#but also it'd be so funny to see their reactions to finding out i listen to like

[lilacthebooklover]

real suffering is learning that the awesome pretty girls in your chem class are also into starkid and you have no way to drop that you know what that is without it being completely out of the blue <//3 i'll just have to settle for liking all of their starkid innit reposts <///3 woe is me

[unclewaynemunson]

“I need to tell you something.”

Shitfuckno. Eddie doesn't even know why he's still surprised. This is how it always goes, after all. He should probably just give up and stop dating altogether – again.

Steve looks at him exactly as ominously as the words I need to tell you something require. Perfect Steve. Funny Steve. Sweet Steve. Sexy Steve. Steve, who Eddie had genuinely believed to be different.

Eddie sighs, barely suppressing a dark chuckle while he turns away from that perfect face. He doesn't want to look at Steve when he'll tell him the undoubtedly messed-up shit he's about to spill.

“Lemme guess, you're married?” That was what the last guy he dated told him, seven months after they got to know each other. It can't be much worse than that, can it?

Steve grabs Eddie's hand, causing him to involuntarily jerk up his head and meet his eyes.

“How did you know?”

Jesus H. Christ. Not again.

Eddie roughly pulls his hand out of Steve's grip and laughs a joyless laugh.

“Apparently I'm a good guesser.”

He stands up from the park bench the two of them had been sharing. “Well, Steve, this has been a blast. You should go back to your wife, or husband – don't tell me, I don't even wanna know – and I should um, get going. Maybe tell the next person right away what they'll be getting themselves into. Would save them a lot of wasted time, just in case cheating and going around other people's backs isn't really their thing, y'know.”

“Eddie, wait, let me explain!”

Eddie picks up his pace, but Steve, stubborn as he is, easily keeps up with him.

“I'm really not interested, man.”

“It's not – I'm not cheating on her!”

“Okay, so you have an open marriage, good for you. Still the kind of information you could've shared with me, say, three months ago, don't you think?”

“She's a lesbian.”

And that makes Eddie freeze on the spot. It takes Steve two steps before he realizes Eddie has stopped moving; he walks backwards until he's standing right in front of Eddie.

“She's my best friend,” he says, immediately using Eddie's stunned silence to his advantage. “Robin, my roommate – I told you all about her. We wanted to buy a house together and that turned out to be very complicated when you're not... Well, when you're not romantically involved. So we got married. For the, um, practical reasons. We never – we're like siblings. I love her like a sister. But she's also my wife. Platonically.”

It takes a few seconds until Steve's words sink in. Then, Eddie leaps forward and basically collapses into Steve's arms, needing to hold onto him to prevent himself from crashing to the ground.

Steve's arms are warm, strong, and as safe as ever.

“Eddie, are you okay?” Steve asks softly. His lips brush against Eddie's ear while he speaks, and worry colors his voice.

Perfect Steve. Too-good-to-be-true Steve.

“Jesus Christ, Steve,” is the only thing Eddie manages to say.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” Steve says. “It's just – I've gotten some, um... Less than ideal reactions, in the past, whenever I told this when I was seeing someone. So I thought it'd be better to wait until things were getting serious.” He sighs, tangling his fingers in Eddie's hair. “I didn't wanna scare you off. Are we – are you okay?”

Eddie nods. He lifts his head from where it's resting against Steve's shoulder and raises his hands to squeeze them around Steve's face.

“We're okay,” he says. “And I'm sorry I didn't want to listen to you. I–” He stops; he can't find the words right away. It's still difficult to talk about those things; to let himself be vulnerable. But Steve has been honest with him, so it's only fair to return the favor.

“I've been hurt, Steve,” he confesses. “More than once. I've had some really shitty experiences with dudes not being honest with me. I thought that that was what was happening again, and I couldn't – I couldn't go through that again. Especially not with you.”

“Jesus, Eddie, I'm so sorry.”

“It's okay,” Eddie rushes to say, pulling Steve even closer towards him. “I trust you.” And as soon as these words leave his mouth, he knows it's the truth.

“I do want to be absolutely clear about one thing, though,” Steve says.

Eddie leans back in Steve's arms to give him an expectant look.

“Robin is my wife. I'm not planning on that to change anytime soon. We've been through a lot together. She's been the most important person in my life for years. We own a house and a dog together, and I love her more than anything. I like you a lot, and I promise you I'm all-in with you, but... Robin is still my number one. And that's not gonna change overnight. I need you to be okay with that.”

Eddie swallows. He looks into Steve's eyes. All he sees is a man who is honest, who loves his friends deeply, and who refuses to make any compromises when it comes to love – whether it be the platonic or the romantic kind.

It doesn't scare Eddie off; it only makes him fonder of Steve.

He smiles, glances around to check if they're alone, and presses a quick kiss against Steve's lips.

“I think I can live with that,” he says. “As long as I'm the only one who gets to do this.” He closes his eyes and lets his lips meet Steve's again.

The sigh that Steve breathes into their tentative kiss is one filled with relief.

[butchsophiewalten]

there has been ANOTHER kyle-martin twitter space and i missed all of it :( do you happen to have any info on what was in there??

I was there the whole time! But because this wasn't a Q&A style space like the one from last week, I didn't take as many notes. A lot of it was just Kyle and Martin talking about their own personal interests and life anecdotes, which I found really interesting and enjoyed listening to, but felt uncomfortable writing down as like, Walten Files News, y'know? A lot of it was pretty candid and personal, not really something I want to be sharing as a Series Fun Fact.

The stuff I did jot down is pretty sparse, but here it is anyway:

-Martin mentions that he's actively working on a scene involving Rosemary while he's in the space. He talks about how he saved a lot of the Rosemary stuff for last, because he's excited to work on it.

-Martin says "No, I love the fans but I don't trust them with fucking Jack and Felix plushies". Kyle mentions an anecdote about how Martin didn't want to make human plushies because he didn't want people tormenting the Felix one.

-They spoke a lot in very vague terms about scenes in TWF4. Many distinct times of someone going "Hey, you know the thing about This scene? Hold on, I'll DM it to you" as a launching point for a different conversation, with few or no additional details about the scene in question. Late in the stream Martin mentions finding it funny to imagine the twitter space audience trying to 'peek into the room' to see what they're talking about, like a kid trying to peek at their Christmas presents.

-Martin talks about a scene in TWF4 which is inspired by a real nightmare he had that woke him up in a cold sweat.

-They mention how Showbear was retconned, and Martin talks about how the role Showbear was going to fill in the series has been broken up and split between two separate characters who supersede him, one of which is another white bear named "Mr. Snow".

-Martin talks for a bit about storytelling techniques he's learned from his favorite media/artwork. He brings up Better Call Saul a lot here, speaking mostly about the things it's taught him in the way of subtlety in storytelling and characterization, and how it's often much more effective to convey something in few words than to over-explain it in the hopes of absolute clarity.

-Martin mentions that when he inevitably has to recast Felix, he is not going to open auditions for him, he's going to hand-pick the VA himself, and it's most likely going to be someone he's already worked with or someone he knows through someone he's already worked with. He says that his concern is less to find someone who can emulate Coker's Felix voice, and more to find someone he thinks is most appropriate for the character.

-On the topic of Felix, Kyle brings up a vision he has in his mind of a post-crash Felix leaving Brighton for years, and coming back having gained a lot of weight and otherwise in a significantly poor state. Martin says that it's actually true that Felix gains some weight later in his life. (The implication here I imagine being that 1982 Felix is heavier than 1974 Felix was.)

-There's a pretty long conversation here about a fear Martin has of a specific scene in TWF4 starting a Fandom Ship that he really doesn't want to exist, and on the topic Kyle brings up the first random Terrible Walten Files Ship Idea he can think of, and lands on Jack and Susan. Martin has a very visceral reaction of disgust.

-Martin then starts talking about how he hasn't really fleshed out an idea for what Susan and Jack's relationship is like, but he thinks it'd be fun if they teamed up to scare people, since they're both pretty tall and intimidating.

-Martin ends the stream saying that he didn't finish the Rosemary scene he was working on, but that he's tired and wants to go to bed. He also goes "FUCK Rosemary Walten, man, why does she have so many fucking scenes."

[moonstruckdraws]

Sage & Luci

As said before, I want this to be a QPR & I spent a while relearning what I already knew to double check myself lol. I still find these to be so fun because of the flexibility this kind of relationship has & I'm excited to explore it.

Sage is the more physically affectionate out of the two

I just love size differences lol. Luci isn't really one to ramble unless it's to rant, but she does it with Sage. She feels like she can say anything to her & Sage will being paying attention to everything. Sage is quite the bubbly person, but often enjoys listening to people instead of speaking.

Nicknames! Luci doesn't like romantic pet names. She either cringes or feels dead inside when addressed that way. In an ask Helli made to me, I said that Luci likes drinking floral teas & then it came to me; Sage addresses Luci by whatever tea she drinks that day. I thought it was so cute!! Luci would get tea from Bao's tea shop every so often & would probably be where she & Sage meet up. On days that Sage is either late or days Luci comes into the tea shop without planning on meeting up, I think it'd be funny if Sage just bursts into the shop to interrogate Bao on what tea Luci drank that day lmao.

Sage is gloooowing. I just wanted more color on the page lol. But moths are attracted to light, so when Luci learned Sage is bioluminescent, she was beyond excited & thought it was so cool. Seeing the colors & brightness made Luci come up with nicknames for Sage. She calls her a nightlight, at first in a joking manner before it stuck.

I think it'd be best to talk about Luci's view & opinions of romance, and then her & Sage's partnership so imma do that-

I don't believe I've said this fun fact yet, but Luci watches romance shows & movies practically constantly. If someone wants to watch anything romance, Luci will have a recommendation. She started watching romance because of the relationships around her. I think it's not a secret that Luci is friendless & isn't exactly the best at socializing. Her interactions with people or reselling/buying others' stuff, shouting at said customers when they tick her off, or hating people (cough Pico & Todd cough). The only time she gets along with others is during DIGG concerts (another fun fact is that she's a giga fan of them) when jamming out with people in the crowd. So, as said in Luci's introduction post, she meets Bao by going to his tea shop after being extremely heated. Making Bao her first friend. Of course, that leads to her learning Bao & Pico are together. The only other people in a relationship she'd know of would be Warren & Hypno, because of Repo. It'd leave her puzzled on the subject of a lover. She knows people date & get married & all that, but actually knowing people who are is a shock to her. Like knowing something exists but not really registering it until you've seen it in person. While trying to wrap her head around it, she sees a show playing on the TV Repo left on, it being romance. She'd take this as an opportunity to figure this strange concept & it turned into her binging and watching a bunch of them. Through watching romance is how she'd find out things that were cringe or confusing to her, & things that peaked her interest. (I think she'd just ask Bao straight up, "Why the f*ck are you dating?" That'd probably be her reaction to the news lmao in the sense of "Why Pico?" but also just "Why?")

Repo never talked about romance with Luci unless she asked, and with the lack of people she's around, she never dealt with being questioned on her interest in others & having that expectation of needing to find someone. So that kind of relationship has never been on her mind. What she's interested in, from all the shows & films, interactions she's seen, and by pure description has been the intimacy of those close relationships. It's more of a second thought that might appear time to time when watching romance that'd linger. But aside from that, she doesn't care for any of the rest.

Luci is not an affectionately giving partner that likes receiving attention. With the way she's raises & how she views Repo, she always liked getting attention. The way she grew up also made her not the most considerate person in the world unless it was for Repo (later on others), so she isn't the most showy with affection. She shows affection with others, aside from Repo, by just her presence. Even if she just doesn't talk, her being there with someone is her way of showing care. Sage loves expressing her affection through words. She may not talk as much in a conversation, but when giving praise or compliments, those are likely to make that person be in a good mood for the rest of the day. She likes making people feel good, it's a reason she's an herbalist. She manages to say all the right words & takes pride in that. They do standard cuddles & head resting and is pretty much all they do. They like to go on outings, Sage more than Luci, or just sitting around doing nothing. But they do have this thing with holding hands. They hold hands a lot when doing just about anything, but Sage would always reach for Luci's second pair of arms. And that Luci would never be the one to let go of hands, it'd always be Sage who'd have to do it & I just thought it was sweet lol.

okay that's enough rambling for me lol

[silentcrowsilentravens]

Hello and Happy New Year! I saw your requests open and I'm not sure if you just forgot to close it (because I saw your drafts post and it seemed like quite a lot,)

But if I'm just in time, may I request Bela, Cass, and Dani having an S/O (preferably fem but can be GN) who was just a regular person at first, but after getting the Cadou, they gain the power to turn into spiders (like the sisters but instead of flies, it's a bunch of black widows)?

I headcanon that the girls, as intimidating and dangerous as they are, are still comically afraid of spiders or anything that eats flies, so it'd be funny to see how they react.

I also share this headcanon.

Bela Dimitrescu, Cassandra Dimitrescu, and Daniela Dimitrescu reacting to a s/o that can turn into spiders after receiving the Cadou.

(Gender ambiguous)

Warnings: brief mention of gore.

Masterlists here!

Bela Dimitrescu

At first, it seems as though Bela doesn't really have much of a reaction at all. She raises her eyebrows a bit. That's about it.

Then you get closer to her.

And she sort of has the air of someone who got told to "act casual" but doesn't know what to do with themselves.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course!"

"It's okay if it freaks you out, Bels." You're not gonna lie, it scared you when you first realized what you can do.

As soon as you say that, it's like you open a floodgate. Bela starts talking and rambling and you can barely understand what she's saying because she's going so fast and she isn't even pausing to take a breath and—

She stops. You're sort of confused. You don't even think half of that rant was on topic, but she seems much better now.

Why don't you tell her about what things are like now that you've gotten your Cadou? She'd like to hear :))

Cassandra Dimitrescu

Cassandra quite noticeably jumps.

Her form becomes completely solid in an instant.

She then proceeds to let out quite a long string of expletives. You've never even heard some of those curse words before!

She tells you that this whole thing doesn't freak her out, but she's a terrible liar. She's leaning away from you as you try to reassure her. Like, you're kind of afraid she might keel over.

Once she does eventually get used to your new ability, Cassandra actually finds it pretty cool.

The two of you end up making quite the terrifying couple. How very sexy of you guys!

