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hotchswifey · 8 months

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insomnia - dean winchester x reader

(this is the first thing i have written in about 2 years 😭😭😭😭

it kinda sucks but i like it

warnings: insomnia (i am aware that any sleep disorders cannot be cured by another person and i do not mean to take away from people who suffer from these conditions, this was just a cute little idea i had), a little angst?? (just about how much deans life sucks.), fluff, cuddling, overthinking, thinking badly about yourself (ur thoughts can be mean but ur lovely and brilliant <3333)

also i have a hc that dean goes really silent when he's tired, except he can't go silent around most people bc then they start to think something is really wrong™, but actually he is just too exhausted to try to talk (self-projection? maybe.)

word count: 2373)

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You rubbed at your tired eyes, walking into the bunker’s kitchen, your eyes adjusting to the light that definitely shouldn’t have been on - considering it was 3.32am. Your eyes fell on Dean, who was hunched over the island counter eating cereal. ‘Should’ve figured it was him who couldn’t sleep, too’, you thought. As bad as your sleeping habits had gotten, you always marvelled at Dean’s capability to be a functioning human with so little sleep.

He had noticed you as soon as you stepped foot in the room, but he did nothing to acknowledge your presence. Figures. You reasoned that the poor guy’s probably slept twice in the last week. You didn’t address him either; whether it was sleep deprivation or knowing he wanted to be left alone, you didn’t know. You just went to grab yourself a bowl of cereal.

It was quiet (except for the sound of pouring milk and Dean’s chewing), but it was comfortable. It gave you some peace knowing you weren’t the only one who couldn’t sleep - something so simple yet far out of your reach. You didn’t know when it happened (your inability to sleep), but ‘it comes with the life,’ you supposed. You grabbed your bowl and left Dean to ponder on his own.

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You rubbed at your tired eyes again. The same routine - lay in bed for hours, eventually get up because you’re hungry, head to the kitchen and find the light on. Again and again, this happened - Dean always sat there. It had become a funny thing kind of (in an unhealthy, oh-my-god-i-just-want-to-sleep-but-i-guess-it’s-nice-to-see-dean type of way).

He didn’t acknowledge you, you didn’t acknowledge him, you poured your cereal to the sound of Dean chewing and went back to your room to eat. You wished he would invite you to sit down, even if you both ate silently. It was nice not to be alone at night, overthinking every gruesome and terrible thing to come. But you knew it was Dean, and he definitely needed some peace, quiet, and alone time (and this was the most alone time he willingly gave himself).

You ate back in your room, not sleeping for yet another night.

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You and the boys had just got back from a vamp hunt. Sore, tired and, frankly, pissed off. The hunt was fine, you all supposed. But, god, it takes a lot to completely decapitate somebody. Your energy was all drained, and the only thing you wanted to do was sleep - but could you? No. Of course, you couldn’t. Why? A thunderstorm? Fireworks? Gunshots? No. Because your brain hates you. God forbid you get an ounce of sleep.

Your routine ensued again, more sluggish this time and certainly more pissed. All you wanted to do was behead a few vamps and sleep it off, but no. Of course not. Try to sleep, fail to sleep, get up and haul your ass to the kitchen, pour cereal, eat cereal. How did your life become so dull?

The lights are on again. You think, ‘There is no way in all hell Dean is awake. That boy put himself through more physical torment you could ever even dream of (not that you’d want to)’. You weren’t too shocked when, even after today, you saw Dean sitting there.

It wasn’t a surprise that Dean Winchester (saviour of the world, the perfect killer) was still awake, even after killing eight vamps single-handedly (but from how he was sitting, you were sure he’d hurt his back on the hunt). Dean. Again. In the kitchen. Not sleeping.

You didn’t know why, but it pissed you off more than it should have.

“Why are you still up?” You asked, walking past the island to the cereal cupboard. No response. Of course. You rolled your eyes, fishing out the box of lucky charms you reserved for awful days. You caught Dean’s eye as you turned around to get a bowl.

He might’ve been the strongest man you knew physically and mentally, but he looked so tired. More tired than you had ever seen him. More tired now than after ending the apocalypse or returning from purgatory. How could he look so exhausted after one vamp hunt? You thought about it for a second, only now realising how many times you had gotten up and he had been in the kitchen. Every time you got up, he was in the kitchen. What are the chances that when you can’t sleep, neither can he? Or was it more likely he wasn’t sleeping at all?

If you were being truthful, the strongest man you knew looked like hell. He looked like a little boy who couldn’t sleep because he had a nightmare and wanted his mom. Except he wasn’t a little boy, he was living through the nightmare and had no one to turn to when things got bad.

You had felt pity for Dean before (how could you not, the man has quite literally been to hell and back), but this was a different kind of pity. This was the kind of pity that only came when things were terrible. When you realise this was how it had to be, how it would be, forever. The kind of pity that came when you realised you couldn’t do anything about it. You felt useless looking at him in his dressing gown, hunched over the counter.

He was the world’s saviour, and you had to assume that came with consequences - like not sleeping.

You didn’t say anything. Your anger had dissipated into sadness - sadness for being unable to help your friend. There was nothing you could say or do. There was nothing at all. You stared at him, and he stared back, and that was it. You went about your night - pour the cereal, return to your room, and not sleep.

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Another day. Another hunt. Another sleepless night.

You considered buying the strongest sleeping pills and calling it a day. But you knew you couldn’t. Dean would haul your ass out for another hunt tomorrow, and he’d be pissed if you were fast asleep.

‘He should take some sleeping pills’, you thought. Maybe he would actually be remotely okay then.

Not fall asleep, get up, walk to the kitchen, see Dean, not acknowledge each other, get your cereal and leave. Again and again. You may have liked it, though. Just that little bit of routine in your hectic lives. Even if it was a bad routine.

You poured your cereal, your back to Dean, in complete silence. It was nice. Comfortable.

You picked up your spoon, ready to head back to bed, and turned around to find Dean already looking at you. You paused on the spot, unsure as to why he was staring. He didn’t stop when you noticed him. He looked as tired as ever. The sight of him, looking exhausted, with a bowl of cereal and beer, was heartbreaking. It physically hurts to look at.

He looked at you, and you looked back. Silent. Again. You wish you knew what to say, but what could you say? ‘Hey, Dean. You look like shit.’ You were sure you looked just as bad.

The sudden eye contact didn’t end. You both are not blinking, not moving, simply just looking. It was like you were communicating telepathically, just understanding each other and the hell you were both going through. This life was bad enough with sleep.

He didn’t say anything when you moved to sit down next to him, he didn’t say anything when you began to eat your (soggy) cereal, and he didn’t say anything when you finished eating. He just drank his beer and ate his cereal wordlessly. He said nothing when you sat there for 5… 10… 15… 20 minutes. Not one word.

You wanted to know what was going on in his head so badly. You wanted to know how you could help if you could help. But Dean doesn’t share his problems. You knew that, Sam knew that Cas knew that- everybody in the damn world knew that.

You sat and sat and sat silently. Half an hour passed, then an hour, then two… before you knew it, Sam was walking in- tired and grumpy. The sun had risen (not that you could see it), and a new day had started.

“You look like shit, dude”, Dean said to Sam, who promptly rolled his eyes.

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This time, when you couldn’t sleep, you didn’t go to the kitchen. You just laid there. Unmoving. You’re sleep-deprived mind was overthinking everything- what if you fucked up on that hunt 3 years ago, and Sam and Dean still hate you to this day? What if Sam hates you? What if Dean hates you? What if Dean is so fucking sick of you interrupting his nightly cereal time? You were a victim of your mind- your thoughts and inability to sleep.

Ugh. You were so hungry. But, right now, your brain was convincing you you were single-handedly Dean’s biggest annoyance right now (if Dean could read your thoughts right now, he would be calling you his biggest idiot).

A knock on your door startled you more than it should’ve (considering you had been hunting for quite a while at this point).

A knock. At (you looked over to your alarm clock) 3:34am. ‘Why is Sam awake at this time? Why’s he knocking on my door?’ you thought. ‘It can’t be Dean. I’ve done nothing but piss him off for the last month. You squint your eyes preemptively as you reach over to turn on the lamp by your bed and get up. The floor was cold under your feet, and your body was exhausted from the lack of sleep. You reached towards the doorknob, preparing to see Sam.

Sam. Who was definitely not at the door. Because Dean was standing there, in boxers and a white t-shirt, holding 2 bowls of cereal, looking as tired as you felt. Huh.

He looked at you silently, extending one bowl towards yourself. You took it hesitantly, staring at him, confused. He didn’t react. He didn’t say a word. Just lifted his bowl to eat his cereal. You moved to give Dean the option to come in. It was like a silent agreement had happened between you. Cereal and silence.

He walked in and sat on your bed; you closed your door and joined him. Wordless. Silent.

Maybe, you weren’t annoying him. Perhaps, he enjoyed this as much as you did. Maybe. Maybe.

Ten minutes passed, and you finished your cereal and leaned over to put it on the mahogany desk. ‘The Men of Letters enjoyed a frivolous life, huh. Who needs a mahogany desk?’ You thought, trying to distract yourself from your overactive mind. Dean moved over to do the same, leaning into you whilst he did.

He didn’t seem to lean away from you after that. He didn’t seem to move at all. He just sat close as you both stared at the wall, unblinking. God, you were tired. You just wanted to sleep. You felt like your body was going to shut down any day now.

“You should get some sleep,” Dean’s groggy voice came out of nowhere. It surprised you, him actually talking.

“Yeah, I’m trying,” you replied. Hell, you were trying. You were trying so hard, you just needed to-. Dean moved before you could finish your thought, standing up and moving to the top of the bed, pulling back the dishevelled sheets. He laid down in the bed, propping his head onto his hands.

“Are you just going to stand there?”

You moved to join him in the tiny twin bed. He pulled back the covers to let you in. You weren’t too sure what to do with yourself, then. You sat there with your knees to your chin, shoulders hunched. He had invited himself into your bed, and you felt like you were invading HIS space. Why were you still overthinking this? Why were you still thinking he didn’t want you here? Obviously, he did!

His arm wrapped around your shoulders before you could think anymore. You looked over at him, his green eyes reflective in the lamplight, and he looked back at you. Wordless. You gave him a small smile and moved to lie down. He joined you, his arm still wrapped around your shoulder. You debated whether you should lean against his chest but decided not to overthink it and just do it. You were sick of overthinking every little thing.

His other arm wrapped around your waist, yours wrapped around his. This was good. He was good. Nothing was exchanged between you; there wasn’t a need for words. You both knew this was what you two needed- each other. Dean had never really been alone (whether it was Sam, Cas, or Benny), and he needed somebody there to remind him that everything was okay. You were okay- sleep-deprived and needing a new career, but okay.

Your eyes were shutting before you could help it. Dean’s steady heartbeat in your ear and arms around your body calmed you. It was almost funny how quickly you were falling asleep now. Months and months of sleepless nights, and all it took was Dean to be here, holding you. You wished you could enjoy it more (not knowing if this would happen again), but you were so goddamn tired.

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You awoke the following day to repeated knocks on your door and Sam’s voice shouting your name. Damnit Sam. He opened your door before you even had the chance to fully wake up.

“Have you seen Dea- oh.”

The man in question was fast asleep, his arms still wrapped around you, your legs tangled together. You looked towards Sam as he mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ and left hurriedly. You were surprised it didn’t wake Dean. A pin drop could wake him up. You looked over at him, admiring how peaceful he looked. It was simple. Simple and nice and sort of domestic. Or as domestic as a hunter’s life can be.

You leaned against his chest, his arms tightening around you, falling back asleep.

You two had a different routine from then on- if either couldn’t sleep, you would find each other.

#dean winchester x reader #dean winchester #dean winchester x reader fluff

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marsbutterfly · 1 year

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The Boy Who Cried Your Name

a/n: HI!!!! I'M BACK AFTER SUCH A LONG HIATUS!!!! I MISSED YOU GUYS! This story was based on this postI hope you all enjoy!

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: none, just fluff <3

2:07am > manjiro: ok this movie genuinely seems really stupid 2:08am > manjiro: i think i'll watch it and tell you all about it during our date tomorrow. 2:11am > manjiro: oh shit, i've seen this actor somewhere 2:13am > manjiro: i know you're asleep but like 2:13am > manjiro: when you wake up can you help me find out this dude's name? 2:13am > manjiro: *image*

It's a Tuesday night, or at least it was when you first went to sleep. The nonstop vibration of your phone combined with the light that comes from it is enough to disturb your deep slumber.

You grunt, eyes squinting as you try to adjust to the brightness. Your warm hand comes out from its place underneath your pillow, only to be received by a rush of cold air that comes from the AC. Your fingers tremble gently while trying your best to type in your passcode, though your brain isn't fully awake.

Ultimately you decide to simply shine the phone on your face in the hopes that it will recognize your features even in the dark of your room.

Before it can even unlock, another notification.

2:16am > manjiro: i am learning so much from this movie already 2:17am > manjiro: did you fucking know that you can make your own butter if you shake milk for long enough?

You can't help but giggle at the sight, 17+ messages from Mikey. Before the two of you became a real couple, he would hardly ever text first, maybe because he could never remember where he put his phone in the first place or maybe it was because he was actually afraid of getting his feelings hurt, after all, a girl like you was hard to come by.

When the two of you decided to become official, his texts became more and more frequent. Most nights, you were forced to put your phone on Do Not Disturb because you desperately needed a good night's rest and lord knows you wouldn't be able to achieve that goal as long as Mikey was awake.

Your thumbs aren't moving at the speed you would like them to, your vision is still partially blurry and your throat is so dry that it feels like you are swallowing nails. Nevertheless, you open the messages to encounter a great variety of content.

Tired eyes skim through the various paragraphs, some quite lengthy as he declares his endless love for you and everything you have done / do for him on a daily basis, describing how you are the most beautiful person you have ever met and how the light that radiates from you reminds him of a sunset lit inside of your chest. How the color of your hair is his favorite because, whenever he sees it anywhere else, he feels like the universe is sending him a small reminder of how lucky he is. You smile at the sight of his gentle words.

However, you can no longer ignore the rain of incoming texts now that he has noticed the "seen at 2:14am" at the bottom of the page. He feels awful for waking you up but he cannot help himself. Every new thing he learns, every new detail of the movie he thinks you will enjoy knowing, he must share with you.

