siempre llegan segura a ti si Kalim es el que las entrega, nuestro chico de cabello blanco se toma ese trabajo muy enserio.

Silver

Lilia le dijo que era la única forma oficial en el Valle de Briar para que las parejas se comunicaran.

Se le olvidó mencionar el pequeñísimo detalle de que es la única forma de comunicación porque en su tierra natal NO HAY CELULARES.

Sus cartas casi siempre son cortas, sencillas y directo al grano, no se le da muy bien eso de ser poético.

Sin embargo, siempre vienen acompañadas de un pequeño ramo de flores silvestres, recogido especialmente para ti por él y sus pequeños amigos peludos.

Te escribe a diario pero siempre al final del día, si por alguna razón se queda dormido y olvida escribirte un dia te enviará una carta de disculpa a la mañana siguiente explicando lo sucedido.

Si eres del tipo de persona que le escribe de vuelta, tendrá todas tus cartas en una pequeña caja de madera bajo llave, lejos de los ojos curiosos *CofLiliaCof* de sus demás compañeros de dormitorio.

Deuce

Él… tuvo la mala idea de preguntarle al profesor Trein por consejos de cómo ser romántico.

¿Trein estuvo casado, no? ¡Es obvio que tiene que saber una cosa o dos sobre el romance, sobre todo si habla de lo muy enamorados que estaban él y su esposa!

Bueno, solo digamos que Deuce hace lo que puede en el ámbito del romance demostrado a través de la escritura…

Sus cartas suelen ser algo bruscas, tanto en letra como en contenido, no sabe cómo expresar sus sentimientos de forma correcta, y lo logra menos teniendo a 3 idiotas como compañeros de dormitorio burlándose de sus intentos fallidos.

No se rinde de cualquier forma y te escribe al menos 2 veces por semana, sus cartas y caligrafía mejoran mucho con el tiempo y la práctica.

Riddle está muy orgulloso de él por todo el esfuerzo que pone en todo esto de las cartas, y termina obligando a todos sus estudiantes a tener una clase obligatoria de caligrafía.

[weemssapphic]

ohhh, first of all: HIII i adore your writing. The visions fic in particular? easily one of my faves. ("favs, say favs" [i cannot not hear Gwen say that whenever I say/write faves]) Anyway haha, I was wondering if you could maybe write a female potions teacher/ Larissa fic where you borrow the concept of Amortentia and when they brew it in class Reader realises she's utterly and hopelessly in love with Larissa (and maybe Larissa is also there as extra supervision bc it's such a "dangerous" potion?"... and she also smells smth that reminds her of the reader?)

Amortentia: Fated Attraction

aw thank you so much! favs, say favs hehe that made me giggle :D thank you for the request <3 this was so much fun to write and i hope it lives up to your expectations! ao3 link in title, as per usual.

thank you to @afeatherformills for editing and to @sapphicsbeloved for letting me pick your brain (now you have more context hehe) <3

words: ~2.2k

warnings/content: none really, just kind of fluffy / admitting feelings for each other, kissing

“Who can tell me what we’re brewing today?” 

Dozens of arms shot into the air, the students’ curious eyes trained upon the cauldron on your desk. You grinned, knowing the hints you had dropped in last week’s lesson had worked and your students were going to be engaged in today’s little experiment. 

“Yes, Bianca?”

“Amortentia. The world’s most powerful love potion.”

“You are correct.” Your grin grew wider. “Can anyone tell me what Amortentia does? Wednesday?”

“Amortentia causes a powerful infatuation to form for the person who drinks the potion. It smells different to each person, according to what most attracts them,” the raven-haired girl deadpanned.

“Someone clearly did her homework. Thank you, Wednesday. Now-” your lecture was interrupted by a loud knock.

The door to your classroom opened a crack and Larissa popped her head inside. “I’m sorry, my meeting just ended. Am I too late?” Your heart skipped a beat at the sight of the stately blonde. 

“Not at all, we were just getting started. Class, Principal Weems will be joining us today. Bianca was right - Amortentia is the world’s most powerful love potion, which can make it quite dangerous, and we thought it best to have an extra adult to supervise you. Don’t let her presence phase you.”

You shot a teasing wink at your students and waved Larissa into the room. She stalked over to your desk, hips swaying, and somehow you knew it was you who would be phased by her presence, more so than any of the kids.

“Principal Weems,” you leaned back onto the desk, scooting closer to her until you were nearly thigh to thigh, deciding you were going to make the most of the rare occasion of having her in your classroom. “Do you think you could tell the class what ingredients we’ll need for our potion?”

Larissa raised a perfectly sculpted brow, ruby-red lips pursing at the challenge, icy gaze piercing yours. For a moment your pulse quickened, you worried you had overstepped. Then her lips quirked up in a soft smirk and she turned her head to address your students. 

“We will be needing rose petals, peppermint, moonstone and, most importantly, pearl dust.”

You shot her a grateful smile, trying to ignore the way your heart fluttered when she returned that smile, and turned to the cauldron sitting on your desk where you had already neatly prepared all the ingredients. Normally you would have your students make their own batch of a potion, but you and Larissa had both agreed when coming up with your lesson plan that giving a bunch of horny teenagers the world’s strongest infatuation potion was a recipe for disaster.

Once you’d gotten a small flame burning under your cauldron, you turned back to your class, hyper-aware of the many pairs of eyes burning holes into your skull. Even Larissa was watching you with interest. 

“Come on guys, you aren’t normally this engaged in class,” you teased with a chuckle. “Now you can come up here - don’t push each other - just fill in the back there… perfect.” 

Once the kids were gathered around your desk and the cauldron was bubbling to your satisfaction, you began to add the ingredients, chatting to the class about the history of love potions. 

Every so often, you caught Larissa’s eye from across your desk and she gave you an encouraging nod, a soft smile. She seemed to be hanging onto your every word and it made your heart beat just a little faster than normal, though you couldn’t quite place why. 

