#but the ocean idea will probs be easier

[c0mbatchameleon]

I need someone to lock my phone in a safe and lock that safe in another safe and then throw that safe in the ocean

[revasserium]

requests are open (but slow); send me a prompt and a character

the trick and the trade

azul ashengrotto; 2,176 words; angst, one-sided love, i make some assumptions on how reader/yuu gets back to their world towards the end that's prob not gonna be "canon compliant" but whatever lol

one. the first time he hears your voice, he thinks he’s never wanted to steal something so much — to take it in his hands, to have it for himself. the first time he hears your voice, he wants to drown in it, and it’s a strange thing — for someone like him to wish for a drowning. the first time he hears your voice, he thinks he finally understands why sailors might toss themselves into the heartbreak sea for just one more note of that deathly siren song —

the first time he hears your voice, it’s in the courtyard, after lunch, in the heart of summer when it’s much too hot to sit inside and still too hot to sit outside, but at least out here, there might be the hint of a breeze to ease the thick, oppressive heat, and he thinks that your voice sounds like jumping into a pool or a lake or maybe diving headfirst into an entire ocean on a day like this — a day that is too much air and sun and not enough water —

he lets himself sink into it; he lets himself breathe.

later, in alchemy class, he almost musters up the courage to talk to you but he doesn’t. because you’re laughing with ace and deuce is leaning over to frown at something in your cauldron before reaching over to point at a line in a textbook and the way his arm brushes yours makes azul’s chest feel tight in ways he does not have words to describe.

“ne… whatcha staring at that little starfish for?” floyd’s voice is silken by azul’s ear, and even after all this time, it still catches him off guard.

“what? i — i’m not — i’ve no idea what you’re talking about.” azul adjusts his glasses and looks back down at his own cauldron, which is simmering in the precise shade of light blue that the textbook had described.

“hmmm…” jade’s grin is nothing short of predatory as he cocks his head, his eyes slingshotting from azul’s face to the trio across the room, blissful and oblivious and azul thinks that perhaps he needs to expand his friend group if these are his two best friends.

he adjusts his glasses and clear his throat before throwing himself back into the assignment, blatantly ignoring jade’s and floyd’s pointed jibes for the entire rest of alchemy class.

two. his luck runs out quick, however, and the next day, he finds himself paired up with you in flying class, with professor vargas blowing out your ears over “hover time” and “flying formations”. but you flash him a bright grin as you shuffle over with your broomstick, looking a little embarrassed.

“hi — sorry about this,” you say, motioning to the broom and then the space between you both.

azul blinks, uncomprehending, before he realizes what you mean. ah, but of course, you can’t do magic, and flying class is one of the few places that magic is absolutely necessary. still, he can’t help the heat that washes into his cheeks as he makes a point to sigh, shaking his head as nonchalantly as he can.

“don’t worry,” he finds himself saying, “i’ve got enough magic for the both of us.”

you laugh then, and it’s a beautiful sound. and azul has to bite his lips to stop himself from asking if you’d be willing to trade it for something — anything that you wanted, really, because he’d be willing to make that trade. for the slightest bit of your voice, your laughter, the sound of it enchanting, the kind of magic that he has no name for, something as ancient as the flow of time or the gravity of the universe.

“great! then… i’ll be in your care,” you bow your head and azul feels his heart stumble in his chest. silently, he thanks the sea witch that he’s not in his octopus form because he’s certain he would’ve made a fool of himself by spilling in all over the place, but here on land, it’s much easier to keep a hold on himself.

and hold onto himself he does, because the next moment, you’re climbing onto the broom behind him and wrapping your arms around his middle.

“be sure to hold on tight!” professor vargas winks at you both, rather comically, from the edge of the field.

you let out another breathy laugh, much too close to his ear, sending shivers skittering up his spine as you gently hook your chin over his shoulder.

“don’t let me fall,” you say, and though your voice is teasing, he can feel it in the way you press yourself to him, in the way you grip him just a little bit too tight. because right, he thinks, there’s no way you’re not afraid. after all, your world doesn’t have magic, so flying must seem just as terrifying to you as he does to him.

and he’s never been great shakes at flying because creatures of the sea just aren’t meant to be up in the air like that but here and now, he finds himself bending over his broomstick, more determined than he’s ever been.

“scared?” you ask, your voice just another facet of the wind as he braces himself and takes a deep, steadying breath.

he chuckles, glancing over his shoulder at you with a smile that he hopes is somewhat reassuring.

“terrified,” he admits, “i — i’ve never been great at this.”

you shift your arms and hold him all the tighter.

“it’s okay, we’ll figure it out together.”

three. he invites you to the mostro lounge a week later, feeling more out of his depths than he’s ever felt in his own damn dorm, and the stupid eel twins are enjoying this way too much but —

azul sits, readjusting his glasses for the umpteenth time.

“it’s just a — a friendly drink! nothing more — nothing less.”

“ah… but i bet you’d like it to be more than that, hm?” floyd asks, grinning wide enough to split his cheeks, his eyes glimmering beneath a the rim of his hat like sunken treasure. jade is standing a bit further off, but looking no less smug and intrigued.

“to borrow floyd’s words… couldn’t you just… give her a squeeze?”

azul shoots them both a half-hearted glare.

“no! i can’t j-just give them a squeeze — it’s highly inappropriate to participate i-in that kind behavior without consulting the other party and —“

“hehhhh? but i mean… don’t you just want her voice in a bottle?” floyd asks, cocking his head to one side.

“or perhaps… a seashell?” jade adds, cocking his head to the other.

azul sputters as he looks between the two before deflating.

“w-well yes, but… i… i like it’s current vessel just as well. no… no reason to remove it from — and it’s not like i can give them magic… even the dark mirror said it couldn’t sense any magic from them so i doubt anything i could do would —“

“but there’s gotta be something else they want, right? maybe… we can help them find a way to go home?” jade offers, ever the sane entity.

azul scowls even harder, “hm… but if they were to leave then their voice would go with them… no?”

“heh…. not if you take it first…” floyd drapes himself across one of the plush loveseats in azul’s office even as azul heaves a deep sigh.

“no — no, i — i simply invited them because i thought they’d enjoy having a drink at our esteemed mostro lounge. their — their time here is limited, so i wanted to give them some good memories to bring with them when they…” but even as he trails off, he can taste the truth in his own words, bittersweet as they are.

“uwahhhh… you’re getting sentimental in your old age, dormleader,” floyd says, exchanging a look with his twin brother that is more weighted than either of them would like to admit.

“oh shut up and just come help me prepare for opening,” azul snaps, standing up and making for the door. the twins heave a single collective sigh before following after him, wondering just how difficult this is all going to be.

four. months later, when you do finally find a way home, azul is there to see you off. you’d grown closer since your first ever flying lesson together, and you’d spent many a night in the mostro lounge, chatting over drinks and snacks, bickering over theories about all the different universes that might be out there, all the different worlds that might exist — the ones with magic and the ones without.

why, you might actually consider him a friend now.

“i’m… really gonna miss you guys,” you say, looking around at everyone gathered around you in the entrance hall, your bag over your shoulder, grim trying to stifle his cries in ace’s pantleg. even malleus has shown up, towering above everyone else, keeping quiet but his presence felt nevertheless.

“we’ll miss you too,” deuce says, reaching out to pull you in for a long hug, followed by ace.

headmaster crowley gives you a wide, almost animatic sort of grin, his bird’s mask firm as ever, “please, my dear prefect, feel free to come back and visit any time. because i’m nothing if not magnanimous, you see. i shall allow it, nay — even recommend it! your presence has been integral to the growth of our students here at night raven college and —“

“thanks, headmaster, i’ll take you up on that,” you say, cutting him off before he can really get started, and eventually, azul find himself facing you, your smile so close and yet much too far away.

“it was really nice hanging out with you and the twins… tell them i say bye, okay?”

“of course! i’ll pass on your tidings. they wished to be here, but someone must look after the lounge — you understand.”

you laugh, nodding, “of course i do.”

azul allows himself a soft smile as you pull him into a hug, holding him for a beat longer than everyone else before letting him go. he tries his best to remind his body that he does indeed know how to breathe on land, because for a moment, he was afraid he might’ve forgotten.

“alright, i’ll see you all… when i see you!” you say, giving everyone one last wave before stepping through the glowing mirror propped up on a classroom chair. for a moment, the entire room is filled with a blinding light, and then — just like that — you’re gone.

five. that night, azul makes his way back to his own dorm in a strange kind of haze, the campus of night raven college somehow a strange, and unfamiliar landscape, the shape and scope of it changed by your absence.

in his office, he digs out a tiny silver shell held on a length of silk; he stares at it for four seconds before flipping it open. from inside, echoes out the looped sound of your faint laughter, and then the sound of ace’s voice, and then grim’s.

“ah… what did you give them for that little trinket, hm?” floyd asks, leaning over the length of the desk to peer at the shell in azul’s hand.

azul laughs, a soft, sad, hollow sort of sound, shaking his head.

“nothing. they… they gave it to me as a holiday gift…”

“hm… how generous of them,” jade muses, materializing on his other side.

“i — i don’t even know how they — well, one of them must’ve gotten idia to help them or something but…” azul opens the shell again; your voice rings out, laughing, laughing, laughing…

“ne… can i ask you something personal?” floyd says, blinking slowly at azul from over the table, no longer smiling.

azul shrugs, “i suppose. what do you want to know?”

“if you could trade something to get the back… what would you give?”

at this, azul looks up, and there’s something so deep and dark in the depths of his eyes that neither of the twins dares to say a single word. they’ve seen enough darkness from the unrelenting sea to know heartbreak when it’s laid at their feet.

azul bites his lips before looking away, clapping the shell shut in their palm, squeezing it tight, so tight that for a moment, they all think it’s going to break.

but then, azul just sighs, letting his head drop as he opens up the shell again to let your voice ring out through the room.

“i’d give… anything,” he says, swallowing hard.

“i’d give… everything."

[meteorrogers]

chocolate covered strawberries | r. d.

summary: a precious person like you was what had been missing in Ransom’s life. 

pairing: ransom drysdale x reader

warnings: fluff only, language, implied smut maybe?, oh and beware of fucking soft!Ransom

word count: 3,479 (less or more)

a/n: well, i certainly didn’t expect it to be this long. anyway, this is a soft and ooc!Ransom fic, no spoilers because i follow practically nothing from the movie (at least i think). excuse my errors, please, and enjoy!!😊let me know what you think!!

Ransom is furious, driving home from another family gathering that couldn’t end any differently than with yelling, insults, and throwing things at each other. He has no idea why he‘s still going to these things, he always swears to himself that the next time will be the last time. Maybe somewhere deep inside of him, there’s still a sparkle of hope that one day he will have a normal conversation with his mom and dad.

He needs something to calm him down and while a drink and some bimbo he’d meet in a bar sound amazing, it is still early for that. On his way home, there is this bakery he‘s always liked to stop by because they have the best fresh-from-the-oven chocolate-filled croissants to ever exist. They are maybe even better than alcohol. Just maybe.

He leaves the coat in his car and heads towards the entrance. The bell above the door rings as he enters, taking his sunglasses off. The shop is quiet except for the soft chatter of the patrons that are occupying some of the seats. He doesn‘t even need to look at the display case with all the baked goods, he already knows what he’s having, so he heads directly to the counter to order.

After the cashier takes his order and disappears in the kitchen, Ransom slowly moves to the waiting counter where a young woman is chatting with the older man (Timmy, he thinks is his name) that owns the place together with his wife. The woman has a big genuine smile on her face and occasionally a beautiful laugh leaves her mouth when Timmy says something supposedly funny. Ransom has never seen her before. Maybe it’s not so early to charm his way into a woman’s bed after all. He gets closer and as Timmy hands her her order on a pink paper tray – two Halloween themed cupcakes, with white frosting, yellow and orange sprinkles and a little marzipan ghost sticking out – Ransom only hears their goodbyes.

You are still smiling, cheerful from the conversation you had with Timmy as you turn around, ready to leave, and enjoy the sweet treat on the way home. But you don‘t even have the time to react when you suddenly collide with a solid figure. You stumble a little, but strong hands on your shoulders steady you, which you don‘t even realize since your mind‘s only focus is on the mess you have caused. And just like that, your smile disappears.

“Oh my god,“ you gasp and your eyes widen as they scan the not-so-white-anymore cable-knit sweater covered in frosting and sprinkles. “Oh my god,” you repeat, a little louder this time. Panicking, you quickly dispose of the tray with crumbled cupcakes, taking an unnecessarily high number of napkins from the holder on the counter and trying your best to clean the beautiful cozy-looking piece of clothing.

You have yet to see the person’s face, either too embarrassed to look them in the eye or too concentrated on getting the crumbs out of the wool. Probably both.

“I am sorry.” You say, throwing the dirty napkins on the counter. “I’m so sorry, I should’ve been looking where I was going. I was still so absorbed in the conversation that I didn’t notice you,” Oh, god, here comes the downpour of babbles… „And I didn’t even hear you come behind me or maybe I wasn’t paying attention, that’s prob–“

Your gibbering is interrupted by the stranger’s hand circling your wrist, also stopping your frantic movements.

“Would you calm down? It’s just a sweater. I can buy a new one.”

You finally look up, your eyes meeting ocean-blue ones with hints of green around the pupils. His voice sounded empty, emotionless and you aren‘t sure if he is upset or just doesn‘t care.

“Oh,” slipping your hand out of his hold, you break the eye contact, the situation too embarrassing for you. You look at the mess on the countertop, the paper tray still laying there, dirty napkins scattered across the surface and some of them even found their way to the ground.

Shaking your head, you grab all the garbage, bend down to pick up the ones on the floor and throw it into the trash can situated in the corner.

You turn back to the man, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“Um… Can I at least pay the cleaning bill?”

“It’s fine, really.”

He still hasn’t cracked a smile.

“Well, let me buy you something sweet then. What’s your guilty pleasure?” you smile again and look over his shoulder, studying the selection of desserts.

“I said it’s alright,“ he bites. “Besides, I already ordered.”

You don‘t expect him to snap at you like that so it kind of shocks you. Better let sleeping dogs lie…

“Okay,” you nod. “I’m sorry again,” you stuff your hands in your coat pockets and head out.

Ransom stands there, looking at your leaving form and he sighs. Shit.

When you bumped into him, he was really pissed that you ruined his clothes at first, but then you started apologizing, cleaning him and rambling . That infuriated him even more. Why the hell did you even care? It wasn’t even your sweater!

You were annoyingly sweet, which Ransom isn‘t used to at all. Sure, women are nice to him, giving him that fake sugary smile just to get into his pants. He never complains, of course, it makes getting laid much easier when they’re trying to get his attention, not the other way around. But it was just an act. The smile you gave Timmy was genuine and so was the concern about his sweater. How was he supposed to react?

His thoughts are interrupted by the young employee who took his order, signalizing his croissant is ready. He takes it and turns to leave, his face still painted with… confusion?

“Fuck.” He curses silently. You can‘t be far. If he hurries, he can still catch up to you and… apologize? He doesn’t know what he’s going to do, except for one thing.

He faces the cashier again. “Hey, could you give me two of those Halloween cupcakes? With the ghosts. And wrap it up. Quickly,“ his voice is intimidating, arrogant and the boy doesn‘t have the balls to argue so he just does as he is told. Ransom snatches the covered tray from the boy’s hands and sprints out.

He looks around and luckily sees you not so far away from the shop so he decides to add a jog to his steps as he follows your direction.

“Hey!” he yells to catch your attention, which he successfully does. You turn around, brows furrowed, stopping when you notice the man from the bakery.

He runs up to you and when he reaches the place where you’re standing, you open your mouth again.

“Oh, did you change your mind?” Your hand makes a move to reach into your bag. “Just say how much and I’ll –”

“No.” He interrupts and confusion becomes evident on your face again. “As I said, it’s fine.” You expect him to continue, to tell you why he stopped you in the middle of a street. But he just stands there, looking at you as if he expects you to say something.

See, when Ransom spontaneously came up with this great plan, he didn’t think it all the way through. He seriously didn’t know what he was going to do, so now, he is just awkwardly shifting on his feet as he contemplates what to say.

“Here.” He shoves the mini tray into your hands. You look at it and then back at him, still confused. „It’s the cupcakes you bought before my sweater decided to have a taste.“

Really? That’s the smoothest thing you could think of? Jesus, what is wrong with you?

But you laugh. And god, is that a beautiful sound. Wait, what?

“Thank you, that’s really sweet of you.” you smile and before Ransom can argue, you stick your free hand out. “I’m (Y/n).”