2:15am > manjiro: THIS DUDE JUST ATE HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW WHOLE? 2:16am > manjiro: IS THAT A FUCKING THING THAT SNAKES DO? EAT PEOPLE WHOLE? 2:16am > manjiro: I HAVE TO GOOGLE THIS HOLD ON 2:17am > manjiro: I have learned that, in fact, they can. I'm actually going to jump, I cannot do this 2:18am > manjiro: oh shit, i didn't mean to wake you up, but now that you are here! 2:19am > manjiro: did you know that drinking too much water can kill you? I read it somewhere, let me find the link. 2:19am > manjiro: Oh and also that when the dinosaurs walked the Earth, days were 23 hours long instead of 24?

You take a deep breath, knowing that he is coming from a place of love and care but you can't help but be a bit annoyed. Not wanting to snap at him, you use your full mental capacity at the moment to type a response to one of his many, many texts.

2:19am > manjiro: typing... 2:19am > you: Mikey, I love you, so so much and I wish for nothing more than for you to be here cuddling with me, than to feel the warmth of your body against mine, but you know I have an exam early in the morning. 2:20am > you: but baby, I am begging you, STOP THIS MADNESS.

His texting ceases and it feels like an eternity, certainly long enough for you to regret the way you spoke to him, even if it wasn't malicious or even purposefully mean. You understand that, other than Draken, Mikey doesn't usually confide in anyone else, especially not in a way that makes him seem weak or "stupid."

A sigh escapes your lips and you blink intensely for a few seconds in the hopes of stopping your eyeballs from burning. Time seems to slip by you and the next time your eyes open, twenty minutes have passed.

You bolt awake for a few seconds, heart beating faster than a race car, an irrational fear that you might have missed a message from him taking over you so the natural course of action is to check your texts. It would be a lie to say you weren't a little disappointed that there were no new messages from Mikey in that short period of time and your heart sinks just slightly.

2:41am > you: Mikey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I'm just nervous about my exam and super tired. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I hope you can forgive me.

Not even thirty seconds go by before the three dots inside of the blue bubble appear at the edge of the page. The full sensation of relief doesn't wash over you until you hear back from him, a simple message, spelled completely wrong because you knew he was keeping an eye out on whatever he was watching on the television.

2:42am > mikey: all gpod bsby, u luv u. (all good baby, i love you)

With a smile on your face, you finally allow yourself to relax and place the phone down underneath your pillow, giving Mikey time for himself as he enjoys his tv time. Now, you are finally going to be able to have a good night's rest before your big exam tomorrow. Eyelids become heavy and your breathing finds its own perfect pattern, your pillow is cold and underneath your covers is warm, everything is simply falling into place.

When you are within seconds of falling asleep, your phone buzzes from beneath your head. You refuse to open your eyes and simply roll over, pushing your body away from the device.

Some time passes and you find yourself in the same peaceful vibe as before, a gentle smile on your face as you fully allow yourself to be submerged in the cold feeling of the ac against your face while the rest of your body is nicely tucked away. The feeling doesn't last long for Mikey, once again, decides to start texting you every few minutes, if not seconds.

You grunt loudly, reaching for the edge of your pillow to pull it over your ear. In moments like these, you truly had to remind yourself of how much you loved him and why because he does, in fact, test what little sanity you have left in you. But you didn't know that all he was doing in that moment was being his usual self: the guy who is deeply and madly in love with you.

3:14am > manjiro: oh yeah 3:14am > manjiro: i forgot to tell you 3:15am > manjiro: good luck on your exam tomorrow, you got this! 3:15am > manjiro: i love you so much <3 3:15am > manjiro: have a great night <3

#mikey brainrot #mikey x reader #mikey x you #manjiro sano x you #manjiro sano x y/n #manjiro sano x reader #manjiro sano #manjiro sano fluff #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers x you #tokyo revengers x y/n #tokyo revengers smut #tokyo rev x reader #tokyo rev x you #tokyo rev x y/n

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mind-empty-just-fictional-people · 9 months

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I love how you write soldier boy…would you be able to write how he reacts with a spider-woman reader…she’s just swinging webs all around him and his old man brain cannot handle it. She’s a fit as a fiddle and she’s stressing him out because she will not just…sit down! (Preferably they’ve been dating for ages) 💖

More Than a Spider Can

masterlist

pairing: soldier boy x female reader

rating: R for language

word count: 1.4k

warnings: language, talk of sex, the boys spoilers

timeline: set in an au shortly after the events of season 3

author’s note: another request!? i’m genuinely flattered! sending you so much love anon, thank you! this was so fun to write, and something i never would’ve thought of! thank you so so much!

gif source

You’d have to thank Butcher one day for introducing you to the Supe you now lived with. He had needed a place to “hide” Soldier Boy shortly after the Supe incapacitated Homelander. You were hesitant at first, but Soldier Boy had just de-powered the most dangerous person on the planet, you had to help him out!

Butcher claimed it wouldn’t be for very long, but Soldier Boy never ended up leaving. Not that you minded, he was surprisingly sweet. You expected him to be a complete asshole but he wasn’t as bad as the stories you’d heard.

After about a month you took him up on the offer he’d made the first second he saw you. You spent a night together. Then another. And another. And a few more. And before you could overthink it, you said those three words that he then repeated.

With Mallory’s help, Butcher managed to clear Soldier Boy’s name, and even get the two of you a job at Supe Affairs (which was now run by Hughie since Neuman was running for Vice President).

So now, here you were; asking Hughie for clearance to go after a Supe who’d been stalking their ex.

“Y/n, there’s no actual proof this guy is doing anything you’re saying he’s done!” Hughie said.

“Hughie, the witness is a friend of mine. She’s not fucking lying about this!”

“I believe you, but I need proof before I let Soldier Boy kick his ass!”

“Soldier Boy won’t lay a hand on him, you have my word.”

“Oh, so you suddenly have control over Soldier Boy?”

“No, but I am faster than him! I’ll have this guy webbed up before Ben even gets there.”

“Ben,” He laughed a little. “Still can’t believe you’re dating the guy. Figured you’d hate Butcher for dumping him on you, but turns out you fell in love.”

“Okay,” You rolled your eyes at his teasing. “Just shut up and sign the damn form so I can get this asshole.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. But you better be sure Ben doesn’t break any fuckin’ bones. I’m tired of cleaning up your boyfriend’s messes.”

“What the absolute fuck…” Ben furrowed his brows, walking into the kitchen. “Y/n!?”

“Yes?” You asked, clinging to the roof.

“God-fucking-damnit woman!” He exclaimed, putting a hand to his chest. “Why does our kitchen look like a spider puked in here?”

“I’m just making dinner, Ben, calm down! I’ll clean this all up when I’m done.” You hopped down from the roof.

“You…” He tried opening the fridge but it was stuck. “Y/n, I’m trying to stay calm here but why the fuck can’t I open the fridge?”

“Sorry,” You smiled with cringe-clenched teeth. You opened the door for him.

“So why are you on the roof?” He asked when you jumped back up.

“I cook better when things are upside down,” You shrugged with a smile.

“I sure do wish your mouth was close enough to kiss, though,” He sighed dramatically, you rolled your eyes a little. You let yourself down a few feet, hanging on a string of web.

“I think kisses are better upside down too,” You smiled. He kissed you, smiling against your lips.

“Dinner is served,” You smiled, holding two plates as you walked into the living room.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Ben smiled when he took a plate. He furrowed his brows a little when you didn’t sit down right away. “Aren’t you gonna eat?”

“Yeah, of course,” You replied. Before Ben could say anything, you jumped up onto the roof before letting yourself hang upside down on a string of web. “What’re we watching?”

“Uh…Smallville,” He nodded slightly. “It’s…what was on…” He trailed off a little as you began eating upside down. “Honey, wha…what’re you doing?”

“Eating dinner?” You furrowed your brows. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“No it’s…all good,” He replied.

“So, you think Homelander ever watched this show?” You asked, half-heartedly.

“No clue,” Ben mumbled.

“Oh, by the way! Hughie gave me the thumbs up for going after Cara’s ex.”

“Cara?”

“Yeah, my old neighbor, you met her. Her ex is that creepy Supe who’s only power is x-ray vision and all he does is hang around outside dressing rooms and Victoria’s Secret stores.”

“Uh huh?”

“Anyway, Hughie gave me his location, I’m going after him tomorrow night. It’s no biggie if you don’t wanna come with me, it’s not gonna be much of a fight.”

“No, yeah…I’ll get the next one…have fun.”

There was about thirty seconds of silence before you put your plate down and swung your way over to the kitchen. You came back a moment later with two cold beers.

“Okay, would you stop!” He suddenly snapped.

“Ben?”

“You- Just- Goddamnit Y/n, I wanted to just fucking sit with you and watch this show but you’re on the fucking roof! Are you mad at me or something? Why don’t you want to relax with me?” What started off as an angry expression turned to one of hurt, which broke your heart a little.

“Ben, I’m not mad at you!” You exclaimed, hurrying down from the roof and sitting next to him. “I’m sorry, I just- I dunno, I don’t think much of it. I just like being off the floor.”

“It does look pretty fun,” He mumbled. He pulled you onto his lap, keeping your back pressed against his chest. “But sometimes I just want you here on the floor with us non-spider-people.”

“Okay, I’ll try and walk around like a normal person,” You huffed. “But only cause I love you so much.” You turned and kissed him quickly before focusing on the TV.

“Ben, what are you doing here?” You asked him the following night. “This is my case, I’m supposed to bring this guy in.”

“Oh, c’mon, don’t pretend you aren’t thrilled to see me,” He smirked.

“Of course I’m happy to see you,” You smiled, putting a hand on his cheek. “Just let me take the lead on this one, okay?”

“Fine,” He sighed.

“Are you two gonna eye-fuck all night or can we fight like regular freaks and get this over with?” The man at the other end of the street shouted.

“Think I’m gonna eye-fuck her a little longer if you don’t mind!” Ben called back. “I take it back, I’m bringing this asshole down!” He smirked then took off down the street.

“Fuck,” You mumbled to yourself. You knew full well you were faster than Ben but you didn’t like showing him up all the time. “Oh well.”

You thwiped a thick piece of web to a billboard above the street and hurled yourself up and onto it. You then ran down the side of a building and landed on top of the Supe before he could see where you were. You had him webbed up like a fly before Ben even made it down the street.

“Seriously? You take all the fun out of this!” Ben grumbled. “You can’t just web the guy up! I was in the mood for some ass kicking!”

“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you so much my beautiful girlfriend, Y/n! Because of you I still have a job at the bureau and now we can go relax in our apartment because you managed to take down this Supe in record time!’ Then I would have said, ‘of course Soldier Boy! I love you so much and you’re very welcome’.”

“I love you too,” He mumbled.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you?” You asked, walking up to him. You wrapped your hands behind his head, running your fingers through his hair.

“I love you too,” He rolled his eyes a little.

“Come on, just kill me, I’d rather that, then watch this!” The webbed-up Supe groaned. “Y/n, I thought your type was guys your age, not-” He was cut off by you webbing his mouth closed.

“What does Campbell want us to do with this asshole?” Ben asked, not letting his green eyes break contact with your love-filled ones. You tilted your head a little and smirked. “What?”

“You just called Hughie by his real name,” You giggled. Ben thought about it for a second and sighed with annoyance when he realized you were right.

#soldier boy x reader #soldier boy #soldier boy fluff #the boys #the boys fluff #the boys fanfic #the boys tv #request #requested #by mind empty just fictional people #by jean

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wen-kexing-apologist · 4 months

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Best of QL 2023: Favorite Lines

Okay well, I was going to spare everyone (and myself) from having to choose between all the pre-2023 shows I binged this year, but @twig-tea wanted more pain and suffering so here it goes:

Top Five Pre-2023 Lines that Lived Rent-Free In My Brain This Year:

"I don't want to see him sad." -Oh'Aew, I Told Sunset About You, Ep. 5

Okay so you see, my real problem here is that my favorite parts of ITSAY, the things that stay in my head rent free. No. The things I pay to stay in my head because I love them so much are the things that happen in the silence. Beginning of Ep 3, end of Ep 3, the kiss in Ep 4, the wrestling at the end of Ep 2. Those aspects, those moments are what absolutely destroyed me with this show. But I am gonna be real with you all, when Bas let Oh go like that? I wept. And I do love what it says about Oh that despite how much he has been hurt by Teh, he loves Teh enough to know how utterly devasted Teh is right now, and he cannot bear the pain of seeing someone he loves so hurt. Especially when he and Teh haven't spoken since Teh gave up his seat.

"You're tired, aren't you?" -Mork, My Ride, Ep. 5

If you saw my Favorite Lines 2023 post you would notice that this line is very very similar to my favorite line in Moonlight Chicken. And that is because loving and caring for people is super fucking exhausting. Meeting the world with kindness and grace and radical empathy in the face of horrible things, in the face of people who think you are weak for your kindness, or who seek to take advantage of it is fucking exhausting. And it is honestly quite rare that I see kind characters being asked this question, so I always go feral when they do because it is such a testament to love to say 'i see you' but to grant people enough space and autonomy to decide how honest and vulnerable they are going to let themselves be. I was talking with @ginnymoonbeam about this line a little so I am going to steal a line from her: "have you eaten" = I love and care for you

"are you tired" = I see how much you love and care for me/others

Of course the fact that Tawan absolutely just melts in to a puddle of tears because yes, yes he is tired, so so fucking tired does absolutely nothing to help me stop thinking about this scene. I love my boys!

"Because you raised me this way, that's why I'm not like other kids" || "I had to hate Pran, to compete against him, because of you? That's the reason? -Pran || Pat, Bad Buddy, Ep. 10

I cheated here. I do not care. These lines come almost one right after another and are just the same level of one-two gut punch that makes Bad Buddy so fucking incredible. Pat and Pran have been through so much because their parents were trying to save face. All the pain they have suffered, the lies they've had to tell, the caution, the fear, the secrecy in their relationship. How long Pran has had to keep his feelings for Pat at bay, how much Pat is sacrificing to let Pran maintain a good relationship with his mother, is all because their parents have decades old beef. There are so many good lines in this show, if I were to pick another one it would be "do you want to be friends?" "no" from Episode 5, but I feel like no lines sum up the conflict of Bad Buddy better than Pran and Pat confronting their parents.