You did have a bit of a crush on your boss but it was harmless, really. The two of you were good friends. You’d been working at Nevermore together for years now and had built up a friendly rapport, knowing you could trust each other with both workplace and personal matters. You frequently met up for coffee at the Weathervane and shared the occasional bottle of wine in her office to let out your frustrations about students and other staff. So what if you sometimes got lost in her cerulean eyes, or imagined what she looked like under her designer dresses? So what if you pictured yourself holding her hand in the hallways or taking her out to dinner? It was just a harmless crush.

The potion began to develop its characteristic mother-of-pearl sheen and your lips curled up in satisfaction. Spirals of steam rose from inside the cauldron and several students began to push forward, entranced, trying to get a whiff of the concoction.

“‘Amortentia smells different to each person, according to what most attracts them’,” you quoted Wednesday’s earlier words. “Anyone care to share what they smell?”

Tentative glances were shared between the students, many suddenly too timid to speak. It was Enid who raised her hand first.

“Yes, Enid?” You nodded at the young blonde, hoping you sounded soft and encouraging.

“I smell lavender... cool night air… and, um, Wednesday’s hand sanitizer.” A blush crept up her neck at the admission and Wednesday elbowed her girlfriend in the ribs, shooting daggers at her with wide eyes.

“Thank you for sharing, Enid,” you smiled reassuringly at the girl, honestly just grateful that someone had participated in your lesson.

“What do you smell, Ms. Y/L/N?” Wednesday looked up at you through dark lashes, her words an open challenge, a smug smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she tried to make you squirm. You rolled your eyes - you should have known this would happen.

“Ms. Addams, I hardly think it is appropriate-” Larissa began, but you interjected before she could finish.

“It’s alright, Principal Weems, what’s the harm in answering a simple question.” You shot her a playful wink and ignored her dangerous look.

You leaned over the potion, closing your eyes and letting out a contented sigh as you took a deep breath, allowing the scent of the potion to wash over you.

“Mmm I smell… fresh laundry…” At first you smelled freshly washed sheets, one of your favorite scents, even since childhood. But then you smelled red wine. Cinnamon. Conditioner - but not your own. Your brows knit together in concentration. 

Who was it that you were smelling? You didn’t even really like red wine yourself. The gears in your mind turned as you racked your brain, you were sure the whole class could hear you think. Oh. Your stomach dropped.

“Ms. Y/L/N?” Enid’s voice shook you out of your reverie. Your eyes fluttered open and you swallowed thickly. You realized with a sinking feeling that your students had all borne witness to your internal struggle and were now watching your face flush in real time. The pit in your stomach grew when your eyes made contact with Larissa’s. Sapphire pools stared back at you in concern, brows furrowed in confusion. 

It was her. The smell. The occasional Friday night you shared in her office, strictly as coworkers, sipping red wine by the fire. Sitting close enough to smell her conditioner, her perfume, a sweet scent with notes of cinnamon that sometimes, in your tipsy state, made you wish you could bury your head in her neck and stay there forever. You were in love with Larissa Weems.

“You have a crush on someone.” You couldn’t help but glare at Wednesday, who grinned as if she had won a bet. Knowing her, maybe she had.

For the rest of the lesson, you pointedly avoided the gaze of a certain principal, who was watching you with curious eyes, unable to place your reaction at smelling the Amortentia.

When the bell rang, you were grateful to have a free period to collect your thoughts, and you ushered your students out of the classroom as quickly as you could. You shut the door behind the last one and clicked the lock, closing your eyes and leaning with your back against the door, letting out a frustrated groan.

“The world’s most powerful love potion,” Larissa’s voice made your eyes snap open and your heart drop into your stomach - you’d thought you were alone. The silver-haired woman was leaning over the cauldron, face partially obscured by wispy spirals of shimmering, pearl-colored steam.

“Well, technically, a true love potion doesn’t exist. Love can’t be artificially created. It would only cause a strong infatuation for the drinker.” You stepped forward to meet Larissa at the cauldron. This time, you immediately recognized the scent emanating from it, leaning in involuntarily. How could you not have known?

“That’s what makes it so dangerous,” Larissa’s eyes were focused on the bubbling of the potion as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth, she seemed lost in thought. You came around to her side of the desk until the two of you stood shoulder to shoulder. As you stepped closer, you saw the loose wisps of Larissa’s silver curls coming out of her usually perfect updo, sticking to her forehead from the steam rising from the inside of the cauldron. Even so, she was perfect to you.

“What do you smell?” You whispered, nudging her playfully. You were playing with fire…

Larissa stole a glance at you, hesitating for a moment, then closed her eyes and sniffed at the swirls of steam rising from the cauldron. Her nose wrinkled lightly and it took everything in you to suppress the sigh of adoration threatening to bubble forth from your chest as you watched her, her eyelashes fluttering against the rosy apples of her cheeks, brows crinkling at the center in thought.

She hummed as the scent of the potion reached her nostrils. Freshly brewed coffee. Okay, so she was more of a hot chocolate drinker herself… The scent of burning herbs. Kind of reminded her of the potions classroom… A flowery perfume. Why did it smell so familiar? 

Larissa felt a heat rise in her cheeks as her brain connected the dots. She drew back, opening her eyes but refusing to meet your gaze, instead using her hands to steady herself on the desk in front of her. How had she not realized it before?

“Rissa?” You breathed, ducking your head in an attempt to get the taller woman to make eye contact with you. 

Your use of her nickname had the desired effect, but her eyes were filled with uncertainty and fear. 

You hoped this meant she had smelled you, just as you had smelled her. Your palms began to sweat, heat coiling in the pit of your stomach. An electricity buzzed in the air, pulling you almost magnetically towards the woman in front of you. You stepped towards her until you had to crane your neck back to look up at her face, your heart pounding erratically in your chest. 

Larissa’s pupils widened imperceptibly, her lips parted as she straightened to her full height, now towering over you. Her breath ghosted across your face as she leaned closer, stopping just short of your lips, hesitating as she hovered over you. Her tongue darted over her lower lip, eyes glassy and swirling with emotion as they flickered nervously between the both of yours. 

