#definitely didn't tell her I was aroace

[theredhoodedcryptid]

Flash back to that time I was talking with my therapist and she made the mistake of asking about my Batman hyper fixation. So I told her about fav, Jason, who was the second Robin. And she…she told me she didn’t even know there was a Robin….

So obviously I took this as in invite to info dump the last 20 mins of our session, making a very brief intro to the batkids. (Because we don’t got the time to unpack all of that)

She learned to never ask that again.

(JK, she did. She was good and let me info dump about nerdy stuff)

[zsagu]

(General and QPR) Alastor x reader headcanons!

warnings: this is written with an aroace reader in mind, reader is gender neutral, physical touch but like. on a very low level.

REBLOGS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

honestly, even if you are the closest person to him in hell; within the first year of your qpr relationship, i dont think he would change in mannerisms that much around you, even when out of wandering eyes. he will have that smile on all the time; and wont favor showing emotions, with few exceptions. dont take it to heart, that is just the way he is most comfortable!

he will change however, in the way that he goes out of his way to help you without asking for anything in exchange. opening doors for you, pulling back your seat so you dont have to; all that jazz. very big on acts of service.

also, it is very clear where his attention diverts to when you enter the room.

back from running some errands for charlie, you approach the hotel doors with hands full with bags, a slump in your step.

maroon eyes catch yours, and with a subtle change in the everlasting smile of the radio demon, he is by your side instantly. welcoming you and taking the bags off your hands while you are distracted with his talking. what kind of gentleman would he be if he didn't help his tired partner?

even if he would never mention it, he is grateful that you dont really put a label in the relationship and just vibe honsetly. i dont think he would ever be comfortable with a fully romantic relationship. you were made for each other in that sense!

he loves pranking you for the reactions, so expect a few scares even though he would never harm you intentionally if he could help it.

we all know that even if he is okay with touching people; he doesnt favor physical touch, and lets very occasionally and very specific people touch him. however, you are one of those very few people and even have special being-alastor's-partner privileges! he would very rarely object to your touch, and subconsciously initiates it more frequently with you than others.

you probably touched his ears once, maybe accidentally; maybe not. it caught him so off guard he just stopped talking and stared at you for 30 seconds straight before vanishing to somewhere else. what a guy

kisses are very rare, but sweet when they happen. his favourite place to kiss you would be your forehead, the crown of your head and the back of your hand. definitely won't object to quick cheek kisses from you!

loves!! to dance with you. put on some jazz and he could dance for hours without breaking a sweat, has a very impressive stamina. also, i believe that while suspicious at first because of the name, he would LOVE the electro swing genre!

he is a very charming gentleman, so people who dont know who he is (if they even exist...) ever try to hit on him, maybe try to distract that person if they are a good enough guy, you know? no need for unnecessary blood spilt.

rosie would LOVE you. and i mean it. she would be ecstatic that alastor found someone like him. you would get invited to a lot of hang outs with her! sometimes with alastor, sometimes with just you. if you are a little bit of fashionista she would love to go to clothing shopping with you, helping you choose what fits you better; if that specific piece is too extra... all that! or you could just have tea and sweets, and talk about your interests together.

he is very good at reading you, especially through your smile and laughs. definitely can tell when your laugh is forced or not in conversations very well. that is mostly how he reads the situation and gets you out of it (maybe in more alastors ways than not, if he doesn't like the person youre talking with) if he senses you are uncomfortable. what is a surprise to him is how you would also be able to read him and his smiles within time.

i dont know if he would tell you about the deal he made at all. he would probably avoid it as much as he could. it is a weakness of his that he would rather not be reminded of, and he would just not want you to know about it. if you ever found out about it, and decide to ask about it; while i dont think he would snap at you like he did with husk in the show, it would still create tension between you along with him avoiding to answer.

how much sincerity he shows to you would be very dependent on for how long youve been his partner. yes, you may be able to read him a little better within time, but that is no feat with how many secrets he probably holds. i still think it would take a year or so before he starts showing sincerity, although subtle and would do so seldomly. it would take maybe a decade until he would be comfortable enough to be fully transparent with you. but, oh would it be worth it.

overall, i love him very much your honour. he is the guy ever and would be a very charming and fun partner if you ignore the murder and crypticism!!!!

[bogkeep]

when i was a teen, i was in love with my best friend. to this day i cannot tell you with any certainty whether or not i was in love romantically or platonically. i don't know and i don't care. it's very possible there is a difference, but i never found it. i've asked many people about it and everyone has their own definition of where that line goes, none that ever applied to my own experiences. there is no satisfying, universal and objective line. i think that's good, actually. the idea that there is some shining abstract concept that's specialer than all the other concepts that can only be achieved like nirvana by some people and not others is not a comfortable idea. this is not to say that everyone has the same feelings and experiences, absolutely not - but we categorize our experiences within the contexts we exist in. or maybe that's just word salad.

i know that - at the time, i knew i was deeply connected to this other person and kept thinking about her all the time and we talked about wanting to be close friends for our whole lives and wrote poetry together about our soulmateness and we made mutual friends feel like a third wheel. i knew i had no desire to kiss her or take her on dates, and she crushed on some boy at summer camp, but the connection between us was mutual and explicit. if the concept of a queerplatonic relationship had been available to us at the time, maybe we would've recognized it as such. i just knew that what i was feeling didn't match up at all with what i've been told 'being in love' was supposed to be like - especially because, at the time, Being In Love also included sexual attraction. we had just cracked open the 2010's and asexuality was a punchline and a joke.

i know that - during the time i was made to feel ashamed of my aroace identity and the narrative was that i'm actually just repressing my TRUE queer identity, i reframed my memories - i had obviously been in love with my friend Romantically. i was a Real Gay. i was Valid. I Was Sapphic Actually. you can't kick me out of the parade if i had pined for my best friend as a teen!!!!

i know that - once i reclaimed the pride in myself, i reframed the memories again: i had obviously been in love with my friend Platonically, because otherwise i would've been a traitor to the good name of aromanticism. if i knew what it was like to have a crush i would contradict myself. who am i to write about romantic love as if i know? what was i doing at the devil's sacrament?

maybe it is a mystery. maybe i don't know shit. it's hard, actually, to know anything at all when the way my strange brain filters emotions through my body reads so different to the user manual. how can anyone stand to pine for another when it's all anxiety, all day? "butterflies"???? really????? how am i supposed to know anything for sure when my brain's favourite hobby is to pick thoughts apart and run them through the distortion machine on repeat, on repeat, on repeat? i don't know if i've ever loved anyone at all, now that i think about it. maybe i'm an empty shell of a human and everything i do is an act of puppetry and wishful thinking.

i just gotta trust that the love is there, in some form or another. even when i can't reach for it and confirm its existence - let alone deduce a detailed taxonomy. what do you even need that for.

[calamarikitty]

Hazbin Hotel Redesigns - Part Two!

the hotel staff are done and ready to give you mediocre room-service and amenities! individual pngs and design notes under cut!

Niffty - She/her, cis woman, straight

wanted to make her significantly more buggy! she's not really based on any bug in particular but i did kind of opt for some ladybug theming!

with her more buggy aspects comes extra legs and arms. she skitters around the floor like a little cockroach with her teeny broom!

i honestly think niffty's original design is very cute, so i didn't change too much. her color palette is the only thing i really had qualms with, so i made her more of an orangey pink since i think it fit her better. also, bug features on her are just really cute and were totally a missed opportunity in her og design. she looks so cute!

she's scarily perceptive and has great hearing

Husk - He/him, cis man, idk but bro isn't straight

i removed his bird features and made him just a cat. sorry to everyone that liked his wings and tail but i just don't really get his bird theming???

he has so much and so little going on at the same time so i simplified him a lot while still adding that grumpy cat bartender charm.

he's short and stout, only a couple feet taller than niffty!

he has all of the suits in his design, because i think it's really fun! wanted to make him look like some kind of retired magician

he couldn't be bothered to wear his suit jacket or tie his tie, it's a miracle they got him to wear his nametag

i overall just wanted him to look a lot older and more grizzled. husk's og design is really busy but in my opinion tells us nothing about his character. i hope this communicates more about him

Alastor - He/him, agender, aroace, gay

monochrome with pops of gold and red! he's a classy guy.

doesn't talk through his mouth, and can only speak through his microphone. he has it on him at all times, and this makes adam breaking his microphone a lot more consequential. he's constantly 'on air'

more obvious deer features! he has a tail and hooves because it's fun, sue me

i also gave him much larger antlers because his antlers are barely noticeable when he's not in his full demon form in his og design, and it doesn't make any sense to me why they're not. surprisingly, his antlers do get much larger when he's in his full demon form, even though they're already very impressive

he has two eyes i just left one out for stylistic reasons

the x on his forehead is always there, not just in his full demon form. however, it does glow when he transforms, and his other stitches become much more noticable.

he cannot stop smiling, and also cannot open his mouth. a terrible punishment for a gluttonous cannibal

he's extremely polite (he never, ever curses) and a neat freak despite his murderous tendencies. he's very touch-averse but has no issue getting in everyone else's space. he's still a manipulative asshole, but is extremely good at hiding his emotions

he's definitely one of the more interesting characters to me and i feel like has a lot of potential, which is why i thought so much abt his design haha

[catreginae]

This Ring is a Shield

As far as the others knew, Warriors' ring was just something he wore to make sure other people didn't flirt with him to much. What they don't know is that Warriors technically married and that the platonic nature of his marriage actually works great for both him and his wife. It should have been easy to explain the nature of his marriage but in truth, he's just tired. He's tired of the comments, tired of the advice he didn't asked for, and tired of the pity. AKA the "Warriors and his wife are both aroace but Warriors takes his sweet time telling the chain" fic. I wrote a one-shot! A long one but it's a one shot and I finished it just in time for the aro and ace prompts for the @queering-the-chain event. You can also find this fic on AO3!

When Warriors saw the collection of buildings ahead of them signifying civilization, he pulled his ring out of one of his many pouches and slipped it onto his ring finger. The ring was slightly too big when he didn’t have his gloves on but seeing as he only really wore it in uniform, he didn’t have any reason to complain about it. Getting it sized down a notch wouldn’t be difficult but the thought only ever crossed his mind when he happened to be somewhere he couldn’t get it done.

“Why do you only put the ring on when we’re around other people?” Wind asked as he sped up to keep up with Warriors.

“Because he wants people to think he’s married,” Legend answered with a shrug. “It lets people know that they don’t have a chance with him. It helps when you’re in an era that isn’t your own and you don’t want to complicate whatever this is even further. The timeline is fragile enough without becoming your own great-grandfather or something stupid like that.”

Warriors hummed, wondering if it was wise to correct Legend. The veteran was definitely correct about one thing – he didn’t want people to be interested in him. However, he was technically married. He didn’t blame the others for thinking he was single, seeing as he called Time’s wedding ring a shackle and he didn’t treat his own ring as a symbol of love and devotion. Warriors didn’t think that the others would give him a hard time if he told him that he was married and why but in his experience, trying to explain his feelings on romance and intimacy was an exercise in frustration.

“You’re on the right track,” he said after a moment of hesitation. He didn’t have to explain it all now. Warriors could just give them something to think about and leave it at that.

“Right track?” Legend huffed. “Where am I wrong?”

