#but yeah they're just only going to wind up more comfortable with each other as the fic goes on

[shivasdarknight]

I got more wips here and it's just more dialogue exchanges that I really adore

There was a lot that she said that Estinien could’ve commented on — the easy sleight against her that was the list she’d so helpfully supplied, how readily she mocked and insulted her beloved captain, or the relevant history of the spear — but instead he looked at her for a few moments to settle on commentary she nearly hit him for: “If how you portray your captain is accurate, then it truly does explain why you were such an unruly pain in the ass when you first joined the Knights Dragoon.”  A pause.  “Granted, you may be more tolerable now, but I see how this captain of yours has shaped you.” “Like you’ve any right to speak!”  She had half a mind to go into all the ways he’d been a pain in the ass back then, but she caught the damndest thing on his face: the faintest of smiles, just barely visible.  It stopped her from making any further comments, surprised it was there to begin with. “I don’t,” he replied.  “But I’m still going to.” Maybe she’d test her luck with him again.  Surkukteni gave him a once-over, a scoff of a laugh prefacing her response.  “Despite all that’s happened, you still don’t know how to keep your opinion to yourself.” “If I did, then that’d be reason to believe I’d been replaced or possessed.”  A pause.  “But in all fairness — as much of a pain in the ass as you were back then—” “Please learn to come up with better lead ups to compliments.” The look on his face said that he wouldn’t so long as he lived; the quick “Pass,” only confirmed it.  “The stir you caused among the dragoons was funny, I’ll admit.”

[llamagoddessofficial]

Bro you actually got me wanting to marry farm sans 😭 he's so out of my league though. What a man. I like that the whole community wants them to get together too, sans is one of their boys, they gotta have his back and hype him up a little!! I just know there's a monster in town who's offered to plan the wedding for sans, and old ladies love gossiping and playing matchmaker if left to their own devices

"dangit. you found my hiding place before i did."

You jumped, glancing up and over your shoulder, distracted from staring out into the dark. But you relaxed once you saw who it was.

"Ah, sorry." You didn't actually want to move. You immediately felt better for Sans being there, even despite the events that had just transpired, some of your wound-up stress leaking away. "I can go find a new place to cower from socialising,"

"nah, this is fine." Sans sat down on the step, right beside you, letting out a relaxed sigh. He held out a glass of monster champagne to you - you (obviously) accepted. "s'more than enough room for two."

He was right. The beautiful little veranda was spacious enough for a whole party of people. It just so happened that the party had retreated indoors, now that night had fallen. From your spot sat on the edge of the veranda, you could faintly see the lights of the rest of the village, the muffled murmur of the dinner party going on in the house behind you not quite enough to mask the sound of the wind rustling the grass.

You fiddled with the glass. Sans' knee was almost touching yours. He smelled warm, comforting.

"Nice party." You mumbled.

Sans leant back slightly. "yeah. dinner is always good when felinus is hosting."

"Don't tell anyone I said this, but it's much nicer than Theodore's."

"i know he's a dolphin. but still don't get why he only served seafood."

...

You looked at him, and those pretty green eyelights focused onto you.

"So... are you also running away from the matchmaking?"

Sans' smile dropped - then he let out a somewhat pained noise, leaning forward and putting his skull in his hands. You couldn't help but giggle.

"m'so sorry," he groaned. The tension in the air had eased now that you'd finally broached the subject.

"It's fine. Really." You nudged him with your elbow. "It's just old ladies having a laugh. It's probably the most entertainment they've had in a long time."

He rubbed his face. "i know, i know. i just... stars, they're so pushy. it's mortifying watchin' them corner you like that."

You recalled the slight jump of fear you'd had when a cohort of delighted elderly bunnies had seemingly materialised out of thin air in the party to determinedly tell you it was such a shame a 'delightful human like you' was single. They then heavily reiterated how single Sans was, how much he clearly liked you, and what a 'lovely young man' he was.

"They can be strong-willed. That's for sure."

Sans sat up, but seemingly couldn't look at you. "i don't want you to feel some typa way about me because of them."

"... Some way?"

"i know yer anxious to fit into the community." He picked at the fraying sleeves of his knitted blue sweatshirt. "i don't want you to feel... like you have to date me, if you want to be accepted. you can date who you want. or not date. or whatever. i dunno,"

Oh. Your heart fluttered in your chest a little. "I don't feel like that at all."

He eventually looked at you, sheepish. "you sure?"

"Yeah." You waved your hand, eager to cheer him up. "They can be a bit pushy, sure. But it's all in good fun, right? It's not like they're chasing us into a church with shotguns. The worst they've done is very obviously set us up as dance partners at the festival."

A wave of relief seemed to pass over him. "or get us walkin' opposite ways 'round the market so we'll bump into each other."

"Besides." You smiled. "If they like me enough to try to set me up with someone they know, must mean I'm 'in'. So I'm all sorted on the community infiltration front."

He softened even more, nudging your knee with his. "that's true. they love ya. they'll like ya whether or not they've harassed you into datin' me."

"Not like I'd need to be harassed into that anyway."

...

Sans seemed to realise what you'd said before you did. His eyelights, in an instant, were double their usual size

...

"... what'd you say?" He was staring at you.

...

... You could feel the heat creeping over your face, neck and ears. Your mouth had instantly glued itself shut. You didn't answer his question - you just stared at your untouched champagne glass.

...

"SANS! HUMAN!"

Both of you jumped, this time, you felt the cold champagne splash out of the glass and onto your hand as you dropped it entirely. When the two of you turned around, Papyrus seemed just as startled by your reactions as you were to him; he was stood just outside the door, car keys in his hand.

"P-Papyrus!" "bro,"

Papyrus, immediately, gave you and Sans a shifty look. But he quickly covered it up again.

"WE SHOULD HEAD OUT NOW, HUMAN, IF WE WANT TO DROP YOU HOME BEFORE MIDNIGHT."

You and Sans quickly stood, bolt upright, at the same time.

"You-"

"i'll go say goodbye to everyone. you two get the car backed out."

"Sure. Sure,"

Before you could say anything else to him, Sans had hurried past his brother, back into the house. Papyrus watched him head inside with visible confusion written across his face.

...

"... HUMAN," Papyrus glanced at you. "WHAT DID MY BROTHER SAY TO YOU?"

"Uh, I'll..." You fiddled with your hair. "I'll, m, I'll tell you in the car."

[dandylovesturtles]

just a little A Team hurt/comfort

------

Raph knocked over some moving boxes during their last shouting match - he spares them a guilty glance as he walks past. Someone has tried to clean up the mess (Mikey, most likely), but he can still tell that they were recently upended and their contents left scattered on the ground.

He knows this is why they told him to go get Leo for breakfast. They want this to be a peace offering. Raph would like for it to be a peace offering, too, but...

Well, it's not like he likes fighting with Leo. Things are just... complicated.

He makes it to Leo's train car, and takes a deep breath before pulling the curtain back. He can do this. One civil interaction.

Leo's already awake, scrolling through his phone. That's in his favor - Leo's always grumpy if you wake him up. At least this way, Raph doesn't have to.

"Hey Leo," he says, and his brother flicks his eyes up from the phone screen. "Breakfast in five. Mikey made waffles."

"Oh, sweet," says Leo. He grins, but even Raph can tell it's forced. "I'll be there in a sec - just checkin' the socials."

And for a moment, Raph almost says something; says that he's sorry, and he takes back everything he said, and Leo should just forget about it, not worry about it, he doesn't want to fight anymore and this is stupid-

And then he thinks about Karai, and the Shredder, and their dad, and the far too close call they had to losing each other, New York, the whole world-

And he thinks about Leo skipping training to go skateboarding, Leo showing up late to patrol with a quip and laugh, Leo charging into fights without so much as a word to the rest of them, Leo who can't take anything seriously-

And it dies in his mouth. He says instead, "Yeah, sure. Just get there before it gets cold."

He turns to leave, but before he can, Leo calls out, "Hey, Raph?"

Raph only half turns, looking over his shoulder at Leo. Wondering if, maybe, Leo is going to try to say something instead. Wondering if he finally gets it, or if they're going to start fighting before breakfast.

Maybe Leo is running the same calculations. Raph is sure he is, actually, because Leo's brain twists over words the way Donnie's twists over physics.

So he must come to the same conclusion, because he doesn't say anything about the fight, or training, or his responsibilities, or any of it. What he says is, "Love you, big bro."

And Raph's heart drops into his stomach.

-----

Leo's always been looser with those words than any of the rest of them. Been that way since they were little, and Splinter kept them in the same part of the sewer, sleeping on pallet beds with whatever pillows and sheets he managed to find in the dump.

"Goodnight, Daddy. I love you," said Leo. "Goodnight Raphie, I love you. Goodnight, Donnie..."

The ritual was long - Leo always used three times as many words as other people. Sometimes Splinter would say, "Yes, yes, Blue, now let your brothers sleep." Sometimes Raph would say, "Hurry it up, Leo." Sometimes Donnie would hide his head under his pillow, or smack that same pillow over Leo's face.

Nowadays, Raph misses that: the sincerely sweet way Leo wanted them all to know he loved them.

As he grew older, Leo began using those words more flippantly. "I love you, but" became one of his stock phrases, a way to soften the blow of criticism. "Come on, you know I love you," said to ward off any retaliation after a prank or insult. "Love ya, bye!" rushed out at the end of one of their rare phone calls, a signal he didn't want to talk anymore.

But every now and then, Raph still got the sincere version. When he brought Leo tea the morning after a bad bout of insomnia. When Leo fussed over an injury, gently winding bandages around his arm or leg. When Leo was sleepy after a long Lou Jitsu marathon, and he reverted to the old ritual as Raph tucked him into bed: "Goodnight, I love you."

The "love you" Leo says to him now, in his room, before breakfast, with the mess of their last big fight barely cleaned up, is none of those.

The "love you" Leo says now is a question.

He doesn't pronounce it like a question. There's no upward lilt to his voice. He doesn't end it by asking if Raph knows. But Raph can still hear it, buried deep in Leo's tone: he's not sure. About loving Raph? About being loved? About what there still is between them?

Raph loves Leo. He loves him so much it aches. It's why he knocked the box over. It's why he wants to knock another ten boxes over. It's why he just needs Leo to understand, to hear him, to see what he sees when he closes his eyes and sees Karai, and the Shredder, and their family almost-

But here they are. With Leo saying "love you" like it's a question and Raph doesn't know the right answer.

"Yeah," he says. "Breakfast in five," he says.

He doesn't know the right answer but he does know that wasn't it.

He leaves Leo in his room, and goes back to his own. Puts his face in his hands. He sees Karai.

He knocks another box over.

-----

Leo's hand is a tiny thing in his. It's also, maybe, the only part of his body that isn't broken. Not like his legs, his arms, his shell, his jaw, his neck-

Raph can't look at his neck. The bruise there makes him want to throw up.

Leo's been out of critical condition for almost two full days. It hasn't made any of them less on edge, and they still spend most of their time crowded in the med bay, watching Leo's chest like it will stop rising the moment they turn their backs.

But Leo's heart doesn't stop, and he breathes in and out, and Raph holds his hand and strokes the back of it with his thumb.

He'd wanted Leo to understand.

He hadn't wanted this to be how Leo learned.

When he closes his eyes now he sees Leo right next to Karai, and he has to touch Leo again, to make sure he's still really there.

Movement from the bed, and a soft noise. Raph's gaze trails up from Leo's hand to his eyes, open but heavy lidded, clouded with a haze of exhaustion and medicine.

"Hey, Leo," he says, trying to keep his tone upbeat despite it all. "You're home; you're safe."

"Mm," hums Leo, still sleepy. He twists the hand that Raph's holding, adjusting his grip so it's wrapped around Raph's thumb. He strokes at Raph the way Raph had just been doing for him, and Raph feels tears sting his eyes.

"Love you, Raphie," says Leo, and this time, there's not a hint of uncertainty.

Raph's heart lurches again. Whatever answer Leo had been looking for last time, he must have found it.

But.

Raph doesn't plan to leave anything to chance. Not anymore.

"Love you too, Leo." He leans in, press his forehead to the top of Leo's head. "I love you, too."

Leo makes a pleased noise, low in his throat. He's already sinking back into sleep, his grip on Raph's hand growing loose. His breaths are still steady and even, heart beating strong, the look on his face peaceful.

"Goodnight, Leo," says Raph. "I love you."

[kquil]

hello! I'm here to request a 🍪 with poly marauders, where they ask the reader if they would like to be their partener and they're nervous and stuff

-thank you, have a lovely day !!

A/N : this is the finally cookie requested from my 1k milestone event, thank you so much for the request, darling and im so sorry for taking such a long time to deliver it, i really hope you enjoy the read, my lovely!

They had never been so nervous or anxious before. You were the one and only person to accept their unconventional relationship over everyone else when they first revealed that they were in a poly relationship with each other. What makes the situation even more anxiety-inducing is the fact that you were one of their closest friends, long before they even got into a relationship with one another, therefore, if they really followed through with this, they’d be risking their long-time friendship with you as well. Looking into each other’s eyes, it’s clear that they share the same anxieties for the decision they wanted to ultimately make. 

Having understood and supported their relationship more than most, you were their common confidant and dearest friend… no… being around you didn’t feel like being around a friend, nor were you like any type of sibling to them. You didn’t fit into any comfortable category or label anymore. That line and distinction was blurred a long time ago, maybe even before they got together as a trio. 

You felt more than a friend when you helped Remus through his thoughts on a daily basis, speaking to him softly and laying out his thoughts with much more clarity than he could ever imagine. You’re always there to help him go through his problems no matter how minute they may be and the tall brunette is incredibly grateful — he never wants to take you for granted. You don’t feel like a friend when you know exactly what Remus needs after a long and hard day. And, especially not when you allow him to hold you tenderly from behind as you help cook the boys their dinner, especially when they all feel lazy and tuckered out from a long day’s work. Remus would often press his face into the slopes of your neck and shoulder, breathing in your familiar fragrance and would sigh in relief, your scent giving him comfort. His arms wanting to hold you longer than what was appropriate for ‘just friends’, oftentimes, you’d let him without any complaints of discomfort. 

“Are you feeling good, Rem?” you’d muse, your voice like sweet honey and warm milk to his ears, cosy and ever so comforting. 

“Mmmm…yeah,” he’d reply, appreciating the hand you would reach up to briefly comb through his hair and massage his scalp with.

You felt more than a friend when you knew exactly what to say to Sirius if he was ever acting up. He had a horrible habit of acting first and thinking later, however, you were the only one who seemed to calm him down enough to temper his fury and instinctual need to act first, giving him clarity with your words and gentle touch. He’d be on the ground, back against the wall and burying his face into the plush warmth of your stomach as you kneel between his legs. He’d hold you desperately, clinging onto the fabric of your clothes as you soothe him by petting his hair and saying everything he needed to hear in that moment. Somehow, you always knew what to say. You don’t feel like a friend when he’s spooning you from behind, seeking comfort and warmth as you read a book. Your book wouldn’t hold your attention for long, however, as you would eventually deem Sirius’ comfort and needs more important than your need to finish a book. So, like clockwork, you’d turn around in his arms and he could finally feel the reciprocated action of your arms winding around his figure and pulling him close. Naturally, he buries his smiling face into your chest and you’d soon begin humming a soft tune to fill the already comforting silence. 

“Don’t leave when I’m asleep…” Sirius whispers pleadingly, whining almost. 

“Never, Siri,” and that was all he needed to fall into a deep slumber, smiling and always finding the sweetest dreams that often featured you as well as a great amount of kisses. 

You felt more than a friend whenever you’d let James sit in the kitchen with you and ‘help’ you cook breakfast, lunch or dinner, whatever it may be. He’d watch you with such fond eyes, he was surprised that you never noticed his more than friendly appreciation of you. Every once in a while, you would turn to him with a spoonful of the dish in your hand and ask him to have a taste — it was his turn to contribute to the cooking. It made him feel important and involved and like he was sharing a special moment with you.

“How is it, James?”

“As perfect and delicious as always!” he replies happily, licking his lips and grinning even wider when he hears your melodious giggle follow straight after. 

“I couldn’t have done it without your immaculate taste in food,” you would humbly reply, cupping his cheek and staring into his eyes with what he wants to deem as love and affection from someone who’s more than a friend. That small moment of joy, however, is quickly broken as soon as you turn your attention away from him. James fights the urge to turn you back to him, lean forward and capture your lips in a heated kiss, a plea and desperate attempt at convincing you to love him, Sirius and Remus as official partners.

You don’t feel like a friend when you would go out of your way to be there for James whenever something was happening in his life, big or small — you were there for him when he was getting ready for his job interview, when he got the job, got his first promotion, when he wanted to eat lunch with someone because he felt lonelier than usual; you were there for everything and so much more. 

It only felt natural for them to take that final step with you but, just like how nerve wracking it was for them to confess to one another, it was the same apprehension that clogged up their throats and made it difficult to form the words. 