It was you who closed the distance. Your lips met, hesitantly at first. Larissa was still against you and, for a moment, you considered drawing back, now unsure whether the kiss was truly wanted. Just as you were about to pull away, you felt a strong hand grasp your waist, another thread in your hair as Larissa’s lips began to move against yours, soft and wanting.

A soft whimper escaped your throat, causing Larissa to hum in satisfaction and tighten her grip on you, pulling you flush against her. Your hands snaked around Larissa’s neck, raking your fingernails lightly along the skin at the nape of her neck, eliciting a low moan from her. 

When you parted, you were both panting. She dipped her neck down to press her forehead to yours and you enjoyed the feeling of her warm breath on your cheek.

You couldn’t help yourself - you let out a hearty chuckle, and Larissa shot you a quizzical glance, gently and almost instinctively running her thumb along your jaw.

“And to think you almost didn’t approve of brewing the Amortentia,” you grinned lazily, leaning into her touch.

A gorgeous blush bloomed over Larissa’s cheeks. “Yes, well, had I known this would happen, I would have approved it much sooner.”

“Sure,” you murmured, capturing Larissa’s lips in a sweet, lingering kiss.

“Any other dangerous potions you’d like to try out, Ms. Y/L/N?” Larissa teased, backing you into the desk, regaining the upper hand. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know? Perhaps we could discuss this more, tonight over dinner?” You were hopeful.

Larissa’s smile was genuine when she hummed in delight. “7 pm sharp. Don’t keep me waiting.”

A final, bruising kiss was placed firmly on your lips, Larissa nipping slightly at your bottom lip and soothing it immediately with her tongue before pulling away. There was an extra sway in her hips as she sauntered out of your classroom, and you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face as you realized you’d just scored a first date with the woman of your dreams.

[faebaex]

Congratulations for your 500 followers 🎉

Silver+GN!Reader

Reader got sick after staying up(fever maybe?), probably because they have a lot of work to do and forgot about the day. And Silver came to visit to take care of them.

Lovesick

author note: sorry for the wait! Silver is such a good boyyy i just wanna squish his cheeks aaaaa o(≧▽≦)o it was fun to write for characters i don't usually write for, and Silver is such an interesting character. There is only a few Valentines requests left now. Hope you enjoy!

characters: Silver x GN!Reader

History of magic essays. Alchemy homework. Animal linguistics homework. Biology homework. Magical analysis essays. Your workload was never ending, and unsurprisingly Grim was nowhere to be found. Heaving a heavy sigh, you looked over your desk, crowded with books and papers that you had somehow managed to drag back to Ramshackle from the library. You had been working in the library since classes had ended that day and had only decided to leave once you had realised it was already late evening. You had hoped that you would run into Grim, who has been suspiciously absent from your library study session, either on the way home or once you had reached Ramshackle, but as usual luck was not on your side.

Your stomach growled as you sat down your desk, reminding you that you had skipped dinner. You looked down at your stomach and then back at the papers on your desk, and you knew that you didn’t have time to cook anything. The ridiculous amount of work you had to do was daunting enough that you even considered approaching Azul of all people for help, but in the end, you’d rather throw Grim under the bus than sacrifice one of your organs in a deal with the Octavinelle housewarden.

You got to work, pen scratching at paper as you continued with one of the essays that you had started earlier. You vaguely noticed that you hadn’t heard Grim come home yet, but you were too engrossed in your work and knew you wouldn’t be able to go out looking for him anyway. Perhaps he had decided to sleep at Heartslabyul tonight? You pondered that thought briefly, before your mind wandered back to your work, and you didn’t even realised the hours were slipping by…

“… human…”

“…nchhuman…”

“Hench human!!”

You jolted awake and were immediately assaulted by a painful throbbing in your head. You hadn’t even realised that you had fallen asleep at your desk, the papers from your work the night before stuck to your face. You sat up slowly, and you could feel Grim’s concerned gaze on you as you pulled the paper off of your face and set them back on the desk. You felt awful, shivers wracking your form, an awful pounding in your skull and a soreness in your throat. Grim scampered forward on the desk and pressed a paw to your forehead, only to immediately pull it back.

“Myaaah! Hench human, you’re all hot! You made yourself sick by stayin’ up all night, what were you thinking?!”

If you weren’t feeling so terrible, you’d have likely throttled Grim for his careless attitude, but right now you could only groan. Rustling through the papers on your desk, you shoved all of the work you had completed last night into Grim’s arms. “Take this and make sure you hand it in to the correct teachers. Go to classes today, and don’t cause any trouble. Do you understand, Grim?” Your voice came out strained and squeaky, a clear sign of how unwell you were feeling.

Grim stared at you with wide eyes and he hesitated, guilt starting to crawl into his expression. “You’re not comin’ to school? Don’tcha want me to stay and take care of you?” He asked, only to be startled when you stood from the desk shakily and began to make your way over to your bed. “No,” you groaned, laying heavily down on the bed and pulling the sheets over your head, “just go to school and stay out of trouble, please.” Silence fell in the room, and you vaguely heard the scratching of paws as Grim left the room before you quickly passed back out into a dreamless sleep.

When you woke, you had no idea what time it was or how long you had slept. You rolled over groggily, reaching blindly for your phone. You felt no better than you had earlier, and you cursed your own stupidity for getting yourself in this state. Whilst Grim might have not been helpful, its not like he forced you to stay up all night and fall asleep at your desk. You sighed and checked the time on your phone. 6:00 pm. You had slept all day. You swiped aimlessly at your notifications tab and felt your heart drop.