"You must be disappointed in me." -Wang, 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us, Ep 7

Ok so I lied about this one, the line that absolutely stays in my head rent free is the line "Mom." Wang sobs after his fight with In in Episode 8 but I had a legitimate 30 minute melt-down over that singular line and moment so I am picking one of the next most painful lines for me. And if it wasn't this it would be the entirety of the 52 Hertz Whale monologue that In gives in Episode 3 because that is the saddest gayest monologue for the saddest gayest man. And if it wasn't those it would be the boy in boarding school monologue Wang gives in Episode 5. Honestly this entire script, and this entire show is with me always.

BUT what absolutely kills me about this line in particular is that Swasimol tries to shake her head no, and can't bring herself to lie, and Wang watches his mother nod in confirmation that she is disappointed in him when he tells her he is in love with In. And that's the part that is truly crushing.

"I know you're hurting," -Shiro, What Did You Eat Yesterday?

GOD. THEY MAKE ME SO. AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH. Honestly a huge fuck you to @bengiyo for introducing this show to me, this brain rot is 1000% his fault.

There is something just so fascinating to me about Kenji and Shiro's dynamic especially around how they handle and navigate their queerness. Kenji is loud and out and proud and while we don't know if there was time his mother had to work up to it, we know that Kenji's mother is pretty accepting of Kenji being gay. But Shiro didn't have that same experience, and he is quiet, and struggling with internalized homophobia, and decently rooted in the closet. And I think when you have a character like Kenji who rarely seems to take the insults and the jabs to heart, who is just the human embodiment of sunshine you can forget that Kenji is human, and Kenji uses his sunshine as armor the way that Shiro uses his silence.

Shiro never says I love you to Kenji, in the first season he rarely engaged in any level of physical affection, and kept a distance from Kenji if they were walking together in public. But Shiro loves Kenji so goddamn much, so so fucking much, and while he can't bring himself to say the words it is in moments like this one, where Shiro knows despite the fact that Kenji hasn't given any indication, that Kenji is hurt by the fact that Shiro's mother rescinded his New Year's invitation.

Shiro and Kenji mean everything to me.

If anyone is curious about any other favorites (shows, cinematography, pain, etc) from this year, feel free to drop an ask!

#i told sunset about you #bad buddy #bad buddy series #180 degree #180 degree longitude passes through us #what did you eat yesterday?#kinou nani tabeta?#my ride the series #best of ql 2023

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tiktaalic · 7 months

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Just watched Social Network for the first time. I get it now. I understand why I've seen 2000+ Tumblr posts trying to capture the Experience of that film. I understand why I've alternately seen it hailed as a watershed cinema masterpiece that exposes silicon valley for the asshole boys club it is and also as a film that fundamentally misunderstands what it takes to succeed in silicon valley and also as the funniest fucking gay tragedy ever put to screen. And they're ALL correct. In the midst of this film about people who feel a vague twinge of human emotion once a year, Andrew Garfield bravely experiences Shakespearian earthquakes of the soul over *checks notes* Mark Zuckerberg. I laughed harder than I've laughed at a film in years. I was earnestly told by the images on my screen to feel sad for the silicon valley brain-geniuses because the poor dears lose all true human connection on account of their being the worst people you've ever heard of in response to the hardship of suffering nothing ever at all. Edwardo pulled that 'you love Gatsby because Nick loves him' shit so fucking hard that two or three times I was tricked into a glimpse of emotion about the curly-haired fucktwat on my screen before recalling that said fucktwat is *checks notes again* MARK. ZUCKERBERG. At which I'd feel like the butt of a cosmic joke but couldn't even be mad about it because it was in fact the funniest shit I'd ever experienced. After two hours of watching the most obnoxious piece of shit you've ever seen in your life the film pulls an honest-to-goodness 'he's not an asshole' about *checks notes again because surely that can't be right* WAR CRIMINAL MARK ZUCKERBERG. It is, and please know I say this without irony: a good film.

INTERESTING. I don’t think it tries to make you sympathize with mark at all. I thought it had a very…. Not as far as an anti zuck stance. But a mark zuckerberg sowing haha this rules mark zuckerberg reaping well this sucks. What the fuck. Stance. Very Pyrrhic victory rich asshole on rich asshole crime you won at what cost. Stance. Edwardo was in love with him though. I cannot dispute this. The only people who dredge any sympathy out of me are Rooney mara (mark zuckerberg’s ex) and Eduardo saverin (mark zuckerberg’s ex) because Rooney mara voice I was nice to you mark don’t torture me for it. And then he did. I really am well and truly shocked that nobody got sued over that movie. Becuase mark Zuckerberg sucjs so bad in there. BEAUTIFUL flick though. I’ve seen it several times. Incredible soundtrack. I never get tired of watching the drift apart build into an explosion which culminates in mark sitting in an empty room alone with a computer comma hated. Like I watch the social network and I’m like oh it’s about the social media company they made up for their movie. With character types that are meant to round out a cast and plot rather than reflect any real world people. I love it I’ve watched it 3 times this year. My cocomelon

#anonymous #ask #tsn

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motherofplatypus · 11 months

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Miraculous S4 Review: Representation

And so, here we are, one episode before the finale. Out of order, but we're no stranger to that. Can't believe it's almost over, and boy am I glad because this insanity finally come to an end.

The episode, as per usual, was bad. But it's not the usual kind of bad, and was pretty much decent compared to the last 4 episodes. So, it's an improvement, I guess(?).

So, in short, this episode confirmed that Felix and Adrien are sentimonsters, and Kagami as extension, but I'll talk about that in another post. While there are people who seem to dislike the idea of Fe and Ad being senti, i personally like it. Mostly because they did really well in teasing us about this, until they just drag it out so hard and hardly even trying to do so in S4-5.

So, anyway, the review. Apparently, there's an election for the new mayor between Bustier and that fencing mustache (I remember his name, but it's a pain to write it down).

So they do have election. Huh, who woulda thunk? Feels like just one episode ago they ignore this crucial part for plot convenience to make a teenage girl even more like satan for absolutely no logical reason. Ooh, right, it was one episode ago. Well, two, but my point still stands.

Oh, Miraculous, you just love making things convenient for you, don't you?

Then we see Adrien being Sad Boy™ like he always was, and Plagg had to comfort him. And I really love Plagg here and so far he's been getting consistent development with his relationship with Adrien, that's more interesting than the Love Square tbh.

Then, Adrien down bad for Mari and wanted to reveal himself and fly all the way to Paris because he hated being there.

I appreciate the effort and dedication for love, but wouldn't it be better if you just, idk, ran away before you're in London? Just a thought.

Yeah yeah, there's the ring and stuffs and every single reason why Adrien cannot grow a spine for himself or anyone that's not Marinette. Tell me something I didn't know about Adrien.

Bonus: Here's what That Guy do whenever we demand Adrien to grow as a person.

Moving on, I'd love to talk about how everyone glorifying Mari for the 500th time, but it's nowhere near how pissed I am when they tease Julerose and Marcthaniel. Yes, it's cute to see how Marc and Nath looks like they're "bonding" in secret and Jules being protective over Rose. If this were happening 2 seasons ago, I would've scream in fangirl, but like every other things in miraculous, its either overdue or irrelevant.

Look, I appreciate their sorry excuse of an effort to give us representation (roll credits), but if you actually mean it, either actually doing it or stop teasing it for 5 seasons and make them so much of a side characters that we literally couldn't care less about them. Seriously, this is a serious case, especially with Nath and Marc that I honestly don't see why they even got a miraculous, to the point i thought Lila would get one since those two are so pointless and irrelevant.

Onto the next one, we have Gabridiot Agreste. The man with two brain cells who's fighting for third place. He realized Adrien was gone, barged into Nathalie's room while she's watching his dead wife video, and took the wedding ring from her.

First off, it's quite hilarious that the red part of Nathalie's hair turned white. I know this symbolize that she's dying, but the way it looks, it's like she's purposefully dyeing her hair white to show how dead she is.

Second, I'm getting real tired of watching Emilie saying the same line, on the same phone, for the 50th time this season. This is the equivalent of Gabe talking to her corpse whenever he's about to do a criminal activity that ended up in him failing in the most embarrassing way. Yes, we get it, she wants Gabe to be a good father, you don't need to remind us every single episode how much of a failure he is at becoming one. Also, if your role after 5 seasons is to be a broken record on a phone, just go back to your coffin.

Also, it's probably just me forgetting and i refuse to check every episode to prove it, but what's the reason for Nathalie not to show the video to Gabe? Or has Gabe seen it but ignore it? Please remind me.

Either way, still with Gabridiot, who apparently lacks the bare minimum intelligence to even be classified as a jellyfish, who think that Adrien, who's in London, somehow managed to escape and went allllll the way back to Paris in less than a day. This jump into conclusion stupidity almost match the one we got in Ephemeral, but at least not as outrageously stupid as that episode. Still can't believe that episode even exist.

So he akumatized himself into Nightormentor, and I must say I quite like his costume. Sure, it's basically Collector dress in a drag, but it kinda looks good. Except for the face, that traffic cone head and glasses are a huge no.

Still talking about London to Paris, how the heck did Argos get himself and Kagami into Paris at the same pace as Chat with flying cat add ons? Did he make a jet sentimonster to fly them there? Nah, no way. The whole reason he got the peacock was to prevent anymore sentimonster getting created and killed. Heck, he was absolutely devastated when he had to snap that Red Moon from existence. So there's absolutely no way he'd be doing that, right? Right?

Sigh, who am i kidding.

So, he created a new sentimonster, a tripod, to give Mari a cheap show of his origin and Adrien's, and basically confirmed they're feather boys. Wow! This is big, right?! Right?! But, of course, with the abundance of brain cells in the show, Mari didn't connect the dot and only take it as Felix's story that I'm not even sure if she realized Felix is a senti, let alone Adrien.

Okay, maybe she did realize Fefe is senti, but my bet is that she's still doesn't know Adriboy is a senti. That's literally too much to ask for the show standard, speaking from experience.

Speaking of didn't connect the dots, Felix literally blatantly told Mari that Gabe is Monarch in the video and she didn't get it? Does Adrien filled up that much space in her head that she ignores the very obvious info presented in front of her? Hello? Brain cells? Basic common sense? Toddler level of intelligence? Where are you all?!

Back to the point, what happened to the tripod? Oh right, it got snapped out after it send the message to Marinette to fight for Adrien. To fight Gabe for love.

Remember folks, murder is okay as long as it's for Adrienette.

Also, if the whole purpose is to just give Mari a message, why would he need to take Kagami there as well? It's not like the message is on live. Heck, they didn't even stay until the message is over, so it's clear that it's pre-recorded, or just some magic bullshit, but basically they're not needed to be that close.

"But the amok is in Kagami's ring, and she needs to be there to control it."

Like I said, she's not needed to be there.

Okay, that's not exactly important. Since we're still talking about Kagami, let's talk about plot hole number 451: Kagami knows Mari is Ladybug since Perfection.

Remember a certain blue haired boy going into voluntary exile because he knows the identity of the heroes? No? Neither do the writers.

If she knows Mari is LB since that very episode, why hasn't Monarch learned about that crucial info? She got akumatized TWICE after knowing that, and neither of them meant anything until now. That piece of knowledge should've been in Monarch's ear since ages ago.

"But Kagami wasn't sure if Mari is LB."

My point still stands strong, tall, and mighty. They made Gabe jump into conclusion that Adrien is Chat by him saying "My Lady". I'm just using their stupidity on them.

Then we got Anticat, or I'd like to call it Walmart Chat Blanc. Aside from the hideous blue hair and eye wrecking visual of the dream sequence, this pissed me off real fucking bad, because this can only means one thing: Chat Blanc is irrelevant.

We waited 2 seasons, one of which caused Chat Noir getting depressed because Ladybug refuse to speak about the white world destroyer cat, and the moment he knows about it, it's not from Ladybug and not even what exactly happened. It's just a nightmare. It's not real. He still doesn't know that that event actually real.

We were, once again, robbed of seeing something we have been waiting for years to happen.

Sadly, that's not the end of it.

On side note, I find it hilariously ironic that when Chat wake up from the nightmare, the first person he saw was Kim. "Hey, that's the person i tried to kill a few days ago. Now I have infinite Cataclysm to do so."

Dude woke up from a nightmare into another nightmare, lmao.

So anyway, Gabe lost to a bunch of teenagers once more, they win, and he kept the akuma in a jar so that LB can purify it. I mean, what's a Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir would do without Ladybug appearing, right? Like how the show could not go on without Chat Noir appearing in the episode, right? Of course.

Anyway, remember the whole reason LB needs to purify the akuma is because it will multiply if left too long? Like, idk, an hour at most. And how long did Chat left the butterly? Why haven't that flappity flap flap not self-reproducing like rabbit on steroids during mating season?

Also, can't he just Cataclysm the akuma? We know in Chat Blanc it's possible and have no side effect whatsoever. Plus, he can now use multiple Cataclysms. Just get rid of it. You have no qualm when you tried to Cataclysm Scarabella, your principal, and your friend whose face is the first thing you saw when you wake up from your nightmare, so what gives?

Oh right, it's the villain. He has qualms only when it comes to hurting the villain. I forgot.

Also, let's take a moment of silence for Chat, who finally got an episode where he's the one shining, where he's supposed to be the one who save the day, but ended up being utterly useless and needed help from a bunch of teenagers.

Look, I'm not saying he shouldn't get help or anything, but how hard are you going to glorify Ladybug for being able to win a fight by herself and never let Chat do the same, not even once?

And then both Adrien and Kagami came back to their abusive parents. Just, why? I get why Adrien came back, aside from the nightmare and his inability to grow a spine, but Kagami? You have your own freedom, you got balls bigger than Adrien could ever have, and you're independent. Just stay with Felix, hide, and Amelie most likely already know your circumstances too, or at least she'll let you stay for Felix's sake.

"But she might not feel comfortable doing that."

You know who else should not be comfortable doing something? Chat Noir when he's down to murder people that he knows.

Also also, don't any of them gonna ask how the hell they ran away? No? Of course not. And Gabridiot and Tomoron decided to become a very reasonable and good parents and put their kids inside an entirely white, mental asylum-esque room where the only color they can see is their clothes and hair.

Seems familiar?

Yep, they are batshit insane.

And please don't tell me that square on the corner is their bed. Good lord, I know you're angry they disobey you, but treat them humanely at least.