He closes his fingers over yours. “Hugh… I mean, Ransom.”

The smile doesn‘t leave your face. “Well, which is it?”

“Ransom, you can call me Ransom.”

“Nice to meet you, Ransom.”

You have known since the beginning that Ransom has some skeletons in the closet. Hence the rudeness when you first met and struggle of wording out an apology for his manners. He managed to apologize in his own way and that was okay with you. You know people who don’t even try, but Ransom? He did his best and for that, you gave him your number when he asked.

It didn’t take him long to call you and ask you out. You agreed.

When he asked you on a date, his plan was to take you out for a dinner in a luxurious restaurant, order some expensive wine to get you a little bit tipsy, and spend the night at your place. The next morning he would silently sneak out of your house, block your number and never see you again.

But you are here, sitting across from him, with that big smile on your face, wearing a lovely cream knee-length dress that shows just the right amount of skin which makes him horny and at the same time, he just wants to focus on not how hot, but how beautiful you look.

“So, tell me more about yourself,” you say after the waiter takes away the empty plates.

There is no way he will talk about how filthy rich he is, how his grandfather owns one of the most successful publishing companies and lives in a huge mansion in the rich part of town. No, he’ll save this information for the gold diggers.

“Well, you might know my granddad, Harlan Thrombey?” Okay, nevermind. “He owns Blood Like Wine?” In his defense, this is all he’s ever talked about with girls. He just needs practice. 

You nod. “Oh my God, yeah, of course, I know him! I mean, not know know him, but I’ve read some of his books! Just don’t ask me about them, I’m not exactly a number one fan.” you scrunch your nose and his mind tells him how adorable that is. Shut up, brain.

“Okay, I won’t.” he laughs genuinely. He always fakes laugh when he is on a date if you can even call the ones he’s been on that. “Besides, you can’t be a number one fan even if you wanted to, because that place is mine.”

“I wouldn’t assume anything else. Are you close with your granddad?”

He averts his eyes for a second and clears his throat.

Instead of answering, he throws the question back at you, his voice defensive, maybe a little too harsh. “Are you close with your granddad?”

The corners of your mouth slightly falter and you look down for a second before facing him again, “I was. He died when I was 15.”

“Oh.” Ransom’s face softens.

“But I loved him. Every Halloween, I’d force him to tell me scary stories all day and all night.” you smile at the memories. “You know, I’m sure he and your granddad would get along. He did come up with some pretty amazing tales.”

And suddenly, he is intrigued. “What was your favorite?”

You tell him about the cursed toy factory, how every Halloween all toys come to life and they stuff all the employees with plush so they become these living toys, too, and from all the anger, they do the same to the future workers the following year.

He laughs at that, agreeing that your grandfathers would indeed be good friends.

“I’m not that close with my granddad,” he says after a few moments of silence. What surprises him is your hand carefully coming to take his which was laying on the table. His eyes focus on your thumb that is stroking his knuckles as he continues. “I’m not close with anyone from my family, actually.” Why is he telling you that? Fucking stop.

He clears his throat and withdraws his hand, scratching the back of his neck.

“You ready to go?” he asks and you just nod.

He isn‘t in the mood for sex anymore, so he drops you at your place and speeds home. God, what are you doing to him? There is something about you that makes him want to open up to you, spill all of his secrets, desires and dreams.

It felt kind of good to tell you about his family, but to be honest, he is scared. He doesn‘t want another person that’s just going to treat him like a worthless piece of shit in his life. I mean, he is, but it would just make him even more shitty.

He’s decided. He is not going to see you ever again.

Then his phone beeps.

(y/n): I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable but I had a great time! I’d definitely be up for doing it again! You can tell me more about your family:)

He scoffs. Why the hell would you want to hear about his family when he told you he’s not close to them?

Then the phone beeps again.

(y/n): Or not! I mean, we can talk about whatever you want! But if you need someone to talk to, I’m here. That’s what I meant.

A smile involuntarily makes its way on Ransom‘s face. Maybe he will see you again.

Since you started spending a lot of time at Ransom’s house, he convinced you to bring some of your stuff. Some clothes, your favorite mug with a whale, saying mornings blow, books and a strawberry-scented shampoo which Ransom became to love.

Almost every morning you share a shower. Sometimes it escalates into a morning shower sex, but most of the time you try and fail to tame him, even though you remind him and yourself of all the times you’ve been late for school, which he doesn’t really care about, to be honest.

You head to the bathroom first, because it takes time for him to get out of bed. After a while, he joins you under the stream of water, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind as he kisses you where your neck meets your shoulder and licks the drops of water from your skin.

You sigh in contentment, putting your arms over his and enjoying the relaxing moment.

Seconds pass and you turn around, taking the bottle of your shampoo while doing so, squirting some into your palm, and the scent of strawberry fills your nostrils. As usual, you bring your hands into his hair, massaging the liquid into his skull and he closes his eyes in bliss, humming.

“You enjoying yourself?” you smirk.

He opens his eyes again and smiles, those butterflies in your stomach coming to life.

“You know I do.” He leans in to kiss you, your arms circling his neck. His hands slide to your butt, kneading the flesh before they grip the back of your thighs but when you are about to jump, he shrieks.

“Shit!” he backs up and his back hits the opposite wall.

You panic, not knowing what’s happened. “What?! Baby, what happened?” You come to him and his fingers are already rubbing at his eyes.

“My eyes! My eyes!” He screams. “I can’t see shit!”

You suppress a laugh, reaching up to remove the hair from his face and wipe away the suds. Then you reach for the detachable showerhead, turn down the temperature, and put it in his hand.

“Here, baby, you have to rinse them.”

He does just that, moans still leaving his mouth at the stinging.

After he finally manages to get all the chemicals out of his eyes, you can‘t hold it anymore. You burst out laughing, unable to stop and he just stares at you with a scowl, putting the showerhead back into its place.

When he turns to leave, you grab his wrists.

“Oh, baby, come on.” you wipe the mixture of water and tears from your eyes. “Don’t leave me here all alone.”

He frowns, his bottom lip sticking out just a little bit. “Might as well. I’m not gonna let you make fun of me.”

The grin is still on your face but you stand on your tiptoes and kiss his pout away. Ransom immediately reciprocates the kiss, pushing you against the wall.

“It hurt,” he says in between the touches of your lips.

“I know, baby,” you say. You pull away and smirk. “Is there a way I can make you feel better?” your suggestive tone hits his ears before you’re sliding down the wall to your knees.

Thank God he didn’t leave the shower.

It’s Friday night and you are watching TV this time in your apartment. Ransom still hasn’t come home from the mansion where he’s spent most of the day, as well as his family. He’s been working with Harlan for quite a while now which boosts up his confidence (not arrogance, there’s a difference) a little and it makes him feel better about himself, proud even, that he‘s finally useful. However, Walt has been giving him shit for it ever since Harlan gave Ransom a chance to be the Acquisitions Editor (of course, he has been pestering him long before that, but now it’s even worse).

Ransom can defend himself, you’re not worried about that, but his family brings out the worst in him, they push him into this dark place that is hard to find a way out of and sometimes you’re afraid that it will destroy him. That’s why you’ve promised yourself that you’re always going to be here for him, no matter what.

And as you expected, you hear your door being unlocked and then slammed shut with a force. He doesn’t even jokingly call out his honey, I’m home! which he never forgets to do. Uh-oh. Doesn’t look good. But again, you didn’t expect anything else.

He comes to the living room, strands of his hair sticking in every direction and falling over his forehead.

“Jesus, why’s it so hot in here?” he takes off his maroon sweater, revealing his plain white t-shirt underneath.

“It’s winter and cold. You expect me to have snow in here, too?”

He just shakes his head, coming to the back of the couch as you crane your head to give him an upside-down kiss. Then he heads to the kitchen, searching the cabinets for something to eat, meanwhile, you turn off the television.

“There should be three croissants in the breadbox!” you say loudly enough for him to hear.

“You want one, too?”

You answer with a no and wait for him.

When he comes back to the living room, he sits next to you and leans his back on the armrest. You’re already looking at him, watching his every move, and trying to see a sign of any emotion he might be feeling. He gives you a knowing look and you shift so you are fully facing him, putting your hand gently on his bent knee and lightly stroking it in a comforting way.

“Three, huh?” he asks with his mouth full.

“Just in case it went really bad.” you give a nervous smile, waiting for him to either confirm or rebut.

Seeing the crumbs fall from his mouth, you reach for the plate that is on the coffee table and give it to him.

“Well... nothing I’m not used to.” he takes another bite of the chocolate pastry. Once he swallows, he takes your hand and kisses your palm. “I love you.”

You smile and lean towards him, supporting yourself by putting both hands on his thighs as you kiss him on the lips that now taste like cocoa.

“I love you, too,” you murmur against his mouth.

After Ransom finishes the pastry, instead of going for more food, he lies down, putting his head in your lap. It‘s kind of a ritual now, every time he comes home (his or yours, wherever you are) after visiting his family, he satisfies his sweet tooth (sometimes it’s 1 croissant, sometimes it’s 5), then he sprawls his body on the couch and rests his head on your thighs, nuzzling his face into your stomach while you thread your fingers through his hair and read a book or watch the TV.

“You want to talk about it?” you ask softly.

You stroke his ear with your thumb. He stays quiet and then sighs.

“Later.”

You bend down as much as your position allows you to, placing a few kisses on his temple and across his cheek before you let him drift off to sleep.

You are Ransom’s safe place, just like he’s yours and always will be.

the end

a/n2: so, ehm... *crickets chirping* okay! i have a thing for fucked up guys who i believe can change if you show them a little bit of love, sue me! no but seriously, Ransom is an asshole and he would probably shove the rest of the cupcakes into my face but a girl can dream, right?

anyways, i do have some ideas for part 2 even if it looks like this doesn’t necessarily need a second part..? it could probably be read as a stand-alone but i’ll see if i even decide to post it lol.

thank you so much for reading, any kind of feedback will be appreciated!🥺❤️i love you, guys!!

oh and my other work can be found under #writer luci !!

[phoenixyfriend]

The Naruto/Frozen Crossover

So I was planning on just doing an image ID thing for this post, but apparently the formatting on desktop is such a mess that it’s easier to just make a new post that’s text only. I can also like. Bulletpoint it so that it can be a little neater. All ideas were made with @firebirdeternal​‘s help, because they are the most efficient enabler I have.

Also I added some bits at the end.

Under a cut, because it’s Long As Heck.

I originally had two options: either Mid-teens Elsa and Anna being transported to ninja land sometime pre-canon and running into Haku and Zabuza... or just like. Born as a Daimyou's daughters.

Spoiler alert, we’ve got nukenin and I’m a sucker for an intrusive crossover, so transported to ninja land it is.

Suggestion from Birdie:

Mechanism for crossover: Elsa ices over a Wishing Well by accident after having Wished for someone else who understood her, Anna and her fall in and get Ice Mirror Portaled to Ninjaland, falling out of an iced over pond near a shrine that Haku recently prayed at for similar lonely child reasons?

Which I like! They don’t end up there soon enough to run into Haku, because I want a dramatic chase first, but I like it.

Obviously, Anna is forced to learn about Elsa's powers because it's the only thing keeping them safe

Or at least alive

(Elsa will do ANYTHING to keep Anna safe, and if that means she has to get her hands dirty...)

...neither of them knows Japanese, so, you know. There’s that.

I'm thinking that they end up in/near Kiri at first

And they aren't FAST ENOUGH to get away so Elsa panic-enchants a giant reindeer made of snow to run away across the suddenly-frozen ocean.

She and Anna have to ride and Elsa is probably crying the whole time.

Oh shit this is like. RIGHT after their parents die, I forgot. So that’s a thing! They are in mourning and all that fun stuff.

Point is, they use the powers for a Self Defense thing and BBY Haku is just !!! "Master can we rescue them for Ice Cousin reasons?" Zabuza: Yes, and only for those practical reasons and not because I collect endangered children like people collect pokemon cards.

I imagine that maybe they track rumors of a Yuki-onna down, or the Giant Snow Reindeer rides by and Haku’s just like Wat

The girls just tag along with Zabuza because. Like.

Do they like him? No. Do they trust him? No. Do they enjoy the fact that he considers them pathetic civilians? No.

However, Haku is Baby.

Zabuza is REALLY annoyed at them being Useless Civilian Royals “but Haku likes them so I guess they can stay.”

Age at meeting, three years pre-canon:

Zabuza - 23

Elsa - 18

Anna - 15

Haku - 12

Elsa is 90% anxiety/depression master combo BUT if Zabzua protects her then she's WILDLY dangerous so like. Whatever

Elsa's bingo book nickname options, uninspired:

Winter Witch

Winter Queen

Ice Queen

Snow Queen

Something about a Yuki-Onna maybe

She's Very Stately and kinda breakable but Winter is her Bitch

I mean like, the fact that, if protected, she can shut down the agriculture of a fucking country? That's an S-rank even if she's not that useful in a fight.

She's like. Jinchuuriki-level destruction. Generally speaking she wouldn’t. But she could.

Elsa: What the fuck is a chakra? Elsa: my snow monsters are self-sustaining. Elsa: I'm gonna build us a house.

Zabuza has NO idea how her powers work and it is INCREDIBLY frustrating but “there’s no chakra cost to keep these things going and we have shelters on demand” is too convenient to question after a while.

Haku: Delicate, deadly, incredibly fast ninja work. Elsa: I can't dodge a kunai but watch me wreck your entire country's ecosystem in under a day.

Elsa is a siege weapon.

Meanwhile, Anna is really, really into the physicality of ninja practice.

She's clumsy and she's not very good at ninja stuff, but she sure is determined!

Anna also gets on Zabuza's nerves because she keeps insisting that Haku get to be a kid.

Anna: Let's make flower crowns! Zabuza: No, he needs to train, not- Anna: FLOWER CROWNS

Consider: Haku saying Elsa-nee-sama and Anna-hime.

Or just calling Elsa “onee-sama.”

Anna is also younger than Elsa and way more Fun so she probably gets adjusted to Anna-chan or Nee-chan.

If Zabuza calls Elsa “Hime-chan” or “Elsa-hime” or, Sage forbid, “Elsa-sama/dono” then he’s VERY MUCH making fun of her and he’s probably getting his soup frozen that night.

At one point, Elsa... tries to like. Convince herself to have a crush on Zabuza or Kakashi or something until Zabuza just puts a hand on her shoulder and asks "do you even like men?" "...that's an OPTION?"

Zabuza urging her to try and ask out a Cute Kunoichi and Elsa's like.... I can't decide if she's bright red and a useless lesbian or uncomfortable and ace.

I am SO invested in the siege weapon thing.

SHE IS THE SQUISHIEST WIZARD.

It's not her fault that every single other combatant on the continent is Massively Dangerous in melee! She took a very traditional back-line build!

Enemy: Doesn't it GRATE to protect someone so pathetic, Zabuza? Zabuza: She literally froze an entire castle of enemies to death because they harmed her sister, so. No.

Most Ninjas: Sharp Knife. S-Rank Mega Ninjas: Gun. Elsa: High Yield Explosive Rocket Launcher. Literally loses fights to the Knife People, because she can't bring her power to bear on that scale. But if you can give her Time and Prep? No contest.

Long distance AoE

Like  you know how Nagato is literally dying of starvation due to illness and can't walk, but he's also capable of leveling powerful villages more or less on his own?

Elsa is the same Vibe.

It’s like sealing a bijuu in a civilian.

She's honestly both more and less powerful? Like it'd be hard for her to kill everyone in Konoha in the snap of a finger? But also, she could starve out the Country of Fire in a summer.

She WOULDN'T, but she could.

I always read Elsa as gay or ace but my brain keeps trying to ship her with dude ninjas and I have to yank it back on a child leash.

People insinuate that Zabuza is interested in Elsa and he's just "What? Ew she's like five."

"I'm eighteen."

"Five."

BUT

Elsa! Might mistake trust and companionship for a crush!

I can see THAT happening despite gay/ace.

Also like. I don’t think Zabuza is straight.

So mlm/wlw solidarity?

And Haku is probs genderqueer.

So Anna is THE TOKEN STRAIGHT.

Anna is like, the Straight Friend who will go to the mat for her queer friends. Like vicious. In-your-face barking like a mean dog at people who were being bigots.

You know how Elsa in the second movie uses her powers to make toys for kids out of ice?

Okay, so her practicing by making things with Haku.

But yeah, Elsa can't really do "throws ice senbon," but she can do Delicate Geometry Things since she apparently, canonically studies math for fun and loves fractals.

Haku: I can trap you in a prison of ice mirrors, and you are at my mercy. Elsa: LOOK AT THIS CASTLE I MADE???

