#fun to write! but also this is not a comfortable situation for anyone here haha

[tealclover]

This Way Out

So, Tails slipped up. Not only did he manage to get himself snagged, but he dragged Belle into this with him. To make matters worse, Starline was unbearably smug about the whole thing. Yeah, yeah, he got the Sonic the Hedgehog’s sidekick. Whoop-de-friggin-doo.

Just when Tails was starting to prove himself again. Ugh. How embarrassing. 

Well, enough of that. He promised Sonic he’d be fine, and he intended to keep his word. All he had to do was find a way to get Belle and himself out safely. … But who exactly were those two Mobians hanging around the facility?

(Alternate ending to Sonic IDW Issue #36, featuring a snarky fox. Some angst, some crack.)

Even before fully regaining consciousness, Tails knew he was in for a headache. And not just literally, though the pulsing in his temple was certainly noteworthy.

For starters, before even opening his eyes, he was lying stiffly on his back of all places. Tails never slept on his back if he could help it – his namesakes made resting much more reasonable on his side or belly. Sleeping on his tails was both uncomfortable and impractical. Impractical because it left his belly and other more vulnerable parts exposed. Uncomfortable due to the cold and the fact that his namesakes trapped underneath him, occasionally numb from lack of bloodflow. Which they were. But so were his arms and his legs, and, oh, he couldn’t move at all actually. 

It was probably too much to hope that that beeping indicated that he’d spent the last fifteen hours on a stone-hard hospital bed, seeing how his last waking recollection involved him and Belle separating, tons of snow, and…

Starline. Who wanted to kidnap him. For supposedly scientific purposes.

Ugh.

With no small amount of trepidation, the fox bleerily opened his eyes. He was immediately rewarded for his efforts with too much light why couldn’t he live like the nocturnal creatures foxes were meant to be and a sinister chuckle that grated on his nerves.

“Ah, Young Master Prower. I see you are awake.”

Yup. And he wished he wasn’t.

“Starline.” Oof. Voice crack. That wasn’t doing his credibility any favors. How long had he been out? He coughed, trying to get his voice back before roughly continuing: “I hope you’ve got a five star meal on the way; otherwise I’m going to have to give this stay a poor review. Don’t tell me this is a hospital bed,” he grimaced at the surface he was strapped to, arms, tails, and all. He was trapped for the time being, but appeared to be intact, at least. If the bindings were ignored, he could have passed for a patient – the presence of the finger pulse oximeter amongst other diagnostic tools were certainly intriguing, if not concerning. Were those vials of blood his? “Or do. Cause I’m not sure there’s much I can do for you if you think it’s acceptable to let your guests sleep on tables.”

The platypus stared at him for a few seconds, like he hadn’t expected the witty response. It was actually kind of funny to watch him visibly reboot and reassess the fox. Finally, he sighed. “I suppose you were raised by Sonic. It makes sense that you would share his poor taste in humor.”

“It clearly beats your taste in decor,” Tails sniped back. Starline hummed at that.

“Public perception of you paints you to be a polite boy genius. It seems that isn’t entirely true.”

Tails shrugged. Or tried to, anyway. “The general population wouldn’t consider strapping me to an examination table. Care to explain that, by the way?”

Starline smiled a sweet-sick smile. “Oh, you’re curious, are you? To be quite frank, I want to see if you can find out. Why don’t you and Miss Belle take a moment to catch up?”

Tails froze. “Belle?”

“I'm here, Tails…” the voice came from his left. He peered over as far as he could to see the robotic marionette on a second table a short distance away. She wouldn’t meet his eyes, but from what he could see of her… she looked distraught. Not fearful, necessarily, but despairing, which was somehow even more worrisome. 

“Belle, are you okay?” He asked gently. She sniffled, ducking her head into her chest as best as she could. Were those… tear tracks on her cheeks? She could cry? Why was she crying? He took a second to shoot a gleeful Starline a sharp glare before refocusing on his newest companion. “Belle, are you hurt?” 

“... No,” she whispered.

Tails didn’t know if he believed that, but he didn’t know how to press the issue with the correct amount of sensitivity, especially with Starline hovering over them. What a creep. Couldn’t he leave? “Okay… okay. It’s going to be alright, I promise.” He waited for Belle’s tiny nod before continuing. “How long have you been active?”

“About… twenty minutes. I’ve been offline s-since the avalanche. I… I’m sorry, Tails. You came back for me and now-”

“I’m not worried about that, Belle,” he told her, firmly but not unkindly. “We’ll figure it out. Can you tell me what you remember?”

“I…” She made a strangled sound, but forced herself to continue. “My d-d… my creator was Mr. Tinker.” Tails gut sank. He wasn’t surprised, not with their matching attire, but it was still a sad confirmation to hear. “That… that jerk figured it out. He, he told me-” she hiccuped again. “It’s his fault Mr. Tinker is gone. He changed him into Eggman.”

“... I’m sorry, Belle.” What could he say to that? This wasn’t something he could fix with a wrench and a bit of mechanical know-how. Belle was a robot, but her feelings were hardly artificial. After Emerl, Gamma, and their successors, Tails was very well aware of that. She was just as much of a person as anyone organic; something that was clear to him from the moment they met. He couldn’t just reprogram her to feel better. Or, well, maybe he could, but that wouldn’t be right. To do so would likely be robbing her memories and cheapening her experiences, changing who she was in the process. It wouldn’t truly fix anything; frankly, it would likely lead to an identity crisis later on.

And so, all he had to offer her was kindness, and time to recover once they escaped.

“I… don’t know how to help with Mr. Tinker, but my friends and I would be happy to have you, if you want. I have space for you back at my workshop, and the Restoration accepts anyone who wants to to have a part of it. If you want a home, we’ll give you one. We can try to figure out the rest in time.”

Belle was quiet. Finally, she tearfully confessed, “That would be nice.”

He offered her a smile even though she still wasn’t looking. “I’m glad you think so. We’ll do our best to make it worth your while.” He hesitantly continued. “Did Starline do anything else?”

She shook her head. “He just… listened to me talk a-about Dad. About home, Windmill Village, and how the villagers kicked me out after the Metal Virus cleared up. I got so mad, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t care. He doesn’t care at all about what he did. He only wanted the code.”

“Code…?” At that, Tails shot another glance in their captor’s direction, though the platypus had since turned his attention to the monitor at Tails’ side, turned so that the fox couldn’t read any of the details. Were Belle’s readings stashed away in that device? … No. At least, it wasn’t just her information. Starline was gathering his vitals as well. But why? From the sounds of things, he was trying to get a reaction out of Belle earlier, and now, he was… testing Tails? Did he truly want him to uncover the motivations behind their kidnappings or was he simply fishing for another set of reactions from a different subject? He wouldn’t put it past Starline to have something of a sadistic streak – most villains lately did – but not one without purpose. If that was all he did, there had to have been some sort of incentive, something to be gained…

Why him? Why Belle? Her thoughts and feelings, and his-

Was he trying to record them both?

Was Starline in his head right now? 

A delighted laugh at his side told him that yes, he probably was.

“Positively remarkable, young Master Prower! You are truly one of a kind.” The platypus’ hands clapped together. “It is no wonder Sonic has prevailed for so long! He is powerful on his own, but you, you can keep pace with him, you adapt to his spontaneity and can plan in the heat of the moment so that he is successful in his every endeavor, no matter how foolish or impossible.  It is little wonder that the two of you alone keep Doctor Eggman on his toes, despite his armies, his keen intellect, and his prowess…” He stood to approach Tails again, looking down upon him with glee. “You truly are the greatest of combinations.”

That would have been a heart-warming compliment, had it not come from the mouth of a madman. As it stood, the fox had to resist the urge to squirm under that predatory gaze. He would not give Belle another reason to be afraid. 

“And, in spite of knowing all of that,” Tails mildly remarked, “you brought me straight to your base.”

Starline was likely to overestimate himself. In his eyes, he had a useful enemy at his mercy. He was less likely to seriously consider the fact that, in the process, he had invited that very foe into his base, to say nothing of the others that would come knocking down his door later.

… Let him read those thoughts.

“Is that a threat?” The doctor mockingly inquired, unfazed and clearly quite confident. “You hardly have the advantage, fox.”

“I've gotten out of stickier situations.” This wasn't even the first time somebody thought to make a labrat of him, his first encounter with the Deadly Six coming to mind. … Hopefully, this wasn't going to become a trend. 

“Perhaps, but I've taken precautions. Escape won't come easily for you.” The villain adjusted his glove with a self-assured smirk. “You are now quite the valuable asset to my plans.”

“Which are…?” Tails pressed, earning him a condescending pat on the head that made his skin crawl.

“All in due time, little specimen. As it stands, I've already shared too much with you, and I really must get back to work. You have such fascinating insights; it’s a pity we won’t be discussing this further, seeing how you will have no recollection of this conversation,” he coolly lamented, hand shifting from his bangs to his eyes.

“Now, it is time for you to go back to sleep.”

So... yup! Here's a glimpse of a brainworm I've had for a little while regarding Issue #36. It's a little rough and is absolutely a WIP (the end is particularly prone to change), but I felt like sharing a bit of it! Hope whoever finds it likes it! :)

[lilmashae]

Could you do one where Riize members react to there idol significant other in a dating rumor! Love your writing keep it up babes 🤍

im sorry this took me so long to get to 😓

shotaro!

i think he’d be understanding about it. it’s not your fault — it’s just a part of your job. he’d probably bring it to you first — approaching you casually and just throwing it out… when and if you panic he’ll probably laugh it off and reassure you that it’s fine!

I think he might tease you about it every once in a while! if you have another event or show with the idol you’re being shipped with he’d tell you to go have fun with your ‘boyfriend’ for the day.

but I also think that depending on his mood he’ll become a bit distraught — maybe a bit more clingy than usual.

eunseok!

he’s definitely jealous… but he won’t tell you! if it ever comes up in a conversation i think he’ll show little signs — maybe huffing or rolling his eyes.

‘yeah… did you know you’re trending on twitter?’ your friend shouted through the phone. you exchanged looks with eunseok as you sat up… ‘really? for what..?’ a sly smile crept up on her face. ‘people are shipping you and leehan!’ you could hear her laughing as you glanced over at your boyfriend who tightly clenched his jaw. ‘oh… haha… seriously why would they do that?’ awkward laughter erupted from your chest.

if you try to confront him he’ll SWEAR up and down he isn’t jealous. you could totally tease him about it — just to poke a little fun :) eventually he’ll cave after smothering him in affection and playfully accusing him (rightfully so) of being jealous!

sungchan!

he’s not mad but he definitely isn’t happy or supportive. he’s not indifferent either. i think he’d make attempts to get fans starting a dating rumor between the two of you rather than the other guy… whether he does that by dropping your name in interviews or holding your hand and kissing you in more public areas.

‘why’d you want to go out all of a sudden?’ your boyfriend had dragged you around the area — leading you from place to place until you finally sat in a café. ‘we haven’t gone out in a while…’ he wore a smug smile on his face watching as you took a bite of the dessert before you. ‘here.’ his thumb came up to swipe against your lips. ‘something on my face?’ and he’d place a sudden kiss on your lips before leaning back into his seat. ‘not anymore.’

wonbin!

wonbin probably thinks it’s the end of the world as he knows it. he does not like sharing — especially not you — even if it is just a rumor.

‘wonbinne come back!’ your boyfriend rushed out of your dorms after what was a pointless argument. ‘why’re you upset handsome?’ finally catching up to him you held his hands in your own. ‘im your boyfriend… not him! you did one stupid promotion together why cant anyone drop it.’ he rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. admittedly it was a bit humorous watching him stomp around. ‘you are my boyfriend.’ you cracked a smile. ‘that’s why it doesn’t matter... how about we get our managers to schedule a shoot together?’ basically the only resolve is scheming with him to come up with something that’ll get rumors stirring between you two.

seunghan!

another understanding boyfriend! he’s not mad at all.

I feel like if you brought it up with the slightest bit of hesitancy he’d laugh it off — not in an invalidating way but just a ‘it’s okay. relax :)’ sort of way? would definitely reassure you that it’s fine and he trusts you regardless. he knows it’s just media speculation!

“it’s fine baby. no worries.” he’s very much calm about the whole thing even if you’re wigging out. “are you sure? I mean we’re trending… and of course we have to continue working together — what if the rumors get worse?” seunghan’s definitely calming you down in the situation — providing soothing words of comfort etc.

sohee!

i think he’d be at least a little shocked — maybe even a bit whiny about it. but overall I don’t think he’d mind too much.

you’d sit down and have a very light hearted conversation about it and at the end you’d ask how he felt.

“it’s fine. it’s not like you two are actually together anyways.” he’s mostly indifferent but still wouldn’t mind a bit of reassurance. “you’re sure ‘hee?” and he’d nod. “you know I love you loadsss right?” another dry response but at this point he’s just doing it to egg you on. leaping across the table you smother him with kisses — generously peppering his cheeks with hundred of little nibbles. “I love you too!”

anton!

he has such an attitude about it… i feel like he’s not being serious — it’s actually very playful: especially when you ask him to do something and his response is telling you to ask your other boyfriend.

In reality he isn’t really hurt though. he understands it’s just a rumor — and that he’s extremely irrelevant in your person lives/relationship. he’s half asleep lying on your bed.

“anton! get up… let’s go out.” you poke at his sides and watch as he repositions to sink into the mattress. “no way… go out with your other boyfriend.” he groggily mumbles before feeling a pillow land on top of him. “hey! that’s not funny! now get up…” you roll over him and continue to poke at him until he’s up and getting ready. you two end up going out as you planned and everyone is happy <3

it literally been like three weeks 😭 im so so sorry this took me so long to get to! drafts are a mess and I need to do some organizing but hopefully this isn’t too lazy 🤕

[nobodysdaydreams]

Hey! I just wanted to say I appreciate you Reblogging/posting more Christian content. I’m a Protestant, but I’ve never really seen Tumblr as a place where I can/should talk about faith and engage with other Christians. It’s been really nice, though, to see your Christian posts on my dash, and I might start doing some of my own.

Curio, this ask means the absolute world to me, and please know I would love any Christian posts you made! 🥰

As for seeing tumblr as a place where you "can" or “should/should not” talk about your faith, I think you should do whatever makes you feel comfortable and makes you happy.

The whole reason I got a tumblr was because I didn’t have a place in my life where I could talk about my hyper fixations and interests, so I do that here. The neurotypicals in my life found it hard to listen to my ramblings, and even when they did indulge me, they never really appreciated or understood why it made me so happy. It’s nice to have people who understand and appreciate what I'm talking about (and I’m so grateful to all of you for that).

The reason I started talking about Christianity on my blog is kinda similar: I'm not in a place where I can talk about it irl, which leaves a whole aspect of my life I can't discuss (or even mention) with people. I don’t want to get into the details just in case this post somehow reaches anyone who knows me irl (I doubt any of them would have a tumblr, but I could be wrong), but to make a long story short, I’ve had people who are my peers and higher ups in places I work imply (well not imply, they straight up said it in a public talk) that religious people should not be allowed to have certain jobs or wouldn’t be good at certain jobs, including my job (no they don’t know I’m religious and actually think I’m one of the best at my job, ironically) and in other professional situations I have been harassed in… for the sake of avoiding a trigger warning, “very inappropriate” ways specifically due to the fact that I’m religious. The saying I shouldn’t be allowed to have my job thing was completely unprompted since they didn’t know I was religious at the time. The other thing was because I wrote a cross necklace one time and offhandedly mentioned going to Church when asked on a Monday what I did the day before (which I regret telling them and will not be doing irl again). I have other examples, but I think you get the idea.