“What’s wrong, you guys?” your soft voice pulls them out of their concentrated apprehension. It was the usual Saturday lunch you spent at their flat except, this time, they cooked the meal for you — it was a pleasant surprise, especially when their cooking turned out better than it typically did. For a while, you were the only eating the food, ignorant to their spiralling thoughts. However, when you finally did notice, the concern was evident in your eyes, largely because James wasn’t hoovering up his food like he usually was, nor was Remus engaging in conversation with you about the book you were both reading together, nor was Sirius subconsciously expressing his deeply learned table etiquette and reprimanding James of his lack of manners like a mother hen. Today, they shared the same daunting expression and it was contagious, rubbing off on you like the plague. 

“We uhhh…” Remus begins, gulping with difficulty as he shares a look with the others, “we have something to ask you…”

“What is it?” your question is filled with caution, a direct response to their strange unease around you, “You guys are acting very stra—” 

“We love you!” James blurts out which immediately diminishes your worries and draws an adorable giggle from you, one that they all melt over.

“I love you guys too,” with a smile, you happily continue your meal and completely miss their intentions. 

“No,” Remus says, “not like that…” his statement makes your brows raise in shock, you search their eyes for answers as your heart begins to race — both from fear and a hint of hope.  

“More than that type of love, dollface,” Sirius clarifies, hoping that it was enough for you to understand them. 

James reaches over and touches your hand, caressing your knuckles tenderly with his thumb, “we don’t just love you, we want to love you,” it was a little saying between you and James, one that made you fall in love with him and eventually Sirius and Remus too. 

With happy tears welling up in your eyes, you look into James’ hazel pools and finally finally see the abundance of love swimming in them, only for you, “like the verb?” you ask in a tear-filled, weak voice. 

James laughs and nods eagerly as Remus and Sirius smile fondly at you, the latter of the two reaching out to gently wipe your face of the tears spilling past your waterline, “like the verb, love,” James brings your knuckles to his lips and kisses them lovingly.

Your answering nod was all they needed to round the table and pull you into an embrace, their lips eager to meet yours in a passionate and loving embrace. 

1K MILESTONE EVENT : CLOSED | NAVI.

[professional-yapper]

You

Lo'ak x Tayrangi! Reader

Warnings: mistaken identity kind of, teens having fun, arranged marriage, fighting/arguments, how they meet is very 101 Dalmatians and i love it, they're both oblivious asf

Neytiri sent Lo'ak to go collect fruits from the grove near the other end of the Omaticaya territory. Normally he'd complain about extra chores, but not today. It was one of the better tasks to be landed with, anyway, even if it would consume his whole day.

But then Jake said Lo'ak could take his ikran, and that would cut the journey in half at least. Maybe more, since Lo'ak, like every other teenager, was all too fond of letting his ikran set the pace. Which, more often than not, simply meant break-neck speed, especially since Lo'ak's ikran was as young as himself in ikran years, according to Neytiri, and just as headstrong.

Lo'ak's ikran, named Spitfire by Jake in one of his rare moments of fatherly affection, was raring to go, practically launching himself into the air the second Lo'ak settled on his back and made the bond.

Kiri had, at one point, taken to calling the ikran Spitty, resulting in Lo'ak pitching a fit and pulling her hair, which then meant days of not speaking to each other. Lo'ak still got sulky every time he remembered the undignified name.

Lo'ak whooped, punching his fist in the air, gripping tightly with his thighs and trusting Spitfire not to let him fall, or at least to catch him if he did. The wind whistled past him, snatching at his braids, whipping a brisk flush into his face.

It was a good day. The sun was already high in the sky, warm on his back despite the wind. The air was heady with the scent of flowers coaxed into bloom by the warm weather, even at this height.

Spitfire, after a little urging from Lo'ak, evened out, gliding smoothly through the sky, occasionally letting out a screech of contentment. Lo'ak settled back, keeping one hand on the handle and feeling for the pouch strapped across his hips Neytiri had given to him to store the fruits in, making sure it was strapped on securely.

It wouldn't take him long to gather enough fruits to satisfy Neytiri. Maybe a few hours.

Maybe more if he decided to take a nap. Lo'ak loved naps, especially deep in the forest amidst the undergrowth, where he could burrow himself into the sun-warm grass and no one would bother him for hours. He probably liked them so much because they restored all the energy he burned living up to Jake's expectations. Very high expectations.

Yeah, he could use a nap. It was just that kind of day.

And it would give him time to think, too. About what his parents had told him a few days ago. About how, since Neteyam had mated with the youngest child of the Olangi olo'eyktan, Lo'ak would do the same, but with the only child of the Tayrangi olo'eykte.

It would benefit the Omaticaya, Neytiri had soothed him, smoothing a hand over his braids. These kinds of unions would prevent any conflict and better the relationships with other tribes. Jake, on the other hand, had told him there was no wriggling out of it, and he'd be mating with this stranger before the end of the year whether he liked it or not.

Comforting, right?

Neteyam had tried to comfort him over it. It was easy for Neteyam. He and his mate were arranged too, but they were crazy about each other, and Neteyam had always wanted to settle down and have a mate of his own and a family anyway. It was why he'd bent so easily to their parents' decision.

And it was easy for Kiri too. She was their dad's favourite, his babygirl. She wouldn't get married off to Aonung or some other guy if she didn't want to. Lucky shit.

Tuk was... well, she didn't have to worry about marriage for a good while yet.

But Lo'ak did. He didn't care about maintaining good relationships with other tribes, or having a mate of his own and settling down. He didn't care about any of that shit. He just wanted his freedom, and the freedom to choose who he mated with. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently so.

Spitfire shrieked, and a ripple of confusion and panic hit Lo'ak through the bond, right as something large and colourful shot past them like a flash of lightning.

Lo'ak caught a glimpse of a face with an equally panicked expression, then swore as Spitfire reared and shrieked again. Though this time, instead of confusion in the bond, all Lo'ak felt was a sudden burst of childish joy, right before Spitfire dived after the other ikran.

Lo'ak yelled in exhilaration as both ikrans went into a nosedive, and crouched low over Spitfire's back, knuckles going white as he tightened his grip. It was dangerous, and if his parents found out, he'd never hear the end of it, but they weren't here now and Lo'ak found this was too much fun for him to care.

He whooped, and heard an answering cry from the rider of the other ikran below, you, which made something in his heart twist with further excitement.

Spitfire was uncontrollable with the excitement of having what was probably another young ikran to play with, and Lo'ak let him have his head, content to just go along for the ride.

The other ikran straightened out before it hit the canopy, and Spitfire followed, flying alongside, steadying himself with a few flaps.

"Sorry," you called, face flushed and apologetic, but then began laughing breathlessly. "Great Mother, I am so sorry! Kikorangi- my ikran- saw you down below and he just took off-"

"It's okay," Lo'ak shouted back, smiling uncontrollably at you. You were probably the most attractive person he'd ever seen, so one couldn't exactly blame him for being so quick to forgive you for the scare. "But I've never seen you before. You're not Omaticaya, are you?"

He didn't have to ask. He knew you weren't. You looked like a young warrior from another tribe, like him. Your skin was covered in a pearly white paint, in swirling patterns. It was mesmerising.

"What?" you called, then raised your eyes skyward, laughing again. "I can't hear you. Wait there."

Lo'ak blinked, confused, as you steered your ikran up and over his head, flying along above him. He tilted his head back, looking up, trying to see what you were doing, only to nearly smack heads with you. You were performing some risky manoeuvre, sliding around to the underbelly of your ikran, gripping on with only your thighs, swinging upside down and smiling at Lo'ak, eyes bright and beautiful, nose nearly brushing against his.

You chuckled at his stunned expression, then righted yourself and leapt down onto Spitfire, breaking the bond with your own ikran. Spitfire jerked at the foreign addition to his cargo, and tilted his head, shooting you a baleful look.

Lo'ak stiffened as you seated yourself behind him, one arm loosely around his stomach, making his abs tense beneath your warm skin, your thighs pressing against his own. "Sorry, what were you saying?" you asked airily, mouth next to his twitching ear, like this wasn't the most intimate position he'd ever been in.

Words failed him. He could only hold very still, in the hopes you wouldn't become uncomfortable and move away. He liked having you there, the weight of your body against his back comforting.

But you shifted back, away from him, laughing again, and the sound rang through his mind, etching itself into the walls of his skull. "Sorry," you apologised for a third time. "I didn't mean to freak you out."

"It's okay," Lo'ak replied almost robotically, words feeling clumsy and foreign on his tongue. Great Mother, get it together! he told himself firmly. There's a beautiful warrior cuddling up to you, wanting to talk and all you can say is it's okay?!

He forced himself to relax, turning his head and smiling crookedly at you over his shoulder.

Your face was like the sun. You seemed to be lit with a golden, gleaming warmth from the inside out, and it honestly made him a little dizzy.

"I was just asking what tribe you're from," he repeated.

"Tayrangi," you answered blithely. "You must be Omaticaya, I guess."

Lo'ak nodded, noting that you were from the same tribe as his future mate. He didn't want to bring that up, though, figuring if he was to have any chance with you he shouldn't bring up his imminent union.

Even though he wouldn't be able to pursue you because of said union... What the tribes didn't know couldn't hurt them, right?

"That's sick," Lo'ak said, smiling that same lopsided smile at you. "Never met any from the Tayrangi before."

"Never met an Omaticaya before either," you grinned back, leaning back on your hands.

"Am I living up to your expectations?" he teased, gathering all his courage to do so, ears drooping slightly in apprehension of your response.

"Who said I had any expectations?" you teased back, nudging the back of his thigh with your knee, sending hot flames of want up his spine.

Lo'ak rolled his eyes, but couldn't hide his delight at finding someone who could match him blow for verbal blow. "Oh, come on!" he scoffed. "You came all the way here, you must've thought about what we'd be like at some point!"

"Maybe I did," you agreed, and the glint in your eyes told him you were being purposefully elusive.

"Go on, then," he encouraged. "Am I everything you hoped?"

You pretended to think, finger pressing into your chin, eyes fixed on the clouds above. Then you smiled again. "Nope."

Lo'ak scoffed again, preparing to fire back some surely witty retort, before you inched forward again, leaning on his back, arm tightening around his middle again, pressing your lips to his ear decisively.

"You're better."

@frogletscribe

Woohoo done! Proud of this one tbh everyone enjoy x

[daisyblog]

Comfort Zone

My Drummer Masterlist Summary: YN opens Wembley Night 1.

Based on this request.

"Have fun out there, baby!". Harry smiles as he watches YN fiddle with her in ears.

Harry had given each member of the Love Band a chance to open one of his Wembley shows. YN was opening tonight's show, the first one at Wembley. They're both standing backstage, minutes before YN is due to walk out on stage.

Taking a deep breath, to calm her never ending nerves, YN shyly smiles up at Harry's taller frame. "Thank you, gorgeous! Are you going to be watching?".

"Of course I'm going to be watching my girl!". He leaves YN to go with a bunch of kisses and 'I love you's'. Harry makes his way through the hallways of the stadium to an area where he could watch YN perform. Jeff, Brad and other members of the band joining him.

Mitch and Sarah follow YN out to the large stage as YN's introduction video plays, Mitch heading towards his guitar and Sarah finding her new position in YN's regular place.

"Hello Wembley!". She greets the large crowd who roars with cheers, as YN stands at the front of the stage. "I'm YN and I'm so happy to be able to perform for you this evening.".

There's loud screams and fans jumping and running around in the pit area, and from her place on the stage she can see that Harry is stood behind one of the barriers.

"Before we start tonight, I'd like to explain something.". YN's grip on the microphone loosens slightly as she becomes less nervous. "I'm usually sat back there, behind the drums.". The crowd roared once again. "But Harry said I need to get out of my comfort zone...try something new.". YN let out a little giggle, when she heard a loud whistle that she knew came from her boyfriends lips. "So that mean't no drum playing.". A loud boo came from a few fans at the front barricade, making YN laugh. "But can we give a big cheer for Sarah who I've been teaching how to play just so she could play for me this evening!".

---

"Uh…the first song I’m gonna sing is called ‘Never Loved Anyone Before’” There was a mixture of awe’s and cheers from the fans. “It’s a bit raw…but it’s about loving someone special, who’s supported you through your hardest times.”.

Sometimes I think I was born on the day that I met you Spent all of my days, all my nights praying you never let me go I hate to admit that I still got some shit from my fucked up past But you've managed to break down my walls

You love me so much, it gave me enough Enough to finally have the guts to love myself Thought that I'd been deep, yeah, I could've sworn But everything you are to me is so much more You made me realise that I've never loved anyone before You made me realise that I've never loved anyone before

The only complaint that I got is that I'm fucking scared now The fact that with you, I have so much to lose, got me terrified And if the world ends, and it pulls us apart then you know I promise To find you wherever you are

Harry watched and listened at the words. It was the first time hearing YN sing the song she had secretly written. It caused a lump in his throat as the lyrics pulled on his heart strings. YN was known to hide behind her feelings but tonight she had allowed a whole stadium know how she felt. A smile appeared on Harry’s face, the proudness he felt shining through.

---

“Okay…Wembley! The next one I’m gonna sing is ‘This Is The Life’ by Amy Macdonald…I’ve seen a lot of you use this one on TikTok for some of the shows and I want you all to sing and dance!”.

Oh, the wind whistles down The cold dark street tonight And the people, they were dancing To the music vibe

And the boys chase the girls with curls in their hair While the shy tormented youth sit way over there And the songs get louder each one better than before

And you're singing the songs thinking this is the life And you wake up in the morning and your head feels twice the size Where you gonna go, where you gonna go, where you gonna sleep tonight? And you're singing the songs thinking this is the life And you wake up in the morning and your head feels twice the size Where you gonna go, where you gonna go, where you gonna sleep tonight? Where you gonna sleep tonight?

So you're heading down the road in your taxi for four And you're waiting outside Jimmy's front door But nobody's in and nobody's home 'til 4 So you're sitting there with nothing to do Talking about Robert Riger and his motley crew And where you gonna go, where you gonna sleep tonight?

Harry was in awe at how effortlessly his girl sang and how her confidence was growing each minute. He watched at how the fans were all in their own bubbles singing and dancing along. He was even more surprised to see YN take the mic and join the fans with some dance moves. He let out a big cheer and joined in, dancing along with Jeff and Brad.

---

“I want to thank you all for joining me tonight.”. YN began to speak into the mic. “I have enjoyed every moment and I’d like to sing one last song for you…this one’s a special song to me for so many different reasons…one being if I hadn’t have posted me singing this one…I’m not sure I would be standing right here now…please sing along, here’s The Chain!”.

Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies

And if you don't love me now  You will never love me again I can still hear you saying You would never break the chain

YN couldn’t help but smile to herself as she heard the crowd sing the famous Fleetwood Mac lyrics back to her.

And if you don't love me now You will never love me again I can still hear you saying You would never break the chain

“Thank you Wembley! See you later!”. YN thanked the crowd before running off the stage into Harry’s arms.

“I’m so proud of you!” Harry held her close to him, placing his lips on hers in a quick kiss.

“Thank you for believing in me!” YN gave him a big grin, still feeling the buzz from performing.

“Always!”. He promised.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

ik you mentioned interest in writing out how you'd prefer homestuck ended (though obviously time and money makes that impossible lol), and you touched on it in your big eridan essay at the end, but would you ever consider maybe a more detailed outline? i really enjoy your thoughts on the characters and the abandoned plotlines, i'd love to get a little more of an in depth look at how you wish it went down.

Yeah sure!

For those who aren't sure what the hell I'm talking 'bout, please check out my blog and the various essays I've been writing.

Some of it is contingent on stuff I kind of still need to reread so I'm really sorry to the alpha kid likers but I'm still not totally 100% sure where I want to take them. I'm also going to include quite a few personal preference ships; I'm not interested in arguing what other people should ship or about arguing about the course of action for my dumb fanfic in general. I also tend to discover the plot I want while I'm writing it, which I don't have the luxury of here, so... some of it is going to be kind of sloppy. I'm also a big troll stan so unfortunately the kids are a little bit neglected (sorry!!!!). That said.

So the changes would take place directly after GAME OVER, which is personally the point at which I think the truncation/turning on the fanbase really starts - ships start to get turbo-sped at that point. I'm not even saying I dislike JohnRoxy or JohnRezi, but they just feel oddly rushed the way they're handled in the comic itself. IMO, anyway.

There's not too much I would rearrange during this interstitial segment; I think it's important for Jade to have the experience of loneliness, for Terezi to kick off the retcons by only feeling comfortable fixing her own mistakes. Moreover, there's no reason why other characters can't use her mind beacon abilities to ask John to rearrange the timeline, though their attempts, because they aren't backed by Seer of Mind abilities, are a lot sloppier and come with a lot more unforseen consequences.

But something I would change is that Roxy's deal with Nyx is not to just kind of... sit back and chill in non-space while John does all the work; instead, like Rose in Davesprite's timeline, Nyx puts her to sleep, and when the timeline ceases to be, GameOver!Roxy's memories get transferred to Past!Roxy via her dreamself (which wakes up early), fulfilling a "stealing from void for others" aspect of her abilities, and leads to some important interactions later on down the line.

Also, this timeline's ARquiussprite and Gamzee's corpse (heretofore referred to as (ARquiussprite) and (Gamzee)) need to come along for the ride somehow. Maybe they fall through the sky after LOLAR crashes into LOFAF.