You were meant to go with Silver today to his club activities and you had completely forgotten. And he had messaged you and now it looks like you ghosted him! You groaned into your pillow and your throat protested the action. You steeled yourself, deciding to journey downstair to get some water and then message Silver back profusely apologising, praying that he’d be understanding about the situation. You’d barely taken two steps out of the bed when you heard a gentle knocking at the front door of Ramshackle. You groaned again, your throat scratching from the action. You really didn’t want to deal with anyone today, wanting nothing more to crawl back into bed and let the world swallow you up. The knock was definitely too polite to be Ace. Perhaps it was Deuce, coming to check up on you? You were distracted from your thoughts when the door knocked again, a little louder this time. Shakily, you made your way down the stairs, shuffling slowly through the corridors and making your way to the Ramshackle entrance. If it was Deuce, you could probably explain that you just needed some rest and get rid of him. Its not like anyone else was likely to come by. Gripping the doorhandle, you pulled open the door, readying to send Deuce back home…

Only to see Silver standing on your doorstep with a large bag and a rather shocked expression at the sight of you.

“Oh…” You managed to croak out, staring at Silver with wide eyes. There was a beat of silence between the two of you before Silver stepped forward, gently prying the doorhandle from your hands, and entering the dorm. “Grim told me that you weren’t feeling well but I didn’t realise it was this bad…” He murmured, shutting the door to Ramshackle behind him. “’m sorry… I was about to message you back…” You managed to croak out, only for Silver to shake his head. “Don’t be. You can’t help that you’re sick,” Silver said gently, resting a hand on your shoulder, “you should be in bed resting. I’m sorry, I thought Grim was home and would be able to let me in…”

It hadn’t even occurred to you that Grim wasn’t at home. You didn’t have much time to think about it though, as you felt a light push on your shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.” Silver murmured, trying to urge you back down the corridor. “It’s okay, let me get you a drink or something, for coming all this way…” You took some steps, aiming to go to the kitchen, but a wave of light-headedness suddenly washed over you and you felt yourself sway. Everything happened so fast. One moment you were feeling like you were about to collapse in the hallway, and for a second you thought you had when you heard a distinct ‘thunk’ on the floor, only to feel a warmth surround you instead. Once your head had finally stopped spinning and the light-headedness had receded, you opened your eyes to see Silver gazing down at you with a furrowed brow, concern clear in his eyes as he held you up.

“Easy, there. Just give me a second…” Silver murmured, his voice so calm and reassuring that you didn’t move a muscle. He shifted you in his grip, one of his arms circling your back before he was… Suddenly lifting you up?!

“Silver!” You managed to stutter out as Silver lifted you in a fireman’s carry, flushing red as your cheek came in contact with his shoulder. Silver ignored your protests as he began to walk down the corridor and climb the stairs to your room, carrying you with ease. It was easy for him to find your bedroom, you having left the door wide open when you had left to answer the door, and before long Silver was tucking you into your bed, making sure that the sheets were securely wrapped around you and your pillows were comfortably positioned. Your cheeks had flared so red that you were resisting the urge to hide your face under the sheets in an attempt to hide your blush. The redness of your cheeks only made Silver look over you with more concern, however, reaching down to place the back of his hand against your forehead. “Hmm… Your cheeks are quite red, and you seem to have a high fever…” He muttered, mostly to himself as he retracted his hand from your forehead and stood, “stay in bed, I’ll be right back.” His tone was firm but his smile kind as he left the room, and soon you could hear the sounds of movement downstairs, the soft clattering of porcelain and the whistle of a kettle boiling. You fidgeted in your bed, feeling awkward at letting Silver do so much when he was technically a guest in your home, but you were too exhausted to do much about it. You sank into the pillows, letting out a low groan and wincing when your sore throat protested once again, remembering that you had intended to get some water when you were downstairs. But as if he could sense it, Silver soon reappeared, carrying a steaming teacup in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He placed the teacup on the bedside table before passing you the water carefully, “the tea has honey in it and will help soothe your throat but might be a bit too hot right now, so start with the water, it’s important you stay hydrated.” You gratefully took the glass, taking a sip immediately. Your throat protested the feeling at first, but slowly the tepid water began to soothe your throat. Before you knew it, Silver was leaving the room again and you could only wonder what he was doing, hearing the soft sounds of clattering coming from what seemed to be the kitchen.

You’d drained your glass of water fairly quickly, knowing your throat was dry but not realising how dehydrated you truly were. You had just started sipping on the tea when Silver finally returned, carrying another steaming bowl of… Soup?

“I made it myself! Don’t worry, I didn’t let Fa—Lilia anywhere near it.” He stated quickly, mistaking your confused expression for apprehension against the dish. He waited for you to place your teacup back on the bedside table before he carefully laid a tea towel over your lap before placing the hot bowl of soup on your lap. The scent of the soup wafted up and your stomach growled loudly, making your cheeks flush even further. If Silver heard, he thankfully didn’t acknowledge it as he grabbed your desk chair and carried it over to your bed so he could sit at your bedside. “You didn’t have to do all this, Silver—” You began but he cut your off quickly with a shake of his head, “I went looking for you when you didn’t respond to my messages… I found Grim at lunch, and he explained the situation.” You could only briefly wonder what exactly Grim had explained before Silver continued speaking, “I immediately went back to the dorm after classes had ended to prepare some soup for you and then I came as soon as I could.”

You were semi-thankful for your illness for being a suitable cover for how red your cheeks were, charmed from Silver’s thoughtful behaviour. “Honestly Silver, thank you…” You smiled gratefully at him, and he gave you a kind smile back that had your heart beating faster. To distract yourself, you grabbed the spoon and took a mouthful of soup, only for your eyes to widen as the delicious flavour filled your mouth. “Silver, this is delicious…!” You exclaimed, not being able to stop yourself from digging heartily into the soup. Silver smiled softly at you as he watched you happily eat the soup, “I’m glad you like it, I’ve been making it ever since I was a child. It’s simple, but very nutritious.” He said, and you found yourself intrigued by his words. “Oh, did you help in the kitchen a lot as a child?” You asked curiously, taking the opportunity to get to know Silver more.