Haku wants to do Pretty Things like Elsa

OH.

Elsa makes... snow bunnies..

For the ninja distraction reasons but also because it's a Soft Thing that makes her feel better about, uh, everything. And Haku likes bunnies.

Zabuza still takes The Dirty Missions but Elsa gets upset when he does something that hurts innocents and Nobody wants Elsa upset. Even Zabuza doesn't want Elsa upset.

When Elsa gets upset, overnight accommodations are suddenly Very Uncomfortable for everyone except her and Haku.

And then Anna gets upset, which makes Elsa even MORE upset.

And then things just keep getting colder.

Zabuza doesn't want Elsa upset for many reasons, not limited to: "Is actually capable of killing me from outside of Sword Range if she's mad enough, even if it’s not that easy" and "the Small Children would be unbearably sad if she died and honestly so might I."

She's more of a friend than a ward and he's not entirely sure he's okay with that.

Zabuza: "Ew, friendship."

He has absolutely no idea how to have a social interaction with people he isn't Bullying, Raising, or Threatening to Kill.

Elsa and Anna have no trouble convincing people they're related, at least. Different coloration with almost identical bone structure.

A tendency to burst into song when they feel emotions.

Identical weird accent that nobody can place.

FOOD

The girls are royalty, they don't know how to COOK.

But they also want food from HOME.

It's a lot of trial and error.

More error than not, since they have both no knowledge and also a language barrier to overcome. It probably takes YEARS before they can describe things like Unfamiliar Flavors well enough for people to say "OH that sounds like spearmint."

When they run into something they know that’s familiar, it’s life-changing.

Chocolate is more common in the elemental nations than in Arandelle and Anna may or may not cry about it.

Anna is loudly bossy, even at Zabuza.

Zabuza is gruffly commanding, to everyone.

Elsa doesn't actually like being in charge, but when she talks, people LISTEN.

(Haku is just happy to be here.)

Elsa radiates two things: Anxiety, and Natural Command, and she basically just fluctuates between those.

"I don't want to be in charge but also I'm vetoing this."

So, obviously, the main reasons that Zabuza keeps the girls around is that Elsa is a living siege weapon and he thinks she could be convinced to help him run a revolution in Kiri, and also that the Ice Queen schtick is like. Really good for Haku and Zabuza can’t really say no to the kid.

HOWEVER, Anna is clumsy and messy and all that, so Zabuza starts training her in Ninja stuff. Elsa joins in on the “I need to know how to Run Fast to get away from fights I don’t want to have in the first place,” but Anna’s the one that’s like “TEACH ME HOW TO SWORD.”

It’s honestly not that hard to teach her, she’s just really, really, REALLY enthusiastic.

Once or twice someone asks why she’s so bad at this yet running around with an A-rank nukenin and Zabuza’s just like “I’ve only had her for a year and a half, shut up!” because it’s not that he’s a bad teacher, it’s that she was a very pampered civilian until like a week before he met her.

He should get a MEDAL for even getting her to low Chuunin.

Zabuza: I'm taking a job from Gato Elsa, who has Training in economics and politics and bureaucracy: I have a better idea.

This is actually not entirely what I’d do but I wanted to make the joke first ANYWAY here’s an actual plot or something.

Oh, also by this point everyone is Canon Ages so Elsa’s 21 and Anna’s 18 and Zabuza’s 26 and Haku’s 15.

Elsa is getting paid to keep the water from interfering with construction, by way of....

ICE COFFERDAM

Elsa with Haku as her Guard while Zabuza is off running his own mission? Which Anna begged to go on because Cool.

Elsa also kind of keeps her involvement on the ice front semi-secret by claiming she’s there as an engineering consultant.

LISTEN canon made her like geometry, I can ENTIRELY believe she’d be excited about the bridge-building.

Gato has hired someone else on the danger level of Zabuza, who is Threatening to Team 7 + Haku? But then when things look bleak Anna and Zabuza arrive and then Scary Sword Man is on our side and oh dear that's a lot of blood.

Which, you know, fun!

Birdie suggested Raiga which I’m not feeling but I do feel the need to bring up as an option.

It’s also not Kisame BUT

Kisame: [giant lake dome filled with sharks]

Elsa: uhhhhhhhhhhh...

Giant lake dome: [is now a giant ice dome]

Anyway

Gato: I'm hiring an army. Elsa: [giant ice wall around his compound] Gato: ... these guys can walk up walls! Elsa: [adds snowman guards] Elsa: ... Elsa: [adds a ceiling]

Just puts Gato's entire mob in a fucking snow globe.

Zabuza shows up twenty minutes late with (Throwing) Star(buck)s just like "Oh, they dead? No? Want 'em to be? Okay cool I'm gonna go pick up Haku, I'll be back in like an hour."

Anna would... LOVE Naruto

ENERGETIC FRIENDLY GOOFBALL

"I found us a baby brother!" "No, we already have Haku." "BUT LOOK AT HIM."

Anna is only a year or two older than Itachi.

OH RIGHT

I wanted to make a joke about how Naruto also vibes with her because he's less judgmental that she can't really... talk properly.

Sasuke is Judgy and Kakashi is Paranoid and Sakura is Uncomfortable.

Meanwhile Naruto is just like "And I Shall Scream."

Anna, who learned Japanese from Zabuza (rude) and Haku (uber polite): WELL FUCK YOU, GOOD SIR Naruto: YEAH WELL FUCK YOU TOO, LADY Elsa, overly formal: I am... so very sorry.

Anyway, generic missing nin fights and all that.

Elsa gets injured in the process and after a variety of arguments, Naruto manages to convince them to take her to Konoha for medical attention.

Elsa is... usually the one getting injured.

Zabuza and Haku are FAST and Anna is at least learning (even if she’s only been doing it for three years), but Elsa is The Squishy Wizard.

If someone throws a kunai... she can’t... really dodge...

So yeah, gut wound.

Normally they find a nukenin medic to patch them up but Konoha is reasonably close and has some of the more skilled medics on the continent and they DID technically help the Konoha nin so like. Gah.

That’s Zabuza’s final thought. Gah.

Just “Fuck it, let’s save the ice queen.”

Elsa ends up in a half-literal-ice stasis state on the way there and it’s happened before (it is not the first time she’s been stabbed), but it’s always terrifying.

Especially to the Konoha genin who are just like WHAT THE HECK IS THAT.

So they get to Konoha, there’s a whole bunch of stuff about extradition treaties and “you are bringing a literal WMD of a woman into our town” and “we can’t just let MOMOCHI ZABUZA in.”

Anyway, it ends up being that Zabuza has to wait outside the village while Elsa is treated inside, and one of the Teenagers goes in. Obviously, it’s Anna, because Zabuza is INCREDIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE with letting Haku enter a village that’s known for having lots of bloodlines, and anyway, Anna’s the sister.

Bunch of stuff, she’s healing, etc, and then one day Anna comes in and is told “your sister had a bad reaction to the anesthetic, we couldn’t save her, I’m sorry, she’s gone.”

She flips out, gets shown the corpse, flips out MORE, gets escorted out to the village walls where Zabuza and Haku are waiting.

Horrified reactions

Zabuza doesn’t want to admit that it’s EMOTIONS because this is his FRIEND, he is clearly just upset about losing the living siege weapon.

Haku is just super confused and goes “But she’s not dead.”

“What.”

“She’s not dead, I can feel her, I can always feel her, it’s like sensing but just her, because we’re both ice. She’s alive, somewhere over... there?”

And points right in the direction of the Hokage Mountain, which for the purposes of this fic and also Drama is where ROOT headquarters is.

YEP we absolutely have that plot point.

Is Danzo overused as a plot device? Probably. Am I going to diabolus ex machina him anyway? Ye.

They kick up enough of a fuss that the Hokage gets called down.

He wouldn’t, normally, he’d leave it to a couple of skilled jounin and call it a day, except Naruto got involved so like. You can’t. Ignore that.

There’s lots of shouting.

Just like. A lot.

And then part of the mountain explodes!

AS ONE DOES

Elsa comes flying backwards out of the hole, catches herself on a spontaneous ice slide, gets to her feet.

Girl is swaying like MAD.

There are absolutely ANBU (both fake and real) coming after her.

At least one of them gets speared through by an ice spike.

Anna runs up to her, tries to hug her, gets batted away.

Elsa’s staring at her in sheer TERROR and starts muttering something about how Anna died years ago, this isn’t real, etc.

Nobody except Anna understands most of it, but Haku picks up enough to translate when Anna’s freaking out.

Elsa starts doing her Ice Castle thing in the middle of Konoha as a coping mechanism, mostly so she can get Up and Away and Shielded By Ice.

This is not a good look.

Especially because she’s singing, which Zabuza always thinks is a bad omen because it means shit is getting real and one or both of the girls are about to get a powerup or be beaten even harder than otherwise. When they start singing, things get More Dramatic And Extreme).

(Zabuza does not like Disney Musical Rules)

Danzo shows up.

There’s a bunch of arguing.

All the medics insist that nothing she was given at the hospital should have caused amnesia, psychosis, hallucinations, delusions, etc.

It’s. Not hard for Hiruzen to guess what happened.

Namely that Danzo, upon finding out that chakra dampeners didn’t do shit since none of Elsa’s powers come from chakra, decided to keep her drugged up and start using genjutsu to make her more malleable.

Because like. An injured WMD just showed up in your village. What are you supposed to do, not try to kidnap her and turn her to your side? Like, come on. What was he supposed to do?

Not that, Danzo. Literally Not That.

IDK how it gets resolved, probably Anna getting to her with the power of love, because Elsa is ultimately Super Disney.

I also don’t really know where to go from there other than “Maybe Jiraiya can get you home, but also I’m pretty sure Zabuza wants you all to get the hell out of here and take over Kiri” but who knows.

Also

IMAGINE ELSA MEETING GAI.

Imagine Ino getting a puppy crush on Elsa.

IDK that’s it for now.

[dinosaurtsukki]

❀ promises | “a house by the sea for the two of us, that’s what i want” feat. iwaizumi hajime + pacific rim AU

⇢ day 10 of angstcember

⇢ synopsis: you knew the risks that came with the job when you agreed to co-pilot a jaeger with iwaizumi, even more so when you two grew close. every time you get sent out on a mission, you wonder if both of you would be coming back

⇢ content warnings: character death, suicide attack

⇢ a/n: so, back in the day (probs 2015) i was reading this notoriously long and famous hq!! pacific rim AU and it was amazing so i wanted to write my own (it’s nowhere near the quality of that fic tho but i tried ;-;)

⇢ pairing: iwaizumi hajime x f!reader

⇢ word count: 2.5k words

ANGSTCEMBER MASTERLIST (feat. haikyuu!! and bungou stray dogs)

━━━━━━━━✿ ━━━━━━━━

nothing else in the world could compare to the feeling of co-piloting a jaeger. you always remember the first time you saw one up close: all metal and weapons as far as the eye could see, being dropped into the ocean to fight off a kaiju. it looked invincible, it looked like humankind’s problems all solved. 

co-piloting one was absolutely nerve-wracking. just the idea of being able to control a large weapon of that size with your mind and have it imitate your body movements sent your head spinning. even now, as you made it move across the ocean towards where the kaiju was, you still felt that unease.

“hey, don’t act like this is the first time you’re doing this,” iwaizumi’s voice and thoughts interrupted you. he flashed you a cocky grin, shaking you out of your thoughts.

of course, you weren’t doing it alone. a jaeger could never be piloted alone, both in the physical and mental sense. “sorry, just had something on my mind,” you chuckled nervously.

“yeah, well the sooner you get that out of your mind, the sooner we’ll be able to beat this thing and still be able to get something to drink later,” iwaizumi, your co-pilot and lover winked at you.

“is alcohol always on your mind, iwaizumi?” you teased.

“you know for a fact it isn’t, l/n,” he grinned. you smiled, squaring your shoulders in-sync with iwaizumi as your jaeger stood before the prowling category 3 kaiju. 

“let’s do this thing.” 

...

“what did you say, cadet?” 

“i said, i can beat you in five moves,” you retorted, jutting your chin up as you stared straight into the eyes of iwaizumi hajime, one of the youngest jaeger pilots who also happened to be your trainer.

“i’d like to see you try,”  he narrowed his eyes at you before jerking his head in the direction of the training mat in the center used for sparring matches. you strode to your end of the mat and got into fighting stance. it wasn’t that you didn’t respect iwaizumi, quite the opposite actually, but you were eager to prove yourself, eager to get recruited to become a co-pilot. 

and besides, as someone who had to fight every single day when your town was destroyed, you were confident in your skills.

but so was iwaizumi, who had been a cadet when he was just a teenager and a pilot when he hit eighteen. he had fought people and kaijus alike and expected that he would make you eat your words seconds into your sparring match. 

what neither of you expected was that you would be trading blows, without ever landing a single hit, for quite some time. it came to a point that not only the cadets but other officers nearby came to watch the match unfold. suddenly, both of you were stopped by the captain and head of the base.

while you felt a sudden rush of adrenaline at his approving gaze, iwaizumi felt as if a weight was dropped in his stomach. there was a chance that you two were drift-compatible.

...

“let’s finish him off!” iwaizumi exclaimed. 

“you read my mind!” you grinned as the two of you raised your jaeger’s plasma cannon and aimed it at the badly wounded kaiju. there was a loud hum and the crackle of electricity as the plasma cannon charged before firing a shot. you watched with a smile on your face as the kaiju was blown to pieces across the ocean.

“well, that’s that then,” iwaizumi said. 

“good work you two,” your captain’s voice crackled over the radio. “as expected of miyagi base’s best duo.” 

“we have to come up with a flashier name,” you told iwaizumi as you two maneuvered your jaeger back to base. “i mean, that just sounds like a mouthful and not nearly as fear-striking.” 

“oh yeah?” iwaizumi raised an eyebrow at you. “how about the miyagi demons?” 

“why demons? aren’t we supposed to be helping people?” 

“yeah but from the kaiju’s perspective, we’re the demons.” 

“i don’t know if they’re capable of having that opinion,” you snorted. 

“hmm, miyagi menaces!” iwaizumi said proudly, causing you to laugh. 

“you are such a dork, you know that?” 

“shut up, i don’t see you coming up with cool names,” he pouted. 

“we have the rest of the night to come up with all the cool names,” you smiled, visibly relaxing now that the entire ordeal was over. even though it was an honorable job, being a jaeger pilot meant that whenever you and iwaizumi went out on a mission, there was a chance that you wouldn’t come back. you had lost too many friends and acquaintances along the way from kaiju attacks and each time you and iwaizumi made it home only felt like you had prolonged your death date. if it wasn’t today, it was going to be on another day.

‘but not today,’ you smiled to yourself as you and iwaizumi headed back to base. only, you were suddenly interrupted by your captain’s voice on the radio.

“l/n, iwaizumi! our signals have picked up something new!” he exclaimed. you felt iwaizumi’s panic first hand as you two quickly turned around to find the spot where you had just killed the category 3 kaiju turn red, meaning another was about to surface. 

“a double attack?!” you verified, hoping you were wrong.

“i-it wasn’t in the prediction,” your captain replied. “some kind of anomaly or the enemy just getting smarter.”

“either way, we still have to kill it, right?” iwaizumi growled, hefting the plasma cannon up. 

“i don’t feel good about this...” you murmured as you two got into stance.

“neither do i,” iwaizumi said through gritted teeth. “but i’ll make sure you get back home in one piece. i promise.” 

“alright,” you nodded, smiling a tight-lipped smile at him before turning your attention to the kaiju that rose to the surface. this one was much bigger than the one you had just faced before, probably twice the size of the jaeger you were in. and to make matters worse, you could tell that it’s entire body was covered with armor plating and it had a long tail with spikes on the end.

with your thoughts connected to iwaizumi’s, you could feel even his unease wash over you like a wave. who knew if either of you were going to make it?

...

it was the drifting that you were worried about. almost anybody could train themselves physically in preparation to become a jaeger pilot, but very few had what it takes to expose themselves mentally with someone else. it was easier for people who were siblings or lovers or best friends, but you and iwaizumi didn’t know each other prior to your first meeting. even after you two were forced to share a living space in the base so that you two would get closer.

but you and iwaizumi were guarded with your own demons that you were reluctant to expose to the other. the first time you tried drifting, neither of you were willing to open your minds and ended up with both of you getting kicked out of the drift. 

which was why you and iwaizumi finally decided to sit down inside your shared bedroom to have a little sharing session. you couldn’t help but laugh when he suggested it but both of you knew just how much you needed this. it was either that, or pass on the role of co-piloting to other cadets.