This kicks off a series of retcons, as each troll that gets brought back successively asks for another troll/set of trolls to be brought back. This absolutely RIDDLES Act 5 with password pages, can't go two steps without running into a password page, there are password pages within password pages (which IMO is very funny and very Homestuck).

Meanwhile, a couple other plots are running concurrently - the GameOver!crew (heretofore referred to as (Name)) are now in the dream bubbles, completing their character arcs and preparing to defeat LE. Because time and space are weird in the Furthest Ring, every successive meteor trip that occurs as a result of John's retcons is the first time from the point of view of the meteor, but is a repeating event from the point of view of the people in the bubbles - eg those dead god tier Eridan and Feferi wind up healing the Mayor like seven times from their perspective.

(Aradia) is fluttering her ASS off to make sure everyone is in the right "place" at the right "time" for this, lmfao.

Roxy gaining future memories also means that the Alpha kids get to complete their arcs in a way they weren't able to prior to Game Over. Because what John's retcons are doing are functionally whiting out and redrawing the past, the Alpha kids are also only seeing a single linear timeline.

One last arc, which is running concurrent to the retconned!trolls and their new meteor trips, is that bringing back each successive character allows them ALL to grow a little more. So it is NOT like they bring back Vriska, and now everyone's problem are fixed and everything is fine; Vriska's still kind of awful, but she gets better after Tavros gets brought back and they have to character develop alongside each other, and same when Aradia and Sollux get brought back, so on and so on. Because it's about BEING FRIENDS and BEING A TEAM. They're all still having interpersonal problems right up until ALL of them get brought back.

But as a side effect of this and the questing done by the GameOver!crew, the Dancestors get more fully utilized as foils, and get their problems addressed. As the retcon!team goes through their character development, they start to tear the Dancestors apart, because the Dancestors represent shitty parents who force their kids to clean up after their messes, and refuting them works both literally and symbolically as rejecting their irresponsible way of being in lieu of responsibility, accountability, empathy, and compassion.

So here's the series of retcons, and the absolute bullshit that accompanies each decision:

Terezi asks John to save Vriska, and prevent herself from getting too spades with Gamzee, as these are her two greatest regrets.

Pretty much just what her canon iteration asked for; I don't see any problems with the actions she asks John to do for her.

HOWEVER, we'd get more than just a montage of Vriska's time on the meteor, because in this version of events, we're taking our time and letting plot points breathe. Neither does she magically fix everything just by being around when she's very much herself still going thru it by the time the Meteor trip pops off. In any case, she brings with her some new complications:

Karkat still winds up having to play moirail and keep Gamzee calm. This still ends up breaking down by the halfway point of the comic, because they're kind of just not good for each other, but Karkat's personal shitty relationships are going to become A Theme, so it's important to make note of it here.

Vriska and Terezi don't fully make up on this iteration of the trip, since from Terezi's point of view, she was still actively about to kill Vriska before John intervened; however, we get more hints, now that they have to spend three years together, that not only does Vriska really miss Terezi (which is pretty well-established, given how she can't seem to leave Terezi alone), but Terezi actually misses Vriska, too - she's just really bad at separating her own feelings and desires from her instinctive grasp of karma and justice, a very Mind player-type problem to have.

At least with Vriska around, Terezi's able to nip her Gamzee habit in the bud, but this kind of leads to Gamzee feeling worse and more alone.

Something Really Messy happens between Vriska, Rose, and Kanaya when Rose starts her drinking habit, and it's pretty toxic for all involved, and Karkat is kind of stuck playing auspice. Vriska already expresses not liking Rose much and develops some flushed feelings for Kanaya after being watching her murder Eridan, so "It's Really Messy" is kind of all I can say on the matter. The girls are fightiiinnnnggggg

Dave and Terezi get close again, but given the weirdo vibes he notices between her and Vriska, and the fact that he's really not down with quadrants (YET.), means they still end up not getting together.

Sorry DaveKat likers but I am not one. They do not ever get together, so if you are hoping for that, I am sorry and you don't have to keep reading if you don't want to, it's OK.

On a note about Vriska and Terezi - personally, I do think their moirallegiance is endgame; Vriska clearly misses her terribly, constantly trying to bug her into making the Scourge Sisters a Thing again, and she even expresses feeling really bad about the Team Charge Debacle to Terezi explicitly, before directly foreshadowing how awful Terezi will feel after killing Vriska:

AG: Cause even though you got all these highfalutin morals and fancy reserv8tions, you know as well as me that a killer is a killer is a killer! AG: There 8n't no ch8nging your ways for good, and one d8y you're going to flail that silly l8ttle cane of yours and not find n8thin to 8ump into, and fall f8ce first into the shit ag8in. AG: And you're going to do something t8rri8le to some8ody and wish you could t8ke it 8ack 8ut you c8n't!!!!!!!! AG: And then you'll work hard to win 8ack their trust, and you'll try and try and tr8, and you'll see how hard it is! AG: You'll seeeeeeee!

We know that she starts using 8's where they don't make sense phonetically when she gets really agitated, so it's pretty safe to say that she's displaying genuine emotional distress here. When combined with the way she tells John about feeling absolutely horri8le about killing Tavros, it's pretty clear she's genuine about feeling really bad about the Team Charge debacle, and sincere about wanting to somehow make amends and get back into Terezi's good graces, at times trying rivalry, at times trying to prove that she's trying to fix her mistakes.

Terezi also vehemently denies them having a kismesistude and directly mirrors Vriska's hesitance about all the murder:

GC: W3 4R3 SUPPOS3D TO R3V3L 1N BLOODSH3D 4S W3 GROW UP GC: 4ND SH3 S33MS TO B3 3MBR4C1NG H3R R1T3 OF P4SS4G3 W1TH R3CKL3SS 4B4NDON, 4S 1 WOULD 3XP3CT GC: GR4BB1NG TH3 BULL BY TH3 HORNS, SO TO SP34K GC: 1TS 4 L1TTL3 1NT1M1D4T1NG GC: B3C4US3 1M NOT SUR3 1F 1M R34DY FOR TH4T

AG: On my world, I would 8e completely vindic8ed for killing him! He is far lower on the hemospectrum than me. He managed to disrespect me time and time again, 8ut I kept letting him live! In fact, the amount of slack I cut him would 8e considered scandalous 8y those in my class. AG: I had every reason to kill him. And yet... AG: I feel 8ad a8out it like a lame weak fudge8lood, just like he was. AG: And the fact that I feel 8ad is why I'm sort of freaking out right now!

They're basically two toxic girls who CANNOT be honest with their real feelings, and wind up hurting each other. They need therapy badly, but given the fact that they also mirror each other positively - Terezi feels grateful to Vriska for blinding her, and Vriska mentions she ought to thank Terezi for killing her, which set her up on a date with the dead John Terezi also killed - I think they have a lot of potential to be genuinely kind to each other once they work through their individual issues.

Anyway. We're keeping the Roxy stuff under wraps for now - last we saw of her, she went to go see her denizen, and her planet exploded, and John was really bummed about it. HOWEVER, we are going to check in with our GameOver!crew, although only lightly for now:

Meenah and (Vriska) have fully disappeared, and (Tavros), (Nepeta), and (Feferi) are looking for them because they've got the FUCKING TREASURE???

Everyone else from the Game Over timeline has landed in the afterlife, to varying degrees.

Shortly after entering the afterlife, (Eridan) fucked off somewhere to be alone. Last anyone heard from him was (ghost!Sollux) and him being Erisolsprite, but neither (ghost!Sollux) nor (alive!Sollux) have seen him since Erisolsprite died in Game Over.

(Karkat) is also brooding off on his own, feeling really shitty and sorry for himself. He's always felt personally responsible for everything going wrong for his team, and now that his team is basically entirely dead, he feels extra shitty.

Mostly just setting up that these guys are still relevant to the story, despite now being (irrelevant).

That brings us to the second retcon. Vriska obviously had great regrets about killing Tavros, both pre- and post-retcon, so she asks for his death to be prevented.

Tavros is back.

Vriska's requested fix is a very simple one - after all, Karkat makes mention about how Vriska's always had a competitive streak with Terezi, admiring/being jealous of her ability to manipul8 people; I think an ultimate culmination of that is her insisting that insisting to John that he do a retcon to stop her from killing Tavros - which, as covered above, she regrets greatly - but to do a much sloppier job of it, simply having John pop into [S] Wake and knock Tavros the fuck out.

Vriska herself doesn't believe this will have any unintended side effects, because her opinion of Tavros is still really low despite her genuine desire to make amends, and she's wrong.

Tavros's stay on the meteor has a major effect on Gamzee. I'm not entirely sure how it would pan out exactly, but I think Gamzee would step in between Dave and Tavros, into a situation none of them are happy with. This starts Tavros on a path of realizing that his inability to stand up for himself not only hurts him, but people he cares about (Gamzee, whom he ghosted).

Vriska is mostly uninterested in Tavros now, as the moment has kind of passed, and Terezi keeps getting on her ass about going after him (which brings the two of them closer).

Previous Messy romantic situations are still active. Karkat is going thru it.

Dave feels bad about tormenting Tavros but he kind of can't help himself, especially because Tavros keeps going up to him for some reason. The fact that he gets trapped in an auspice with Tavros and Gamzee kind of reinforces that he does NOT vibe with troll quadrants. Dave becomes MORE xenophobic.

On a note regarding Gamzee and Tavros: while I generally try to avoid relying on Hussie's commentary too much, as he likes to play his cards close to his chest, his note about Gamzee in the Act 5 book is actually significant enough to me to include:

The best explanation for why Gamzee says he's scared of Vriska, in my opinion, is this: he's flat-out lying. It's a good way for him to maintain his cover as 'Soft Gamzee.' It also provides some ammunition for those who, against all sense of good taste and judgment, want to continue to believe and assert that Gamzee is a decent guy with sensitive emotions and vulnerabilities before he undergoes his Muderstuck awakening. He was none of those things, ever.

Hussie likes to play coy, and you can't really trust anything he says after Act 6 because he's fed up with the fandom, but I think this comment comes early enough, and is made assertively enough, that it can be taken at face value. I know that "Soft Gamzee" is actually extremely popular in the fandom, so this may be controversial, but I do think there's more evidence for him being kind of nasty and manipulative than not, and having that always be a part of him brings more cohesiveness to his character. For example, he seems to have a pale crush on Karkat, trying to assert that Karkat is his best friend and changing the topic when Sollux gets brought up and he recognizes Karkat is closer to Sollux than him, and if you read his first log with Terezi as if he's hiding being nasty under a soft veneer, then his comments do read as pretty passive-aggressive.

TC: yOu KnOw HoW iT iS wItH fAmIlY. GC: NO, NOT R34LLY! GC: 4DURRRR DURR DURP TC: Oh YeAh... ... TC: I sPaCeD oUt, DiD yOu KnOw HoW bEaTuFuL tHe SoUnD oF tHe OcEaN iS? TC: hAvE yOu EvEr EvEn SeEn ThE oCeAn? TC: oR i MeAn SmElLeD iT... TC: SoRrY. GC: >:[

Maybe most damningly, his narration calls dealing with Eridan's genuine emotional distress "indulge emotional theatrics," an implication of his true feelings. Karkat and Eridan are heavily foreshadowed to be moirails, and Gamzee seems to have a pale crush on Karkat. What does Gamzee do in this conversation? He chases Eridan away from comforting Karkat - using the same excuse as he uses to avoid dealing with Vriska.

CA: put kar on TC: UuUuH, i cAn't rEaLlY ThInK AbOuT InTeRvEnInG, tHe bLaCk fRoWnInG MoThErFuCkEr kInDa sCaReS Me

Moreover, he does NOT seem to like Jack comforting Karkat instead, either.

THIS IS NOT TO SAY I DON'T THINK GAMZEE ALSO DESERVES A SHOT AT KINDNESS AND REDEMPTION. Gamzee is clearly a very troubled youth, between his absentee lusus, his indoctrination into a fundie doomsday cult, and his sopor usage. The fact that having his faith shattered by Dave makes him snap implies that, one, he was already unstable and teetering on the edge, and having his faith fucked with was the last straw, and two, that until he lost that last shred of hope, he was still pretending to be nicer than he was for a reason, and given that his LE worship doesn't start up until after the snappage, I think it can be extrapolated that that reason is that he genuinely wants to get along with his friends.

Given that Gamzee's issues largely stem from his neglectful lusus, it's not a stretch to say that Gamzee does not take well to abandonment and isolation. So here's kind of where Tavros comes in:

Gamzee mentions that he feels "So aT ChIlL WiTh yOu" while talking to Tavros, and Tavros reciprocates the friendship and also - interestingly - acknowledges Gamzee's religion, calling it beautiful even if he doesn't necessarily believe in it. I call it interesting because Karkat's inability to do so is explicitly one of the reasons their moirallegiance broke down. Moreover, in their first conversation together, Gamzee explicitly praises Tavros for his "gumption" for stealing his clown nose, when Tavros's avoidance of his problems is one of his biggest personal issues. So yeah, personally, I'm all for moirallegiance.

But Tavros started ghosting him after Gamzee offered to make out a little, another symptom of his avoidance issues. I'm sure that, even in this meteor trip, the fact that Gamzee killed Equius and Nepeta really scares him. In his conversation with Terezi, Terezi outright says "NO WOND3R V4NT4S C4NT ST4ND YOU"; Equius is constantly yelling at him; lots of people on their team seem to genuinely just sort of dislike him.

CG: MIRACLES ARE LIKE POOP STAINS ON GOD'S UNDERWEAR. TA: eheheh makiing fun of people2 reliigiion2 i2 the be2t thiing two do.

So having one of the few people he does really like also ghost him probably did... bad things to his mental health. Especially so when said person wound up dead. But now that he isn't dead, I think they have a shot - they just need to address their personal problems. Tavros with his avoidance, and Gamzee with his resentment toward the world, and reliance on substances and religion to take the edge off. In this meteor iteration, that doesn't quite happen - their toxic auspicetism succeeds in letting them air out their dirty laundry to the audience, but doesn't bring full reconciliation.

In any case, this meteor trip is fairly short, and uneventful from the dream bubbles side, although I do think Tavros should get a talking-to from (Tavros) about real self-esteem and self-worth.

Still, being back in contact with Tavros again, even if in kind of a messed-up way, does make Gamzee start to reconsider some of his past actions. This brings us to:

Gamzee Asks for Equius and Nepeta back.

Gamzee's not as nice as he lets on, but he does genuinely care about his teammates, and for the people he really cares about, like Karkat or Tavros, I think he's willing to stick his neck out. Bringing back Nepeta and Equius is more for Tavros than himself, really, because Tavros is scared of him for doing that, and he motherfuckin' misses Tavros, okay? John mostly agrees because he's kind of scared of Gamzee.

Some really fun stuff starts happening this go around.

The Gamzee-Tavros situation becomes resolved because this time, Equius steps in as an auspice between Tavros and Dave, and this auspicetism is COMPLETELY HEALTHY (with the bonus of being extremely funny, and what is the point of a Homestuck ship if it is not deeply funny).

Gamzee and Tavros are able to enter into a totally healthy moirallegiance once the auspicetism builds up Tavros's self-confidence, much to Karkat's relief.

Being stuck in the auspicetism makes Dave go crawling back to Terezi on his hands and knees. I'm sorry, Terezi. I'll do anything if you take me back. Just don't let me die as the guy stuck in a threesome with the two worst trolls. Dave has overcome his xenophobia.

Dave and Terezi becoming official does make Karkat sad, however, so when Nepeta finally works up the courage to confess to him, he accepts the offer to date her, thus fulfilling Jaspersprite's musing that she might only be able to date him after she dies.

They also break up. We're keeping up this trend of Karkat and his disastrous relationships. He's still involved in the Rose/Kanaya/Vriska drama, too.

With GamTav and Dave/Tavros/Equius cinched, Tavros and Vriska reach a sort of truce with each other. Not really friends, since they kind of still dislike each other, but Vriska would genuinely be glad to see Tavros getting more actually confident, and muster up the energy to genuinely apologize for almost killing him, so there's a sort of mutual respect there now. Vriska and Terezi are even closer because of this, but still not fully over their problems.

On the topic of the Dave/Tavros/Equius auspicetism: Dave still can't stop bothering Tavros, but the lewdness of it sets Equius off, so he feels like he has to intervene. Dave also can't stop himself from bothering Equius, which ALWAYS BACKFIRES, and since Tavros has a weird fondness/rivalry with Dave, he'd find it within himself to ask Equius to back off (which would work, because of Equius's... Equius). And every time Equius gets too overbearing toward Tavros, Dave feels COMPELLED to intervene, because he's like, my fucking god, you are the two worst trolls, why must weirdos fight. Dave desperately wants out, but he can't stop staring at these two.

And weirdly enough, it's beneficial for all of them. With two people to yell at him for being weird, Equius becomes less weird. With a rival in Dave and more contact with Equius, Tavros becomes more confident. And Dave has two people to rap against and feel good about his art with, something he more or less had to deal with alone during previous trips.