“Well, it was more that my father would take trips away from home sometimes, so I would have to fend for myself.” Silver said casually, and your eyes widened. That sounded… Unusual, but you didn’t want to pry and make him feel uncomfortable, so you just nodded, “that must have been a little lonely…” You said, offering him a conciliatory smile only to be surprised when Silver shook his head with a soft smile. “Not really, I always had my animal friends to keep me company until Father returned.” You couldn’t help but laugh at his words, mostly in disbelief. Silver was always full of surprises.

You and Silver continued speaking long after you’d finished your soup, the hours passing by as Silver shared stories of his youth, and you shared stories about your own world. Before you knew it, the evening had grown late and you were yawning, exhaustion beginning to creep in again even with Silver having distracted you from your sickness. “You should get some rest…” Silver said softly as he stood, moving your chair back to your desk. He grabbed the empty soup bowl and empty water glass before moving towards the door, “I’ll do the dishes before I leave and get you another glass of water too.” You smiled at him, your heart feeling warm from how well he was taking care of you. “Thanks Silver…” He gave you another soft smile before he disappeared downstairs, and you could again here the soft sounds of clattering porcelain in the kitchen. You fluffed your pillows and checked your phone whilst you waited for Silver to return, replying to a concerned message left from Deuce in your group chat with the duo. When Silver returned with a refilled glass of water, he looked surprisingly flustered, a light flush of pink dusting his cheeks.

“Are you okay? I didn’t get you sick, did I?” You asked with concern, sitting up and gripping the bedsheets. Your heartfelt concern only coloured Silver’s cheeks further and he cleared his throat, gently placing the glass of water on the bedside table but avoiding your gaze. “Um… No, I… I was packing my bags to leave, and I found something that I had forgot to give you…” You tilted your head, watching him curiously as he fidgeted by your bedside, noticing now that he was clutching a box in one of his hands now. You thought it would just be something to help with your sickness, so you held out your hand for it casually, not noticing how your action had caused Silver’s cheeks to flare with further blush. Plucking up his courage, he handed the box over to you, valiantly hiding the nervous shaking of his hands. “I made these for you… Happy Valentine’s Day, Y/N.”

You stared down blankly at the box in your hands, and it took a moment for you register the meaning of his words. What he had handed you was a small box of chocolates, simple chocolates shaped like hearts laid out neatly in rows. This was a… Valentine’s gift because today was… Valentine’s Day…

The chocolates slipped from your grip and landed softly on your bedsheets as you covered your face with both of your hands, your cheeks flushing the brightest that had all day. “Oh no Silver I’m so sorry, I completely forgot!” You wailed out, the sounds muffled by your hands as you felt mortification wash over you. Oh, how you wish the ground could swallow you up right now. “It’s fine! I don’t expect anything back!” Silver quickly replied, his hands outstretched and his own pink cheeks deepening in colour as he continued to speak, “I… I just really wanted to give you something today…” You squealed internally at his words, your heart racing and your cheeks burning at his words. Whilst it was true that you and Silver had been moving past the friend stage on the months leading up to Valentine’s Day, you had never expected him to make such a confession today. Plucking up your courage, you peeked at Silver through your fingers, seeing him staring at you nervously with pink cheeks. Slowly you took your hands away from your face, gazing back at him shyly. “Thank you, Silver… I planned to make you something too but… I lost track of the days…” You sighed, looking down as you wrung your hands in your lap, feeling like you had ruined the perfect moment by being so distracted with your workload. Suddenly, warmth engulfed your hands as Silver placed one of his hands over yours and gave them a soft squeeze. You looked up to see that Silver had kneeled beside your bedside and was giving you a soft smile, his cheeks still flushed pink.

“It’s okay, Y/N. I don’t need any gifts. All I need is you.”

[fatuismooches]

i have been silent but that does not mean i have stopped thinking about dottore

based off of some fanart i saw, im like. 99.9999% sure zandik rarely heard any nice stuff said to him n i dont know why but i just. imagine this in my head. its such a tender, vulnerable and soft moment where zandik, probably akademiya or early fatui days, fits himself between your legs as he wraps his arms around your waist. his head laying comfortably on your thighs as he sits on his knees. its a moment that shows his trust, you know? allowing himself to be small before you, a rare act of submission to your love as your fingers play with his curls, palms warm and soothing as you cup his cheek. n' u just tell him things that he struggles to believe, like how he's so beautiful, and that you care about him, how he deserves to be loved even though he's perceived as a monster. and i dont know, but i wanna gently raise his head by his chin, softly smile at him and say "zandik, you're a good boy." because i know no one has ever ever said that to him, not even his parents.

healing his parental issues frrrr 💪💪💪 IS. IS THIS WEIRD??? IDK IT KINDA SOUNDS WEIRD BUT I DONT KNOW, IN MY HEAD THIS IS JUST. EVERYTHIN FOR ME.

this is just how i imagine zandik, honestly I DONT KNOW WHY BUT THE FANART I SAW FUCKS ME UP AND I WANNA CARE FOR HIM AND PAMPER HIM AND MAKE HIM FEEL THINGS NO ONE CARES ENOUGH TO MAKE HIM FEEL.

i want that boy to be treated like a pretty girl by taking him out on romantic dates and writing him love letters he's 100000% gonna keep, laminate and immortalize. i want to treat that boy like the fragile thing he is, hold him in my arms and kiss him so so gently.

ITS DRIVING ME NUTS.

oh yeah. totally not projecting onto zandik. NOPE. nuh uh. totallllyyyy....

THAT MENTAL IMAGE YOU'VE GIVEN ME... oh my gosh. i am so soft right now. Sniff sob... Zandik being so open and vulnerable in front of you :( OH EDBEWDWE HIM IN THAT POSITION IS MAKING ME CRY HE'S SO CUTE... you have no clue how you managed to get him to be so submissive but you're not going to say anything nor are you going to squander this opportunity. You're not even sure if he's comfortable like that, sitting on his knees but... he seems unbothered and quite actually, content with nuzzling his face into your thighs, having your hands run through his fluffy blue hair soothingly. For once, he is almost eerily silent, instead of being all fight and rebuttal all the time, as he doesn't seem to have a smart answer for your gentle words this time. It's new to you, not him vehemently denying your statements, but you're going to take advantage of it, holding his cheeks and kissing him all over, whispering in his ear softly but firmly about how much you love him and everything you love about him, and that you always will.