“okay, i guess i’ll be the one to start,” you exhaled, gripping the sheets under you for comfort as you told iwaizumi how you ended up in the co-piloting program. you lived in a town near the coast and when the kaiju started showing up, it was one of the first ever places that was hit. nobody was prepared, especially not you. 

“i’m sorry,” iwaizumi whispered as you recounted how you were running through the city, pushing past the crowds, only to turn around to see that your parents who were supposed to be right behind you were lying in a crumpled heap on the ground.

“all the more reason to fight them, you know? so less people end up like me,” you shrugged. “you... don’t have to open up again if you don’t want to.” after all, iwaizumi and his former co-pilot, oikawa tooru, had been quite famous back in the day for being young, amazing jaeger pilots. that is, until they faced a category five kaiju with a broken plasma cannon. 

you still couldn’t forget the sight of the kaiju punching a hole through the jaeger, through the pilot’s chamber. you could only imagine how it felt like for iwaizumi.

“it was... intense,” he exhaled, his brow furrowing. “one minute he was just there and the next, the drift connection had completely disappeared but i could just feel him leave. luckily i was able to activate the escape pod.”

“we’ll fight them,” you said, resting your hand over his. “together. we’ll fight as many of them as we can.” 

for the first time in a while, you and iwaizumi had come to a mutual understanding. iwaizumi had a legitimate reason for not wanting to be in the pilots’ chamber again, so you wanted to make it worth it.

...

you were living right in your worst nightmare. 

fighting category five kaijus was nearly impossible without some form of back-up. the miyagi base sent in their jets to fire bombs at the kaiju but with its armor plating, it had little to no effect. your only hope was aiming at the kaiju’s underbelly, but even that was difficult.

your own jaeger was beat up, thanks to the kaiju’s tail and from sustaining a flurry of hits. “brace yourself!” iwaizumi yelled as the kaiju closed its jaws around your jaeger’s right arm and using it to haul you up and toss you to the side. the force of the impact was absolutely jarring and it felt as if your entire head was scrambled.

“y/n! are you alright?” you heard iwaizumi call out to you. the side of his head was bleeding after you were both thrown against the back of the pilot’s chamber. luckily, you were both still strapped into your suits and still very much in the drift. you both got to your feet to find the kaiju still prowling towards you, taking its sweet time.

“how are we going to beat this thing?” your voice shook, knowing that iwaizumi could feel your hopelessness. your mind through the memories of earlier that day: you and iwaizumi eating cereal while watching TV, watering the little succulent you kept by the window, eating and joking around with some of your friends at the base, iwaizumi giving you a quick kiss before you both suited up. was this going to be your last memories?

“hey. we’ll be alright,” iwaizumi said aloud, looking at you with a soft smile on his face. you wondered how he could even smile like that in this situation. “i promised, didn’t i?” 

you nodded slowly. as a jaeger pilot, you were always prepared to die when you went out on new missions. and if that meant going down fighting, hopefully taking the kaiju down with you, with the man you loved, you were prepared to do just that.

...

it wasn’t that rare for couples to end up as jaeger co-pilots, or for co-pilots to end up as couples. but that only made it all the more tragic whenever one or both of them died during a mission. you knew fellow co-pilots who had postponed their weddings only for them to die, or for one co-pilot to be driven mad after losing their partner. it was enough to deter you from having feelings for iwaizumi, but not completely.

because of your drift connection, it didn’t take long for either of you to discover your feelings for each other. after a particularly hard mission where both of you almost died, iwaizumi ended up confessing to you in the changing room after you both departed your jaeger. 

and seeing that it was impossible for you to be apart from each other, both of you gave in.

“do you think we would have met if it weren’t for the kaijus and the jaeger program?” you asked one night while the two of you were in bed, your head laying on his chest. 

“i like to think that we do,” iwaizumi chuckled, running his hand through your hair. “maybe we’d meet each other in high school or university or something.” 

“what would you have wanted to be?” 

“a sports trainer,” iwaizumi said softly. “i was actually into playing sports back then. how about you?” 

“i wanted to own a flower shop,” you chuckled.

“you? a flower shop?” 

“don’t laugh!” you smacked his arm lightly. 

“you’d make a wonderful florist,” your boyfriend laughed and kiss you on the forehead. “maybe i’d run into you while buying flowers for my mom on mother’s day.” 

“and i’d definitely remember the large, muscular guy who entered my shop,” you giggled. “do you think it’s possible? for things to go back to normal? for us to actually survive this whole thing?”

“i don’t know,” iwaizumi replied honestly. “but i know what i want: a house by the sea for the two of us, that’s what i want.” 

...

“i’m sorry, y/n.” 

that was the last thing you could feel him think before iwaizumi kicked you out of the drift, sending you reeling. the kaiju was approaching and fast. 

“hajime! what are you doing?!” you panicked, turning to look at him but his brow was furrowed in concentration as he manipulated a few buttons on his controller. he was piloting the jaeger by himself. before you could say anything else or force yourself back into the drift, you felt yourself being pulled back by the security straps attached to your suit. you recognized the sensation back from when you were still in co-pilot training practicing the emergency protocols for evacuation.

evacuation.

with sudden horror, you realized what iwaizumi was planning, what he planned all along, to do.

“captain? i’ve initiated emergency evacuation for l/n,” you heard him speak into the radio. “please, please make sure to get to their escape pod.”

“understood, iwaizumi,” your captain’s voice crackled over the speakers. “we can’t thank you enough for your bravery and sacrifice.” 

“no! hajime don’t! let me stay! let me do this with you,” you screamed even as you were loaded into the escape pod. 

“sorry, y/n,” you finally heard him speak. it was as if time had slowed down as he turned to look at you once more. you didn’t want to believe that this was going to be the last time you would see iwaizumi’s face ever again. you would never wake up next to him in bed or eat cereal from the same bowl or dream about a future that you knew now you could never have.

“i... i don’t want to go back if you’re not coming with me,” you said.

“i know it’s going to be hard but, try to live well, alright?” iwaizumi said and pressed the button, fully ejecting your pod out of the jaeger before you could say anything else. your screams filled the escape pod as you hammered against it uselessly, even as the kaiju descended on the jaeger with its lone pilot before iwaizumi pressed the self-destruct button.

you’ve always hated funerals, having gone to far too many of them. especially when the deceased co-pilot’s partner was there to receive any medals of honor in their place. that was the first thing you thought of as the people in the base helped you out of your escape pod, offering messages of sympathy for your loss. because of his sacrifice, iwaizumi was surely going to be granted quite a lot of medals with you receiving them in his place. as if they could be enough to make up for the space in your bed and the house by the sea that would forever stay empty. 

━━━━━━━━✿ ━━━━━━━━

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[exhaustedfander]

moxiety with fake dating? mayhaps with some gay panicking because ahhh cute stranger hold hngg hand??

I was having such stupid technical difficulties ith Word, but here it is, sorry it’s been like three weeks, lol. I’d love to hear what you think! 

a03 link

word count: 3,008

Fake it Till You Make it 

Virgil’s always careful whilst staking out a seat in the coffee shop he frequents. He makes sure not to sit in an area that’s too crowded, as to bypass unnecessary human-contact, while simultaneously avoiding the table too close to the door that lets a draft in. He’s been coming here a long time now, as it’s the closest place to his College, as well as the fact that the coffee is reasonably priced, and the atmosphere is pretty damn cozy. Also… there’s a barista that happens to be the cutest man Virgil’s ever laid his eyes on, but that’s beside the point! 

By now, all of the staff know his order – a cinnamon Cappuccino with enough whipped cream to drown in – like the back of their hands, so he has to worry about social interaction a lot less than usual. The adorable barista in question, Patton, has only ever taken his order, sweet as can be while doing so, but Virgil’s never really talked to the guy. Not that he plans on it! That is waaay too nerve-racking to so much as think about, thank you very much. Sure, he can get lost in those ocean-blue eyes and often fantasizes about running his hand through those strawberry-blonde curls but talking to him is strictly out of the question. He likes this coffee spot and would really hate to have to find a new shop all because he’s made a fool of himself. 

So, it’s not hard to imagine Virgil’s utter shock when he finds that very same barista standing beside him, a dazzling smile on his face.

“Is this seat taken?” He asks, in reference to the chair beside him, and Virgil’s fairly sure he forgets how to breathe for a moment. 

“Uh – no,” he manages to stutter, “It’s all yours, man.” The barista grins, sitting beside him. 

“Thanks… Virgil, right?” Virgil blinks surprised he’d remember something as inconsequence as his name. 

“Yeah,” Virgil says, “My, uh, friends call me Virge. You can, too, if you wanted to.” Virgil despises the way his voice is trembling; why is he so fucking nervous? It’s just basic, human, social interaction (with the most beautiful man to grace this Earth, but basic, human social interaction nonetheless)

“Sure, thing, Virge. I’m Patton,” he says, as though Virgil hadn’t memorized the name on his nametag the moment, he saw him. “I like your pin, by the way.” 

Virgil glances down at the Bisexual pin on his backpack, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. It’s not like he’s missed the rainbow shirt he’s seen peeking out from behind Patton’s apron sometimes – an apron he doesn’t currently have on, meaning he’s off the clock, also meaning instead of going home, he’s sitting here, talking to him. So, yeah, Patton’s probably gay, and he’s talking to him, but that doesn’t actually mean anything. It doesn’t stop Virgil from panicking quite a bit, though. 

“Thanks,” Virgil says, trying his absolute hardest to keep his cool. He’s wanted to talk to Patton for so long, but he hadn’t imagined it would ever actually happen. 

“You come here a lot, huh?” Patton asks. Virgil rubs at the back of his neck, struggling to maintain eye-contact. 

“Uh- yeah. This is a cool place, and it’s not too far from my school.” Virgil fails to mention the fact that Patton’s a big reason he comes in nearly daily, thinking such a detail might come off as super creepy.

As awkward as Virgil is, a conversation is struck up. He learns that Patton is a student at his college, too (How the fuck did he manage to miss a face like that??) and that he’s studying to be a Veterinarian, which Virgil finds a little funny, considering he’s terribly allergic to cats. Patton’s a big fan of dad-jokes and puns, and while he can try and groan, it just manages to make Patton all the more adorable. He also discovers that yes, Patton is gay and that he first came about a year ago. 

“Yeah, my parents weren’t too thrilled,” Patton says in a voice that’s desperately trying to stay chipper, but the sorrow creeps in all the same, “They still aren’t.” 

“Mine either,” Virgil says before he really knows what he’s saying, “I haven’t, uh, talked to them in a long time. I might never again, honestly.” A look of sympathy crosses Patton’s face, though it’s clear that he relates, maybe more than he wants to admit to himself. 

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Virge.” 

Virgil shrugs. It’s nothing new. He came out to his parents at seventeen, a choice that was quite the feat considering the level of anxiety he suffers from, and it hadn’t gone well at all. His folks hadn’t kicked him out, but they’d insisted that he was never to take a boy home. At first, Virgil had tried to get on their good side, they were his parents, after all. But it didn’t take long for him to realize what a fruitless venture that was. They weren’t going to change, regardless of how much he wanted them to. 

Once he got to college, he had an opportunity to meet a few really great people, despite his social-anxiety, individuals who had shown him how important it is to have positive relationships in life. At this point, it could undo a few years of positive change to let his parents back into his life, and Virgil wasn’t about to go and do a thing like that.

“It’s alright,” he says, “They’re assholes, anyway. I got some pretty cool relatives though, and some really good friends, so that helps.” Patton frowns, and suddenly Virgil decides he despises the sad expression on him, wondering what the hell he could do to make it go away.

“My parents are assholes too,” Patton murmurs, as though saying such a word is incomprehensively bad, and as if Virgil hadn’t said it too about three seconds ago. “They really are. I’ve been trying. Trying so hard to be patient with them and allow them time to adjust but… it just isn’t happening. They’re still talking about when I end up with “some lucky lady.” I don’t know…” Patton pauses, his eyes widening, “Oh my goodness, I’m sorry.” Virgil tilts his head. 

“What for?”

“For dumping all that on you. I mean, we hardly know each other. It was rude of me.” 

“Nah, man, you’re good. I was just talking about my parents, there’s no reason to apologize. And I should know, I’m kind of the king of apologizing for shit I didn’t do.” Patton cracks a small smile at that, and Virgil swells with a pit too much pride. “My point is, you didn’t overshare, or anything. We’re just having a conversation, you’re good, I promise.” Patton looks relieved. 

“Thanks, Virgil. You’re really nice.” Virgil’s heart can’t help but soar a little bit at that. Sometimes, he’s convinced he’s a massive asshole, despite his friends insisting that it isn’t. but it’s really nice to know that Patton thinks he’s nice.

“No prob, Pat. You’re nice too.”

“Well then, I’m glad we were able to break the nice,” Patton says, earning a half-hearted groan. “I’ve kinda wanted to talk to you for a while, actually.” Virgil’s heart skips a beat. 

“R-really? Why?”

“Because,” Patton says with a smile, “You always seemed so interesting. Mentioning your Pin was, uh, kind of just an excuse to talk to you,” Patton admits and, holy shit, is he flirting?! Virgil can’t tell, but sirens are going off in his head regardless. 

“I – uh,” Virgil bites his tongue, trying to come up with a dignified response of some kind, but failing to do so. “Thanks?” Despite Virgil’s criminal lack of tact, Patton just smiles, a look that quickly disappears when he gets a notification and checks his phone.

“What’s up?” Virgil asks, before realizing it’s hardly his business. He’s known Patton for what? An hour or so now – oh my god, Patton’s been talking to him for over an hour – and that doesn’t give Virgil the authority to inquire upon the barista’s personal life beyond what he’s already been told. Patton shakes his head.

“My cousin Dalilah getting married next week,” Patton explains, despite Virgil’s hesitation, “She’s one of the only family members who I’m really close to; she’s such a sweetheart.”

“Then what’s wrong?” 

“My mom and dad are going to be at the wedding,” Patton sighs, “And I don’t have a date. If I show up without some guy on my arm, I know they’re just gonna assume that the crisis is over, and they can set me up with the next available girl. They already think me being gay is a phase, this is all the reason they need to think the phase is over.” A sad look flickers in Patton’s eyes and instantly, all logic or uncertainty that Virgil’s clinging to goes out the window.

“What if I was your date?” Patton’s eyes go as wide as saucers and, oh shit, he really just said that aloud.

“W-what?”

“L-like a fake date,” Virgil backpedals, his heart rate spiking in a matter of seconds, “So t-that your parents aren’t dicks to you. Or at least, are less of dicks.” 

For a moment, Virgil almost dares to think that the explanation made Patton look kinda… disappointed? Not that it would make much sense, it’s not like he’d actually want Virgil to be his date. 

“Virgil you… you can’t be serious.”

“Well, why not?” Virgil asks, knowing he’s most probably going to regret this later, “You’re a cool guy who’s in a shitty situation. Your parents are going to be relentless to you, and I don’t like the idea of that, so… why don’t I make things a little easier for you?” Virgil says, impressed he gets through it without feeling as anxious as he had a few moments ago. 

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Patton mumbles guiltily, his eyes cast on the table, “I wouldn’t want you to sacrifice your weekend just for me.” 

“Pat, I was just gonna aimlessly scroll through Tumblr till two in the morning and watch shitty TV. And– erm– being your fake date sounds a lot more interesting to me.” (Not to mention nerve-racking!) Patton meets Virgil’s gaze once more, relief etched into his features.

“You’d really be willing to do this?” Patton asks, “You don’t need to, you know.”

“I want to,” Virgil assures. “So, what do you say?” Patton thinks for a moment before that beautiful smile spreads across his face anew.

“That sounds perfect! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Patton says, standing up from his chair and throwing his arms around the emo, “You’re a lifesaver, Virgil!” Virgil stiffens in the awkward embrace, before accepting it to the best of his ability, trying not to freak out because Patton fucking Hart is hugging him! 

“Sure thing, Pat.” 

After that, arrangements are made. As it turns out, Patton isn’t the biggest fan of lying, hates it, honestly, which makes things a little trickier. But a compromise is come to that they met each other in the Coffee shop, which was true and had been on a few dates prior to the wedding. While that wasn’t technically true (God does Virgil wish it was) they do spend several days throughout the week hanging out and getting to know one another. And within those few days, Virgil’s infatuation with Patton inflames to a full-on crush which is just great.

Getting better acquainted with him, Virgil finds himself quickly getting used to Patton’s bubbly personality. He’s eager to pet every dog he comes into contact with, he enjoys baking quite a bit, though he’s not great at it, he’s adorably awkward in the best ways and he’s one of the kindest, most genuine people Virgil’s ever met. 

