#going from young China to older China

[murdrdocs]

do you believe in us?

description. from a young age, you and PAUL ATREIDES believe you belonged to the other, and foolishly thought you could one day marry. not even an unlikely marriage between your parents will diminish those beliefs.

includes. STEPCEST, SMUT MDNI 18+, fem!reader, oral (f receiving), childhood best friends to stepsiblings, instigator paul, appearances by lady jessica, duke leto, and duncan idaho, sparring, sneaking around

wc: 5.3k+

a/n: title from us by movement. artwork credit to revol404 on instagram. ao3 link

When you were younger, you saw Castle Caladan for what it wasn’t. 

In nearly all of your memories, Castle Caladan was warm and bright. The sun shone into the large windows, illuminating the gray hallways and providing a comforting warmth that seduced your young mind into seeing Castle Caladan as one of the residences from the fairytales your mother would tell you. In these memories you were always running and smiling, often hand-in-hand with your best friend. Your first love. 

Paul Atreides. 

Castle Caladan was the home of the person you cared about most. Therefore, visits were vacations. They were scarce, becoming more rare the older you got, but that only made you treasure them more. 

You and Paul would spend the entire day together, even going as far as to sneak out of your allocated bedrooms and tiptoe into the chambers of the other. In the morning, the maids would find two little bodies sharing a bed, hands reaching out to touch the other in the empty space between you both. 

And as you grew, you traded running around the halls for playing each other in chess. Playing throughout the fields was traded for walking along the shoreline. 

Sneaking into each other's bedroom only changed by the nature of intentions. You still ached to spend more time together, but the innocence of it was lost. In the solitude of the night, you would make up for the time lost during the day to Paul’s training as the heir, and your duties with your mother and Lady Jessica. 

When your mother broke the news, she misled you. 

“You will be permanently living with the Atreides family,” came her carefully chosen words. If she had not trained you, maybe it would’ve taken you longer to catch the implications. Maybe you would not have understood what circumstances had brought this upon your family until you were packing, or even until you were already en route to Caladan. 

Instead, it’s then and there that you realize how your chances have been lowered to none. 

Your mother had said your name, her tone as dry and disappointed as her eyes. “You will never be able to marry him. It is as I said.” 

And that was that. 

Your best friend becomes your step brother in the blink of an eye. Together, you made up the new and noble siblings of House Atreides. 

Your mother and Paul's father were married, and you and Paul now shared a last name. It was an immovable fact, no matter how often you and Paul attempted to convince each other of the opposite in moments of intense desperation. 

No matter how many times you tried to convince the other that marriage is a procedure that could be reversed should the need ever arise, you both knew that a reversal would be unlikely.

Duke Leto married your mother despite his clear love for Lady Jessica for security. If he could manage to commit such an act onto the one he loves, then there would be no undoing this.

Now, you see Castle Caladan for what it is. 

As beautiful as it is dreary. As cold as it is large. As encompassing as it is comforting. 

You sit at the breakfast table next to Paul and across from your mother. Lady Jessica sits at the end of the table, and Duke Leto, your stepfather, is absent. 

There’s no small talk, just the silent scraping of utensils against expensive china and the occasional audible gulp of fluid down throats. 

Every so often, you throw a curious glance Paul’s way, and the look he throws at you is in similar fashion. You both feel the stiffness in the air. 

Paul raises his eyebrows. He nudges them towards your mother and then his mother, and does the same with his eyes for emphasis. 

You slightly widen your eyes pointedly, your way of saying I know without having to say it. His lips pull up into a small smile and then you both turn back to face your plates. 

The tense silence continues for a while. Your mother addresses Lady Jessica. Lady Jessica addresses Paul. Your mother addresses you and Paul. 

And then your plates are cleaned and Paul is standing. 

“May we be excused?” 

It’s surprisingly a clear day outside, and you did not have to speak to Paul to know that he intended for both of you to enjoy the agreeable weather before Caladan was inevitably submerged in water once more later in the night. 

“You may be excused,” Lady Jessica confirms. 

You’re in the midst of rising from your seat and pushing the chair out from under you whenever you catch Lady Jessica’s eye. She does not say anything to you, but she does not need to. 

Just the cold gaze of her blue eyes alone are enough to make you sink back into your seat. From behind you, Paul calls your name. If you were not locked in a trance, you would have looked at him, you would have found the soothing blue-green of his eyes instead of the petrifying chill of his mothers. 