So yeah, in both cases it’s been a bummer to have something that’s a part of me, but I just have to go through life pretending it doesn’t exist. Not even in a “yeah I go to Church, I might mention it sometimes, but I’m not trying to force it on you or anything.” Or “there’s this show I really like and I write fan fiction about it. I know you probably think it’s cringe, but it makes me happy and a lot of people really love it” way. In the real world, I don’t talk about going to Church ever even when it’s relevant and most people just assume I don’t have hobbies because I know if I told them I wrote a 300k fanfic they’d find it a cringey waste of time. I don’t want to make either of those my whole personality or force anyone to listen to me talk extensively about an aspect of my life that they personally don’t like, but it is also weird when I have to be like “sorry, gotta run, I have a meeting at 5 today” and people are like “oh what meeting?” And I’m like “uhhhhh… not Bible study?” (Because I’m smooth like that) or when people are like “what do you do for fun?” And I’m like “writing” and they’re like “oh what writing?” And I’m like “well whatever I write, it’s certainly not 300k words of fanfic haha…”

All this to say, if I can’t talk about my hobbies and religion on tumblr, then where exactly am I supposed to do it? Like I said in my original post, I want to be sensitive to people’s traumas, I’ve known people (both religious and nonreligious) who have religious trauma, and I understand people don’t always have the positive relationship Christianity that I do, but that’s what tag blocking is for and there is no reason my followers who don’t like religion shouldn’t still be able to enjoy my fandom related content. Plus so far the worst harassment I’ve gotten online for posting Christian content doesn’t even begin to compare to the stuff I’ve dealt with irl (and I hope we never get there. Obviously, this is the internet, but I’m comforted by the fact the bar for harassment I’ve had to deal with is pretty high. I certainly hope no one is foolish or terrible enough to consider that as a challenge). Additionally, as I said in that post, just because some of my fics have religious themes in them or ideas about redemption, forgiveness, and love that have been directly inspired by my faith doesn’t mean my secular and non-Christian followers don’t, haven’t or can’t enjoy them. And so far, the vast majority of my followers (Catholic, Protestants, atheists, agnostic, those of other faiths, etc.) have been extremely nice about it in my asks and DM’s, saying that they either like the Christian content I’m reblogging or appreciate the tag blocking system so they can continue to enjoy my fandom content.

So post what you want and what you feel comfortable with. It’s your blog, your space, and you should be able to do what you want with it. Best of luck my friend! 💒✝️💕

[bropunzeling]

For the director’s cut, literally any part of keep a close eye. Because Sasha 😍

ooh ty :) i'll do a bit from near the beginning:

Sasha’s already had to be in too many rooms this year. Five in ten games, and two to start the season at that. It isn’t the kind of tally he wants to be keeping. [it's always interesting to write a fic set early in a season then see how everyone is doing now haha like, oh they're fine] Technically an A could stand in for him, take his place, but Aaron is out, and Matthew—

Sasha can do it. Matthew does so much for them on the ice. Sasha can watch out for the boys in here. He won’t lay this at Matthew’s feet. [something that i did not have space to fully unpack but loved to hint at was like, in this premise where someone has to observe the winner's room, sasha has been doing this by himself for basically a whole season? i think initially it's like, you know, aaron was out for a while, hornquist was out for the year relatively fast, and it would take a while to trust the new guy with This (even if like. they were kind of in love from the start lmao). so sasha's seen a lot of weird handjobs and blowjobs! it would wear on a person! and also, even now that he does trust matthew, he still doesn't want to put this on matthew, for reasons of the heart :)]

Five times in ten games, and this is the first time that Matthew’s been tapped this season. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes guys have arrangements; sometimes they pick based on who played the best on a losing team; sometimes it’s spite. [one of the fun things about writing a winner's room fic for a same-team-pairing is thinking of all the reasons people who have played the concept a little more straight have thrown guys together] This time—who knows. Seems unlikely it’ll be a grudge. Wrong conference, and everyone kicked Chicago’s ass last year. [rip chicago! sucks to suck!]

Sasha forgot how it felt, though, being in here with Matthew. The way Matthew rubs his hands together as he scans the room, getting out that last bit of energy. [fidgety boy!] The way he goes to sit on the bed pushed up against the wall, rather than stand around in the middle of the room. How his knee bounces as he waits. [this whole fic is obviously themed around observation and what people see versus are not yet ready to see, but i really like this part as a like -- sasha already knows what matthew is like in here. they've had a year of experience, they're really familiar, it's a kind of comfort in a very uncomfortable situation]

For his part, Sasha takes up his habitual spot on the opposite side of the room, where he can lean against the cold, white cinder block wall and have as much of a view as he needs. [again, reinforcing sasha's discomfort and his responsibility to watch through the environment! or at least that's what i was aiming for haha]

Meghan nods at them both, then closes the door.

They wait for a minute, two. Sasha spends those minutes looking around the room, not that he needs to. All winner’s rooms look the same. Same walls, same mats for floors. A bed, a sink and mirror, a small cabinet with CBA-mandated condoms and lube, in case anyone wants to push the time limit and get more creative than a hand or a mouth. A digital clock above the door. [in my beloved pal maggie hopetorun's great great matthew/leon winner's room fic she did an incredible job of describing the physical spaces of the rooms and what would have to be in there; i was probably subliminally influenced by her here lol. but i thought a lot about having a contract mandate how many unexpired condoms you gotta keep on hand.]

There’s never a chair for the captain. Sasha can watch, but he can’t get comfortable. After all, he lost, too. [this just feels like the kind of petty thing this league would do asdkfl]

Now it’s been more than five minutes; getting closer to ten. Longer than usual. Matthew jiggles his knee; folds his hands in his lap; unfolds them and drops them to grab at the cheap, thin sheets that cover a cheap, thin mattress. [again: fidgety boy! but also i just like the repetition of "cheap, thin" here] The bed makes crinkling plastic sounds as Matthew shifts; the mattress protector is cheap, too. The only thing not making noise is Matthew’s mouth. Matthew talks a lot, but it’s different when they’re in here. No point in rehashing the game, no point in strategizing about what they’ll do when they play Columbus, no point in cracking jokes or making easy conversation. [one of the interesting points of like, winner's room fic generally and matthew characterization specifically is like, how would you feel during the anticipatory moments, you know? and it's like (a) matthew doesn't want to talk before the weird sex ritual but also (b) he's comfortable enough with sasha that he doesn't have to chatter away his mild nerves (i'd imagine that you'd never really get over having to do the weird sex ritual no matter how long you've been doing it, if im honest!)]

No point in Sasha saying anything, either. Matthew doesn’t need any reassurances, and Sasha doesn’t know if he would want them. [i mean, he doesn't need them, but he would probably appreciate them coming from you, my guy!]

At eight minutes of waiting, Matthew shifts again. The noise draws Sasha’s eye, and he finds himself making eye contact. Watching as Matthew swallows; as his mouth opens, like he’s going to say something. [i like this moment to serve as reinforcement: matthew fidgeting, sasha watching him, and then the way it functions as a mirror to the eye contact at the end of this particular sex scene -- here, the glance is more like, casually observational and not so fraught, whereas by the end of the scene it packs an emotional punch] [related, but one of the things im proudest of with this fic is like, having such a charged moment (sexually, emotionally) where the two people who are into each other aren't touching each other -- and the vibe is different than, say, a "make someone jealous" premise where presumably the other party is into it, you know? anyway, that was just a really fun thing to play with!]

There’s the noise of someone else punching in the code, of the door swinging open. But Sasha isn’t watching the door, even though he should. [writing sasha for the first time was a little intimidating. i think i landed on a lot of like, sasha having an idea of what he should do (as a captain, leader, friend, guy meant to keep matthew safe in a weird situation, etc.) and the ways in which matthew makes it hard for him to stick to the known contours of his life] Sasha’s watching Matthew, and—

He’s never been sure how to describe it, the change in Matthew’s face. It’s like Matthew slides into someone else, putting on an expression that’s been kept in a box, only to be worn in the room. [i looooove this lil beat. matthew tkachuk man of many faces! one of my most consistent characterization notes for him, because i find it really really fascinating how he plays with image and posturing! especially in the weird sex ritual context. and, of course, sasha noticing all of those different faces, because sasha watches matthew all of the time :)]

[hyunjinspark]

SCREAMING ANON IS HERE 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ (this time with a full review)

bestie - when I tell you that this has to be my favorite chapter thus far, I wholeheartedly mean it

the angst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the fluff!!!!!!! THE SEXUAL TENSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the fact that Hyunjin was SO vulnerable with yn!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all of it: it was beautiful & it was perfect & it was so needed

Hyun practically begging her not to leave? the ~please don’t go~ moment??? oh my gosh my HEART - it was as if the walls he built to separate himself for her were starting to crumble

& don’t get me started on when he called her baby!!!!! I screamed, I cried, I was like OH MY GOD WE ARE SO BACKKKKKK BESTIESSSSSS!!!!!!!

the end of the chapter felt like the chapter before Hyun left & I was LIVING for it ♡

but also!!! the conclusion about the photobooth pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was so satisfying, so thank you for answering that question - & the fact that his copy was so worn from him consistently looking at it in his wallet??? I cried fr

okay & not to mention yn INTENTIONALLY spilling wine on herself because she knew that Hyunjin would follow her - I made the most awful noise when I read that part hehehehe (it was giving Maroon & I was like THE BURGUNDY ON MY T-SHIRT WHEN YOU SPLASHED YOUR WINE INTO MEEEEEEEEEEE) (& the whole bathroom scene??? pls tell me it continues to the guest bedroom aka Hyunjin’s room??) but also how cute Han & Changbin were at the party? I love that his friends adore yn so much & that she’s not met with resistance from anyone like Hyunjin was with Felix (different situation, I know - but still)

OH & the fact that Hyunjin just up & left his schedule to come check on her? the fact that he’s legitimately willing to risk everything now for her??? this is a soulmate au fr fr

ending thoughts (I know this is a lot & I apologize)

1. pls tell me that yn will get her paintings back somehow - even if Hyunjin has to obtain them himself

2. will we find out if Hyunjin remembers her from the art store like yn did for years & years? my bestie & I were discussing it (PS: you are more than welcome to join our book club for your own story lol) & concluded that he HAS to remember her from then, right???

3. Christmas with Hyunjin & yn would be SO cute & I feel like we all want to read this so bad lmfao

4. Jeonghan is like my comfort character at this point - I LOVEEEE him, I adore him, I want more of him lol (it makes me love Jeonghan even more irl I’m not gonna lie lol)

bestie, you truly wrote the best chapter & I cannot thank you enough for that (I mean, every chapter is the best but this one was super special)

thank you for all of your hard work, for creating a story that we all love & adore & think about on a consistent basis - I know for a fact this story has changed my life & has provided comfort & solace to me since I found it around this time last year

(& I know I’m missing a lot of things I’m wanting to touch on for my review, but for now, this will do hehehehe)

again, thank you so much bestie - I’m sosososo ready for the next chapter (but also not because I know we have like 6-ish chapters left & I want it to last for as long as possible lol take your time bestie!!! drag this out!!)

I hope you’re having the most amazing week!! ily!!

🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

the fact that it’s your favorite chapter makes me very happy ! him asking her to stay is my 💔❤️‍🩹 and daejon gang will be back sooner than you think. a christmas scene…you may just get it, and about the art store as well…haha.

im glad you like jeonghan so much haha, i don’t know much about him (irl) but he is fun to write 🥹

you’re way too kind 😭 im happy my story provides you that comfort, that’s why i share it. :D

[honeymochibubbletea]

Good night my dearies! (By the time i am writing this, it is night in my country)

How are y’all? Good? I hope so! :D

So, you all may remember my Oc that i showed on my latest posts: Oliver!

Today, i, Honey Mochi Bubble Tea, am here to ramble a little bit about my sweet Oc Oliver! (I swear, i am so proud of creating this cute boy, i mean, not here to brag or anything but my baby is literally a cutie :3)

So, let’s goooo:

Let’s start with the basics:

Oliver is an Telltown Oc.

Even though i call him “baby” or “sweet boy”, he’s actually 22 years old, believe or not lol. (This only happens because i always manage to make characters look younger than they actually are haha)

My Oc pronouns are They/them//he/him.

He’s gender-fluid.

His sexuality is pansexual.

They are autistic. (I’ll explain better on the comment section if anyone has more questions about it: like how is their autism, how they handle or feel about it, how is their stimming and other things related to their autism!) (ps: and yes, their autism is a reflection of my own autistic spectrum)

Their height is 4’7 feet tall.

They are Brazilian! (Brazilian pride here! ;D)

His comfort zone: his own home or any library; his comfort food: burritos or sushi; his comfort objects: music boxes, big plushies, his amulet and his books; his comfort characters: any big and muscular guys or tall ladies, really lol; his comfort drink: boba tea and his comfort dessert: mochis.

He’s very, very weak and slow. If hypothetically he was in a combat, he would either die very easily or he would get out of the danger by persuasion or luck.

Thankfully, he’s an inventor and created a machine that can always respawn him if he’s in a situation that he knows he’s going to die: as long as he has his soul, he’s going to be fine.

WARNING: this bit has mentions of panic attacks; suicidal thoughts; self harming and hyperventilation! He has serious anxiety and stress issues. (And you may wonder: does he treats his anxiety? The answer is yes, but it’s honestly so bad that sometimes even the strongest medications doesn’t work, and when it doesn’t work, it leads to him having a lot of panic attacks; suicidal thoughts; self harming and even hyperventilating to the point he feels like he can’t breathe…)

Their phobias are: Eisoptrophobia; Agoraphobia/Enochlophobia; Social phobia and Aichmophobia (when used on them, not when they need to use it).

Their main goal: becoming Dr. Phantasmo’s apprentice and a better villain!

Now here are some fun facts about Oliver:

Oliver is very afraid of Charlie, why you ask? Well: they presume that since Charlie is a hero and has Phantasmo as her arch nemesis and Oliver is a big fan of Phantasmo… automatically, in their head, Charlie immediately sees them as also a menace… (even if Oliver is menacing as a baby lamb hahaha)

Oliver likes Dr. Phantasmo very much. Like, to them, the guy’s an idol and one day, one day: Oliver is going to happily work for him.

Yes: Oliver isn’t as innocent as he seems, he creates clones out of other people’s parts of their bodies (nails; teeth; hair locks; dead skin and blood) and experiment on said clones… god knows what twisted things he does to these clones…

Now you may be thinking: “is Oliver a good or bad person?” And well…. I promise to expand more on their morals; ethics; philosophies; character and reasons to be the way they are. But have this as for now: imagine that he has intrusive thoughts: the problem itself isn’t having intrusive thoughts, because it is proven that everyone had or has intrusive thoughts, the real problem is when you put in action whatever intrusive thoughts you’re having: killing someone, for example.

Since Oliver isn’t the strongest or the fastest person, he has other methods to compensate for the lack of those things: if he has to defend himself or… ahem, “take someone down”, he usually carries with him (on his backpack, of course) a pistol and some sleeping drugs… (also a dagger and a taser)

Thanks to his cuteness; charm and politeness, he can almost make anyone trust him rather quickly.