On the topic of Karkat and Nepeta, there are quite a few implications that they wouldn't necessarily work out. For citations, let me just link my Nepeta essay, where I go over what the comic says about their relationship from a storytelling perspective; here, I'll talk about their relationship from a more interpersonal perspective.

Karkat's signals are mixed as fuuuuuuck. While I don't necessarily think this will be an issue for Nepeta, as - as a Heart player - she's preternatually gifted at understanding motivations, the thing is... I think Nepeta can do better, and deserves better, a sentiment echoed by Jasprosesprite^2. She certainly deserves better than being second to Terezi, at the very least, even if she states she likes his outbursts.

And the thing is, Karkat is pretty explicit about saying that he doesn't return her feelings; in a world where they date, there's always going to be a sense that she's his second choice. And, just... my girl deserves better, okay? Moreover, while he respects her personhood, he's also pretty nasty to her when he DOES talk to her, implying he doesn't necessarily respect her choices. And also, she's actually really bad at shipping, so there will be this extremely weird tension of like... a hobbyist vs. a professional. I don't think Karkat would be able to stop himself from mocking some of her shipping choices if she ever opened up to him about that.

But I think them getting together is important for Nepeta, developmentally - I talk about this in my essay for her, but shipping is something I think she does need to outgrow, since it's kind of a replacement she's using for her loneliness. Moreover, I say in that essay that the issues she has in her moirallegiance with Equius warrant relationship counselling - and that's what Karkat is uniquely qualified to dispense, as the team's Blood player. Although they end up not working out, Nepeta would take several valuable lessons from this relationship - that she's kind of bad at shipping, that Equius is being kind of a shithead to her, and that she needs to start making friends with other people.

Now then. We're finally getting into some drama in the bubbles.

Please imagine for me Equius and Horuss talking, and Equius being aghast at the way Horuss is so derisive towards his matesprit and moirail. Now imagine him pulling a mic out of nowhere and rapping at him about how his problem is that he does not respect his partners. Now imagine Tavros and Dave joining in, also out of nowhere, with Tavros adding bars about how the hemospectrum is, not a good thing, he thinks. And Dave adding bars about how he does not have a fucking dog in this race. He's not even a troll. He doesn't understand their hemospectrum. Let him out of here. The fine fucking art of Alternian slam poetry. I think Horuss would start crying. So would I if three people including my grandkid started rapping at me.

Nepeta's uncanny emotional acumen leads to her wanting to befriend Damara, but being unable to speak her language.

GameOver!crew is up to something, IDK, probably showing (Tavros) inspiring people and rebuilding the ghost army, to tell a parallel story to Tavros becoming more genuinely self-confident.

We check in with the Alpha kids, too, who have some group therapy sessions led by Roxy.

Vriska and Tavros confront Rufioh together, a final culmination of their no-longer-enemiesship, and together, they steal Rufioh's ones. Like, Tavros starts speak1ng w1th ones, something he always had in him, and they also roast Rufioh so badly that he stops speaking in ones. But the way it's presented to the audience, Vriska outright just says that Tavros should steal his ones. And Tavros does. This carries over to successive retcons, as it's implied that Tavros just kind of starts naturally being more confident as healthy relationships are established sooner and sooner.

Anyway, a final note about Equius - his problems are mostly due to being sheltered. Although he is probably the most casteist highblood, he's not really that casteist, as what's really going on is just that he's got a BDSM kink. But because he's sheltered, he does not realize that it's a kink. And a fetishist who does not realize that they're a fetishist has more power than God.

His protectiveness of Nepeta does come from a good place; preventing her from playing FLARP was actually in her best interest, given what happens to people who play FLARP. But he's very much going overboard with it, likely an extension of his own lack of understanding of how much sheltering is good and how much becomes detrimental. What he really needs is for someone to point it out to him, which I think he gets via Nepeta or via Karkat, and then have a reaaaaally long think about it. He's genuinely a polite and helpful soul, who doesn't WANT to make people uncomfortable. The auspicetism is very good for him in this regard, as is his moirallegiance once Karkat talks him and Nepeta through their issues.

The point is, once he's forced to reckon with the fact that the degeneracy is coming from inside the house, I think he'd have a LOT of regrets about the way he treated Aradia. Which leads us to:

Whoops That Robot Thing Was Really Inappropriate Huh

Equius approaches John to ask him to make Past!Equius reconsider the Aradiabot Thing. John's getting kind of impatient with all these trolls who keep asking him to go back through time, but given that everyone seems a little happier each time, he can't help but agree.

So he goes back to the past, before Equius can give Aradia her robot body with the love chip in it, and something really fun gets to happen here: first of all, Equius's Void status makes him really hard to place, so John winds up missing by a bit, time-wise, so Aradia's already in the body. This is the first time that retconning!John and Aradia have been in the same place together, and when she meets him and finds out that he can time travel without causing paradoxes, she demands (with her Aradiabot deathmurderkill intensity) to be taken back in time to before she died.

John's retcon powers explicitly ignore the usual rules of paradox space - he describes it as a "fresh start". Given that Breath is associated with choices and freedom, his retcon powers are kind of the ultimate culmination of his abilities as a breath player. Although doomed timelines can and will still result from paradoxes caused by players when John isn't there, anything he directly interferes with is totally a-okay.

So all Aradiabot asks him for is passage back in time, in order to sanction her interference in the past. After she dismisses him, she still more or less has to adhere to events in the original timeline, for two reasons - the first being that she doesn't want to risk a new doomed timeline, and the second so she can keep the timeline predictable.

So even though she's basically asked for passage to the time period before SGRUB, it's basically outright stated that the progression of events has to be more or less the same, up until the point where John's other retcons take place. So here are the cascading effects of Aradiabot preventing her own death:

Aradiabot takes Aradia's place in the Team Charge debacle, being blown up/"killed" (as a sprite) by Sollux's eye beams, so that she can take Aradia's place as Doc Scratch/the Handmaiden's servant and "carry out" their orders.

Meanwhile, Aradia seeks refuge with Equius, whose void powers keep her hidden from Doc Scratch's omnipotence.

Because Sollux never actually killed Aradia, and Aradia communicates with him via Equius's account, Sollux is less depressed and self-loathing. He no longer predicts a future where all of them die and he has to be blinded. It's left deliberately vague whether this future comes to pass because he's less pessimistic, so his Mage powers are calling a happier future into being, or if his future changed, so his Mage powers are prophesying something new.

Nepeta starts regaining memories of alternate timelines and past retcons, as an extension of her Rogue of Heart powers. This includes the relationship counselling she received from Karkat.

Between Nepeta and Aradia yelling at him, Equius's character development starts sooner, so he's squared away for future events, and ends up not making the creepy Aradiabot, making a non-creepy one instead.

Aradia and Equius do not strike up a relationship, and become uneasy enemies/friends.

Aradia secretly god tiers well in advance of Jack's arrival, and meets him at Derse rather than awakening on her crypt there.

Aradia and Sollux continue a loving matespritship, leading to Sollux settling into a moirallegiance with Feferi. He's devastated when she dies, which still happens along with the rest of Eridan's freakout; Aradiabot doesn't intervene because she's needed for:

Aradiabot winds up being the one to sacrifice herself piloting the meteor, allowing Sollux to stay with the rest of the team when he meets up with Aradia, (Aradia), and (Sollux) at the Green Sun. Aradiabot winds up with the GameOver!crew.

With the 1337 hackers back in commission, Sollux and Roxy are able to establish a server connection with each other, allowing them to communicate during the 3-year meteor trip.

Aradia involves herself in the Rose/Kanaya/Vriska Mess, and I kind of can't decide what I like better - a vascillatory pitch/flush threeway between Rose, Kanaya, and Vriska, now that Vriska's near the end of her character development, with Aradia serving as a stabilizing force as Kanaya's on-again off-again moirail, or Aradia stepping in as an auspice. Either way, it's out of Karkat's hands.

This has a knock-on effect of finally giving Vriska the chance to fully make amends with Aradia, which winds up cinching the Vriska/Terezi moirallegiance. The scourge sisters are back baybee. And between a healthy moirallegiance for Terezi and a healthy moirallegiance for Gamzee, I think pitch Terezi/Gamzee could work as a healthy ship this time around. I'm not married to it, but they did always seem to hate each other well before SGRUB.

Nepeta has LEARNED HER LESSON regarding dating Karkat, so that does not happen.

Karkat now has no quadrants. He winds up desperately throwing himself at Sadstuck Sollux to try and help him get over his breakup. It's not a good look. Sadkat. He also takes up talking to the alpha kids for emotional support, which puts them off, too. Still gives really good relationship advice. He's clearly one of the more unstable members of the retcon!crew at this point.

We're light on the dream bubble drama this time around because of how MUCH is happening for the retcon!crew, but there's going to be a reference in there of Nepeta learning East Beforan.

SO. NOTES TIME.

Aradia expresses outright that she hated the feeling that she was set up and that she wishes someone would have stopped her from being so reckless. And although she seems to find some satisfaction in being the stewardess of the afterlife, there's clearly some resentment there that she's been forced into that role, as she expresses that what she's really looking forward to is watching it all break apart. There's also kind of an orphaned plot thread where Aradia is spending a lot of time in the afterlife putting knowledge together, which never really directly pays off except to the audience, and I think a really good way to bring that back in would be for her to be communing with (Aradia) in the dream bubbles in order to make sure the timeline flows as smoothly as possible.

As for Aradia/Kanaya - they're actually really good friends, and Aradia expresses that she's flattered that Kanaya wants to talk to her so much. There is a tone here that matches the way Vriska thinks about Kanaya when Kanaya is still ostensibly Vriska's moirail, and Kanaya herself admits to being attracted to people who are reckless. In fact...

AA: i just wish AA: back when i was behaving recklessly AA: i had s0me0ne t0 tell me t0 st0p listening AA: even if i ended up ign0ring their advice AA: it w0uld have been nice

GA: It Must Be A Certain Madness Im Afflicted By GA: To Orbit Those More Reckless And Dangerous Than I And More Daring For It GA: I Guess I Want To Help Them But They Never Can Be Helped It Seems

So I'm just kind of saying... Aradia and Kanaya moirallegiance... is not entirely unfounded. And a moirail stabilizes a troll's other relationships; if we have a moirail for Kanaya and a moirail for Vriska, then the Mess that is whatever's going on with Kanaya, Vriska, and Rose would probably resolve itself, I think. Either way, Rose is surrounded by SUCH a girl's night of emotional support to help her with sobriety now.

As for whatever's going on between her and Equius, I tend to believe the comic when it tells me relationships don't work out, and Aradia expresses regret for kissing him during the Ministrife. I think they could be good vitriolic frenemies, though.

Okay, onto Sollux.

In the same panel where Eridan and Karkat are implied to be "hatched for each other" pale-wise, Feferi and Sollux are foreshadowed in the same way:

They also spend a LOT OF TIME curled up in a pile together talking about their feelings, which we don't see with matesprits, but we DO see with moirails. Nepeta and Equius do the same thing, and they are kind of THE moirails. So I think Sollux and Feferi were always meant to be pale, but because Aradia died, Sollux wound up taking Feferi on as a matesprit instead. Between EriFef, SolFef, and GamTav, people getting flushed and pale feelings entangled is like, a Running Thing, so it's not really surprising to me.

Now, here's the thing. We already know that Sollux likes to cope with a rebound, since he went flushed with Feferi after Aradiabot exploded and was presumed dead. And Karkat cares very fucking much about Sollux, to the point where Gamzee speculates that he's actually Karkat's best friend, and Karkat even calls him that (although Karkat also kind of just calls anyone his best friend, lol).

CG: GAMZEE WAS MY VERY GOOD FRIEND, WHO WAS THIS GOOFY LOVEABLE BULLSHIT CLOWN UNTIL HE WENT PSYCHO AND KILLED SOME PEOPLE. I LIKED HIM A LOT. CG: I DON'T KNOW, I GUESS MY BEST FRIEND IS REALLY JUST THE GUY WHO I HAPPEN TO BE FEELING MOST SENTIMENTAL TO AT THE MOMENT, IS THAT A FUCKING CRIME.

This crab's got so much love in him. In any case, I mostly just want to keep sticking Karkat in these extremely unhealthy relationships for a while. It makes it sweeter when he finally winds up with Eridan LIKE HE WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO... but yeah.

Cross-session communication is also entirely possible, as Sollux set up chat clients between the trolls and the kids in the first place, and even without that, Kanaya found Rose's old GameFAQs on a server in the Furthest Ring. With both Sollux and Roxy on the case, there's no way they can't somehow establish communications way sooner.

Regarding Nepeta regaining her memories, let me once more point you towards the Nepeta essay. She's on track to become the one who attains Ultimate Selfhood, and comforts people like Jade and John about not really knowing their friends or being lonely.

But yeah, obviously Sollux asks for Feferi to be brought back.

F-EF-ERI!!!! 38D

Mostly Sollux just asks to be prevented from provoking Eridan so harshly. Eridan still winds up blowing up the matriorb, and thus, still getting killed by Kanaya in retribution, but this means that Eridan is now the only member of the team left dead.

PITCH FEFNEP. PITCH FEFNEP. PITCH FEFNEP

Pitch FefNep leads to Feferi letting slip something casteist where Sollux can hear; he doesn't personally care because he's heard much worse, but puts them on a break while she sorts herself out. They get back together after that.

Karkat alone :'( he's mostly just talking to the alpha kids at this point, trying to hide from all the happy fucking relationships happening all around him.

If the last retcon was really heavy on the retcon!crew, then this one is much more about what's happening in the bubbles. We get most of our dancestor development this go around. Do not read if you like the dancestors! I go very in-depth about how most of them are horrible people on purpose here, so their arcs are mostly about them being pulled up on their abject awfulness.

Nepeta, who has learned East Beforan, is able to talk to Damara and have an earnest heart-to-heart with her about how awfully she was treated. They hug and cry. Damara, finally validated, gives everyone a big middle finger.

Feferi heals Mituna's brain injury, because literally why the FUCK has nobody else done that. Now once more in control of his faculties, he breaks up with Latula, pissed off that she took advantage of him all those eons to boost her own ego. He also gives everyone a big middle finger. Damara steals her skateboard and high fives Mituna.

Porrim's basically the only dancestor who grew as a person so I think she mostly escapes unscathed.

Latula gets chased around by Sollux and Aradia, who basically just bully her for being bad at games. This is a date to them.

Gamzee completely refutes Kurloz, with his newfound clarity about the real miracle being friendship and the real dark carnival being the world he and his friends will build, not that LE noise.

In a double team between Terezi and Rose, Meulin gets eviscerated for the way her own Issues have made her ships deliberately awful, that she could have simply Not, and she has a bit of a breakdown.

As Feferi is grappling with her privilege and internalized casteism, Cronus wanders up to try and hit on her, and she goes "oh my god... when people look at me, are you what they see? A friendless loser that nobody likes? A total waste of seawater who's only pretending to be cool with the lower castes? A totally fake poser? 38(" Cronus just goes "..." and starts crying and Feferi ends the convo oblivious to that, just going "wow... thanks for talking with me! really gave me a lot to think about" imagine how funny it would be -

Karkat finds and talks to (Eridan), where he fully admits to missing the guy. His mopiness is so extreme that (Eridan) takes issue with it and punches him, before basically yelling at him to get his shit together. Karkat then yells at HIM for him to get HIS shit together, and they both leave, intent on getting their shit together.

We also get an update on Vriska and Meenah at this point, where Meenah is starting to seem more into how they totally ditched their responsibilities than Vriska is.

So the thing with this update is that most of the trolls have sorted their shit out; even Karkat has had a lot of introspection about how he really just fucking loves his friends and should have been more honest about it, not worried so much about appearing weak or lame. With the double Aradias in play to kind of handwave that the timeline will be stable because they're ensuring all loops get completed and all necessary conversations happen, and with everyone's successful relationships on display, we can kind of truncate the next leg of the journey:

Karkat Fixes Everything

Karkat is the Friendship Troll. Karkat is the Romance Troll. Karkat is the Bonds troll. He is their team's Blood player, and as the Blood player, he's been shown to deeply love all of his fucking friends - yes, even the assholes. Maybe even especially them.

As such, it's vitally important for the last push - last leg of the journey - to belong to Karkat. Where would our Blood player be without his bonds? Well, we actually have the answer to that. It's knocked out and prevented from joining in any of the important boss battles. LAME!

So in the last retcon, Karkat hears from Nepeta about the retcons that have been happening, and he really starts digging through his own past. If every retcon so far has been each troll only feeling comfortable undoing their own personal mistakes, then what of the guy who feels personally responsible for everything, all the time, forever?

Look, I'm not saying that a shipping chart saves Homestuck, but... by the time this last retcon is through, every Alternian troll is alive and god tiered. And he is dating Eridan.

If you have any questions about him dating Eridan, please refer to the link above. That essay is nearly as long as this one. There's SO MUCH FUCKING FORESHADOWING.

I don't think the god tiering needs to be explained, because if we hear that Karkat basically made his past self a shipping chart, and we've seen everybody's character development as they've gone through this journey, and we have Aradias on timeline duty and Nepeta with memories of past retcons and her alternate selves, I think we can more or less gloss over exactly how they go about earning their wings while maintaining timeline integrity. The important thing is that Karkat is dating Eridan now.