“I’ll see you later, Paul,” you tell him on your own volition, but you think that is what Lady Jessica wanted you to say anyway. 

She waits until the dining room is cleared of anyone other than you two before she begins to communicate. 

“You and my son…” Her words taper off and you are too busy focusing on the way her lips have only moved to take in another bite of her breakfast, and not to speak to you. 

While you understand the ways of the Bene Gesserit, it never fails to amaze you. 

“Ma’am?” You are playing dumb and both of you are aware. 

Still, Lady Jessica elaborates, “You both have had feelings for the other since you were young.” 

There is no room for denial so there is no reason for you to attempt it. You nod twice, casting your eyes down to your lap where your hands lay restlessly. You begin to pick at your nails as Lady Jessica continues. 

“And are those feelings still present?” 

Your answer comes entirely too quick. 

“No!” Your voice echoes around the room and you cringe. 

Lady Jessica lifts an eyebrow. She senses your dishonesty. 

You chew on your bottom lip for a moment. “Yes, ma’am. But we have not acted on them.” 

When she communicates this time, it is with her voice. 

“Good. You are a smart girl and your mother has raised you well. I’m sure you will make both of us proud.” She finishes off her food and sits straighter, wiping her mouth free of nonexistent residue with a white cloth. “Now I’m sure you have things to be getting to, right, dear?” 

You have never been happier to leave somewhere. You say your goodbyes as graciously as possible and leave the dining room. 

You’re in the training room exhausting yourself with slightly shaky jabs at the practice dummy whenever the door opens. There is a split second where you’re prepared to turn around and throw the next jab at the intruder, but then he speaks. 

“If I were Gurney I would chastise you for fighting with your back to the door.” 

You speak around your heavy  breaths. 

“Eyes in the back of my head, remember?” 

Your reference is one that goes back to you and Paul’s young teenage years. A phrase you confidently proclaimed once you and Paul both had begun extensive training, learning combat that could protect yourselves and your—then separate—family names should the need ever arise. (To this day, Paul is more formidable in combat than you are, but back then you could confidently hold your own.) 

Gurney had taken over training then, and he had allowed you and Paul to train together, solely because you were visiting during one of Paul’s less intense training sessions. 

(You believed that Gurney always had a soft spot for you and the Atreides heir. Not nearly as obvious as the one held by Duncan Idaho, but its existence is present within the weathered man.)

When Gurney had chastised you for fighting with your back to the door, you quickly quipped with a claim that you had eyes in the back of your head. When Gurney tossed a rock at your back, not big enough to provide more than a bruise against your skin, you were able to block it without turning around. 

Gurney was impressed. Paul was stunned. You attributed it to pure luck. Yet since then, it was never let go. 

When you begin to notice Paul approaching you, you credit your awareness of his movement to knowing him more than you knew your surroundings. You weren’t the most skilled warrior. Your mother belongs to a notable house, which forced you to learn slightly more than the basic survival skills. Some chastised her for withholding you from Bene Gesserit training, or perhaps more in depth training that would harden both your body and your mind. As far as she cared, you could hold your own in a fight, and that is all you needed. 

But you knew Paul. The ins and outs. Sometimes, late at night when you would allow the sickness of infatuation to fall upon you as you gazed at the stars, you liked to think that you and Paul were intertwined. You liked to convince yourself that your souls were intertwined and codependent. 

It is hard to dispute that claim when you know based on intuition alone that Paul is right behind you. 

(You can also feel his body heat and his presence behind you, but in your mind that is not nearly as romantic.)

You spin around to face Paul, your arms raised and body tensed with preparation to fight. 

Paul eyes your posture, cocks his head to the side, and mirrors it. 

It’s over quickly. 

Paul has your dagger thrown to the side within the first three movements. He has your hands restricted in his grasp in the next two movements. With just one more movement, he has your cheek and chest pressed against the wall with your hands bound behind your back. For just a moment more, he stands a respectable distance away from you. 

With the space between you both, the position could be passed off as friendly. The position could pass as the competitive nature it resembled. 

Until Paul takes a step closer and flushes his crotch against your backside, making you well aware of the stiff form within his trousers. 

For just a moment more, you let yourself revel in the feeling with your eyes closed, the rate of your breathing evening out now that you aren’t exerting yourself. You shimmy your hips just a bit, nestling Paul’s erection between your cheeks as best as you can with lack of movement and layers hindering your abilities. 

But then the moment is gone. You push it away when you speak. 