Oliver usually doesn’t like confrontation or conflicts, but if an idiot walks over him or someone that can’t defend themselves… ohoho, let’s just say that Oliver will plan a “special party” six feet under the ground for them :)

Oliver’s plans after he met Phantasmo became basically this: befriend Phantasmo (or something close to that); show him anime and mangás; ask him on a date (if they ever build courage for that) and hope he doesn’t kill them. :D

Oliver doesn’t have parents. The “closer” he has is a mysterious entity that names themselves as “Élos”. Oliver never saw them before, he only knows about its existence through the letters they send him. Élos apparently is probably who created Oliver, i will also explain that relationship better on my next post~ ;)

Oliver knows Emilly too well, almost so well that it even looks like they’re siblings. But here’s the catch: they never met each other before. Ever. Thing is, no one ever saw these two together at the same place. Oliver claims that the two live together and when questioned about this peculiarity, he lies that she’s busy in a different place whenever he’s home… (Emilly is another Oc of mine that i’ll talk about later on my next, next post! :D)

[findrps-minor]

hey! i'm 15, turning 16 january next year. i'd prefer a 15-16 partner but some young 17 year olds are okay!

i am generally new to the rp scene, doing about 2 and a half literate, really long non-starred roleplays with speaking but also 3rd person thought and movement/description elements. just be patient if i don't understand something you mean or i don't get writing 100% right!

but! i am fine with most people. i'd really prefer a girl but any non cishet male (I am sorry I just do not think we'd be very similar if you're a cishet guy usually) i am fine with! i am willing to experiment with roleplays, different subsets and genres, 1st person stuff and some half literate stuff if you'd prefer!

I also love OOC stuff! I love getting to know anyone anyway, so discussing with me what you love to roleplay and what you can really enjoy makes me happy

i usually prefer oc roleplays, but if you give me a basic description of a femme character and some context that you'd like me to include i will :-) i'm fine with any girl babe

oh and by the way i am transgender female and am not okay with playing a male or anything other then someone who presents as a female! sorry lol

my favorite tropes are enemies to lovers, just straight up lovers, fluffy comfy stuff, and also just any queer romantic roleplay like ever

(and in terms of anything with romance or a thing i talk about later, i also Love any RP where you or I can play any mythical creature, that be monsters or aliens or demons or whatever, as long as they look kind of humanoid and aren't like an actual animal or whatever u weirdo)

for triggers, i don't have many aside from things that aren't allowed here in the first place

and this is kinda something i see a lot of rp'ers my age looking for, which i understand. so in short, i am FIne with doing NSFW RP as long as I can get to know you a bit beforehand and maybe do one normal RP beforehand too. in fact, i'm fine participating in any preferences or interests you have in NSFW roleplay as i would prefer anyone i do that with to be comfortable. I believe that as long as 2 people, both minors around the same age, do this in a safe environment with consent and permission that it is okay. but due to some personal issues, i do have boundaries regarding this. i have a slight preference for non-straight stuff with this, i would not like to roleplay a situation which is non consensual or forced, and i would not like to roleplay any situation with any type of violent or intense dominating, at least from any man lol. i think this can be a safe learning experience for people to find comfortability and fun in sexual expression but only if done safely, so please do not ignore what i said here and come to me with any of your own boundaries!

that's it!! i wrote a lot about the nsfw because it's a tough subject but by all means i'm fine with any rp! sorry for the essay, i type a lot haha

like and i'll msg u <33

.

[spikes-got-anger-issues]

Going to copy Aster a bit here and introduce myself officially since I think ur super cool!

I’m Eren, i first watched LR when I was younger when it sort of first came out but I didn’t officially start getting into the fandom until about two years ago. My blog is pretty new though and I think I’ve only been posting about LR for roughly six months but I’m not quite sure. I’m part of the Donald Davenport hate group (lol) where we bully the evil little man (his character, not the actor obviously) which you will understand the more you watch the show.

Also, welcome to our cult, dude. You’re going to love it here. If anyone gives you any shit, dm me and I’ll help out in any way I can. All my mutuals are super nice (mostly all LR blogs) so I can give you some recommendations on blogs to follow if you would like. Are you comfortable with headcanons being sent in? If so, what sort of hc content are you comfortable with just so I know. Much love <3

Haha, thanks for thinking I'm cool! :] I was 10 when Lab Rats came out but quite honestly I don't really remember if I actually watched an episode. I have a terrible memory, especially with my childhood, but I think I can vaguely remember watching maybe an episode or two of Lab Rats back then, but yet again maybe I was just remembering all the bumpers/promos and commercials so I really can't remember if I ever watched an episode. I had begun to watch the video Keyan Carlile did on the show back in March before I decided "Hey, this seems interesting and somewhat nostalgic, I'll glance around the characters and plot for a bit" and then here I am a few months later with a blog lol for it.

Donald definitely won't be getting a "Dad of the Year" (or I guess "uncle") trophy anytime soon, that's all that I know so far but I already don't like his vibes. Some of his aspects remind me of Reginald from The Umbrella Academy, two asshole fathers with superpowered children that they mistreat. I'm loving all of the characters so far *cough cough* not you Donald *cough cough* and I have to say that Leo and Chase (I guess Spike too since my blog url is dedicated to him lol) are my favorites. And the humor of the show, as stupid and cheesy as it can be at times, still manages to make me laugh. It's very fun watching this show, it's kind of like reliving my childhood even though I'm not sure if I ever truly watched the show, but from the era of tv I remember best!

Another fun part about watching tv for me is noticing small details and writing my thoughts down, so I have about two notes worth of my thoughts and things I have noticed on my phone that I'll eventually start posting on here, and that's only for season one. At the same time it takes me about 2 hours to get through one episode when I have to pause to write stuff down and rewind a scene over and over so I'm also annoying myself when doing this

I'm feeling welcomed and comfortable in this fandom so far which is always the best when joining a new one! And I will gladly take blog recommendations. I'm fine with hearing headcanons, I would just personally request not to hear any that involve sexual or romantic situations since that kind of stuff makes me feel uncomfortable. Otherwise anything else for any characters I will gladly hear! I'm sure once I get deeper into the show I'll start rattling off my own 🙂

I really appreciate you stopping by and leaving this message, thank you!! 💖

[queenharumiura]

KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER. REPOST.

name. Neo, but sometimes An-chan on other blogs

pronouns.  She / her

preference  of  communication. Discord. tumblr im is okay when starting out. 

name  of  muse: Haru Miura (on this blog) I’ve many others on other blogs

rp  experience  /  how  long. I don’t know if I could put an exact number of years on it, but definitely since middleschool so over 10 years for sure. 

best  experience: I’m no good at making decisions and choosing. I don’t know what is the best, but i’ve had a lot of good experiences. I enjoyed things like being told that they can hear Haru’s voice when they read my writing, or that through my writing they came to appreciate Haru more. I absolutely adore when people from the past come back after months/years and are like ‘hey, you’re still here!’ Wao, the honor of being remembered. TTuTT A time when I was the menace in the fandom making people rethink certain memes because dare memes were ‘put on the cat ears, I don’t care. Do it’ bait. I had a Haru dupe follow me once and she appreciated my portrayal and that too was just chef kiss-- a good time. I basically just appreciate when anyone gives my girl a chance. 

rp  pet  peeves  /  dealbreakers.  I strongly dislike when I get 2 word long rp responses. I extremely hate it with a passion. If I see that someone reposted fanart without credit nor permission, I’ll instantly unfollow. I don’t stand for that. 

fluff,  angst,  or  smut. I love fluff. I love angst. //smudged writing I’m okay with fudge (in general). I have written nsfw on other blogs. I’m not the best at it, but i’ve done so. I’m a bit of a prude and very shy so it takes me a while to warm up to the idea. On a base level, I don’t venture towards risque situations very often. May dip a toe in on occasion, but rare that I go very far with it. I may entertain the idea if I know someone is interested in it. Again, i’m talking in generalities here, and not strictly about this blog. 

plots  or  memes. I have a stronger preference for plots as i’m not the most comfortable with memes. A lot of memes either don’t suit my blogs, or they are hard to work with. Plots are a bit easier to play around with because you’re more in control of what’s going on. That said, I also enjoy having threads based off memes, so it’s not like i’m against it. I’m just pickier. 

long  or  short  replies.  I don’t care any either way. I care about the journey and the fun of it all. I don’t care if the replies are short or long. It only matters that a story is being told. Length ONLY matters if you give me a 2 word long reply. I will no longer tolerate it and I will get mad. This is a reoccurring theme because it makes me so mad. It gives me literally nothing to work off of. Give me a 2 word long reply in all seriousness and i’ll yeet myself from your life instantly. Truly, I don’t care, just write whatever works for you. IF you want me to stick within a certain length, let me know and i’ll gladly adjust for you. 

best  time  to  write: I tend to have more muse or motivation to write at night, but I’m more open to brainstorming ideas during the day, and that’s mostly because I used to think of ideas to help me get through the dreaded work days. I’ve since left that work place, but I still have the habit of thinking of rp while i’m at work, haha. 

are  you  like  your  muse.  There is always something that I share with my muses, which is why I was probably drawn to them to begin with. For Haru, I share a lot of random quirks, like speaking in third person. Being a bit of a troll, having dramatic thoughts. Having zero self-preservation skills. I can’t easily pick up a muse who I don’t relate to on some level. 

Tagged by: @blossomingbellflower

Tagging: I don’t tag

[cmkren]

rules !!

general ;

no politics! I love it as much as the next person (i find it silly n funny) this blog is an escape from current events and the such. I might joke about something from time to time (like haha funny communist joke) but I won’t go any farther. Only exception I make is of the Palestinian genocide that is happening right now in the world. Regardless of safe havens, the situation is not to be ignored and I will continue to repost and talk about it as much as I can.

dni if you’re uncomfortable with me if you’re one of those crazy shippers that think one character only belongs to one character. Shit’s crazy to me.

dni if you’re uncomfortable with someone like me (minor) making suggestive/sexual comments. I’m not here to make anyone uncomfortable, so please just ignore me if I make you upset for doing things like that. I understand if someone steps in if I say something that’s genuinely outta pocket but other than that you’re more than free to just ignore me.

tbh I don’t have many general rules, just don’t be an ass and chill w me! :) ♥️

writing / reqs ;

will dos!

fluff, romance, x readers, angst, comedic, crack, and ships! If you’re ever unsure about something, feel free to just ask. My main thing will probably be ‘x readers’ and ships though :)

also might write smut but will put warnings every time I do. (I don’t think I will though to be fair, like write any and publish it.)

won’t dos.

anything that involves with ince5t, p€dophilia, and r&pe.

this one not set in stone— but I probably won’t do a multi-part series? I don’t think I can commit to it. 😭

overly gorey stuff. I’m comfortable with it it’s just probably never gonna be something you’ll see on my feed cause I don’t know how to write that shit lolzies

something that like… is weird. Like fetishizing asian culture or smth. Overly romanticizing something. I’m Chinese myself and it’s just so weird,, but like (a lil off topic) I think appreciating culture is fine! It’s just certain people like Oli London that like whoa hold up homie— if you crazy like that then please step away. You’re probably fun to watch but don’t interact with me you’ll give me a headache 😮‍💨

[enderexplorer1212]

Post Writing Thoughts cont.

Ok, so lets talk about the other songs.

Don't Worry, It's All Right, based off of Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, mainly talks about how I approach stuff in life. Shit's fucked, I'm fucked, but you shouldn't worry about that, I'm doing fine. Of course, it's more likely to be interpreted me as failing my classes. I'm not actually failing them, or at least I hope not, but this is one of those "exagerations" I talked about in the previous post. So if you want, you can interpret it as the narrator brushing off people's attempts to help, or you can interpret it the way I do, I'm doing just fine!

End's Dream, based off Bob Dylan's Dream, talks about my introversion and hardship with getting friends. It talks about how I spend a large amount of time inside, and only hang out with my friends on rare occasions. I think if I didn't write it at like 3 am, I probably would have included something about how I'm actually pretty well off being alone, but not every song has to carry that message.

Also does anyone want to be friends? Haha just a joke jk jk, unless?

Home Town Bound, based off Oxford Town, is a song I actually like a lot how it came out. The simple lyrical nature made it more easy to get words in, and once I came up with the similar rhyme of "Home Town", it kind of fell into place. As always, its very much exageration, my family and town is pretty good, although my family sometimes gets into arguments. Fun fact, this is the only song here that I showed my parents, since it's the only one I feel comfortable.

Talkin' Finals Season Blues, based off Talkin' World War III Blues. I didn't particularly like how this one came out. It was the second to last one I finished, since there's so many lyrics that I would have to fit in with the syllables. As for what it is, I wanted to talk about how fucked up I felt this morning when I hadn't slept last night (from when I'm typing this), so that's why the doctor and meta aspects are there. I feel that the theme was kind of wasted on this song, and in the future, I'll probably apply the theme to another song.

My Life, My Life, based off Corrine, Corrina. This was the last song I finished, and honestly, it's kind of a nothing song. So the lyrics seem all profound about losing track of my life, but in reality, I just typed them out because My Life fit with Corrine. Not much else to say about this song particularly.

Teacher, Just Allow Me One More Chance, based on Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance. I kind of wrote this because I realized it would make sense to replace honey with teacher and have it pertain to my situation. The song talks about how I blew all the chances I had, and now I'm trying to fix everything.

I Shall Freelance, based off I Shall Be Free. This I liked a bit more than the other long songs because I had more freedom with what I could depict. As always, this song is is almost entirely fictional, I haven't had any commissions yet (although that could change once I set up a paypal), and I haven't gotten any art done yet (but if you want to change that, be my guest). But still, I like how descriptive it is, and it's not the most painful song, so I'm fine with it.

I'd love to play these songs with my guitar, but I'm not a particularly good guitar player, and not a great singer, and don't have a harmonnica, so I could maybe only do Masters of Hate. If you want to play these be my guest.

Also I guess the title of this album would be The Freeloading End

When this posts, most of my finals will be done, so I will either be in a really good mood, or in a really bad mood. Expect a little more delays, but trust me, I'll get back into it.

[kitzsah]

Exchange Letter

General Likes:

Worldbuilding and subject matter expertise! All the worldbuilding. I literally have 100K and counting of Chicago-cited, JSTOR articles and all, worldbuilding on the historical/political background of the wizarding world. For anyone who doesn’t want to write a paper (which, totally fair), I also adore small, lived-in details – so if there’s any particular expertise/personal experience that you’ve always wanted to expound on, consider me a captive audience haha. I’ve literally done method writing for a fic where I spent a morning walking around with four feet of yard-stick ruler strapped to my side to get an idea for what carrying a rapier would feel like.

Nuanced moral ambiguity and loyalty and duty and responsibility and obligation and necessary evils. I will absolutely adore portrayal of duties conflicting with personal desire, people having to make hard choices and then live with the consequences, bone-deep dedication to service, and anything else along those lines.

Character studies. Show me how a character became who they are, show me what facets of their personality emerges in different situations, tell me about how their background impacts how they view the world. Flawed/unreliable narration and close personal biases are absolutely welcome here. Outside perspectives on characters would also be fun!

Close relationships, romantic and otherwise. I absolutely adore close platonic relationships that are no less close or meaningful or devoted for being platonic. I’m talking raze the fields, “Where you go, I go” level of loyalties being my catnip here. And even for romance, show me characters as friends first and how they relate to each other as people, more than the part where they think the other person’s hot.

Hurt/Comfort – emphasis on both the hurt and comfort. Emotional hurt or physical hurt, as long as it’s followed up by comfort and fluff, I’m down for it. I’m also a sucker for someone Insisting They’re Fine When They’re Objectively Not haha.