CALLING HIM A GOOD BOY... i am on the floor in a puddle and sobbing. Kai your brain >>> peak. But it makes me so sad to know that Zandik's literally never received any kind of positive form of affection all his life 😭 Not even his parents... like fuck I'm in pain for him. It took reader SO long to even break his first wall down (he has like a dozen probably) because of how poorly he was treated by the people who were supposed to "love" him :( he just really needs some love :( i think after a really long time, Zandik would come to really crave your appreciation sometimes. Like, he doesn't make it obvious or anything, but he'll do something like perhaps deal with some fellow scholars without snapping at them, or anything he doesn't really do in general, and look at you expectantly if you haven't praised him yet. Because you're the only one who has ever praised his efforts.

HE DESERVES TO BE PAMPERED SO BAD 😭😭 ugh i know Sumeru is mostly hot and you two can't have any cold bundled up days over there but. i love the idea of you two snuggling and sleeping in one morning. Both of you know you're gonna be late for class, but you're like, fuck it we're skipping. And Zandik scolds you, but he's making no effort to leave either! So... you two just stay in bed cuddling as you pamper him (you definitely were the big spoon quite frequently back then here 😭) Slow and lazy morning as you wash his hair and body in the bathe 🥺 breakfast that you made as he looks over his notes 🥺

Bro i can't even imagine Zandik's reaction to you trying to treat him like a pretty princess 😭 Even when you two are dating he just doesn't understand :( why do you go so far for him? What he gives you in return is far less than what you provide for him... he just doesn't understand, but it seems like you're wholly content with everything the way it is so... he won't let you go.

[satankilledmyghost]

Hello, may I have a eunjang boys with a reader who is straightforward, headstrong, and willing to succeed on her own without help from others? She possesses extraordinary talent, determination, and willpower. shes is the leader of the sports club.

this, this ask right here, she's an antique. it's been, what, a year? more? that this has been sitting here. i apologize for any shit writing; it's going to be rough since i'm getting back into it, so take this while i scrub the rust off of my cranium meat.

enjoy!

eunjang & a take-no-shit best friend

warnings: swearing, female reader, reader owns a cat

You are infamous for being eunjang’s tough, straight forward sports club leader.

You knew exactly what had to get done and when, and you made sure that it got done.

Everyone was intimidated by you to a certain degree.

It’s not like you were heartless, you just didn’t see the point in not doing things effectively and efficiently as soon as they were assigned.

You had grown comfortable in the consistency and solidity of your schedule, and you were in the middle of a peaceful break time when ben park busted into the classroom.

It was after school, so you were alone with an out of breath teenager that was hunched over in front of you.

You didn’t say anything, assuming he stormed in here for a reason, so you just raised an eyebrow at him.

Once he got his bearings, ben straightened himself and smiled brightly at you.

“Hey! You must be y/n, I'm Ben Park! It’s nice to meet you!”

He was the cheerful energetic type. Great. You avoided these types only because they were the ones most likely to dawdle and cause everyone to fall behind.

You kept your body and face neutral as you responded.

“You’re correct. Did you need me for something?”

Ben was visibly surprised at your abrasiveness, but he quickly got over it.

“Yeah, I'm trying to get my friend on the soccer team, but since he forgot to submit his form by the due date he wasn’t let in. He’s been on the team last season, and he’s really good, and I asked the coach to reconsider it, but he sent me to you. So is there any way you could let him join, just this once? Please?”

You nearly snorted at how desperate Ben sounded, already knowing your response.

“No. If your friend couldn’t follow a simple deadline, how are you going to convince me that he won’t skip practice, games, arrive late, or actually not perform well enough to be on the team? I don’t even know his grades or class rank.”

You had hoped that your response was enough to shut Ben down, but that was your mistake.

Instead, Ben's face lit up and he took your words as a challenge.

“Okay, I understand, but if I prove to you that he can be on the team tomorrow, will you let him in?”

You bit the edge of your tongue, mulling the proposal over.

Sure, you understood one bad day every once in a while, and you do like to think of yourself as a fair person so:

“Okay, fine. You have until the end of practice tomorrow.”

You narrow your eyes at Ben as he smiles widely at you, his body language brightening.

“Thank you, see you tomorrow!”

And he runs out of the room and that’s the last that you see of Ben until tomorrow.

The next day, you had barely made it onto campus before the sun was blocked by someone standing in front of you. You squint and look up, being met with Ben Park and a way too cheerful smile for seven thirty in the morning.

"Good morning, y/n! I brought Alex with me this time. Alex, this is y/n!" Ben moves so you're now looking at a different person. His body is more slender and lithe than Ben's heavily worked-on muscled frame. Alex was definitely fast, that much you could tell. He also was a lot quieter than Ben. You remembered him from last year, he was an asset to the team.

You relaxed knowing that your wager with Ben Park wasn't for nothing. You really didn't need to know any more about Alex since his record with the soccer team already speaks for him, but you were still wary about grades.

You took your thoughts and switched your focus from Ben to Alex, giving him a small smile. "Good morning, Alex, it's nice to meet you. Ben has informed me about your late application and your wanting to play soccer on the school's team this year. Is this all correct?" Alexs' eyes widened, probably not expecting to get straight to the point right away. His face dusts with a slight blush as he looks away from you in embarrassment, nodding yes. "Uh, yeah. That's true."

"Okay, how are your grades?" You press, wanting this conversation to be done already so you could head to class.

"My what- oh. uh, I'm in the B, B+ range." You nod. "Thanks, you can take your application to the soccer coach and tell him that I've approved of it and he can let you join the team."