All in all, this is 6/10. Lots of dumb moments as per usual, but it's not blatantly moronic like half of the episodes this season has. I quite like Nightormentor's costume and how Plagg comfort Adrien in that small scene. I'm surprised that I'm not furious at all, just mildly annoyed. Overall, it's decent.

Then again, this has been my opinion, and now it's your turn. Do you like it, or hate it? Is this a good build up for the finale? Leave your thoughts down below, and I will see you in the next one. Byeee.

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cwritesforfun · 1 year

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Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd x Fem!Reader: Dating Mav’s Daughter

Pete/Maverick is your Dad. He’s dating Penny. You’re a WSO because as your dad says “you have a more brainy brain than aviators.” You’ve been friends with Bob since flight training. You started dating him 1 year ago after a dangerous mission you had together and you love him. Y/N = Your Name

Y/N’s POV

I’ve been at Top Gun for 2 weeks. We’ve been practicing drills a lot today. My dad has me switch with different aviators all day, which stresses me out. I have to think like each of them thinks and anticipate how I can best help them. Everyone says they like having me fly with them, but I don't know if they’re lying or not. I’m drained from the day and want to sleep, but we’re going to the Hard Deck as a team to drink since we have tomorrow morning off.

I see my dad waving me over and I run over to him. My dad exclaims “Hey. Are you okay?” I answer “I’m just tired.” He replies “As your dad, I love you and want you to relax. As your captain, I think the team would like to have you there. I can tell that everyone is comfortable around you and I know sometimes it may seem like I push you a lot. I think you have a brilliant mind and a very friendly personality that helps in the air.” I reply “I know you mean well and you’re pushing me to succeed. I don’t think it’s too much. I can handle it.” He asks “Of course, you can, kid. You’re my daughter for Pete’s sake. Ah, see what I did there?” I laugh and he asks “So as your dad, are you and Bob dating?” I smile and answer “Yes. We’ve been dating for one year. We try to keep our relationship private because we don’t want anyone to treat us differently. How did you know?” He answers “He’s not great at hiding his feelings for you. I can also see how he gravitates toward you in a room of people and I can see him visibly relax near you. He also seems more open to sharing and talking near you. I think it’s great how you two bounce off each other’s ideas and uplift each other.” I reply “That’s really nice to hear, Dad.” He says “Bring him over to me and Penny tonight. I want to meet him as your boyfriend.” I reply “Okay. But be nice, Dad.” He smiles and says “I always am, kid.” We hug and I leave.

After changing into more relaxed clothes for the bar, Phoenix and I head out in her car. The boys took their cars earlier. Phoenix asks “So are you and Bob ever going to do PDA at work?” I answer “No, Phoenix, we’ve talked about this. Bob and I want to keep our relationship private at work because we don’t want everyone in the Air Force world to know. Friends know and anyone who sees us out together would know, but we don’t want our love life to interfere with work.” She replies “Ugh you’re too sensible. I love you, Y/N. I told Bob to ramble today and he talked about how much he loves you. It was the sappiest and sweetest ramble that I’ve ever heard while I’ve been flying.” I reply “I did not have the same experience with Hangman.” She asks “Oh no, what did you talk about with him?” I answer “He asked about Bob’s favorite sex poses? I did not respond to that because it was unprofessional. I switched the topic to how Hangman has a lack of sex life. That really angered him and we’ve flown the best we’ve flown together today.” She starts cracking up and cannot stop laughing until we arrive.

I notice the boys with several opened beers and a pool game going when we get there.

I walk over to Bob who smiles when he sees me. I stand between his legs and hug him. I say “My dad wants to meet you.” He replies “But I know your dad. Why does he need to meet me again?” I answer “He wants to meet you as my boyfriend.” He asks “How did he know?” I answer “He said that he sees your feelings for me on your face and how you find me in a room.” He replies “Oh, okay...” I poke him on the shoulder and ask “What’s up? What’s bothering you?” He answers “I’m sorry if I’m too obvious about my feelings. I try to hide them, but your face just lights up the room every time. I need cheering up sometimes. I know we keep our relationship private at work, but I like being around you. You’re my girlfriend, but you were my best friend first.” I smile and kiss him on the cheek. I then say “You’re so cute when you ramble about your love for me. I love you, baby. You are always welcome to be near me. I love being around you too and you make me the happiest human.” He smiles and we kiss.

Bob sighs and exclaims “Okay, let’s get this over with. Let’s go say hi to your dad.” I laugh and take his hand.

We walk over to my dad and Penny who are sitting at the end of the bar. I say “Hi Dad. Hi Penny.” They turn to face us and smile. My dad hugs me and so does Penny. I introduce Bob as Robert and my dad introduces himself as Pete. We talk about having a double date one day when we are all free. My dad asks Bob about his intentions with me and I laugh at his reaction. He just took a sip of water and just spewed it all over the seat next to my dad. Bob says “Uh sorry about that… I just …. Wow I did spit everywhere … Whew that was weird…” I notice his eyes grow panicky wide and I slide my hand over his. He tends to ramble and panic when he gets nervous. He’s so cute. I squeeze his hand as he inhales and exhales calmly. Bob continues “My intentions with Y/N… she is my world. We started as friends and we were best friends. I still remember that we only stopped being friends for one week because I insulted her to try to get in with the cool crowd. It was the worst thing I’ve done and I regret nothing more.” I reply “Babe, that’s not helping your case with my dad right now. You’ve beaten yourself up about that a lot, it’s okay. I love you and know you don’t think of me as an object to be won like those other idiots.” My dad asks “So, they were talking about women as objects?” Bob says “Yes sir. I told them the next day that I don't agree with them and why they should praise women. I went on this long rant about why we should support women and about women’s history in the Air Force. I know a lot about history, which can bore some. Those guys never wanted to talk to me again, but it’s okay because they were kicked off the mission for sexual harassment a few days after that. I’m not one for wishing karma on others, but I believe they got what was coming to them.” My dad says “I think you did what was right and that they deserved that as well. No one should ever treat women like that.” Bob replies “No they shouldn’t. I stand up for women now if I hear someone insult them... all that to say, I love Y/N and I want her to be happy. I think she’s a brilliant, impressive, beautiful, kind, loving, amazing girl. She lights up the room with her smile and personality. I heard you saw how I move to be with Y/N in a room and I have to tell you that I feel safe with her. She makes me feel safe, loved, trusted, and heard when I’m near her. She’s also my best friend and someone I can always rely on. I would love nothing more than a bright happy future with your daughter, sir.” Penny says “You are the sweetest boy. If I wasn’t twice your age and taken by Y/N, I would swoop you up.” My dad gasps and says “You didn't include me.” Penny sasses back “You haven't even asked me out properly.”

Oh snap!!! I do not want to be in this conversation right now.

I gently push Bob away back to our friends and we make it back to them.

Bob sits down and I sit next to him. I lean my head on his shoulder and he wraps his arm around me. I yawn and ask “How was your day today? I’m very tired.” He replies “I am stressed with the mission. Being on a plane with Phoenix is fun though because she thinks through her decisions more than my last partner on a mission. Why did your dad hold you back today?” I answer “He knows that I’m exhausted. He said that he’s pushing me because he knows I can succeed with the challenges thrown at me. He said that is why I switch aviators all the time. But, it stresses me out so much. I want to work well with everyone and I want to succeed as a WSO, so there’s not much I can change.” He replies “Babe, it’s stressing you. You should tell your dad to ease it up on you. Is there anything else stressing you out? I’m here for you, Y/N.” I reply “I don’t want to fail. As Maverick’s daughter, I have to succeed.“ He kisses me on the forehead and says “I love you and you’re an amazing WSO. I think you might be better than me. You’re not going to fail anyone least of all your dad. You were chosen to be at Top Gun because you are one of the best. You just have to believe it.” I reply “I may have been chosen for Top Gun, but this mission is dangerous. I want to make it back and I want to have a future with you.” He kisses me on the forehead again and says “We’ll be safe, Y/N. I know you and you’ll survive. I will too. We’ll have a future together. Speaking of, so you like me?” I laugh and he says “I’m kidding, babe. I love you and I can imagine the bright future we have. Do you think your dad likes me?” I answer “Of course. He has to.” He replies “I also wanted him to know that I respect women. If we have any sons, they will too.” I ask “Sons? Bob, are you pregnant?” He laughs and answers “No I’m not. I just love you and want a future with you.” I reply “Let’s finish this conversation after this death-defying mission we have coming up.” He smiles and we kiss.

THANKS FOR READING!!! I appreciate you. Comment with any requests or ideas:) ILY!!!

#top gun movie #top gun maverick #Top Gun fic #top gun imagine #top gun imagines #top gun bob #bob floyd #robert bob floyd #bob floyd x reader #robert floyd x reader #bob floyd x female reader #bob floyd x y/n #maverick daughter

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gab-has-adhd · 23 days

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What are your Illumi head-canons/ what do you think of Illumi as a character?

Hello 🌸

I had listed my favorite headcanons about him (and about Hisoka as well) in the past; the list is here!

This list might or might not be outdated and might possibly lack a few more recent headcanons I have developped over time. Although I can't really think of any aat the moment hahaha, it's almost 2 AM for me and I had a long, tiring day, so my brain is pretty much scrampled egg now 🥴

To keep it short enough, my personal views of Illumi is that he is a desperate case, who's far too horrible to deserve redemption. He's probably heavily traumatized, but at the same time he's either unaware of his trauma(s) or he is in complete denial. Which sounds... maybe more plausible given the fact that Illumi seems to not even realize Killua hates him and that he has basically traumatized his little brother. His views on what love and affection is supposed to be are completely skewed. He gives an immense importance to family and family values. I'm pretty certain he was kinda a momma's boy when he was younger (might still be). I also think that, being the first born, Illumi must have suffered a *lot*. I mean, he was Silva and Kikyo's first child after all. In a way, he might possibly have been a guinea pig. I don't know how Illumi's assassin training was or what it was specifically, but it must really have been *bad* to turn him... like that :'))

One of my recent new headcanons is a theory I heard from NewWorldReviews, and one I cannot believe I didn't even think of sooner; Illumi might have needled himself. Since we know, from Shalnark, that manipulators can use their powers on themselves... Illumi needling himself to render himself expressionless (possibly harnessing emotions he couldn't control all that well?) and to turn himself into a "flawless" killing machine sounds like a very Illumi thing to do. And this needle somehow eventually began to malfunction or to just be less efficient, and I want to believe that this is because of Hisoka's influence.

Oh, yeah, about Hisoka, I 100% believe Hisoka is the very reason why Illumi "strayed from the path of the assassin" (as Tsubone said). There are just... too many things at this point. From the very beginning the two are introduced as a pair; they have matching outfits, they are both terrible persons whose only friend (or what is closer from a friend) is the other. There are so many details highlighting the very deep nature of Hisoka and Illumi's relationship, and I feel too tired to write them all down, but I did this little thing a few days ago that feels very on-point:

Illumi freaking out when witnessing Nanika's power is, to me, the real Illumi, and the whole emotionless shtick had been a nen-induced facade to be able to focus properly on his job, and on helping the family. Hisoka is very actively turning him worse. And I will die on this hill. 🌸

Illumi's odd behavior aboard the Black Whale (i.e using "Boku" instead of "Ore", asking specifically for a room with a shower, etc) had been read, to some as a possible sign that this Illumi is a disguised Hisoka. This theory was fun but has since then been mostly refuted, since the moment Hisoka actually appeared om the boat. To me, I think this strange behavior from him might be a sign that... Illumi is once again being influenced by Hisoka. He is pretty much becoming more "frivolous", seemingly less focused on just doing his job n stuff. Even if he could have boarded the Black Whale to reach the Dark Continent and possibly find more Ais (maybe he was somehow able to discover that Nanika is from the Dark Continent? Maybe it is something known of the Zoldycks?? Maybe it's linked to Zzigg???), I still cannot help but to find it funny that from his last appearance in the Election Arc to his introduction to the Phantom Troupe, Illumi went from "I want Nanika's power at all costs" to pretty much helping a bunch of gangsters to hunt a clown down through a giant boat... this sounds pretty silly lol like make up your damn mind babyyyy, I thought you was going to hunt down Killua and Alluka, I thought you wanted to gain control over Killua or smth???

Again, he might just be here for the calamity Ai. Or. Or Hisoka might have called him for help after getting his ass kicked by Chrollo. Maybe Illumi is a double agent. Maybe he's here to help Hisoka with his revenge. Maybe the only reason he joined the Troupe is to infiltrate them, to kill them more easily. Maybe he's just another traitor, and he took advantage of Chrollo being so enraged he becomes completely gullible.

After all, Zoldycks don't kill each other and Hisoka is part of the family now. 🌸

YES, I KNOW, I know the mariage thing has yet yo be a widely accepted fact, but honestly, I fail to see how it could just be Illumi using Prenup and Engagement Ring as metaphors or silly analogies, when the Illumi we see has always seemed like a rather straight-to-the-point kind of guy. He has never seemed like the kind to play with words. And this might also just really be a twisted game between two equally as fucked up individuals, but still. I want to believe. This cruise is their honeymoon, and the Spiders are going down. I want to believe. Let me believe. :')))

Okay I wrote way more than what I expected so I'm going to stop here 😭 I am very, very eepy.