DNWs:

Porn Without Plot/Plot, What Plot? I’m fine with sex, but not if it’s the only thing happening. Nothing too…out of the norm, either. You’re writing for someone who’s largely disinterested in sex (except as a characterization tool) to begin with, so any attempt at smut for its own sake is going to fall flat.

Character bashing. Even the most objectively fucked up characters are still people, in all their good and evil. One-dimensional character bashing/flanderization will not be appreciated.

Crack. Humor and comedy are fine, crack is not. Life can be absolutely absurd sometimes, so if it’s something that could actually happen and fits the characters, go right ahead. Unhinged crack for its own sake will be less welcome.

Revolutionary Arc - kitsunerei88

Kowalski Family Hijinks!

John getting in all the trouble after getting dragged home from Wizarding Britain in the aftermath of Cataclysm. Everything from Mikael reading him Round 2 of The Riot Act on the plane while all the staffers Politely/Awkwardly Turn Their Attention Anywhere Else to John being pole-axed at Annabelle ripping him a new one because someone has a habit of assuming he knows everything important about everyone and thus missing very relevant family history

John and Gerry and the early days of their relationship! All the political chaos of the 1995 Triwizard, Neal giving Gerry the shovel talk because Gerry totallu assumed John was a 6th or 7th year, Gerry having Some Closet Skeletons he needs to get out into the open, or the Kowalski Family Sighing at 16 year-old John moving in with his boyfriend when there were Multiple Other Housing Options.

Dueling club shenanigans at AIM! Teenagers doing whatever the magical equivalent of putting a tide pod in one's mouth (and spitting it out because it tasted bad), magical underaged drinking games, campus after curfew for Dates And Hijinks,  pretty much anything else you can imagine teenagers doing but with MAGIC.

Queenscove family shenanigans!

Will and Tina and Collegè Hijinks! How exasperated at their classmates at them, the nerdiest possible dates someone could possible come up with, Will's perspective of Falling In Love with his best friend, how much roasting does Will get from his sibling, anything else you could come up with! Bonus Points for IR/history references.

Graeme and Sophie and the sheer *chaos* that happens when he knocks her up right before deploying to Afghanistan in late 2001. Baby fuzzies being all WTF at Graeme running past them with a Big Honking Sword, the JAGs having to do All The Paperwork because Graeme stuck his foot in his mouth and Sophie is refusing to marry him, the Americans being *baffled* that people in Quebec don't marry while they literally have to order their joes to stop marrying girls they met 2 weeks ago, and the Assorted Queenscove Siblings making so much fun of Graeme for this whole debacle. 

Worldbuilding

Mundane Shit that arises when you have two governments (only sometimes) uneasily more or less governing the same country (if not necessarily in population, then in geographical area, though even that gets complicated by magic). Anything like what a TS-SCM brief of someone non-magical getting read in on magic might look like to Absolutely Corny Government Powerpoints to Intense Interdepartmental Meetings to water cooler gossip/reaction/intelligence reports of any of the events of RevArc.

Honestly anything, really. RevArc world is a great sand-box to play in. Poor Lina having to actually be a law-abiding legitimate government official and what post-war clean-up of Wizarding Britain looks like, assorted OCs/Side Characters’ perspective of the main plotline, All The Politics And Shit - I’ll be delighted with pretty much anything!

DNWs for this specific fandom:

Harry and her friends (with the exception of Archie) or Wizarding Britain in general except as specified elsewhere. Seriously, I’m not interested in Harry’s Story.

RBC content beyond what RevArc uses. No Blood Tournament, Dom the sentient jewel (though an incorporation of the Dominion Jewel in the Tortall sense would be fine), That Deal With Riddle, etc.

The Locked Tomb

I will never be over Camilla and Palamedes, these two are hands down my favorite characters in the entire series. Their devotion to each other, their snark and nerdery, and their entire Everything means that they instantly lived rent-free in my head as soon as they were introduced.

I’ll take basically anything with these two! Here are a few options:

Camilla and Palamedes as little adorable hellions running around the Library and plotting to rule the place one day and Camilla’s (objectively, to a lot of characters) insane levels of devotion to her adept from the time she’s a wee thing

The Sixth House’s perspective of the lead-up, during, and aftermath of the Go Loud Duel

Exactly what the hell happened between Harrow enabling Hand!Pal and their not-quite lyctorhood

The Sixth House’s reaction to the Warden’s Hand showing up with...the Warden’s skeleton hand or the Warden sharing her soul. Also, what is the actual deal with Source Gram and the whole process that led to the Oversight Body ending up on New Rho

Note, I’m fairly ambivalent as to whether or not those two are in a romantic/sexual relationship. (Called, my brain doesn’t really process the difference between romantic and platonic other than Sex Is Involved) If you want to write them like that, go ahead, but I’d appreciate focusing on them...themness of CamillaAndPalamedes, if that makes sense?

Pyrrha! Her line of “Here’s to Camilla Hect, yet another one of devotion’s casualties,” made me want to scream. Pyrrha makes zero bones about her willingness to drop it all and get her specific people out of the mess of New Rho. Fuck the Houses, fuck grand causes, she’ll let the world burn if it means everyone she loves is safe and lives a happily ever after on a little moon. Except, of course, the people she loves are Idealists and landmines with overdeveloped senses of responsibility and duty.

So what went down between her and G1deon during the original sacrifice/accession and the myriad since? How did she get from willingly letting her best friend, her other half, kill her to “It’s not love, what you’re about to do. It’s not beautiful and it’s not powerful. It’s a mistake.”

What kind of feelings/opinions does she have towards these codependent nerds who she cares deeply for and possibly sees too much of herself in as Camilla and Palamedes hurl themselves towards....well, Camilla-and-Palamedes? Seriously, her speech of “I've loved you two. Not well. Not even wholesomely. I don't have it in me. But I've loved you — in a better world I'd be able to say, 'Like you were my own,' but I don't know what that would even mean anymore. You've been my agents ... you've been stand-ins for something I haven't had for longer than either of you can understand," almost killed me.

Jeannemary and Isaac! I honestly have...many feelings about these two kids, and War and Duty, and the way Isaac is emphatic about how they’re not front-line canon fodder and actually are primed for light infantry/recon/sabotage.

Give me everything about what war looks like in the Locked Tomb universe. (Far warning here, my standards of realism for this is...pretty high haha.) A Non-Canaan House AU where these kids don’t get a case of the mumps (or just John never sends out the invitations altogether) and go to the front and what war looks like, in all its entirety.s

These two terrible teens as kids growing up together. Jeannemary bonded to Isaac as his cavalier when they were nine or so - what’s it like, growing up knowing you’re going to war one day, raring to go off to war? What’s the relationship of the Fourth House with the Fifth? Everything about a necromancer-cavalier relationship and these kids, really.

Worldbuilding

The setting of New Rho in Nona The Ninth was definitely my favorite out of the three books thus far, because it gave us a peek into an entire dimension that’s been dismissed up until that point.

Gideon dreams of joining the Cohort and earning glories, but war comes with costs. Anyone who wants to hammer out what day-to-day Cohort life is like and/or what the fuck is even going on in terms of strategy and tactics and maneuver theory will absolutely be my favorite person.

Refugee resettlements and just...everything in the day to day. What’s it like just being an ordinary person - not Blood of Eden or anything, just Someone Ordinary, when your world goes to hell? What does it feel like to know your grandchildren will be cursed to wander forever? What’s it like being a teacher in a refugee city-planet trying to give kids some semblence of normalcy as everything goes to absolute pieces around you? (Seriously, Joli The Teacher is the most amazing side-character ever)

The Dark Artifices

I know canon is all about Julian and Emma’s forbidden love story, but I honestly fell in (non-romantic) love with these kids because of their relationship to war and tragedy. Julian’s line of, “I came of age in the Dark War. I was baptized in blood and fire....I killed my own father. You think I won’t kill you son?” made me scream. These kids were twelve when their world fell apart around them and they lost almost everything, when one promise of, “Aren’t we forever?” in a desperate attempt to cling to what little they had left ended up almost ruining their lives. They’re kids, and they ran for their lives and they grew up in war and knowing the cost of sacrifice and necessity. So:

Julian and Emma and any one of a hundred moments in the years between the end of the war and the start of the Dark Artifices.

Julian writing to the Clave every year to try to bring his sister home, stepping into Arthur’s shoes and running the Institute, teaching himself how to cook because his family needs him, trudging up the hill with groceries, becoming a father at the age of twelve (seriously, Tavvy is two when everything goes to hell, he literally doesn’t remember any parental figure other than Julian)

Emma, who spends these five years honing herself into the sharpest weapon possible until she’s known as the second coming of Jace Herondale even though she says she’s “nothing special” (God, that conversation with her and Cristina), who throws herself into avenging her parents’ death, who needs to be the best Shadowhunter that she can be.

These two kids in general, really, who have lived through war and are five shades of messed up and too young and have their own language and wake up from nightmares and crawl into each other’s beds in an attempt to keep the bad dreams away.

Julian’s POV of waking up in Lady Midnight to discover that Emma had taken his place and is currently lying on the floor in front of the institute, whipped half to death.

Canon-divergence where Emma finds out about Julian running the Institute and the Uncle Arthur situation earlier and she helps him shoulder the burden - because he’s her parabatai and her best friend and how could she do anything less?

Or, for something less heavy, a fluffy slice-of-life (or, well, as fluffy as any canon involving Children And A Society At War, because that’s what Shadowhunters are, even without the whole Morgenstern situation) canon-divergence AU where Emma and Julian got to remain children a little while longer - playing side-by-side on the beach, bonking each other with wooden swords and making faces at each other. A world where Julian never has to know how bitter Necessity tastes, and Emma never seeps herself in vengeance.

The Librarians (TV Show)

I have such a soft spot for this series haha. This was my very first fandom, once upon a time, and I find the unrepentant nerdery an absolute delight. I love how the show doesn’t take itself too seriously, all the fun nerd references, and just the entire vibes and characters and everything in general.

Possible prompts!

The different AUs from And the Loom of Fate! I would love to see what Eve Baird dealing with a teenaged, cheeky Ezekiel (who literally says, “You were like a mother to me”) was like.

Honestly, any slice of life between Baird and the LITs. Particularly in the early days when they’re still working on gelling together, are Unsure whether they even like each other, and Baird is wondering what deity she pissed off to have incurred this duty.

Earth Girl Series - Janet Edwards

Seriously, Jarra contacting her parents and learning that they wanted a relationship with her only for them to be killed in action weeks later is such a cruel twist of fate. Like, an entirely realistic twist of fate, mind you, because Life Sucks Like That and Jarra’s Life Especially Consists Of Cruel Twists Of Fate. I get the plot necessity of it, but still, I’ll take all the canon-divergences here.

AU where Jaxon comes to his senses even a few days sooner and Jarra is never handed over to Hospital Earth and grows up with both parents, secure in the knowledge that she’s Loved And Is A Tell Clan Member.

AU where Jarra contacts her clan at fourteen like her classmates did. She has no fucking clue why she does it (possibly Isette badgered her into it), she’s entirely doing it to make her friends happy, she fully expects things to go down in flames and figures she might as well get it over it. Except, to her complete shock, her family actually wants her. Her parents come down, there’s probably Much Yelling at Hospital Earth, and teenaged Jarra gets bombarded with all the love. Seriously, re-reading Earth Girl and Jarra’s (justified) bitterness is so painful after the Drago series because you know that her family wanted her so badly and they loved her so fucking much.

AU where her parents don’t die during that behavior event in Kappa Sector and all the emotion fraughtness as she figures out What It Means To Have Parents And Family as an adult.

Riak Torrek’s POV of the Honor Ceremony! Seriously, that dude had, what, a handful of hours’ notice? One minute he’s doing Solar Array Command Shit, the next is that he’s getting a notification that his long-lost granddaughter, who the entire family has thought they’d never find, has been identified. Not only that, he’s immediately tasked with leading a memorial ceremony for said long-lost granddaughter - a memorial ceremony commemorating the honor and sacrifice and service of his deceased wife. I’m honestly impressed that he kept his composure as much as he did during that scene.

[absolutepokemontrash]

Hi! So, I absolutely love your series where the MC is the kid of Lucifer, and I was wondering if I could request that with Diavolo and Barbatos? •v•

:0 you definitely can! Right now I’m just doing Diavolo, but Barb’s will be up sometime soon!

MC is Half Demon and Oh Shit They’re Diavolo’s Kid-

Diavolo wasn’t exactly what one would expect of the prince of Hell, I mean, he was suppressing the urge to bounce in his seat from pure excitement. I mean, his exchange program was starting! Humans, demons, and angels, all together, his dream was coming true.

All that was left was for the student to arrive, the portal opened, and the human fell flat on their back. Oof, maybe Diavolo should have set up some kind of landing zone filled with pillows. No matter! The human was-

…

What peculiar eyes this human had…

Oh… oh dear…

Dad-volo

The MC was his child, no question about it. This was… very unexpected. Well, the entire assembly hall was completely quiet, and the kid looked like they were getting impatient.

“HEY! Mind telling me what the hell is going on?!”

After that, Diavolo launches into his explanation, also the explanation that he’s definitely this kid’s dad. Kid was not impressed, they tried to square up with Diavolo and Lucifer had never been more confused as to what to do.

Well, the moment MC sprouted wings and launched themselves at Diavolo, Dia caught them with one hand and continued speaking like nothing happened.

MC, please calm down… Diavolo didn’t know they existed, let him make it up to them! They’re going to stay at the Demon Lord’s Castle! Dia’s going to be a good dad!

“This feels like the plot to the world’s most messed up fairytale.” MC jammed their hands into their pockets and grumbled. “I get sucked into hell and find out I’m royalty there. Great.”

Diavolo managed to smile and awkwardly reach out to give them a pat on the head, then retracted his hand after the kid shot him a glare. “Well, it’s not a very traditional fairytale, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy your time here.”

“Mm, sure.” MC mumbled.

Okay, so his child wasn’t that enthusiastic about the exchange program, but Diavolo was sure they’d come around.

Dia tried everything he could possibly think of to get his kid to both like him and enjoy their time as an exchange student. A lot of things had… mixed results.

Also, legally recognizing MC as his child and legitimizing them caused a big stink amongst the nobles who were opposed to the exchange program to begin with. So MC then had to deal with a few assassins. Wonderful. Fantastic. Show stopping. Dia, be a good dad and comfort your angsty murder target- I MEAN preteen.

They do manage to build a good relationship fairly quickly despite their less than stellar first impressions, and Diavolo made them a promise that he knew he wouldn’t ever break: he would let them live as normal a childhood as possible.

This means that MC gets to do all the normal kid stuff that Diavolo wasn’t allowed to do. It honestly works out great for everyone. MC gets to live their life, Diavolo gets the satisfaction of knowing that his kid’s having fun, and Barbatos doesn’t need to worry about MC causing chaos in the castle.

Man… does this kid’s magic potential scare the shit out of everyone though…

Tired Uncle Lucifer

No. This has to be a violation of his worker rights. It cannot be legal for him to be this stressed.

He knew this exchange program was a bad idea. LUCIFER FUCKING KNEW IT. This kid was judging him. Why did he suddenly feel self conscious about every single one of his features? This child was picking him apart and they hadn’t even said anything!