“Paul,” you intend for the syllables of his name to be a warning. At first, they come out as a pleading whine, so you clear your throat and try again. 

“Paul.” This time, it is firm and demanding. 

When Paul hums, it is against the shell of your ear. The proximity allows you to feel his voice instead of just hearing it, and you are instantly reminded of the times Paul had been on his knees between your legs and using the vibration that came from him to bring you pleasure you have not felt since. 

“We really shouldn’t.” You’re trying to convince both him and yourself. 

“Why shouldn’t we?” 

The question should not have to be asked. It is a question that should not need to be answered, for you both know what is preventing you from having the other in ways from before. 

You do not answer. Your forehead thuds against the wall, your warm breath rebounds against the wall and hits your lower face when you exhale. 

Paul starts to gently rock his hips into yours. His free hand, the one not restricting your movement, presses flat against the cement structure. 

When the pleasure increases, and your desire follows, you lift your head and let it lull to the side, resting the side of your skull against the toned muscles in Paul’s bicep. You start to give in. 

Your lips part in a moan devoid of any sound as Paul asks you again. 

“Tell me, my star. Why shouldn’t we?” 

He lets go of your hands, instead using his own for a more important cause. His palm glides up the side of your shirt until he reaches your breast. You cannot feel the warmth of his touch through your layers, but just the pressure alone is enough to have you choking around your words. 

“Because it’s not right, Paul,” you eventually tell him. 

Paul tuts. The hand on the wall meets your waist, his fingertips pressing into the area as he uses his grip to pull you back against him. 

“What d’you mean it’s not right?” He kisses the side of your neck and at this moment, you are considering letting him take you here and now. “It feels right, doesn’t it?” 

You’re nodding before he even finishes speaking. 

You had not realized just how bad you missed Paul until now. Your mind has conjured up images of him in your sleep, perfect replicas of his face created from memories of your time spent together and imagining what could be if you just release your inhibitions. When Paul gently sinks his teeth into the skin along your shoulder, it dawns on you that with just a bit more time, your dreams could easily walk into the waking world. 

Maybe you were just about to give in. Maybe Paul would have convinced you to let him finally have you. 

Either way, the moment is lost whenever Paul steps away from you, taking away all of the contact points in one singular move. 

You turn to face him with your eyebrows furrowed and your eyes already beginning to sting with rejection whenever the door opens. 

You turn your head, both stunned and grateful to see Duncan Idaho walking through, his stride strong and purposeful until he notices you standing in front of Paul. 

He takes a moment to cast his eyes between both of you. You watch his gaze flicker around the room, no doubt taking in as much information as he could, before he lands on you. 

“Didn’t know you were joining us today, Eyes.” It is no surprise that Duncan pulls on the same story from before for your nickname. Just as you have yet to let the anecdote go, he has yet to let the nickname go. 

“I’m not,” you tell him, attempting to subtly adjust your garments. It is clear that you were not as subtle as you could have been whenever Duncan eyes you up and down. You swear there is something akin to knowing on his face. 

“I was just leaving.” 

“Don’t leave on my accord. Paul could use more of a challenge, isn’t that right?” Duncan smiles teasingly and finally looks at your stepbrother. You do the same. 

(You are surprised to see that Paul does not look as flustered as you anticipated him to. You hope you did not pull the short stick.)

“Oh … yes.” Paul turns to face you with a smile similar to Duncan’s on his lips. “Join us … little sis.” The term of endearment sounds foreign coming from him. That is not the only reason why it makes you cringe. 

You understand that both of them are making a joke at your expense. There have been a few times where you foolishly joined Duncan and Paul during their sessions, only to get knocked on your ass by Paul and goaded into getting back up by Duncan. The cycle would continue until you could do nothing but lay in bed the next day, praying for a speedy recovery so you would not waste a day that could be spent in Paul's presence. 

Now that you live here, that one issue would be taken care of. Still, you prefer to be able to comfortably move around without bruises and aches restricting your movement. 

Although your mind is already made up, you cannot help but attempt to defend yourself. 

“Who says I haven’t gotten better?” 

Paul smirks. You both know that while you have improved, he has too. He will always be ahead of you. The compromising position you were in only a few minutes ago serves as proof. 

“Have you?” Duncan asks. 

Your reply comes in the form of dismissal, which you do as politely as you can, adding only slight annoyance to your tone that you could only display in the presence of Duncan and none of the other members of House Atreides. 