Thank you for the ask! It's fairly extremely rare that i get sent anything, and it warms my heart to be asked about stuff like my headcanons about a characters that had been living rent-free in my brain for 2 years :)))

[As always when I write this kind of post, reminder that headcanons are what they are, and you are allowed to disagree, but if you do, don't come yelling at me 😅]

#gab talks #gab replies #hxh #hxh headcanons #headcanons #hunter x hunter #hunterxhunter #illumi #illumi zoldyck #gabs stuff #hxh spoilers #hxh manga spoilers

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thegeminisage · 2 months

Text

ok! it's time for a ds9 update. last night we squeezed in "move along home" and "the nagus."

move along home (ds9):

i am Informed this is a divisive episode but honestly i had fun w it!!

nice 2 see jake always. every time jake is on screen w his dad sisko my best friend sisko get to exude good dad energy. love that.

like. please. he's gonna give jake the talk? at 14??? 14 is too late. he knows everything. also lmao the fact that nog there ferengi where women don't wear clothes told him everything. i'm choosing to ignore my annoyance with ferengis as a whole and find that funny because of sisko's reaction

reasonably funny antics between quark and odo here. i am getting a little tired of odo not getting anything to do besides flirt with quark, but then i have to remind myself that odo had an episode all to himself quite literally six episodes ago, it's just our insane watch order + bad batch and natla coming out that makes it feel longer to me

quark like screaming on his knees begging not to have to put someone to death when nbody was gonna die anyway was actually really funny, but i do like the nuance in his kneejerk reaction when he found out the pieces were people, which was to forsake pride and ask odo to play for him. he could have gotten defensive for the bit, which he did do later, but his first reaction was to be scared which is like completely normal and went a long way towards humanizing him in an otherwise VERY silly episode

my favorite moment of this episode, besides the part where they hotboxed the shap, was when those little balls of light were coming towards them and sisko was like FIND COVER and julian bashir, instead of finding cover, stood directly aainst the wall they were aiming at, ass first. and then died. i want that twink obliterated.png

the nagus (ds9):

thank you to whomstever warned me about this episode

it was not good and it did suck bad. i think this was the first real dud ds9 gave us (i'm not counting the q one cuz that was basically a tng episode in disguise). i feel like it would be sooo easy to walk back some of the really awful elements of the ferengi but instead of doing that we have chosen to crank them up to 11. sexism, antisemitism, etc etc...

my other problem is that. and before anyone gets mad i have a touch of faceblindness. I CANNOT TELL THOSE FERENGI APART. they gave two of the ferengi the same nose and i was totally lost trying to follow the plot.

quark holding the idiot ball. he's dumb in his own way because everyone on that space station is using their last brain cell but he's also very shrewd. so it just felt off. and again odo had nothing to do except flirt with him but that's a me problem

BUGS FOR DINNER. i hated this episode in more ways than one

THAT SAID. we finally got to see o'brien again! and shockingly i really really really really liked the b plot

i did go blind with rage when nog got pulled out of school. yes. but the rest of it.

first of all it's really funny that jake is running around with nog all the time and their families are both going DON'T!!! and sisko is like Oh No My Son Has Discovered Girls when there is every evidence he is even now discovering boys

SECONDLY sisko reminding o'brien that one day his adorable little three year old will be 14 and the light leaving o'brien's eyes

but my favorite part is that jake wasn't being late to curfew because he's a bad kid or falling under a bad influence. he's a GOOD kid doing an AWESOME thing. idk, it was really sweet that like, even when sisko was like "yeah racism's bad but with ferengi it's different" jake was like "is it? :/" and then went right on teaching his buddy how to read. and now he's earned dad's permission to hang out with nog finally. it was a fun little subplot that i didn't realize was going anywhere and then it did. a very pleasant surprise and kept the episode from being a complete drag.

also, dax coming it and daintily sampling sisko's soup or whatever, then deftly getting rid of sisko so she could help herself to a giant heap lmao. queen

anyway, even though that's definitely been the worst ds9 ep so far, it wasn't NEARLY as bad as some of tng's duds. i'm thinking specifically of "code of honor," "violations," etc. like it could have been so much worse. i'm not going to delude myself into thinking we're past all the clunkers just yet, but i was still expecting a solid hour of agony and what i got was not that. not good by any means but not tng. whew!

TONIGHT: "starship mine" and "lessons" from tng. thots and prayers🙏

#personal #star trek blogging #ds9 lb

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according2thelore · 10 days

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thank you so much for the tag in that post!!! i immediately forgot every fact about myself unfortunately BUT i have two follow up qs for y'all.........

MERLIN! i am also obsessed with merlin and btw if you have a merlin account you are OBLIGATED BY LAW to tell me. constitutional amendment from the obama era. i think the merlin <--> supernatural pathway is all about duty by the way. and also gay sex.

also charlotte consider this ask your one drink please 🍷 and DO TELL!

haha, that's so fair! we love follow-up qs!

lizzy:

uh-oh! by law you say?? i'm sweatin'...i also love merlin! so much! i cannot shut up about it, and i have written/continue to write for merlin under a different account...but i fear i might have to break the law on this one. and it's strictly for the reason that i have Very Normal friends not familiar with fandom that follow my writing/keep up with my other ao3 and if they find out i shake the boys from spn between my teeth like a dog, i would have some massive explaining to do. obama's gonna come break my door down 😔 i am kissing you passionately in apology! but i think folks like my merlin work pretty okay! my biggest merlin fic is around 100k hits, which blows my mind with violence each day lol

you get it!!! you get it so hard!!!!!! what drives me crazy about merlin and spn is the inevitability of it all. they are soulmates, and they are fated to be joined, but at what cost? literally what cost? they are opposed forces, hunter and hunted, but a bond of love and forgiveness and belonging that keep them tethered beyond separation. it's the continuous loss and torture and fear and not leaving! they don't want to leave! their lives would be easier if they didn't love each other, but they can't stop. and they HAVE SEX! one of the things that sticks in my brain so hard about merlin specifically is the lengths that merlin goes to protect/save uther for arthur's sake. like that level of devotion, even at the betrayal of self, is BARK INDUCING!!! i could write forever and ever amen about merlin, so if i don't stop now, this entire post will just be me yapping and yapping.

charlotte:

oh my god WELL a few moments stand out from that day. first, lizzy and I were THE ONLY ONES TO DRESS UP after lizzy explained that people dressed up at cons (this was my first con ever—baby’s first!). Also me when I lie lol there were a couple sexy castiels but I digress. (lizzy note: there was also a billie and death cosplayer that blew my fucking mind my beloved <3)

second, literally everyone at our con had already met the boys. like. a girl pulled out a BINDER with like 4 m&g photos per page and just kept flipping through it. so while we were nervous wrecks all day, everyone was mysteriously so…chill?? like we picked up food on the way there and barely ate any of it since we were making ourselves ill.

waiting in line?? girl embarrassing you wouldn’t have wanted to see us because we were HYPERVENTILATING. as soon as we cleared the doorway and saw jared, he made eye contact with us and kept glancing over the line to check when we were coming up (because of our slay niche fits) and as soon as we did, he said the episode BY NAME and told us we did a great job. (lizzy note: he was very excited and also his hand is as big is my waist i blacked out the whole thing if i didn’t have a pic i wouldn’t think it happened)

that man’s chest and arms. gigantic. bigger than my head. he was as solid as a piece of marble. we were like what the fuck. took our picture and NO JOKE we had to sit down on the floor in the hallway. we called lizzy’s mom. we bragged to the barista in the convention center, who was also very excited. we vomited and threw up because misha was next but in character and costume and let me just say

that man’s hands were FRIGID.

I’ll say it!! (looking at you lizzy who doesn’t remember it smh.) his m&g was slay ish because he was just smoldering and barely said anything (LMAO our man was tired and they were running 2 hrs behind). but! hilarious. I have both of the pictures hanging in identical frames next to each other in my first grown up apartment and it looks like the same photo at a first glance. it is the second most expensive thing on my wall (my diploma taking first 🤧).

and that…that was a glorious day. we’re trying to go again since jensen was sold out so we can complete the trifecta 🫶

-charlotte (& lizzy! hello! 2-for-1!)

#ask box #charlotte answers #lizzy answers #secondhandroad #bestie <3 beloved secondhandroad <3

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i-amtransexual · 1 year

Text

HELLO HI FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELLO.

It's finished I am done I am so tired and so so happy about this fic. Happy new year's @finalcontrolroom you were my gift recipient, i hope you like it! This is my gift fic as a part of the @mcytblrholidayexchange ! Tumblr version below :D

"Oh trust me," they snarled, finally standing up from where she had been sitting, xer cheeks slowly starting to return back to their normal temperature, "If I had wings I would be significantly more proficient in using them than you ever could be."

"If an incompetent as shit twat like you ever gets wings, I'll do whatever you want for a day." Tubbo said, glaring.

Ranboo scoffed. "Oh bee boy, don't go promising me something so tempting so easily," she snarked, leaning in real close and failing to notice Tubbo's shortening of breath. "I'd find far too many ways to ruin your life for good."

----------

Ranboo is so whipped for Tubbo, except she isn't, she really isn't, xe definitely hates him. Tubbo is head over heels in love but has to play along, because at least that way he gets to talk to her. Also, it’s new years and Ranboo has no idea what that is! Shenanigans shall ensue.

Author Note.

Heyyyyy sooooo *looks at that romance tag* gotta be honest not at all where I was heading with this. Was just gonna have o!Ranboo going on some silly little adventures with the theme of new years, do a bit of worldbuilding and maybe have a little bit of o!beeduo/r in the background, as a treat. However, as always, they have taken over my brain and o!Ranboo the glorious light of my life that she is, is now gonna be going on a little trip down romance lane. Did I manage enemies to lovers? Probably not, never written it before! Hope it kinda applies though? This is getting very long, down to the point.

Hello my giftee here is the fic i have written for you. Mainly o!beeduo, i too adore o!sneeg but i could not do him justice as the main character so he had to have a smaller role i’m afraid. To make it clear, Ranboo is transfem, uses she/xer/they, and i love xer. Tommy uses she/him, Tubbo uses he/him, him and Tommy are both transmasc, because wahoo why not.

Hope you enjoy!

It was Sunday, and Ranboo was having a nice catnap in the sun, her tail lazily swinging back and forth as she leant against the entrance of xer cave. She heard the glow berry vines rustle above them as the wind breezed lightly into her home, and a berry fell into their claw. Surprised, xe examined it. It was a perfect specimen, skin firm, yet not tough, glowing a soft gold as all glowberries do, and with the scent of the sparkling alcoholic drink Phil was so fond of. She popped it into her mouth and let the flavour of sweet and sour wash over xer, as a popping feeling enveloped her tongue. Their eyes were closed, and they let out a contented sigh as she savoured the smell and the taste of a glowberry perfectly in season. It is a truly wonderful moment in a lovely day, and nothing could possibly ruin it.

Ranboo's lovely day was immediately put to a halt as she heard the frantic buzzing of wings quickly grow louder, and she opened her eyes just in time to see a panicked bee hybrid crash into her, xer crown toppling off and his goggles clattering to the ground. The both of them groaned from the collision, Ranboo attempting to raise a claw to rub her sore head, before finding to their annoyance it was tangled up in the arms of the incredibly beloathed Tubbo.

"You absolute imbecile!" she said to him angrily, arm stuck wiggling as Tubbo tried and failed to stand, before he fell onto xer again. "What good are those wings if you cannot even use them?!"

Tubbo frowned angrily back at her, his face a furious red as he tried to untangle himself from the glow berry vines he had crashed into, causing fruit to rain onto the two of them.

"Don't fucking blame me, 'princess' " he said in a mocking tone, causing Ranboo's own face to heat angrily. "The wind changed and it being a bitch is hardly my fault. Not like you could use wings better than I could, dickhead."

Ranboo chose not to take offence to that last insult, instead preferring to fixate on Tubbo’s challenge, not that he meant to frame it as one.

Tubbo, kneeling on the ground, still goggleless as Ranboo fixed her crown with a huff, ignored the redness of his cheeks and the pain his knees were in and simply shot back with,

"If an incompetent as shit twat like you ever gets wings, I'll do whatever you want for a day."

At a standstill, Ranboo finally noticed the now rather crushed flower garlands Tubbo had been carrying.

"What are those and why did you decide to come break them in my cave?" xe said, trying to keep her tone annoyed but accidentally letting a bit of curiosity seep through.

Tubbo looked down and cursed the strangest string of words Ranboo had ever heard, leaving her to decide it must have been a word in Apiarian, rather than Universal or Ender.

"Pissine n shettning n böllez," Tubbo muttered under his breath, gathering the broken garlands in his arms. As he used his left arm to fix his goggles back on his head, he searched with his other three to find a specific garland.

Hesitantly, almost shyly, Ranboo thought, he held out one of the garlands to xer, one that was mostly intact ,with alliums, white roses and pink tulips being held together by twine.

"Phil suggested I give you one, it wasn't my idea" Tubbo made sure to blurt out first, and Ranboo rolled her eyes as she reached and plucked it out of his arms. They spun it around, viewing it from every angle, yet for the life of her xe couldn't figure out what it was.

"It's to celebrate for new years," Tubbo said, one hand rapidly fidgeting with his belt, the others straightening the garlands out. "Since you're new, Phil knew that you wouldn't know about our tradition in the valley, so he told me to make one for you."

Strangely touched, Ranboo tried to say thank you. However, it got over-thought about a billion times before it reached their mouth so instead the question of "What’s new years?" came out instead.

Tubbo stared at xer for a while, thoroughly puzzled before she snapped at him, embarrassed,

"Look, if you're too unknowledgeable to tell me I'll just go ask Tommy instead, since clearly she's smarter than you."

Whether Tubbo was offended by the insult of Tommy being smarter than him, or if it was the (unlikely) fact that he knew Tommy would tease her much more for it than he would, he answered her.

"Well, we celebrate the end of this year, and the start of the new one. We all kinda have our own personal traditions around it, and Tommy at least is very serious about his week of worshipping prime, but it's mostly just about reminiscing and looking forward to things."

Before Ranboo could ask more about why the year was ending so quickly, or what Tommy's week of prime worship was about, Tubbo flew off and she was left with more questions unanswered.

Just out of listening distance, Tubbo collapsed to his knees out of breath, and cursed Wilbur to the top of the mountains and back for pushing him into the north wind and in the direction of one very pretty, and very scary, Ender princess.

----------

"Tooommmyyyy" Ranboo called, her voice echoing off of the marble walls, as they carefully avoided the water rushing down from the ceiling. Xe was met with Wilbur, who silently and violently shushed her, before he turned back to his place in his seat and folded his wings out, keeping his eyes closed and hands held out in front of him.

"What scam is this weirdo trying to trick me into today?" she thought, before his tail pulled her into the seat next to him. About to shout at him, Ranboo was stopped by Wilbur whispering "Just copy my posture and I'll explain once we get outside."

Very, very, hesitant, Ranboo followed suit nonetheless, and slowly xe became attuned to every noise in the building. The rushing of the waterfall was now less deafening, as each breath she and Wilbur took whispered through the room. The sound of feathers took them by surprise, and she quickly squinted one eye open to see Tommy emerging from the door at the side of the very front of the room. Feeling Wilbur's presence next to her, they shut xer eyes tightly and waited.

Tommy, with much pomp and ceremony, looked around the room and was absolutely delighted to see a whole second person in her church to prime. Barely containing a squeal, he rushed back into the sideroom, and picking up two more of his grandchildren, she returned to her slow walk down the aisle to the only two people attending his ceremony.