He confiscated Asmo’s phone immediately, this was a matter of national security! Satan’s too! Beel as- oh shit Lucifer may have to give Beel the heimlich maneuver, then take his phone.

When all the brothers eventually got back to the HOL, they were greeted with Mammon getting shaken down by Levi.

“Lucifer! Ya won’t believe this! Levi- what’s wrong with you?” “The exchange student is Diavolo’s child.” “What..?” “*pops the cork off a bottle of Demonus* the exchange student’s Diavolo’s child.”

The worst part about this kid was that they took to the privileges of being royalty like a fish to water. MC went out and did whatever the fuck they wanted, and Lucifer needed to make sure a state of national emergency wasn’t called just because MC picked a fight at RAD.

It didn’t help that MC was just so unimpressed with Lucifer. Anytime Lucifer would tell them not to do something they would just raise their eyebrows and challenge his authority without saying a word.

What the fuck.jpg

The things he does for his prince boyfriend…

Cool Uncle Mammon

Huh, so this little pipsqueak is Lord Diavolo‘s kid? Hm, do ya think they’d let him into the royal treasury? No? Okay… lame.

Mammon then decides this kid would be just perfect for scamming people! Who is going to say no to the Crown Prince’s kid? A suicidal person, that’s who!

And the kid is… up for it? Wow, Mammon didn’t even have to grovel! Awesome!

It’s such a shame that Lucifer came in and promptly removed MC from Mammon’s presence. Tsk, killjoy…

Mammon and MC do get along swimmingly after MC stops angsting. Whenever they hang out it’s pure chaos.

And they would have gotten away with it too- wait, they do get away with it. Because who’s going to question the Crown Prince’s kid? >:)

Reclusive Uncle Leviathan

Levi was in the middle of throttling Mammon for his money back when Lucifer burst through the door looking like he had spent over 1000 Grimm on a gacha game only to not get the card he wanted.

And where was that human he said would be staying with them? Huh? The human’s HUH????!!!!

… wack. Maybe he shouldn’t have skipped out on that Student Council Meeting…

Either way, ew, new person he needed to talk to. NO THANKS. Well, no thanks until MC started to visit the HOL to hang out with Mammon. Of course those two normies decided to bug him. OF COURSE.

Levi finally snapped when MC loudly proclaimed that they could totally beat Levi in Mario Kart. Haha, NO. Levi challenged the little runt to a 1 v 1 race on Rainbow Road.

Kid lost. Obviously. Rainbow Road is rigged.

Honestly, kid’s alright. Still a total normie, but not completely terrible.

Cat Uncle Satan

Huh, a half human child of the soon to be demon king, how very interesting.

Oh, and just look at Lucifer’s face. :D priceless. Satan wished he was fast enough to get his DDD out to snap a picture, but he wasn’t able to…

But back to MC, oh how very intriguing. How much power do they have in comparison to Diavolo? Will using that power rip their fragile little body apart? Would they learn to control it? Satan was just dying to find out.

His feelings on the child themselves were mixed at best. They were clearly unhappy with the situation and Satan could sympathize, being thrust into a completely new world and then being told you can’t leave and are also royalty? That has to be hard. But this kid was still being an unreasonable little shit.

Satan continued to try and study MC from afar until the kid themselves walked right up to him and half demanded half pleaded for his help in studying for a test.

Not being one to avoid an opportunity to flex how smart he is, Satan agreed to help out. (Nerrrrd)

And honestly, it went well. When the kid wasn’t being a little shit, they were actually quite pleasant to be around.

Overly Affectionate Uncle Asmo

…wut

Listen, when Asmo asked Lucifer to pick a cute human, he didn’t mean cute as in CHILD.

This kid was DIAVOLO’S?! What lucky human had gotten to have the experience of [Jesus Fucking Christ, Asmo I’m not writing what he said for the sake of the nation]

Anyhoo~ little MC just made his heart go “SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SO CUTE!” They were so cute Asmo could just eat them up!

But they were so mean! That scowl they always had on was going to give them wrinkles and ruin their perfectly cute face!

Sigh, oh well. He can’t manually rearrange people’s expressions. What he can do is take this child shopping. Poor Diavolo was constantly in his RAD uniform, this poor innocent baby shouldn’t have to suffer the same fate.

The kid continued to scowl at everything, but at the same time, their little quips were very entertaining. This little kid spitting verbal venom at anyone who displeased them reminded Asmo of someone… he just couldn’t place who, but they definitely had amazing hair and a cute face :3

Hungry Uncle Beel

Where’s the takeout- I mean human? What’s happening? …are all humans this small? Dang, that’s barely enough for a snack.

So the human’s not going to live with us because they’re not fully human and Diavolo’s kid? Huh. Wild. Anyway, what’s for dinner?

Beel’s not too invested in this drama, he misses Belphie too much to be that interested…

The kid’s weirdly interested in how cool and strong Beel is though. MC tails him to the gym pretty often.

Diavolo and Beel already being gym buddies send tweet-

Since this benevolent little shit likes Beel so much, they decided to take it upon themselves to help with the family drama.

Beel finds that very sweet 🥺

Murder sleepy Uncle Belphie

Oh man… if you thought Belphie was being unfair to L!MC due to their parentage… hoo boy…

When this kid waltzed up the attic steps like they ran the place, Belphie needed to hold himself back from trying to break down the door and throttle this kid.

Pff, of course Diavolo would have a half human kid. Of course.

…kid beat the shit out of him when he tried to kill them. We stan this MC.

After all is said and done, Belphie still isn’t overly fond of MC. They’re brash and rude and only funny 40% of the time. They don’t even like napping 😒

But Beel likes the little runt, so Belphie and MC put up with each other.

Bonus! Your Angelic Uncle Simeon’s Chihuahua

:0 friend!

MC: *speaks*

>:0 not friend! Begone! *throws crucifix*

[kass-storycorner]

Hello!! i stumbled across your works and i absolutely fell inlove with your writing (especially the angsty ones)

Can i jump on the angst train and request a fic with a line that goes "I'm here, you dont have to wait anymore," with childe? Like maybe the reader told childe that theyll wait for him no matter how long it takes (and maybe a sprinkle of argument) but something happened that made the reader be on the brink of death. With or without comfort/happy ending is up to u!!

first of all thank you so much for the request! and it really makes me so happy to hear that you like my writing, especially my angst haha secondly I am so sorry that this took so long, since I saw this ask in my inbox I couldn't stop thinking about it and finished the first part of this pretty quickly - only to be stuck at how to end it (and actually fulfill the request haha). right now i am not really happy with the ending, though I feel like this is the best I can currently do! I really hope you enjoy, please let me know if it was alright haha (also I fear that I didn't really...wrote Childe in-character, I don't know)

Waiting for you

Genre: Angst, Hurt, comfort at the end

Characters: Childe x gn!reader (Childe is referred by is actual name by the reader, but outside of dialog he's called Childe)

Format: bullet points (backstory) + Text (actual fic, answer to the prompt)

Word count: 4324

Content warning: veeeery slight spoiler warning for the Liyue quests, its literally just one sentence and I tried to keep it as ambigious as possible, slight cursing (using the word bitch too, though thats the only instance of using gendered-vocab for the reader, i still wrote them gn!), mention of blood, mild violence, not proof-read ahah when will i ever do that

you can find the fic under the cut, have fun reading!

You and Childe knew each other since you were just little kids – him and his family being neighbours had meant you always ended up playing with him and his siblings, though you both got along the best.

On more than one occasion you both just ran off to somewhere no one could disturb you, your secret hideout, trading stories of great warriors from outside of Snezhnaya you heard the fishermen at the docks talk about.

Most people and children were wary of Childe, he was always the one who wanted to ‘play-fight’, which ended most of the time with the other kid running home, crying. However, you were the exception, always able to beat him or at least have a tie. Your parents, especially your father, hated it when you came back home with bruises on your arm, a bright smile and telling how you beat Childe up that day. He never felt like Childe was someone you should surround yourself with, but he kept quite for your younger years, also thanks to your mother who wasn’t fond of the fighting either but saw how much time with Childe meant to you.

Things however changed after Childe fell into the Abyss.

It was apparent how violent he got after it, even his own family was completely helpless when it came to him. So his father send him off to join the Fatui, which was a very controversial decision in the small town you both called home – most were happy to not have Childe be around anymore, for he picked up more and more fights and became more violent, but even within Snezhnaya the Fatui have a bad reputation, so most people were convinced that he would only become even worse.

Your father was one of those who was happy, but also concerned. Your mother died shortly after Childe fell into the Abyss, so your father forbade you any contact with Childe.

This, however, did not work. After Childe had to leave Morespesok you kept in touch through letters and whenever he was in town you always met up in secret.

The letters you send each other turned sweeter the older you got, changing the feelings for friendship you both felt for each other slowly into a romantic love. Childe always ended his letter with saying that he would return soon and you always with “I’ll be waiting for you Ajax”.

You always looked forward to his letters and so did he for yours. When he came back to Morespesok after every mission he had to do for the Fatui you both would meet up in your secret hideout. This place became your save haven. Conversations, hugs, kisses and even more – everything that wasn’t written in a letter between you two happened there.

Childe was fine with this and so were you. He didn’t want people to know there was someone he loved as much as he loved you, as one of the Harbringers of the Fatui it could endanger you. You on the other hand were fine with it because, even though you had no understanding for why your father forbad you the relationship with Childe, you couldn’t stomach to disappoint him. After all he was your father and you loved him dearly, no matter how much you both might disagree on things.

Still, you longed for something more – with Childe and for your own life. You wanted to travel too; you haven’t had the chance to leave Morespesok past the few neighbouring villages. So, when Childe wrote to you that after his next visit, which would only be a few days long, he was going to Liyue and didn’t knew for how long he had to stay there – you asked him in your reply if you could join him. Him writing that it wasn’t possible and better for you to stay in Morespesok and just wait for him hurt, but you understood. You are fine with waiting for him, you always were.

You were expecting a sad but loving last night with Childe before he had to leave, ending with a bittersweet goodbye. You weren’t expecting what happened instead.

Childe was angry, it was clear to see. The moment he stepped into your secret hideout you knew something was off – how he averted your eyes, how he didn’t return your kiss with a passionate one, like usual. “Ajax”, you purred in a sweet voice, “what’s wrong?”. You tried to take his hand, but he only pulled it away. Ah, that was unusual. He never refused your touch, no matter how angry he was before. “There is nothing wrong, I just was curious if there is something you want to tell me?”, he replied in a bitter tone, not even looking at you. It took you completely off guard; you saw him be angry or sulky before, you two had your fair share of arguments in the past, but somehow this was different. “No, there is nothing except for the fact that I missed you very much,” you told him, but you could feel how you started to become irritated. When you saw him two days ago visiting your family’s shop with Teucer he gave you a warm and loving smile, winking at you when he handed you that piece of paper asking to meet up tonight. What had happened in between that made him act like this? “Tsk, fine,” and with that he was on his way out. You moved quickly in front of him, blocking the way out. “Now wait a moment, would you kindly tell me what is going on here?”. He just quietly looked at you for a few seconds before he shoved you aside. “AJAX!”, you couldn’t hide your irritation and growing anger anymore, burying your fingers in his arm in order to stop him from leaving. “What did I do to make you be angry at me?”. “It doesn’t matter”, Childe replied coldly, while trying to get you to loosen your grip on his arm. “Now let me go and run home to your father and your fiancé, I bet they are already asking where you are right now.” “My what?” you replied with bewilderment. “Childe, is that why you are angry with me? Because you think I am engaged to someone else?”. Honestly, you would find this situation hilarious if it weren’t for the fact that Childe still looked at you with a sour face. “Well, I don’t think you are engaged to someone else; I know you are. Your father was really excited about the whole thing when he told me, he even invited me to your wedding, granted if I could find the time.” As he said this, he noticed how your face was a combination of confusion and anger. And oh yes, were you angry. Angry at your father for telling such blatant lies and at Childe for believing them, confused as to why he would even believe your father in the first place. “Ajax, I-“you let go of his arm, pinching the bridge of your nose and letting out a deep sigh. “I am engaged to no one, never was. I didn’t tell you this, because I didn’t want to upset you or worry you needlessly, but maybe I should’ve done it. My father continuously tries to marry me off whenever he finds anyone, he deems a worthy suitor. I guess he might have found one of your letters, though he never said anything about it, but I can’t explain why he suddenly started to become so interested in my marital status. Every few weeks he brings another person home, tells me I should marry them, for me to turn those poor fools down and tell my father he should stop. Most accept it that I have no interest in them, some stick around for a few weeks until the realise that nothing will come of it, but yeah. Ask anyone, Archons ask your family, it’s already a running joke here.” You expected the atmosphere to become less tense after you explained the whole situation to him, for him to even turn it into a joke and to apologise for his behaviour. Instead, it just grew more tense. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”, his voice still being cold, underneath it you could hear how angry he still was. “Because it wasn’t important, at least not to me. Honestly Ajax, I don’t see what the issue is here. I am not engaged and I do not plan to agree to one unless-“, you stopped yourself right there. ‘Unless it’s you who’s asking’, is what you wanted to say. You could feel how your heart fluttered even just at the thought. Childe, however, did not notice where you were going with your last sentence, too

occupied with his own anger. “Unless what?”. “It doesn’t matter, can’t we just drop the topic and enjoy our first and last night in months with each other without fighting?”, this was your last offer of peace, hoping he would finally calm down. But you knew deep down – Childe never was one to back out of a fight. “No no no, continue, tell me what you wanted to say!”, his voice growing louder and louder with every word. “Ajax, let it be,” you really weren’t in the mood for anything tonight anymore and the least you wanted to do was discuss your wish of a future with him. “No, I won’t. Tell me, because I would love to know. Or don’t, you can also just go and choose one of the various suitors your father picked out for you to fuck, I bet you really enjoy it how they are all standing in line for you,” he spit his words out, full of anger and disgust. This was the final straw for you, it was apparent that Childe choose words that he knew would hurt you with intent and it made you explode. “You know what? I’ve had enough!”, you screamed at him, feeling how tears were pooling in the corner of your eyes. Not out of sadness or because his words hurt, those were tears of pure rage. “You come in here, after I haven’t seen you in weeks, before you leave for an unspecified amount of time and all you have to do is pick a fight? Fine, here have a fight! You are unhappy that I didn’t tell you how my father wants to force me in a marriage I don’t want to be in? Boho, I am so so sorry for you Ajax. Really, I can’t fathom to imagine how much you must struggle with this, but oh well, life must be so hard when you keep travelling around Teyvat. Because I really can’t imagine how life would be outside this place, what it’s like to have anything to do. Have you ever noticed, ever realised how much I hate it? Hate the wating? Because that’s all I do! I wait for your letters, and I wait for you to return. All I ever do I wait, wait, wait. Wait for you to come home yes and wait for you to finally be ready for something, anything more!”, the tears were now streaming down your hot, angry face. Childe just looked at you, waiting for you to end what you had to say. “I am tired of waiting! I am tired of keeping us hidden, yes, I agreed to it too in the beginning, but now? Dammit, Ajax. I don’t want to be left alone here when you go to Liyue, I don’t want to wait if I don’t know for how long I should wait. I just- “it became harder for you to speak, sobs interrupting you every few seconds. “I wish you would let me join you.” Except for your sobs, which you tried to supress, silence fell over the two of you. Childe just stood there in front of you, watching how you tried to stop the tears. “You know I can’t take you with me. It’s… it’s not safe,” he said after a while. You didn’t expect for him to change his mind, however his words didn’t make you feel any better… on the contrary they made you feel even feel worse. “Leave me alone,” was all you could tell him in that moment. You didn’t want to have him near you, you didn’t want to see his stupid face or look at his sad, blue eyes. Right now, you only wanted to be alone. “(Y/N)”, Childe began softly, wanting to take you in his arms but the look you gave him made him stop dead in his tracks. “Please, I need to be alone now”. The atmosphere was heavy, both of you didn’t want to part on bad terms but – right now wasn’t the right moment to make up. “I will leave you alone, but (Y/N)”, he said, looking at you with regret about how he acted just earlier, “please wait for me.” You scoffed at his words. Wait for him, again. “(Y/N)”, you turned away, so you didn’t have to see his face when he spoke your name again. “(Y/N), please. Please promise me that you will wait for me, I’ll come back, I promise you and I will make up for this… and for making you always wait for me. I promise. You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice.” At the mention of the nursery rhyme you had to chuckle a bit. “The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend,

the frost will freeze your tongue off, so you never lie again,” you finished it, looking back at him. “Fine, I’ll wait. But leave now.” And with that Childe left you alone, leaving Morespesok for Liyue the next day.