Normal spiders still freak her out, though. She will not hesitate to avoid a room for weeks if she sees a spider that isn't part of you.

Daniela Dimitrescu

Dani straight-up screams.

The scream is blood-curdling. Anyone else in the castle who heard it probably thought a maiden was getting murdered.

It is long. As in, she keeps it going the entire time she's swarming away from you.

You eventually find her hiding on top of a cabinet.

You have to try and coax her into coming down. You're still you! You just so happen to also be a hivemind of mutant black widows now.

"But what if you try to eat me?" It's a bit funny to hear coming out of the mouth of someone who frequently bites people hard enough to rip chunks of flesh out, you think.

"I'm not going to do that, Dani."

Listen, pal. You can think that, but you don't know for sure! Daniela and her family didn't have a thirst for blood until they got their Cadous.

...Or at least, she doesn't think so? She can't remember anything from before then.

[thebottomfromhell]

hi I absolutely love your writing!!! may I request the upper moons walking in/hearing reader singing a love song that they're so sure is about them, along with their reactions?

not necessary to add, but it'd be funny if reader had that song playing in their head over and over due to how in love they are while in the middle of a meeting with muzan and him going "what the fuck, who is this for, you're pathetic"

thank you so much for your time!

My brain after reading this ask in bethesda game quest format: *skyrim quest initiation drums* Find a song that at least have love included that represents the Uppermoons.

I loved this concept, call me cringe or whatever but if you have never liked a musical song (movie songs included, don't you go on denial. If you liked disney the stfu) or appreciate a good Opera (the LUNGS these people have, try singing in a threater loud enough for everyone to hear you without a mic, I dare you), then you're missing something.

I'm very sorry for the wait, I hope you like this one too. Thank you for the request too, it's something different and I had fun with it.

Uppermoons and GN reader confessing over a song (Musical AU with modern music and spotify/music youtube)

Songs used: [vid with lyrics + translation if needed]

Gyutaro - Your love is my drug (Kesha)

Gyokko - Prisoner (Jeffree Star)

Sekido - Dark red (Steve Lacy)

Karaku - Perro fiel (Shakira ft. Nicky Jam)

Urogi - Balada (Gusttavo Lima)

Aizetsu - Name of love (Bebe Rexha and Martin Garrix)

Nakime - Boyfriend (Dove Cameron)

Akaza - Love story (Indila)

Douma - Shut up and listen (Nicholas Bonnin)

Kokushibou - Tsuki no curse (Reika Okina)

Warnings: My broken taste in music, sexual content mentioned (in song), sexual content implied, slight drug use mentioned (in song), Akaza sings in french and slight angst, yandere behavior (in song),

Gyutaro:

"Maybe I need some rehab. Or maybe just need some sleep. I got a sick obsession. I'm seein' it in my dreams." Holy SHIT you listen Kesha? He listens Kesha too! His sister was the one to introduce him to the artist and, he admits, the songs are very catchy. "What you got, boy, is hard to find! I think about all the time.I'm all strung out, my heart is fried. I just can't get you off my mind" "Your love is my drug" is not really his favorite from her, "blah blah blah" and "cannibal" take that prize by far (no, it's not because it's fun to sing as if he was high, he doesn't sing... at all... no, Daki, he just said he would not-)

"Because your love, your love! Your love is my drug! Your love, your love, your love!" Fuck. He really didn't mean to, he just... did it. You look at him surprised, you didn't even know he was around. Still you laugh a bit with him as he keeps singing as he forces you into his shoulder and back like he does with Daki. "I said your love, your love, your love is my drug! Your love, your love, your love!" He moves slightly, careful not to drop you, he just looks so active and joyful.

You are addicted to this side of him to, this one it barely shows, that side of him that is actually fun to be with, chaotic and messy the same way he is intimate and caring. This is your guy. "But left to my own devices I'm addicted, it's a crisis. My friends think I've gone crazy." He interrupts again. "OH! I like this part! My judgment's getting kinda hazy. My steeze is gonna be affected if I keep it up like a lovesick crackhead." You let him keep singing, until it gets to a part that is important to you, in ehich you get off Gyutaro to cup his face in your hands, making eye contact.

"I don't care what people say. The rush is worth the price I pay. I get so high when you're with me. But crash and crave you when you leave." There, you got it, you see his eyes glow a little as he keeps looking at you, face blushing. He gets it. He always gets it, even when he doesn't want to. "Wow. Ne, just... wow. This song is perfect for you, y'know?" You chuckle a little at that. "How about you? Do you also feel like that?" He looks at the other side a bit embarrased before nodding. "I do, ne. The song is good. Really good." Maybe that is why you spend the rest of the night singing it, along with other songs from Kesha. It was lovely (Also, he nails it at blah blah blah), you wilk repite it again.

Gyokko:

"I got no regrets. And I remember the day that we met. There was no way that I could forget you.So I followed you home. And I waited 'til you were alone." Ok, Gyokko doesn't even own a home, staying at the house of his victims for a week or so doesn't count, even if you have followed him to one or two of them. He was the one to invite you, the behaviors of this song is not yours. If it had to be someone's, it would be Gyokko's. "And I know this seems so wrong. But I'm just a lovesick criminal."

"Oh! I knew you had good taste, but this is amazing!" You never stfu faster than that, closing your mouth the second you heard Gyokko's voice. You turn around and he seems... cheerful. "You can arrest me, baby, I don't wanna leave. Lock me up, throw away the key. I don't care if I'm in trouble deep. I'm addicted to your love." He keeps singing it, moving with the beat. You knew the song was his taste, but you didn't expect this outcome. "I love that song. One of my favorites. And the fact that you love it too! It's magnificent!" Still, if he is aware of the main reason you like the song, he doesn't let it show.

"I'll be your prisoner. I'll be your prisoner tonight." You keep goin, not knowing if it's to pretend nothing happened or if you are just vibing with it, but you both keep going. "I, I, I, I'm under your spell. And I just can't get enough!" You don't talk about it until you finish the song, but... you will, you can sense it. But you can also see Gyokko smiling, enjoying the time with you. "I'm prepared for all the consequences." "Believe me, I have the worst intentions." "I'm prepared for all the consequences! Believe me, believe me!"

You will be fine.

Sekido:

Sekido is NOT going to apologize, he never even thought about it. Sure, he was rude to you and maybe crossed a line or two, but you made him angry first. You also crossed the line this time! He doesn't even remember what you said to each other, but he remember it was bad. Why would he apologize if he is wondering if he even should forgive you. "Something bad is 'bout to happen to me. I don't know it, but I feel it coming. Might be so sad, might leave my nose running. I just hope she don't wanna leave me." He stopped when he heard your voice.

Sekido was never the one to plead, he was never the one to even ask for things. He is by far the most prideful of the clones. But if you were actually to go, to leave- "Don't you give me up, please don't give up. Honey, I belong with you, and only you, baby. Only you, my girl, only you, babe. Only you, darling, only you, babe. Only you, my girl, only you, babe. Only you, darling, only you." Wouldn't he beg like this, so pitiful and needy, because even if he doesn't want to admit it... he loves you. "Y/N."

He interrupts you, making you just realize he is there. "Is this... how you feel. Or am I reading this wrong?" He gets close slowly, but you can't really answer. You also don't want to be the one to apologize first, to admit you need him as much as he needs you without knowing what he is feeling. After some seconds of silence Sekido looks away and starts singing what you just sand, but more like a murmur, if the lips separated less then it would onlu be a hum. "Don't you give me up, please don't give up. Honey, I belong with you, and only you, baby." It sounds sincere. It is.

None of you apologizes, you both just keep... singing and huming. Just staying together, not wanting to leave. At all.

Karaku:

"C'mon, what were you humming, hot-stuff? I heard you just now. I promise not to laugh even if it's a lame virging song." He is teasing you. Of course he is, but he won't leave you alone until you obey. "How about you sing it? Since the song is clearly stuck in your head." How did he actually convince you? Only Karaku knows, but in the end you do as he says. Maybe you wanted this, to take it out of your chest. He has no way you actually think about him everytime you hum this song. Is like conffesing without actually doing so. "Aquí estás. Ya no puedes detenerte. ¿Dónde vas? Si estoy loco por tenerte." He seems to recognize the song, raising an eyebrow while smirking. "¿Cómo lo iba a saber? Que te vería otra vez. Tú me confundes no sé qué hacer...." You stop.

This is embarrasing, you better leav- "Yo lo que quiero es pasarla bien. Yo tengo miedo de que me guste, y me haga enloquecer. Si eso pasa yo seguiré. Contigo aquí como un perro fiel." Oh.... oh. He likes the song, and you don't know why, but that alone raises your confidence. Specially when he grabs your hand to make you spin around, as if dancing, laughing cheerfuly and loudly when you follow the lead. "Yo tengo miedo de que me guste, y me haga enloquecer." "Like that! Keep it up." You do, sometimes he moves as if to dance, mostly keeping himself roamimg around you, interrupting to sing himself or cheer up at times.

"Dicen que tú eres peligrosa. No le hago caso a esas cosas. Dime qué está pasando. Me tienes como un loco, soy un loco enamorado, eh." "Crazy man in love", that parts come from your heart, because you are in love. He puts one hand behind your head and the other in your waist before going the next part. "Quiero saber cuánto me vas a insistir. Y hasta dónde llegarías por mí. Siento mucho la espera. Pero valdrá la pena cuando te esté besando." "When I kiss you", and he just finishes the verse by doing so. And damn if it isn't worth every damn second of yearning. He speaks again after pulling apart, only inches away from your face. "Best love confession ever, hot-stuff. Very nice to use a "romantic" language. Keep coming for me and I'll keep you as mine, got it?"

What else were you meant to do but nod? Damn, you don't have to be a genius to know where the night is going. And you are going to like it.

Urogi:

For context... You were singing, only to stop when Urogi appeared from the sky. Now he has been following you "C'mon, sing again. PLISS? I like that song, I promise. I just want to hear you sing it." It took less than an hour of whining and puppy-eyes to convince you.

"Eu já lavei o meu carro, regulei o som. Já 'tá tudo preparado, vem que o brega é bom. Menina fica a vontade, entre e faça a festa. Me liga mais tarde, vou adorar, vamos nessa" And Urogi interrupts, to your surprise, singing the next part as he flies around you, grabbing your hands in his, exagerating movements as if dancing. "Gata, me liga, mais tarde tem balada! Quero curtir com você na madrugada! Dançar, pular até o Sol raiar! C'MON, IT'S YOUR TURN Y/N!" You follow the song and repear that same fragment before Urogi steals the next part again.

"O tchê tcherere tchê tchê! Tcherere tchê tchê! Tchê, tchê, tchê!" The song barely says anything at all. It's barely has content, but... it fits Urogi. It's more a thing of vibe than of actual words. "Se você me olhar vou querer te pegar. E depois namorar, curtição. Que hoje vai rolar." Really, it's simple, the song could be sintesized in a "let's party and if I catch your eye let's stay together the whole night", but it's cheerful, full of joy, very light... very Urogi. Maybe that is why you like it.

You are unsure if Urogi gets what you are really feeling, but he gets completely the song. And he does want to stay with you and have fun the whole night. It's a win. You will be able to explain things to him later, but for now. "Gusttavo Lima!"

Aizetsu:

"If I told you this was only gonna hurt. If I warned you that the fire's gonna burn. Would you walk in? Would you let me do it first? Do it all in the name of love?" Just after you finish that part you feel a hand on your shoulder, you turn around to see Aizetsu. You blush at the realization he found you singing, though he is blushing too. "Would you mind if I sing with you?" He doesn't explain himself futher as he asks shyly, you can only nod as he takes a breath to continue the song.

"Would you let me lead you even when you're blind? In the darkness, in the middle of the night. In the silence, when there's no one by your side." He looks at you as if waiting you to join, smiling softly as he offers his hand. "Would you call in the name of love?" You take it. "In the name of love, name of love. In the name of love, name of love. In the name of." You basically also hum together the instrumental, in a softer version. You spare glances on each other, deep and adoring.

"When there's madness, when there's poison in your head." It's almost as if you were actually talking. "When the sadness leaves you broken in your bed." You sure get that Aizetsu means it. Every word of it, that is why he wanted to sing with you. "I will hold you in the depths of your despair." "And it's all in the name of love" And so. "I wanna testify." "Scream in the holy light." "You bring me back to life." And it's all in the name of love. That you look at each other, hold your hands, talk. Because you do talk once you both finish.

"I love you a lot. Do you.. it would make me sad if you were not singing for me like I was singing for you.... but I would unders-" you must interrupt him "I was singing for you too." He smiles softly at you. "Can.... can I kiss you? Please?" No, because you kiss him first. What a lovely song, lovely night, and lovely romance.

Nakime:

"I could be a better boyfriend than him, I could do the shit that he never did. Up all night, I won't quit." Not the type of melody Nakime is used to, the opposite, but it's a nice song. "Thinking I'm gonna steal you from him. I could be such a gentleman." You sing with the most care, because you know she is watching, she is hearing, even if you can't see her. This is her castle, after all.

You know what you are doing, the message that you are giving. Nakime loves music, what better way to confess than with a song. And this is a song which just... vibes with her. You have no idea if she has ever heard it before, but it seems it doesn't matter. "I don't need to tell you twice. All the ways he can't suffice. If I could give you some advice. I would leave with me tonight." It doesn't, because she is talented in her art. So she plays the biwa, making a beat for you to follow. "The universe must have divined this, mmm, mmm. Ladies first, baby, I insist."

"I could be a better boyfriend than him. I could do the shit that he never did. Up all night, I won't quit. Thinking I'm gonna steal you from him. I could be such a gentleman." She sings this part with you, using the biwa to also change the settings. It gets a bit dizzy, but you love the display. She is very proud of her power. "Plus all my clothes would fit." She sings that part alone once you are both in the same room.

You look at her, she smiles at you. Seeing you are not going to sing anymore, she speaks. "I liked your song. Let's do this again some time. It's a date." She says, just before leaving you in your home. A date... you are proud of yourself, that's it. The lesbian power of the song did it trick, like you knew it would. You. Won.