Because that leads to the last few bits of dream bubble stuff, but before we get into that...

Miscellaneous Plot Things That Need To Happen But I Don't Know Where To Put Them

Yeah there's just some ideas that I have floating around that need to be placed somewhere but IDK exactly where, or exactly how they shake out.

Hal becomes a real boy. And by that I mean as part of their character development, Jake makes Hal "real" a la brain ghost Dirk, and then the rest of them have to scramble against the clock (Jake's ability to maintain Hal's realness) to god tier him and make his existence permanent. He's a Sylph of Mind, which allows him to negate Condy's mind control. And maybe a GCATboy?

(Tavros) becomes the new leader of the ghost army.

Davesprite winds up dead at some point in the bubbles and doesn't explain how he died, but he and (Dave) get to fight each other and hash out their Realness and Relevance issues, before facing their final boss fight as bros once more.

Jade and Nepeta get to talk, and Nepeta gives Jade the reassuring speech about Ultimate Selfhood and how she won't be lonely forever. Maybe it's flushed. Might leave it ambiguous.

Somebody needs to auspicetize Dirk and Jake holy shit. Dunno who. Maybe Karkat, but I kind of like him pitch with Dirk, so IDK really.

Dad needs to die. Sorry Dad. If I can find a way to kill off all of the sprites besides ARquiusprite, I will. It's explicitly stated that sprites are drawn to the battlefield during the Reckoning, presumably to die, as part of the coming-of-age themes - losing one's guardians. It's sad but it's gotta happen.

All the Godtier!Calliope stuff basically happens as-is.

Can you tell I need to do more research on the alpha kids...

Ok Back To Karkat And Eridan

I think I'm going to leave their moirallegiance fairly ambiguous, but when Eridan is brought back, he and Karkat are basically together all the time. Karkat's signals are mixed even on the best of days, so I don't know how easy it'll be to tell that these two assholes slinging death threats at each other are pale, but *I* will know, and that's what matters.

This leads to the last two dancestor takedowns:

Karkat and Eridan (mostly Eridan) round on Kankri. Eridan calls him SO MANY SLURS. The fact that Karkat not only condones this, but is DATING ERIDAN, kind of makes Kankri lose it a bit.

(Karkat) and (Eridan), who have reconciled in the bubbles, finally find (Vriska) and Meenah. (Karkat) gives the two of them the speech that retcon!Vriska gave (Vriska) in the comic's original ending, but this time around, (Vriska) actually agrees with him. This serves as a conclusion to (Karkat) and Meenah's arc, and causes Meenah to feel so bad that she walks back to the other dancestors in shame, as (Vriska) leaves with him with the treasure to finally fight LE.

When Meenah returns to the dancestors, the first one she finds is Aranea, who's really sad about her own little escapade, blaming herself for the way Game Over went. This prompts Meenah to go, no, it was probably my fault, shouldn't have let you run off like that. And this would, from all the sobbing dancestors, prompt a string of "no, I'm the reason we failed"s, eventually culminating in Meenah rallying them together to do one last good thing before everyone gets sucked into the black hole and go join the fight against LE. Everyone agrees.

(Gamzee) is revived by the life players and cursed with immortality, so he can go on to become LE and complete that time loop. He is immediately locked in the fridge. This is also why he can't fucking die no matter what you do to him.

This also leads us into the final boss fights.

VS. CONDY

The twelve trolls. The Condesce represents tyranny, the worst aspects of the trolls' old society, and as such, is most thematically taken down by them. While she did fuck up the alpha kids' lives, too, I just personally think it's so much more thematic and satisfying to watch her be beaten down by the trolls.

VS. THE THREE JACKS

The eight kids plus Hal plus Davesprite. With Bec Noir specifically, it's fucking PERSONAL, as this guy killed their parents. This is where Dave fulfils his destiny of killing an iteration of English with his sword, when he decapitates Jack English; the person in the middle of that sandwich is Davesprite, which is how he dies and winds up in the bubbles. The iteration of Jack that survives to date Ms. Paint is Spades Slick, as he's the most sympathetic out of all of them and didn't kill anybody's parents.

At some point during this fight, I like the idea that they get zapped away by Jack English, John zaps them to the Godtier!Caliborn fight where he gets sealed in the juju, and then we cut back to the fight with Jack English, where, inexplicably, they all zap right back in.

VS. THE FELT

The spares - ARquiussprite, (Gamzee) in the fridge (who has since been revived by the life players and blessed/cursed with eternal life so he can go on to fulfill his role in the timelines and become part of LE), Dad, and the other sprites (if any of them are left alive).

VS. LORD ENGLISH

The GameOver!crew, the ghost army, the dancestors (they have a Big Damn Heroes moment right near the end, buying Jake time to deploy the Weapon), Aradiabot, and Davesprite.

Jake fulfills his destiny to defeat the Lord of all Angels by being the one to deploy the weapon, which deposits the beta kids, who knock LE in to the black hole. They then zap out of there, collecting the alpha kids from after the Caliborn fight, and zap back to the fight with the Jacks.

This specific configuration of boss battles winds up leaving Lord English entirely up to dead characters, who are then implied to all eventually get sucked into the black hole - their memories to live on through the living characters via Ultimate Selfhood, which only Nepeta achieves on screen, but implies that they will all achieve eventually.

It's important to me that the GameOver!crew is the one leading the fight against Lord English, as they're the ones who were the most screwed over by LE and his machinations - manipulated into killing each other, used as servants of his will, dying ignobly in a doomed timeline filled with special stardust. Meanwhile, the retcon!kids and trolls prove what they've learned - about compassion, kindness, equality, and forgiveness - by beating the shit out of the Condesce, who represents the horrors of Alternia, and the Jacks, especially Bec Noir and Jack English - the latter of which is a shadow of what Lord English represents - immaturity, cruelty, hatred - and the former of which is a culmination of all the failures they committed to get to this point, a symptom of their universal cancer.

I wrote a little snippet of Aradia once, and I think I'll use that to end this essay:

(ARADIA): ok now that we are all done being stupid (ARADIA): im sure enough people here remember the plan that i dont need to explain it again (ARADIA): so instead i just wanted to say (ARADIA): leave your backs to us and face forward without fear (ARADIA): the dead and irrelevant will slay the demon of double death while you unmake the threats of the living (ARADIA): and personally i think it's very fitting that he will perish here as nothing more than a bad dream (ARADIA): this will be the last time we see each other (ARADIA): so on behalf of everyone that you are going to be leaving behind (ARADIA): live (ARADIA): and be happy!

[berryhobii]

Late for Work couple has become my #1 comfort couple and i always come back a read their stories cuz they're just so in love and passionate abt each other and OC/reader is so me coded. ur writing literally makes me weak in the knees i get so emoooo 😭😭💜 can i request a New Years (resolution) drabble with them? either OC or JK wants to work out more or tweak their habits at the gym for New years and i wonder if you could incorporate THIS REEL somewhere cuz i thought this was so them?!!? fluff or smutty smut smut!!! ty ty ty 💜💜

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1BLk1PIu-j/?igsh=MWZ0YWRtcnd4Zndwaw==

even tho i feel like both of them are the type to NOT wait for the "New Year" just to get started on their goals i thought it would be cute!!!

Hi! Wow, I’m so happy you love that couple! I try my best to make them as lovey dovey as possible. Thanks so much for your request as well! I pondered a few ideas but then landed on this one! Also, that reel is so adorable and overprotective Jungkook is equally as adorable. Enjoy and please tell me what you think!

~

Super cute gym bag? Check. FitBit to monitor your heart rate? Check. Your ONE Stanley cup because you didn’t need a thousand? Check.

Alright. You were ready to hit the gym.

Truthfully, neither you or Jungkook were the types to do resolutions. Both of your perfectionist and ambitious ways made it so if either of you wanted to do something, you’d do it. And you’d do it to the best of your ability.

You started working out a little bit during December, enjoying early morning jogs before work in the crisp air to get you pumped for the day. However, you haven’t really dedicated yourself to a complete workout regimen.

That’s where your husband came in.

He didn’t make resolutions either but he did want to start spending more time with you and the gym was a great place to start. So you suggested you two start working out together and he could have broken something from how fast he catapulted himself over the couch when you brought it up.

Since your husband was a certified gym rat, he was very excited about your interest in working out. It was no secret that he was obsessed with going to the gym; he always dedicated at least 2 hours a day to pumping iron and if he couldn’t go to the gym, he’d go jogging or do some exercise at home. He was dedicated to keeping his body fit and healthy, mostly for himself but also for you. He knew how much you loved his body and it definitely stroked his ego to see how you drooled over him.

While Jungkook drooled over you regardless, you still wanted to work out and maybe even spend some extra time with Jungkook. A couple’s workout sounded like a lot of fun to you, honestly.

“Ready to go, baby?” Jungkook asked once he entered the living room where you were tying up your braids into a ponytail.

You smiled at him, nodding your head. “Yup! How do I look?” You gave him a little twirl, showing off your new leggings and the matching jacket.

Of course, his eyes went straight to your ass which looked extra plump in those pants. A part of him didn’t even want to leave the house, contemplating just bending you over and fucking you against the wall.

You looked so excited to go though and he didn’t want to rain on your parade. Pushing down his desire, he flashed you a smile.

“You look adorable.”

“Thank you. Now let’s go! I’m totally going to bench more than you.” You teased as you two walked out of your apartment.

He bellowed a laugh. “Yeah right. You get winded walking up the stairs.”

Pouting your lip, you playfully pushed him. “That was only because my legs were tired from riding you.”

His lip piercing sparkled as he flashed you a wolfish grin, one that sent shivers down your spine. You seriously thought about getting in a quickie in before leaving.

“Guess we’ll have to work on your stamina then.”

“Oh yeah? I’ll show you my stamina when we get back home.” You childishly fired back sticking your tongue out at him.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

When was leg day again?

The drive to the gym was quick and checking in was even quicker. After putting your things away in a locker, you and Jungkook found an empty space to start stretching in.

“Let’s start with toe touches.” Jungkook instructed with a clap of his hands.

“Okay!” Inhaling a deep breath, you bent over to touch your toes. Easy enough. Then you felt a hand on your back, urging you to straighten it a bit.

“Don’t hold your breath.” He said, his warm palm sneaking up the back of your jacket. Heat spread across your body. Damn fat ma! Not right now!

After enough of that, you two moved into more stretches: arm circles, lunges, jumping jacks and a few more. Jungkook stretched alongside you, only stopping to guide you through whenever he saw your form was off.

Overall, exercising with Jungkook was a bunch of fun. He was an attentive workout partner, reminding you to stay hydrated and motivating you whenever you wanted to give up. Not to mention, watching him get all sweaty was a bonus. He had abandoned his hoodie a while ago, leaving him in a tank top that showed off those muscular arms and bulging pecs.

You were gonna swallow his cock like a python when you got home.

For now though, you were focused on getting in some good squats while Jungkook moved just a few feet away to go fill his water bottle back up. He made sure you remained in his eyesight at all times, heart warming at the sight of you being so focused. He was so happy you had come with him to participate in one of his favorite interest. It really showed him how invested you were in his life and his hobbies. He hoped this could continue and you two would spend even more time together.

Also, your ass looked fine as hell in those leggings. It jiggled everytime you came back up and it made him want to rip those pants right off you.

Oh yeah, you were definitely coming to the gym with him more often.

Just as he finished filling his water, he turned around to start his walk back to you, only to pause when his eyes caught something.

A man was coming from the other side of the room, walking straight towards you, his eyes focused clearly on your ass as you bent forward.

Jungkook knew you were gorgeous which meant people often tried to approach you. His overprotective nature never allowed people to get too close, however. You could handle yourself and he knew that, he trusted you completely and never doubted your loyalty to him.

That didn’t mean he trusted others though.

Quickly walking towards you, his feet taking long strides to get to you faster, he stopped at your side just as you were coming back up from a squat. Jungkook immediately wrapped his arm around you, leaning down to place a kiss on your lips. Never one to turn down a kiss, you reciprocated, laying a few more on his lips for good measure.

His eyes locked with the man who was approaching you, brow furrowing and eyes sending a message that said:

Try it if you want to

The man’s eyes widened, turning back around on the heels of his feet to scamper off somewhere else.

Ever so unsuspecting, you turned around to see what your husband was looking at, only to find nothing. You placed your weight down, removing the AirPod from your ear to ask him what was wrong.

He just squinted his eyes before finally looking at you, sending you his sweetest smile.

“Nothing baby. Let’s just finish up so we can go home.”

And because you trusted him so much, you just shrugged and nodded. “Okay. Let me do this final rep and then we can go.”

“Sure. Let me help you.”

Getting behind you, he ‘guided’ you through the squats. Although you didn’t really need the help, the feeling of his boner pressing into your ass was telling enough.

“I wouldn’t call this helping, coach.” You smirked, making sure to rub your ass harder against him when you went down.

“I would. 5 more.”

~

“J-Jungkook!” You moaned, your hands slipping off the wall where you were bracing yourself as Jungkook pounded into you from behind.

He barely let you cool down from your workout before he was forcing you into the gym showers, pushing you into one of the spaces and turning on the water. It was obvious you didn’t come in here to wash yourselves, judging by how quick he was on his knees and attaching his greedy mouth to your clit. Both legs thrown over his shoulders and your back pushed against the cold wall, he devoured your cunt like it was the last time he’d ever taste it.

Since it was so late at night, the gym was practically empty which meant no one was there to disturb you. Then again, it was only 35 minutes until closing so you didn’t have a lot of time before an employee came to check for any stragglers.

But that was all the time Jungkook needed.

Hands digging into the juiciness of your ass, he forced you back and forth on his cock, the tip hitting you so deep that you were sure he was rearranging your guts.

Your knees shook from the force, still a little weak from the orgasm he just ripped out of you from eating you out. Now another one was steadily building, ready to spill over like a full glass.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the recoil on your ass. He didn’t know if immediate results from squats was a thing(you sure acted like it was) but for some reason, your ass looked even better as it clapped against his pelvis.

“Fuck baby. This ass….” He groaned, swiftly bringing his hand down on it. The water caused it to sting even more but you loved it.

“Make me cum, Kookie.” You whined and who was he to deny?

His hips continued his rough pace, hands molding and squeezing at your ass as if it was a block of clay. As his head rolled to the side in pleasure, his eyes saw something, a mischievous grin that you couldn’t see spreading across his face.

Grabbing your body wash, he flipped open the cap. You were so lost in the sauce that you didn’t even hear it, too focused on the feeling of his cock jabbing into your soft spot.

Then you felt the cold gel hit your skin, a squeak of shock coming from you. You tried to turn your head to see what Jungkook was doing, only to drop it when he readjusted himself to start hitting your spot repeatedly.

“Ooooo…fuck!”

Jungkook’s wet hands rubbed the soap all around, lathering it up all across your ass until the brown of your skin was covered in soapy bubbles. “Throw it back, baby.”

Using your arms as leverage, you tossed your ass back on him as hard as you could, the clapping noises drowning out the pounding water against the tile. It was too hot and hard to breathe but neither of you cared enough to stop, those delicious highs just over the hill. Your legs burned from your workout and you knew you’d be properly sore tomorrow but the feeling of Jungkook’s cock was just too good. You’d pop some IcyHot patches on later.

“I’m bout to cum, baby.” You cried, reaching a hand back to grip one of your soapy ass cheeks. Jungkook’s hot gaze followed the bubbles as they dripped down the crack and around his cock.

He was about to cum. Hard.

Reaching out to grab your shoulder, other hand still on your ass, he drove his cock into you so fast that the seat of your ass actually hurt from how hard his pelvic bones were hitting it.

Your orgasm hit before his, your mouth dropping open in a drawn out moan as fervid pleasure rushed down your back. Jungkook still didn’t stop as you came, a second orgasm hitting you right after the first. Your knees buckled inward from the pure force but Jungkook kept you balanced, thrusting a few more times before he reached his own peak.

“Ahhh….” He groaned, filling you to the hilt as his creamy cum painted thick ropes inside you.

After regaining your breaths, Jungkook helped you stand on your weak knees. You turned around to face him, wrapping your arms around his neck to place a smooch on his lips.

“My legs hurt.” You sighed.

“Told you you have bad stamina. Ow! That hurt!” He cried, rubbing the spot where you pinched him.

“Don’t push it, Jeon. Now let’s go home so I can rest my legs.”

“But I thought you said you’d show me your stamina when we got- ow!”

[undreaming-fanfiction]

Joining the Steddie Valentine avalanche!

In all Steve's previous relationships, he was the one taking care of everything related to the Valentine's Day. Chocolates, roses, a nice candlelit dinner, a romantic movie - he did it all because it was expected of him. And sure, he enjoyed doing it, he loved showering his dates with gifts and affection, but it was always about meeting someone else's needs. And sure, dating a guy might be different, but Steve is a giver so he's fully prepared to do the whole spiel with Eddie. He's not fully sure if Eddie would like roses so he's researching, trying to blend the typical Valentine activities and gifts with Eddie's uniqueness. He wants everything to be perfect for Eddie because damn it, he deserves it more than anyone.