Usually, Virgil’s so well-guarded, but with Patton, he’s opening up quicker and more willingly than he has in such a long time. Patton listens with such compassion, and while Virgil’s really happy to have the other friends that he does, he’s never met someone as sweet as Patton is. It’s almost a little overwhelming at times, how caring he is. 

Before they know it, the day is upon them. Virgil gets a rental suite while trying not to swoon at Patton in his sky-blue tux, because really, how is it legal for him to look that cute?

Patton grabs his hand the moment they walk into the venue, sending Virgil a careful glance and squeezing his hand just slightly.

“This okay?” He whispers, ever the compassionate one, and Virgil nods.

“Yeah, ‘s okay.” Virgil can’t recall the last time someone held his hand, and he certainly can’t remember the number of times he’s imagined Patton holding his hand, prior to them even being friends. 

They take their seats, and the ceremony proceeds as usual. It’s beautiful, not that Virgil is paying too much attention, distracted by Patton’s nervous glances toward an older couple that must be his folks.

“Hey, are you alright?” Virgil asks quietly. Patton forces a smile, his eyes trained on his cousin and her fiancé.

“Yeah, I’m – I’m fine,” – he doesn’t sound fine –, “It’s just…” Patton trails off, his gaze flickering back to his parents for a moment. Virgil places his hand over Patton’s, who’s trembling is noticeable immediately. Carefully, Virgil runs his thumb over Patton’s knuckles in an even, circular motion. Luckily, it seems to calm Patton down to a degree, and he doesn’t take his eyes off of Dalilah for the rest of the ceremony. 

However, almost immediately upon the afterparty starting, they’re cornered by Mr. and Mrs. Hart.

“Patton, you didn’t come and say hello,” his mother scolds. 

“Well, there were a lot of people,” Patton says nervously, “I figured we’d –.”

“Who’s this?” Patton’s father interrupts, gesturing to Virgil standing beside him.

“Virgil Storme,” Virgil says as calmly as he’s able, extending a hand for the father to shake. Mr. Hart’s hand remains rigid at his side. “I’m Patton’s boyfriend. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Virgil can’t help but notice as anxiety wells up inside of him because, fuck, they’d never said they were going to call each other boyfriend’s, just that they’d been on a few dates, but Mr. Hart had such a smug look and he couldn’t help it. Despite his raging internal monologue, Patton plants a hand onto the small of his back, lips curling into a smile.

“That’s right,” Patton says, “Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend.” 

The look of slackened shock on their faces would be priceless, weren’t it for the fact that these are still Patton’s parents, individuals who’ve had a direct influence on him throughout the entirety of his life.

“You’ve never – you’ve never mentioned a boyfriend before,” Patton’s mother says, glaring at her son. 

“And certainly not one who looks like some kind of a hooligan,” Mr. Hart grits, gesturing to Virgil’s dyed purple hair and pierced ears. Virgil intends to let the insult go, as it would only cause more trouble to confront it, but Patton has other ideas.

“Hey, you have no right to talk like that about Virgil,” Patton says, an edge to his voice that Virgil had yet to hear until now. Virgil grips for Patton’s hand, lacing their fingers together and giving him a reassuring squeeze.

“How long has this been going on, sweetie?” Mrs. Hart chimes in, though it’s unclear if she’s referring to Virgil himself, or Patton’s sexuality as a whole. Either way, it’s a poor choice of words.

“My whole life, mom,” Patton spits, a venomous tone that would surely be louder if they weren’t at a wedding, “I’ve been gay my whole life, and nothing is going to change that.”

“But –.”

“But, nothing,” Patton interrupts boldly, “I’m not having this conversation, not again. If you can’t accept the fact that I’m never going to end up with ‘some nice girl,’ and that Virgil is absolutely wonderful, then we haven’t got anything to talk about.”

The words are a slap across Mr. and Mrs. Hart's face, who reel back in shock. 

“Patton, son –.”

“Goodbye,” Patton says, realizing it might very well be the last time he says it. He begins walking out of the reception and Virgil follows close behind. They make it outside, and luckily there’s no one else around.

“Pat… are you okay?” Virgil asks, reaching out to touch Patton’s shoulder.

“I’m done, Virgil. I’m done being gentle for them, I’m done pretending. It’s not worth it.” Pride wells in Virgil, even though he’s known Patton a little less than a week. 

“Well, then, I can tell you that was amazing! You kicked ass, Patton! Did you see the stupid look on their faces? They were so –.” Virgil is quickly interrupted when Patton’s lips collide against his, fingers gripping his lapels. Virgil needs a second to adjust and realize this is actually happening before he kisses back just as fervidly, his hands threading in Patton’s curls that are soft to the touch, just as he’d always imagined. 

“We’re – we’re not still pretending, right?” Virgil asks dumbly, and Patton shakes his head with a laugh, light, and airy.

“No, no of course not. Unless… you want it to be pretend?” 

“No! God, n-no! You’re amazing, Pat, you’re so kind, and soft and good and cute and… oh god, I’m rambling.” Patton giggles again, and Virgil decides it’s one of the best sounds he’s had the pleasure of hearing. 

“It’s cute.” 

“You’re cuter.”

“No, you are.”

The never-ending debacle of who is cuter is decidedly ended when their lips meet again, and Virgil’s positive this outweighs anything fantasy had to offer.

In the end, Patton hasn’t told a lie. Virgil is his boyfriend, even if they didn’t start the day out that way. The two walk back into the venue, hand-in-hand, watching as the Hart’s avert their eyes and Patton happily introduces Virgil to the family and friends who matter. 

Virgil’s never been so glad he walked into that coffee shop.

=+=

Taglist:

@nadiestar

@unoriginalgayboyalex 

@maryann-draws

Please let me know if you wanna be added to my general taglist! I’d be happy to add folks!

[purplesurveys]

1090

survey by --ranboweyes--

1.] What age is your youngest aunt? I have a relative who’s technically my aunt since she’s a cousin of my mom, but she’s like 3 years younger which makes her 18-19ish, I think. 

2.] Do you miss someone right now? The only thing I’m missing is the weekend which is quickly ending lol.

3.] What can you see to the Northwest to you? I can see our living room couch.

4.] Do you like bowling? I love bowling. I wish I could do it all the time, only if a session wasn’t so expensive.

5.] Can you pronounce Italian words? I mean I can try saying the words but I know I’m definitely not pronouncing them in the native accent. @justsurveys​ definitely can though, heh.

6.] Do you prefer black or beige colored jackets? I have more black ones, but I’m not opposed to trying out beige.

7.] Do you own a hoodie? Yes, I’m wearing one right now because it’s pretty chilly tonight.

8.] Do you like roasting marshmallows on a bonfire? I’ve only done this once, which was in like Grade 3 when we had an overnight thingy in school and our teacher planned a bonfire for us. But I’m not a fan of marshmallows at all so the answer to this is no.

9.] Do you like cheesy puffs? No. I prefer other snacks.

10.] What's your name without vowels? Rbyn or Rbn, if we’re counting out the letter y.

11.] How many layers of clothing are you wearing? Just two, which is always the case if I do have to wear more than one layer; I have a shirt under my zipped-up hoodie. I’ve only ever had to wear multiple layers once; it was when we were in Sagada and I had to wear 4 or 5 layers if I didn’t want to shiver to death.

12.] When was the last time you got a takeaway? What did you have? I usually dine in the restaurant altogether or go to the drive-thru, but never takeout. Today, though, I did order a chicken barbecue at Starbucks originally meant to be for dine-in; but I got sad in the middle of my time there so I only had a few bites and brought the rest home. Which I guess technically counts as takeout.

13.] If you could climb any mountain or range which would you chose? Mount Pulag because I’ve heard so much about it and it’d be nice to experience it for myself.

14.] Do you alphabetically arrange anything in your room? What? Nope.

15.] Have you ever visited fat-pie.com? No.

16.] Do you prefer sweet or sour fruits? Sweet.

17.] Do you like Flo Rida? Which song of his? I mean, not really. There are a few songs he’s featured in that I find catchy, like Right Round, but I don’t like like them.

18.] How's your dancing skills? There aren’t any to speak of. 

19.] What is your favorite number? I don’t have any. The idea of favorite numbers personally never made sense to me, but I do recognize that they can mean a lot to some people.

20.] Describe your best friend to me? She’s incredibly smart and creative, very motherly and responsible, and always knows the right questions to ask when her friends are troubled and what advice to give.

21.] What is your favorite alcoholic drink? Peach soju, Long Island Iced Tea, Zombie, and tequila are some of my favorites. I’m generally a fan of cocktails though, and I love it whenever bars have their own lineup because it lets me see how creative they get and because it also allows me to try their own spin on mixed drinks.

22.] Do you do any sports or have you done any sport professionally? I play table tennis, but I never played professionally or had formal training. It was a club I joined in middle school just because Angela dragged me but I ended up enjoying it, so I played and played until I unconsciously got better.

23.] What is your ringtone? Just the default Apple ringtones; I never changed them.

24.] Do you like chili flavored chips/crisps? Sure! Chili peanuts are great, too.

25.] Do you curl or straighten your hair? I don’t do either with my hair unless I’m headed to a special/fancy occasion.

26.] What's the nicest smell of shampoo? We used to have this brand that housed black shampoo and it smelled super elegant and nice, but I have no idea how to describe the scent.

27.] What smell turns you on? How about turns you off? It’s generally a turn-on when people make an effort to smell nice, e.g. applying perfume several times a day. BO and the smell of the sun are my main turn-offs.

28.] Whose your favorite comedian? I’ve only been able to watch a couple of her skits but Sindhu Vee is pretty high up on my list. I’m not really too big on comedians, though.

29.] RnB or Reggae? R&B, by a mile.

30.] What brand of batteries do you usually get? I/We haven’t had to use batteries in such a long time.

31.] Are any of your friends pregnant or have kids? A good number of people from my high school now have kids, but I don’t consider any of them friends.

32.] What is in your medicine cabinet? We don’t have one since no one in the family needs to regularly take meds. We do have a jar in the kitchen for multivitamins that my parents take every night.

33.] What's your favorite aspect of the natural world? The ocean. < I’d say so too. Mountain ranges are also beautiful.

34.] What's your favorite man made thing? Probs the internet.

35.] Can you whistle properly? Yasss.

36.] What song do you think is the most widely heard in the world? Happy Birthday or some Christmas jingle.

37.] Where's the strangest place a fast food restaurant was located? I mean...I think fast food restaurants are ubiquitous by nature, so I’ve never seen one and went, “That’s not supposed to be there,” lol. Whenever I spot a fast food restaurant, I’m usually able to make out the reasoning behind positioning it wherever it happens to be.

38.] What countries surround your country? Or are you not land locked? We’re an archipelago, so. Not land-locked. But the nearest countries are Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

39.] Do you own binoculars or nonoculars? What do you use them for? I don’t own either.

40.] Do you ever wish you had a telescope on the roof or attic to stargaze? I have always wanted one, yeah. I’ve always dreamed of placing it in my future living room, though.

41.] What's your favorite chocolate bar? Not a bar, but I like Reese’s peanut butter cups the most.

42.] Do you fall asleep easy in cars? How about planes, trains and boats? Unless I am extremely tired, it’s usually hard for me to fall asleep while in transport.

43.] Would you rather live a year of your life in every major country or stay in the same place you live forever without vacations? The latter sounds like an unfulfilling life to me, to be honest. Like I can’t even take vacations??? As much as I like routine, I do enjoy a bit of spontaneity and I think moving to a new country every year can do that for me.

44.] What will you not tolerate in a person? Someone who will make you feel stupid for asking a question. Also those who always have something mean to say about everyone.

45.] Do you forgive others easier or yourself? Why is this? Forgiving isn’t really in my vocabulary to be honest. Hahaha. I’ve always been more at peace this way.

46.] How was God made, if he exists? Key word here is if, so I’m skipping this question because it’s irrelevant to me.

47.] Have you ever done aqua aerobics or polo? Yeah we had to do a bit of water polo in swimming classes in high school.

48.] What age were you when you learned how to swim? I guess around 2? I have baby photos from when I was that age wherein I was having fun in our old inflatable pool. Swimming came naturally to me and I don’t think I ever had trouble with the water.

49.] What shows or characters scared you as a child? You know how older cartoons only featured the legs of some characters, like the housemaid in Tom & Jerry or the lady from Powerpuff Girls? The uncertainty of those characters always made me feel unsettled as a kid.

50.] Do you stay up all night on New Years Eve/Day or go to bed after 12am? I always go to bed well after 12 AM since my family usually holds a get-together for it.

51.] What's currently in your fridge? Some leftovers, some vegetables, essentials like bread and eggs, some condiments that need to be kept refrigerated.

52.] How about your freezer? Frozen goods like hotdogs and ham.

53.] What could you be doing now that is more productive? I should be working out but I’m skipping it for tonight because I hate Sundays, and I don’t want to make myself more tired than I already am.

54.] Give me some lyrics from the song that's stuck in your head? “Red lights, stop signs, I still see your face in the white cars, front yards...”

55.] What's your favorite type of firework? The grander the design the better for me, tbh.

[crying-obsidian]

List of Things to Do in Vanilla Minecraft

Because me and my boyfriends tend to get lost in just how much there is that we can do I think a list like this could be good to have. None of these are in any specific order, just whatever came to mind first. Reblog and add things if you'd like!

Build a shelter of some sort. Can be expanded upon later or focused on before doing anything else.

Gather food, you'll need it if you're playing on anything but peaceful.

Find yourself some diamonds cuz everyone loves those funky blue gems

Nether portal babeyyy

Find a Nether fortress

Make a "blaze farm" of sorts in the fortress

Fight off Ghasts using only a sword or only a bow, challenge yourself if fighting them off is boring

Collect Wither skulls from Wither skeletons

Get yourself some nether wart, and soulsand to grow it on and to spawn the Wither

If you're confident or prepared(or both), you can kill the Wither now to make yourself a beacon with the nether star

Collect those ender pearls, you will need a lot of them

Prep yourself for the ender dragon fight with high tier armor

Make an enchantment table, enchant your goods! (I recommend waiting until you have 30 levels to spend and then going for those 30 level enchantments)

Because exp is a necessity for enchanting, maybe make a mob farm! There's loads of tutorials and different ways to farm mobs on YouTube

Get into potion making

Find a stronghold on the overworld

R a i d the stronghold and find that end portal

Go to the end! Fight that ender dragon! Read the end poem!

Go back to the end, collect the egg with pistons

Go to an end city

Get yourself an elytra, or two, or three, you might want a lot of them

At this point you'll probably have gone through just about all of the "storyline" stuff. There's plenty of other things to do in Minecraft though!

Find an ocean monument, collect sponges and prismarine and beat up the elder guardian so it's easier to collect it all

Find drowned villages, they have treasure maps you can follow to get hearts of the sea!

Make a conduit so underwater is a far less dangerous place to be

Find woodland mansions in dark oak forests, raid and pillage them and maybe renovate the place into a new home away from home!

Find one of each type of structure, if you've followed this list to a T you'll probs have found plenty already, but there's so many to discover!

Build individual places for each survival thing, a hut for your potion crafting, a library for enchanting, a room all for your nether portal...anything!

Collect one of each colored sheep, having a pen of them all is really pleasing

Make a ranch! Have separate pens for cows and chickens and pigs, make it fun and organized to take care of those funky dudes!

Collect one of each horse color

Learn redstone, use your redstone knowledge to make automated farms and sorting machines to make building and surviving easier

Finish all of the in game achievements!

Collect a pack of wolves, take care of them, they love you so much

Get one of each cat! Bonus points if this list is looked at after the 1.14 update and you get ocelots too.

Get one of each parrot

Collect all of the alpaca, bonus points if you collect multiple of either one type or all types and give each one a separate colored saddle and chests to make each one unique

Create an aquarium and hold all the new fish in there!

Raise turtles!

Make a home in the sky

Make a home in every biome, you can go as specific or as general as you'd like with what classifies as a different biome

Upgrade a vanilla village

Upgrade any other natural structure

If playing with multiple friends, prank them, don't grief them, but prank them

Go strip mining! Like the real strip mining, not the one we all call strip mining which is actually branch mining lol

Make your mines look pretty

Get creative with how each item can be placed and used to decorate a home, upside down stairs one right next to the other look like a little bench or table, and maps can become custom paintings if you place your blocks right

Build at a larger scale

Build at a smaller scale

Minecraft YouTubers really are the backbone of our society, so many of them have ideas and creations that can inspire you. If something isn't on this list, they might have it in a video.