Akaza:

Akaza doesn't know why he hasn't shown himself, he just... got lost in the song. It's one he knows, the melody,, the lyrics, the meaning... "Il n'est pas fou. Il l'aime c'est tout. Il la voit partout. Il l'attend debout. Debout une rose à la main. Non, non plus rien ne le retient." It's a lovely song, he can't think other way to describe it that is not deppressing, to be honest, and he doesn't want to think this song as sad, even if his chest aches a bit with it. "Dans sa love story!" "It's a love story", as said before, he knows the lyrics, he knows the meaning, and Akaza likes it. You keep singing for a while before even realizing he is there, but one second you open your eyes and turn around, facing the golden eyes.

"Em... how long have you been standing there?" You ask embarrased, blushing as Akaza also has some red in his cheeks. He doesn't answer your question, just takes some steps forward to grab gently yet firm, somehow desesperate, your hands into his. "Can you please keep singing? Please?" He asks twice, looking away as he whispers the secon pleading. You decide to just keep singing. "Je serai riche. Et je t'offrirai tout mon or. Et si tu t'en fiches. Je t'attendrai sur le port. Et si tu m'ignores...." "And if you ignore me...."

You know, you have seen, that Akaza is mourning, yearning, or something. You don't know, he himself doesn't know, but that nostalgia and melancholy.... sometimes you feel it takes him away from you. That is why you didn't want him to listen you sing about him, to confess. Because you are unsure id he will "Je t'offrirai mon dernier souffle de vie." "Give you the las breath of my life" and yet he keeps singing for you without letting your hands go. "Dans ma love story!"

"Et il y a toi..." Akaza waits for you to continue, tender and adoring eyes, "Et il y a moi." Yes! There is you. There is! And you are hopeful Akaza is there, is here, too."Et personne n'y croit. Mais l'amour fait d'un fou un roi. Et si tu m'ignores.... J'me battrai encore et encore!" "C'est ta love story!" You take that as a confession, and it shows in your blushed face and adoring eyes, he seems to agree in it. "C'est ta love story!" And of course, you join. "C'est l'histoire d'une vie! Love story!" You just look at each other, not bothering with the world, and giving in to tentation. You both kiss.

(And actually have to talk things through AFTER, you know? This is not a musical, as romantic as it was.)

Douma:

"Shut up and listen. Look at my eyes, don't tell me lies. I need you to tell me truth." You started singing on your own, but Douma got in the room, looking curious. He doesn't move besides closing the door besides him, doesn't speak, just... stands ghere, watching you. But part of you feels like he is urging for more. It's hard to tell, because he always urging for more of everything. "You gotta be clear, tell me the details. I gotta know as much as it hurts. I need you to tell me the truth." More violence, food, attention, power, sensations, pain... it's unclear most of the times. It becomes really hard to tell if he actually likes you.

"Bet you like it when I show up in a gown. Let my body work it out, slow your grind. Don't tell me to stop it, just let me on top and. Baby, you want it, yeah." He sings after you repeat the same part, maybe he hust wanted to do that. If it's because he wants to share the song with you or if he is just messing around... Douma himself probably isn't 100% sure. "When you tie me, do it slow, forget the time. Move position, take me south, ease your mind. Don't tell me to stop it, just let me on top and. Baby, you want it, yeah." He goes to grab you, to press his body against you. He understands the lyrics, not being able to recognize emotions doesn't make him stupid or inmune to sex. This is probably how the night will end.

Maybe it's better that way. "Slow it down if you need to, oh. Show me how just to please you. Ooh, work it out in the sheets. Do me and see through, I want to you feel you." Staying safe, showing intimacy in a way Douma can actually understand it, instead of leaving him guessing and wondering how he should feel. How a normal human, even a normal demon, would feel. You wish these things could be explainede with words in a language Douma fully knows. But the language is not the problem, nor is Douma or you.

You spend the night together, limbs tangling both bodies. Douma is content, satified, you too. Even if you feel like there a lot more things to say, but there is hardly a moment or a way to do so....

Kokushibou:

"Tsuki no kaasu tsumetai yume no naka de....." If you ask Kokushibou, music that is not in japanese is not real music. He is stuck in his own ass, always too focused on tradition and hierarchy and how japan is the "raising sun" blah blah blah. Sometimes he gets very annoying like that, to the point loving him does feel like a curse. "Kotoba no nai sekai de. Bokura wa ai wo kataru. Itsuka kimi ni todoku made..." wait a sec- Kokushibou is behind you, isn't he? You turn around and yep, he is. "Kokushibou-san...."

He keeps quiet for a while, like always, until he finally thinks he has something worth saying. "I like that song. Can you keep singing for me?" You really wanted to say no, but you also wanted to sing for him. After all, this song is recorded in your mind just for him. "Tsuki no kaasu. Tsumetai yume no naka kara. Kimi wo tooku tsuresaritakute. Dokomade yukeru. Ai wo shinjite ii basho made." Maybe another person, demon or human, would have joined and singed with you. Kokushibou did not.

"Dokomade yukeru. Ai wo shinjite ii basho made. Yoru no mukou futari dake de." Ypu finished the song for him, barely getting any reaction. This song is really perfect for you both. "Thank you for singing for me." He barely understands, it's not a surprise for you to have to actually explain it. "I did it because that is how I feel about you." Silence again, you are more than used to it. Kokushibou is not a person of intimacy, of sharing feelings, he clearly doesn't know how to answer back, and part of you feels guilty for putting him in the situation of having to. "I see."

He leaves after that, and you know he will evade you for at least a week or two from know own. If you are lucky he will want to talk about it after that and tell you he feels the same. But until then... it's a "Moon's curse in this icy dream."

Bonus:

Muzan: And then Nakime is going to su-

*Song from above starts playing in the background*

Muzan: Excu- *looking around* ..... Who is playing....?

Akaza: Is something wrong, Muzan-sama?

Muzan: Am I the only one hearing this?

Gyutaro: ..... I don't hear anything.

Nakime: Sorry.

Kokushibou: Hmn?

. . .

Y/N humming with the song on their head: Mhmnhmnhmn mhn hmn hmn mhn.

Muzan: SHUT THE FUCK UP, IT'S BEEN 5 HOURS WITH THAT SAME SONG! AT LEAST PUT SOMETHING DIFFERENT! Pathetic creature, who is this even for?!

[cirquedumoi]

Lo, another fanfic! Once again for a LU Discord prompt, this time for Legend Week. Proofread by Oh Sibling Dearest (@thorns-for-the-sake-of-flowers), who also pointed put that I was massively overthinking how to write the middle of the fic. Anyways, Legend & Wind get stuck in a cave, and neither have a particularly good time. (From Legend's P.O.V)

As a sidenote, I had their pronouns picked out before realising I'd never use Legend's, so have them anyways lol:

Legend: Ce/Cir/Cirs/Cirself (Genderqueer)

Wind: He/Him

Wild (mentioned): They/He (Genderfluid)

((Ao3 link))

•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•

Thank whatever deity was listening that neither of us got seriously hurt. However, it did mean that now we had no way of getting help from the others. I could only hope they heard the collapse.

“Fuckin’ hell that sucked,”

“Usually I’d tell you off for swearing, Sailor, but you’re not wrong. It’s also not like the others are here to tell you off,” Being honest, I never really cared about swearing, but it’s funny to see the reactions.

“As if yer ever serious about it,” Wind retorted, smirking. A frown soon overtook that, though. “I hope the others heard that. Not that I hate ya or anything, this is just…”

“Not ideal. I get it,” I sighed. “So much for ‘quality bonding time’,”

“Ha, yeah. Wonder what happened, though. Things don’t normally fall down on their own,”

“I can't feel any magical bullshit here, so it was probably going to happen regardless of who came in next.” I mean, something could've happened, but it was unlikely that it was anything against us.

“Sucks that it had to be us. Also, I'd be surprised if ya don't have something to help,” Wind's statement was fair enough, however I very much did not have anything we could use. That would've been due to Wind's (and Time's) insistence that we shouldn't need much. Just our luck.

“At least you have your necklace,” I hoped it'd work. He'd never let me have a look at it before, despite my curiosity.

“Ah, yeah!” He pulled his necklace out from under his shirt. A faint glow outlined his face as got to work on trying to get through to Wild. I also wasn’t sure why it could connect to Wild's slate, their magic was completely different to the Sailor's. After what I guessed were a few attempts, Wind sighed. The glow faded, darkness again swallowing the cave.

“He's not answering. I guess they don't have the slate with them,”

“Might be swimming. The gods know they wanted to,” From what Wind had said before we split off, the beach wasn't too far from here. Besides that, the Champion had a knack for finding new places.

“Yeah, maybe,” He sighed, a soft thump bouncing around the walls as he sat down. “Why did we have to go to this cave? We could've gone with everyone else, or at least found a better cave,”

“Well there were, and still are, lots of crystals in here, and I know you like them. Also, you wanted to ‘explore the wilderness’. And drag me along,” Could just be an effect of the collapse, but I was starting to get a headache.

“Ye wanted to come! It's also not like I overly wanted to look in here. For all I know, us just walking in here made it collapse!”

“I’m sorry, are you trying to imply that I caused this mess!?” How dare he, the idiot didn’t- no, couldn’t do anything to stop this either. That did not make it my-

“I didn’t really mean to, no.” I barely caught him staring at me through the darkness. I did miss him mumbling something else though. Which… Is fairly out of character for the one who likes to make his thoughts known.

“If you're going to say something, could you speak up?” That came out harsher than I meant. A sigh came in response.

“Are ye?” What did he-?

“Am I what?”

“I- I don’t think this was yer fault despite what I said, neither of us could’ve stopped it,” He started, seeming to catch himself before he started rambling. “But… do you?"

[reireichu]

We will forever have the scars 1What inspired you to write the fic that way? 2: Which scene did you put in first? 3: What is your favorite storyline? 4: What is your favorite line of dialogue? 5: Which part was more difficult to write? 6: What is your special fic or different from all your other fic? 7: Where did the title come from? 8: Did any real person or event inspire any part of this? 9: Was there an alternative version of this fic? 10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story? 11: What do you like most about this fic? 12: What do you like least about this fic? 13: What song did you hear, if any, to make you want to write this story? Or if you haven't heard anything, what do you think readers should be listening to to accompany us while reading? 14: Is there anything you would like readers to learn from reading this fic? 15: What did you learn when writing this fic?

Hello hello! This is such a late answer, so let's see, let's see...

We'll forever have the scars;

What inspired you to write the fic that way?

I got the benefit of reading a lot of interesting and great Aegon x OC fic, and I also felt like writing. The story was rattling around in my head, and I love myself a modern!AU and also TGC knocked it out of the park with Aegon. Also, I have a lot of feels about Rhaenyra/Alicent and how Aegon basically represented the death of their love or something something.

There's a lot that went into my idea of writing the fic, but it essentially basically started off as: "hi, I wanna write this trash bin child and how he falls in love with a carbon copy of his mum but then realises that she's probably just as fucked up as he is."

Eventually, Sophie came into her own in terms of development and her own story, along with the OTHER story (if you know, you know), and that just... took off? I didn't actually post until I was writing the second chapter because I wasn't sure if it would stick.

2. Which scene did you put in first?

I actually wrote the first chapter from Soph's POV. I have it somewhere in my graveyard files, but the first chapter was Soph working in the hospital and has a more in-depth look into the hospital crew dynamics and what a pain in the ass Aegon was as a patient lol. Alicent also came and lost her shit at him and Aegon was a bit more....... flippant about it all, and he was more open to dating Sophie because he thought it'd be funny and Soph was a lot more 'yeah sure ok lol' but I re-read it and something was missing.

I kept one or two lines about it, but what really made me want to re-write it was the Alicent and Aegon thing. I thought instead of Soph overhearing Alicent's reaction, it would be better that Aegon overhears how upset Alicent actually is and the compassion offered that is a rarity for him as a Targaryen.

So basically, the first 3k of this got scrapped and rewritten.

3. What is your favorite storyline?

Cathy Devereaux as a demented version of the ghost of hamlet's father. As @theonngreyjoy would say... MY WIFEEEEEEE.

4. What is your favorite line of dialogue?

Not particularly the dialogue, but this might be my favourite scene. Honestly this will always be my favourite part of the fic, because it was the start of me leaning into all my campy gothic tropes and my pretentious writing and the fucking references I make to pretentiousness:

In the dream, the Russian oligarch tries to warn her. She can’t hear it. She keeps watching herself upon the high table, looking at who is she and isn’t her. She’s laughing, a laugh that sounds like money.

The oligarch tries to warn her.

Her companion has hair as fair as starlight.

You can’t repeat the past, the oligarch whispers.

The man of starlight laughs at the thought of it, that you can’t repeat the past, “Of course you can.”

Aegon has a very volatile, casual type of inner narrative. He's very blunt and he actually makes me laugh sometimes when I write him. Sophie's voice was harder to find, but when I wrote that scene, it was like YEEEEES HERE WE GO because I knew in that moment exactly where it was all going.

When I finish this fic, I will make a drinking game out of the times I mention the dead Russian prince. Or not, because it might be really bad for my liver.

5. Which part was more difficult to write?

Daemon's interlude.

It was honestly really fucking hard to write him in a modern setting and justifying all of his actions in his own head. I have written Daemon before in something that I haven't finished, and that's very much a canonical Dance one-off that went into the graveyard, but the mentality there is different.

This Daemon is very much a bit scary for me to write because it's a balance of him and his feelings for Rhaenyra, his history with Cathy and the whatever with Sophie. Also, it's hard to feel okay when writing a manipulator and gaslighter from their POV.

The scenes of Daemon and Sophie talking really were difficult to write because it's writing through the lens of someone who knew Cathy. He can't stop seeing Cathy in Sophie, no matter what, which is really hard to write because his subconscious was going out of its way to trigger Sophie (she's her mother's daughter, he knew Cathy and its almost like knowing Sophie, in some ways).

Anyways, that was a difficult scene to write. The entire interlude was so difficult to write.

6. What is your special fic or different from all your other fic?

IDK if it's special, but I think the difference in this one is the fact that it's a god damn feature on the insanity know as the Devereaux fam. We've not even scratched the surface on this.

7. Where did the title come from?

Honest to god, I really actually cannot think of how I came up with it. I just thought it sounded very trash emo aesthetic pretentious and went with it.

8. Did any real person or event inspire any part of this?

I plead the fifth, even though that shouldn't really apply here.