So when Eddie shows up under his window after his shift on February 7th, blasting Van Halen's "Why Can't This Be Love", just briefly shouting "stay up there baby, I'm serenading you here and for that you need a balcony or something!" before belting out the lyrics, adding a comment here and there that has Steve snickering in his window:

Whoa, here it comes That funny feeling again Winding me up inside Every time we touch

"And I would love to talk about the touching bit more but you've got neighbors, baby, and they're a nosy bunch, so-"

Hey, I don't know Oh, tell me where to begin 'Cause I never, ever, felt so much Hey!

And I can't recall Any love at all Oh, baby, this blows 'em all away

"And before you ask, yep, wanna talk about the blowing bit too, but still neighbors, we're moving to a cave in the mountains, I tell you..."

It's got what it takes So, tell me why can't this be love? Straight from my heart Oh, tell me why can't this be love?

He ends up kneeling under the window as the tape clicks and he looks at Steve with those large dark eyes, flashes him a toothy grin and digs in his pockets, producing a surprisingly well preserved envelope. "Steve Harrington, the sun of my life which, unlike real sun, isn't hurting my skin or making my head spin, well actually you do the second thing, but in a good way! So you're the superior sun for me. Where was I. Oh yeah. Be my Valentine? In a week. I think. I double-checked the calendar, so it should be a week. What do you say, pretty boy? You and me and some romance? Please say yes, I'm kneeling in the snow here and it's cold as fuck."

Steve is still wheezing with laughter when he assures Eddie that he will be his Valentine, he will be the sun of his life or anything he needs and offers to let him in and warm him but, but Eddie just blows him a kiss, wiggles his finger and shakes his head. "Na-ah Stevie, I've got preparations to do. Which means, no planning or worrying your pretty head, I will handle everything for our big day. Let me just slide this bad boy in," he shows the envelope again, "which I would love to, but innuendos aside, it's just this paper thing and through your door. Open it on the morning of 14th, yeah? And follow the instructions."

And Steve just smiles down at him and blows him a kiss in return, feeling silly but also excited. "Don't I always?"

They end up calling each other in the evening of February 13th, chatting about anything and everything. Steve starts yawning but when Eddie nudges him to go to sleep, he firmly rejects. "I consider anything past midnight morning, you know," he tells Eddie and Eddie's cackling fills his ears as they wait together for the date to change into 14th.

When Steve tears the envelope open with Eddie's quiet blessing, he's surprised to see that there's nothing concrete. Just Be ready at 10, Stevie. Comfortable clothes and that pretty smile of yours are the only two things you'll need.

Eddie snickers when Steve asks him about it. "You always follow instructions, Steve, but you're way too smart about it for your own good. See you in ten hours, love you!" And with that, the phone goes silent.

Steve Harrington knows exactly how Valentine's day normally goes. It's fairly pleasant. Very romantic, all that. It never occurred to him that maybe things could be different...and better.

Eddie picks him up at 10 with hot coffee in travel cups. He asks Steve to hold both and when he does so, Eddie reaches behind his back and produces a single flower, tucks it into Steve's hair. "Flowers are not ideal for where we're going, but there's no way you're not getting at least one," he says, quickly checks the neighborhood and presses his lips against Steve's cheek before heading to his van.

And out of all places he could have thought of, Eddie takes him to a basketball game. He proudly presents the tickets and ushers Steve in, squeezing next to him into uncomfortable plastic chairs. And Steve just stares because he was supposed to be the one taking care of things, he was supposed to choose whatever Eddie likes but Eddie is here, smiling at him, even looking excited. He can't help but ask then, thank him profusely, but Eddie didn't have to, they both know it's not exactly Eddie's thing, is Eddie going to be okay-

But Eddie stops him right there with a squeeze of his hand, warm against Steve's. "I appreciate you thinking about me, Steve, you always do and I love you for it. But you deserve something nice too, you know? And sure, I originally thought - let me give you the whole thing, flowers, chocolates, fancy dinner, but...the more I thought about it, it wasn't you. Or it was, but not really? Because I don't know if you really like those things, if you want to be reminded of those formal dinners with your parents, if you want to sit in a restaurant where we can't even share a dessert because people would be assholes about it. Here," he turns to the crowd humming with anticipation, "no one cares. No one watches us. So we can do something you like and I can hold your hand. And," he admits, pulling a strand of hair in front of his face, "I might have found your...comparison to chess or even strategic games inspiring. It sort of is like a battle. And I need a good fight dynamic for my next campaign for all those nuggets of yours, so...happy Valentine's day, Steve." He phrases it as a question, unsure whether Steve found the explanation enough, but the beaming smile and interlocking of their fingers tells him everything he needs.

Steve doesn't spend the Valentine's day of 1987 sitting in a restaurant with a pretty girl. He goes wild cheering with Eddie by his side, Eddie who shares his hobby as if it was his all along. Their hands are comfortably slotted together and they are drunk on it, being together in public, side by side. When the cheering gets too loud and Steve winces, his head warning him that the noise was too much, Eddie just smiles and reaches into his pocket, producing a carefully wrapped pair of earplugs.

Steve doesn't eat a fancy pasta dish, terrified his fingers will slip and the spaghetti will fly everywhere. He returns with Eddie to his and Wayne's small home (Wayne conveniently having a shift and then stopping by Scott's) where Eddie proudly presents him with a bucket of KFC because "I've heard from a reliable source that someone finds this finger lickin' good." The painful memory has been long overshadowed by the new love and Steve listens to more of Eddie's rambling, explanations on how he thought it's either something he knows Steve likes or experimenting and then eating an inedible disaster, and Steve can't help himself but kiss Eddie to shut him up so he can tell him it's perfect.

Steve doesn't watch a romantic comedy or a period drama that day. Instead, Eddie sits him down to The Golden Girls, one of Steve's not so guilty pleasures, and combs through his hair, laughing at the jokes and arguing with Steve which of the characters is the best.

Steve doesn't get a card, a box of chocolates or something similar. Instead, Eddie gives him a mix tape with all the songs that remind him of Steve, with short recorded explanations in between. Steve wants to keep the tape - and Eddie - forever.

And finally, Steve doesn't give Eddie any generic gift either. Instead, he presents Eddie with curtains for his new room - because Eddie is a self-proclaimed vampire and the morning after Valentine, Steve examines his neck and wonders if those claims were true - with an illustration he commissioned from Will, the Hellfire logo next to the Corroded Coffin one in vivid colors on the textile. As Eddie turns a lovely shade of pink and sputters how wonderful that is, Steve reaches around Eddie's neck and gently claps a chain there, letting Eddie examine the new guitar pick with a small "S+E" engraved into the back side.

Steve Harrington didn't do a single thing he normally does on a Valentine's day during 1987. And, as he whispered to Eddie under their covers when they were falling asleep, now that he saw what the holiday could be about, he could never go back.

[thesherrinfordfacility]

im borderline animalistic where the 40s scenes are concerned and i have a lot of feelings about them that deserve a thorough run down now that we've had more delicious🍲 content🍲 and im in full fledged soup mode

ive talked about a lot of these different bits in different posts but i feel it's a good point to pull them altogether and build on them now that we've had more content, so yeah a lot of this will just be me repeating myself

major kudos, thanks, and my eternal soul goes to @theeminentlyimpractical (prev @lalie-go), im convinced someone visited them in the night and bestowed them the true gift of prophecy that in this instance has been the equivalent of pouring kerosene over the dumpster fire that is my brain rn,,,,,, and they're much smarter and more observant than me and that needs celebrating

✨inhale✨

so ive always been intrigued by the juxtaposition of the 1941 church scene and then the 1967 bentley scene from my very first watch of s1 because their tones are so polar opposite to each other.

you have the church scene (specifically the aftermath) which is so tender and revelatory and hesitant, but like in the same way that a baby bird takes flight for the first time. and it's almost voyeuristic in that you literally see the moment where aziraphale realises that he's in love with crowley. that moment is so deeply personal and vulnerable that it's almost painful to watch through the metaphorical keyhole.

it's a huge development moment for many reasons, but for me specifically bc i think aziraphale is somewhat convinced that he's the only one in on this giddy little secret, so he's a bit flirty and heart-eyed at crowley, but whole-pussy convinced that it's just a cutesy lil secret and he's really subtle and crowley won't cotton on.

then we have the bentley scene in '67, and it's so bloody cold, and awkward, and stilted, and almost hurts to watch - it's voyeuristic in a very different, bare way, in that we see aziraphale so closed off from crowley, but unable to help himself in getting involved because if he doesn't, crowley could end up getting seriously hurt, or wind up dead. and that's unthinkable, so aziraphale placates crowley with the holy water (because crowley will just simply get it another way), and controls the situation that way.

in fact, the whole scene is about aziraphale being in control - of the conversation, of the tension, of the entire emotion of the scene - and is in such contrast to the church scene where we see aziraphale as close to out-of-control as we've seen him so far, at least at that point chronologically. crowley attempts to weedle aziraphale into engaging with him, and aziraphale somewhat releases a little, mollifies him with the offer of a picnic or a dinner at the ritz...

and crowley latches onto this, onto this small chance that aziraphale is giving him, almost like he's trying to comfort aziraphale by offering, or trying to make amends for something. but aziraphale is back in control, never having really lost it, and closes off any opportunity of moving forward. he's regretful, we can see that on his face, but he needs to make space for himself, give himself room to breathe - like he's been suffocating.

now we come to what happens between these two points. i thought that something happened during the Dinner of '41, but now im not so sure. this is because it transpires that we have entirely separate scenes in the 40s era apart from the church and the dinner. but starting with the Dinner of '41, we see that aziraphale is coy, and employs his signature look-look-away mannerism which honestly i think is his biggest tell when it comes to crowley.

crowley is so chilled and relaxed in that scene - leaning back at this candlelit dinner, seemingly in his element, as if his inner monologue is just willing him to Be Cool™. im almost wondering if he's observed this candlelit dinner, and how aziraphale's acting, and is interpreting it as aziraphale just being grateful for saving him and his books, and wanting to make up after the holy water argument, no way does it mean anything more than that. but let's face it, crowley has been besotted for literal millennia and will take anything he can get, any scraps aziraphale cares to throw him.

and now that we know there's further 40s content in the form of the windmill theatre, and aziraphale's magic act. there's a few things to remark on that set the scene (once again the vast majority of which stems from lalie so all apollo memes are to be flung their way thanks)

we know that aziraphale performs a magic show at the windmill theatre, and is accompanied backstage by a well dress older woman and vaudeville/burlesque-style dancers

that woman is played by dame siân phillips, and neil alluded that georgia tennant was in discussions for a role which she ultimately turned down as she didn't feel she was the right fit for someone with that amount of historical importance - which points very firmly to this being the same role, and that role being laura henderson (owner of the windmill)

on a similar historical note, the windmill's theatre manager was vivian van damm (advice: read up on him, he was a genius as concerns finding loopholes in indecency laws at the time), who was VP of the London magician's club, and "held charity shows at the Windmill Theatre"

we know that on the set, along with aziraphale being in his magician's outfit and crowley in his 40s outfit, there were extras dressed up in period-appropriate military uniforms

the opening sequenece shows a bus with "Wings for Victory" on the side. WfV Weeks were campaign weeks in the UK during ww2, starting in march 1943, where each county (US translation in case it gets confused: counties in the UK are almost like states in the US) was essentially set with a target to raise money for the war effort (specifically RAF i think?) and would have competitions with each other to raise the most.

so i feel at this point it can be reliably surmised that WfV was running, a couple of years after the Dinner of '41, and aziraphale (probably having fallen in love with magic after coming across this magician's club of van damm's), get roped into doing a WfV performance at the Windmill.

where is crowley in this, you ask? well he could very well have just seen aziraphale advertised as an act, or if they're still on good speaking terms aziraphale may have simply told him. i feel though that is almost an unspoken hobby of aziraphale's, judging by the crowley s1 reaction to aziraphale liking magic, and ordinarily crowley wouldn't be caught dead discorporated going to a magic show.

now a couple of years previous, we hear glozier say to crowley, "anthony j. crowley! your fame precedes you". but why? why is crowley famous? it doesn't strike me as quite right that crowley is a secret agent or anything, however much a bond nerd he is. but it is the kind of area where i could imagine crowley gets caught up in... so what if he has a job in the heart of soho as (and stick with me here)... a bouncer?! think about it - working hands-on in a sordid, seedy theatre (at least that's how he would spin it to hq) but gets to be outright fiendish to any patrons getting a little too frisky? i think it's PERFECT but whatever-

in any case, i feel like this would just be one of those brilliant coincidences where aziraphale and crowley have an it's always sunny moment, a hilarious double take at each other in the theatre, but aziraphale is quickly whisked off to get ready and get on stage, but not a moment before my boy absolutely bricks it as he's about to go on (this screenshot seriously sends me each time it's so funny). i truly believe that a lot of dutch courage was drunk and a lot of miracles were employed that night haha

so fast forward post performance, and we get this utterly adorable shit being cutesy in his dressing room, congratulating himself on a job well done, spinning around in his lil feather boa, adrenaline (or whatever the angelic equivalent is) pumping, heart racing, just being a complete diva. its aziraphale's world and we're just living in it:

and then crowley comes in, still completely bemused as to what he's just witnessed, and maybe not expecting to encounter an incandescent, bubbling, and probably bladdered af angel spinning around in a fluffy feather boa dancing his approximation of the can-can. aziraphale whirls around, "CROWLEY!!! DID YOU SEE ME?! 💃", and starts blathering about how it all went and how it was so nerve wracking but once he got in the swing of it it was perfect and amazing and oh crowley did you see it, did you see me-

all the while getting crowley (who btw feels like he's just stepped into the twilight zone and not quite sure what to do with himself) totally covered in feathers and, and-

now idk if i feel like anything zesty happening between the two of them would be hugely out of character. and it probably is, and ive probably just provided the fodder material for about a thousand fics, but look if im right in this, im never shutting up about it as long as i fucking live-

what if then aziraphale in his alcohol-fuelled joy just leaps at crowley? huge smothering hug, feather boa and all, and is just essentially vibrating with the happiness and pride and whimsy? and he does that coquettish look-look-away thing that he does? and crowley - oh, crowley my baby boy - knows he should probably slam that pause button because this angel is utterly soused and definitely is not thinking straight... but just wants to soak up how happy and flirty aziraphale is right now? yum up another scrap tossed in his direction, but potentially misreads it all a little bit wrong, and try to take the next step? and aziraphale-

aziraphale very quickly sobers up, entirely miracle-less, and just gets the tiniest bit (see: fucking horrendously) spooked? WOAH this is a bit beyond where i wanted to go? no crowley, we can't do this? i can't do this? im still an angel and im not ready for this?

and someone walks in - it's not aziraphale's dressing room after all. we know from the opening sequence that there's a box in the theatre (which i think is just the artistic depiction of the dressing room scene, not an actual box), from which we see a figure lurking behind aziraphale just as they pull away...

im fully aware that this is completely theoretical and equally improbable but huns my purpose on this site is to provide unhinged commentary as content gets released and ill be DAMNED if anyone says I don't deliver ✨

is this what happens? that there's a very hurried, guilty shuffle away from each other, a very deliberate effort on aziraphale's part not to look at crowley, and a hasty and frightened exit from aziraphale just as crowley is about to apologise? he only just got his angel back after the holy water tantrum, and he's already pushed him away again, by going too fast?

(SIGH EDIT: so i guess the above paragraph does happen but it's got me wondering if the people that interrupt them are glozier and harmony fresh off the national express coach from hell? idk it still kinda fits? tentative but plausible (lmao this sums up my approach to gomens speculation, tentative but plausible))

[beanghostprincess]

Sometimes I scroll through your blog just to Vibe and Turn Off The Brain bc Safe Space Energy, and every single time, I go "Yeah this is great, nice and chill, no thought, head happy-" and then I get SLAMMED with ideas for fics.

Like. Your opinions and takes and tastes are PEAK and so full of inspiration,,,,,,

I am currently in an AroAce Luffy Mood so accept my crew x Lu ideas

ZoLu as a partnership where they call one another Their Boyfriend, and they pass as a romantic relationship. Luffy doesn't really Get Romantic Feelings but he DOES love. He has squishes on his whole crew, but Zoro is His Zoro.

Zoro, for his part, is aromantic or some flavor thereof where his devotion to Luffy is maybe romantic love, maybe platonic love, who cares, he'd do anything for his captain.

Simultaneously, Luffy has a queer platonic relationship with most people on the crew, they are HIS and the only boundaries he'll respect at the ones they establish. Who cares about propriety? They're PIRATES!

After different arcs, Luffy gets Clingier to certain people - it's either New Friend Fawning or Not So Hidden Abandonment Issues Cropping Up. Sometimes it's just a need for comfort, either on his end or for one of his people.

Sanji spent a long time keeping everyone... kind of at arm's length. Ussop and he wind up falling into orbit, and life isgood, is beautiful, Sanji is so happy - but he also is so terrified.

He will follow his captain to the end of the world, and he loves his crew, his friends, with everything he has. There is no where on the planet he'd be safer than there, with them. But Luffy's eyes, so dark and searching and Seeing - they make him antsy. It's alright in passing, in energetic moments. It's unbearable during those rare moments of calm examination. Sanji makes it clear very early on that he's not into that.