Warriors chuckled and ruffled Legend’s hair, dislodging his hat from where he usually kept it on his head. Legend responded with a growl as he swatted the captain’s hands away and readjusted his hat.

Thankfully, they went the rest of the day without anybody asking about the ring on his finger.

-

“Thanks for coming, Link,” Zelda greeted as Link dropped the salute and she motioned for him to sit in the chair across from hers. “I have a big favour to ask of you and you’re going to hate it.”

Link didn’t say anything, electing to let Zelda continue speaking.

“I’ve been negotiating with the Arlet family for more support in the court,” she started. Link nodded along. From what he knew of the court, a lot of the nobles were giving her some trouble regarding how she was getting and allocating funds for the ongoing reconstruction effort, which was further behind than Zelda wanted. Getting the support of any of the noble families for this issue, and any future concerns, would be a massive relief for her. The less people she had to argue with, the better. “They are willing to support me and fund some of the reconstruction themselves... in exchange for your hand in marriage with one of their daughters.”

He gulped. Oh, she was definitely right when she said he was going to hate it. Zelda knew he wasn’t interested in marriage but he supposed that when he pledged allegiance to Zelda and Hyrule, that was out of his hands. She said it would be a favour but Link knew there wasn’t actually a choice in the matter. After all, she didn’t actually ask him.

“Do I at least get to meet her?”

“That can be arranged. Link... look, I know you don’t want to be married but...”

“It’s politics. I know.”

-

“Gah! Where is it?” No matter how many times Warriors looked through all of his bags and pouches, he couldn’t find his ring. It wouldn’t be missed or hard to replace thanks to the fact that he married into nobility but he didn’t want to have to admit to his in-laws that ever lost it in the first place. His wife wouldn’t care because she wasn’t all attached to the rings whatsoever and she only wore hers when she had to leave the villa. He couldn’t afford to be an embarrassment to Athena though.

Maybe it was on the ground? He swore he had it before they set up camp, so it couldn’t have gone too far away.

“What are you looking for?” Four asked. Warriors was so engrossed in his search that he jumped slightly when he heard Four.

“My ring. I can’t find it in any of my bags.”

Without question, Four got down on his hands and knees and started patting the ground for it. As far as the rest of them knew, it was a cheap ring he used to prevent people from flirting with him too much, but it was kind of Four to help him find it regardless of what he might have thought it was.

“Oh, here it is!” Four announced as he held up the ring. “Huh, this is good quality gold and I think I see engraving... Are you sure that this is just-”

“Thanks for finding it!” Warriors said as he plucked the ring out of Four’s fingers and put it back in his satchel where it usually stayed when he wasn’t wearing it on his finger. He really ought to find a better place for it. Maybe he should use it for its intended purpose more often and just wear it on his finger, even if he didn’t care for the symbolism behind it.

“Maybe you should have a small pocket for it in your satchel. Maybe with some sort of button. It would suck if you lost it in another era.”

“That’s not a bad idea...” It wouldn’t be hard to make a pocket inside of this satchel. He just needed some more material for it. Why didn’t he think of that before?

-

Link sat in one of Zelda’s meeting rooms with his heart drumming in the pit of stomach. He was sitting at a small, rounded table with a pot of tea and some biscuits in the middle. He already poured himself a cup and ate one of the biscuits in an effort to calm his nerves a bit. It didn’t help. He found himself wishing he was outside fighting something big – at least he was confident in his swordsmanship.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Link shifted so that his back was straight. A guard in full uniform opened the door and walked in, followed by a tall yet slim woman with chestnut coloured hair pinned into a bun. Her dress was plain, yet well-made from what Link could see, and the green and brown colour scheme matched her green eyes. When she approached the table, Link realized she would be taller than he was if he stood up. She took the seat opposite of his.

“I take it you’re Captain Link?”

“Yes. Just Link is fine.”

“You can call me Vivienne,” she said as she held her hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

Link took it. “Likewise...” he said as the guard walked out. Once the door was closed, Link let her hand go. “Before we start talking, I just wanted to say that I’m not actually... interested in couple things. I don’t really like romance and I never had the desire for intimacy and no offense, but I don’t think that will change any time soon. If I had a choice, I would probably never get married or hook up with anybody.”

He was the man who stared death in the face several times in his life so far but telling a stranger who was going to be his wife how he actually felt about being married was one of the most nerve-wracking things he had ever done. He was less nervous when the fate of Hyrule was resting on his shoulders.

“I just didn’t want you to get your hopes up...” he added slowly when she didn’t respond at first.

“Link, it’s... it’s fine. In fact... I was trying to figure out how I would say the same thing to you. I’m glad you said it first,” she said with an awkward chuckle but she also had an easy smile that actually made Link relax a little.

“So... we want the same thing. Am I hearing that right?”

“Yes. It seems as though we make a good match, though not for the typical reasons noble families arrange marriages for their children. We can make this work, I’m sure. After all, I doubt either one of us would get this opportunity to marry like minded people again.” She relaxed her shoulders as reached for one of the biscuits. That was when it finally sunk in for Link – he had nothing to fear. Zelda wouldn’t know it but her favour was actually a blessing.

“No kidding. Just to think I was so scared,” he said with a deep sigh, putting a hand on his chest. “If nothing else, I know how to put on a show.”

-

Spending time at the ranch was sometimes a bit of an odd affair for Warriors. It wasn’t that he hated doing hard work that often involved him getting dirty somehow, as much as the others like to make assumptions about his current life that happened to be close to the city. He didn’t mind any of the work Time gave them just to keep them busy and tire them out because collectively, they needed to burn some energy. None of them were really good at just sitting still.

He just felt awkward around Malon and Time sometimes. It wasn’t anything they did together or even separately – he loved them both. He was happy for both of them because they truly seemed to fit well together. Time deserved to be happy after everything he went through.

The problem was that he couldn’t get his brain to shut up. Sometimes, it was hard to watch Time and Malon enjoy their marriage without all the ‘life advice’ and the persistent questioning about his nonexistent dating life racing through his head and weighing him down. He could imagine all of those people pointing at Time and Malon, setting them up as the prime example of everything he was supposedly missing out on.

Aren’t you lonely without a partner? You just have to find the right person, then you’ll fall in love. You’ll settle down later in life, you’re just busy right now. Won’t you regret it if you don’t have any kids?

Those weren’t even the worst. The worst was the pity, the way they looked like they were sorry for him.

Like he was broken.

“Warriors?”

“Hm?” It took him a second to realize that somebody was trying to talk to him. It also took him a second to realize that his wrist was sore from holding his head up as he lounged against the horse fence. How long did he zone out for? His brain, his current worst enemy, helpfully reminded him that getting distracted like that in the battlefield would have gotten him or somebody else killed. Thanks, brain, he really needed that.

“Wow, you really are distracted,” Legend mumbled. “What’s going on? You look upset.”

Legend was good at teasing and poking fun but he was also good at knowing when it wasn’t welcomed. He must have zoned out for longer than he thought if Legend was frowning at him like that.

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? You’re all tense. I know the ranch will never be completely safe but you can relax a little bit.”

“I... yeah.” Legend was right, though not for the reason he might have thought. He shouldn’t let a bunch of people he could barely remember ruin his time at the ranch. How often do people get to travel through time and visit their now giant little brother’s home? Time and Malon did absolutely nothing but be welcoming and kind to him. It wasn’t them who tried to give him advice he never asked for. “I think I’ll just head inside.”

He heard Legend huff as pushed himself off the fence and walked inside the house.

-

Link woke up with the sun as he always did but it still took him a moment to remember just where he was waking up. He wasn’t used to the soft bed sheets, he wasn’t used to sleeping with more pillows than anybody actually needed to sleep, and he wasn’t used to being vaguely aware of another body in the same bed he was in. Luckily, his bed and sheets were so large that he had yet to really feel Vivienne moving around, but that didn’t stop him from being aware that she was there.

This morning though, she wasn’t there and if his head didn’t pound so much, he would have gotten up to go look for her. He always woke up before she did.

No, he should get up anyway. He had to go to the training grounds. The army had a lot of new recruits and he was one of the captains responsible for training the recruits who started to show some promise with a sword or at least seemed interested in learning how to use one. He sat up and a wave of dizziness struck him, forcing him to settle his head into his hands with his elbows digging into his thighs. His head was still pounding. His stomach felt like it was going to betray him.

Suddenly, the door opened. Link didn’t lift his head up to see who it was but only Vivienne would be around at the moment. The only other person who spent a lot of time in the villa, a women they hired named Clarissa who helped them maintain the villa, didn’t come in until much later in the morning. Usually, Link only saw her when he returned home and she was just getting ready to leave.

“Go back to sleep, Link,” Vivienne said as she guided him back down to the mattress. “I’ve already pulled a couple of strings to make sure that anybody who was expecting you knows you’re not available for the foreseeable future. You have quite the fever there.”

Oh, yeah, that would explain things.

However, it was also putting it mildly.

He was barely able to keep anything down except for some plain toast and water and even then, sometimes the toast was too much. His head never stopped aching or spinning so he had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. Vivienne was concerned enough to call for a doctor, who was constantly trying new medicine or new dosages. Sometimes he could keep the medicine down, sometimes he couldn’t. The doctor came daily to check for any signs for change for better or for worse. He supposed that was a perk to being married into a noble family – they had the extra rupees to pay for a doctor’s full attention.

No matter how bad it got though, Vivienne and Proxi, who dropped into their home at some point and declared that she was staying until he felt better, were always around for him. Proxi helped with encouraging words or translating his mumbled speech to Vivienne or the doctor. Vivienne was always there to help him feel more comfortable, like washing his face and back, changing the sheets, or holding his hair back when something upset his stomach too much. Sometimes, she even rubbed small circles into his back until he drifted off to sleep for as long as his body would allow.

All in all, it took nearly three weeks before Link was well enough to return to the barracks. They weren’t married for that long and once he was well, Link found himself a little embarrassed that one of her first impressions of him was him being violently ill.

Vivienne simply smiled when he said as much. “Link, we might be stuck together but I consider you to be a friend nonetheless and when one of my friends is suffering, I try my best to make it better. I’m glad you’re alright now and I’m glad I didn’t catch whatever that was.”

“You should be. It was awful.”

-

“I didn’t know you liked cats,” Twilight said with a grin as squatted down to scratch one of them behind the ears while Warriors was busy petting one down the length of its back. It was a creamy-white colour with long, fluffy fur that seemed pretty well taken care of if it was truly a stray. All the cats he saw had soft and shiny coats, seemed to be of a healthy weight, and he didn’t see any signs of illness. Maybe somebody did take care of them all. There were a few people in his own Castletown who took it upon themselves to make sure the strays were doing well.

He felt like he ought to be doing more, since they were in a large city and not every era had a big city to explore. Twilight’s Castletown felt much like his own, busy and bursting with life, including the very many cats he found in one of the residential side streets. However, he was busy petting cats and he didn’t think the cats weren’t going to let him go anytime soon even if he did want to leave. The cats were the perfect distraction for his very busy mind and they seemed to sense that he needed a distraction because they surrounded him in an instant. He was petting one or two at a time but the rest were doing their own thing, simply content to bless him with their presence. How could he possibly leave them to go do errands?

“Oh, I love them! I have one of my own, actually.”