[itakesurveys]

Survey 277

What do you believe happens to us after death? hmmm... i guess i’ll pass and watch over my loved ones? or, maybe we all just turn into energy. if so, i’ll be a floating ball of positive energy and try and uplift as many people as possible. 

Have you ever cheated on someone? nope.

What are your plans for this weekend? just chill with the boy & pack a little. i’m moving soon! yay! 

Does the thought of growing old frighten you? yes............i turn 30 this coming year. #puke

What is the best movie you’ve ever seen? Titanic, Enough, The Danish Girl, Bridesmaids, Anastasia, Resident Evil. 

Have you ever hurt someone for your own entertainment? no. that’s dumb. 

What is your favorite song of all time? oh my..... (this is a great survey btw) hmm.. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman 

Has anyone you’ve known died on a holiday? no. that’s terrible. but i was super upset when i found out George Michael passed on Christmas few years back. 

If you could write a book, what would it be about? hmmmm... i use to work for a hair salon and it was like legit like the movie Devil Wears Prada. i could totally take that experience and make it into a great  movie/book. 

Do you think most people understand you? nah, probably not. who i am and who people think or want me to be are very different. i’m very low maintenance and chill and not competitive in the least bit. I feel like in this world of constantly trying to outshine the person next to us “more likes, more  money, happier, funnier”  i just can’t be bothered. comes off not as if i’m not interested but in reality i just want the basic things. lets hang out and just talk and chill with a cup of tea. life should be basic and easy. this dog eat dog world isn’t for me. ..... Jesus i’m such a Pisces and this rant has nothing to do with the question anymore. HA NEXT >> 

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would love to change my lack of motivation. 

What are some lyrics that speak to your soul? hm. *thinking* 

Are you in love with anyone at the moment? yes, my boyfriend & i have been together for 10 years. 

Have you ever been in love with more than one person at the same time? nah. i don’t think that’s real. 

What is your favorite time of year? hmmm. fall . 

What is your ideal first date? ideal first date; (i’m going to pretend this is like a game show) ha, “Hi, my name is joshua and my idea of a perfect first date is... a guy picking me up at my house, he comes 5 minutes early. tells me i look pretty, takes me out to dinner, we date desert  home with us. we cuddle up, watch a movie.” 

What is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to you? hmmm.. not sure the sweetest thing of all time but this week this stuck out to me; i was at work and this older sweet asian woman came into my work. i helped assist her like i do any other customer and before she left she told me “ i just want to tell you that you are extremely sweet and kind and i want to thank you because this is my 3rd business i have came to today and you were the first to make me feel comfortable and didn’t talk down to me and all the previous places where rude to me because of my broken english or think i don’t know what i’m talking about. more people should be like you, thank you so much, god bless *shook my hand*” ---- it made me feel so special and made me realize how little things can make such a huge impact on people. :) 

Do you have any taboo fetishes or preferences? probs.

What is the thing you are most ashamed of? hmmm. 

What is the emotion you seem to feel most strongly? not that it’s good but when i get put down by someone it makes me a while to build up. not sure what that emotion is but it’s powerful and hard to explain. 

Do you think of yourself as a unique person? extremely. i don’t think i have much in common with many guys gay or straight. i’m too sensitive and gravitate toward woman friendships. 

What is a movie from childhood that you loved? i love, the little mermiad. 

Are you afraid of death? isn’t everyone afraid of the unknown? 

What are your top three biggest fears, actually? hmmm. i guess driving is one since i don’t drive, very strong powerful men freak me out.. it’s odd i get very uncomfortable around specific type of guys, and holding hands with my boyfriend in public. 

Do you have an accent of any kind? i don’t think i have one but to other people i might have a slight accent because i’m from the boston area. 

What do you want to be remembered for? being a good person, happy. 

What is your favorite number? 3. 

Do you have a favorite television show? If so, what is it? hmmm.. soo many. i watch too much tv. but i did love game of thrones. 

Are you currently sad about anything? not currently. 

What was your first job? i babysat all through high school and first job was at sears. 

And what job do you have now? i work for  a glass contracting company. i work at front desk. 

Have you ever changed your spiritual beliefs? i feel i’m constantly changing. so yes. 

What is your favorite alcoholic drink? i’m easy, vodka & soda with ALL THE LIMES. 

Do you ever talk to yourself? in the shower. 

Have you ever cried yourself to sleep in your adult life? dah. a lot. again i’m sensitive. (after this survey i don’t seem like a fun person haha) 

What do you think is the meanest thing you’ve ever said to someone? that i hate them. 

How do you celebrate your favorite holiday? with family & friends. your average get together :) 

Do you have a favorite book? If so, how many times have you read it? hmmm.. i don’t think i have one and i don’t read as much as i should. when i do read i only read like memoirs. 

Do you have any teachers from the past who inspired you? yeah like 2. 

Do you prefer sad or happy music? depends on mood. dah. 

Speaking of which, what is your favorite genre? pop. dah x 3456

What is your best talent? i’m good with social media shittt. lol i run like 6 peoples Facebook business pages ha. 

Have you ever wished you were from another country? i use to pretend i had a twin in London like Lindsay Lohan in the movie The Parent Trap. 

What are you thinking about currently? how my back hurts. 

What is the closest red thing to your body? i’m currently wearing a maroon hoodie. if that counts. 

What is a subject that makes you uncomfortable to speak about? hmmmm. family problems. i grew up you don’t talk about family matters with people. 

What is your favorite clothing store to shop at? marshalls. 

Do you have anything you are extremely particular about? hmmm. nah. 

Have you ever seen the ocean? dah, lol. as a kid i during the summer from the age of 8-17 my nana would bring me to the beach every Wednesday. 

What is your most fond memory of your current S.O, if applicable? a lot of them. dah. mostly about family. 

Do you find yourself confused often? yes. constant. 

What is your dream career? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. 

What was the best time of your life? hmmm.. i miss when things were easier.  Have you ever been on a cruise? never. 

Do you miss any of your exes? no no no. 

Who would you like to say something to? no one. i’m good. 

Are you religious? meh. 

Do you think you are attractive? when i try. 

How many people have you slept with? one. 

Do you consider yourself a catch? yes. 

Do you enjoy naps? i would sleep everyday all day if i could. 

What kind of sauce do you eat your chicken nuggets with? ALLL THE SAUCES. 

Are you happy? yeah. as happy as an average person can be. 

What do you think you could do to improve your life? many many things, my self confidence, i need to learn to not run from conflict. i tend to apologize just to avoid confidence. i shouldn’t have to be the one who always feels like they are wrong when deep down i don’t feel i am. 

[minijenn]

Peridot and Pacifica Preview 1

alskdjalsdjlad well at least I fucking wrote something tonight ahahahah I’m so fuking tired send help anyway here’s this. Probs won’t write anything else for this until sunday since I’m gonna be busy all day tomorrow. RIP

“Special delivery!”

Caustically, Peridot glanced up from the drill’s blueprints she was looking over to find Steven standing before her, a small, wrapped box in his hands. Mabel stood alongside him, practically beaming with excitement as they both presented the green Gem with this unknown item.

“What are you doing?” the green Gem asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked between the pair.

“Weeelllll…” Mabel began, eagerly. “We were feeling kinda bad about throwing your lemon hancers-”

“Limb enhancers,” Peridot corrected pointedly.

“Yeah, those,” Mabel nodded. “Into the ocean when we poofed ya. Soooo…”

“So we thought we’d get you a little something to make up for it!” Steven finished, holding the box up to her. “We hope you like it!”

The green Gem still largely had no idea what they were offering her, but she took the box all the same, opening it to find a small, black, keyboarded device inside. “Its… a rectangle.”

“And a cell phone!” Steven quipped. “I found it all busted up in Amethyst’s room awhile back. Its kind of old, but we had Soos fix it up for you, so it should work just fine!”

“Ooooo…” Peridot’s formerly bored manner quickly dissolved as she accidentally turned the phone on, its bright, pixelated screen instantly catching her interest.

“You can work it by using those tiny keys,” Mabel informed, peeking over the green Gem’s shoulder. “You can call people, send texts, even play a few fun little games! It’s it great?”

“Plus, it even has wi-fi on it!” Steven added. “Which means you have the whole worldwide web to hang out on!”

“Worldwide?” Peridot scoffed. “Ha! With my finger screens, I had the ability to search and retrieve data across multiple star systems.”

“Hm… impressive…” Steven mused. “But I think we can do you one better… with TubeTube!”

The young Gem navigated to the video app on the phone, pulling up a popular cat video that baffled the green Gem as she squinted to properly watch it on the tiny screen. “Why was this documented…?”

“And even cooler than that, you can share whatever you’re thinking with the entire world!” Mabel exclaimed brightly. “Just as long as you keep it under 140 characters.”

“That’s so many people!” Peridot gasped, stars of amazement in her eyes as she continued tapping away on the phone. “I really, really like this. But it’s a shame it doesn’t come attached to your body like—oh wait!”

Without missing a beat, the green Gem rushed inside the barn, rummaging through what scraps were left inside it before hurrying back with a strap of velcro in hand. “Behold! My innovation!” Peridot proclaimed, fashioning the tape to the back of the phone before doing the same to her wrist. She quickly connected the two before pulling off a dramatic pose to show off her handiwork to the impressed pair. “I’ve harnessed the power of your interlocking fabric strips!”

“Um, not that that isn’t cool, Peridot,” Steven said with a small, bemused grin. “But it would have just been easier to put the phone in your pocket when you’re not using it.”

“…What’s a pocket?”

“Wow, you guys really just gave someone who doesn’t even know what pockets are a fully-functioning, web-enabled cell phone,” Dipper spoke up from his spot nearby as he continued leafing through the first journal, his tone absolutely deadpan. “Nice one.”

“Hmph, like I need to know what ‘pockets’ are,” Peridot scowled back at him. “What matters is I finally have cutting-edge tech again! Everything is finally all at my fingertips once more… What a wonderful feeling.”

“Yeah, a refurbished phone from five years ago,” Dipper said, still just as dour as he closed the journal. “That’s real ‘cutting-edge’ tech right there. Super advanced stuff.”

“Aw, c’mon, Dipper, let her have her fun,” Mabel interjected, grinning. “She’s been really good lately. She deserves a reward!”

“A reward?” Dipper scoffed incredulously, more or less ignoring the green Gem as Steven continued showing her how to use her new phone. “For the Gem who tried to kill us on multiple occasions? Who only came here to check on a ticking-time bomb of a Gem mutant buried under the crust of the Earth? Who fused with Bill Cipher? Are you and Steven actually insane?”

“No, we’re just being nice,” Mabel huffed, hands on her hips. “Maybe you should try it sometime, bro-bro.”

“I don’t have anything against being nice,” Dipper countered, crossing his arms. “But I do have a problem with being nice to Peridot. In case you haven’t noticed, Mabel, she’s not our friend. She’s barely even our ally. And its about time you guys realized that before you have to learn it the hard way.”

“Oh yeah?” Mabel countered. “Well, have you ever stopped to think that maybe Peri’s not as bad as you think she is? If you just gave her a chance, then maybe you’d see that, yeah, she might be sorta rude and loud and mean and cocky and-”

“And this is supposed to prove me wrong… how, exactly?”

“Point is,” Mabel cut in succinctly. “She’s still learning about Earth and about all of us. She wants to help us stop that Cluster thing. So why can’t we meet her halfway and help her learn?”

Dipper didn’t offer an answer to this as he instead glanced past his sister and over to the green Gem instead. Peridot noticed his stare and returned it with a sour glare of her own, one that more or less reaffirmed the mutual disdain they both had for each other. Disdain that, for the most part, neither of them were willing to give up so easily and so soon.

[oceanmastertrash]

the tides know our names- 13/?

Summary:   After losing the throne to his brother Orm is working with Arthur to try to help Atlantis move forward. A few months after this Elara, part of an ancient order of prescient Atlanteans known as Tidewatchers, has a vision of Orm’s death. Predicting and reading the future through the tides of fate has never been easy but Elara is in for the challenge of a lifetime working with her former king to save his life.

Part: 13/?

Word Count: 4,095

Warnings: none for this chapter

Read on Ao3 / start from the beginning

author’s note: I haven’t been good at updating the chapters on here so I’m playing catch up.

Elara looked to Orm, still surprised at how everything was turning out, he looked to her and saw some question in her eyes and nodded in reassurance and then they were beneath the waves, surging against the tides into the gulf beyond.

--

Compared to the longer journey to their safe house, the jaunt across the gulf of Mexico was not an extensive one. That being said, wary of any Atlantean surveillance and surface border disputes, their trek was still a meandering one. They mostly traveled in the deepest parts as it was always safer to stick to the ocean floor when surface dwellers were involved.

However, this journey felt a touch more pleasant owing to the level of familiarity they had developed with each other. They had a rhythm together that was more perceptible to Elara in the ocean. Then again, connections were easier to feel down where the literal tides flowed around them. Part of the challenge that motivated tidewatchers to spend time on the surface was learning to feel those tides up above so as to strengthen their awareness down below.

Elara knew it was difficult for Orm to be back under the waves but still unable to return home. She flattered herself to think that it was easier now that she was giving him something to do other than hide but she still couldn't be sure. He wasn’t as stiff and silent as he’d been on their first swim was all she could say definitively.

She was happy to let him pick course changes, as all that really mattered was that their journey was circuitous and it was more so with two different people picking the path.

She wanted to just enjoy being in the ocean with Orm but something just kept niggling at her. An off feeling in her stomach but with everything that was happening she couldn’t be sure if it was emanating from her own worry or the tides.

Something felt wrong and the feeling only grew stronger and more distracting. Elara turned most of her focus into discerning the tangled thread. She didn’t realize how distracted she was by it until Orm caught her by the arm before she could swim into a boulder planted into the ocean floor ahead of them.

He had one hand holding her steady by the wrist while the other hand was at her waist. She looked at him at the contact, feeling like she was startled from a dream.

Seeing the dazed look on her face, he frowned. Having been around her long enough to know what these things tended to mean, he asked, “Did you see something?”

Elara’s brow furrowed in concentration, “I can’t tell. There is definitely something but I can’t see it clearly enough.”

“Is it immediate?” Orm asked and Elara admired that he had skill in taking such things in stride and he’d certainly adapted to asking the right questions.

She felt another tug in her gut, “Yes.”

She then took the opportunity of the pause to close her eyes and really feel out each thread in the web they were caught in. There was a dark presence in the tides, she felt that much, but what did it mean?

She then straightened like she’d been shocked. Opening her eyes, she met Orm’s concerned blue gaze. “Someone is following us.”

She could feel Orm moving into action even as he stood still beside her, “Who is it?”

“A man,” Elara answered, working to keep what glimpses she had close at hand. “He’s wearing a black suit but I don’t recognize him. He doesn’t look Atlantean.”

“Is he from the surface?” Orm asked.

“I think so but he’s wearing a helmet so I can’t see his face.” She saw a storm brewing behind Orm’s eyes so she asked, “Do you know who it might be?”

“I can’t say for sure, but there are any number of mercenaries willing to do the dirty work of both  the land and sea.” He spoke with measured patience but she could still sense the regret behind his words and that he was thinking of his past mistakes with such mercenaries.

Trying to distract him she asked, “What should we do?”

Rather than reply, he answered her question with another question, “Is he close?”

“I can’t tell, I can only see that he is on our trail,” She answered, trying to strategize as well. “I think we should try to shake him. Better to try to lose him now than lead him to Tulum after us. What do you think?”

Orm nodded, “He probably doesn’t know we’re onto him yet so we should try to use that our advantage. We’re going to take some diversionary paths to throw him off.”

Realizing he was making the decisions like he might have when he was king, he looked to her but she was just nodding, trusting Orm to make the right call. She knew he had more experience in these things so it would make no sense for her to try to take charge in this.

“You lead and I’ll continue probing the tides for anything more about him.”

And with that they were off, moving silently through the water, skirting the ocean floor so that Orm could keep an eye on all of the sea above them. Sometimes they’d abruptly change directions without speaking. It was an erratic course and almost senseless but Elara trusted Orm’s judgment in this. The idea of their follower being a surface dweller made Elara incredibly uneasy. Not that she would have been more comfortable with an Atlantean trailing them based on the hostility that she could sense, but it added more danger and menace in her opinion.

An Atlantean’s motives were easier for Elara to decipher but she could see fewer reasons if they were from the surface. Near as she could fathom, either a surface dweller knew that Orm had been king and to blame for the attack or an Atlantean had outsourced their vengeance. She didn’t care for either option but she wasn’t seeing a better reason.