Ranboo was told she could "Open your eyes under the blessing of prime, hi Ranboo you lanky bitch hurry up hurry up hurry up look at this," and was greeted with a chicken wiggling in one claw, and a warm egg in the other.

Wilbur nudged her, with a chicken and an egg also struggling to balance themselves in his hands, and confused, she nodded at Tommy and said her thanks in time with a smirking Wilbur. Beaming, Tommy bent to kiss both the eggs, before grabbing the two chickens and stuffing both of them under each arm. She waddled up to the front of the room, and holding on to the prime symbol around her neck, he began his speech.

"Today, on the first day of the last week of a year graced by the presence of me, and blessed by many subscriptions with prime, every person is granted An Egg." Tommy's grin was stretched wide, and would have been contagious had Ranboo not been wondering why he had capitalized those last two words in speech.

"I thank you for your promise to subscribe with prime, as you all have, by volunteering yourself to care for this egg until it's last moments. Your newfound parenthood is a symbol of the birth of the new year that is to come, and I hope you are as excited to look after this child as you are for the new year. Gertude and her many grandchildren thank you for this service, and I thank you for your forever promise to care for my great grandchildren. I hope you all make me a very proud grandfather, little ones!" Tommy called, face filled with joyous rapture, before she turned heel and strode out the side door. Ranboo sat with the egg in her claw dumbfounded, before Wilbur rolled her eyes and pulled xer outside.

"That," Wilbur said to answer her as yet unasked question, "Was the first day of twitch prime week. It's Tommy's thing she does during our new years celebrations, and i'm normally the only one that goes along with it." Wilbur smiled at her, and Ranboo was struck by how genuine it seemed to be.

"I think he was really pleased there was a second person actually there today, even if I did force you to be there." Ranboo nodded, looking closely at the egg in xer hand.

"What is this for, exactly?" they said, gesturing to it. Wilbur laughed. "Weren't you listening?"

She bristled, ready to insult him into the next week, (or rather next year, at this point in time) but he saw the look in xer eyes and hurried along.

"It's from one of Tommy's chicken in the fucking army she seems to have bred them into. We're supposed to look after the chicken until the end of the first week of next year, then we give it back to Tommy so he can continue to have a ridiculous amount of chickens. It’s not at all a traditional prime thing, but seeing as Tommy is the only person who believes in prime that i know it’s not like i’m the expert"

Ranboo was absolutely terrified at suddenly having to care for a new life, but Wilbur was completely fine. "You don't really have to worry about it though, most of the eggs Tommy's chickens lay end up as the eggs for cooking. See?" Wilbur held his out into the sun, his hand still in the shade, and Ranboo could see the faintest shine of yellow on the edge of the shell. "Yellow means it has a yolk, not a chicken, inside. Almost all the eggs are yellow."

Ranboo seemed torn between asking what colour her egg was, and waiting to see what Wilbur would do with his egg. She didn't have to wait long, as Jack Manifold was seen cresting over the hill and Wilbur took the chance to fade into the ground.

"Ayup Ranboo!" Jack called, and Ranboo raised a claw in greeting.

"Good noon, Jack," they said, deciding to stow the egg in her inventory for the moment. Jack nodded at her.

"How's your new years coming along?" he asked good naturedly, planting his feet firmly in the ground, a well enough distance away that his blaze rods wouldn't accidentally catch xer hair on fire, again.

Once more, here was this unknown and terrifying "new years" that Ranboo did not at all understand. Tommy had prime, Tubbo had his weird flower things and yet neither of those explained to her what this one cohesive new years thing was at all. And, well, when xe didn't understand something, she had to fake it till she made it.

"My new year's is coming along perfectly, and far better than yours ever will," they sniffed haughtily, and internally breathed a sigh of relief when Jack seemed to take no outward offence.

"Perfect, ay? Already? You better look out for when it goes wrong, because perfect is a hard place to fall from," he said good naturedly.

"I'm gonna go drop by Niki's for a bit in the afternoon, but otherwise let me know if you need help recovering from your "perfect" new years," he laughed, giving them a wave and walking off.

Ranboo stayed just long enough to watch Wilbur pop out of a tree and crack his egg over Jack's head, where it began to sizzle and burn ferociously, before they teleported back to their cave to find a warm, safe place for their egg.

----------

"Ranboo!!! What's up!" A new day, a new morning had passed, and now at 12pm Ranboo was greeted with a very loud, and a very tipsy, Sneegsnag right in her ear. Wincing, she plucked him off her shoulder and unceremoniously dropped him to the floor, after she had properly ascended the ladder and crouched through the doorway.

"Good to see you Sneeg," she replied, sitting on the ground next to the tiny table that he had set up.

"Raaaaaaanboo!! Helo!" Fundy also greeted xer, a jug of mead in hand and his cheeks somehow redder than usual.

Ranboo, though still unsure why any being with a brain would choose to intoxicate themselves in such a way that their body and brain were poisoned, for fun, was glad that they had chosen mead to drink, as it had the least unpleasant smell of all the alcohols she had thus far encountered.

"So since everyone here seems to be carried away with this “new years” thing" xe said, shaking a few leaves out of her hair and barely avoiding hitting her head on a lower hanging branch, "Will the two of you care to explain what tradition this is?"

"Well," Sneeg and Fundy began, before they both glanced at each other and burst into drunken laughter. As Sneeg’s fork accidently got flung against the room and planted itself into the trunk near her head, Ranboo wondered why she had bothered to come over.

"There was a realm i came from" Sneeg started, before snorting and having to start again. "Called RLcraft, and Fundyyyyyy, joined me once or twice."

"You were bigger then," Fundy shouted, for some reason, even though he was but a few feet away, "Old age has made him shrink already, itty little bug boy."

"Dude, shut the fuck up."

Ranboo sniffed, pretending to turn up her nose at the unsightly behavior of the two, but secretly they found it very entertaining, and were planning to take notes. For completely innocent purposes of course.

"Hey RANboo, did sneeg ever tell you, about the time we fought a… a what was, a tower guardian?" Fundy was thoroughly drunk, making his words slurry and blurred together but this question intrigued Ranboo.

"We were drunkasshit, then too," Sneeg remarked, the middle of his sentence an incoherent mess of sounds.

Ranboo decided to simply watch the two as they bantered back and forth, listening with great interest as they reminisced. Sneeg, for all she knew was a capable and devious little guy, apparently also had a lot of experience surviving in one the most dangerous servers known, or "realm" as he incorrectly labled it.

"Youknow," sneeg yawned, "I used to do this every year with my buddy Union, before i fucked off to here."

"The blue guy?" Fundy asked, barely awke.

"Bitch, I'm the blue guy. But yeahhhh," a large yawn, "it'sa pretty good newyeard tradition. Always fun tryig to fight a sea serpent when you’re not so-” a giant yawn,”sober."

"Raaahn… boo. what're you do for new year's?" Fundy's question shook Ranboo out of the quiet contentment she had been sitting in, and she pondered the query for a while.

"I guess the closest ender holiday that's equivalent to the "new years" celebration, is The Great Sleep," Ranboo said, eyes taking on a far away look. "A year in the end seemed to last about 7 or so of the years here, so I guess that's why I was so surprised when it was drawing so close so early."

Tubbo, who had been heading to Sneeg's to ask if he had any wax he could use, slowed down as he heard her voice and quietened his footsteps, before he paused just outside the entrance.

"It sounds kind of ominous, but it wasn't, really." She said, with intense longing in her voice. "After 7 years guarding us, well, the current dragon always got very tired, you know, and they deserved a break. So, a long time ago, we established The Great Sleep. The ruler would announce that The End was to go into a period of rest, and that they would begin the Change Over, and once they awoke, the year would begin once more."

"So, the dragon would go to sleep, in a special area where time was frozen for them, and the ruler, in my case my mother, would take their place for at least 7 days, but normally no longer than a month. We would always hope against hope that, of course, no overworlders would try to come and challenge us during that time, but the void always seemed on our side during The Great Sleep."

"Since coming up here, I have heard tales, at least from Phil, of the luck for an end raid always being especially bad every 7 years or so, of ender eyes breaking at an alarming rate, the stronghold being deep underwater, or surrounded by lava, of having no eyes at all left in the portal, of the room being nigh impossible to find. During The Great Sleep, I could never stay at rest for longer than a day or two, so I would spend every night watching through the portal in the temple, my mother circling the portal to the overworld, looping through the towers and I watched in fascination. For there are no other endariens or endermen on that island during The Great Sleep, and she would always seem so very alone."

Ranboo sighed, and Tubbo wished that he could give her a hug, but fear of being found out held him back.

"Normally by day 6 or 7 or so, the rest of my family had joined me, and at least by the 10th day most of the rest of the empire would have woken. But we weren't allowed to leave our homes to see others, or to party or celebrate or worship even. We could do all that in our own homes, with family and friends that lived with us, but it was truly a period of, just resting."

Xe leant her head back against the tree trunk, deep in thought.

"I suppose it has something to do with the fact that endermen and endariens don't sleep." And, far quieter than before, they admitted, "And, I suppose, I'm not really a proper one of either of them, so that's why I am so weak and have to sleep every few days, rather than months."

"But there's still a part of me that deeply misses it," she said, "We would have Chorus fruit juice on the first day of the ruler's return, and then there would be a party during however long the ruler's rest period was." Xe grew quiet, and Tubbo could hear her fiddling with her bracelets, the gold and iron clinking in the relative silence. "It's funny to think it's stuck with me for so long but," they gave out a little laugh, "I still know how to make the banners, and the recipe to make the chorus juice fizz. That was my favourite trick that mother taught me."

Xe was interrupted by a colossal snore from Sneeg, followed by a quieter "snork… mimimimimi…." from Fundy, who had curled up on his chair, hat having fallen to the ground.

"So neither of you two were even listening. Wonderful." She got up, brushed a few leaves from xer dress and teleported outside, not irritated to bother with the ladder. They then immediately fell onto Tubbo, for the second time in two days.

“URGH!” she cried, incredibly irritated as she stood up and smoothed out her dress, ears hot from embarrassment, (nothing else) “What is with you always being in my way, you idiot!’

“H-hey!” Tubbo replied angrily, face flushed and fists balled up, “You're the one who teleported into me this time, so that’s not fair.”

“W-well,” they stuttered, cheeks growing as warm as their ears, “It’s not my fault you’re so easy to miss! You should just get taller.”

Instead of continuing to argue, Tubbo froze for a moment before he burst into laughter. “Y-you” he laughed so much his hand swerve holding his stomach, “you sound j-just like Tommy, ha!”

“Well,” xe sniffed, ‘perhaps Tommy is right for once. If you were taller, t-then it would be much more difficult o run into you.”

Suddenly, Tubbo was hovering in front of her face grinning, his wing s a blur this close to them. “Awww,” he cooed as her face finally started to turn a dark shade of purple, “You almost sound like you’d miss running into me.”

They both stayed there for a moment, Tubbo grinning triumphantly at her and Ranboo completely and utterly flustered, before they squeaked out a “shut up!” and pushed his face away with her claw.

Before Tubbo could reply. she teleported away, pulse racing, but only because he had now seen her in an unseemly situation twice, not because his face was so very close to xer’s, o-or because he smelt like the beginning of spring and new flowers, or because his laugh sounded like the bells that rung out with a sweet tune every hour. C-certainly not that at all.

---------

Very pleased with the outcome of their conversation, Tubbo made his way into Sneeg’s tree, to find both him and Fundy passed out. Shrugging, tubbo rumaged through the chests, found what he needed and left Sneeg a sign with

“took some wax and strinf, thabk’s bossman!”

before he flew up and off to the Pub(e).

He dumped the resources in the nearest chest before he quickly went on the hunt for Phil, an idea in his head and a nervous feeling in his heart.

‘Phil? You here?” he called, and received an

“In here, mate!” from Phil’s office in the Pub(e).

Taking a deep breath, he whispered to himself “This isn’t for her, because I don't care about her, i-it’s just cause she seemed sad, and it’d be kind to do this. “ Knocking on the door, he opened it wide and strode in.

----------

It was the third day of prime week, and Ranboo had managed to avoid Tommy’s latest service with a warning from Wilbur on xer communicator.

Wilbur whispered to you: I know I said Tommy would appreciate you coming to all of his service but do not fucking come today. She’s planning to make us make hats out of all the feathers his chickens shed, and we have to wear them all. Fucking. Day. Or he’ll cry and then Phil will get involved so just don’t. Plus he wants a diamond for entry so save your money and go see Niki or smth.

You whispered to Wilbur: Noted.

You whispered to Wilbur: …. Thanks

Ranboo had finished doing her hair, and she decided agasint wearing any of her horn jewllrey for the day. Xe was going to see Niki, and if she had to take a water resistant potion every 8 minutes that she was there, she wasn’t going to bother with a lot of fancy clothes. Just about to teleport down the mountain, her eye caught on the garland Tubbo had given her, now lying on top of her chest. They didn’t know why, but they decided to take it with xer when she went to see Niki.

“Hello Ranboo!” Niki called cheerfully, her hand waving above the water. Ranboo raised and a claw in greeting back and replied

“Good afternoon Niki. How has your day been?”

‘How nice of you to ask!” Niki said brightly, swimming a little closer to the dock. “I saw the sunrise this morning, and it was very lovely. Jack also stopped by to hand me the wreath Tubbo had made me.”

Ranboo was very thankful xe had brought her own “wreath” as Niki had called it, with her.

‘I received one of those from Tubbo as well,” she said, sitting cross legged at the end of the wooden dock. “A-and, I was wondering if perhaps you knew why he gives these out?’

Before Niki could reply Ranboo added “He told me it was Phil’s idea, but i have a feeling that it’s not.”

Niki laughed at that.

“What a weird thing to say. No, Tubbo has done that every year we’ve been here. It’s an Apian thing, something about flowers symbolising their love to carry you through to the next year. Apian culture is very romantic.”

“L-love?” Ranboo squeaked, thoroughly surprised, her ears flushing. “B-ut why would T-Tubbo give me-”

“Oh no no, don’t worry” Niki laughed, “Tubbo told us when he first gave them out that everyone gives them to eveyrone, romantic or family or friends. Besides, there’s only certain kinds of flowers that are romantic, you know? They all have different meanings. I’ll go get mine to show you.”

Niki dove underwater, a large splash making the dock rock slightly and spattered Ranboo with water. She gave a small yelp at the coldness of it, but was very glad she had had a water resistant potion before she had come down to see Niki.