9. Was there an alternative version of this fic?

Yes.

The alternative version of the fic actually was that Soph didn't know she was a Greyjoy and that was prolly the big plot for the first story arc, but I decided that it wasn't fun. Rhaenyra was also less interested in Sophie, but I couldn't really stop that from happening and it didn't vibe well with Soph being on a lower playing field from the Targaryens.

Putting Sophie in a family that is of old money prestige, with a title and that carelessness which comes with it, it helped a lot with her character and the story itself. Whilst she rarely 'acts' on her privilege, it offers her a lot of passive protection (that comes at a cost) and it allowed the story to progress much faster than before.

There's supposed to be an alternative telling of this, in which it has to do with the Greyjoy and their illegal drug/organised crime business (which has been hinted a lot in the 'canon' fic anyways), but I basically didn't couldn't see that matching up to the storyline.

Also, there's another alternative version of the fic that I would call the 'insane timeline of doom that is essentially a deconstruction of the cathy devereaux diaries'. It's colour coded and it's a nightmare.

;D

10. Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

Aegon and Sophie were always the first idea of the fic, especially with the idea of them being very much pushing each other away but then dragging each other back. They're just odd and terribly mismatched but surprisingly well suited at moments.

I also say this having written a breakthrough for the two of them recently. I have said this to someone, which is that I don't overly ship Sophie with Aegon as much as I should, but that's because she's a difficult person to write. She's very closed off and she's very guarded and also when you see her letting go, she's got these self defence mechanisms which is to essentially play the people around her. It's also something that is a bit painful to write and read, because you go from the start of the story where Aegon just sees her as this insufferable perfect bitch who has nothing to worry about and then she's basically revealed to be someone who has been manipulated and used by every single person in her life and has in turn weaponised that to protect herself, versus Aegon who has just gone "FUCK YOUUUUU" to everyone around him.

Ironically, if I wrote her in the canonical Dance settings, I think she would be more of a firecracker than she is here. But more on that later/never (whether that happens is yet to be decided).

Rhaenyra just happened. It's probably the entire 'Sophie is Alicent 2.0' moments I have when writing her with Aegon. But she wore Cathy's dress and to be honest, it wasn't meant to be Rhaenyra who goes to the barn but Daemon. But the idea of Rhaenyra going to her and making her laugh and smile whilst Aegon sees it, that just gets something going in the entire story and like, Rhaenyra is there seeing this beautiful girl with those big doll eyes and that dark hair and is the most beautiful thing she's ever seen--oh right, that's like when she first saw Alicent, so of course she would go after her.

Special mention to Jace and Hannah for just being cute in the background. They're the rom-com no one knows is going on and I live for this.

11. What do you like most about this fic?

I really did write it for a complete audience of one: myself. The story evolved from "boy meets girl by running his car into her workplace" to "boy gets involved with a girl whose family is just as fucked up as his own" and that includes the ongoing insanity that just keeps coming out to fuck shit up.

You think that there are no more skeletons in the closet, and then there's just another fucking crazy thing happening.

I leaned into my love of a lot of pretentious writing, dark academia vibes, gothic romance and Fitzgerald and also really really really painting the town red with generational/inherited trauma. The entire story really starts latching onto the idea of "are we who we are because of our parents choices or do we have no choice but to be like our parents".

Also I do love the reaction I got from some people reading it. I honestly felt like the fic was unoriginal and flat and overly cliched/predictable, but some of the reactions I've gotten are so great and makes me want to finish the story.

12. What do you like least about this fic?

A lot of it. It drives me fucking nuts. I also have given up on the beta idea because we ride or die like yellowjackets and humanity. Also, that it has to deal with a lot of internalised misogyny and the patriarchy fucking everyone over.

Also that I can't write it fast enough/I can't tell if the pacing makes sense.

And also sometimes I write parts of it, and then have to YEEEEETTTTTT IT OUT OF THE WORD DOC because it just gets so fucking dark.

13. What song did you hear, if any, to make you want to write this story? Or if you haven't heard anything, what do you think readers should be listening to to accompany us while reading?

IDK, but I did make a Daemon/Cathy inspired creepmix.

Yeah, the actual fic itself doesn't have a fanmix, but the fucking assholes known as Daemon and Cathy get their own weird creep mix.

14. Is there anything you would like readers to learn from reading this fic?

Society is bad for your brain, it hurts you and twists you around and you should go 'fuck it' and live by your own standards and as your own self instead of who history and society and family demands you to be. Something like that. Actually, there's nothing to learn from this fic. Purge it from your brain pls.

15. What did you learn when writing this fic?

Everybody loves the dead girl.

[lothrilzul]

Funny how most of my predecided plans fail once I start listening to characters, and once I allow my PC to settle on a personality after their first few interactions.

Emerencia Cousland was a warrior, because I figured it'd easier to watch out for the tank if I was the tank. Having a heal mage is nice, of course, but I can chug potions too. She was eager to get fighting, just shy of her 18th birthday. She was hushed to stay and keep Highever. She was discouraged from even speaking to Duncan. She was urged to find a husband be a good wife. She didn't want to marry a nobleman. She hated Rendon Howe from the moment I laid eyes upon his face, and wasn't particularly fond of any other one, either. She was polite, but kept her distance.

And then everything went to shit. Her dear father and her brave mother died, her brother lost and she was forced to flee. And than Duncan saved her. Or so I thought. She was eager to join, because she had nothing to lose. After the Joining, which was a disaster, she felt betrayed. And if that wasn't enough, she was made public enemy number one for trying to do the right thing. But she couldn't get answer from Duncan anymore. She couldn't turn to Alistair, because he was barely any more experienced. She stumbled into the most haphazard band of misfits and befriended most of them. All she ever wanted was a peaceful life, where everyone could tolerate ther others and problems could be solved through words first.

Thrn, her past acquaintance with Alistair evolved into friendship, then interest, then love. She knew it would have the potential to hurt both of them, and so must he, yet neither of them stopped.

I always replied what I thought fit her mindset. This lead to Alistair remain unhardened, and thus not wanting to be King. So she didn't make him. He was on the fence, she could've push him either way, but she only wanted him to be happy. So I kept Alistair a Warden, despite I started a Couslanf so I had a chance at all to be Queen. Then I throw it away. Was it a good choice? Perhaps not, because this will mean I'll see Alistair again in that quest.

Then, Alma Hawke. How do I unpack her? I made a rogue, because I wanted to open the locks myself. In all honestly, I still entertainrd the thought of a Fenris romance but that would mean either making Fenris OR Emerencia grieve later and I didn't want that on him, so I jumped on the first time he declined my interest and called the matter finished. Which left me with my original, more tragic intention. I made a purple, pro-mage Hawke and relentlessly teased the apostate. I befriended him before Act 1 wrapped up.

And then that ominous kiss scene happened. I'm not gonna lie, I love a vocal man. I love touch starved man. And I love two idiots against the world relationships. So I dug myself deep, deep into Handers pit.

I originally planned to have them break up or have her kill him, but the more they interacted, the more I saw everything unfold, the less and less control I had. I said to myself ig Hawke feels it was anything personal she will act like it. And it was nothing like that.

So I spared him, saved the mages and they are supposedly on the run together.

Which is bad, because now I have choose between sacrificing Alistair and taking the last thing that keeps any light in Emerencia or sacrifice Alma, and let Anders loose with the possibly most devastating reaction any DA2 LIs could have.

And there's also the very much existing friendship between Emerencia and Anders. Either of them loses their other half, the other would feel bad about it.

I briefly considered leaving Alistair there and my cognitive functions shut down. There's no way I'd do that.

So, Emerencia will have a very bad timr trying to console Anders, and then trying to shelter him and possibly stop him from doing any harm, himself included.

Then, I was halfway finishing my Trevelyan when Kiddo reminded me I promised to make an elf. So, I backtracked, made a Lavellan anf named her Tünde. That's a valid Hungarian name, equivalent of Fay, used for elves in fantasy translations. Oh, and she's a mage.

There's no way I romance Cullen after that. I don't need another layer to this rollercoaster. Can you imagine the added bonus to all this package? No, let's stick to something of the original plan by going yet again for the Warden.

Or go Egg. That's a tragedy on its own.

[adachicuto]

happy birthday felix

warning: food mentions

for your birthday, felix made you birthday pancakes (or another breakfast food that you like) and you'd decide to return the favor and it'd be a bit stressful at first because you'd miss a step in the recipe but it'd end up turning out okay

so, you made sure to start on breakfast while felix was sleeping and your original plan was to wake him up with breakfast but he'd wake up just as you would finish up but the smile on his face when he'd see everything would be so adorable

with a smile still on his face, he'd walk over and pull you into a hug and he'd pull you to the kitchen table and you'd eat breakfast together while you'd listen to a playlist that he discovered

idk i get the feeling that felix would like to take a walk to the nearest park a little bit later. and you'd get coffee on the way then you'd both get really excited about all of the dogs you'd see at the park

and there'd be a surprise waiting for felix the further you'd walk in the park and it would be all of the boys sitting on a blanket with a few picnic baskets set out in the center and felix's reaction would be so cute

everyone would pitch in and get all of felix's favorite snacks and foods that they were able to find and of course, chris would make sure to have a few aussie snacks as well

you'd all eat and talk but this is stray kids so things would get chaotic pretty fast but, luckily the other people in the park wouldn't seem to mind all that much

after that, you'd all go back to your shared place and seungmin would take these little cakes out of one of the picnic baskets and would explain that you would have a little cake decorating competition. the winner would get a gift card to a really nice restaurant

as expected, it would be very crazy but everyone would win the gift card because felix would be the judge and the decorations would all be pretty good and everyone would have a lot of fun with it

then, you would all give felix his gifts and it’s his birthday but he’d make everyone cry because of the sweet letters he’d write for each you, that would thank all of you for being there for him and there would not be a dry eye in the room

after that, someone (jisung or changbin probably) would say something insanely funny to cover up the fact that they also cried. then chris and minho would bring out the birthday cake you'd finishing celebrating

for felix, this would be one of the best birthdays he'd ever had because he'd be surrounded by his favorite people and how everyone took the time to make it special would be so sweet to him

[buckybarnesdiaries]

white wolf: “the story of a first date”

first part — second part — third part — fourth part (soon)

© @capsgrantrogers

bucky barnes x reader. ⎢ masterlist.

Sam helps Bucky to ask you out for a date and it's a disaster, but he gets it.

word count: 3.147 words. (not sorry, it worth it, i promise!!!)

warnings/tags: none. bucky being the cutest gentleman in the whole wide world, and sam keeping an eye on him.

author notes: as it happened with the first part, i'm not really happy with the result but i had so much fun writing it and i think that that made this writing perfect, so i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed it. none of my stories contain reader’s body descriptions to be inclusive.

Join the tag list here.

The car stopped because of a red light, a moment where Sam took the advantage to turn at his copilot, glancing at Bucky from top to bottom in complete silence. Analyzing him. The soldier tilted his head raising an eyebrow, showing his curiosity about what the hell he was doing.

“What are you gonna wear, uh?” Sam asked then, maintaining a serious gesture on his face.

“Clothes”. Unworriedly, he put back his eyes to the front window.

“You probably look good naked, but that’s not what I’m talking ‘bout”.

“Just… some jeans, a shirt, and a jacket”.

“And shoes, I guess”.

Bucky turned on his seat towards his friend, squinting confused for the interrogatory. “Who cares?”

“About the shoe—”

“About the clothes”.

“Man, it’s a date! Do you wan’her to remember this night as the night Bucky Barnes shown up as a Russian bum?”

“I’m from Brookl—”.

“Yeah, but you look like mother Russia just spat you to the world”.

Sam rolled his eyes as a sigh escaped his mouth. Shaking his head, he took the next corner to the fifth avenue changing the planes they had in mind. A good outfit meant a good date. A good date meant happy soldier. Happy soldier meant no trouble. See the point? So the Falcon would take care of the Winter Soldier today. If only Steve could see them. He’d feel proud, that was for sure. They visited a couple of shops, finally letting Sam take control over the situation and pick the clothes he would wear for you. He had good taste, everybody knew that, and Bucky couldn’t complain about his choices.

Even less when the distinctive black suit dressed his anatomy to perfection. Spinning around in front of the mirror, he felt different. He looked different. He looked good, but not as he’d like. Holding the bucket of flowers once he was ready, Bucky left his apartment straight to the garage under the building. He was nervous, he couldn’t lie. But he had that sensation inside him that made him believe everything would be okay for the first time since he woke up.

The road didn’t take him more than ten minutes, not really worried about the time given that he had planned to arrive a little sooner than accorded. Life seemed like it was smiling at him, finding a parking lot in the same entrance. Landing his blue eyes on the rearview mirror, Bucky took a last view at his reflection, brushing back his hair as he used to do in the forties. He grabbed then the flowers he bought for you and stepped out of the car, trying to remember the advice Sam gave him. Resting his back against the copilot's door, he waited impatiently for you.

“Hey, you”.

His heart stopped for a second, raising his orbs to the man coming closer. Before he could react, the man in question tucked a hand beneath Bucky's jacket. Patting him down.

“What the hell are you doing, Sam?” He questioned irritatedly, slapping his hands and causing him to laugh.

“Just checking you didn't bring the notecards again”.

“Yeah, very funny…”

“Man, look at you! Should be illegal to look this good, uh?” Sam helped him to put on the jacket again, receiving another slap from his friend.

“Don't touch me”. Scowling, he fixed the flowers in his left hand, wanting them to be perfect. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“Watch you till (Y/N) comes. Lemme take a picture, I feel like a proud father on his son's prom day”.

“You're not m— Get the hell outta here, Sam”.

“Fighting again, kids? Should I call your mama?”

As Bucky heard you scoff, his soul abandoned. His pupils dilated. His legs trembled. And he could swear that everything disappeared around him when he watched you going downstairs, swinging your hips unconsciously sensual, with a black dress fitting you like a glove. If this morning Bucky wanted to marry you, now he wanted to spend the rest of his life by your side. Your makeup was on point, just like your hair, not being too formal but enough to run him out of words.

“Steve is off-duty, so, what 'you gonna do, soldier?” Sam mocked, an instant before noticing how pale Bucky was. He couldn't help but slap the back of his neck to bring him back to reality.