"Wait, really?!" Ben butts in, nearly shoving Alex out of the way.

"Hey! What the hell man-"

"That fast? I thought you needed like his papers or something?" You politely smile at Ben's question and shook your head.

"No, Alex Go has been in soccer before, like you said yesterday. I know his reputation on the team. As long as he keeps his current grades up, there's no issue."

"HAH! Gogo, you sly dog, I thought you said you didn't do much last season?" Ben joked, taking Alex into a head lock. "Get off of me, you lump of muscle!" Alex protests, attempting to free himself.

"Well, if that's all, then I'll be heading inside. Class is about to start so I recommend you two going to class as well." You say, walking away.

"Hey, wait!" Ben called, causing you to turn around. "We're, uh, we're going to play pool after school today by the underpass. Are you busy?"

"No." You admit. "Well then you should join us! Meet us right here after school, we'll all walk there together!"

As much as you wanted to say no, you had already said that you having nothing planned. You sigh, mad that you've dug yourself a hole. "Sure."

Ben gives you a giant smile and waves you off, "Great! I'll see you here after school, then!"

"Good job, y/n." You mutter to yourself, turning away from the giant ball of energy. You were not enthused to be spending your time with a group of guys playing pool when you could be studying, but you weren't heartless.

You kept true to your word when the final bell rang and you collected your things from your desk and headed outside. You were met with Ben and Alex, “Hello, how many more are we waiting on?”

Your question startles the two and Ben is quick to answer. “Hey! You made it! Well, there’s Gray, Eugene, Gerard, Rowan, and Teddy, but I’m sure they’re on their way now.”

You freeze at the list of names. You were never one to enjoy socializing in big groups. "Um, okay. Sounds Good." You nod. It's just this once, then you can be left alone. You reassured yourself.

It only took a minute or two before you heard a new voice. "Hey guys! Sorry we're late!" You turn and see two more boys walking towards you, Ben, and Alex. "Eugene! Gray!" Ben cheers, waving his arms wildly above his head.

Eugene and Gray stop just before you, "Hello, who are you?" You look up and down at your schoolmate. He's short, considering the average size of males, and has an odd color of blue and gray eyes, purple-colored if the sun hits his irises just right, and to end the look, the boy has silvery ashen hair. If he's not Gray I'm going to have to rethink some things, you think.

"My name is y/n-" "And she's joining us for some pool! She got GoGo on the soccer team so I invited her as a thanks, isn't that right, y/n?" Ben nearly yowls, swinging an arms around your shoulders. "Y/n, this is Gray and Eugene." Alex informs you, so I was right. That's good, I don't feel like rethinking things. I'm already rethinking my agreement to go along with this.

"It's nice to meet you, Gray and Eugene." You end the introduction.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You found yourself spending time with Gray and Eugene studying, playing cards with Rowan and Gerard, talking about your cat with Teddy, and enjoying Ben and Alexs' constant banter between themselves.

It took a while to warm up to Ben and his friends saying good morning and acknowledging your existence in the hallways of the schools. And it took even longer for you to get used to constantly being invited to things. But you adapted, like you always do, and found a makeshift family in your new group of friends.

[flightyalrighty]

What have been some of your big inspirations/points of education* with your comic work?

*could mean learning resources but also just, good advice you got once or improvements to your workflow you figured out

Thanks for this ask!! :]

I went to the School of Visual Arts, where I majored in Cartooning! A lot of what I learned, I learned from Indie Cartoonist Jason Little and DC/Marvel Editor Joey Cavalieri, both of whom taught multiple classes I've taken (mainly fundamental stuff but there were also some extra classes with them like Jason taught my Digital Comics course and Joey taught my History of Cartooning class). I learned how to draw trees from Jason. And from reading Pogo.

I've drawn a lot of inspiration in my storytelling from both Bone and Hellboy, mostly! Both Jeff Smith and Mike Mignola are masters of pacing in comics, and if you happen to be unfamiliar with their works, I can't recommend them enough. Besides those two, the rich, moody internal monologues of Spider-Man: Blue and Spider-Man: Evolve or Die are things I often think about when it comes to dialogue writing. That and (at least when it comes to writing Rouge's dialogue) my older sister. Just, like, in general. Pay attention to how the people around you speak. It helps a ton when figuring dialogue.

Hellboy is getting mentioned again because Mignola's heavy inks are something I like to look over in order to learn from and improve myself. Hellboy, Carl Barks's Donald Duck comics, Asterix & Obelix, Will Eisner's various works, Calvin and Hobbes ALL have this beauty in their inking that can really inspire. Personally, I'd like to get a bit messier with my inking. Messy inks feel so alive. They're so visually interesting.

For colors, I highly recommend this book. I've read it and re-read it as much as possible. It may be for painters, but cartoonists can and should learn from all kinds of art forms. The works of Moebius were also mega foundational for me in learning how to color my comics. The man knew his palettes and how to not confine himself too much to what's "realistic". Speaking of painters (you may roll your eyes at this one) I'm also a fan of Frank Frazetta.

For panelling, I only have one true inspiration, and that's the work of Tess Stone. I grew up reading Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name. It changed how I viewed the limitations of panelling forever. Of course, it may be harder to find that comic these days, so here's a snippet:

Basic advice: really really take your time taking in art that you like, and try to reverse-engineer how it was made in your head. Heck, even if there's art you DON'T like, overall, but has elements you DO like, you can learn from that, too!

Okay! Sorry for rambling! Now here's the thing you're actually here for:

How To Think When You Draw collection of REALLY GOOD tutorials for whatever you need, these guys helped me out a ton when I was figuring the jungle scenes early in Infested.

This Pinterest Which Has Absolutely Everything You Can Possibly Think Of For References And Inspiration Sources.

An Extremely Good Font Site That Is Used By Professionals In The Comics Industry To Letter Their Comics.