There was a disruption in the water and Niki’s head popped back up above the surface, grinning widely with all her pointed teeth on display.

“Sorry,” she grinned cheekily as Ranboo glared at her, trying their best to intimidate Niki, for all that xe looked like a bedraggled cat. “I knew you had taken a potion, and I just couldn't resist the opportunity.”

“So did you find your wreath or was that just an excuse to get me soggy?” Ranboo snapped, very displeased.

Niki giggled. “It’s right here.”

She held up a wreath that shone with an enchantment, most certainly a water resistant charm, made up of orange and white tulips, also held together with twine, with glow berries dispersed throughout.

“You know, it’s quite funny,” she said laying it down on the edge of the dock as Ranboo marvelled at craftmenship of the wreath.

“Phil got me a book of flower meanings for my birthday last year becuase i had started to get into gardening,” she said, her tail lazily swishing from side to side and creating ripples.

“And I remembered it this year when Tubbo gave me my wreath, but it was so strange. “

“What was?” Ranboo asked, starting to get a little impatient with how long Niki was taking to get to her point.

“Well, flowers are a huge part of Apian culture, and when I asked him once Tubbo told me that flower meanings were a very prominent too. So I’m sure he used that when making the wreaths, but I don’t really understand what he’s trying to say.”

“Well, what’s so confusing about your wreath?” Ranboo asked, “It certainly looks very nice.”

“Yes,” Niki nodded in agreement, as she pulled a small book out from seemingly thin air, “But the white tulips mean forgiveness and purity,” she said as she flipped ot a page, “And for one i don’t know whether he’s asking me to forgive him for something, or saying i’m very pure? One is confusing and the other just feels quite insulting.”

Ranboo agreed.

“As for the orange tulips, it says here that they mean “a sense of understanding between two people”, which makes me think the white are for forgiveness. But i have just no clue what I’m supposed to be forgiving him for!”

Her tail thwacked the surface of the lake with that and sprayed over Ranboo’s hair, leaving xer soggier than before. Ranboo’s sputters going unnoticed, Niki went on.

“And with glowberries meaning excitement, but not celebration, which would make sense for new years, i’m stumped on what he trying to tell me.”

Attempting to shake some of her hair dry, Ranboo asked, “I did come to ask if you might know what my wreath meant, but it seems i will end up with just as puzzling an outcome as you did.”

“Well,” Niki said brightly, “If it’s not insulting, hopefully it will end up being rather funny instead. Bring it out here.”

A little shyly, Ranboo retrieved her wreath from xer inventory, and held it gently in her claws.

“Oooh, that one’s really nice!” Niki said, reaching out for it, until Ranboo held it back, her cheeks flushing with heat. “It’s, ah, just a little broken is all. It fell a few times.”

Niki nodded, and had a good look from a distance away. '`I'm very surprised though, II’ve never seen him use any of those flowers in his wreaths before!’

Ranboo’s heart skipped a beat at that, but their brain turned to reason and xe scoffed.

“He’s probably insulted me in a million different ways then,” She snapped, with a toss of her hair, attempting to show indifference. But Niki watched how tightly xe held on to the flowers, and with a knowing smile decided to keep her comments to herself.

“Pink tulips are a symbol of good luck, and white roses signify loyalty.”

The two sat in silence for a moment as they stewed it over.

‘That’s not quite insulting or a complement” Niki said, re reading over the page.

“I suppose good luck could be an insult, but what is he saying I’m bad at?” Ranboo furrowed her brow, “ And as for loyalty, it sounds like a compliment, but even if I were to take it as an insult it just doesn’t make sense at all! I feel like he has to be insulting me, somehow.”

Niki interjected “Well, if i can find the page with alliums, perhaps we can figure this out.”

Ranboo sat in tense silence as Niki flipped through the pages. Why did this matter so much to xer? It was only Tubbo, after all, a-and she hated him anyway, so why should it matter what he thought of her? Why should it matter that he had spent the time to create something that looked so beautiful and must have taken a lot of effort, especially for them? Why did the thought of him, carefully growing and picking flowers with her in mind bring such a flush to her face, the image of his eyes, bright and concentrated and blue as the sky on her favourite days of winter, make her ears go hot and her heart race? I-if he hated xer as much as she really, really definitely hated him, then why would he-

“Ah, here it says alliums mean patience and humility.”

Ranboo bristled, gripping the wreath a lot more angrily than before. “That self absorbed, donkey brained, smart aleck little twit!” She shouted, jumping to her feet, casting the wreath to the dock.

“How, how dare he tell me, that I need patience? That I need humility?” Xe was breathing heavily, feeling her ears heat with anger now, fists balled up tight.

“What kind of a pathetic snivelling coward is he that he can’t even look me in the eyes and say it to my face! The utter arrogance he has, to think he is so above me that he, h-he’s probably laughing at me now, th-thinking he’s won!” She paced back and forth, incensed.

“Ohhhhh, I should have crushed that stupid wreath the moment he gave it to me, that prick. I’m going to put that complete asshole in his place, ahole in the ground like the peasant he is. FLACS LEN!, he just makes me want to scream, that- that utter dickhead!”

“Ayup Niki! Hiya Ranboo!” Jack Manifold’s voice made it’s way to the two of them, and Ranboo, now having to try her best to calm down, turned to him trying to keep a “glower off of her face, shoving her wreath into her inventory and sitting down grumpily.

“Hi Jack!” Niki replied brightly. Jack made his way over to them and sat down a little ways away from them both.

“What’ve you two been up to this fine summer's day?” He said good naturedly.

“Oh, we were just discussing the wreaths Tubbo made us.” Niki said, holding hers up, the scent of the tulips carrying on the breeze.

Jack gave a low whistle as he saw Niki’s wreath. “Gee, that’s a much nicer one than what he gave me!” he said, admiring the blooms.

“Oh, was yours made with wither roses?” Niki joked.

Jack laughed. “Oh no, I mean he made it well! It’s just that it’s meaning was essentially “you have forgotten how to be humble. Get better.” I have a feeling Tommy was part of that. I was reading between the lines a bit but when I asked he told me as such to my face.”

Niki laughed whilst Ranboo fumed inside. If Tubbo could be bothered to insult Jack Manifold and tell him upfront, why couldn’t he show the same base level of respect to xer?

“But really Niki, he’s given yours such a nice meaning, I didn’t think he had it in him. “ Jack remarked.

As Niki and Ranboo looked very confused at this statement, Jack continued hurriedly, “ The orange tulips mean good fortune, right? And the white ones mean wisdom, and the glow berries are for cheerfulness. Stop looking at me like that!” He laughed.

“What, are you confused that he gave you a compliment? I mean, I am a bit surprised too-”

‘Oh no no, Jack,” Niki said, shaking her head, passing her book along to Jack. “I’m just really confused as to how you got those meanings! See, i got this book of flower meanings from Phil last year and mine says something quite different.”

“Oh that’s cause your’s isn’t the Apian flower meaning!” Jack said, turning it over carefully. “I got curious about what my wreath meant last year, so i looked up a book in the library about it.”

“How do you still remember all the meanings though?” Ranboo asked, tail swishing in fascination.

“Well, the book was really interesting and had some other stuff about Apian culture and a few other societies from the Northernmost Area, and well, since everyone here is so different, it'd be helpful to know stuff wouldn’t it? I though i should at least memorise the flower stuff as that would be easy and might come in handy, as it has. ” Jack said,handing Niki her book back.

“And since James is still building the library, I thought I’d just keep the book until he noticed it was gone. And he’s a thoroughly shit librarian cause I’ve had it far past it’s return date. I can lend it to you if you want.”

“Awesome!” Niki said, grinning. “Do you think you could tell us what Ranboo’s wreath means?” she continued, angling her head in Ranboo’s direction.

Ranboo snorted. “It’s probably something thoroughly insulting, no doubt,” xe snipped, still very irritated with the whole affair, but she handed her wreath over to Jack anyway.

They turned away, almost scared of what the wreath would mean. After almost a minute of excruciating silence and hushed whispers, they had to look back at the other two, who were both trying very hard to hold back a laugh.

“What!” she snapped, and Niki started giggling. Feeling xer ears heat, she began to think of the worst insults they could use before Jack interrupted.

“No, really Ranboo, honest, he’s given you a very nice meaning. We were just, um, not quite expecting it.”

“W-well, what is it?” She said, growing impatient.

“Seems Tubbo has given you a love letter with flowers” Niki giggled, and Ranboo’s heart stopped.

“... What?” she said faintly, ears flushing furiously.

“Well,” Jack said, trying not to grin. “He’s given you white roses to mean “new love”,”

Ranboo’s face was ferociously hot, as she tried to not let either of them read her face and failed miserably.

“Alliums mean adoration, gosh he’s such a sap isn’t he?” Jack continued, sending Niki into a fit of giggles.

Ranboo wrapped their tail around her arm as she tried to not let it wave in excitement, and her face felt like it was on fire.

“And finally, pink tulips mean true love and promises.” Jack was fully grinning now, and Niki was beside herself.

Ranboo was blushing a deep purple, and all thoughts of “putting him in his place” had flown far, far away from her mind.

They sat in silence, attempting to come to terms with this new information she had been given.

“W-well,” she stuttered, “th-thats, certainly s-something i suppose..” Xe couldn't even look at the other two because she knew what their expressions would be.

“So, you gonna ask him about it?” Niki teased and Ranboo decided xe had had enough.

“Well! Th-thank you both very much for helping me, i-i’ve got to be going now. Bye!”

With that, she stuffed her wreath into their inventory and used what remaining energy they had left to teleport all the way back home.

Jack and Niki took one look at each other before they both burst into a fit of laughter.

“Remember the time Tommy told you to give me a bouquet of roses for Valentines?” Niki giggled. Jack’s face screwed up, before he started laughing.

“Oh yes, because apparently I have the romantic charm of a dead bug, and that I really needed help, as he so kindly put it” Jack said.

Niki burst into peals of laughter. “Oh Jack, “ she sung, “You’re a lovely guy but I'd rather go for a nice long swim in lava than date you.”

Jack held a hand to his heart. “Oh Niki, “ he simpered, “ You flatter me so. I must say, if I ever had to date you I would rather help Charlie clean all the slime out of his tank.”

They both shuddered at that.

“Let’s hope Tommy never forces us to go on a date then,” Niki said.

“That, would probably be best,” Jack agreed.

----------

It was now the last day of the year, the imminent “New years” only a few hours away, and Ranboo had not left their cave since the incident with Jack and Niki at the dock 4 days prior. A slightly worried Philza had come past, and asked if xe was feeling unwell, but she threw an empty book at him and shouted at him to go away. He had gotten the message.

Ranboo had spent 4 days in her cave, ignoring Wilbur’s messages about Tommy’s week of prime, thankfully not having to dodge any messages or visits from Sneeg or Fundy as the two had decided to go spend a few days back at Sneeg’s old “realm” after getting thoroughly drunk and reminiscing, and Jack and Niki, seeing as they knew what they knew, had thought it best to leave xer alone for a while.

And now it was 8pm on the last day of the year, and Ranboo really couldn't avoid it any longer. “It” being the problem of Tubbo, whom she had found that maybe, awfully, hopefully, she didn’t entirely hate. Oh who was she kidding, he had confessed that he was in love with her and apparently xe had only just realised she felt the same. Now, she held the power in this situation, and yet she was far more afraid. Xe had to go to the celebration tonight, more out of fear of what Tommy and Wilbur would do to her tomorrow if she didn’t, by=ut she desperately didn’t want to face Tubbo.

“Maybe” they thought to themself as they anxiously put the finishing touches on her outfit, “ I can just show up, exchange whatever gifts I need to and leave before he notices me.”

During their 4 days of alone time, they had written up a formidable list of “new years” gifts they had to get, and had decided to get everyone the same thing, with variations for each person’s own style.

As she looked in the mirror, xe froze and her cheeks flushed. When had they decided to wear that dress? Definitely not because Tubbo had complimented it once. She pushed that thought to the back of xer mind and checked their invitation again.

'`PARTY AT THE PUB(E)!’ it said, scrawled in Tommy’s handwriting. “BE THERE OR BE A BITCH!” Underneath, in a much neater font, Wilbur had written. “The celebrations will go on for god knows how long, but please try to arrive from 7 - 8:30 so everyone can exchange gifts, and those who need to sleep can join in on time for their sleep schedules.”

Checking the clock, which read 8:25 now, Ranboo took a deep breath to still xer racing heart, and teleported to the top of the Pub(e). However, instead of being greeted with noise and music and partying and laughter, as she had expected, there was silence.

As xe cautiosuly open her eyes, she was then greeted with a giant shout of “HAPPY END OF THE YEAR!” and was then barrelled over by a very excited Tommy.

‘RANBOO MY FAVOURITE STUCK UP DICKHEAD! Look at the decorations we did, I helped the most, do you really like that juice stuff that much? I tried some and it sucked balls-”

Tommy was rambling very excitedly, her feathers all puffed up and her eyes bright with what Ranboo guessed was sugar.

“Yes yes Tommy, good to see you too-” She began, not having listened to his previous rambling, when she stood up and was shocked by what she saw.

Garlands of various shades and patterns in purple were strung across the beams that were built into the roof of the Pub(e), and small lanterns with Ender symbols on them were hanging about the room. There was a large bowl of punch that had the soft, sour scent of chorus fruit, and the fruit itself garnished cupcakes that sat on the table. At the very centre of the roof, there hung a paper ender dragon, with glitter on it’s wings and two small amethyst shards for it’s eyes. In the centre of the room, the tree of prime had an enderman sitting atop it, and it was adorned with all things purple.

“Sooo…,” Phil said, his eyes wrinkling in that way they did when he was trying not to smile because he was very pleased with himself.

“A little bee told me about some celebrations you have in The End, and although I know it’s not quite the right time for you, I thought you might appreciate something more familiar this year, seeing as it’s your first time celebrating new years with us.”

Everyone else had already started the celebrations, conversations being loud and rambunctious, with a few people drifting over to the food table, and a couple more adding their presents under the prime tree.

“What do you think?” Phil said, smiling at her.

In a strangled voice she replied “I-it’s… nice.”

Phil grinned delightedly. “Do you really think so? We put in so much effort, but I can’t take all the credit. It was Tubbo’s idea after all.”

“...Pardon?” Ranboo croaked, her heart racing at the mention of his name. “What did T-Tubbo do?”