It's only after WCI that Luffy grabs Sanji into a tight hug late one evening, them both sitting up, awake and alone in the small kitchen. It's then that calloused rubber hands cup a stubble dotted jaw, a forehead pressed to forehead, and brown-black-red eyes meet blue and Luffy just... waits.

And Sanji? Oh, he's tired. He's tired, he's sad, he's hurt but he's safe and-

He's Luffy's.

He is baptized under that gaze that night with hot cocoa in their tongues and warmth in their hearts and Sanji lets himself have this. It doesn't matter if he deserves it, it doesn't matter if it's alright, all that matters is that It Is, that he can claim it for himself.

Just. Idek where I was going with this honestly. Just AAAAAAAAAAA

You can't just say I'm a comfort blog for you and not expect me to start crying 😭😭💖💖💖 That's the nicest thing ever, please,,, Sobbing. I'm glad you like my posts <33 And I'm always in an aroace/aroaspec Luffy mood so PLEASE tell me your thoughts 💛💛

Aroace Zolu is so funny to me. They're a third secret thing. It's like they are not boyfriends but they are boyfriends but actually that's just how first mates/captains are with each other but they're special and unlike anybody else and-- You get me.

And I agree btw I think Luffy has QPR relationships everywhere in the crew (I mean. Mostly east blue crew but yeah) because his way of loving is more than just friendship but it's not romantic love either? And they don't need a word for that because they are pirates so it doesn't matter at all what labels they use as long as they're happy with it.

The last part btw????? Do you want me to CRY?????? Aghhh. I love Sanji opening up and accepting the love Luffy has to offer him. It's my favorite flavor of Lusan.

This was great,, Awesome incredible even,,, Made my day <33

[wordy-little-witch]

Hiiii stay hydrated:D also i just wanna ask if u can share some shuggy and crossguild headcanons?👉👈

Yeah of course! Thank you for the ask, lovely ♡ isk if you mean generic ones or romantic specific so I'll have both ♡♡♡

Shuggy

• Shanks was taken in on the Oro as a baby. Buggy was taken in a few years later, are 5-7 ish depending on adaptation ((my fanfic is around 7~ but that's Lore Based so whatever)). Regardless, Shanks was the first person Buggy actively showed signs of Trusting, despite his flailing and screaming. Shanks was attached from the get-go, and they very quickly became attached at the hip.

• fun fact: pirate captains had jurisdiction to officiate weddings for the crew. Shanks and Buggy got 'married' when they were about 9, thereabouts. Roger officiated it. It was really cute and simple and the boys both still have their rings from that day safely tucked away.

• Buggy is gender non-conforming, and the Roger Pirates were all really chill about it after the first few teasing events got shot down either by Roger himself or Shanks going nuclear on them. When Red first saw Buggy presenting more femme, he absolutely started blabbering, blushing as bright as his hair, and then proceeded to trip on his own feet, flail, and smashed his face into a wall. Buggy had to take him to Crocus for the nosebleed. He broke his nose. To this day, Buggy still won't let him live it down.

• the breakup in Loguetown goes a little differently because I simply Do Not Subscribe To That. They still had the moment in the rain. They still argued. Buggy still ran off. But Shanks when after him. It was them against the world, a notion hammered home with their sudden forced independence as the remaining adults on the crew left them behind in a town now dyed in their grief and agony.

Buggy could have hidden his presence away so thoroughly that he was but an invisible wisp in the world, but he doesn't. Shanks finds him. Drops to his knees at his back. Wraps him into a hug, face buried in dripping blue locks. There is silence between them.

"Why," Buggy chokes out, a million questions in one.

Shanks clings, breathes deeply, and sobs. "I'm scared." It's an answer to all of them. It's an excuse. It's a cry for help. It's a confession.

Buggy takes his hand, tilts his head back, rain running rivers down his face. He tells himself that's the only thing dripping on his cheeks, denies the burning in his eyes. "I am too."

They sit there together in the rain for what could be minutes, hours, days. They find comfort in each other, their edges raw and jagged but still theirs. The places they used to fit don't mesh as seamlessly anymore, but they're still there, still each other's. New, but not lost. Changed, but not finished.

• Shanks and Buggy still get on like cats and dogs, but they keep in touch. They aren't necessarily co-captains like they'd daydreamed in their youth, not enemies as they'd feared in their adolescence. They are allies, their crews parallel and cooperative. The Redhair Pirates are the Brawn. The Buggy Pirates are the Brains. They have their own specializations, their own strengths and weaknesses, but it is never hidden that they are more than allies, sister crews in all but name. The Red Force welcomes Buggy with open arms, and his word is as powerful as Shanks' on the deck and in the winds. Likewise, Shanks has equal authority with Buggy's crew and ship as well. It's a carefully kept secret.

• Marineford occurred and was the first meeting between them for a few years. Buggy, nerves shot, exhausted, half starved, and still impacted from his time as a prisoner in Impel Down, latches to Shanks, so Safety, to Home like a starfish. Of course, most perceive his version of latching as antagonism, but everyone who Knows just knows.

• they curl up together in the captain's cabin, and Shanks has Buggy strip bare so he can look over all the wounds and press kisses and care into pale, freckled flesh. Eventually he wraps Buggy into one of his robes, angles his body to hold the other in his lap, and sits on the bed as a silent sentry. Buggy, finally safe, finally warm, finally able to rest, simply shatters, sobs wracking his body as he clings and wails and panics, finally falling from survival mode and baring the weight of the entirety of his ordeal. Shanks holds him through it all.

• once things die back down, once both are little more functional, a little less clinging in codependency, they have a discussion. The Navy knows. The world is changing. They have options to choose from and choices then to make. They opt to stop hiding their alliance, raising the curtains for the final act as it were. Only nobody makes an explicit announcement, neither are flying each other's flags, and the behaviors remain mostly the same. They "stop hiding" and yet still incredibly few motice any difference - and fewer still put together the pieces. The Marines don't see the forest for the trees.

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Cross Guild

• Crocodile decided on that stolen Marine shop, escaping prison, that the Clown was Hiding Something. He was intriguing. So when an opportunity presented for that loan, he accepted.

• Mihawk knew tangentially that there was a "history" between Shanks and the Clown, though he will admit he tuned most of the details out after the fifth drunken ramble about how soft that blue hair was. He could tell the other's Haki was unusual, and the dichotomy of his pedigree to his presentation was Odd to say the least. He was a puzzle, and Mihawk did enjoy a good puzzle in his spare time...

• falling in love with the clown was not on either of their itineraries, and yet between the bleeding of days, their touches flowed from harsh and bruising to softer, encouraging, searching, studying. It is only looking back that they can see how rapid a shift it was between the initial animosity to something cordial and hopeful, a span of less than a month. And Buggy was sharp eyed and sharp tongue through it all.

• apologies were given and forgiveness was earned through effort and dedication. They went from antagonistic opportunists to peaceful cohabitation with surprising ease once the first hurdles were conquered.

• with Buggy's trust came his Trust and friendship, a new experience for both dark haired men. Appreciation bled into affection, into attraction, and they were flustered by it, though neither would admit that.

• it is, ironically, when Shanks comes by Karai Bari that things begin shifting. For one, the argument that ensues is full of affection and comfortable proximity. Buggy's trusted commanders welcome the Redhairs like old friends, like fellows under their flag. Alvida and Beckman specifically gravitate to each other, the older man wordlessly offering her a cigarette while she passes over a bottle without even looking up. Shanks and Buggy meanwhile are smiling as they trade barbs, touches casual and accepted easily.

It culminates into Buggy telling Shanks to shut up, to which the taller gives a demand with a beaming grin. "Make me!"

Buggy huffed at him, rolling his eyes, but yanks the other down to press a charged kiss to his lips, leaving him flushed, a dopey smile enriched by the transferred pigment.

• Mihawk and Crocodile have a brief moment of disappointment at the signals received until Shanks perks up on seeing them. "Oh, Bugs! Are these the guys you told me about? Heya, Hawkeye! Long time no see, still as handsome as ever! And wow. Crocodile, huh? Bug was right, you are hot as fuck."

Buggy proceeds to die on the spot, flailing and screeching, but that has simply opened a floodgate.

The visit is brief, but it leads to further conversation topics, spread carefully across the following days.

Yes, Buggy and Shanks are together. They have been since they were kids.

No, they aren't exclusive. Open relationship.

Yes, they are technically allied. No, not under one or the other flag. Equal allied.

Oh. Um. Yeah, they can... have more than one relationship. Why do you ask...?

• Buggy calls Shanks that night. "Why do I always attract the big burly doms???"

"You're just so submissive and breedable, Bugs. Also hey, I'm a switch :/"

"I know but you get my poi- wait I'm WHAT-??"

• Cross Guild courting is hilarious and also really cute. Mihawk runs on acts of service, Crocodile on gift giving, Buggy is a melting pot of love languages. They mix well enough, but the three of them temper each other as well. It's balanced out perfectly with them as such.

• Mihawk and Shanks as a result also end up falling in together tangentially. Buggy becomes Their balancing agent as well - he can redirect Shanks' endless energy, can curb and correct Mihawk's faux pas. He is bouncy enough to meet Shanks bit for bit, but also calm enough to pull him back some to meet Mihawk's lower energy levels and offer balance between them. It's organic and refreshing.

• Crocodile only has eyes for Mihawk and Buggy, but he is friendly enough with Shanks. Even if the redhead calls him his boyfriend-in-law. It's mildly annoying, but to be fair, Crocodile has since accepted that he apparently LIKES annoyances. Whether that is natural inclination or a result of his life experiences is to be determined. /hj

• Buggy gets treated like a princess, and when either of his boyfriends call him that or give him the royal treatment, he absolutely melts into a clown puddle.

• on that note, down the line, it is brought up to the Guild throuple that Shanks would be fine if they also got married. He gets it, after all. It's a special promise, and he knows Buggy is a catch. They discuss it sometimes, and eventually decide that... yeah. They would like that.

• there's some debate over who would officiate it, and Shanks ultimately decides for them by volunteering as an ally, captain and fellow polycule member. The logistics of marriage is wacky and the group winds up Dividing to conquer.

• Buggy, who makes most of his clothes or sources them to the crew seamstresses and tailors, goes out looking for fabric that will work for what he has in mind.

Who does he run into on that island but that rubber dumbass in a hat who is also apparently God too, how quaint. Luffy is bright and bold and asking a million questions. Buggy answers as best he can, already feigning annoyance and anger but still patient. The boy reminds him so much of Shanks when he was young it's bittersweet.

Eventually Luffy asks what Buggy is doing on this island. And Buggy answers. "I'm shopping for some fabric." Luffy gets excited, asks to help. He's supposed to be on his best behavior, he rambles, Nami said so, but he got distracted and is bored now. Can he help??

Buggy agrees. Luffy wans to know what the fabric is for. So the clown pirate pulls out his sketch, holds it up. "I need something for the bodice and some lace. Maybe some tulle if I can find it for the ruffles."

Luffy studies it closely. "That's a wedding outfit."

"Yeah"

"Is it yours?"

"Mhmm."

"I thought you were married to Shanks?"

"I am. I'm gonna marry my other boyfriends, too. Red's gonna officiate."

"Oh! Congratulations! I think I saw a fabric store over that way!"

The day is actually pretty sweet and fun. Buggy's got a good grasp on working with Luffy's attention span - it isn't all that different from Shanks'. By the end of it, he even treats the kid to some ice cream.

"I wish I could be there," Luffy admits with strawberry syrup on his cheek.

Buggy wipes it away absently with his thumb. "Why?"

"You're my friend! And you're Shanks's wife, he told me so when I was really little. And I like you, Buggy. You're weird but cool and you have a good heart and your sound is nice, too."

Buggy tenses. "My sound...?"

"Mhmm," Luffy continues like he hadn't just shocked the absolute hell out of the clown beside him. "It's like windchimes and this whirring sound but it's also kinda like clouds, too? It's hard to explain. Shanks' sound is weird too, like-"

"-bottles clacking together, lots of voices, and fire."

"Yeah!! How did you know?"

Buggy puts his ice cream down, rubbing his forehead. How does one explain early onset oversensitive observation haki to a teenager?

"Mystery power," he decides on.

Luffy nods. "Ah. Got it."

They go back to their ice cream. After a few moments, Buggy sighs. "You.... ugh. You could, you know?"

"Hm?"

"Come to the wedding."

Luffy beams for all of a moment, eyes tinting red over his irises before he sags with a frown. "But.. Shanks will be there."

"Yeah?"

"I can't, then."

"What? Why not? Thought you loved that ginger dumbass."

"I do! But we promised.. " his hand drifted to The Hat, a woven straw tapestry of trauma and comfort for Buggy. He frowned.

"What was the promise anyway?"

"I'd give the hat back when I was a great pirate."

".... Luffy. Look at me." Blue eyes met blackened maroon unflinchingly. "I'm a trickster, right?" Luffy nodded. "That means I'm good at understanding words and finding loop holes - meaning I can find exceptions to rules that don't even break them." Luffy nodded again, more slowly. "It's not cheating. It's working the system."

"Like Nami."

"Like Nami, yes. You promised to give the hat back when you're a great pirate. I'd say you're already a phenomenal pirate now, but that's just me. Understand?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, cool. So you give the hat back when you're great. Where does it say that you can't SEE him until then?"

"... but-"

"Nope! Taking it literally here, kiddo, work with me. You promised to give the hat back. He never said, and You Never Agreed, to not see him until then. Just to meet him there to give the hat back. You can totally see the idiot, and it isn't even breaking the promise."

"So I can come to your wedding?"

"Sure, kiddo. And wanna hear a secret?"

"Yeah!"

"I think Shanks would love to see you."

".... really?" His voice was softer, quieter, more juvenile than Buggy had ever heard it.

The blue haired man offered a smile, reaching out to ruffle raven locks. "I promise, I think he'd love to see you."

The rest of the day goes by easily, and Buggy writes down the island the wedding is planned for, his denden number, the date, time, and theme.

"Give it to your navigator," he tells the young man with a smile, "you and your crew is welcome. Just try not to cause too much mayhem, okay?"

"Alright! Thanks, mama Bug! I'll see you later!"

Luffy is vanishing into the streets before Buggy can respond, blinking as the other disappears. He sighs, a smile quirking his lips. "Mama, huh...?" He tilts his head up, looks at the sky. He thinks of another dark haired man in a strawhat, one who called him his pirate princess and supported Buggy through all of his experimental years. He huffed a laugh. "Ay, Captain, I hope you can see this shit show. Tides are changing..." He turned his gaze towards the docks, towards a brightly colored and bold, unapologetic, Free ship at the furthest end. ".... and time waits for no man. Or clown, I guess."

Chuckling, Buggy gathers his wares, turns on his heel, and makes his way back.

He'll have to rework the food budget to account for another D., after all.

[peqchsoup]

and/or prompt 39 for tangerine x reader please? 👀👀👀

Anything for my fave <3

Lol I said I would post this last night and then I just didn't so here it is now

PS. It hasn't been proofread so ignore any mistakes :)

I Can't Stand You

Tangerine x reader

Rated M

CW: lots of swearing, mentions of death, reader is an assassin

You were supposed to be on holiday.

You thought that you would get the train from Tokyo to Kyoto and finish your two-week holiday in the once-capital of Japan to visit traditional Buddhist temples and relax.

Which is why, when you were reading your book, you were startled to see a man with a bucket hat and glasses sitting across from you.

"Hey. Hey!" He called to get your attention. You looked over the top of your book to see him leaning in close to you.

"Can I help you?" You could tell he was American. Bloody Americans.

"Listen, I'm hiding from this, like, crazy British guy and he's gonna come this way so could you help me out and just wear my hat, coat and glasses?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Uhh, I have, uh," he started going through his wallet, "two hundred bucks. Is that enough?"

You thought for a moment and sighed, two hundred dollars to sit in another guy's coat. You've done worse for less.

"Fine." "Yes!"

"Can I ask why you're hiding from some British guy?"

"Well I took something that him and his brother want and I don't even think they're related but people keep calling them twins, they're definitely not twins-"

"Hang on," You interrupted his rambling by holding your finger up to shush him, "twins you say?"

He looked confused, "Uh, yeah. But like I said, I don’t think they're-"

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Do these twins happen to go by fruity names?"

"Yeah?"

"Lemon and Tangerine?"

"Yeah, how did you know that?"

"I'm an old friend, shall we say?"

"Oh shit-"

"No no no, don't worry! Anything to piss Tangerine off, I'm on board. I'm still taking the money, though."

The man let out a heavy sigh of relieve, shoving off his jacket for you to put on yourself, before handing you his accessories.

"Thank you, again, for this!" He cried and then ran off to hide. You continued reading, quite excited to see Tangerine again. You and the twins weren't necessarily out to kill each other, you were just rivals. There was the time in Russia where you took down a political meeting of 9 people, and then the twins turned up ready to go in all guns blazing, only to be faced by you sitting comfortably in the chair at the top of the table with your feet propped on the table. There was the time in London where you had to steal a hand-sized cross that was worth millions more than you and you slipped it out from under the twins' noses. Watching them freak out from afar made that job your favourite. The twins weren't your biggest fans because you were always quicker, always smoother, always one step ahead. Lemon was never as easy to wind up, but Tangerine's temper was so short, it wouldn't take much for him to flip out, and nothing brightened your day more.