“I, uh… flowers… I bought you…”

“You're not Yoda”. Sam whispered as the other offered you the present.

“C'mon, stop messing with him”. You clicked your tongue, right before you drew an adorable smile on your lips, leaning to kiss Bucky's cheek. “Thank you”.

“You're welcome”. He just answered, responding to your same gesture while opening the door for you.

“Such a gentleman…” His playful murmur made Bucky frown and nudge him, trying to stop him from saying anything else and ruin the occasion.

“I'll bring him back at ten”. You joked palming his chest.

“The point is to not bring him back to me”. Sam cackled, shaking his head and taking a step back.

Once in the car turning on the engine, James joined the road after checking you were good. Never in his life he had driven with so much care as if he was carrying a bomb by his side. He set on the radio, not really knowing how to start a conversation, watching you through the corners of his eyes caressing the flowers over your lap. No one had bought you them before, thinking it was a thing that only happened in movies. But then, you met Bucky. An old-fashioned man, making yourself wonder how he was the same the news used to say he was a cold-blood assassin.

“What have you thought?”

“Uh?”

“About the date”.

“Sam told me about a rest—”.

“Okay, okay, Bucky. Pull over”. You couldn't help but burst into laughter, as his face was pale again thinking you were about to step out and end the date.

“Sorry, did I…?”

You swiveled at him on your seat, kissing your teeth and squinting inevitably. Studying his face you knew how afraid he was, and it was the most adorable reaction ever. You could have kissed at that precise instant, but it'd have been a little awkward.

“Where do you wanna go?”

The question didn't take him by surprise, actually. He was still getting used to doing the things he desired and not what other people asked him to do. The restaurant was a fancy place with a distinguished menu according to what his friend explained to him, but it wasn't the kind of site that he'd normally go, or that represented him.

“When I, uh… came back, I discovered that my favorite burger joint in Brooklyn was still standing”. Bucky told you, facing you after finishing the sentence. “They prepare the best burgers of the whole New York and you can decide what ingredients add, and the bread, and the kind of meat. And it still having the original decoration”.

You reclined on your seat, just staring at him talking with that kind of burning passion about something he loved. Puckering your lips, you nodded your chin. The fact that not only he wanted to take you to a different place, but a place that he used to go to when he was young made butterflies flutter within your belly. Bucky wanted to make you part of his future, but also his past. That made the difference.

“Sounds good to me”.

“Really?” He inquired funnily confused, wrinkling his nose and forehead.

“Really”.

The shine that appeared within his eyes made you place a hand on his cheek to urge him to turn his head and drive again. An innocent gesture that provoked him a lively giggle. If that man knew all the things he caused you, he'd have taken the step months ago.

As the night went on and Bucky was losing his shyness, he talked to you about the good old times. Before HYDRA, before the winter, before the war. When he was a kid with no worries more than keeping Steven safe from the bullies. It was nice to disconnect from the present, from the gazes around the two of you, from the back talks, only enjoying your dinner and your conversation. You talked to Bucky about how was to be raised on a farm, surrounded by open fields and animals, to join the army years later. Without going into details that could make him remember the old bad times, you told him about what you used to do, your missions, and how you were wounded in combat after being shot and fell from a helicopter.

Bucky felt confident enough to compare it with how everything started. Falling from a wagon to the snow. But as soon as his voice became lower, you couldn't help but hold his gloved left hand and intertwine your fingers with his. And you could swear you felt him shaking for a brief moment because of your touch.

“So, what, uh? It was a forties trend to jump into the void?” You tried to joke, wanting to feel relaxed.

“Yeah, seems like”. He mumbled curling up his lips. “Listen… I really want to… open up, and I know it’s easier with you because… y’know, you work doing this”.

“Hold on, Bucky”. You laughed waving your free hand, shaking your chin as you closed your eyes for a second. “That has sounded really bad”.

“Wait, wh— Oh, shit, no, no, no”.

For the first time since you walked into the small restaurant, his laughter was lively, unworriedly, honest.

“Take it easy, just kidding”. You grinned, nailing your elbow on the table to rest your cheek on your palm. “But… this isn’t work. We’re not doing therapy, we’re… knowing each other. And I don’t want to pressure you to talk about something you don’t feel prepared to, okay?”

“I know”.

Bucky couldn’t believe how much you seemed to empathize with him, not judging his acts nor his past, not deciding that the date wasn't a good idea nor running away. He couldn’t believe the less importance you were giving to his arm made of vibranium; usually, people used to freak out, to feel frightened somehow about the things it could do. But you were there, fingers playing with the others as if it was the most common and natural act in the world. And, for you, it was. That was you in all your best. Considerate, smart, patient, lovingly. The rainbow after a stormy life. Everything that Bucky needed in his life to start from scratch and be his better version. A shoulder to lean on and a reason to come back home.

“Was afraid of asking you out”. He confessed after some seconds admiring each other. Any person closer would say you had been dating for a long, long time by the way you had to keep silent and not feel uncomfortable.

“Why?”

“You came from war and made your world a place to live. I’m still stuck there”.

“I have my own red flags”. Clicking your tongue, you rolled your eyes.

“Oh, really? Please, surprise me”. Bucky teased you sitting up on his chair, not loosening the gentle grip around your left hand.

“I put the milk before cereals”.

“Oh… Oh, God”. He let out, pretending to be horrified and running a hand on his face. “Goddammit… you’re a monster, ma’am. I don’ think this is going to work”.

“Excuse me?” You chuckled, parting your lips in a breath while leaning over the table to palm his right shoulder. “It wasn’t me who added lettuce to the burger”.

“What? What’s the matter with that, uh?”

“Lettuce kills the savor!”

“Y’know what kills the savor? Ketchup. Today, people use ketchup literally with everything… And that’s disgusting”.

“Okay! Next time, no lettuce, and… no ketchup”.

“That’s a big challenge”. Bucky scoffed tenderly squeezing your hand between his cold fingers.

“I’ll live, Sergeant Barnes”. You narrowed your eyes and crinkled your nose at the same time.

“I was talking about a second date, not about your issue with ketchup”.

“So was I”.

A goofy smirk appeared on Bucky’s face, biting his inner cheek as he assented with his head. Seeing you again, knowing that you wanted it —that you wanted him—, made him trust Dr. Raynor’s words. He was having a second chance to do the right thing. To live and to be.

You wanted to add something else when the clock in his wrist started to beep. Curious, you raised an eyebrow. “We have to leave”.

“Why?”

“Sam told me you work tomorrow at eight, which means you’ll get up at six and a half… maybe seven. While I pay, take you home, all that stuff… I don’ want you to be tired in the morning”.

Bucky would never stop to amaze you, looking up to him in silence to contemplate how he called the bartender and beckoned his free hand to ask for the bill.

“What…? What are you doing?” He chuckled embarrassed, taking his beer to sip.

You cleared your throat when you realized how stupid you should look right now, shaking your head as you freed his cold hand from yours to find unlock your phone as soon as the guy brought the dataphone.

“Hey, no, no. I asked you out, I pay”. Bucky began to fight with you, provoking some laughs on the table as you tried to put your screen above the tpv.

“Well, welcome to the twenty-first century”. You hummed as the operation was confirmed.

“I’ll pay next time”. He declared licking his incisors, prior to his lips.

You wished the ride back home to last forever, not wanting to end the date. But the car reached your neighborhood in a blink of eyes. You couldn't help but sigh barely appreciably for your companion, gazing through the window until double parking in front of your apartment. You turned towards him, hearing the engine shut off. Bucky seemed disappointed like you, not being able to remember when was the last time he had a break, he had fun. The date was nicer than he expected but the idea of not knowing exactly when he was going to see you again was killing him from the inside.

“I'll accompany you”. He declared undoing his seat belt as you did to step out.

You reacted with a delicate smile, holding the bucket of flowers against your abdomen while walking to the front door of the building. That moment was a little uncomfortable, not being sure about how to say goodbye, just looking like two teens in love.

“Thank you for tonight, Bucky”. You uttered without thinking about it. “It's been the best night I've ever had”.

“Next will be better, I promise”.

“That's a big challenge”. You chuckled repeating his words a while ago in the restaurant.

“I'll live”. He nodded convinced, glancing at you bowing down your interest to the red roses between your hands.

How could you tell him that you were dying to be together again? That you wouldn't mind waking up sooner and having breakfast? You bit your inner upper lip, trying to find the correct words to say, without sounding like you were feeling something else to a physical attraction. Bucky was hot as hell, that wasn't up to debate, but he was the kindest and charmingest man you had known. He was sensible and strong at the same time. You both complemented the other like the pieces of a puzzle and you never thought something like that could happen to you. To find your other half and having it so clear you didn't want anyone else.

“I am, uh… free tomorrow”.

His words pushed you out of your thoughts, putting up your attention to a Bucky almost flushing, stroking the back of his head, and having the impression that he could scare you.

“Got a break for lunch, if you want”. You proposed without hesitation.

His eyes sparkled with happiness, holding your left hand with his to bring it to his mouth, placing a fond kiss on the back. Such a gentleman, like Sam said, inducing your cheeks to burn. And then, you saw him doubting about taking another step. You wanted it too to happen, tho, leaning forward to press your lips together. Your eyes snapped closed at that precise instant, not having any rush, tasting each other's and shortening the distance between both of you by his free arm getting wrapped around your waist. The kiss was innocent but passionate. It was warm, intimate, trying to transmit all the chemistry you woke up within the other with only one look, with only one smile. Breaking it —much to your regret— when you needed air to breathe. And even so, Bucky rested his forehead against yours freeing your hand to place it on the right side of his neck.

Neither of the two of you opened your eyes, extending the moment as much as you could. You felt he craved to spend the night with you, and you desired it too, but you also felt that he needed some time to get used to this new world he was living in. It wasn't easy. You thought back to the months after the war, the recovery, the loneliness you forced yourself to be in. You were in Afghanistan for three months. He had been fighting since nineteen forty. And he didn't want to ruin what you were building together.

“I should leave”. Bucky murmured against his wishes.

“See you tomorrow”.

At the moment you opened your eyes to meet the pale blue ones, your whole body felt weak. You saw the brightness in them after letting him know that the second date was going to happen and that it wasn't just a formality before disappearing, wiping out any minimal doubt by kissing him again. The last kiss. A good night, I'll dream with you kiss.

“I'm gonna play this on your wedding day, definitely”.

You screamed because of the unexpected metallic voice coming closer, clinging to Bucky's neck as his heart raced too. Redwing was suspended in the air some steps away from you, being controlled by Sam. Who else is not him, uh?

“I'm starting to think you have separation anxiety”. The soldier growled trying to hit the flying device with his flesh hand, hearing you laughing against his chest.

“Good night, kids”. You chuckled separating from Bucky.

“No kiss for me, soldier?”

“I'm not gonna kiss that thing, Samuel”.

“What about a howl, White wolf? Would be very appro—”.

“White wo—”.

“Please, don't. Don't ask”. Bucky begged you, licking his bottom lip while rubbing the back of his head, clearly ashamed.

“Hope you show me one day what it means…”

“Oh, he will… Just wait till the full moon”.

“Sam!” Bucky and you yelled in unison, you playfully, he annoyed.

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[funkymbtifiction]

If I could add in a bit about TJ professionalism.

There are so many examples of TJs in work place in media (Miranda Priestly, among others) and they are often depicted as ... tyrannical and totally unlikable. Actually, that's not a wrong depiction (some of us really are dicks), but most of us aren't like this. Simply because it's inefficient.

Think of it this way, if we are tyrannical, people will hate us. And even if we have the power to force them to work, we have to spend unnecessary energy to 'force' people to work. The morale among workers will be low, hence the quality of work will also be poor. The development, long term investment of the workplace will be stale because no one has a morale to think of something new and interesting. The good system must be organic, so if the morale is high, the work environment is good, workers are happy and well-provided for, they'd take initiative without us having to force them at all.

If you want to see a good example of TJs in work or leadership position look at Caesar (ENTJ 3w4). He's simply too good at making people like him. He doesn't need to coerce or force people into doing something, because they'll just do it themselves. Or in a more modern ones, Adele (ENTJ), she is generally likable, funny and charming. But she's still Te-dom through and through.

We usually are polite, approachable and likable because we know that is how we can work in peace (people like us > want to work with us > listen to us more and we can get things done effectively). I don't think many TJs will slam people if they prove incompetent at their work or make a mistake. Because, well, people can objectively be bad at the job (at first) or make a mistake. It's better and more efficient to point them out in diplomatic way. Instead of, this is not good, do it again, I'd say "the concept is nice, but you can add it here ... and here, so can you do this for me?" However, if they prove untrainable we will get them out of the way. All TJs in my life are approachable and likable, especially in professional setting because it's how we will find more connections and keep people onside.

And most of the time, if I have to work with someone I hate, I can turn off my feelings entirely. I will complain before we have to work and loudly. I might even rage with myself or with some unrelated people (hence no risk of secrets being spilled). But when I have to actually get to work, the feelings of angst and hatred just dissipated completely. There are things need done right here, we must get it done. I can smile and cooperate with people I hate and I wouldn't feel anything much. It's a job. I had a fallout with my ENTP old friend, we hated each other, but when we had to work together as unofficial leaders, we can just ... well, turn off our emotions and work professionally together and get the job done. Emotions will be processed but only after the necessary jobs are all done. Personally, I don't really care about my feelings so much as how to get things done, and if those include motivating people, empathize with them, or cooperating with them, I'll do it.

When I watch Daenerys Targaryen, my reaction was like "wtf, girl? Get a grip, that's stupid?!" It doesn't do to power through people, cooperation often beats submission.

Personally, I think the bureaucratic system is inflexible though. If someone is good at the lower job doesn't mean they will perform well in leadership roles. And vice versa, someone who isn't good at lower job might be brilliant in leadership roles. So, it'd be great if people address this system too. Not to mention the preference of the workers.

If they are good at A job, don't forcefully shove them into B (better) job, assess first if they could do it and more importantly if they desire it. If they don't want to be promoted, it's better to give them more pay for the job well done than force them up the rank unnecessarily. Some people are good workers but not leaders and that's simply a fact. And the willingness to work is also very important as well. People who want to work will simply outperform (in the long run) those who works out of necessity. Because they'll have more drive. It's the system's job to ensure those people get the resources they need to grow and be happy with their job.