They’d been weaving and backtracking for about half an hour when the tides spoke to Elara again, though perhaps it would be more accurate to say it shouted at her.

“Stop!” Elara suddenly exclaimed. Orm, who’d been swimming slightly ahead of her, paused instantly.

“What is it?” Orm asked.

“I don’t know how but he’s still tracking us. He’s just ahead of us now. He booby trapped the canyon up ahead.”

That familiar look of concentration could be seen again on Orm’s face. “Could we swim above or around it?”

Elara shook her head, “That’s what he’s waiting for.”

“What’s the trap?”

“Near as I can tell it’s motion-triggered explosives.”

Orm clenched his jaw at that. If he’d been anyone else he might have sworn but he was typically very good at maintaining composure under pressure. “We need to find another path.”

“Should we backtrack?” She asked.

“It hasn’t done us much good so far. We need to try another plan. Something he wouldn’t expect.” he said.

Orm then stilled, causing Elara to frown in concern before looking around to see if he’d seen anything to cause a reaction like that, “What is it?”

“Different problem, but same solution as before,” he said almost bitterly. “We have to go to the surface.”

“Why?” Elara was very surprised by this suggestion.

Orm sighed, “As my brother said, it would be the last place anyone would think to look for me.”

She didn’t exactly disagree but was yet unconvinced this was the only option. “We don’t know for sure that they are after you. What if that’s exactly what they want? We have the advantage of water down here if it comes to a fight.”

“Why else would they be following us? I don’t see you having made many enemies.” He said and she couldn’t argue with that point. He went on, “Besides, what are our other options? Explosives in the canyon or capture passing over it? We should take our chances with the unexpected.”

Elara still wasn’t sure that this would be unexpected but she didn’t have a better plan, “Okay, let’s do it your way.”

In their winding and indirect path to Tulum, they’d swum past and around several islands, and they discerned that they were very near one now and they could duck back a very short distance to ascend there. From Elara’s sense of it she’d surmised that there was enough wilderness still on the island that they could get lost and lose their tail without too much human intervention or interaction.

That tug in Elara’s gut didn’t go away but it didn’t get worse either and she didn’t see any flashes like she had of the explosives in the canyon. She reasoned that Orm was likely right and there was less immediate danger in this path than in the others.

Using Elara’s tidewatching they were able to find a deserted spot of beach and jungle to safely make land. For the first time that she could remember since her very first trip to the surface, Elara felt exposed and sluggish on land. This whole situation felt wrong, even surrounded by trees she felt they were too out in the open. But as the tides remained silent, she couldn’t be sure.

It wasn’t until an explosion leveled a stand of trees to their left that Elara was certain. She’d only caught the hint of the possibility of it a second before, just enough time to shove Orm to her right, behind herself and a large tree.

Splinters of bark and charred shreds of leaves flew around them and Elara felt a sharp pain in her side and left arm. She gasped in pain as she fell to the ground beside Orm where he was looking in the direction of the explosion for any sign of their assailant. At her gasp he looked to her briefly, enough time to note the blood beginning to run down her arm and stain her shirt.

He made some sign to examine her further but she quickly diverted him, “Do you see anyone?”

He made a face but quickly launched back into the problem at hand and took in the rubble before them.

“There,” he said pointing to the beach where a man in black stood with a bulky cannon that was clearly adapted from Atlantean tech. Tech that, Orm realized with a grimace, was likely derived from the weapon he had given to the Black Manta.

“We’ve got to move,” Elara said, grunting, “get out of the open.”

Orm knew they would have to strategize and fight back but that would have to wait til they were less vulnerable- Elara, injured as she was, especially. He nodded, and moved to support her on her uninjured side. She threw her arm around Orm’s neck, hobbling and suppressing curses at the large splinter in her side as they began to hurry through the trees. There wasn’t another blast until they’d made it another ten feet. Orm was surprised at the gap in attacks but filed it away for analysis until they were in a more secure location.

The one advantage on their side was the rapid changes in the terrain at the beach where they landed. If not for the presence of boulders and the uneven nature of the jungle floor, they might have been worse off. Elara liked to think that the tides had guided them here for that reason but they didn’t exactly have time for idle speculation. What energy Elara wasn’t using to keep up their pace, despite the pain, she expended on looking for any sign from the tides for a way out of this.

More sporadic explosions followed them until Elara, guided by the tides, directed Orm through a denser cluster of trees. The trees led to an old system of open caves with holes in patches of the roof to let in natural light to guide them through the serpentine paths. It wasn’t until ten minutes without any sign of attack had passed that they finally stopped. Orm deemed this section of cave suitable enough as it would hide them from immediate view from the ground above or the way they’d come.

Each breathing heavy, Orm helped Elara down to a small ledge before kneeling before her to look at her wound. He needed the rest too but Elara was too winded to immediately argue and allowed him to examine without complaining.

While the smaller twigs and debris had been dislodged from her arm in their flight, a few larger chunks of wood stuck out from her side where blood and sweat now soaked her shirt. Orm would never pretend to be a medic but through his time in battle he’d seen and inflicted his fair share of wounds so he at least had a little knowledge of injuries and a small amount for emergency care in the case that he couldn’t see a healer right away. He was careful not to probe too deeply as he tried to assess the damage.

“How’s it look?” Elara said through clenched teeth.

“It’s not too deep so I think we can take out the splinters but I wouldn’t want to unless we had anything to dress the wound to keep you from bleeding out.” He said, trying to stay professional despite how hard his heart was beating to look at it.

���In my pack,” She breathed heavily, trying to reach with her good arm to the bag on her back, “I’ve got some bandages and salve, just in case.”

Despite the situation, Orm couldn’t keep the ghost of a smile off of his lips as he retrieved them. She always seemed to think ahead. Elara could never be called a warrior in the way that he was but he admired the way she bore his clumsy ministrations with little fuss. She was practical and cognizant of the possibility of giving away their location if she made too loud a noise. Orm respected her for that.

Getting the splinters out was extremely painful and when he extracted the first piece she reached her hand out to hold his shoulder without a word, instead sucking in breath as she tried not to shout. Orm almost stopped at that but she gave him a squeeze as if to ask him to keep going, so he did.

Despite how tight she gripped, Orm’s hands were steady and swift and he didn’t comment. Instead he focused on discarding the bloody bark, before he set about trying to clean out the wood with some water from her pack. Once most of the dirt was out of the wound, he handed her the canteen and told her to drink what was left while he applied salve. She took measured, gulps as he bandaged it as best he could.

Elara would never have believed this was actually happening if it weren’t for all the pain. She certainly never expected her former king to be dressing any injury of hers and yet, in context it wasn’t odd at all. And she couldn’t decide what was weirder: the situation itself or that the situation didn’t seem odd to her. It was just par for the course at this point. That being said, she was grateful for his help.

His task done, he finally joined her on the ledge, wiping his bloody hands on a spare shirt from his own pack. When he stowed the shirt back in his bag she handed him the last of the water and watched as he drank it. They were silent for a moment as they tried to catch their breaths and take in their new circumstances.

“What are we going to do?” Elara finally spoke, asking what they were both thinking.

It wasn’t easy but Orm said slowly, “I don’t know.”

They sat for another moment before Elara spoke again, “Do you think he’s herding us again? Why else wouldn’t he have shot at us right after the first blast?”

“I’m not sure but I have a theory,” He said carefully. “I don’t think he knows what he’s doing with this technology. It’s based on Atlantean design but it isn’t pure and so it’s less refined than the original. I can’t be sure until we know why they are after us, but I don’t think this mercenary is working alone. Whoever adapted the cannon knew enough about it but that isn't the same man we saw on the beach. He may just be a lackey who clearly wasn’t trained well enough to use it effectively. That’s to our advantage though. He seems to need more time recharging or reaiming and that’s likely why we’re still alive.”

Elara marveled at his deducing skills, he thought quickly on his feet and picked up more than she could have guessed, likely from all his training for battle. She hoped he was right, if their assailant was as inexperienced as Orm believed, they had a shot at outmaneuvering them.

Thinking over what he said, she smirked. “They’re too big for their britches.”

Orm frowned at her in confusion, “What?”

“Nevermind, just a surface expression. Madren used to say when I would try to tackle more than I was able to.” She waved her arm, lacking the energy to explain further only for the motion to send a wave of pain washing over her.

She sobered then, they were in the thick of it and unfortunately the only solution she could think of was one she was loath to consider. Someone needed to say it though.

“I think we need to separate,” She said quietly and yet his head still turned whip-quick to look at her.

“What are you talking about?” he responded with more fervor than she had expected.

As even she didn’t like the idea she’d expected some resistance so was ready with a reply, “As you said earlier, they’re after you. I’m just going to slow you down with my injury.”

“Your injury is a good reason why we should stay together. What would you do if he went after you instead of following me?” He didn’t like to think of that possibility. He sure he knew what he would do if she was wrong.

“I’m not defenseless, Orm,” She insisted, pointing to her boots where the knives they’d used against the Trench were still stowed. “And I’ve got the tides to help too.”

“The tides didn’t stop you from getting hurt,” he pointed out, more bite to his words than she had expected.

She didn’t miss a beat before replying, “It protected you, didn’t it?”

Remembering her throwing him out of the way at the last minute put a pause in his argument. She had thrown him free just in time even though it cost her. He was far from throwing himself to the mercy of those who wished him harm but he wasn’t sure that he was comfortable with his safety coming at cost to Elara. Given all of the security and soldiers who had fought to protect him as king, he realized this was perhaps hypocritical of him. He certainly wouldn’t say out loud but that didn’t stop him from feeling that way though.

“We would be stronger together,” he finally said.

She met his concentrated gaze with a determined one of her own. “Right now we’re sitting ducks together and whether you like it or not, we’re at a disadvantage with me like this.”

“I thought you just said that you could defend yourself with the tides,” he countered.

“Yes, as a defense but it’s not a solution.” She maintained.

“And splitting up on land as an unknown surface dweller with Atlantean tech hunts us down is a solution?”

Rather than respond to that, she turned to face him full on and put the hand of her good arm on his. “I know you don't like this. I don't either; but we have to do something. It's only a matter of time before he finds us. We still have no idea how he's tracking us so he's likely to catch up soon. If we split up we might be able to figure out if he’s doing it through conventional methods or if it’s one of us specifically.“

He was still very much against separating because there were too many unknowns to guarantee any success to her plan but he was a shrewd enough tactician that he could see there were strategic advantages as well.

“I’m not saying I agree but whatever we do, we need to have a plan. We can’t just walk in different directions and hope for the best.” He said gruffly, trying to convince himself he wasn’t affected by the feel of her touch on his arm.

“That would be a terrible plan,” she agreed, pleased that he was at least entertaining the idea. “You’re right, we’d need to think of something besides just running away. We have to find a way to gain the upperhand.”

“And you think we have to split up to find it?” He asked, still unconvinced.

“He had to have seen me get hit and I’ve got to think he wouldn’t expect us to separate after that,” she reasoned.

Orm fixed her with a hard expression, “Because it’s a bad plan.”

”It’s not a bad plan if it keeps us one step ahead of him,” she maintained.

“If it were to work it would be because we’re lucky, not because it’s a good idea.”

Elara sighed, “We’re not going to agree on this are we?”

He held her gaze, a muscle twitching in his neck as he answered, “No, we are not.”

They were getting nowhere and Elara knew it, knew it just like she knew that their attacker grew closer to finding them each moment they argued. She knew Orm had a point and her idea was extremely risky but she felt they needed to take a risk in order to turn this situation around.

Breaking their staring contest, she closed her eyes briefly and took a breath before meeting his stare again, asking in a steady, straightforward tone, “Do you trust me?”

There was a noticeable shift to his features at her question, he hadn’t expected that at all.

She knew she’d hit him with a curveball and so took the pressure off him answering immediately by continuing, “I know it would be dangerous and I can’t tell if this is the right call or not but it feels right. I’ve spent so long trying to hone my intuition as an asset in tidewatching and right now my gut is telling me that this is the right call. I don’t want to see anything happen to you and the longer we debate this the more likely that he’ll find us before we’re ready. I’m not asking you to like the plan, but can you trust me in this?”

Orm looked away from her. Trust was not an easy thing for him these days. In the wake of Mera’s and Vulko’s betrayals he’d found it hard to trust anyone. He believed his mother but after her long absence and assumed death, he wasn’t sure he could fully trust her. And here was Elara asking for that which he had so little of in anything. It had long been his instinct not to trust anyone, to only put his faith in himself and the resilience of Atlantis.

And yet, he’d already trusted her visions. Based on all she’d ever done in regards to him, even their contentious first encounter, she’d been steady and true. Just this week she had risked indignation and disbelief in telling Arthur, who knew little of the tides, of her vision of Orm’s death to protect him.

She’d left behind her home and people to keep him safe by coming up here with him. She would follow his lead when needed but wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and contradict him if she needed to. She had spent this whole week trying to help him and she’d yet to do anything to hurt him. She confused the hell out of him at times but she trusted him and at least minimally, seemed to care for him. He could do this one thing for her. Maybe he could trust just this one time or just this one person.

“I still don’t like this,” He finally sighed, returning her gaze once more. “But I’ll trust you to get us out of this.”

[reigensarataka]

Have you ever made a fic rec list you could link me to?? If not what are ur fave fics???

what’s are ur fave klance fics overall?

do you have some nice fluffy klance fic recommendations? pls i need sustenance

ive been putting this off for so long now bcs i never save/bookmark the fics i read nd i can never remember the titles BUT i managed to dig some of them up so!!!!!!! under the cut bcs its kinda long wuwhwuhw

Cut to the Feeling by usernicole

“Let’s do it again,” Keith says breathlessly. “Here and on every planet we come across. Let’s get married on every planet we can.”“Are you joking?” Lance asks, incredulous. “You really want to get married to me on every planet we land on?”“Yes,” Keith says, voice high pitched and shaky with residual adrenaline. “Yes. Every planet. If it feels like this every time, let’s get married ten, twenty, a hundred times.”

 “Let’s break records. I want the universe to see us and be jealous.”

Or: Five times Keith and Lance get married, and one time they don’t.

my good bitch. my dude. if u havent read this then PLEASE do urself a favor nd read it asap…. like i shit u not this is probs my all time fave and its just them getting married on every planet nd. its just. idk just rly gives u that warm feeling in ur heart u know……

call me, beep me by orphan_account

(00:31) Do you think she gave me the wrong number on purpose?(00:31) Or was it a genuine mistake?(00:32) Like maybe she writes funny and I misread it?(00:32) Some of the numbers do look a little dodgy…(00:33) Cause, you know, her threes could very easily be poorly formed eights? And maybe she writes her sevens like her ones?(00:45) What(00:46) The(00:46) Fuck???(00:47) Oh good, you are awake!

where lance messages the wrong number and things kind of snowball from there

a classic from the early fandom days, rly popular so yall probs read it already but text fic nd just. yah its cute…..

A Light In The Dark by usernicole

Far away from his friends at the castle, Keith’s only way of communicating with them is a battered old phone. This is maybe going to be harder than he thought.

A long-distance, friends-to-lovers fic, set during season four.

u might not know of this but i am one huge slut for these kind of fics nd all i gtta say is this shit rly changed my goddamn life (i think there r two parts but im not sure if i read the second one so!!)

blue notes by mothpoem

This laughter, here and now, is hushed, and soft as rain, and Lance can feel it against his face, in warm puffs of air. It’s a laugh reminiscent of a furtive secret, like something only Lance is allowed to see. He watches it run its course in the near-pitch black of the observatory, with starlight gleaming weakly against Keith’s pale face, and that’s right about when Lance’s heart gives a few foreboding throbs, heavy on the bass, as if to say, they’re here (they being romantic feelings for Keith Kogane, Lance’s former mortal enemy and current friend).

Oh, he thinks to himself, with sudden and startling clarity. I’m Fucked, capital F.

its not finished nd i havent even read chap 2 yet but its a rly good take on lances pov from all the moments from s1 (also the garrison *eye emoji*) with keith nd. yeah.. its good……

and we dream of home by mothpoem

“Then come see me,” Lance murmurs, and it makes Keith’s heart pound behind his breastbone. “Us, I mean. Once a week or something? Like mental health check-ins. We can just hang out, or…or go on low-priority, low-stress missions? Scouting, or flower-picking for Coran, or supply runs. Dumb stuff. Just…so we know how you are. I don’t want…I mean, we all miss you. And I don’t want to sound presumptuous, but…it feels like you’re not…not okay, Keith.”

Well, Keith thinks, a little weakly. He never really stood a chance, did he?

“Okay,” he says, right away. No fight. No refusal.