Warriors always did enjoy cats but his parents never allowed one in their home, since it was attached to their store and well, his parents didn’t want fur all over the clothes they were trying to sell. He didn’t like it but his parents had a point. It wasn’t until he moved in with Vivienne that a pet was feasible – they had the room and she spent most of her time indoors, so Penelope was never alone for too long.

“Really? You have a pet? Aren’t you busy being a big shot in the army?” Twilight asked with the grin that always accompanied his playful jabs to Warriors’ career choice.

“Well, I don’t live alone. I have a roommate who takes care of her when I’m not around. That’s why we picked her out together from a neighbour’s litter. She looks kind of like this one,” Warriors said, gesturing to the cat he was petting, “but she’s all white and her name is Penelope.”

“Penelope!” Twilight was practically squealing. “Fucking adorable.”

Thankfully, Twilight didn’t ask about his roommate. He didn’t feel like explaining that his roommate was actually his wife and Penelope was regarded as their child and she was even introduced to his in-laws as such. Link inquired about putting Penelope in their will to inherit their estate should they both die suddenly and tragically young but her parents only begrudgingly called Penelope ‘the furry grandchild’, so they wouldn’t find it as funny as they did. Unless they adopted a Hylian child or brought more cats into the house, Penelope was the only ‘grandchild’ her parents were getting from them. Maybe they won’t care – Vivienne wasn’t their only child to get grandchildren from and she wasn’t inheriting the main estate anyway.

“I hope you know that if we’re ever in your neck of the woods, we’re going to see her. You’re not allowed to hide a cat from me.”

Warriors found himself laughing. “Twilight, I know better than to get between you and an animal.”

-

Link was grateful that his in-laws didn’t try to parade them around or throw extravagant parties on their behalf that often. Their wedding was mostly just friends and family from both sides and it took place in the Arlet estate garden, so it was out of the view of the public. Vivienne said something about how they were glad she got married at all, so maybe they were afraid to rock the boat too much. Maybe that’s why they didn’t argue when Penelope was introduced as their child.

For their first anniversary, her parents decided once again to forgo something fancy and just gifted the two a bunch of wine that they definitely drank too much of that night because he couldn’t really remember what they did besides drink a lot. He did remember waking up on the bedroom floor with Penelope sleeping on his back. Her parents didn’t leave Penelope out of the celebration either, giving her a bed that she went on to use a lot.

But Link knew that one day, his in-laws would drag him to some sort of function where they would show him off. He was the hero and a noble now.

He couldn’t say he was surprised when his father-in-law showed up at his door unannounced, thankfully when he was actually home, and told him and Vivienne that he was hosting a party and he expected the two of them to be there. Luckily, he already had clothes for the occasion that Vivienne said were nice enough – a gift from his tailoring family when he got married – and he went to fancy dinner parties before as a bodyguard, so at least he wasn’t going in blind.

“Vivienne and Link!” They spent maybe all of five seconds at her father’s before he found them near the entrance. Link wouldn’t have been surprised if he was waiting for them. His father-in-law gestured towards the rest of his estate with a grin on his face. “Link, let me show you around. This is your first time inside the main estate, yes?”

Link looked back at Vivienne. She simply shook her head. They were stuck following his father-in-law around his estate. Link couldn’t tell if it was because he was proud of his estate and actually liked showing it off to people or if it was some clever way to show off Link himself to the guests that were already there. He was certainly recognized as the hero even though his scarf was missing. At least he was used to getting looks from strangers all the time.

But it was made tolerable with Vivienne being close by, offering some sort of comment about what trouble she got into as a kid when her father introduced them to a new wing of the estate. Apparently, she was quite the fan of climbing when she was a child and he could see it in her father’s face that he wasn’t sure if he should have been amused or exasperated by the memories. When her father let them go to hang out and eat in the dining room, the two of them stuck together in a lonely corner of the room, watching and making quiet comments about the other guests. Vivienne knew most of them and had some juicy details to share.

If Link had to summarize the party, he would call it two friends suffering together. He had a decent time but it wasn’t because of anything that was offered at the party – it was spending time with a friend and engaging in gossip.

It made him think of all the people he could have been stuck with, all the people who would want more than he was comfortable with offering or just couldn’t offer at all. He couldn’t reciprocate romantic feelings as he didn’t feel them and the thought of being intimate made him deeply uncomfortable.

But being friends and sharing a space with Vivienne was easy. They were two friends who had to pretend to be more sometimes, but the important part was that they both knew that it was a game.

-

Warriors frequented taverns and pubs, not just to have a drink or two with those he was close to but because drunk people were a fountain of information. It was less helpful in his own era since people knew who he was and were more guarded around him, but in other eras where people had no idea who he was? They saw no reason to filter their words and they told him all sorts of things. Sometimes it was useful but sometimes he just got sucked into whatever gossip there was and he didn’t learn anything that would help them.

Today, he was at a pub with Sky and Twilight. He didn’t drink with them often, just once or twice in Time’s era when Time dragged them to Castletown. Time was his usual drinking buddy but he seemed pretty tired so he declined his invitation. It was times like those where he truly lived up to his ‘old man’ nickname.

Alcohol didn’t change Twilight that much. His accent was definitely coming out more and he was a bit louder but otherwise, Twilight was acting mostly the same. Sky was quieter after a couple of drinks, like he was contemplating matters of existence. The chosen hero wasn’t the chattiest to begin with but after a few drinks, he didn’t start conversations anymore. He needed to be roped into it.

They were only a few drinks in when a woman slid into the seat beside him with a wide grin on her face. Great, he knew exactly where this was going. Before she could say anything, Warriors held up his hand with his ring on it. “Before you say anything, just know that I’m already taken.”

“Oh, are they here right now?” she asked, her eyes scanning the crowd before her gaze settled on him again. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”

“I’m not a cheater,” Warriors snapped back. “I’m happy with my wife.”

“Is she happy with you? You’ve got the look of a military man. When’s the last time you’ve gone home to see her? Are you sure she’s been as loyal to you as you are to her?”

Warriors wasn’t sure what her goal was. He never had anyone who wanted to sleep with him insult him and his wife in the span of a minute. Was she mad that he rejected her?

“You don’t know anything. If you’re trying to get me into bed with you, you’re failing miserably,” he said as he stood up. Sky and Twilight caught him and he spotted Twilight fishing out his wallet as Warriors found the shortest route to the exit. He didn’t look back as he headed to the one familiar spot in town and stepped into the room he was sharing with Four and Hyrule. He must have looked a mess because the two took one look at him and stayed away from him for the rest of the night. Just as well, he didn’t feel like talking.

He knew he couldn’t avoid it though. He wasn’t surprised that Sky found him in the morning as Warriors chugged down some water, hoping that the minor ache in his head would disappear if he had more water. At least, Warriors hoped that the minor headache came from alcohol and not because that woman at the bar made him so angry that he had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep.

Though, if he was honest with himself, it wasn’t just the encounter at the bar. His mind raced constantly, dredging up experiences and memories that he wanted to bury and never look at again. Ever since he was asked about his ring, he couldn’t stop thinking about all of the unhelpful and unwarranted advice he got when he was single or all the pity he got when people thought he was stuck in a sad, loveless marriage. Warriors just couldn’t stop thinking about it even when he wanted to or needed to focus on something else.

He hoped they weren’t travelling. He was pretty sure he wasn’t fit for it.

“Why did you storm out of the bar last night? Was it the woman?”

“Of course it was the woman!”

Sky smiled awkwardly and rubbed at the back of his neck. Shit, he shouldn’t have answered his question like that. He wasn’t mad at Sky.

“What did she say that set you off? Twilight and I didn’t really hear it.”

“She wanted me to cheat on my wife and when I rejected her, she start insinuating that my wife was cheating on me and before you ask, I actually do have a wife.”

“Oh, that’s what you meant when you said Legend was on the right track,” he mumbled as he titled his head slightly. “You are actually married, huh?”

“It’s a political marriage. Athena needed extra support from a noble and she got it when I married the noble’s daughter. Through marriage with the hero, that family is now closer than ever to the royal family and in return, Athena has more weight to throw against other nobles.”

“So you didn’t marry for love?” Sky asked with a slight pout on his lips that often came with confusion. Warriors could feel his frustration bubble under his skin but he took a deep breath. It wasn’t Sky’s fault that Warriors had this conversation before with a bunch of other people who didn’t understand that not everybody wants to date or be in a marriage or be intimate.

“I’m actually happy this way. I don’t care if it’s a ‘loveless’ marriage. We both knew what we were getting into before the documents were drawn up and before we were actually married. I made it clear to her the first time we met that I wasn’t interested in sex or romance. It turns out she feels the same way. We’re just roommates who occasionally have to pretend that we are more than just roommates. We share a home, we share a bed that’s so big we barely know there’s somebody else in it, and we share custody of a cat named Penelope. I’m not interested in anything more than that.”

Sky hummed for a moment, then smiled. “Well, if that’s what you want, then that arrangement sounds perfect for both of you. As long as you’re both happy, nobody should get a say about what the two of you do or don’t do together.”

For a moment, Warriors was taken aback. In his experience, it generally took a lot more convincing before somebody backed off and switched topics. He didn’t know why it was so hard to convince people that was actually happy.

“Why didn’t you say this before, though? Everybody would have understood.”

“Because it’s tiring... before I got married, everyone and their grandma would tell me that I just had to meet the right person, then I would want to date and get married and have kids. If I met the right person, I would be ‘normal’. Now that they know this marriage is political more than anything else... they fucking pity me. They think the fact that I didn’t marry for love is something to pity. Some people even tell me I’ll learn to fall in love with my wife. They just can’t fathom that somebody just... doesn’t care about any of that. It’s so tiring. I’m tired of trying to explain it and people looking at me like I’m broken or something. No matter how many times I tell them I’m happy, they just don’t believe me.”

Sky frowned. “Has... this been on your mind for a while? We all noticed that you seemed distracted lately.”

He only nodded. The thoughts probably would have started bothering him at some point, even if nobody asked about his ring. They seem to come and go, more often when he was in town and people tried to talk to him. However, the current cyclical nature of his thoughts was because he was asked about his ring and he had to think about how to answer.

“Do you ever plan on telling the others that you’re married?”

“If we end up nearby, yes.” He did tell Twilight he could meet Penelope and even if he didn’t, the villa would be a nice break for them and their wallets. They were always maintaining guest rooms that didn’t get used so it would be nice if the villa was full of people for once. It was far too large for a family of three and their hired help. “For now, I just need to collect my thoughts.”

Though... it helped that Sky took it so well. Maybe he wouldn’t have to explain it to them more than once. They would probably believe him if he said he was actually happy with his arrangement.

“Okay. Just let me know if you need any help.”

“I will. Thanks, Sky.”

-

Warriors thought there would be more time between his conversation with Sky and the conversation he knew he needed to have with the others before they set up in the villa for a few days. It was only a couple of weeks after he talked to Sky that a portal took them to a battle and it was when he was wiping the black blood off his blade that he realized that he recognized the castle in the distance. His villa was only about a half an hour from the castle.

“To the castle?” Twilight asked.

“Actually, there’s a place we should go first. Athena can wait until tomorrow.”

“Oh, so this is your era,” Legend said with a nod. “What’s this stop you plan on taking?”