It's me ruminating about Te here. So, I don't know. lol.

Mod: Miranda Priestly can 'afford' to be a bitch, because she is at the top of the food chain -- no one can take her job, she is so good at it, so she sees no reason to treat 'minions' well. She's based in part off Anna Wintour, who is capable of similar acts of rich elitism (Tim Gunn says in his book, since Anna refuses to share an elevator with anyone else, she once had her bodyguards carry her down five flights of stairs because she wouldn't walk, and she wouldn't wait).

Regarding Fe/Te work dynamics, Law & Order is back. In last night's episode, the FJ/TJ prosecuting attorneys clashed over the MeToo movement. The FJ did not want the TJ to rip apart a woman on cross-examination who was lying about being abused to get out of a murder conviction; she said it might damage the movement and undo the good it has done. The TJ argued that they aren't here to protect a movement, but to deal with the fact that this woman shot a man in cold blood to cover up fraud inside her company. FJ = social awareness. TJ = the facts come first. FJ = cater to what's socially appropriate / social awareness. TJ = get the job done.

[hisredhysteria]

Hi, I was thinking abt sth Hoodlum said offhand in episode 4 (like he was planning to ditch Brawler and get closer to Cutthroat instead), so could I please get some HCs for that, like Hoodlum attempting to suck up to cutthroat to be friends? I think it would be funny cause I imagine cutthroat would not care if someone tried to flatter him (Also thank you for the "cutthroat is a ruthless spoon shamer" it put such a funny image in my head of him just roasting the fuck out of a wooden spoon)

Note: IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY THAT I COULD MAKE YOU LAUGH...or at the very least smile— I'd like to think Cutthroat has a grudge against things that don't quite shine as he'd expect them to—

Also, .....I so badly want to share a screenshot of Cutthroat's reaction when Brawler told him to get out of the way because I still laugh at it — and you know what, I'll add the other one I have because I still laugh at it too....sort of related, right..? Maybe not...

♡༄┊Hoodlum ditching Brawler for Cutthroat—!

Well, we can't talk about Hoodlum trying to join alliances with Cutthroat before talking about how Brawler might react...

And that is.... He's quite literally clueless...! ..Ain't no way his bro's ditching him. So why's he hangin' around the white haired stick so much ...?

I'd say 2/3 people in this situation are likely clueless—

You know what, 3/3. Hoodlum doesn't know what's going on either. He knows what he's trying to do, but that only goes so far. He's just throwing words to the wind and hoping what he says sticks to someone...At least, that's his tactic most of the time...

Brawler is still trying to strike up conversations or pull Hoodlum away from Cutthroat in many situations...of course, unaware that Hoodlum is actually attempting to befriend Cutthroat now...and Cutthroat is also unaware as he becomes enamoured with Swindler instead—

Eventually Hoodlum awkwardly tries to explain a lie that'll get Brawler to leave him be...this lie doesn't work all that well either because Brawler finds a loophole around it-! Nice...in which case he'll get both Brawler and Cutthroat under his belt! He's a genius.

At first he resorts to...you know, offering a few words to gas himself up so Cutthroat thinks he's a big shot.

This isn't something Cutthroat cares about...at all....in fact, who cares to listen when Swindler is standing right next to him ..? ..Wait, wait where's she going..!?

It'd actually be more impressive if Hoodlum just let his collar blow off his head..! You know, give Cutthroat pretty red fireworks to look at-!

Even if Hoodlum did live up to his lies though, Cutthroat wouldn't care or acknowledge any of the words spilling from Hoodlums mouth... unless perhaps it's a direct question—

Which means Cutthroat calls for the big guns, huh.. alright! Surely nothing Hoodlum can't play along with... Cutthroat likes red, right..? And he's always saying creepy things ...time to nervously match his energy—!

Cutthroat making any sort of comment about how lovely blood is will be followed up by Hoodlum's very out of place laughter as he also tries to compliment Cutthroat on his... murdering skills... and you know....his ability to kill people Hoodlum sees as a threat...

Of course the rest of the gang knows what Hoodlum's attempting to do and to be quite frank, they're surprised he's even trying...

In just about every circumstance, Cutthroat is leaving Hoodlum while he worries about protecting Swindler.

Hoodlum hiding behind Cutthroat's back..? Well, maybe Cutthroat gives him a curious look if he even acknowledges his presence, but that doesn't last long before Cutthroat's already running the opposite way to save Swindler from a bullet instead—

If Hoodlum gets too close, he may just find himself as another one of Cutthroat's human body shields....and or perhaps a bullet just barely missed him as Cutthroat used his knife to ricochet one out of Swindler's direction—

This eventually causes Hoodlum to become needlessly frustrated trying to keep up with Cutthroat...or to even so much as catch his attention—

Why did Hoodlum think this was the better plan again..?

Hoodlum even tries to ask Swindler her tricks at some point. Why's a murderer so interested in her..?

It was an unwarranted question he let slip though so when Swindler gives him a look he laughs it off...

Brawler recognizes the change of direction in Hoodlum's attention eventually, so naturally he tries to one-up Cutthroat and impress Hoodlum more than he thinks Cutthroat impresses him.

Hoodlum is actually not impressed by Cutthroat though, he's a little scared and just wants Cutthroat to do his dirty work....well....maybe he finds Cutthroat a little impressive because of his knife skills...and his ability to kill without any sort of guilt is a little interesting...

Cutthroat gives Brawler a look of "huh?" everytime he attempts at showing off by challenging him...all for the sake of Hoodlum's praise.

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 (𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞)

Pairing: Song Mingi (Ateez)× Reader (Female) ft. Park Seonghwa (Ateez)

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Humor.

Word Count: 3.5K

Summary: Mingi has liked Y/N for the longest time and works up the courage to confess to her.......until he witnesses her confessing to someone else.

Tag: @seacottons . Happy birthday my tiny goofy goober.

❏ ❐ ❑ ❒ ❏ ❐ ❏ ❐ ❑ ❒ ❏ ❐ ❏ ❐ ❑ ❒

"Scribbling away another love letter that you'll end up throwing in the garbage bin yet again?"

Mingi quickly covered the paper in front of him with his large hands, startled by the voice of his friend who silently came in the room.

"Yeosang don't freaking scare me like that! Seriously, I'm going to ask Seonghwa to put a bell on you."

Adjusting the glasses on his nose, Mingi carefully folded the paper before placing it inside a pink colored envelope which he ended up wrapping a string around it. For the final touch, he attached a small flower on it like he did on all the other ones, this time it was a mini red carnation, which he gently kissed before placing it in the stash with the others.

Yeosang simply shook his head and sighed.

"Mingi, I'm no relationship expert, but don't you think it'd be better to tell Y/N how you feel instead of pouring your heart out into a piece of paper and storing it in a cold corner?"

The taller male sat still for a couple seconds, thinking about his friend's words. Maybe he would....and yet-

"No I- I can't do that! I mean, look at me. I'm just Mingi and she's Y/N."

Yeosang rolled his eyes.

"Yes, glad to see you know both of your names. But what's keeping you from telling her? Like seriously?"

Kicking himself off the chair, Mingi slumped onto his bed, sprawling all over it and groaning dramatically.

"She's super cool, funny, kind, caring and has eyes to die for..."

Lifting his head up he smiled goofily at Yeosang who just scrunched his nose at how lovesick Mingi was. Coming back to reality, Mingi rolled over onto his back. Clutching a nearby pillow, he hugged it as he looked at the ceiling.

"And I'm just me.......she'd never fall for someone like me..."

Yeosang sat next to him. Patting his arm in an effort to comfort him, he suggested:

"Why not try still? Who knows? Maybe you'll end up being surprised yourself."

Mingi pondered over his Yeosang's words long after he was gone. He looked back at the stash of written confessions he had drafted over the past months.

"Why not? After all, it wouldn't hurt me to try......"

"Right?"

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Y/N paced back and forth around the living room, feeling extremely anxious and agitated.

"It's ok Y/N. Just breathe and you'll be fine. The worse he can do is reject you right? No biggie." She mentally told herself.

Looking back at the cake on the island, she double checked to make sure it looked perfect and even. She had to remind herself to thank Yunho for telling her what his friend's favorite cake was, even if he had demanded a cake of his own as payment for the information. She got startled when she finally heard the door open.

"Don't panic! Don't panic!" She couldn't keep herself from fidgeting with the sleeves of her sweater.

Maybe there was still time to back out of this, maybe she could pretend she dropped the cake for all of them, even if he was the only one there at that moment. She was so frustrated she actually leaned her forehead against the wall in front of her and whined lowly.

"Y/N?" She finally heard him speak.

Without turning around, she lifted a hand behind her to signal him to not speak. Taking a deep breath she declared:

"Listen! I'm only going to say this once so hear me out...."

The man behind her stood there, eyeing her curiously, wondering what she'd say. He was pretty shocked when he heard her continue.

"I've liked you for the longest time now...... like seriously like you. Every time I see you, I feel like my heart is about to jump out of my chest..."

Sighing softly, she got to the final part.

"I understand if you don't feel the same, if you'll see me as nothing but a friend. After all, you're an idol and have so many pretty faces constantly surrounding you, and you're so handsome, so perfect and sweet and cute and- ugh! I just wanted to let you know that I really really like you ok?!"

She felt so embarrased by herself and actually contemplated banging her head against the concrete in front of her. She already could feel the rejection coming, the silence being the huge indicator. Not able to bear the silence anymore, she turned around.

"Stop dragging it on and just tell me- Seonghwa?!"

She was beyond mortified when she saw the eldest Ateez member in front of her, who was now poking at the cake.

"I mean........ I appreciate the sentiment Y/N, but you should know my favorite ice cream is strawberry. Not .....whatever this is..."

Y/N snatched the cake away from him.

"It's not for you idiot! And the confession wasn't for you either!"

Seonghwa pretended to be hurt by her words.

"Ouch. You hurt me so bad." He mock pouted, causing her to roll her eyes.

"But honestly, thank God it wasn't for me. I was about to get a heart attack from thinking about how to let you down gently."

Y/N looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, no offense Y/N. You're cute and all but I just see you as a friend." He explained.

"None taken. You're cute and all but I just see you as the other's nanny." She teased him.

"Hey you take that back!" He swatted at her, causing her to laugh and almost drop the cake.

"Ok but if you weren't expecting me to come by the door? Who were you expecting?"

Leaning his elbow on the wall, Seonghwa looked at Y/N with a mischievous twinkle in the eye.

"Tell me. I must know who among our members is it that makes your heart pound so much?"

"That's my secret." She pretended to zip her lips tightly.

"Awww come on! I hardly get any excitement anymore! Tell me! I wanna know!" He continued pestering her to dish it out.

She bit her lip before deciding she could trust him.

"It's.....it's Mingi. ..."

Seonghwa immediately got a shocked look on his face which terrified Y/N, but then it confused her when he started smiling widely.

"Are you serious?! That's great!" Seonghwa actually hugged her tightly.

"Why is that great?"

Seonghwa leaned in, pressing his lips to her ear.

"Because, he may or may not be also crushing on you....hard."

Seonghwa chuckled at her reaction.

"Cute. Super cute."

Seonghwa couldn't resist the urge to nuzzle his nose against her cheek, making Y/N make gagging noises at his affection and jokingly attemp to escape his grasp.....

Yet neither of them noticed the heartbroken pair of eyes that was watching them.

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Mingi was upset for the next few days and didn't even try to hide it. He couldn't get that image out of his head. He could still hear Y/N's voice say:

"I've liked you for the longest time now...... like seriously like you. Every time I see you, I feel like my heart is about to jump out of my chest...

I just wanted to let you know that I really really like you ok?!"

He was so shocked to hear her say that. For the longest time he had wanted to hear her utter those words....

But they weren't for him, they were for someone else.

He couldn't stay anymore. He quietly exited the dorm to give them both the space they needed. Waiting for several minutes outside, he debated whether to go back inside and see what happened or just go back to the company to practice the choreography once more and hopefully get his mind off things. Curiosity getting the better of him, Mingi slowly opened the door again and silently peeked his head back in.

He instantly regretted it and wished he had just gone back to practice. It absolutely destroyed him watching his Hyung be lovey dovey with the girl of his dreams and he knew he'd hate the coming days. Which was why he stayed in his room or just went out to practice to keep his mind occupied.

He wasn't in the mood to play with Yunho, mess with Hongjoong and especially not eat what Seonghwa cooked. It started to worry the others and of course, it also worried Y/N to no end. She tried to cheer him up, make him his favorite foods or try to get him out of bed, but it was all in vain. Mingi would end up shutting down more and just dismissing her attempts, sometimes harshly.

"Y/N please just leave me alone! I don't want to see you!" He yelled at her one day when he just couldn't control what he'd kept bottled up inside.

He instantly felt bad when he saw her sad and disappointed eyes, but didn't apologize. He simply grabbed his coat and went for a walk, leaving the poor girl in total disillusionment. Y/N sat down on his bed, her hand gently stroking the throw blanket he always kept.

"Now you've got a long face. Don't tell me it's contagious."

Usually she'd chuck a pillow at Yeosang's comment, but she didn't even feel like doing that.

"What's with you?" Yeosang asked as he took a seat next to her.

"I'm just....hurt.." She admitted.

"Why?" He continued his interrogation.

"I just......wanted to help Mingi but instead he lashed out at me and it hurts because I care about him a lot and it hurts to have the person you like treat you so coldly."

She didn't even realize she had just told Yeosang her secret, but she was too hurt to even think about the words coming out of her mouth. Yeosang however seemed intrigued by what she said, and knowing how Mingi was pining for her as well, couldn't understand either why he'd make her feel that way.

"If it's any consolation..... he likes you too."

Although Seonghwa had already hinted that Mingi liked her too, she couldn't really take his words seriously because Seonghwa tended to misinterpret things. But she knew Yeosang was straightforward and honest in everything, plus he wouldn't make something like this up.

"He does?" She looked at him incredulously.

Yeosang nodded. Remembering the box Mingi hid, he got up, not caring whether it was ok or not to do this, but something had to be done. Picking up the red box he placed it on Y/N's lap.

"Read them. They're Mingi's. Maybe there you'll find a clue about what's bothering him."