It has been a few months now since Childe came to Liyue and while his endeavours here were more or less successful, what was on his mind most of the days was you and how you both parted. He wanted to kick himself in the arse for how he acted that day, for making you so angry and for making you cry. The worst however is how you haven’t written him a single letter yet and Childe, though he would never admit it because of his pride, was too scared to send you one first. That he should be the first one to send you a letter was something he was aware of but still – he couldn’t find the right words. What should he write? Every time he sat down at his desk, looking at the piece of paper in front of him… he was never able to make it past “Dear (Y/N)”, and even with this he wasn’t sure, maybe “Beloved” would sound better? Childe would’ve even considered asking Zhongli for advice, however after finding out that Childe was just a pawn in his plans – he still considers Zhongli a friend, but before he could ask for advice the feeling of betrayal needs to fade out. And now he got the order to return to Snezhnaya by the end of the next month… he felt so anxious at the thought of seeing you again, not even knowing what happened with you the past months. So in the letter to his family in which he announced is return, Childe asked them, after months of not hearing anything from or about you, how you were. When he held the letter of his family in his hands, he started to feel nervous, it included the answer of your wellbeing. He knew you would keep your promise, but still. What if when not? Reading the contents of the letter, however, made him wish that he had asked sooner. Childe couldn’t stop reading the few lines his family wrote about you over and over again.

You asked about (Y/N) wellbeing in your last letter. Ajax, we wish we could tell you some more pleasant news than this, but we haven't seen or heard anything of (Y/N) for a week now. No one really knows where they might be, the last we know is that they left their home after a fight with their father, but there is nothing more we can tell you.

After reading those few lines, the letter already crumply at the edges from the way he held onto it, Childe decided to immediately make his way back home. In his opinion it didn't matter if he returned sooner than ordered and that was a problem he will face later. For now, he wanted to know what had happened to you, because he couldn't, didn’t want to, believe that you left Morepesok... you promised that you would wait for him. But doubt crept into his heart and his mind - you were so frustrated with waiting, he noticed it before you even said anything that night. However, he kept ignoring it. It wasn't like that Childe didn't also wish for more, to build a home with you, to spend more time with you. The feeling of not being good enough for you, something your father and others in Morepesok made clear to him since your childhood together, and the fear of putting a visible target on your back by being by your side... all of it held him back.

The way back home only took him a few days and when he came close to his village, seeing the once so well-known roofs and chimney of the houses, he took a junction into the woods, making his way to the secret hideout of you two. When he arrived, he noticed how it looked lived in, at first a relive for Childe, until he saw the traces of a fight - and blood on the floor. He was quick to follow the trail of blood, the father he went away from the hideout the more blood was on the ground. Suddenly he could hear a strangers voice in the distance.

"Answer me you stupid bitch!", you felt a hand pulling you up by your hair, but you were already too tired, too beaten up and injured to even respond to that violent pull. All you tried to do was to keep your hands on your stomach, trying to stop the blood from gushing out. You could barely remember what had happened, how you got there. It all started over a week ago, when you father came with another suitor wanting to marry you. Like always you turned him down, saying you had no interest in marriage, this time however he wasn't as understand as the others were. The whole thing ended in you having a huge fight with your father about it, he tried to pressure you even more than usual to take that fella as your husband. It made you sick, you just couldn't stomach being around him anymore. You always wanted to make him happy, always feared of disappointing him. But this? Him asking you to marry a random person? It was something you just couldn't do. So you went away, ran out to the little hideout planning to stay there until Childe came back. You wanted to wait for him - you even got over your stupid pride and sent away a letter for him earlier this morning... and maybe this was your mistake. Carefully you tried not to be noticed by the people in your village, you didn’t want anyone to worry about you, however you also didn’t want to explain your disappearance for the last few days. The man who your father tried you to accept as a fiancé however seemed to have spotted you when you left the post-office. It was already too late when you realised that you were followed - the man made his way into the place that was only meant for you and Childe. After that your memory started to get blurry, how was that even possible it just had happened. He attacked you, you fought back, though the man was just stronger... you ran away, feeling the blood already coming from your stomach. Your body started to become weaker, your legs grew heavier and slower until you fell. Now he was above you, grabbing your hair and screaming. It was hard to even focus on what that man said to you, too tired grew your body and mind. 'I have to stay awake', you thought. It was clear that if you lost consciousness now... well, who knows what would happen then, you only knew it wouldn't be good. You had to wait for Childe, you had to be there when he got home.

There were more than a few things in Childes live he wished he never had to see. Seeing your limp body, blood streaming out of your stomach which you could barley cover with your hand, your hair in the hands of some stranger and your eyes struggling to stay open – yes, Childe wished this was something reserved for his nightmares, not for the reality he had to face now. It didn’t even take second for him to react at that sight, swiftly being next to that man and cutting his hand off with one of his blades, kicking the rest of him away. Childe would have loved to take his time with that man, torture him, make him regret that he was born, but what was more important was to stop your bleeding. Quickly Childe sat down next to you on the ground, using his scarf to stop the bleeding. “Ajax,” he could hear you whisper quietly. “Hey, I’m here, everything is fine, everything is going to be okay.” You desperately tried to keep your eyes open, to look at him. He was a mess, his eyes filled with fear and panic spread across his face. Never had you seen him with such an expression. For only what felt a few seconds you closed your eyes and then – “Hey, (Y/N) hey, open your eyes, talk to me”, you opened them and realised that you were in Childes arms now, his eyes switching from you to what was apparently the way to Morepesok. “Ajax…”, it was so cold. When did it became so cold again? “I waited for you and now you’re here… I waited. Kept my promise.” The last few words came out slurred. “Yes, I'm here, you don’t have to wait anymore. I promise you don’t have to wait for me ever again, just please-“ his breathing was heavy, he ran as fast as he could to the village in the hopes that the healers there could help you, that there was anyone who was able to help you now. “Please, don’t close your eyes, okay?” Before you could even answer him that you will try to keep them open you could already feel yourself slip out of conscious again. All you could say before everything went dark was his name again. “Ajax…”

The first thing you noticed was a warm hand on yours. Even before you opened your eyes you knew which hand it was. “Ajax,” you were a bit shocked at the sound of your own voice. It sounded so weak. You opened your eyes, seeing into those deep blue eyes looking at you. “(Y/N)”, he didn’t sound any better. Only now you started to notice the dark circles under his eyes and how his hair looked even messier than usual. Was he by your side the whole time? “How are you feeling?”. “Better than you apparently”, you joked, weakly grinning at him. He smiled back, rubbing the backside of your hand with his thumb. “I’m glad you’re better,” he replied quietly, looking down at the hand he was holding. “I’m glad you’re here.” At that his smile faded, turning into a sad expression and you already knew what this meant. “Don’t tell me…” “I’m sorry, I wasn’t even supposed to be here just yet and my early departure from Liyue apparently has caused some issues and… well, I was able to stay here until you woke up. The deal was when you wake up or-, well that doesn’t matter now. The deal was that I had to go back and fix the damage I caused once you wake up, which is honestly way more generous than I had anticipated.” You didn’t really understand what he was exactly talking about, you were still tired, but all you knew was that he had to go again. There wasn’t any energy left in your body to hold back the tears that were now falling down your face. Childe cupped your face in his hands, wiping away your tears with his thumb. “Hey, listen,” he said softly. “I promise you won’t have to wait for too long, when you recovered, I will send for you.” At this your ears peaked, looking at Childe with hopeful eyes. “Send for me, you mean-?”. “Yes, this time around I’ll be the one waiting for you to arrive in Liyue and not you’re waiting for me to come home.” At that you threw your arms around his neck wanting to hug him, causing you to hiss in pain. You forgot that you still had a stomach wound. “Careful now”, he laughed a bit at how enthusiastic you were about the news that you forgot your injury. “You promise that I will really join you in Liyue?”, you still couldn’t fully believe that he really was fine with it. “You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice,” you leaned back and held your pinkie up in the air. Childe smiled at you softly, interlocking his pinkie with yours. “The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off, so you never lie again.”

[yesimwriting]

Crossing lines

General Kirigan/the darkling x reader

Summary: This was requested by my friend @vvsdiamond28 who also writes and has a really good kirigan x reader story up right now! The request was basically for a fic in which the reader is out wandering at night and runs into kirigan while he’s in the banya and then they get to talking and some other stuff before he admits to only trusting the reader and giving her his real name. This gets kinda steamy bc of the request and bc the story called for it lol but it’s not full smut bc i decided that it would be better to do that as a part 2 so that i could add some jealousy tension haha

a/n i think im back?? Ive been working on requests a lot and ive really enjoyed writing regularly again. A small side note, after rewatching revenge of the sith im kinda in the mood to try writing an anakin fic 😭 pls he was my OG fictional crush,, so either send help or a request for him or something, Anyways,, back to this fic--ahh i had fun writing it but i still feel awkward writing steamier stuff so be nice!! 

-- 

Those that wander in the night, lost in uneasy thought--there’s probably a lot that can be said about them. But I can’t think of anything to be said about me. Nothing good comes from walking around a place full of powerful and tense people in the middle of the night. It wouldn’t take much effort to interpret my actions as suspicious, and yet I continue forward. I’m an idiot--just because I can’t sleep doesn’t mean I have to wander around campgrounds. My presence is barely tolerated here, I shouldn’t try backstroking in waters I can barely tread. 

But still, I walk, eyes more fixated on the open night sky than anything else. The moon is as full as an overflowing glass, the stars twinkling as if desperate to compete with a light it will never be able to duplicate. I sigh, pressing my lips together. Maybe the stars and I have more in common than I thought. Normally, that would be a good thing. 

Letting out a weary breath, I continue forward, away from the relative safety of the main tents. I’m still on the grounds, I’m approaching the border where the tents of higher ranking officials are. That should make me more nervous, but if anything it almost eases me slightly. 

General Kirigan is not the type to be friendly, and yet our interactions have always been laced with a touch of intimacy I can’t quite explain. We’ve been alone together more and more frequently, and I think that’s how I like him best. It’s strange, but when we’re alone some of his sharpness dulls, leaving space for something I might consider humor or actual personality on anyone else. He probably speaks to many girls like that when they’re alone together--a fact I have to fight to remind myself of--but it’s the closest thing to friendship I have here. Maybe it’s foolish to hold onto that, but I can’t bring myself to release my grip on those sentiments. At least not yet, when the kind moments are still rare and fleeting and no line has been crossed. 

The danger, however, comes from the prospect of not recognizing lines before they’re crossed. Even now, as I walk aimlessly in the night, pacing in hopes of exhausting my thoughts, I’m crossing lines in a much more literal way and even these are ill defined. I must be in new territory now, and even that I can only vaguely recognize because of the strangely humid scent that surrounds this area of the grounds. 

I’m near the banya. I didn’t intend to wander here, but the thought of splashing water on my face is too tempting to pass up on. I move closer, finding a sense of peace in having some direction, even in a small way. 

When the promise of water is only steps away, I begin to regret everything. There’s a figure in the bath. I freeze, ready to attempt to shrink away in hopes of disappearing before I’m caught. This could easily turn extremely awkward even though I technically haven’t done anything. Most people don’t bathe at this hour. Who bathes this late at night? 

I keep my eyes on the individual, trying to make out who they are and how aware they are of their surroundings in the dim light. Pale skin, dark hair--unbelievably attractive torso. My eyes linger there longer than they should. I force my gaze upwards, towards their face as if that can erase my ogling. Embarrassment leaves my face burning--I’m not the ‘ogling’ type, and this person doesn’t even know I’m here. I keep my eyes on them as I step back, taking in unaware features as best I can in the dark. 

I know them--I--Saints, it’s Kirigan. 

Fantastic. Of course he has to be even more impossibly attractive while shirtless and wet. I turn my head upwards sharply, more desperate to not be caught than ever. I would never, ever recover from being caught. Whether he’d tease me or be angry with me, I don’t know. I also don’t know which option I’d prefer. 

I step back again, my gait wider due to my urgency. Snap. The sound of both a twig and my chance of a stealthy escape being shattered. I cringe, craning my neck to the left in a desperate attempt to make it clear that I wasn’t watching him. I take another desperate step, ready to duck behind a nearby tree. Maybe he hasn’t seen me--maybe he’s distracted and assumed that some kind of rabbit or something passed by. He may not actively dislike me, but I’m not sure any semblance of favor he may have for me extends to this situation.

“Y/n.” His tone reveals nothing but his level of certainty. Ignoring him will only make me seem guilty. 

I pause, keeping my gaze off of him. “Yes.” It wasn’t really a question, and yet I still answer it like one. “I was--I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d get some air, and I was walking kind of aimlessly and I ended up here and I didn’t think anyone would be here.” Why do I feel like I’m making this situation worse? “I’m sorry--I’m gonna--I’m going to go now.” This is the kind of embarrassing moment that will come back to me when I’m trying to fall asleep at night. I know it.

“You know the polite thing to do after intruding is to make eye contact.” 

I don’t think my face has ever felt this warm before. At least he doesn’t sound angry, but his voice doesn’t reveal that much. I raise my gaze carefully, turning my head slowly. “I didn’t mean,” I exhale slowly, “It wasn’t my intention to intrude.” 

He straightens slightly at my words, exposing more of his chest. I stay still, eyes trained on his to avoid an accidental lapse. “You could make it up to me by offering conversation.” Kirigan’s tone is deliberate, his words measured and calm. I don’t speak, feeling like I’m being presented a test I don’t understand, but most of our conversations leave me feeling like that. “Only if you’re comfortable.” 

And just like that, I’m backed into a corner. A challenge. To deny him now would be to expose the effect he has on me. My chin raises a fraction of an inch as I take in that assured half-smirk. “Why wouldn’t I be comfortable?” 

Kirigan arches a dark brow, assessing my response. “Then sit,” his voice has not changed, “You want air and I want company.” 

I don’t think anyone that looks as good as he does shirtless has ever had trouble finding company, especially with the smooth way he speaks. Despite this, I step forward to accept his challenge without calling him out on his coyness. Each step is the crossing of another invisible line until I’m near the water’s edge. I make sure to keep my nightgown at a respectable length as I sit down. 

I make a point of extending my legs towards the water while leaning back so that I can’t be easily accused of being a coward. “I feel the need to warn you that I might not make particularly interesting company.”