“Oh he told me he heard you talking about this and that about The End and he got a few ideas.. But why don’t you talk to him yourself! Tubbo, mate!” Phil waved Tubbo over, who looked a little nervous but nowhere near close to how Ranboo felt. Xe cursed Phil a million times over in her head, casting as many threats of eternal suffering on him as possible as they glared at his retreating back.

“Uhm, so, hi?” Tubbo said, and Ranboo snapped back to look at him, before she promptly flushed and looked away.

In the continuing silence, Tubbo attempted to fill the awkwardness.

“I hope you don’t mind that I uh, kinda overheard you talking to Sneeg the other day,” Tubbo stumbled over his words. “I really hope you don’t think I’m weird, I just thought, well, i-it’s your first new years with us, and we’ve done heaps of celebrations from everyone else’s homes, s-so I thought it would be fair?”

Ranboo had yet to reply to him, but xe hadn’t started shouting at him either, so he took it as a good sign.

“But yeah! Tommy and Wilbur especially got really excited when Phil asked them to help out. Techno made the dragon! A-and Phil and Tommy and I made the banners. Beau offered to help make food, and Wilbur made the chorus fruit punch, so if it’s really bad that’s why sorry. I uh, didn’t know much about End customs and the book I got, wasn’t that helpful, but I hope it’s alright? And that I haven’t accidentally offended you?-’ Tubbo’s anxious rambling was cut off as he heard a sizzling sound, and he turned in alarm to see that Ranboo was crying.

“Shi! Fuck, Ranboo I’m so sorry, fuck fuck fuck where are the bandages,” Tubbo grabbed her by the claw and dragged them into the kitchen, and he started rummaging around in the drawers.

“Here!’ he said as he flung a tea towel at their head, and grabbed the first aid box. “Uh, just hold that to your face, and try to st-stop crying? Sorry.” Seeing as they had grabbed a bit of attention from the other people at the party, Niki and Phil in particular looking on worriedly, Tubbo suggested, “H-how about we head outside?”

Ranboo nodded, and thankful to finally have a response from xer, he once again grabbed their hands and pulled them outside, to sit on a bench overlooking the crater, the music from inside muffled.

Tubbo took his time applying the burn cream to their face and carefully placing the healing enchantments on her skin.

“There, that should be all good,” he said, relieved, and then he noticed how close he was to her face. Ranboo looked him in the eyes, and flushing, they both turned away from each other awkwardly.

Neither of them said a word for a while, listening to the chatter and laughter from inside, the awkward silence slowly being filled in by the music drifting outside on the breeze.

“Thank you,” Ranboo whispered. Surprised Tubbo turned to see them looking right at him, ears a dark purple and clawss fidgeting.

‘God she’s really pretty,” he thought, his own face a bright red.

“It was n-nothing, don’t worry-” he began before they interrupted him.

“It wasn’t nothing,” xe said, her claw finding his hand, and Tubbo’s heart skipped a beat as he zeroed in on every single moment of this conversation. “Obviously, thank you for the bandages,” she said, laughing a little, and oh how his heart fluttered when xe laughed. Her voice was like starlight. And he knew he was down bad when he preferred to hear xer cursing him than to hear nothing at all.

“I, I wanted to say thank you, f-for all this, though” they said quietly.

“It wasn’t anything really-” Tubbo said, laughing awkwardly.

“Shut up.” Ranboo said quietly. “It, it was something, to me. I, just,” And now she was crying again, and fucking hell did it hurt.

“Here!” Tubbo said, grabbing a towel soaked in healing potion.

He held it under her eyes as xe tried their best to compose xerself.

“Thank you, Tubbo” she said, as he blushed, still holding her face.

“I guess I hadn’t quite realised, j-just how much I missed home. And, and the fact th-that you’d put so much effort into th-” a hiccup, “ i-into this, for me, I don’t know what to say, except… thank you.”

The two stared at each other, the music now picking up full swing inside, and they heard a shout and a crash, probably Tommy.

“I found out what the flowers meant,” Ranboo whispered, taking the bandage from xer face and smiling at him.

Tubbo’s heart dropped. ‘Y-you did?” he squeaked, palms sweating, fingers tightly clutching his shirt, his lower hands now desperately trying not to fidget.

“Yes.” Ranboo smiled and Tubbo hoped, that maybe, maybe maybe maybe, it meant something good.

“It was a very nice wreath. I really liked it.” she remarked.

“I really like you,” Tubbo thought as she leaned in a little closer. “Please, please, don’t let this be her making fun of me. I don’t want to cry in front of xer today.”

“W-well, I did spend a lot of time on it,” Tubbo admitted. Quietly, he added, “And I made sure your’s was the prettiest.”

“I think you’re the prettiest,” Ranboo said, both of xer claws now holding his, and his heart stopped. Ranboo’s face was dark purple, and Tubbo was sure that his was redder than Tommy’s plumage.

“Can I kiss you?” he blurted out.

“Yes” Ranboo whispered, xer clawcradling his cheek.

They both leaned, Tubbo’s hand holding her claw, their eyes slowly closing-

“TUBBO IT’S GIFTING TIME, COME ON HURRY UP” Tommy screeched from inside, and two broke apart.

“U-uh, yeah, we’re coming Tommy!” Tubbo shouted back.

They sat for a moment, until the absolute awful horrible awkwardness of th situation was too much to bear.

Avoiding Ranboo’s gaze Tubbo jerked his thumb in the direction of the doorway as he stood up. ‘W-well, you heard her, we should probably go-”

Ranboo walked over to him, bent down and kissed him on the cheek, his sentence stopping as his brain short circuited.

“Come on Tubbo, you wouldn’t want to keep Tommy waiting,” xe grinned at him, before sweeping past him and walking inside.

Tubbo, completely flustered, took a moment to bury his face in his hands, before composing himself and going to join Ranboo in the Pub(e).

----------

“Ranboo! Tubso!” Tommy crowed in delight, running up to the two of them, her wings puffed up in excitement. “You guys were out there for ages, it’s gift giving time! C’mon c’mon!” He then grabbed both of their hands and dragged them towards the prime tree, where they were both roughly shoved to a sitting position on the ground whilst Tommy sat in between them and demanded as much attention as possible.

Phil surveyed the room from the rafters, watching people take their sweet time getting to the gifting circle and decided the hour was near.

“Techno, ring the bell!” He called, and Techno promptly did as he was ordered, a clanging ringing out across the room.

“Crowfather is askin’ for attention, an’ I wanna go to sleep, so everyone hurry up!” Techno called, his ears twitching, and anyone who had yet to be seated hurried to the circle. Techno took his place in between Niki and Wilbur, and all was hushed.

Philza swooped down from the rafters to laughter and applause, along with Tommy squeezing both Tubbo and Ranboo’s claws until they went numb.

“Hey mates,” Phil said, having donned a fancier hat for the occasion of New Years, and his homemade “Crow Father” tie made by Tommy when she was young. He held a bright purple shulker box, which he placed on the ground.

“Now, as you all know this is our little tradition, where I give out gifts that are better than all of yours and i do it in a fancier way,” that got a few laughs, “and this year I just wanted to acknowledge that the celebration we decided to theme this new years after was The Great Sleep, which as one of the major End holidays, I’m sure Ranboo can tell you all about.”

Ranboo, a little embarrassed at now having so many eyes on them, stilled her face and tried to look bored, but Tubbo saw xer tail waving surreptitiously.

“And now with that acknowledged, we go on to my portion of the gift giving!” Phil said with a smile, and he started to hand out a bundle of presents.

Tommy received a specially knitted scarf for his eggs, with warming and protection enchantments sewn in, and he chirped with joy, wigs flapping up and down and banging into Tubbo and Ranboo, feathers going everywhere. Tubbo was handed a new toolset, with a few extra hard to find pieces to build that one specific contraption he’d been rambling to Tommy about for weeks, and the look on his face when he saw it was enough to make Ranboo’s heart explode.

And finally, Ranboo received a book. The outside was a beautifully dyed leather like material, the colour swirling shades of silver and purple. It had a metal clasp, and the pages were made of the finest, most wonderful paper Ranboo had ever seen. Inside was a quill, the feather one of Tommy’s most beautiful, a bright red with flecks of gold and white edges.

“Even though Will has apologised for the incident with the other book earlier this year,” Phil said, “I thought it was a shame you had to get rid of such a nice book, and I thought you might appreciate a nice replacement.”

Ranboo couldn’t cry again, not after the amount of enchantments that had already been used to heal xer face.

“It is a very suitable replacement” xe said, barely containing their smile. “I would think it of high enough calibre to be better than the old one.”

Phil grinned, and she knew he had understood.

The gifting went on, Ranboo giving each person her gift and receiving a lot in turn. Xe had made everyone a piece of jewellery, some people a bracelet, others a necklace if it suited them, and more specialised pieces for her closer friends. For Wilbur, she had made a hanging charm to attach to his sunhat, and then she had to deal with his blubbering as she patted him on the back and avoided getting burnt.

For Tommy, there was a specific anklet, that was very, very resistant, and waterproof, and fireproof, and wouldn’t get worn by time as quickly as anything else Tommy wore normally would. For xer efforts she was gifted a faceful of feathers and screeching, but at least they knew that to be signs of their friend’s excitement.

Jack had received some earring studs, which he immediately wore with pride, and began boasting to Niki about how handsome they made him. Niki ignored him in favour of profusely thanking Ranboo for her nose piercing that had the tiniest, shiniest amethyst shard glimmering in it. Techno received a silver crown with amethysts, to add to his ever growing collection, to which he responded with a tight hug and a “This is nice. Thanks.”

Ranboo had yet to give Tubbo his present, but she had no time to worry on that when she was receiving a hat for her egg from Tommy, a collection of glass bottles with fancy detailing and gems as cork stoppers from Wilbur, a truly glorious collection of (dry) pieces of gold and interesting antiquities Niki had found in an abandoned ship, soft, knitted socks from Techno, a small lute from Freddy, a basket made of reeds and full of (possibly either burnt or undercooked) muffins from Beau, and a wink and a nudge from Jack as he handed her “The Complete and Utter guide to Apia: all about the customs, language and culture of the Apian Society.”

“You should read chapter 14 first,” He said, grinning. “I think you’ll find it the most interesting.”

(And, if later that night, Ranboo did turn to “Chapter 14: How to win (and be won over) by a member of the most romantic culture in the world” and read that first, well who was to know?)

----------

Somehow, Ranboo and Tubbo found themselves outside again, all alone, yet to have given each other a present.

“Well,” thought Tubbo, “It’s now or never, or tomorrow when it might be really awkward and I have ruined things, so best to get it over and done with.”

“Here,” he said, giving her a velvet box. “I, uh hope it’s up to standard.”

Curiously, Ranboo inspected the box. A smooth black velvet on the outside, no clasp and no signs at all of a maker’s signature. Shrugging to themself, xe opened it. Inside was a necklace, made of silver and as thin and fine as cobwebs. It looped endlessly, looking like a layer of lace, with small ovals of obsidian in between, polished beyond perfection to make it shine and glimmer in the low light. At it’s centre, there was an oval circled in silver, inside an emerald and a ruby, cut into perfect shape, and both matching the exact shading of her eyes.

“I know you already have a lot of jewellery, but i haven’t seen you wear much silver stuff so...” Tubbo trailed off, his boot scuffing on the ground.

“I love it,” Ranboo breathed, xer eyes as wide as moonstones. They traced their fingers over each individual loop of silver, each piece of obsidian, the pendant in the centre, the whole thing shimmering with the faintest light of enchantment.

“This is, this isi gorgeous,” she said, absolutely enthralled. “Where did you get it? I have to talk to whoever made this, it-it’s perfect!” xe said, turning to him and leaning in close. Tubbo gulped, leaning back a little as his wings started to flutter.

“Ah,” he said shyly, hiding behind his fringe. “Uh, I made it.”

“Oh.” Ranboo said, and they blushed, internally cursing herself for xer earnestness.

“W-well, Tubbo, it’s, really lovely.” Xe smiled, and Tubbo couldn’t help himself from grinning, his wings fluttering as he began to float.

“I’m so glad you like it,” he whispered.

Ranboo smiled, xer pulse racing. He really was so beautiful.

“Oh, uh, your present, I should probably” Ranboo muttered as xe remembered, carefully tucking the box into her inventory, “Uh, where is it,” xe searched through her pockets until they found it.

“This is for you,” Ranboo said, pulling out a bouquet of blooming pink tulips. They were in a wonderfully crafted vase, made of all shades of stained glass, and tied around it was a matching pink bow.

As Tubbo accepted it, his face unreadable, Ranboo nervously added “I put an anti-aging charm on them, s-so they shouldn’t die for quite a while hopefully.”

Tubbo placed the vase on the bench, and hovering a little higher, he held Ranboo’s face in both his hands, his lower pair grabbing her claws.

Gently, he placed a kiss on her forehead. “I think you figured it out, but in case you couldn’t tell, I really like you,” he whispered, and Ranboo flushed, laughing at the surprise.

Xe pressed a light kiss to his lips, and he went from pink to red. ‘In case you couldn’t tell,” she teased as he stuttered, “I really like you as well.”

Light exploded in the distance, and they both watched as the fireworks started, a cascade of gold and silver light pouring down the sky.

“How do those work?” Ranboo wondered aloud, as red and purple light flashed up above.

“OH!” Tubbo said excited, “You, see, it’s actually quite interesting, Phil told me about it-” He stopped as xe stared at them

“Wh-why are you looking at me like that?” he laughed.

Ranboo grinned and shook her head. “I love when you get all excited about explaining things.” She said, and xe leaned forwards to kiss him again.

“Thank you for making new years so fun.” Ranboo laughed.

Tubbo grinned. “I look forward to celebrating it again with you next year.”

The sky was filled with colour, and Ranboo decided that, even if she still didn’t fully get what new years was, xe was so glad she was celebrating it with the people they loved.

End Note.

oogity boogity my computer has been broken since before the last gift exchange bejeezus. Anywho, wrote the last 7k words of this on a keyboard atachted to someone else's computer, so glad i don't have to write on my phone anymore. First fic i've written that has reached over 10k words, wahoo!

if there are any typos don't be rude about it thanking you. I am tired, i hope you enjoy! goodbye

#mine writing #gift fic #gift exchange #origins ranboo #origins tubbo #yayyyyyyy i'm doneee wheeeee

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