Ruffling the top of her head, Yeosang exited the room and closed the door behind him, knowing she'd probably want the privacy.

Snapping the latch up, Y/N was more than surprised to see several letters neatly laid out in the box. There were at least a dozen of them, all addressed to her and stacked by the order they were written in. The envelopes were all different colors, and each had a unique flower attached to it, some already dried out from how old they were, but others were still fresh and vibrant. Picking up the first one in the stack, she noticed it was dated 1 week after she had just moved into the apartment next to them.

"Dear Y/N,

I know you'd find it odd to hear me say this, but I think you're so pretty and nice and I was wondering if one day you'd like to go on a date with me? Let me know."

She giggled softly at how cute he was. She poured over the next letters one by one, each time they were getting longer and longer than the last one, and they certainly became more romantic.

"Dear Y/N,

It's been only a few minutes since we all went to bed cause New Year's is over, but I honestly can't sleep. Not when my head is filled with images of you at the party, looking absolutely gorgeous in that dress you wore. Let me tell you, I could hardly keep myself still when the fireworks began. I seriously wanted to kiss you right then and there, and I would have, but that would have probably freaked you out and I can't have that. Admiring you was enough for me and I know I will get to kiss you, even if it's only in my dreams."

Y/N fondly remembered that. She recalled how she fantasized about Mingi kissing her as well. She desperately wanted him to cup her face and just plant his luscious lips on hers. She could feel herself blushing as she thought about how they would feel and what would they taste like. It was well an hour later but she finally reached the last letter, which was actually written up just yesterday. This time it was in a dark blue envelop and it had a tiny stem of Forget-Me-Nots on it.

"Dear Y/N,

I know it's foolish to keep writing these things when I now know you can never be mine, when I know your heart belongs to someone else. But I need to get it off my chest and finally say this:

I love you..."

She clutched her heart when she read that, tears already forming in her eyes.

"I love you, but I can never have you. Yet I hold no resentment towards you. You're free to love who you want. I wish you and Seonghwa Hyung nothing but happiness and I hope he treats you like the princess you are.

Forever yours, hoping you never forget me,

Song Mingi."

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what he meant by being happy with Seonghwa. Then it hit her. Mingi had started acting strange the day after the misunderstanding with Seonghwa happened. Which meant he must have seen something and thought-

"Oh my God!"

Y/N quickly ran out the room, almost bumping into San who dramatically slammed his back on the wall, holding his beloved baby high above any danger.

"It's ok my precious Byeol! Your father has saved you from this heathen who doesn't know that she shouldn't run in the house especially when I'm with child!"

San shook his head and held the feline close to him as he walked into his room to play with her, singing an unintelligible tune that wasn't exactly pleasant to the siamese' ears.

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Y/N was once again sweating nervously. She kept looking and shuffling the plate of macarons in the middle of the table. She specifically poked at the pink one, hoping it wouldn't fall apart or anything. She could hardly take a sip out of her own coffee as she waited for Mingi to get there. She was beginning to worry he wouldn't show up at all, but Yeosang promised to make sure he did. She took out her phone to text Yeosang, ask him if he succeeded or should she just think of something else.

"Y/N? Did you call me here?"

She fumbled with her phone that almost dropped out of her hands when she finally heard Mingi and saw him standing there in front of her.

"Uhm...yeah. Please sit."

She gestured for him to sit which he hesitantly did. He kept his glance on the table, not even looking at the drink or treats in front of him. Wanting to break the ice, Y/N shifted the cup and plates closer to him.

"Look. I got your favorites."

She hoped to get a reaction out of him, but nothing. He barely batted an eyelash at them.

"Oh.....thanks...." Still made no move to take anything.

Feeling impatient, Y/N shoved the plate of macarons closer, making it touch his hand.

"Mingi.....won't you please take one?"

He sighed in defeat, and as expected, he took the pink one.

"I appreciate your effort Y/N. You're a good friend. But don't you think your boyfriend might get jealous of you doing this? We all know how Seonghwa is with his possessions."

Y/N wanted to refute that statement right then and there, but instead, she chose to wait. Mingi took a bite out of the macaron, or at least attempted to but it felt oddly hard and weird. Examining it closely, he accidentally broke it apart in two pieces, and out came a tiny folded paper. Mingi looked at Y/N, who just pointed to the paper, her eyes urging him to open it. Mingi carefully unfolded the paper and his eyes went wide as he read the contents:

"I love you too♡"

Confused and wondering what it meant, he was going to ask Y/N about it, but she began explaining:

"That day.....that you saw me and Seonghwa..... I thought it was you who was standing behind me."

If they weren't sitting in a booth and had instead been at one of the tables with high chairs, Mingi would have seriously fallen out of it.

"That confession....was supposed to be for you.."

Mingi couldn't believe what he was hearing. He actually pinched himself to make sure it wasn't another beautiful delusion his mind was making up.

"Are.....are you serious?" He had to be sure.

Y/N nodded her head.

"Then....then why was Seonghwa kissing your cheek afterwards?"

Y/N giggled softly.

"That wasn't a kiss. He was just being the little shit he was and teasing me about you."

Now it all made sense. Seonghwa did enjoy teasing Y/N and that teasing was always followed by a pinch to her cheek, a squeezing of her nose, or even messing up her hair.

"So it was all a misunderstanding?" Mingi asked.

"Yeah. A rather big and painful one if you ask me." She added sadly.

Then Mingi's eyes shot up as he realized something.

"Wait! What do you mean you love me too?"

Now it was Y/N's turn to blush.

"Well...... Yeosang kinda showed me all the letters you wrote."

Mingi thought he was about to have a heart attack.

"Please tell me you didn't read them all."

When she bit her lip, Mingi grimaced and covered his face.

"How embarrassing. I want to die now."

"Well.....I thought they were really sweet and romantic. I loved every one of them."

Peeking out through his fingers, Mingi squeaked out an "Really?"

Y/N couldn't resist the urge to uncover his face and coo at him.

"Yes I did, almost as much as I love you."

Mingi blushed intensely at her words, both of them bursting out into little giggles.

"So that cake you made.......those words you said..... it is for me?" He looked at Y/N with hope in his eyes.

"It was always you Mingi."

Pouting, Mingi held out his pinkie.

"Promise?"

Linking her own pinkie in his, she promised:

"Promise it was you and it will always be you."

Mingi was happy once again now that everything was cleared up and he found out the girl he loved reciprocated his feelings. They left the cafe together, both shy and quiet as if they were a newlywed couple. Mingi kept glancing over at her, wanting to say something, but didn't know what. Unconsciously, he brushed his hand against hers.

"Sorry!" He apologized when she whipped her head at him.

"I swear! I wasn't trying to-"

His words got caught in his throat when she held his hand and continues walking as if it was totally normal. Mingi couldn't stop himself from smiling at their physical contact.

"So uhh..........when is it an acceptable time to have our first kiss?"

His question made her burst out laughing. He however didn't find it funny.

"I'm serious! I just want to know when it'll be an acceptable time to kiss my girlfriend!" He complained.

Stopping in their tracks, Y/N faced him.

"Ok you really wanna know?"

Mingi nodded. Feeling bold, Y/N got on her tippy toes and pecked his lips so quickly it took Mingi a couple seconds to register what happened. Y/N began running back away and laughing at his dumbfounded expression. Once he got over the shock, Mingi began sprinting over to her.

"Hey! No fair! Come back here! I wasn't ready! Let me kiss you properly!"

Having longer legs, he easily caught her and threw her over his shoulder.

"That was so mean." He huffed as he began walking again, not caring if people looked at them weird.

"Ok what can I do to make it up to you?" She offered.

Humming softly, Mingi answered:

"I want you to cuddle me while we watch movies."

Y/N shrugged.

"Done. It's a deal."

Not hiding the smug smile on his face, Mingi added:

"And I want to kiss you."

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[bokuroo-squeals]

"We shouldn't be here"+ "Destiny wants us together"+ "Take my hand" enemies to lovers with Kuroo

200 followers event prompts. Event masterlist.

This is definitely not how you wanted to spend the night…

A cold breeze caressed your skin, wind whistling softly to fill the silent you were enveloped in. School was stupidly scary when the sun set down.

You walked out of your clubroom, passing through the dark corridors with a certain feeling of worry. It’s dumb, you admit, to feel afraid of the dark, more when you’re used to the bulding since you spend every day here. Maybe it's just all the horror movies and the fixation they have with schools, but you can’t shake off the uneasiness that creeps your stomach, making it do flips and turns inside you. At least you’re not that much of a scardy cat, have it been like that, you’d probably stay frozen in your spot until the next day. You mentally scold yourself for falling asleep during your club activities.

Just when you least expected-well, not that you would have ever expected it at all- a boisterous sound comes from the classroom in front of you, the clank of the chairs echoing through the whole floor. The logical side of you tries to tell you that it is just your head playing tricks, but those thoughts are thrown away when a masculine voice follows the noise.

“Oh, shit! That hurt” you know the owner of the voice

With that, the door slams open, revealing a boy with golden eyes and disheveled hair. Kuroo Tetsuro with a notebook on his hand. He takes a while before noting your presence, and when he does, his eyes go from surprise to indifference quickly. “Ah, is just you”

A scowl forms in your face at his rude comment, offended by his reaction. You couldn’t expect any less from him, you guess, always an arrogant prick towards you.

If you were to be completely honest, you're not exactly sure when yours and Kuroo's disdain for each other began. Before you knew it, you too were self proclaimed enemies, and it's not like the people around you were blind, as they could also see how difficult It was for the two of you to get along.

From the start, you knew that getting along with him was a hard task, although for a completely different reason. Kuroo was big and intimidating in an unconventional way; too smart, too secure of himself, too likable. Those were things that made you scared of approaching him, and you simply never went out of your way to speak to him. Is not like you actually avoided him, you just made sure to keep your distance from him.

Then, it was the way you too were always above the other in one subject or another. Kuroo was smart without much effort, that combined with his sense of responsibility were enough for him to ace all of the subjects, while you were either brilliant on the subjects you liked the most, and average or almost failing the ones you disliked, so a part of you envied how skilled he was. And of course, being the boy with strong ideas he was, he didn't mind telling you when he thought you should have worked jared. And of course, every single time you told him to mind his own business.

There wasn't a breaking point to your disdain, it was just how your relationship began to work like. His way of thinking didn't always fit with yours, and neither of you were fond of losing, stubborn idiots who couldn't admit being in the wrong. Talking to him, discussing with Kuroo felt as if you were screaming to an empty forest, no one to listen and no one to care about your words, and you were sure you weren't better either.

You knew that confrontation wasn't the best of ideas, you are easy to fire up, and often frustrated by them with a sour taste after a fight, so your solution: avoid Kuroo.

You walked past him, ready to ignore him and continue in your way to home, leaving him standing there. Honestly, you just wanted to change your clothes and relax for a bit, even when you just woke up from a pretty long nap. Silently, you feel him walk behind you, his pace a bit slower so he wouldn't catch up to you, ignoring you the same way you did to him.

Maybe you don’t like him, but you can’t handle the tension and the silece during your way to the entrance, and you talk to break it “What were you doing so late?”

He snickers for a bit, without actually seeing him ,you can still picture his sly smirk, the one he always carries.

“Stayed at practise until late, and I remembered I didn’t take my notebook with me earlier”he answers with no particular intention to be hostile, nor to be super friendly.”You?” Just when you’re about to answer, you both see the flash of light that comes from the end of the hall.

Of course it had to be the janitor, and of course both of you knew that if you got caught at this hour, you’d be in big trouble.

Before you get to do something, the boy is pulling you towards the closest room next to you. The force is enough for you to stumble. Kuroo closes the door.

“Ah, this is the teachers room.” you say upon scanning the room “We shouldn’t be here”

“Well, if you'd rather go outside and get caught, be my guest". He's aware of how aggressive that sounded, and it's quick to regret it, especially since you're looking at him with your brows slightly frowned and pout in your mouth. "Sorry. Let's just wait here till he's gone". You both sit on the floor, back against the door, and wait

Then, silence once more, neither or you speak. Awkwardness too much, suffocating the air of the place, your eyes begin to wander, from the teacher's desk to the person next to you.

Kuroo is handsome, you'll give him that, and pretty smart too. A cute nose, nice cheekbones, but his eyes were the cherry on the top. Perhaps, hadn't he been such a jerk to you at the beginning of the year, you would have fallen in love with him.

"This whole deal is funny" this time, he talks first.

You're confused over what about this is funny, and he knows it. "You and me, trapped together by a coincidence. Next to each other. It's like destiny wants us together."

A laugh scapes you, as discreet as it could get, finding his words funny, rather than the situation. It's pretty, the way you smile without malice, the way you smile because of him.

"You watch too many dramas, Kuroo". Standing up, you brush your tights of any dust, then offer your hand towards him. "Come on, take my hand and let's go. He must be gone by now. " He accepts it.

That night Kuroo goes home with a mission: Tomorrow, he'll confess the feelings he's been bottling up since the first time you spoke. He'll confess that messing with you was his way of getting a reaction from you, a way in which he could indulge in your various expressions. He'll confess expecting a rejection, but knowing that it'd be a fresh start in your relationship, so next time he confesses, you'd say yes without a doubt.

[elriel-oblivion]

So it's been four days so here's part two 😁 Just wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone who read/liked/commented/reblogged the last part! It was such an amazing response, especially given it was my first time posting my writing here, so thanks for all the love you shared 🥰🥰

Heads up, this part is actually part one from Elain's pov. Initially I wanted to continue from where the last part left off in Elain's pov, but as I was writing the background, I realised I'd written too much to just skip when Az gets to the estate and cut straight into a continuation of part one, so I ended up rewriting the whole thing in her view. So there's no new elriel moments, but you'll get a lot of new stuff anyway 😅 I would've said you don't have to read this part to understand part three, but when I was rereading the later parts a few hours ago, I realised there's some stuff that alludes to things in this part, so I strongly recommend you don't skip this 😅😅

Also, wow, some of my fave paragraphs I've ever written are in this part 😁 Bonus points if you can find them; there are four I'm thinking of in particular 😉

Word count: ~ 3.1K. Lemme know if you'd like to be tagged/removed 😊 Next part up in two or three days 😊

AO3

Ashes from the Deep

Part II

__

It had been a pretty uneventful day as Elain worked through her new plant textbook. Feyre and Rhysand had decided to spend the weekend away at the mountain cabin, Cassian and Nesta were away doing things she wished not to think of, and Mor was at the Winter Court.