He angles his head to the side slightly, drawing attention to his jawline and neck. I force my stare to focus on the water. “I’ve never found you uninteresting.” 

There’s something resigned in the way he says this. On instinct, I look up, taking in the slight softening of his features. The release of his usual sternness only adds to his beauty, a fact that I’m already resenting. 

“You may be the only one.” It’s not meant to be a deprecating comment, but I’m not sure my partial laugh softens my bitterness. I hope it does--I’d rather his interest than the interest of my entire unit. 

Kirigan shifts forward, the water moving with him. “Do you think that any coldness you’re experiencing has to do with you?” 

The question has me drawing my eyebrows together. What else could it be? I shrug, “I’ve considered it.” 

He nods once, eyes hardening slightly. “Do you always have trouble sleeping?” 

The personalness of the question shouldn’t surprise me as much as it does. Kirigan seems to only understand boundaries when he’s the one setting them. “Not really.” A partial lie--this time I’m glad I can’t quite bring myself to look at him. “It’s not uncommon for me, but it’s not something I deal with every night.” 

I risk shifting my eyeline when I hear the sound of water moving. Kirigan’s now resting an arm on the rim of the pool, wet skin dangerously close to my ankle and lower calf. “It’s not always easy,” his voice is low now, “Being alone with your thoughts.” 

That’s not the kind of reply I’d expect from him. I blink twice before turning to study his expression. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him seem so tired--so weary and human and in need of something. The line between his eyebrows and the far off quality of his eyes leave me with the strong desire to give whatever it is he needs to him. The urge to reach out, to touch him in hopes of breaking him free from his odd trance leaves my stomach knotted. That line is too clear to cross so recklessly.

I need to chase away the serious atmosphere he’s created. “Is that why you bathe so late at night?” I let myself smile, “To avoid thoughts?” 

“I like the peace of it.” Something akin to amusement touches his words. “And for the record, little dove,” the nickname is pointed and earns him an eyeroll, “The warm water doesn’t exactly chase away thoughts so much as encourages others.” He pauses. “You understand, considering you can barely look at me.”

This is the most embarrassing thing to have ever happened. The suggestive jilt to his words has to be intentional. Damn him. I turn my head, forcing myself to meet his gaze. “I can look at you just fine.” 

“And if I were a Heartrender and could hear your heartbeat your pulse would be normal?” The question is teasing, a small smile pulling at his lips. 

The warmth in my face increases, spreading down my neck. Kirigan’s expression remains smug. “You’re not as funny as you think you are.” 

“No?” He leans forward, angling his head so close to me I can faintly feel the warmth of his breath on my lower calf. “I find myself amusing.” 

At least being around him like this is getting easier. I open my mouth, ready to provide some sarcastic comment I haven’t thought out yet. My mouth clamps shut on instinct when I feel his touch on my ankle. The faint contact quickly grows, his fingers brushing up my ankle and calf, leaving drops of cool water across my skin.

“What are you doing?” That’s a--a fair question, right? I’m not sure, rational thought slipping from me more and more with each passing second. 

“Nothing, really,” his reply is quick. “Nervous?” 

There is no way he doesn’t know what he’s doing. I roll my eyes, fighting against my instinctual fluster. “No,” a full lie, “You’re just getting me wet.” 

“Barely.” When he’s not busy being brooding he’s not much better than an irritating child. He retracts his hand slowly, fingers grazing my skin slowly as he submerges his hand beneath the water. The loss of contact should feel like a victory. It doesn’t. “Y/n,” he shifts closer, back straightening.

There’s an odd seriousness to his demeanor that almost leaves me reeling. “Yes?” 

He beckons me forward. I hesitate, but comply, letting myself shift closer to the water’s edge. Kirgan’s lips part, but no words leave him before he moves his arm, purposefully splashing water over my thighs and bottom of my nightgown. I let out an instinctively annoyed sound. “That is getting you wet.” 

“Kirigan!” My tone is as menacing as I can make it, but he continues to grin. There’s such a lightness to the look I almost forget to be annoyed. Almost. “I should tell the entire Second Army how much of a child you are.” 

My threat does nothing, his smile softening without fading. “They fear me too much for your stories to make a difference.” He says this flatly. “All of them except you.” 

I don’t know if I’m supposed to make something of that comment. A brief moment passes in which I think his eyes come close to softening. Maybe that’s a side effect of seeing the world as you want. Wait...what do I want? Him? No, no, I can’t. 

Okay, he’s objectively attractive and sometimes I think I may see more depth in him than he wants to be capable of. But that doesn’t mean I’m allowed to want anything with him. Even if he was trustworthy enough for me to be with him in any capacity...even casually, it could never happen. Nothing good could come from having relations with the highest ranked general and I doubt he’d ever want me like that. He likes to fluster people and I’m an easy target. I just accept it because being some level of entertainment to him is better than being nothing to everyone. 

“I don’t think there’s much point in fear.” It feels like a fair answer. The fairest answer I can manage, anyways. 

He sighs, the sound heavy. His hand stretches forward cautiously. I watch him and make no attempt to stop him from touching my lower calf. His fingers trace absentmindedly across the skin. “Of course you’d think that.” 

Again, I don’t know what to make of his words. Or his actions. He couldn’t find anything wrong with me just slightly adjusting my position. It’d be a polite way to remind us both of the natural order of things. But then again, someone like him is allowed to be mad about anything. And I’m not sure I want to remind us of our place. 

Actually, I’m completely sure that I want the opposite of that. But admitting that to myself is enough of a risk. I’ve already crossed thousands of tiny lines and what I want will require us to cross a thousand more. 

“I’m a little surprised you’re not reminding me how foolish a notion like that can be.” 

He lets out a tiny breath as he shifts even closer to me. “Maybe I’m enjoying your foolishness.” 

“I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or the opposite.” 

The slightest hint of a smile is visible to me beneath the moon’s glow. There’s something about darkness that adds beauty to things. I wait for him to reply, but instead of speaking his  hand moves further up my leg. I struggle to hide my reaction to his long fingers trailing up my skin.

He’s touched me before, sure. Tiny moments in which he’d push a strand of hair out of my face or wipe at a bit of dirt on my cheekbone. More recently, he had gripped my hip firmly to guide me through a crowd of soldiers. He had been in a hurry, stealing me from a conversation with the only member of my unit that’s been somewhat friendly to me. It wasn’t serious--he had just been rushing me because he only had a minute between meetings and apparently he had too long of a day to not take a moment to speak with me. 

“Are you alright, Dovey?” Normally, the nickname and all of its variations earns him an eyeroll. But everything is a lot less humorous with his hand half up my lower leg, leaving a trail of cool water wherever he touches. 

His fingers press more firmly into my skin. “Yes, I’m fine--it’s just late.” 

“Hm…” Kirigan breathes before tilting his head slightly. “You’re warm.” I stay silent as his hand shifts slightly. “Perhaps too warm.” 

If I’m hot that has absolutely nothing to do with fever. “I’m fine, General, I promise.” 

“Come closer,” he says, “It’ll take me no time to check.” 

...A little too convenient. My nightgown is still embarrassingly damp from the last time I eased tonight. “Please tell me you don’t find me that naive.” 

“Naive? No.” He lifts his hand slightly. “Warm? Yes.” I still don’t trust him. “I’m not going to do anything. I promise.” 

His eyes are dark and the limited lighting of the moon doesn’t offer me much in my analysis, but what I can see makes him seem genuine. “Why do I feel like that’s not the first time you’ve had to say that?” Despite my comment, I move towards him. 

The back of Kirigan’s palm is pressed to my forehead for less than a second. He brushes his hand down the side of my temple, rotating his wrist so that his fingertips can touch my cheek. His hand then continues to move down my jawline and then my neck...and then finally trails down my collarbone. I bite my tongue to avoid exhaling audibly at the contact. 

“Warm,” he concludes with a tsk, and yet he doesn’t withdraw his hand. “Though that could just have to do with the climate.” His thumb slips beneath the sleeve of my nightgown. “Perhaps you could benefit from joining me.” 

I bite my tongue to avoid letting out a surprised, embarrassingly enthusiastic squeak. I don’t know what’s gotten into him...maybe it’s the night air and the prospect of being fully alone. I should be strong enough to break whatever spell he’s starting to place on me. But I’m not. I’m really, really not. 

He pulls on the sleeve of my nightgown slightly. “I’m…” 

“Unless you’re nervous?” Another damn challenge. To shy away from this would be to expose myself. He tugs on the sleeve a little more assuredly, exposing my shoulder to the humid night. “Do I make you nervous?” 

His voice comes out a shallow rasp. I feel it straight in my core. “...Not more than you should.” 

“More than I should?” 

Ugh--too honest. I let myself get distracted. It shouldn’t be too difficult to explain what I meant. He knows he’s feared. He wants to be feared. “I’m sure we’re both aware that there are a fair amount of cautionary tales revolving around you.” 

His hand falls next to my lap. Oh? I didn’t expect to miss the contact between us so much. His expression seems to have fallen slightly as well. Was it my response to his question? It felt fair and straightforward without being too blunt. “And you believe every cautionary tale you hear?” 

There’s something stiff about the way he asks the question. His moodiness is making me miss his touchiness even more. At least then I didn’t have to feel like I made a mistake. Did I say something wrong? “Should I?”

“It depends on whether or not you plan on being brave.” 

“I told you...I don’t see much point in fear.” 

“And yet you’re still there.” A bit of humor returns to his voice. “Why is that?” 

Rolling my eyes, I shift forward, letting my legs dip into the water. This is as far as I should let this go. I’ve already lost too much more control. “Better?” He’s strangely tense again, a hint of something bitter playing at the smug look he tries for. “You alright?”

“Of course you’d ask me that.” He says this with a tired sigh. “You can never make things easy.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

He shifts backwards slightly. I can feel the distance between us like I’d feel a pebble in my shoe. “Do you believe all the stories about me?” 

Is he still bothered by that? “I didn’t mean it as literally as you’re taking it. All I meant is that people are intimidated by you, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s the way things have to be, you’re the only Shadow Summoner in existence and the army needs you to be intimidating so that they can act on your guidance.”

“The way things have to be,” he echoes, his voice strangely weighted. “There’s a specific kind of loneliness that comes with being feared by everyone.” 

Oh--I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him feel defeated like that. I reach for his hand without thinking, pulling his fingers towards my lap. “I don’t--I’m not scared of you.” It’s a weak attempt to comfort him, but it’s the only one I can think of. “That probably doesn’t mean anything, but I--” 

His hand turns in my lap, squeezing the exposed part of my thigh. “It means something.” Kirigan’s voice has hardened in a different way. “You’re the only person I’m certain of.” 

Everything in me seems to tighten at that. At the implication of something so personal from someone so closed off. “Kirigan, you don’t have to be as alone as you feel. You talk to me all the time and you do so in a way that makes it easy to forget the cautionary tales.” His hand moves further up my thigh. I fight as I try to remember our usual dynamic. “You’re the only one that talks to me like that.” 

“Have you ever considered that maybe the others refuse to take to you because of the favor I’ve shown you? The instinct to stay away from me is strong enough to extend to those around me.” Kirigan’s hand moves higher up my thigh. “To be near me is to involve solitude.” 

“I don’t care.” The answer leaves me too quickly. “Being near you is worth it.” 

He leans closer before resting his chin on my knee with no hesitation. “Careful, you don’t understand the line you tread.” Kirigan places his hand more firmly between my thighs. “Or perhaps you do...perhaps you know what you want to cross.” 

This time I can’t help the airy sigh that leaves me. Kirigan pushes against my thigh slightly, separating my legs. I feel his breath on my inner thigh before I know what’s going on. I can’t move, I can’t think, I can’t even breathe. That inability to do anything but feel my heart pound against my chest only worsens as I feel his lips press into the inside of my thigh. His lips trail up my skin before his teeth gently sink into the top of my thigh. 

“Is the line you want to cross?” He breathes the question so softly I feel like I’m being coddled. Everything in me feels too hot to think of any kind of coherent response. Kirigan uses his free hand to pull the fabric of my nightgown as high up my thighs as he can from his position below me. “Or maybe this is the line you want to cross?” Kirigan pulls me forward so suddenly I let out a tiny gasp. I’m not fully on the edge of the banya. “Or perhaps this one?” He kisses the skin of my inner thigh gently. Each time I exhale too loudly, his teeth graze my skin. He gets harsher with each passing second. “Lay down.” 

My body listens to him on instinct. How is this happening? How am I this powerless to fight against something that’s so clearly wrong? The sound of water shifting causes my entire body to tense. He’s pulled himself out of the water. Kirigan moves above me instantly, water dripping from his toned chest and dark hair and onto my still damp nightgown. 

Before I can speak, he’s on me completely, his lips pressing against my jaw. He kisses down my neck, his teeth grazing against my skin sporadically. He pulls away from me by tracing his tongue across my collar bone. I let out something dangerously close to a moan. “Such pretty, little sounds.” 

“Kirigan--” 

“The only name I want you to hear from your lips is the only name that I’ve not given myself. The only name that holds meaning to me.” 

His lips graze where my skin meets the hem of my now soaked through nightgown. I’m not sure the poor lighting is offering me enough coverage now. There’s no way the thin fabric leaves much to the imagination while being this wet. He kisses up my chest and neck until his lips reach the shell of my ear. 

“Aleksander.” The name is grace in the form of a breath so soft it’s more like I’m feeling the name than actually hearing it. 

He presses his lips against the spot on my neck directly beneath my ear. I exhale into the contact. “Aleksander.” As I test his true name on my tongue, his teeth dig into my skin much more harshly than before. 

I let out a partial squeak at the sudden shift in pace as his hands grip my waist. “Say it again. Say my name again.”

He traces his tongue gingerly over the skin he just aggravated with his teeth before I can speak. The soothing sensation is so much I can barely find my voice. “Aleksander.” 

His hand bunches the bottom of my nightgown, raising the fabric to my hips. “...Say it just like that.” Kirgan’s rough hand slips between the bone of my hip and the fabric of my hip. “Like I’m the only one that knows you like this.”

“Aleksander.” I breathe as he traces invisible patterns into my skin with his lips. “Aleksander.” Each use of his name earns me extra attention--a stronger hold on my hip, a more adamant nip at the base of my neck. I feel my need for him so heavily I swear it’s leaked into my bones. “Aleksander.”

When he pulls away, I fight the urge to whine. The night is still humid, but with the absence of his touch I feel like I’m shivering. He regards me silently for a long moment before shifting his weight again. I feel my heart stall in my chest as his hand softly brushes a strand of hair out of my face. He lets his hand linger there, at the apple of my cheek. The entire world seems to stall as he leans down, his hand cupping the side of my face as his mouth inches closer to mine. 

“I can feel the fluttering of your heart.” 

Any poor defense dies in my throat as his lips meet mine. He gives me no time to think about what’s happening as he presses into me even harder. Kirigan holds my face as his teeth graze against my bottom lip. My mouth opens slightly in surprise, giving him the opportunity he needs to slip his tongue into my mouth. His tongue slowly brushes against mine, coaxing me into total, delirious, compliance. When he starts to pull away, I react, my hands flying forward to grab his hair. He lets me get away with tugging him towards me, prolonging the kiss as he bites my bottom lip. 

One of his hands leaves my face and travels up the hands holding onto his hair. He pulls me off of him easily, pinning both of my wrists above my head with one hand. “Easy,” Kirigan warns, “You’ve been such a good girl, let’s not ruin it before we’ve started.” 