“My place. It’s big enough to fit all of us comfortably.”

Wind raised an eyebrow. “How big is your place?”

“It’s...” Was this how he was going to start explaining who Vivienne was? By explaining why he can comfortably host them all? His gaze met with Sky’s, who gave him an encouraging nod. “It’s a villa. I moved in when I got married.”

There was a moment of awkward silence before Legend glared him. “Is that what you meant when you said I was on the right track? You could have just said so! It was bugging me ever since you said it.”

Warriors rolled his eyes. “I didn’t feel like explaining it back then. Even now, it’s a little difficult...” He took a deep breath. “I got married because Athena asked me to. I didn’t pick my wife but it’s pretty convenient for both of us because we are both just happy being friends. If I had to get married to somebody else, I wouldn’t be able to return any romantic feelings and being intimate would be out of the question. We have to put on a show sometimes but that’s a small price to pay to able to say I’m married and not have to do anything I’m uncomfortable with.”

He had no doubt that there were questions but the others simply nodded, except for Sky who offered two thumbs up instead. Maybe they were just saving questions for later but he wasn’t going to complain about the break. They probably cared more about having a roof over their heads than about his odd but convenient marriage.

Wind hummed for a moment before putting a hand on his chin. “So your wife won’t mind if we stay at your place then?”

“I doubt she would care. In fact, she might even be happy that we’re using the guest rooms as guest rooms for once.”

“What are they being used for now?” Time asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Decoration.”

“Wait, this means we get to meet Penelope!”

“Who?”

“His cat!” Twilight answered with a wide grin. “C’mon, butts in gear! We have a cat to meet!”

There were some grumbles but the group started moving, following Warriors as he led them to the villa. It was nearly sunset by the time they got there so he wasted no time in opening the front gate and letting everybody in. He stopped them as soon as they got into the front doors and he couldn’t immediately see her nearby. He didn’t think she would get upset about the villa being used as an inn for a few days, he wanted to give her a little bit of warning.

He found Penelope first in one of their many hallways so he scooped her up and kept looking for Vivienne until he found her in her plant room, which was the room in the villa with the most windows. She was bent over one of the pots trimming the plant inside of it. He cleared his throat to let Vivienne know he was coming in so she didn’t startle and drop the trimmers.

“Oh, you’re home.” She straightened her back and turned around to face him.

“For a bit. If there’s another lead, I’ll have to go again. I have company though!”

“Oh, those heroes you mentioned in the single letter I got?” she asked with a smirk. Warriors winced internally – they were still friends and he should really let her know more often that he was still alive and her father didn’t have to find a new husband for her. “I’m not upset, by the way. I can only imagine that time travel complicates things, to say the least.”

“Yeah. I got busy. I didn’t realize I only sent one letter,” he mumbled as he ran a hand through Penelope’s fur. “But they’re in the lobby if you want to meet them. I told them they could stay here for a few days since we have the room.”

“It would be a shame not to use it. It might be the only time we’ll fill all four guest rooms at the same time. Let’s go show them their rooms, then. My parents didn’t raise me to be a bad host.”

Warriors’ heart pounded in his chest was they walked back to the lobby. He couldn’t understand why he was so nervous. The others would be nice to Vivienne and they knew she was his wife, so there wasn’t anything to hide. Vivienne was generally pretty nice and she got along with the people he was close with before. It should go well but his nerves were still getting the best of him.

Finally, he saw the other heroes, who were all studying Vivienne.

“Wow, she’s tall!” Wind gasped. Vivienne was a bit taller than Time, as it turned out and she wasn’t even wearing shoes. Her entire family was tall – taller than he was – so he wasn’t exactly surprised that she beat them all.

“We’re just kind of short,” Time chimed in, shaking his head.

“This is Vivienne,” Warriors started, gesturing with his free arm, “and this our daughter, Penelope. Vivenne, you already know their names but they’ll introduce themselves with their nicknames sooner or later.”

“Can I hold Penelope?” Twilight asked, arms outstretched.

“Just keep her belly down, she hates being on her back,” he warned as she gently passed her over.

It was a good thing that Penelope enjoyed a lot of attention. Once she was settled in Twilight’s arms, it wasn’t just Twilight who was petting her – half the group was reaching around and crowding Twilight to get a chance to pet her. Warriors could hear her purring over the excited cooing coming from the boys.

“I hope she doesn’t expect that much attention from now on,” Vivienne mumbled before she turned to the others. “I know Penelope is amazing but I should show you to your rooms. Penelope doesn’t leave the house, she’ll be around for more petting later. She may even pick one your rooms to spend the night in later.”

“We’ll be back,” Twilight said quietly as he pet her on the head one more time and set her down on the floor. Warriors watched as everybody followed her, looking around the villa as they did so. Penelope purred and rubbed her head on his leg so he picked her up once again.

“That went well,” he mumbled as he looked down at her giant green eyes. “Especially for you.”

She meowed.

“Yeah, you are spoiled. You deserve it, though.”

Instead of following everybody to the guest rooms, he headed towards the master bedroom to change into something more comfortable. He set Penelope down on their bed – neither he nor Vivienne cared if Penelope got her fur all over it – and slowly stripped off all of his equipment and gear, dropping everything on the floor by his side of the bed to deal with later.

One loose shirt and clean pair of trousers later, he left the master bedroom to find that everybody was gathered at the kitchen table that he and Vivienne usually used for their own dinners. The only person not at the table was Wild, who was poking around in the oven to warm it up. There was a more official dining room in the villa but they only used that one when Vivienne had family over and it had one of those long dining tables that made Warriors wonder if anybody actually wanted to eat together. The table in the kitchen was a little small for the size of the group but they were all used to butting into each other’s space all the time.

Warriors decided to stay on the periphery of the conversations, joining only when their conversations were directed at him. He wanted his brothers and his wife to get along, so he wasn’t going to intrude when it seemed like they were actually bonding. Vivienne was relaxed, talking to the group in the same way she spoke to him or the few times he saw she had a couple of the neighbours over for some tea. It was also the same way she spoke to Clarissa, as the two of them became friends pretty quickly. She spoke more formally with some of her family members than she did with the other heroes.

As for the heroes, they were behaving as he expected – they were asking Vivienne for embarrassing stories about him. Oh, well. If that was the price of peace, he would let it slide. It wasn’t like she had a lot on him in particular.

Once they all had dinner and tea, the group of heroes all headed to their rooms, except for Sky. He helped himself to the last of the tea in pot and started to headed to his assigned room but he made sure that he passed Warriors.

“You did a good job today,” he said quietly, adding a small but sincere smile before leaving.

Once he was gone, Vivienne tapped him on the shoulder. “He’s right, you did a good job. I know it’s not easy to tell people we’re married,” she started before gesturing toward their own bedroom, “but we should go to get some rest too if we’re hosting this many people.”

“They can be a handful,” Warriors mumbled. “I’m sure Penelope is waiting for us anyway. Let’s go.”

[starzgaze]

imagine aroace!darling is so sick of Hae-In's and Jinwoo's bullshit that they straight up just say "is Beru and option?" when the the two ask which one they prefer.

also, unrelated; i'm pretty sure i just dreamt of a Beru x Reader fanfic and i started looking for it right when i woke up, only for it to not be real. the brainrot is getting to me..

omfg i had this idea too like a few days ago and it's funny to think about cz just imagine you're just some low profile worker within the association that is trying your very best to live a peaceful life. just a normal person you know?? like no big ambitions nor had any notable achievements except the random ones you would get back then in your school days but yet!

you still caught two of the s-ranks 's hearts in the country, really baffling actually.

whenever you're in the room with the two you can't even ignore the obvious deadly tension the two had even if you tried to, you can't imagine how people in the news assume they're in love with eachother when hae-in looked like she's about to pull jinwoo's head off his body and jinwoo is about to gut the blonde on the spot.

like is it really about you at this point? just get a room oh my god and what's worse you... you don't even see them as anything more than friends it's insane.

even if hae-in would bashfully gift you things and listen to your rants or tries to hint that she has feelings for you, every one of these things you would dodge like it was the plague

and it was the same with jinwoo! everytime the man saves you from some magical beast that was suspiciously near your place even if there was no gate that broke in your area, jinwoo would be there to save you like some shining knight in armor and it would play like some romantic scene except you would be there to painfully remind him that it's nothing more than a moment with a truthful "ahaha thanks a lot jinwoo, you're such a great friend!" which was definitely on purpose.

but the only problem was even if you dropped sooo many instances that you were not interested with the two, the damn duo was so persistent that it's genuinely tiring you out like what was it with you that was intriguing?? you're literally a low profile office worker within the association that showed the two a semblance of human decency are they that deprived of love?

like at some point you were (forcibly) hanging out with the two and they were bantering once again over you before they both turned their heads to your direction which honestly creeped you out then finally asking who did you prefer.

"[y.name]! please tell me you prefer a girl like me and not this awfully depressing dressed up loser!" hae-in glared at jinwoo while barking out her words that was definitely an attack to jinwoo's way of fashion

"wha— the hell? my fashion isn't that bad you asshole- oh whatever ignore her [y.name] I'm obviously more desirable" jinwoo deadpanned as he ignored hae-in's glare.

you looked at the two with tired eyes, dreadfully done with their bullshit before declaring your answer

"oh I'd choose neither... actually is beru is an option? i think that ant is more acceptable at this point"

the reaction they had was priceless, especially jinwoo's. you prefer the damned ant?? the ant that bodied hae-in the moment it popped out of nowhere or the same ant that jinwoo obliterated with a punch...? are you serious..

if you squint closely you can notice a wisp of black shadow on jinwoo's person that had a tint of pink blush that awfully looked like an ant. you didn't know if you were seeing things but you swore that it was beru blushing over your decision.

anyway wow i went on a tangent LMFAOOL I CANT BELIEVE I WROTE ALL THAT??? HELLO ANYWAY THIS IS INSANE I LOVE THIS also u dont know j mean... maybe it did exist and the author just got beamed off the internet

[mossy123302]

I am not exactly entirely good with character or relationship analysis (A reason why my dumb fox head is aroace because I am not good w/ navigating romantic relationships)

So this is just my best effort writing the dynamic Q! Philza and Q! Missa have.

I do like to headcanon, like others, that Philza is indeed aroace, but not in a way, that like he doesn't understand what platonic or romantic means. Sure, it's funny to tease Philza about it, but it's also true that close friends could very much do so. I think Philza is quite aware of what is romantic and platonic, he knows the boundaries of it. I mean Philza is literally married to the Goddess of Death (implied) Kristin. It's more or less that Philza doesn't simply care for such labels. (I very much hc that Philza could probably be genderfluid, like me- Peeposmile)

It's something Philza even mentioned in the live stream when talking about the deities in hardcore world. It's something they don't care about and just vibe with whatever they're vibing with. They don't care and I think Philza is the same in that mindset. He just doesn't care, and will be blunt about it, if he needs to actually talk about it.

Philza seems to deeply cherish those that are ... similar to himself from what I can tell. I don't fully watch Fit or other POV to get a clear understanding of Phil's relationship w/ others so I'm sorry if I don't include them, same with Technoblade. I've recently started watching mcyt again and I don't want to talk about something I don't have a full understanding of.