Amren had only been round in the mornings, probably to check Elain was still alive. She'd glance round the living room, examine some of those fine crystal glasses in the display cabinet and then leave. There was no difference today, though Elain always felt Amren's scrutiny upon her even when that muted silver gaze was directed elsewhere; perusing Rhys' wine collection had become a tired ruse.

So besides preparing and taking her meals with Nuala and Cerridwen, Elain had spent her afternoon with her book, making notes and copying drawings. The twins had gone off on some errands, so she'd wandered into the garden at some point to tend to her many plants, telling them how lovely they each were. The crocuses looked particularly stunning this autumn day, their pale violet colour breathing life into the shades beneath some of the trees.

With her book, she'd identified new weeds, digging into the soil to rip some pesky ones out. Sometimes she didn't want the help of a tool; sometimes she needed to feel those roots on her bare skin.

Harvesting the carrots and beetroot was also on the agenda today, along with seeding for some spectacular displays next year. She'd been collecting the seeds from some of her summer blooms, like those soft clouds of baby's breath, saving them to replant. These she sowed directly into ground she'd prepared days before, her fingers digging into the crumbly clumps of earth.

Autumn onions she'd plant tomorrow, perhaps. Feyre always remarked on how their strong taste complimented meats well, so Elain wanted to harvest some fresh for her sister for once. It'd take a few months of waiting, but there was little else better than picking out and eating food one had grown with their bare hands and the essential ingredients of love and care.

Setting her book on the patio table, Elain surveyed the garden. It was a good day's work. Plants watered and sown, weeds uprooted, and hands sweaty and soiled, Elain was proud of what she'd achieved today. There were no distractions, nothing to take her from the one thing she always found satisfaction in.

After a long shower, she found herself back in the garden with a cup of tea and a blanket. The sunset washed the sky in a blaze of red and orange glory before it yielded to the cool tones of twilight then night. Elain sat in silence, hands wrapped around her mug. How long would it be until someone's arms were wrapped around her, until she felt the warmth her sisters finally had?

Silly, these thoughts. Immortality stretched far ahead, there would be time to develop that companionship. Months and years were but a heartbeat in the life of a High Fae. She wouldn't even notice the years pass.

Or so everybody else kept saying.

With her tea finished, she perused the book of recipes she'd borrowed from Nuala. Some recipes jumped out, ingredients for which she'd been growing for a few months now. Pumpkin pie sounded especially delightful, the gourd having almost darkened and hardened to ripe quality just a couple days ago. They should be ready for harvest tomorrow.

A chill wind sent Elain inside to prepare and have her dinner in pleasant silence. Even her mind was quiet tonight. After washing her dishes, she stood by a bay window, fingers idly tapping the windowsill.

Faelights bobbed like tiny lamps, dotted through the garden. The full moon was now high in the sky, its ghostly glow illuminating the datura flowers she'd seeded half a year ago. She pulled on her blanket and went out again for a better look at those gorgeous blooms, the petals opening only at night.

Elain couldn't be happier she'd found seeds of a triple-flowered variety. They'd grown to produce large trumpets, three layers of petals ruffled against each other. Somehow she thought of her sisters as she crouched and stared at the flowers, each layer so similar, yet fighting for space and breath as it unfurled before another. It was only when they were all fully open that they could sigh along the night breeze as one, an ethereal song of togetherness, tinged with notes of poignancy, only heard by those with the will to look deeper.

The white petals were stained with velvet violet, a true vision in her garden. While the others had given her passing compliments on the flowers, Azriel had seemed stunned the first time he saw them, citing them his favourite of all the plants Elain had grown so far. Something about their shape and contrasting colours, he'd mentioned.

She smiled fondly at the memory, where his eyes sparkled as he reached for one of the soft petals.

Her hand lashed out to grab his wrist. 'Don't touch them; the leaves and stems are highly poisonous.'

His brows rose. 'You wouldn't think that at first sight. But they're beautiful, Elain. Truly magnificent,' he said, his smooth voice so low, a voice that was night given sound. And how befitting, as even those datura flowers seemed enraptured by his presence, one shy petal finally unfurling towards him.

She beamed at him. 'They like you. Flowers like it when you talk to and compliment them - but these ones haven't given me the same reaction as they have to you. I think they really like you, Azriel.'

His answering smile was heartbreakingly tender.

A few more seconds passed before she realised she still held his wrist. She silently let go.

It was a shame she'd have to dig out the datura shrub and move it inside for the winter; it did look magnificent in the moonlight.

The sky shifted past its midnight velvet, and still Elain crouched, admiring the flowers. She shivered in the night's chill. The stars above twinkled and glistened, cold and distant as ever, yet stunning - infinitely more striking than they'd ever been when she was human. A thousand different colours sparkled in that vast expanse, the moon a phosphorescent queen in the centre of her court.

The Night Court truly lived up to its name in the wee hours of the day. Its opulence never failed to mesmerise her; the enhanced Fae eyesight was at least one thing she was grateful for from this body.

Her eyelids became heavy and she yawned. Why was she still out here? It was late into the night; she should be in bed by now. But the night was so beautiful and it was so quiet and she wanted to appreciate it all just once. Just once without the expectations of others, without having to wear that miserable smile all the time.

Of course, it didn't look miserable, which is probably why almost nobody ever bothered to look deeper into Elain. She should be used to it by now, but it still felt - wrong. That most overlooked her so long as she wore a smile. That most didn't think her capable of feeling the utter bitterness and loneliness she had once seen so plain on her sisters' faces.

And in acknowledgement of her sisters' hardships, Elain didn't fault them for not looking, for not seeing her. To see past the thick blanket of darkness in one's own mind was a trial in itself. But it had been years since the war now. And still they didn't notice.

They didn't notice that Elain was being shredded from the inside out.

It was almost laughable. But not funny enough.

No, it was not funny that people still treated Elain like a child, that people wanted to keep Elain in some weird impasse of a stage between child and adult. She'd thought finally carrying out her duty and giving her hand in marriage would show everyone that she was growing up: Elain Archeron, middle born but first married. Of course it was still on her own terms, to a man whom she'd loved. A man who'd seen her through the rubble of her family's lives. But she'd overall hoped doing what was expected of her would be enough.

Clearly not. She didn't even know who she was any more. Did she ever? Everything she'd once yearned for, gone. That fragile human life would soon be just a speck on the horizon of her past.

She sighed. Rebuilding herself was going to take a long time.

But what would she have to do for people to see her, to listen to her? Throw a rage? Fall into a drunken stupor and break a few dozen bottles?

She definitely could, but those were not her. She was Elain Archeron. And so she would wait. Patience wasn't a bad thing at all; she saw it on the shadowsinger's face all the time, that tranquility and calmness she so wished to feel inside.

Azriel. Her heart softened as he entered her mind again, and she dug her fingers into the soil, if only to occupy her fidgety hands. As sure as the chaos of her visions these days, there was a mess of butterflies related to him she wasn't willing to show. Or understand.

Elain and the spymaster? Now that was laughable. Truly laughable. He was wise and patient, while she - well, everyone already thought her a child, and though he listened like no other around her, surely even he couldn't glimpse the adult she so desperately wanted everyone to see.

No, it was foolish to entertain the idea of a relationship with him. No matter how much he saw.

No matter that he was the first to see her since Graysen.

Elain exhaled. She stifled another yawn, smoothing out the soil, then brushed her hands clean. She wrapped the blanket closer around herself and stood. Twinkling stars and velvety darkness and -

There, a knot of shadows materialising at the far edge of the garden, collecting and swirling into a larger mass before Azriel himself stepped out and sagged against a tree. His shadows whirled and obscured him, a dark fire with him burning at the core.

Elain's voice left her throat before she even thought to call him and she ran over to his figure slumped in the dimness.

She couldn't help but say his name again as she neared. 'Azriel!'

Those beautiful hands fiddled with a Siphon, but he looked even worse up close. Fatigue dragged at his body, a second weight to all the muscle and armour he already had to carry. Sweat and dirt clung to him, his hair. At least the shadows were parting, swallowing each other and misting away as they often did around her. Perhaps she should ask someday why they did that. But not today, not when his breathing was so laboured.

She raised a hand - to do what, she had no idea. She couldn't just touch him right now. 'You don't look okay.'

Something else limned his features as he huffed a light laugh and said, 'I'm fine, don't worry.' His voice was raw, so starkly different to its usual icy smoothness. It was common for him to guard his emotions, but in his state, this kind of thinking was just unhealthy. What would it take for him to be honest with her?

'You don't have to pretend with me, Azriel,' she said, lowering her hand. She studied the ground, embarrassed that she'd come up to him. What could she even offer in her pathetic childlike state when he was so clearly affected by his mission right now?

His hand rose. Her heart faltered, she had to do something, and she blurted, 'Can I wash your hair, please?'

His eyes widened, his entire composure crumbling. It wasn't often that the shadowsinger looked startled, but Elain was far too shy to show that she quite liked the effect her question had on him.

'You want to wash my hair?'

His face was so exquisite, it hurt to look at it. His eyes would be even worse; it wouldn't be the first time she was rendered speechless by their kind gaze. A myriad of colours swirled in their glistening depths - gorgeous greens and brilliant browns, all so natural and rich, if only she could look at them long enough to find their matches in the garden around her. Though, his eyes were an entire spectrum of colour in their own right. How would she ever pick out each and every shade?

And if she somehow did have the courage to meet his eyes now, what would she see of herself in their reflection?

A lovesick puppy? A doe-eyed, fearful fawn?

No, she didn't want to know.

So she swallowed and focused on his hair. Perhaps this Fae eyesight was a curse, for even his hair was shockingly fascinating. Only flat black from a distance, the faelights bobbing about the trees highlighted layer upon layer of silky raven locks up close. His hair was so dark it seemed to absorb the surrounding light. Mud stained one side of his head, and it was an effort to keep her hands from brushing it away, so she said, 'I'm positive that's mud and you shouldn't sleep with that in your hair. It'll only take a few minutes.'

He ran a hand through his hair, clumps of dirt falling out.

'You've managed to get some on your face, too.' There were light specks of mud and blood across his face, a more noticeable patch along his cheekbone, thrown into sharper relief by the faelights and his own weariness. Was that a cut beneath the patch? And another on his temple?

She leashed her arms.

What had happened? He wore the signs of a fight, but why would he come here when he knew Elain was the only one home?

His eyes bored into her face, but she refused to meet them. He seemed to lean forward then, stumbling.

Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous that he wouldn't even acknowledge he was in need. Azriel rarely stumbled. Any fatigue Elain had felt just a while ago was now burrowing down a little longer. Her voice was firm when she spoke. 'I'm washing your hair. It'll help relax you into falling asleep.'

His brows rose, but if Elain stood there one more moment she wouldn't have the courage to do anything for him. For herself - she could take care of someone else. She could do for Azriel what she hadn't done for Feyre all those years as a human.

And for Azriel, she could tend to the male who'd provided her with comfort and safety in this world of distress and danger.

So she pulled him along, clenching her jaw and refusing to look back. Her heart hammered in her chest but she continued, hand wrapped round his armoured arm. Her hand slid down to his wrist but just as she was about to replace her grip, he grabbed her other hand and pulled her into him.

The shadows instantly began to ensconce them, dozens of those cool tendrils twining like vines. The estate loomed huge before them, and Elain gripped Azriel's hand tighter. 

'My bathroom,' she said. Beneath the low whisper of those shadows, her blood thrummed, her heart so painfully obvious against her ribs now. It would be a wonder if the spymaster wasn't aware of it. Though she did hear another flutter above, right by her ear. But as expected, the shadows made quick work of their journey and she didn't have the chance to dwell on it further.

Now out of the comfort of Azriel's hold, Elain set down her blanket and made to grab a chair from her bedroom. His dark presence was so overwhelming that she exhaled lightly as she entered the room and took the chair. She dragged it to the sink, avoiding his gaze, and pulled a towel, soap and a large jug from the cupboard by the door.

As she settled the soap and jug on the sink, she dared a glance at him. He was still clad in full armour, those black scales gleaming like obsidian over his skin, his Siphons glistening jewels across his body. 'I think you'll have to collapse your armour for this,' she said.

He inclined his head and tapped a Siphon, those scales lashing back into each other with cruel elegance. They were a mirror of their master: cold, controlled and unyielding, forged from scintillating darkness. He was a night sky riddled with stars; light existed if only one bothered to look for it.

Azriel's great wings righted themselves as he stood straight, now looking smaller in just his black tunic and trousers. Something about him seemed vulnerable without the armour, so Elain breathed, 'It's beautiful, all of it.' The hulking armour, the classic simplicity of the tunic and trousers, and the male who wore them all.

He was just so wonderful, Azriel. An enigma that could see her own. Her heart clenched.

Azriel rustled his wings, colour blossoming on his cheeks.

Elain blinked and pulled the chair out a little. 'Please sit.' As he sunk down, she rested the towel on his shoulders, hovering her fingers above his forehead. Her body tensed and her fingers remained suspended. It was like a spark of tension flickered in the space between their skin, teasing her, tempting her, taunting her.

After all, she'd offered to wash his hair, an act that would certainly require touching. But why was she so hesitant? She'd touched him before - kissed his cheek, even. Although that had been in the heat of adrenaline, a mark of her gratitude where a simple thank you wouldn't suffice, not for risking his own life for hers.

This was - what was this?

She finally lowered her fingers through that tense spark, pushing his head back against the sink. It was exhilarating, this contact, but he lowered his wings, shifting on the seat. Elain moved into the space he gave, turning on the tap as he went still. Just as her body was taut, taut as the skin of a drum.

She checked the water. Warm. It was time to start.

Azriel was looking up at her. Something like yearning swirled in his eyes.

He looked so tired. It made her heart ache.

'You can close your eyes,' Elain whispered. And he did.

___

Feedback's welcomed; thanks for reading 😊

If anyone wants to know what the datura flowers look like, CTTO:

@illyrian-lover-flower @julesherondalex @nooriee @mis-lil-red @verifiefangirl @tswaney17