The Most Important Book Any Cartoonist Can Read

A Different Book By The Same Man About Making Comics (for free, thanks Internet Archive)

Perspective For Comic Book Artists, thanks again Internet Archive

As for workflow... Man, I wish I could give you any kinda advice on that. I'm struggling with it, myself. I guess I've got two things?

If you have multiple deadlines for, say, multiple commissions or something, or you're trying to put out a weekly comic, but you're also doing something else, break the day up into time slots for each project, and switch the moment it's time to. Keep yourself on that schedule. I'm not very good at this.

I draw pretty detailed thumbnails, so sometimes I'll skip the penciling step in comics and blow up the thumbnail to ink over that. It's faster for sure! It's not always the right solution, however.

Thanks for reading! I hope any of what I've said helps at all!

[sapphire-weapon]

Alright, Aeon Anon. I'll throw you a bone, because I get it. I know what it's like to genuinely be interested in/curious about something while also not wanting to lose face. But in return, I'm gonna ask for you to start talking to me like a normal goddamn person because there's absolutely no reason we can't all just fuckin be cool here, man. Nothing that we're talking about actually matters. It's all make believe.

Here's why I don't like Aeon:

It's all telling and no showing, and as a result, I don't know what those two see in each other or what a fucking loser like Leon has to offer someone like Ada, who is objectively smarter, more mature, more independent, and more stable than he is.

We're told everything about their relationship, but we never get to see anything play out. Ada tells Leon that she fell in love with him in RE2. Leon says he's still attached to her in RE4. Ada says that they met up to bang prior to Damnation. Helena says that Leon has feelings for Ada in RE6. But we don't get to see any of that, because their on-screen dynamic after RE2 has been reduced to ACTION HERO POWER HOUR!!11 with absolutely no depth or nuance outside of the actual mission objectives that they're both pursuing.

Like -- say you're at a party, and someone comes up to you and tells you that some drama just went down and now a girl from your class has retreated to a room by herself to cry. Now that you've been told that, you know that. Intellectually, you know that that's happening, and you can form an opinion of "well that sucks" but you probably won't think about it much deeper than that.

But say you're at a party and you go into another room just to take a quiet moment for yourself, and you're met with a girl from your class sitting on the bed all by herself, sobbing into her hands. Now, you've seen it, and you're in the room with her so you're a part of the moment with her, and you feel that.

That is what's missing from Aeon. We, as the audience, don't get to share those quieter, emotional moments with them. We just have to trust that they're happening because the characters keep telling us that they are.

And so when a writer treats a relationship as something to be told, not shown, and then tries to do what RE6 did and have Leon's feelings cloud his objective, professional judgment, it feels out of character and unearned. It's the payoff for something that was never built up -- and that's all that storytelling really is. It's just a series of build up -> payoff over and over and over again, for every part of the story. So, when you skip that first step, you'll end up with a huge chunk of your audience looking at your payoff and going "how the fuck did we get here?" That's why so many people were pissed about Leon's characterization in RE6. The relationship didn't earn the reaction from the character, because the on-screen writing never put in the work to actually receive catharsis from the end result.

But that leads into another, arguably way bigger issue with Aeon, and that is:

We only ever get to see the relationship from Leon's perspective because Capcom treats Ada like an accessory to Leon's character and doesn't allow her to be her own person in her own right. Ada's relationship with Leon holds her back so much from a narrative and character advancement perspective.

I would probably be much warmer towards the ship if the two of them really were their own separate people living separate lives that sometimes crash into each other unexpectedly – but that’s not what the ship is. It’s what Capcom, I think, intends for it to be, but that’s not how they write it. 

Leon is his own independent person doing his own independent thing, but Ada very much is not. Ada does not exist in the story without him with her. And I don’t fuck with that. It makes her less of a character and more of just an extension of Leon, and Ada as a concept should rightfully be so much more than that.

Think about all of the really important plot things that Ada is actually involved with. She worked with/for Wesker for at least 6 or 7 years, and we don't know why. She then went into RE4 already intending to betray him and actually goes through with it, but then we never get to see the consequence of her doing that -- despite the fact that she just threw away a years-long relationship with Albert Fucking Wesker, the single pettiest man on the planet. Then she gets involved with Derek Simmons and gets him so completely wound up over her that RE6 happens, but we don't know how or when or why that happened or what her goal actually was.

We don't get to know any of that, because the only time she's ever allowed to be shown on screen is for the explicit purpose of creating melodrama with Leon.

And because so little of her backstory and personality is actually written out and tacked down, Capcom uses her simultaneously as a melodrama dispenser and a "Get out of jail free" card for anything they need to wave away or explain in the plot. How the fuck did xyz happen? Oh, Ada did it. How why or when? Doesn't matter -- hey look, Leon's being sad over her again! Isn't that more interesting???

No, Capcom, it's fucking not. It's not fair to Ada's character to make her so damn important and then never let her actually play out that role, because Capcom's writing staff would rather use her screentime to serve as a vessel for Leon's manpain.

And, as an unintended consequence of that, it also hurts Ada's character in the sense that she's woefully underdeveloped and -- despite being arguably one of the main characters in the series -- has no backstory, no character motivation, no observable character arc (post-RE2, at least), no personality outside of "ooh she's mysterious~", and no character flaws that would make her more human and sympathetic to the audience.

Every single part of Ada's character suffers because she's forced to serve as Leon's love interest. It's sexist and fucked up and reinforces her racist Dragon Lady stereotype, and the entire narrative of Resident Evil as a whole is worse because of it.

My beef with Aeon has absolutely nothing to do with "weh weh Ada's mean to Leon" or whatever stupid bullshit braindead Leon simps come up with. My beef with Aeon is one that has its roots at the most fundamental level of the crafted narrative and the character writing. This is not a ship problem. This is a writing problem. This is a sexism and racism problem.

Leon, Ada, and Resident Evil as a whole would all be so much better off if the entire series was rewritten from the ground up to remove their romance, and that's why I have so much hope for the Remake series taking this franchise to far greater heights -- because that's exactly what it's doing.