Anyways, Phil deeply connects with those that share similar traits to him in some regard. Techno whose the Blood God, who clearly has an understanding of death, war and loyalty and this clearly shows via Missa too. Missa, while not a fighter, does understand death and how important it is... He literally is a gentle grim reaper. He understands death much clearly, because his mother is also a Goddess tied to Death as well. Missa is also fiercely loyal to Phil and his children, because honestly, he was so busy! He didn't have to return to Quesadilla Island but he did because he cares about Phil and his children, quickly adopted Tallulah and he hadn't even seen her yet.

Whoever Phil trusted and guards with his life, Missa will guard that person with his life as well. Of course, unless, we talk about BadboyHalo then that's another discussion LOL. Such a mess between the demon (?) and grim reaper.

Anyways, we know how much Phil values such loyalty that, I cannot remember what Tubbo said, but he immediately locked Tubbo out of his own home because of what he said about someone and while despite implied flings with others. Philza never spoke about others the way he speaks about Missa.

Their relationship definitely...crosses the line of platonic and romantic. I can see why it would be considered queer platonic relationship, but also at the same time, it's like there is some line being breached which makes everyone raise an eyebrow cause sir, what do you mean platonic-

Philza is clearly...possessive over Missa, because the way he got so defensive when Bagi mentions Antoine (right?) and Missa should date. Philza didn't have to get so defensive, because Missa already immediately denied. Philza could have kissed anyone else, like Fit, but chose Missa instead. He even demanded Tall Missa to the admins, got jealous over any shipping fanart and acts like he's fine and doesn't miss Missa at all. *Coughs in* "I'm going to f*cking off myself. Did Missa log on again?!" (Side eye Philza)

Like he's done lots of things that makes everyone just raise an eyebrow- Philza is fooling no one but himself (& Missa)

I also enjoy the lore Missa has going on with accepting that he is indeed a part of the family and isn't alone. Missa had just lost Spreen, and suddenly, he had no one but the Angel of Death as his assigned partner. Missa must have felt so unmatched compared to Philza because what could he even offer to the family? He had nothing but his music and kind words, which is everyone that Death Family wanted. Missa brought a different change to the family that makes them be vulnerable, to not be so serious all the time and to actually just relax and be like a family that's just on vacation.

I mean, and just talking about loyalty and kindness. Missa never gave up... He fought his way back, despite getting taken away by wolves and suddenly Badboyhalo being so cruel. He always made sure his family was safe and always brought something for them.

Didn't Missa say he got lost because he tried to find a gift for Philza?! Like...the commitment to find a perfect gift for Philza, and still returning (sure, without the gift). While it's hilarious, Missa doesn't run away because of his wet cat behavior. He runs away because he doesn't want to put his family in danger, he cannot fight as well as others can. He relies on others to fight for him and then he jumps in to help, but because the time zone doesn't allow such things. Missa is forced to run.

And Missa is good at it. He will run as far as he can, if it means his family will be safe. He isn't running away from his family, but the danger because at the end of it all, he will return back to his family, no matter how long it takes.

And Missa casually admitted to Chayanne that he needs Philza more than he realized, the same way Philza realizes he needed Missa but didn't dare admit, whether it is out of fear or something else that he couldn't voice it. But Philza clearly showed it through his actions, that he brought/dragged Missa to Rose's Sanctuary before they went to sleep forever. He didn't have to do so, but he did... indicating their bond is much deeper because Rose's Sanctuary is literally a pocket dimension that no one cannot access.

Missa has access. Now he sleeps eternally with his family...

Also their whole dynamic just being Sun/Moon. Fated to never see each other at times, until an eclipse and yet...they still leave signs to let the other know that they're still remembered. This also brought to my attention how Missa is afraid of the sky, while Philza yearns for the sky/to fly.

You think The Sun (Philza) misses the Moon (Missa) so much, because of how far they are, instead of just not seeing each other. The Moon clings to Earth, because they're afraid to go beyond...to something unknown while the Sun cannot stay still, and yearns to burn and be free.

Deathduo/Pissa has me on chokehold.

I do hope this was an interesting analysis, I'm not very good at this..honestly it's probably just me rambling if anything.

[jayietheriverwarrior]

Well. Here's a piece that I meant to have done during Pride Month, that I finished at the end of July, and then didn't actually post online until August. Oops. XD Ah well. Anyway, here's some of my pride headcanons for Warriors, with each cat holding/wearing something with the colors of their relevant Pride flag.

Up first are the aroace queens, Drizzle of RiverClan and Mousefur! Drizzle's from Riverstar's Home if you don't remember her, she got super cranky/uncomfortable about Riverstar's relationship with Finch Song. A lot of it was probably just her being young and not wanting to see her old leader and his wife kissing in front of her, and her overall annoyance at how Riverstar's love for Finch Song kept them from going home on time, but to me she just gave off so much "ew allo romance is gross, I'm too aroace to deal with this" vibes, I love it. :D We need more ace queens in this world. Mousefur I won't get into as much, as I think viewing her as aroace is pretty standard. As a RiverClan warrior, Drizzle's of course carrying a fish she caught, while Mousefur caught a bird.

Up next we've got gay Tallstar and bi Jake. :D Tallstar gets a pretty gay butterfly (I drew the butterfly in this piece before the butterfly wings in the Hake drawing if you can't tell, this one looks a lot more awkward XD) on his head, and Jake as a kittypet gets a non-wild accessory, a bi bandana - a bidana, if you will. XD I don't think Jake was actually in love with either of his mates after Tallstar, I think that was more just friends who wanted kits together (though Quince was definitely more in love with Jake than she let on), but he's attracted to both toms and she-cats.

Then we've got best gay farm boys, Ravenpaw and Barley. :D For Barley I cheated a bit and let him have a non-wild accessory since he's a farm cat even though we never see him interact that closely with the twolegs, I figured a little kerchief thing worked well enough for a farm cat. I was pretty stumped what to do for Ravenpaw's accesory until I remembered, oh yeah, he's Ravenpaw - give him an adder! XD Reffed their pose from a really cute photo of two cats cuddling.

Up next is pan Sasha! Pan always seemed to fit her really well, there's so many cats of various genders she's shipped with. For once she actually looks happy. :D Just taking a moment to enjoy a bit of Pride in a pan-colored collar.

And now for all the various demisexual headcanons. :D Up first are two she-cats Sasha is shipped with a lot, demibisexual Leopardstar and demilesbian Russetfur. Leopardstar gets a damselfly as her accessory, they hang out near water and have shimmery wings that flash different colors in the light so I figure that works, and Russetfur has berries behind her ear as a nod to her one biggest moment that makes me dislike her character despite loving her portrayal in the Tigerstar and Sasha books - the scene where she watches Berrykit struggle in a fox trap and does nothing to save him. Still not sure how to reconcile that scene with her portrayal in the other books. Anyway, Leopard liked both Frog and I like to think Sasha as well, but only those two and doesn't tend to find anyone attractive until she forms that strong bond, and Russetfur only ever liked Sasha as far as I'm concerned and was too focused on her role as deputy to care much about romance besides that one time.

The last two are our demibi boys, Riverstar and Jayfeather! For Riverstar, he does feel attraction a bit more easily than the rest of our demi cats, he likes looking at a pretty face, but he doesn't really feel a deep attraction until those deeper feelings form, like with Flutter and Finch Song - but there was definitely something there for Gray Wing, even if it never fully developed into love. For Jayfeather, he hardly ever feels attraction, though he could for toms or she-cats equally - the only time anything developed far enough for that was Half Moon. Riverstar is wearing a flower crown 'cause he strikes me as a flower crown kind of guy, and Jayfeather is carrying herbs.

[all-seeing-ifer]

Aromanticism in Academia

Since it's currently Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week and I'm currently in the middle of a master's research project about aromanticism and asexuality, I figured I'd contribute by putting together a list of some books and other academic sources I've read so far that deal with aromanticism! There's very little written about aromanticism in academia, so I think it's important to spotlight what we do have.

DISCLAIMER BEFORE THE LIST: Due to the lack of discussion of aromanticism specifically in academia, most of what I've found are texts that are primarily about asexuality but also discuss aromanticism. It's unfortunate, but it is also where we're kind of at right now in terms of academia, so bear that in mind.

Books:

Ace Voices: What it means to be asexual, aromantic, demi, or grey-ace by Eris Young - Definitely has the most focus on aromanticism of everything that I've read so far, this book draws from a combination of the author's personal experiences and interviews with other members of the a-spec community, including aroace and alloaro people. A good source of discussion of aro issues and how they interact with things like gender stereotypes. Also notable for its discussion of QPRs, a topic which I find has generally been ignored in academia about a-spec identities.

Ace: What Asexuality reveals about desire, society, and the meaning of sex by Angela Chen - Primarily deals with asexuality, as the title suggests, but also contains some relevant discussions of aromanticism, including the experiences of aroallo people. If you're going to check out the book, I would especially recommending looking at chapter 7: Romance, Reconsidered, which features most of the discussion of aromanticism and non-normative relationships

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J Brown - Again, asexuality is the main focus here, but I would still recommend checking out this book as it does still contain some useful discussion of aromanticism, particularly an extended critique of "singlism" (i.e. discrimination of single people) and how it is weaponised against aros. I also find Brown's criticism of the dehumanisation of aromanticism in media to be very compelling!

Minimizing Marriage: Marriage, Morality, and the Law - I would be remiss not to mention Brake's work here. While Minimizing Marriage is not specificallly about aromanticism and deals with marriage reform and the concept of amatonormativity more broadly, I think it's fair to say that many of Brake's ideas (particularly her coining of amatonormativity as a term) have become vital to the aro community and aro activism in recent years. Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in deconstructing amatonormativity and in contemporary critiques of marriage as an institution, though it's worth noting that this is a work of moral/political philosophy first and foremost, and as such it gets very into the weeds of things. Available on the Internet Archive here

Academic Articles/Essays (all can be found in the collection Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives):

"Why didn't you tell me that I love you?": Asexuality, Polymorphous Perversity, and the Liberation of the Cinematic Clown by Andrew Grossman - A really interesting and engaging analysis of the archetype of the silent film clown, and how it can be read as an a-spec figure. While Grossman uses the language of asexuality, his analysis makes it clear that he is looking at the clown as both an asexual AND aromantic character.

On the Racialization of Asexuality by Ianna Hawkins Owen - A personal favourite of mine. I think many parts of this essay will be very relevant to aromantic people, particularly Owen's investigation of how romantic love came to be pedastalised and her critique of attempts to normalise asexuality by distancing it from aromanticism.

Mismeasures of Asexual Desires by Jacinthe Flore - A critique of the pathologisation of asexuality that also discusses how aromanticism challenges common discourses around intimate relationships

Finally, I would like to mention the work of Bella DePaulo, who has written extensively about singlism and compulsory coupling, and who Brown uses extensively as a source in their writing on aromanticism. I didn't want to make this part of the main list because I haven't yet had a chance to get stuck into DePaulo's work, but based on Brown's mentions of her work I believe she has some very interesting ideas that are very relevant to aro people.

As you can probably tell, the list of academic sources dealing with aromanticism and aro issues is very limited. However, while aromanticism is vastly underdiscussed in an academic context, I'd like to point out that this is also only what I've been able to find so far. If anyone has any other recommendations please do add them to this post - I for one would love to hear about them!