His life is a hell of a lot easier when he lets himself cave under all the ways he wants Lance’s luminous attention, and company, and friendship. All the ways he wants Lance, full stop.

another one of those fics set during s4……… once again nothing to add just. please read it…… i loved this…….. sm………………

Moonset Deep by MilkTeaMiku

  All his life he’d been told to make sure he was never seen – it was what all the children were taught from the moment they were born. Never let a human see you, never fall in love with a human, and most importantly, never kiss one.

For Lance, humans were a mystery. He’d lived beneath the surface of the ocean with his shoal his entire life, and had intended to remain there. He knew the danger humans posed to his kind, and what would happen if he came close to one. That’s why, when he found one drowning, his first instinct was to save him.

He’d never been good at following the rules anyway.

mer au!! i started reading this a rly long time ago and im on chap 27 i think…. but this ones good…….

can we burn it slow by saltylances/stereostars on tumblr

“Sweet dreams, pilot.” A wink. “Make sure not to drool over me too much.”

Keith thrusts his middle finger over his shoulder as he steps out of the room, but he can’t hold back the smile that kicks up the side of his mouth. When he dares a look back, just before the doors are about to slide shut, he sees Lance kiss his fingertips and blow air over his palms at Keith.

It makes Keith wonder if it’s possible to fall any harder.

In which alternating snapshots between Keith and Lance lead to their eventual relationship.

WUH i love anything saaj writes….. a masterpiece…. also please read ‘so what are you waiting for’ too………..

under your feet the dirt turns to gold by laallomri

“I like you,” Lance says in a rush.

Keith blinks.

“That is—” Lance clears his throat, shifting his weight uncomfortably. His hands are still in his pockets, his shoulders still hunched. “I like you—I like-like you. Like, in a more-than-friends-way like you.”

For a long moment Keith can only stare at him, astonishment and disbelief and cautious delight warring for dominance. And then, because he’s an idiot, because he spent a whole goddamn year in a goddamn shack in the middle of the goddamn desert and has no idea how to be a socially competent person, because he’s Keith, he says, “That was a lot of the word ‘like’ in one sentence.”

In which Keith has about a dozen chances at happiness, and sabotages (nearly) all of them.

yummy……….. this one rly hit the spot my dudes……… i think there r 2 parts too!!

Sweet Quiznak by CheckeredCloth

“You’re really into him,” Hunk mutters, and wow, Lance’s face is on fire.  Hunk is killing him.

“Look, read into how you like, Freud, just make sure that if I die Keith knows I totally would’ve mowed his ass like grass.  That way, I can laugh hysterically at his emotionally-constipated expression from the afterlife.”

Or: Lance is badly injured and has a few skeletons in his closet.  Or maybe just the one.

a classic…. one of the first fics i read so i dont rmmbr much but yeah……

Stormchasing by sinelanguage

This isn’t how Lance intended to spend his vacation, chasing after Keith’s premonitions. But here he is, and he’s one hundred percent blaming Keith for all the trouble they’re about to get into. Keith makes bad decision, Lance makes mistakes, and both of them are stuck together on a space pirate adventure neither of them asked for.

if im not wrong i think this is one of those handcuffed together fics… also rly cute……

we’ll make it, you and me by asexualrey

“Keith, if we make it out of this alive, I’m going to kiss you.“ 

the description gives it away….. yall know what tf goin on……..

Public Displays of Affection by VaraderoBeach

Lance held his breath. He knew, at this rate, they’d have two options: fight with what they had (which was Keith’s knife and team spirit) and hope they can skirt by with the help of the locals, or submit and become prisoners to the Galra. Neither situation was ideal. Lance looked to Keith, at his eyes and his eye lashes, the curve of his nose and the pink in his lips. He knew it was bad timing, but he really wanted to kiss Keith before whatever happened, happened.

But when Keith turned his body to face him and said, “Kiss me.” With the same amount of emotion one would say, “Hand me that stapler,” it threw Lance completely off guard.

ft that scene from the winter soldier (i think??) yeah…… good food………

something as true as this by astrolesbian

“You better fucking call me,” Lance says, and reaches out to rest a hand on his shoulder, and smiles, sad and bright all at once. “I’m not taking no for an answer on this one. Okay?”

“Okay,” Keith says.

and lastly yall shld know since this is the THIRD TIME im putting a fic like this on this list that i love this shit nd just….. yeah……….. op snapped

[annadesu]

Steven Universe Podcast 11/9

Steven Selects: Mirror Gem - Ocean Gem (ep. 3)

(This is a summary for people without access to itunes. If you have the ability to listen to the podcast, please do! It's free, and it's nice to support the show!)

Special Guests: Matt Burnett and Ben Levin

The episodes ( Mirror Gem - Ocean Gem) didn't start out as a 2-parter, but they realized quickly that it was too much story for just 10 minutes.

At the beginning of the season, you just accept that there are Gems, monsters, etc. on Earth because it's part of the story, and these fantasy elements can be accepted easily since you're watching a cartoon. However, as the season went on, they made you start questioning WHY there was monsters. Were there more gems? Mirror Gem - Ocean Gem is where things start to open up a lot more. Lapis being released was a small step towards Homeworld eventually coming back to Earth.

There was only 26 episodes ordered for the first season, and they weren't sure if they were getting more, so they thought it might be a series finale.

In the episode, Steven is almost hit by the Mayor's van, prompting him to yell "Nooo!". Lapis/Mirror would later use this sound clip to protest the gems bubbling the mirror again. Amusingly, in a early draft for the episode, Mayor Dewey was going to go up on the stage and sing a song about summer, prompting Steven to yell "Noooo!" at his horrible music. However, it was later changed to have Lapis and Steven making fart jokes at the mayor's expense.

With Lapis' character moving forward in the series, they had to keep in mind that she finds fart jokes funny, and she appreciate's Steven's silly sense of humor. The episode was written in a way so that at the end of it, the mirror would have enough words and phrases recorded from Steven to form complete sentences. The same goes with the images projected.

Another early change was that instead of breaking his leg during the battle with Lapis, Greg would actually LOSE his leg, prompting him to get a robot replacement. This was changed very early.

Greg is intentionally kept out of a lot of "gem business", because he's a more "pure" human character for Steven to relate to. (You can play as him in the video game, though!)

There's a lot of payoff in Mirror/Ocean Gem from earlier episodes in the season. For example, you needed to know that gems could be cracked and healed (shown earlier from Amethyst getting cracked). You also learned about Gems getting poofed and reformed from Pearl. You also know from "Lion 2" that Connie and Lion have met, and Connie understands his powers (thus enabling her and Lion to save Steven). All these things are revisited again because of Lapis being released.

Connie and Lion might be better friends than Steven and Lion, sometimes (lol).

Pearl's line "I hate fighting me..." is in reference to her getting poofed by her own holo-Pearl earlier in the season.

Lapis and Steven had a very awkward and sudden "good-bye" after Lapis is healed, because they only knew each other for 24 hours. The writers didn't want to have a giant, dramatic farewell. Lapis is also "awkward" in general.

"Bob" from "No prob Bob" being carried over to "Hit the Diamond" was an idea that came up when discussing the episode as a group.

Joe Johnson was the one who really filled out the fight scene with Lapis, including the water clones.

Lapis was made very powerful so that she would be a formidable foe to all of the Crystal Gems in the episode. This is something that had to be remembered and carried over to future episodes in the series, much like her love of fart jokes.

Lapis didn't take the entire ocean, it was just part of the Atlantic Ocean. She still got pretty high up, though.

Lapis was very concerned with her own self preservation at that point in the series (because of being trapped for so long), so she wasn't really thinking about Steven when she flew away and released the water back to the Earth. Steven had also made if very clear that he didn't want to leave with her, so she said "See you later!" without much thought. Also, like Peridot, she doesn't quite understand how fragile humans are, and what would happen if Steven fell from such a large height.

FAN QUESTIONS

What's good music for getting in the mood for writing the show?

There isn't usually a lot of music they use while writing episodes, because they work as a group in a room and discuss the episodes with each other. However, if there was a particular genre episode, or specific fight scene, certain movie soundtracks would help set the mood.

Is localization ever considered when writing? Like certain jokes being lost in translation?

They do think about it sometimes. For example, when "Hit the Diamond" was made, they added a little explanation of baseball for countries that don't have the sport. Puns don't work well in translation, typically. They don't really make many pop culture references in the show. Sometimes, certain phrases have to be reworded because they have different meanings in other countries. Some countries do not like spitting, so when they have a character spit water as a joke, it might be edited out in another country.

What's the biggest difference between live-action and animation writing?

You shouldn't approach it as if there is a difference. You should just write what you want to do, and not worry about making it feel like animation. With SU, you're writing more about the story structure because it's board-driven. You can write "reality breaking" jokes more, but it's really not that big of a difference. Sometimes you can write to make things easier for the animators, like not including a giant crowd in some scenes.

NEXT WEEK: Monster Reunion!

[oldmyths]

3, 7, 12, 13, 27, 42, 46, and 49 for the fanfic writer asks?

hey kait thank u for asking♡

3. name three favorite writers

i…don’t know if this means fanfic writers or “proper” writers… uhh. i’ll do both

three favorite fic writers are (in No Order Whatsoever); anarchetypal (same username on tumblr), sunlaceandpaperflowers (glimmerkeith on tumblr), and adenophora (i don’t know if they have a tumblr acct.) these are just a few ppl i’m subscribed to on ao3, there are so many more fic writers that i love

three favorite “proper” writers are; richard wagamese, rosanna deerchild, and beatrice mosionier. fantastic authors

(the rest of my answers under the readmore!)

7. early influences on your writing

this is a really interesting question! i can’t pinpoint specific books or authors since i don’t really remember what i read when i was a kid, but mystery/thrillers really got me hooked. the detective genre, yknow? like. those stand out to me.

also just fantasy in general, i believe. tuck everlasting was a book we had to read in mmmiddle school? elementary? idk what that class would be categorized by american standards. that, and i don’t remember what grade i was in when we read it

12. favorite place to write

i know there’s supposed to be like a Space in your room or somewhere in your house where you’re supposed to write, to keep yr mind focused n all that shit, but i just write from my bed tbh kdfjgdf i can’t…write anywhere else, since i’d be too worried about someone peeking at what i’m writing

13. hardest character to write

ooft. i really struggle with projecting Myself onto the characters, so…my cheap answer is all of them.

27. best review you ever got

haha truthfully…i haven’t posted fic in a Popular Fandom before, or rather, i don’t get much reviews. but i love any and all that i do get!

42. do you plan or do you write whatever comes to your mind?

i try and bulletpoint Everything i write, down to the conversations and beats in-between and all that. i feel lost when i try and write without a script, or a guideline i’m supposed to follow. if i don’t know where it’s going then my fic never fucking ends

46. share a scene of a story that you haven’t published yet

ohhh dear. OK, i’m on a new laptop, and i haven’t moved my wip/notes/fanfic files from my Old laptop onto this one yet. fret not, i should have something in google docs, so i’ll just. publish a few lines of that.

this is from my slaxl fanfic, you’re the ocean. (i know y’all were prob expecting shyan or smthn buzzfeed but i am severely insecure of posting that kind of stuff for now so uhhhhh feel free to skip this)

Slash thought about his options carefully. He could either pull some strings and find a dealer himself, or check the house and see if any of the guys are holding. He slipped into a club near the edge of the street and huddled himself into the corner of the bar, unsuccessfully chipping away the insatiable craving for heroin by drowning himself in cheap booze. He couldn’t bring himself to face the other’s just yet, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

(whoaaa what does this mean whoooaaaa)

49. writing advice

write. i swear to god, just write. the idea alone is scary enough, but once you let yourself fuck around and just write down whatever ideas you’ve got, it all comes back. it gets so much easier. writing is fun, don’t forget that.

make time to write for yourself, too. don’t write because someone wants or tells you to (within reason); if you need a break, take a break. don’t overwhelm yourself. writing is supposed to be fun and if you aren’t having fun, take a step back and think about why that may be

[thoselastthreebraincells]

Okay so I had a little bit of an idea at 2am because when else am I going to get ideas.

Anyway, here is a thing that I went and filled with all the resources I thought might be useful to you at the moment.

I don't know exactly what it is you're going through, and you don't have to tell me or anything. But that doesn't mean I cant try and help in anyway I can. So here we are.

There's also some nice fun happy stuff I thought might make you smile as well.

You might not see this, you might not read everything here (and I don't blame you diahajJ) but I thought there's gotta be something that is useful for you. If you do find something and you need help with it and stuff, cause learning and applying some of this is damn hard, let me know and I can try and help with it. I'll probs also add more things as I come across them

Who knows maybe compiling this will force me to look at my own situation.

But the main thing, I want you to remember that you're going to be okay, because you got people that care about you and will support you. Whether this is a temporary issue to work through or something thats going to stay with you for the long run, things will get easier and better, and it may not be okay now, but it will be. Things might not be the same, but that's okay too, we change and adapt and grow and learn things about ourselves and how we navigate the world.

Emotions are weird. Processing them is hard. It takes time and space to do so in a healthy way that allows you to feel them and move on. But the best way to do this is to talk through them. So don't you be bottling anything up. Like go talk to a tree, yell at the ocean, make a puppet and talk to that of you have to.

(again please look into Wysa its a very good actual therapist approved thing for this exact thing)

And of course, you don't have to pay attention to any of this. You can just ignore it, like do whatever. It will still be here if you decide you need something I dunno

I am very tired now so I'm going to end it here. Goodnight I suppose. Unless it's the morning then good morning. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

[larksinging]

veronica or... hm let me think of one someone on denny probs hasnt sent you yet. franky?

ah yes, the two blue-themed girls with problematic exes 

veronica

you can bet she’s taken up learning german. it’s sort of a pride thing? though pride might not be the right word. more of a vulnerability thing

at this point, i think she’d really hate horror movies. she likes the escapism of movies, why would you want to watch a horror movie? etc etc happy endings etc etc,

real talk? she should really see a therapist, after everything. the only problem is that seeing a therapist would mean trusting adults enough to actually... be useful? and that’s something she really can’t do right now. she’d just brush it off as not worth the effort

she probably picked up forgery for a really silly and embarrassing reason, something like the school library would only let you check out three books without a parent’s signature or something. 

i keep seeing people calling her a ravenclan and @ me, honestly? she’s a gryffindor. 

with the onset of panfandom-induced insomnia (or insomnia for other reasons), i think she’ll spend at least some of it just watching infomercials. sure they existed before, but they've been perfected since then.

absolutely not straight. definitely bi, though it’s not something she’s really realized. i could go into the homophobia in sherwood and the general culture of the time period but let’s not. suffice to say she’s one of those types who rationalizes attraction as “wow i’d really like to be their friend” or generalized awe. that’d be the kind of thing that’s easier to explore in a less toxic environment 

i don’t think she’d be too eager to have a pet of her own or another. there’s something about having responsibility for something else’s life...

though i have a weird feeling she might get along with the clan cats pretty well, at least for a human-cat relationship? i think she’d find the fact they manage to get along and be happy in their weird murder cat culture kinda reassuring, like in a cosmic sense

she actually hates the scrunchie because she doesn’t like to wear her hair up but damnit it’s a symbol, so she’s Gotta

franky

okay here’s a weird origin story. her original design had bi-colored eyes (one blue, one pink). she ended up as a twin because someone else used the same design, so we decided each twin should have one of the two colors. (franky ended up with pink eyes). franky lost one eye and her twin was dropped and retconned. i’ve been considering making it part of her arc that she doesn’t remember what color her other eye was

actually she was never originally planned to lose an eye! when i first got her i knew the world would be Rough, but the eye plot was spur the of moment. someone else set up a plot and i basically went “what if franky showed up and, idk, lost an eye?”. the rest is history

there’s a potential au where franky stuck around (aka i didn’t go on hiatus for like a year) when her girlfriend became queen. that version of franky could have been a beta or bodyguard or something and have ended up very different. 

while i’ve thought about trying to plot to have franky have kids, i am not entirely certain she would. she still has a lot of conflicted feelings about her mother, and she’d struggle with the idea of being a mother

franky is strictly a lesbian, which is pretty unusual because i usually make my characters bi/pan/vaguely bi because i’m too lazy to define it. but franky is explicitly homosexual. 

she is the third in her family line to be a blue lady with curly hair who ended up a sentry. it’s her Destiny 

she’s a workaholic and avoids her issues by doing sentry work instead of thinking about her issues

when she moved to an ocean-side pack she thought sharks were basically crocodiles because she didn’t know any different

once she met a bear and freaked the FUCK out 

her full name is francisca but she’s almost exclusively called franky oocly and icly.