A tiny sigh leaves me. I can feel the pride he takes in that as his hand trails further down my body. His fingers ghost along the hem of my underwear teasingly. 

“Is someone there?” I’ve never damned the voice of a stranger more. 

Panic and dread roll in my stomach. I’m going to get caught like this, with my nightgown bunched at my hips beneath the General Kirigan. An unclothed, wet, General Kirigan. “I’m bathing.” 

Okay...good...Aleksander spoke. Anyone with common sense would run at the thought of invading on Kirgan’s privacy. It’s a good thing that the soldier had the sense to linger behind a thicket of bushes. “Pardon General, but there’s been a crucial development. A new strategy should be thought of as soon as possible.” 

No. No. The thought of losing contact so entirely, of having a moment that should have never happened be ripped from me before it’s even really happened is overwhelming. I feel my lips pull into a pout. Kirigan’s hand adjusts on me, his thumb pressing teasingly over where I’m neediest. I bite my tongue to avoid making an inappropriate noise. 

“Five minutes--I’ll be in the strategy tent in five minutes.” 

“I’ll tell the others, General.”

Great. I hear the stranger disappear, his feet crushing twigs and grass as he leaves us. Aleksander’s attention returns to me quickly. Disappointment swells in my chest as I take in the solemn look that crosses his features. His hand moves to my chin quickly before pulling me into another deep kiss. It’s too short lived. 

“I have to go.” 

Frowning, I lift my hand to trace my fingers up his arm. It’s softer than I should allow myself to be, but it doesn’t really matter anymore. Not when this is probably never going to happen again. “Do you?” I mumble to myself, half joking.

He sighs once, his thumb brushing against my cheek. “No pouting.” 

Now that whatever little bubble we were in has popped, I’m capable of normal feelings. Including shame. “I am n--” 

“Easy, little dove, I’ll remember all of this when I find you again.” 

This...this is going to happen again? “You’re going to find me?” 

“I haven’t yet heard your voice crack on my name as I undo you.” He punctuates the promise with a kiss to my jaw. “Again.” Another kiss. “And again.” Another brush of his lips as he finally pulls away. “And again.” 

My breath catches itself in my throat as he moves off of me entirely. Damn whatever change in the war that’s pulled him away from me so suddenly. I sit up as he stands. I’m not sure where to look now that he’s not in close enough proximity to cloud my thoughts. I should leave as he dresses, but I can’t quite bring myself to. It doesn’t feel safe, not when the man that interrupted us could reappear at any moment. Not when I want to hold onto his presence like this as long as possible. 

 He squeezes my shoulder warmly as he passes before bending down to press one more kiss next to where his hand is. 

“Soon,” he promises again. 

--

General taglist: @theincredibledeadlyviper, @grishaverse7 @benbarnes-supremacy  @tranquilitymoon @kaitlyn2907 @lunamyangel @christinawxxx @deceivedeer @real-mbappe @tonks33

[archived-kin]

caught in a twin courtship

note from kin: i’m going to be honest i only really wrote this because the title is fun to say, so it isn’t as cohesive as i normally would have wanted to make it

(this is an au where the twins aren’t separated by the unknown god! instead, just their world-hopping powers were stolen, and that’s why they’re journeying to find said god - to get their powers back so that they can go home. i’ve also excluded paimon since i kind of forgot about her while writing this haha)

(this doesn’t follow canon at all since reader and the twins just kind of start wandering about after the dvalin incident rather than heading straight for liyue oops)

fandom: genshin impact

character(s): gn!reader, lumine, aether, diluc, venti, jean

pairing(s): aether/reader/lumine

warning(s): i don’t think so??

genre: fluff with a little bit sprinkling of angst

you first meet the twins in the aftermath of the stormterror battle. it isn’t a glamorous introduction by any means - it’s pretty unflattering, actually - but it definitely makes a powerful first impression.

the group - aether, lumine, venti, diluc, and jean - are on their way back to mondstadt city, making small talk here and there, but mostly just walking in silence.

then they hear a yell in the distance.

jean and lumine both drop into a battle stances, venti leaps to hide behind aether with a very unmanly squeak of fear… but diluc, who arguably should have been the most alerted by this occurrence, just gives a resigned sigh and pauses.

a split second later, a figure comes speeding up to the group. you barrel up to diluc and immediately punch him square in the stomach, yelling “why didn’t you tell me you were going after stormterror?!”

aether and venti both give matching gasps of horror at the blatant disrespect, but diluc only shakes his head and catches your fist as it goes for another blow, this one aimed at his chest, and chastises, “calm down, i left a note.”

“i left a note,” you mimic, an absolutely awful impression that has you sounding more like a mosquito than the darknight hero, “fat lot of use that is when you aren’t even telling me where you’re going!”

diluc evades another jab at his arm and firmly sets his hands on both your shoulders, effectively anchoring you to the ground. you contemplate swinging your feet at his knees and knocking him over, or maybe shocking him with your electro vision, but ultimately decide that you might as well try to preserve what little dignity you have left in front of those three people you’ve never met before

so you stop with a defeated sigh and turn to face said three people to introduce yourself

it turns out that you’re diluc’s cousin and he’s been having to baby-sit you for the last few years after your own parents left on a ‘business trip’ to snezhnaya that they’re still not back from

you’re pretty sure they’re dead, killed by the fatui, and you say as much during your introduction without even the slightest sign of distress, which is a little unsettling

lumine’s first thought is that you’re quite the interesting character, what with the casual way you treat diluc, and how you don’t seem to question whatever situation lead you to meet in the first place

aether’s first thought is holy shit, they’re cute

one twin greets you in return with a lot more enthusiasm than the other, and venti the bard wastes no time in asking whether you have access to good master diluc’s wine storage

(you’d be shocked by the audacity if you weren’t just as bad as him when it came to shamelessness)

strangely enough, the fact that aether likes you so much actually makes lumine more wary of you than she was initially

aether trusts too easily, and from experience, that usually leads to disaster - and your flippancy regarding your parents’ apparent probable deaths rather inclines her to think that you might be a very dangerous person indeed

the three of you don’t see each other for a couple of days after that - you and diluc leave for dawn winery together, while the twins depart with venti to wrap their whole situation up, and jean returns to her duties in mondstadt city

all this time, apparently unbeknownst to even himself, aether keeps finding ways to bring you up in the middle of conversation

you’d only spoken to him for a few minutes and somehow that as enough to get him absolutely fascinated

lumine would be lying if she said she wasn’t still curious about you as well, but it gets annoying after aether somehow manages to mention how ‘mysterious’ your black cloak is in the middle of a conversation about why mitachurls are able to randomly set their axes on fire

luckily for these two, they happen to run into you the very next day!

you’re in the middle of taking out a ruin guard stomping around the thousand winds temple -  a ruin guard that the twins had been meaning to take down themselves, which is why they’re here in the first place

at first they move to help you, only to stop short and watch in awe as you plunge down at the ruin guard from atop one of the enormous pillars, your polearm held steady in your grasp as your entire body seems to spark and glow with a deep purple electro energy

the sharp blade of your polearm goes clean through the top of the ruin guard’s head and shatters its core, and it sinks to the ground with a massive thud that echoes around the temple ruins, massive wooden limbs twitching and jerking as the last of your vision’s energy disperses from it

aether and lumine are basically star-struck

from there you spot them and call them over for a conversation, show them how to take apart a ruin guard’s circuits to get at the good parts, and somehow end up agreeing to journey with them across teyvat in their search for an unknown god who stole their abilities to hop from world to world as well as their apparent true power that allows them to wield all seven elements at once

the details are a little lost on you, but what you’re hearing is that you get to go on a cool adventure with a cool gal and a cool lad, so you’re pretty much all for it

diluc isn’t too happy about you up and leaving without so much as two week’s notice (partially because he has literally no friends apart from you and he’d get lonely without his little cousin bothering him all the time) but you simply tell him to deal with it and go anyway

(you do give him a big hug and promise to visit, you’re not heartless)

from then on you, aether and lumine become a dynamic trio like no other

it’s actually pretty damn spooky how well the three of you end of working together

aether and lumine had long since formed a style of fighting that meant they made up for each other’s weak spots and could attack in perfect sync, but then you come along and somehow manage to make their already pretty flawless formation even better

is it witchcraft? they honestly don’t know

considering you fit so well into their battle strategies, it follows that you’d also slot perfectly into their every day life

lumine is cautious at first, wondering if your presence would disrupt her and her brother’s long since pre-established routines, but you fit in so naturally that it’s as if you were there all long

maybe it it’s this that makes both twins slowly start falling for you - the comfort of being beside you and the familiarity that you bring are things that they struggled to find, being trapped in a world far from their own with no way to get out, and they unknowingly latch onto you like drowning men clutching lifebuoys

aether is the most obvious about his feelings - he starts waking up earlier just because he knows you do, sitting beside you as you stoke a campfire and keep watch for any approaching monsters, making quiet conversation as lumine continues sleeping. he tells you stories about his adventures in other worlds, including an encounter with a rather bigoted individual who is the reason that he keeps his hair so long while lumine’s has been cut short

he even starts taking his hair out of its braid before he goes to sleep so that he can ask you to braid it for him when he wakes up

lumine is a lot more subtle

she finds excuses to stand closer to you when, deliberately brushing her fingers against yours when handing you something. she listens far more attentively to you when you speak than anyone else, and she smiles far more in your presence, hanging onto your every word and gazing at you so intensely that it’s almost unsettling

of course, the twins notice each other’s feelings pretty easily

at first neither acknowledges it - it’d be far too messy for both to accept that they’d both fallen in love with the same person, let alone actually admit this to each other

but it gets to the point where it just isn’t ignorable anymore, and finally the twins decide to talk

it’s about as civil and sensible as they could hope for with the subject at hand, and they eventually decide to talk to you about it

and so, we come to an ultimatum. what will your choice be?

if you reject both, it’ll be hard to continue adventuring with twins who can’t look in your direction. neither resent you, of course, but the atmosphere has become so stifling that they can’t even make eye contact

it’s as if an enormous gap has opened up between the three of you. the twins are avoiding each other as well, unsure of how to handle the fact that they’re both in love with the same person and have now both been rejected by that same person. if anything, they should be becoming closer out of solidarity, but it seems that they can’t stand to be in each other’s presence as much as they can’t stand to be in yours.

the three of you still work together as seamlessly in battle as you did before, but once the final monster has been cut down and your weapons are sheathed, that connection seems to disappear again.

it’s aether who finally breaks the stalemate. he starts trying to start conversations as the three of you sit awkwardly apart from each other around a fire, and while the first few attempts end in stony silence and an awkward cough on his part, eventually you begin replying with some semblance of the humour you used to

from there things only improve - the three of you come to a silent mutual agreement to leave this behind you, and soon you’re all laughing and joking as you used to

lumine and aether both know that they cannot force you to love either of them, and they respect your choice. if anything, they’re the ones in the wrong for springing something like this on you so suddenly, and they start to feel a little guilty that they were essentially pressuring you into making a choice that you were never obligated to make

so they return to treating you as a dear friend, just as before. things are different now, of course, but they can only be grateful that you continue to travel with them and stay by their side; this situation doesn’t make them love you any less, even if you don’t love them in the same way.

if you choose lumine, aether will be understanding. the twins have been each other’s only support for longer than they can remember, and as the older brother, he’s well used to giving things up for his sister.

he’ll still be friendly and amicable, but he won’t seek you out as much as he did before. he starts braiding his hair by himself again, and stays in bed as late as he can every morning so that he doesn’t have to be face to face with you. just because he’s accepted this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt.

sometimes, when the sky grows dark and you and lumine have long since fallen asleep beside each other, he wonders to himself - why is it that he has to give everything to his sister? he’s given away so much, so why couldn’t the universe let him have this one thing?

but he knows, deep down, that this is nothing to do with the universe - you simply fell in love with someone that wasn’t him, his sister at that, and he’s struggling to come to terms with it.

he wants to hate you, hate lumine, hate the relationship that the two of you have formed, but he just can’t. he loves the both of you in different ways that are just as important as each other, and he can’t stand to lose either of you. he’d rather throw himself off of starsnatch cliff.

so he’ll smile and bear it, even if it’s a battle to keep himself from breaking down every time he sees the two of you lace your hands together, off in your own little word, so near and yet so far from him.

if you choose aether, lumine will become cold. at first, that is. she’s never been as empathetic as her brother, always holding grudges and developing dislike much more easily. it had taken a lot for her to open up to you in the first place, and now that you’ve rejected her, it’s going to take a while for her to return to the same camaderie with you that she had before.

lumine does not begrudge aether for being the one you chose. if anything, she’s glad - aether is always putting her first and himself second, and she’s happy that he has someone like you, who lights his eyes up in a way that she’s never seen before.

but our hearts often betray our mind, after all, and lumine can’t help but scowl and turn away every time she sees her brother wrap his arms around your waist or press a kiss to your cheek. despite her best efforts, all she can think is why? why did you have to choose him?

she can’t bring herself to hate you, though. as much as it feels like her heart is threatening to split down the middle when she sees you smile and is reminded of something that she cannot have, there is an equal joy in the fact that her brother can be with the person that he loves so dearly. if anything, the two of you deserve to be happy together.

lumine would never do anything that could take that away, and so she forces herself to accept it. it takes several days of tentative conversation and barely held back tears, but eventually the two of you seem to return to the way you were before - all friendly jabs and light-hearted banter and little jokes exchanged over crossed blades.

but lumine knows that your friendship can never be quite the same as it was before. she’ll forever be holding you at arm’s length, terrified to let you get too close lest you see how much your presence affects her. she can’t let you know how much she loves you because she will never be the one who links hands with you as you walk down a long, winding path, or the one who holds you close under a darkening sky filled with stars - because that person is aether, and she would sooner die before she takes her brother’s happiness away.

if you refuse to choose, the twins will be at a loss at what to do. they hadn’t considered this scenario - that you had somehow come to love both of them.

the confusion becomes joy soon enough, though. they realise what this means - they both love you, and you love both of them! isn’t this perfect?

neither are particularly thrilled at the concept of ‘sharing’ you with the other, so to speak, but in the end they both equally want each other to be happy as they want you to be, so the logical conclusion is that they both become your partners.

they’re not too sure how this should work, nor what sort of label to put on it, but they come to you tentatively with the idea anyway

to their joyous surprise, you agree!

and from then marks the point of no return…

aether is definitely the clingier of the two. once he realises that he’s allowed to show affection and be close to you for no particular reason, he won’t stop - it’s as if he absolutely has to be holding your hand or be standing or sitting  as close to you as physically possible. he’s always buying you souvenirs at every place you stop by, scaling trees to pick apples for you when you mention a craving for fruit, presenting you little treasures that he’s found with all the pride of a golden retriever.

lumine is a more subdued kind of partner, preferring to demonstrate her feelings with little things like making your favourite food for dinner or bringing you sprigs of flowers that she’s secretly been collecting in order to present you with them. of course, that doesn’t mean she isn’t physically affectionate at all - she presses perhaps even closer to you than aether when you sleep beside her, and somehow her hand finds yours at every opportunity she has.

the twins clash every now and then, as siblings often do, except that you’re usually caught in the middle. their arguments are little more than playful squabbles, though - things like play-fighting over who gets to hug you first after a well-fought battle, or who gets to hold your hand on the way to the next village (you have to step in and remind them that you do, in fact, have two hands)

in conclusion: why choose one when you can have both and prevent the unchosen from having endless amounts of angst?