[chuckeroo777]

Dungeon Meshi Volume 5 Part 2

Continuing from chapter 33!

This seems out of continuity. Why is Falin an adult, but ambrosia is still incomplete? Regardless, a blessed image.

Did you know Marcille is 50 years old? Somehow, this information makes me more confused as to her relative age.

I don't know how to feel about the fact that they can express emotions like that. Also, why so sexy? Mimicry isn't exactly their MO.

I mean, if fish-men were a gray area despite being fish, than surely a plant is fine. That's not even close.

I love how the male dryads are feminine and the female dryads are masculine, purely so Kui could put silly man faces on the fruit.

See? Laios has standards. He (almost) draws the line at eating babies.

Depending on the spear, it can be a makeshift chopper. Or just grab a halberd and split the difference.

Gotta love how the moment Marcille acquiesces to semi-cannibalism, she discovers her new favorite dungeon food.

Technically it works. Those two are young adults, and you two... are not.

An important image.

Daw, it's the same spell Marcille showed her back in the day.

I know I've said I head-canon Laios as aroace, but I would find it really funny if he was aroace, but really had a thing for ears for some reason. He even mentioned elf ears when backpedaling with Zon.

She's beauty, she's grace, she will punch you in the face.

Look Marcille, if you had met Asivia, you'd probably agree.

Don't worry, it's cool. You can just draw as much power as you want, and nothing lives there to yell at you. Probably.

You know you're in some shit when the boss comes with a dark souls style title card.

Don't worry, he'll always be with you in spirit.

An important panel.

As seen in that one Izutsumi extra, Senshi's greatest fear is getting crushed by a pickling weight.

What are they doing? Their best.

Clearly, if you use a different weight, it won't work.

Which of these idiots came up with "Big Ears". Also, you can tell Laios respects him the most since he settles for just a lil' poke.

Hm... I noticed one in the grave yard but didn't think much of it. But here is another winged lion statue with horns. Eh, I'm sure it's nothing.

You know how it is. You get called cute once, and suddenly it's your favorite outfit.

Wait, it took them a whole week to catch up with the Touden party?

I was going to complain more, but this is actually pretty interesting.

One day, you too could generate the gametes to make an idiot like Laios.

Look on the bright side! With all your practical experience, you could write the new definitive guide!

Just imagine how many frog suits you could buy with that sort of money.

And another volume is complete! See you guys next time for volume 6!

(Also, I apologize for making an inaccurate joke in my chapter 0 post. Izutsumi arrives in chapter 40, not 42. I hope you can forgive this error.)

[lauralot89]

Loveless

I'm late on this because the book was published in 2020, but I only heard about it in the last month when I was reading an article about asexuality in fiction but in case anyone is out of the loop like me let me tell you about this glory

Loveless is a YA novel by Alice Oseman, author of Heartstopper and Solitaire. It tells the story of Georgia Warr, freshman at Durham University, and her realization that while she's in love with the idea of romance, the actuality of a romantic/sexual relationship repulses her.

Alice Oseman herself is aroace, which makes perfect sense because throughout the novel I kept asking myself, "How does she know? How does she know?! How did she get these thoughts out of my head?"

for my fellow ace and/or aro people, let me quote some of the lines that just got me straight in the soul:

"I had a theory that a lot of people's "celebrity crushes" were just faked to fit in."

"I was disgusted by the thought of him near me. Wanting things from me. That wasn't normal, was it?"

"Oh, God, this thing is actually real, it's not just in fanfics and movies. And I'm supposed to be doing it too."

"Did I even know what romantic feelings felt like?"

"He was clearly the sort of person who I should like romantically. Who I could like romantically. He looked like a boyfriend. I loved his personality. I'd loved his personality for years. So I could fall in love with him. With a little bit of effort. Definitely."

"I thought I'd understood what all these romantic things would feel like--butterflies and the spark and just knowing when you liked someone. I'd read about these feelings hundreds of times in books and fanfic. I'd watched way more romcoms than was probably normal for an eighteen-year-old. But now I was starting to wonder whether these things were just made up."

"Straight people don't think shit like that."

"Just because I'd never liked anyone didn't mean I never would. Did it?"

"I thought all the movies were exaggerating, but you're all really out there just craving genitals and embarrassment. This has to be some kind of huge joke."

"How could I feel so sad about giving up these things that I did not actually want?"

"I felt like I was grieving. I was grieving this fake life, a fantasy future that I was never going to live."

"How was it fair that everyone got to feel that except me?"

"I never had any crushes when I was a child. Not any real ones, anyway. Sometimes I confused friendships for them, or just thinking a guy was really cool."

"For a long time, I was just dating and having sex because that's what people did. And I wanted to feel like those people."

"You've been so confused about stuff. You really thought we could be together, because you do love me. Not in a romantic way, but just as strongly."

"Oh. This is an asexual thing. I forgot other people are obsessed with having sex."

seriously the entire time I spent with this book I just kept asking "was this written for me specifically?" because that's exactly how it felt.

It is a gorgeous book that explores that bizarre feeling of not knowing the word for what you are, not even knowing that you are something out of the ordinary because we don't define ourselves by what we lack and we just expect that one day, it'll happen and we'll be like everyone else. That struggle of trying to differentiate between loving someone and being in love with them, and trying to make the former into the latter and hurting everything in the process.

It is so good. 10/10, no complaints

also there's an asshole in the university's queer pride group who doesn't think aces belong and everyone hates him so that's fantastic, aphobes fuck off

in conclusion I highly recommend it

[tohisprettyc00l]

(parent scenario) You get into a fight at school

A/n: This is a future with them as your parents. Gus, The Collector, and Lilith aren't here because children (Gus is 16 in the future but still) and Aroace (She can adopt but whatever.) Also, you didn't start the fight here.

Amity: Coming to the school as fast as possible. God, she is so worried for you. Just really hopes you're okay (thankfully you are.) Once she finds out you're okay she acts like she wasn't that worried. Not like she didn't care, she's not her mom. But more like "I wasn't even that worried." She's a horrible liar. 

Luz: Uh-oh. She is super shaky while driving to pick you up. Once she picks you up she bombarded you with questions. Not to accuse you, quite the opposite actually. She wants to know if need to say anything about how that kid is been treating you at the next parent-teacher meeting.

Willow: Isn't mad if you didn't start the fight, which as I mentioned, you didn't. And if Willow is your mom, you 100% won. Listen you may not work as much as she does, but she does teach you self-defense. She patches up any wounds while listening to what happened.

Hunter: The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree (kinda.) He got into a lot of fights at the Coven. They never turned physical but that's because they couldn't. So, it concerns him even more. He's worried that this will be the first of many. He's a little relieved that you didn't start the fight. But now (Despite also knowing self-defense) he's more worried for your safety. He does calm down when you turn out to be fine.

Vee: Hey, Masha started fights at the camp! Like mother's nonbinary crush like gender-neutral child. She's worried for your safety but besides that doesn't care. I mean she was in jail for a good chunk of her life and her crush started a lot of fights. Her ass DOES NOT know social norms!

Raine: You know how Vee didn't care because her crush always started fights? Yeah, Raine's crush (now wife I think) also started fights but they're more worried because of that. Listen they love Eda but she's the definition of bad advice for school etiquette. Is relieved that you didn't start the fight (and that you're okay.) They do tell you not to follow any school advice Eda gives you.

Eda: "Y/n got into a fight!? Did they win or lose?" As mentioned in Raine's she is not the best influence. When you tell her the details she cheers you on. She would probably get you a gift for winning the first fight you got into.

Emira: Samesies! (Holy fuck there are so many mischievous characters in Toh.) That being said she doesn't support you getting into fights, not that this was your choice. Does plan revenge though. I mean if that kid wants to fuck around they can find out.

Edric: Panic. But also proud. His child's also a delinquent! Once he finds out you are okay he cheers you on but discourages you in the same sentence. "You won? Congrats, never get into a fight again."

[boxofshadows]

Oh, Your Love is Sunlight

Midnight/Nemuri Kayama x gn! reader

content: best friends to lovers, reader struggles with emotions and understanding romance vs platonic feelings, reader's gender is completely unimportant for the plot, reader can be seen as autistic if that resonates w/ you, fluff, confession, bath scene (sfw but there is nudity), brief discussion of romantic & sexual attraction, reader can also be seen as aroace-spec if that resonates w/ you. Self indulgent fic

AN: hi! This is my first x reader fic ever! I tried my best, but I do take polite criticism. Please feel free to drop by and throw something in my ask box.

Although this is x reader, I do not use y/n or (your name) in this fic. I find that it makes it more enjoyable, and there was no real need because this was in first person.

It was a cold winter's night. Most of UA was fast asleep. Not you though, no. You were waiting for someone. Nemuri Kayama, your best friend. The staff had decided on having a movie night, due to much of her insistence. And then like cruel karma, she got called away as soon as the movie started. It’d been nearly six hours since you'd seen her last, everyone else had already gone to bed. You refused to let her come home alone, knowing she would likely be disappointed and a bit sad. She’d consistently been there for you no matter what, so it was safe to say she deserved this at the least.

You were pulled out of your thoughts as the very topic of your musings waltzed right through the front door.

"Nem- what the fuck happened to you?" You say, looking at your slightly battered friend. She had definitely seen better days, her hair was a mess and her makeup had gone runny, she looked tired, overwhelmed, and, overall, drenched.

Why the fuck was she soaking wet in 3°c weather? (That's 37°f btw)

"So, I got caught up on call helping with villains, right? Calls just kept coming in, yknow? Everything was going fine until the last group." She starts gesturing with her hands as she speaks. "They- they all had really powerful quirks, so I was doing my thing, and then one of them started a fire. The villains went down, and BackDraft started handling the fires. Except he burst a fucking fire hydrant and drenched me!" She says weakly, her shoulders slouching. "And then! And then my key card doesn't work because it's drenched, so I had to call Nedzu and tell him this whole story."

"Oh, Nem, I'm so sorry," You say softly, walking over to her as she sits down to take the frustratingly tall boots off. She struggles with the zipper for a minute before sighing in defeat. "Here, let me help. You've obviously had a rough night." You sit down besides her, lifting the fabric of the boot away from her leg before pulling it down.

You can see it in the way her eyes shine that she wants nothing more than to cry in frustration, and frankly you don't blame her. She'd been looking forward to being here for the movie night. "I didn't even get to be here for the stupid movie," She says wrought with emotion as you unzip the other boot. "I must look like a mess right now, crying over what is literally my job," she says, chuckling wetly.

"Well, I think it's fair that you're upset. You were looking forward to this. And if it means anything, I still think you look pretty, even drenched in water and dirt." You chuckle, setting the boots aside and handing her a pair of slippers. "We can always watch a movie, just the two of us, if you want."

"I would like that, yeah," she says, powder blue eyes staring into yours.

"C'mon, Nem, let me take care of you."

"First things first, let's get you warm." You say, gently nudging her towards the communal baths. They weren't exactly communal, more so bigger bathtubs meant to hold two or three people at a time. Not all of the staff were exactly comfortable showing themselves off.

You start the faucet on the bath, turning the water to a moderate 36°c. (roughly 97°f) she chuckles quietly at your insistence. "Are you just trying to see me naked?" She taunts, taking off accessories.