"Alright, game's up. Where's the case? Tell me and I'll only shoot you-" You placed your book down and turned to face Tangerine, not realising how close his face would be to yours.

"Tangerine!"

"Oh fuckin' hell"

"Long time, no see, bud. How's it going? How's Lemon?"

"Everything's fucking fantastic."

Tangerine grabbed you by the collar and pulled you towards the gangway and into the tiny train bathroom. He closed the door behind him and backed you against the wall.

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"The guy."

"What guy?"

"The guy who made you wear his fucking glasses! Where is he?"

"Oh, him! I don't know."

"I can't fucking stand you, do you know that?" "I figured." "You're always in the fucking way. I can't take a single step without your big mouth already being there." "You think about my mouth? That's weird."

"No, I don't think about your mouth."

"Well that's what you made it sound like."

"Well I didn't mean it that way." "Does that mean you fancy me?"

"What?"

"Do you think about my mouth because you fancy me?"

"Will you just shut the fuck up for two fucking minutes!"

You leaned against the wall, eyes wide,  slightly stunned at the volume of his little outburst. He turned to face the door, locked it, and turned back to face you. You took a few steps forward but before you could say anything, Tangerine grabbed your face in both of his hands and pressed his lips against yours, walking you backwards until your back hit the wall. Your tongues met and fireworks went off in your head. Tangerine's hands were everywhere: your neck, your shoulders, your chest, your hips. He didn't want to leave any part untouched. Your hands simply found his hair and settled there for the duration of the kiss. You pulled away for air, both panting in each other's faces. You pulled one of your hands out of his hair to cradle his cheek.

You smirked, "I thought you couldn't stand me." Tangerine let out a breathy laugh, "I can't," and leaned down to kiss you again.

NB: Requests are open!!

[nevermindirah]

a public transit meet-cute

inspired by this post

"Your ticket is for this time next week," the clerk had said.

Nile could come back in a week, but the whole point of this trip is to see her dad, and his leave will be over by then. Damnit.

She's doing her best to pull herself together when she hears someone say, "Excuse me."

The man says he couldn't help overhearing and offers her the spare ticket he suddenly has because his friend ditched him. Which is so kind. Unfortunately, this train is only going as far as Frankfurt.

"Of course. Well, just in case, here's the list of the 5 places this ticket is going between here and Budapest."

"No way."

"Sorry?"

"I'm supposed to be going to Budapest."

"Would you... still like to?"

"Wow, um, yeah. Thank you." Like, wow. This is beyond lucky. And nice of this person. Whose name she doesn't know yet. "I'm Nile."

She and her rail station hero both go to shake hands and are both stymied by the fact that their hands are full of luggage. The awkward laugh they share is… nice.

"Sébastien," the man says with a cute little nod.

As they wait in the boarding line Nile asks what's bringing him to Budapest.

"Meeting friends," he says. "Minus Andy, who was supposed to be traveling with me, but her ex-wife barreled into town and swept her off her feet."

They chatter their way through the boarding line, then once they're settled in for the first leg of their trip, their conversation winds down to companionable silence. Nile spends most of the ride alternating between working on a research paper, doodling in her sketchbook, and just enjoying the view. Sébastien sits quietly next to her typing away at what from a few glances seems to be some kind of tech job.

Transferring is a little rushed but they make it onto their next train just fine. Sébastien naps for the first few hours of that leg while Nile finishes up her work. She's about to get dinner when he wakes up, so they go to the bistro car together.

Nile was lucky enough for a stranger to come by and solve her can't read the dates on train tickets problem. As the trip wears on she's finding just how much she hit the jackpot — she's having a great time hanging out with Sébastien.

If she'd booked for the right date, she would've been doing this exact same trip, only she probably would've missed her second transfer. Fortunately for her, Sébastien has a lot more experience hopping across Europe and was able to navigate them through a chaotic 7-minute layover.

The longest they stayed in one place for the rest of the trip was wherever they did their fourth transfer, a three hour and change layover that Nile spent most of asleep on Sébastien's shoulder. They'd gotten pretty comfortable with each other by then, she guessed. Or at least she had. He didn't seem to mind.

Finally they're on their fifth and final train of this ridiculous adventure. As the sun comes up, Nile gets an enormous coffee and starts to tell Sébastien all about what she and her dad have planned for their time together. She's talking a big game about what she'd like to do today as if she's not gonna crash by noon and need to head to the hotel for a long nap.

Sébastien and his friends are more play-it-by-ear about their plans, and more intent on night life than museums, but a few places are on both their lists.

"Who knows, maybe we'll run into each other," Nile says without really thinking about it.

But then Sébastien's eyes brighten. "I'd like that," he says.

Now that Nile's thinking about it, she'd like that too. A lot, actually.

"Hey, if you… if you want," Sébastien starts. "I don't know what your plans are, if you're going to stay the extra week or… If you wanted, I've got the extra seat for the return trip next Thursday."

She smiles. "Wow, thank you." With a little laugh, she adds, "Again."

"How about we exchange numbers, and you can let me know what you decide?"

Some things Nile later decides to do:

leave her dad at the hotel to enjoy an early night in while she goes to meet Sébastien and his friends at a bar

dance with Sébastien

kiss Sébastien

start calling him Seb

kiss him some more

take him up on his offer to travel back to Marseille with him

go on a real date with him, not with his friends in tow (though they're great) and not on various trains (though that was so much more fun than she could ever have imagined)

go back to his place >:)

marry him

[crestfallercanyon]

WEEKLY TAG WEDNESDAY

Thank you lovely people for tagging me! @energievie and @jrooc <3

---

name: crest

where the heck are ya? on a US coastline

do you believe in love at first sight? Kind of. I think, if two people present themselves honestly, there can be kind of a soft landing of love at first sight. A lot more than we realize is processed by our minds at once, first impressions are very powerful. While I don't really believe one can get that kind of deep well of an everlasting sort of love right at sight, I think you can clock someone and be like "hey, you -- I know I'm going to like you, I want to get to know you," and that I think means something. Sometimes that impression leads somewhere and other times... well. That's life, eh?

do you believe in soulmates? Sort of? I feel like between this question and the last one I'm completely flipped compared to a lot of people lol -- but relationships take work, even someone who seems to understand you organically at every level, you can still let that link fade by neglect. Or even not neglect, you can experience and react to different stimuli and grow apart, especially if you go too long without kind of reconnecting. Like the last question, love at first sight will fizzle if you don't pursue it and try to make it work. Soulmates, to me, aren't written in the stars or whatever, they're not destiny -- they're made out of deciding that with this person, you're going to put in that work. And maybe someone will come around and say "well why do you pick that person? it's because it was fate," but I don't really believe that, because there's a lot of factors as to why, at least personally, I put in work with some people but not with others. There were opportunities to become close with very different people than who I am close with now, but I chose not to. I chose the people I did. It was my active choice. So, yeah, there's a very long winded answer on this little tag question game.

what’s a song you’ve been loving? Habits by Genevieve Stokes

how about a show you’ve been loving? You may have noticed the sudden constant reblogging of Dimension 20, but I've been really into Dropout's D&D campaigns I've watched thus far.

your ultimate OTP: That's a tricky question! I don't really -- I feel like this goes off my soulmate/lafs question but I think you can make anything pretty viable if you develop it right. Maybe Idgie and Ruth from Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)? And actually, probably Gallavich (Ian Gallagher and Mickey Milkovich) from Shameless, because they always come back to each other, and there's something so lovely about that -- and I can't picture either of them truly with someone else.

your comfort book: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. I haven't read it in a very long time, but I read it so many times when I was a kid that -- it was my teacher's copy -- she just let me have it before I went to the next levels of school.

a fan work you adore (fic, art, manip, etc — tag the creator!): I loved makes a cathedral, him pressing against me by misandrywitch (Shameless (US)) and I also love all I want of the world, coming down by gyzym (Inception (2010)). (I do not know their tumblrs so I can't link them, but I can link to the stories!)

a trope that captures your heart: not really a trope but fanfiction and tumblr have kind of made it into one: "It's rotten work." "not to me, not if it's you," dynamics.

favorite candy: pomegranate filled dark chocolate

dark chocolate or white chocolate? dark. 100%.

romance novels or thrillers? I read lots of things that are thrilling and have romance, but I actually don't really read either of these genres on their own. Probably lean more toward romance novels?

pink or red? I like both. I own more red clothes. I only have one pink shirt.

and finally, spread some love! share words of encouragement, a positive message, or say something kind to yourself — it’s up to you! Happy valentines! Um, it truly is never too late to try. Really. Try that hobby that, yeah, you're going to start off being absolute shit at, but it's still worth trying if it interests you. I'm going to a figure drawing class tonight, and I'm likely going to be absolute trash at it, but that's my valentine's treat to myself. Or, you can try to fix a tattered relationship, you can try to mend it if you want -- I can't guarantee trying will fix it, but you will have tried, and that matters. Even if it's just trying the smallest thing, or an internal thing. It takes a lot of work to try, and I'm rooting for you if the thing you're trying hardest on is just trying to feel better about yourself. And you're never alone if you're trying! Everyone has tried something. Everyone can rejoice in the successful results from a good ol' college try, or they can sympathize with the failure of a try that didn't lead to anything, everyone has been part of that experience, so hopefully that's encouraging if nothing else. <3

---

Tagging, um, I think most people have been tagged, but here are a couple: @callivich , @michellemisfit , @mmmichyyy, and anyone else who would like to join!

[taruruchi]

☆ Azul and Taruchi's relationship timeline !

⚘ [ TAGS ] #slowburn #fell first fell harder #ansgt #it's been seven and a half chapters why haven't they confessed yet #but i will break them #chapter 7 🙏

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

Taruchi saw Azul and thought, "Man… He kinda scary." (Tbf she thought that about. Everyone) But also, "Wait, stop, he kinda pretty too"

Azul saw her and only went "??????" (as did the rest of nrc)

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐔𝐋 + 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐖

Nothing happened, though Taruchi did wonder about him and tried to catch glimpses of him in the halls

Though it was more out of admiration and curiosity

𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄

Taruchi probably died inside ngl. She had to give it to him—he pulled a very lawyer move. She did hate that fact too, because it meant more problems for her.

Remember when they spied on Azul?? Yeah… Yeah. She was totally not impressed at all, haha…

Anyways, she tried very, very hard to keep from hugging him after learning about his past. But she did offer many words of comfort. And died a little inside again when they went to the museum and that one scene happened. (pov the writer doesn't remember exactly what happened in the scene) She's thinking, "I probably don't like him and it's probably just admiration, right?" yet she still goes to the Mostro Lounge more often than she should

Azul probably just saw her as another problem. Did not understand why she was being so nice. "What is she trying to pull here?? Does she want some sort of compensation??" Yes. But nonetheless thankful. He probably offers her tiny discounts just as thanks, though he is wondering why she's there often. 

𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐀

Taruchi: Dying Inside Pt. 2. She was honestly terrified when they came crashing into the Mostro Lounge. They're broke as hell, how are they gonna pay for damages??? Thankfully they agreed to help her and was once again Dying Inside when they all had to stay in that one room. She was internally giggling when they had to head back to Scarabia together. Genuinely impressed all over again. Like. "How does he knows all this stuff… Wow…" In total awe. Then she thinks about how much she'd owe Azul in the end and starts internally sobbing. (The writer doesn't remember if they owed him something) In the end, she's worried it's not just admiration

(I don't remember if this is canon or not but whatever) I think Azul would just consider this as his payment for causing so much trouble when he overblotted. I also think this is where he actually learns a bit more about her? (We ignore that Jade collects info on people) Through the lesson stuff, he learns she's smart and understands quickly. He's slowly starting to learn she's just genuinely nice. But he's still quite on guard around her, especially considering she knows his past.

𝐏𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐎𝐑𝐄

Taruchi is sad she's busy nowadays and is mostly stuck at Ramshackle. Meaning she doesn't go to Mostro Lounge anymore bc by the end of the day she's too tired. She knows it might be unlikely since he was so busy with the Lounge, but she hoped that Azul would be at the VDC.

Azul was wondering why she hasn’t been to Mostro Lounge lately then finds she’s been dragged to help with the VDC. He’s not sure how he feels, it’s weird. Later on, he decides he might as well drop by VDC to see the performance. After all, it was the entire reason they’d have more customers. 

When the performance is done, they both see each other and talk for a bit… and they wind up spending the day just going around together. Azul goes back to his dorm more confused than before; meanwhile Taruchi is blushing all the way to her room and hides in her blanket. This night is sparkling don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck blushing all the way home

𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐈𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐄

Taruchi was in a classroom playing board games since the Board Game Club had met up. All of a sudden her friend and the lov— *coughing* her two friends are kidnapped??? She was RUNNING for a teacher but apparently other students were kidnapped too and she was friends with all of them. Maybe. Who knows about Leona

Oh, Rook is going after them? And Epel too? Well, count her in. She couldn’t do it on her own but she has two friends with her!! Me and the boys looking for classmates

The SHOCK when she discovers that one of her closest friends has done this. But also, so cool. But STILL how could he kidnap them all??

She’s relieved when she hears everyone is fine. Until it all goes downhill

When they finally meet up with everyone, it takes everything in Taruchi not to run to Azul and hug him… So she does that with everyone. But Leona. When she finally hugs Azul, it’s a little tighter and she says, “I’m so glad you’re okay.” Azul sighs and asks, “Now WHY would you come here willingly??” to which her response is “I wanted to save you. ...I mean— you as in everyone” and he shakes his head

When they have to split up, while Taruchi knows it’d be better to go with the Pomefiore group especially since they have two third-years, she desperately wants to go with Riddle and Azul. Rook sees that and he suggests that she go with them. “You’re both close to her and four in a group is a lot of people, hm?” Rook gives her a knowing smile and Taruchi smiles back.

She has to witness her two friends arguing and while their snide remarks make her let out a small giggle sometimes, she also tries to mediate. When they have to fight something, both of them jump forward to protect her so she's just 🧍‍♀️👍 At the part where they talk about their past and their dreams, she absolutely melts. She didn’t think she could admire Azul more than she did before, but apparently she was wrong. When they take a break and Azul talks about what he wants to do in the future, she listens so intently. And then he leans on her shoulder and falls asleep

She and Riddle whisper to each other: “Riddlehelpme” “What do you want me to do?? Move him??” “No, he might wake up!” “What then???” “I don’t know!! …Do you want to sleep too?” “No!”

Taruchi gets bored and she’s tired so she also falls asleep… leaning on Azul. Riddle tries to fall asleep but ends up leaning on Taruchi too. 

They all wake up like o_o and pretend it didn’t happen

Then they have a wild ride. Literally. And their scene is over once Riddle gets white hair and Azul and Taruchi are panicking over that

Until later on the ride back to NRC where she’s staring at Riddle and trying to get used to it. Oh and also she and Azul desperately want to say something about what they’re feeling but they never get to it

𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐀

They… are closer and more awkward. Yeah, they interact more, but they can’t get through a conversation without internally freaking out and therefore making it end too soon.

Taruchi is regularly going to Mostro Lounge again. One day, she and Azul talk and she tells him that they found another clue on how to get her home. Their conversation goes: “So... The other first years and I have found a clue that gets me closer to going home (small smile)” “Oh! (smile) That's good news. I'm glad you'll finally be able to return to your world. (dying inside)” “Yeah, thank you (smiling but also dying inside)”

But you only need the light when it's burning low, only miss the sun when it starts to snow (<- the song genuinely made me cry) (Update: Guys nvm they're so Say Don't Go coded)

Taruchi realizes that it's only a matter of time before she leaves, so she decides she should try to get over her feelings! One goodbye was bad enough, this one would definitely be painful too. If she could make it less painful, the better. And no, you can't convince her to confess, she doesn't function that way

Azul also snaps into his senses and realizes he likes having her around and didn't want her to leave. It'd sting not seeing her at her usual table at the Lounge, not passing by in the hallways, not seeing her laugh in defeat as he once again takes all her money in Monopoly. But how is he supposed to tell her all that

[SPOILERS]

They meet again in Diasomnia during Lilia's going away party. Taruchi pretends she doesn't see Azul and continues talking to Lilia and the gang. Until Azul goes up to Lilia to say whatever he had to say, then she says hi and wanders off.

Azul finds her again and talks to her: “Hello, Taruchi. Are you enjoying the party?” “Oh, Azul. Hi. Yeah, there's a lot of people here. Though I'm sad Lilia's leaving.” “So am I. He's a good upperclassman. ...I've made an observation. Apologies if I'm wrong, but it seems like you're trying not to talk to me.” “N-no, not at all. Sorry if it seemed that way.” “It's all right...” (pause as he's thinking about if he should bring up his newly-discovered feelings, but it gets too awkward and she starts to leave) “Wait, Taruchi—”

Cue Malleys overblotting and putting everyone to sleep

The rest is dreaming and Azul isn't in it at all so!! To be continued!!