"No! You just need to warm up before you get sick, and you're also covered in sweat and dirt," You say, blushing furiously.

"Awwww you're no fun. Are you at least gonna get into the tub with me?" She asks. Her voice intones in a way you're familiar with, but not enough to the point that you know what it means. You've heard other people use a similar tone before, but that was in romantic settings. Clearly, she meant something else since the two of you were only friends.

"Do you want me to?" You ask, tilting your head owlishly.

"Sure, why not? I need help with my hair. I think there's a rock in my hair somewhere." She says, her eyes grow soft as she observes you.

"Alright, I'll be right back." When you come back to the bath, Nemuri is already in the tub. Her dirty clothes are in the bucket, and she seems to have put a bath bomb in the tub from her collection. You have bathed together before, as all friends do, but you couldn't help but be stunned by her beauty every time. The way her long slate black hair clings to her pale skin in a sharp contrast, while also managing to make her baby blue eyes pop. The way her face was littered with faint freckles and moles like a constellation that you desperately wanted to connect with your fingers. She's breathtaking, you felt lucky to have such a pretty friend.

"Well, are you just gonna ogle at me, or are you gonna get in, hun?" She says with a chuckle. "I don't bite- unless you want me too?" Your face lights up like a fire, not realizing you'd been staring.

"Sorry, I had to get you some of my clothes because I don't have your room key. I know they're not your style exactly, but it's better than walking around naked." You mutter the last part, setting the dry clothes and towels aside.

"Oh, it's fine, your clothes are plenty comfortable enough." She waves her hands, scooting back into the pool of warm water.

"Alright, do you mind..." You trail off with your face still incredibly red. Heroes had to change costumes around each other all the time, you had even done it a couple times behind a dumpster. For some reason, changing in front of Nemuri like this was much more tense. Maybe it was because you guys were such good friends.

"Oh! Of course," she says, closing her eyes and turning around. Nemuri was such a good friend, sometimes even the smallest gestures made your heart flutter. Undressing quickly, you feel something bubble in your stomach. This feeling always happens whenever you're naked or not fully dressed around Nemuri. Sometimes it happens even when you are fully dressed. Nemuri was just so pretty, you were probably just insecure.

You enter the water with a slight splash, quickly making yourself comfortable in the water. "Okay, I'm done."

"Okay," She says with a smile.

"Do you... want help?" You murmur, moving a bit closer to her.

"That'd be lovely, starlight. I can't really reach my back very well. I'll help you with yours if you want." She turns around to lean against the rim of the tub. This moment feels… strange. Oddly intimate for two friends. The special nickname she'd given you, starlight, made your heart flutter. You resist the urge to kiss her.

Kiss her? You were only friends. Sure, it was a little weird, but friends did this sort of thing all the time, you were sure of it. You again shake yourself of your thoughts and move closer. "Sure, Nem" You quickly grab the bottle of passion fruit body wash and pump a bit of the goopy purple soap into the palm of your hand, rubbing them together to create a nice lather.

You massage the soap across her left shoulder, going over any scrapes or bruises carefully. The large mass of her hair lays across her right shoulder as you massage the tissue of her upper and lower back. Nemuri sighs softly as you work out a tense not in the middle of her back with your thumb. once the left side of her back is done, you dump warm water out of a cup over her body to wash the suds away. "Does that feel alright?" You ask, instinctively holding one of her hips for stability as you scoop the mass of her hair to the other shoulder.

"Feels amazing, sweetheart." She sighs bonelessly, making your stomach summersault so hard you think it's attempting a new record. You run the pad of your thumb down her spine, applying gentle pressure throughout before repeating the same steps on her other shoulder. Her breath stutters occasionally as she continues washing her front and legs. You wonder occasionally if you're hurting her based on the way she reacts, but you know she'd say something if you were. She looks completely blissed out by the time you're done massaging her scalp and neck, and you almost wonder if she's fallen asleep.

"Still with me, Nem?" You ask softly.

"Course I am, babes," She says dreamily. "'S my turn now, yeah?" She turns around quickly, very nearly ending up right on top of you. She's still practically in your lap, at which point you turn around as fast as you can so that she doesn't see your face go red again for the umpteenth time tonight.

"Can you scoot a bit closer? I can't reach well like this," she asks, resting her soft hands on your bare shoulders.

"Y-yeah," you stammer, scooting back. Her legs drape along yours. You instinctively scrunch your shoulders as she tries to massage them.

"Calm down hun, I won't hurt you." She says quietly, running a hand down the small of your back. You know she wouldn't hurt you. You trust Nemuri more than you trust yourself sometimes. You want nothing more than to relax into her and enjoy this, but something feels caught in your throat, like your lungs have been squeezed too tight.

"Ah, I know, I'm just sensitive, sorry," you apologize and try to straighten your shoulders. It's not exactly a lie, but you also don't know what the truth is.

"It's alright, darling, don't worry." She almost seems to know something is wrong, even without telling her directly. Your face throbbed again at the nickname.

You felt the need for something, some way to understand why you were feeling like this. This couldn't be normal, you were sure people didn't usually act like this around their close friends. Maybe Nem would know, she was well versed in relationships. Nemuri had done an entire podcast on relationship advice, and she had been teaching you how to tell the difference. It was still incredibly hard to do though, so sometimes you deferred to her to understand.

"Nem, this is really off topic, but I have a question," you say as she works soap into your scalp and through your hair. You rub soap on one of your legs, before lowering it back into the water to get rid of the suds.

"Shoot away starlight," she says while massaging out a knot in your neck.

"So you know about relationships, right, and you know how much I struggle with telling the difference between romantic and platonic, whatever it is." You explain, cleaning your other leg and your front.

"Mhm, you couldn't tell if someone was interested in you if they asked to bathe with you." She says, carding her hands through your soaking wet hair.

"Yeah, exactly. So I've been having these feelings around someone, where it feels like my stomach is flipping around." You mutter, hoping she hasn't caught on just yet. "I want to spend the rest of my life with this person, and it feels way more intense than friendship, and seeing them undressed makes me feel kinda weird."

"That would be a romantic attraction, yes. Although that ‘strange feeling’ could be sexual attraction. Not everyone experiences the two the exact same way." She dumps water over your back and scalp, washing away the soap.

Oh.

Oh.

She pulls the plug to the tub, standing up abruptly. You follow suit, choosing to avoid looking at her body to avoid that strange feeling again.. "What, uh, what do I do with that?"

"Well, you could tell this mysterious person.”

"That's a horrible idea," You mutter, pulling a tank top over your head.

“Why?" She asks sincerely, gathering up both of your laundry and dumping it down the chute.

"I doubt yo-they'd like me like that. They're beautiful and amazing, and I'm-" you gesture at your entire body.

"Anyone would be lucky to have you, babes, trust me." Nemuri turns the light to the bath segment off, heading out.

"Maybe someday. Or, maybe I just... Bury these feelings forever! That could work, right?" You ask, following behind her.

"No. The more you repress it, the more it's gonna hurt." She says solemnly.

"Here, I made us both high protein smoothies while I was waiting for you, in case you weren't hungry." You hand her the cup with a smile.

"Thank you, dear." She smiles at you, making your heart flutter again.

"Okay, Nem. Hypothetically, If I tell this person, and they don't like me back, what do I do?"

"If they hypothetically don't like you back, you could always stay friends, it's not really a big deal," Nemuri says, sipping her drink as you walk to her room.

"Okay," you say, shutting her bedroom door behind you. You barely make it through a movie before Nemuri decides to lay down to "relax her eyes." In her defense, the clock had just ticked over to two AM, and she had morning classes. Maybe while she slept, you could get some practice. You had no idea what to say to "confess." It's not like you were admitting a crime.

"I think I have a romantic attraction to you, Nemuri." You muttered, trying to keep quiet as you watched her sleep. That sounded too... robotic. She was beautiful, ethereal, you couldn't quite understand how someone so perfect wanted to spend so much time around you.

"Nemuri, I think- I think I'm in l-love with you." You flinch as you end the sentence, your heart racing.

Yeah. That felt right, love. Love was the right word to describe how she made you feel. "Nemuri, I think I'm in love with you," You say again, this time much more confident. "You're- You're amazing, beautiful, a competent hero and teacher, and I'm glad to spend every day with you." Your heart pounds in your chest. That felt good to say, like a weight had been lifted off of your back.

"mm.. I love you too, starlight." She says back, causing you to fly out of the bed in shock.

"Y-you heard me?" You squeak, covering your face, although it's not like she can see you anyways, you're hanging half way off the bed. The bed creaks, and then she's looming over you.

Tired blue eyes peer into yours that are currently peeking through your hands. The way she looks at you feels different now. Like she could pick you apart in seconds "Mhm, I wasn't deep asleep yet, silly." She says with a giggle. She pulls you up with her and sideways onto the bed with surprising ease. "For your information babes, I kinda knew the whole time. You aren't exactly... Subtle, darling." Nemuri kisses the side of your face.

"Wait, does this mean you like me too?" You ask, your mouth falling into an ‘o’ shape.

"What do you think 'I love you too' means, hun?"

"Oh." She peppers kisses across your face as you lay chest to chest.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to realize." She giggles into your now dry hair.

You smile lopsidedly at all of the affection, yawning quietly. "Can we figure the rest of this out tomorrow...? I'm tired... And you have class in like five hours."

"'Course, starlight, I'm just a little excited, sorry. good night, I love you." She says, pulling the blanket over you both as your limbs intertwine.

"Night night Nem, I love you too." You respond back, carding through her still-damp raven hair with your fingers.

End!

What should I do next? Feel free to hit me up or ask to be in my tag list!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for being physically close with a guy before breaking up with my ex? (🧋 To find easier)

Sorry for the long explanation!

Last year I( at the time 16, closeted Agender) was dating this guy (at the time 16, M) who we'll call T. Looking back on it I realise I mostly started dating him because he was the first genuine friend I'd made after moving to our country during COVID, and I've always struggled to differentiate romantic and platonic feelings. A few months in I could tell that this simply wasn't working for me and that the only reason I wasn't leaving was because he really really liked me (I was the first person he'd ever dated) and I'd feel guilty for breaking his heart. Eventually I realised I was somewhere on the Aromantic spectrum, so I came out to him expecting it to be an instant deal breaker. He took me being aro much better then I expected and didn't see it as a reason for us to break up ,and I ended up crying a bunch and was so caught up in the euphoria of him accepting me that I agreed to stay in the relationships.

A few weeks pass and things keep deteriorating, to the point where I thought I was ace (I was not. Turns out I just really was not attracted to him anymore) and because I was still too much of a coward to explain my reasons for breaking up directly, I tried to break up with him under the guise of being aroace because I thought SURELY this horny teenage boy would see this as a deal breaker! Again, he accepted me and again I was so full of guilt/euphoria that I let him talk me out of breaking up.

A bit after this, but BEFORE I finally cut off things for real, I a met a guy(at the time 17, m), K, through my friend's sister when I visited their house at the same time as him. We hit it off instantly, both bonding over being aro (though at the time I still thought I was ace) and within the first night of knowing each other we were cuddling, I sat on his lap (I also did this with my first friend but I'd known her for much longer then a few *hours*) and he was coming up and hugging me from behind. I made it very clear I was in a closed relationship, and both me and K agreed at the time that the touching was just platonic, esp since we are both just generally very touchy-feely people and despite T's many more incel-y traits he was never the jealous type.

Me and K met up a few more times, and we continued being touch-y. When he hugged good bye he'd put his hands on my waist, we'd frequently cuddle, he'd lay his head on my shoulder, I'd like down on his lap, etc etc. there was a boob touching incident once but that was an accident so I don't think it really counts? There also might have been an incident where he put his hand up my shirt a bit (like waist level, not bra level). He made sexual jokes about me and the only thing I did to rebuff him was saying that I was still in a closed relationship, not that I wasn't interested. After the third time we met up I finally accepted that I DID like him sexually, and that I was definitely not ace. I know thought crime isn't real but I feel like such as ass for being so touchy with K and using friendliness as an excuse. I AM touchy with my other friends, but even in the moment I knew my feelings for K were different then that.

I broke up with T about a week later (only reason it took that long is cause we live far away and I didn't want to break up over the phone, especially since that's what I did the previous two failed times). Me and K became friends with benefits a few days later. K knows he helped me realise I really needed to break up with T, but I haven't told him how big of a last straw he was.

I do not feel guilty about breaking up with T, he ended up being a huge asshole, however I am very against cheating. No matter how much I hate T for being a creepy bigoted asshole (would nag me about nudes every night, sent me massive paragraph long guilty trippy texts about how bad his mental health was even months after we broke up, is a little too into WW2 and his German great grandparents which makes my Jewish ass very uncomfortable, and he's said a lot of horrible things about me studying Sign Language) he still does not deserve to be cheated on. I feel like I tried my best to correct the situation once I came to terms with my own feelings, but I was still absolute pushing the boundaries even when I subconsciously knew the way I felt about K was different then my other friends.

This all happened a year ago now, My friends who met T and know about me and K are generally on my side because they dislike T, but Idk still feel guilty when I think back on how stuff unfolded. I know it might just be silly teen drama but I really hate the idea of being a hypocrite who preaches against cheating and then does basically the same thing

What are these acronyms?

[aromanticannibal]

I will populate the aro mha tags by myself if I must. hcs. (Izuku, Katsuki, Ochako, Shouto, Mina, Shinsou)

Izuku is partnering aromantic. he likes making people happy and he doesn't really get what's so different between a strong friendship and dating so he'd prolly date any of his close friends if they wanted. he definitely wants a house and a dog with someone but in his head the idea situation is all of his friends living with him on different days. one week he's living with Kacchan then Uraraka then Todoroki then Iida etc. He isn't really ace but he doesn't care much for sex even if he does experience sexual attraction.

Katsuki is demiro and demiace and I'm correct. he's also gay but if drunk enough or challenged he will absolutely kiss a girl. he doesn't care about all that romance and sex shit until this One Person (for me it's Izuku in my head he's dekusexual dekuromantic but feel free to imagine your own preferred Bakugou ship) pulls up and makes him catch these rare feelings.

OCHAKO. One day I will write a long post about arochako but until then. Ochako has no fucking idea what romantic love is. She has no fucking idea what being aro is either so she just assumes she's like everyone else. She's so jealous of Toga because she has something she doesn't have, she's so focused on her supposed crush on Deku because her feelings for him have to be romantic, she can't be broken, she can't she can't she can't she can't. Anyway. Aromantic Ochako, she's bisexual but she has no felt romantic love ever in her life and she will never. She would have spent her forever with Toga anyway.

Cupioromantic Mina which I feel is a common hc. I don't consider it canon cuz it's clearly not intended but it's a very good interpretation and I find it sweet. She doesn't fall in love but she wants to, dreams of romance and she will eventually find someone who doesn't mind and will give her all the love she wants <3 (my favorite Mina ship is kirimina but again, feel free to put your own Mina ship in here)

Shouto is aroace he does not careeeeee he is so friendship pilled. friendshippilled friendmaxxer. He loves his friends a lot. he was scared for a long time to be broken, that what he saw of romantic love in his family disgusted him forever, but he isn't particularly repulsed by romantic love (he IS sex-repulsed tho. except when he's drunk then he suddenly becomes sex jokes georg. no one knows why)

Hitoshi is alloaro (no I'm not projecting) he'd probably date someone if they wanted as long as they weren't too overbearing with their love and didn't expect too much from him. he's a kisser he's a hugger he's a hand holder but he WILL panic if he's told "I love you".

I've ran out of juice but PLEASE send me characters. I'll tell you want kind of aro they r.

[katsune-nya]

Tokyo Revengers Romantic and Sexual Orientation Headcanons.

Part 2.

Contains: Michi, Mikey, Draken, Baji, Tora, Fuyu, Taka, Hakkai, Pah and Peh, Hina Emma, Yuzuha, Senju, Sanzu, Ran Rindo, Koko, Inui, South, Taiju, Shin, Benkei, Waka and Omi.

Takemichi:

He's so Straight it's actually sad, like i've never seen a straighter man. He actually doesn't have too much of a sexual attraction, but he's not in the ace spectrum either.

Edit: I change my mind, he's a bi king.

Mikey:

AroAce. He's in the spectrum and honestly doesn't really see the charm on relationships, he would get in one with the right person but doesn't look for it AT ALL. (He's the biggest simp when he falls tho).

Draken:

Straight Ally. The kinda ally that literally doesn't give a fuck. Would kiss a dude, doesn't care. He grew up in a fucking brothel, literally nothing about sex makes him raise a brow.

Edit: Remembered this.

That's such a weird thing for a straight guy to say, man. WHAT DID YOU MEAN??!!?!? Do you like Emma 'cause she kinda looks like Mikey?

Keisuke:

AROACE AROACE AROACE AROACE. He's so in the AroAce Spec it's not even a secret. Experimented with boys and girls, just doesn't really do much to him. Doesn't look for a relationship but if it happens he'll be surprised. No gender or sex prefference.

Kazutora:

Actually, i think he's Bi. The Homophobic Gay kind. He was so in denial until he was an adult and came out to Chifuyu and Kei in such a nonchallant way in the middle of a random convo at breakfast.

Right. In front. Of their salads.

Chifuyu:

Either the Straightest one can be or Pan. He's a romantic but doesn't get in a relationship easily, has literally zero experience but when imagining kissing in the rain suddently he realised the gender of the other person was changing??? The first person he came out to was Peke J and then Keisuke who gave him a thumbs up and kept walking like nothing.

Takashi:

I'm so sorry to the fangirls but this man came personally to me and told me he's a Fully Fledged Homosexual. He's so gay, oh my fucking God. Gay gay gay gay gay homo gay.

He has so much experience too and loves girls (could be bi) but men are just *chefs kiss*.

Gay and pissed about it but 'cause he's a Misandristic Man.

Edit: I realised I was wrong, he's actually the only straight character in this whole manga, he's just unrealistically perfect and that made me not see that he is a cishet.

Hakkai:

He's so fucking Bi for fucks sake. He realised he liked boys before he liked girls and he felt SO guilty about it. He literally doesn't know what the fuck he feels for Takashi. Is it Platonic or Romantic Love? He decided it didn't matter 'cause he just loves him and that's enough.

Pah and Peh:

Both Straight but both experimented with different kinds of people. They genuinly don't care and will be your biggest suporters whatever you are. Literal definition of Love Is Love. Will beat up a Bigot for you and enjoy it.

Hina:

Bi Bi Bi (actually Pan). She had only one or two crushes in girls but she fell in love with Michi at such a young age she never really cared. She has fucking queer merch but the aesthetic ones. She is the violent gay, Be Gay, Do Crime.

Emma:

... I wish she was gay... She's so Straight. She found being queer weird at first but only 'cause she never saw it 'round. Once Hina came out to her in a casual "boys" convo she was just like: "Oh... Well, that makes sense." And moved on. Got a cute lil pin with her pronouns and put it on her bag.

Yuzuha:

GAY. She's a Pan queen. She has crushes VERY rarely, like, once every 80 years, but it never matters what gender they are. She has a "Beat a Right Wing" sticker. She is gay with a PURPOSE, the purpose is to make her brother mad. She got over her crush on Michi just to develop one on Hina... Give this girl a break.

Senju:

A romantic. Probably Pan. She falls in love every Tuesday, Waka and Omi have to deal with her talking their ears off about her latest crush "I'm telling you, they're the one!". Probably the most into Non-Binary people, she thinks it's badass and cool.

Haruchiyo:

He HAS to be Gay. Bi at most. He just likes men. He likes men. Have i said he likes men? First crush was OBVIOUSLY Mikey. Whenever he gets drunk he starts saying the gayest shit (specially towards Rindo) and the Haitani brothers just have to listen to him and pray for him to get tired and shut the fuck up. "Listen, if i wasn't into [name] rn, i'd probably fuck you too". Ok, they don't care, go to bed.

Ran:

Pan. A hole is a hole. No but fr. He doesn't care, he literally has no prefference, but actually, 'till he was like 20 he had NO PULL. NOTHING. NADA. Hit him up and he'll fold.

Rindo:

Bi. He likes boys, he likes girls, he has liked the random nonbinary cutie down the street. He just kinda goes with the flow but he has prefferences so he doesn't really call himself pan, he likes men the most, especially if they are smaller than him, he thinks it's cute. Another one with no fucking game, probably kissed Sanzu and regretted it instantly because why Sanzu?!?!?! He was drunk, let him forget it.

Hajime:

... Come on, he HAS to be Pan. He likes pretty people, whatever they are. He likes looking at people as if they were art pieces but he doesn't get crushes. Once he falls in love, it's for LIFE.

Seishu:

Probably Bi or the best Straight Ally. He likes people rougher than him and people energetic/extroverted/chaotic/talkative. Doesn't really think about his prefference so he doesn't put a label on himself. Whoever he likes, he likes. In the Ace Spectrum.

South:

... Listen. Ok. Listen to me. I swear i have a point just liSTEN TO ME.

...

He's gay. He's fully homosexual. And he has no real prefference about it bUT, he likes femenine men a lot. Or men shorter or skinnier than him. Or... Honestly. He just... Likes men.

Taiju:

Pfffft. He's actually Bi or Pan but so in denial, in the closet, a closet guarded by Cerberus himself and a thousand locks with a pond around it filled with crocodiles. He likes strong people who can tell him to shut the fuck up and encourage him to do better. He dreams of getting married and having a family. Ew.

Shinichiro:

He's Pan. He has an obsession with women but he gets just as down bad with men, or enbys. He likes people smarter than him. He preffers people smaller than him 'cause he gets too flustered with people bigger, but ohohoho, he LOVES heavier people.

Benkei:

I swear i can't decide. It switches every time. I think his sexuality is fluid and he's unlabelled. AroAce Spec tho, doesn't really get crushes.

Wakasa:

AroAce Spec, but he has TOO MUCH GAME. He pulls without trying. He is mostly uninterested in people and relationships. You have to be an EXTRAORDINARY person to catch his attention (I have this headcanon that he's lowkey into Shin but that's for another day). Once he falls, you are not getting rid of him.

Takeomi:

Probably fully Aro. His true love is money. If he got into a relationship it would be a VERY slow and robotic process, until he relaxes and is like... Huh... This is nice. Then a switch flips.

• Will do more in some time about the rest of the characters. I had no more space in the tags lmao.