“Enjoy yourselves. Paul, I’ll see you at dinner.” 

Paul nods once and then you leave with the boisterous sound of Duncan’s laughter escorting you out. 

Dinner is much like breakfast. 

Duke Leto joins this time, which allows for much more conversation. But the stiff and tense air still permeates the dining room. It takes you half of your entree to decipher exactly where the energy is coming from, but it is so clear once it is revealed that you cannot help but beat yourself up over your previous confusion just a bit. 

Different from earlier in the morning, your mother sits at the head of the table with Duke Leto on the other end. Lady Jessica has been casted off and forced to sit across from you and Paul. She appears uncomfortable in the seat, constantly readjusting herself between quick statements that clearly express her discontent at the new arrangement. 

You would have focused more on the dramatics of your family dinner table if Paul were not toying with you beneath it. 

You are incredibly thankful that he kept his hands to himself, but his feet are just as insistent. Just as restless. 

They poke against yours constantly, not in an attempt to gather your attention as you would consistently send looks his way. Never were they returned. He would either be discussing his day with his father, talking to either of your mothers, or focused on the diminishing food on his plate. 

There were a few occasions where you thought Paul’s actions were accidental. You would draw your foot back, but when his covered toes found yours once more, you knew it to be another one of his games. It was juvenile and childish, but you found yourself allowing it to happen. 

You would take any form of Paul’s touch, so long as it did not compromise too much. 

You repeat your philosophy in your mind over and over again like the sayings of the Bene Gesserit whenever Paul approaches you. 

You stand in the center of your bedroom in your night clothes. Your curtains are still open, exposing the vast nothingness that the sea presents itself as since the sun has set. The stars twinkle above, and you had already prepared yourself for a night of tracing constellations before Paul entered. 

He stands in front of you, dressed just as down as you are. His hair is still a little wet from bathing, and you briefly recount the many times you played with the curls until they began to dampen and eventually dry. Each time, his hair would look unkempt in the mornings, but Paul never cared. He claimed that his hair was just a reminder of the night he spent with you. 

You would pretend to be unaffected by his sweet talking, only to flush at the memory of his words later in the day. 

“Are you listening to me, my star?” His words pull you from your senseless daydreaming. 

“What was that?” 

Paul’s lips tug up in the corners as he dips his head for a moment. When he looks at you once more, he takes a step closer. 

You knew why he was here in the first place, but the advance of his hand reaching for your waist still has your breath hitching. 

“I was wondering if you would let me have a taste of you.” 

He stares at you, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, you are losing yourself as you continue to look into his eyes, analyzing the way his long and dark eyelashes add depth to them for the millionth time. 

Eventually, the raise of his eyebrows cue you. 

“Paul,” you start with a soft tone, an attempt to keep it neutral. But Paul knows you just as well as you know him. Possibly even better. 

He senses the impending rejection woven in just the syllables of his name. 

He sighs. He pulls you closer by your hips. He rests his forehead against yours and presses his hands into your lower back. 

He says your name. No, he breathes it. His breath hits your lips before you part them. With his next exhale, you inhale. The pattern continues until Paul prepares to speak, but you interrupt him. 

“She knows.” 

You do not have to specify exactly who you are talking about. 

Paul sighs again, this time as if he is defeated. 

“Of course she knows. My mother is all knowing, didn’t you know?” He speaks with faux amusement. He’s lighthearted, and the emotion is completely misplaced. 

“We can’t go back to doing this, Paul.” 

He begins to speak over you, but you continue. 

“Paul, we can’t. No. No. It’s too dangerous. It’s too–”

“We can. Yes, we can, my star. Look at me–” 

You do as told, removing the touch of your foreheads from the others to look at each other head on once more. 

“What are you so afraid of?” 

The question is so simple. The answer is, too. It is one you have run over in your head day in and day out since moving in just a few months ago. It is the same response you reminded yourself of whenever Paul would touch you, even if it were just an accidental graze of his knuckles against yours. 

The difficulty comes with admittance. 

But in the safe confines of your bedroom, with nothing but the moon, stars, and sea as a witness, you open your mouth. 

“I’m afraid of losing you.” 

Paul shakes his head gently, sending little water droplets flying. 

“You will never lose me. You know that.” 

“Yes, I will, Paul.” 

“No. Why would you say that? We live together now. We’re bound together.” 

It takes a moment to wring yourself out of Paul’s touch, and when you do, he keeps his hands suspended in the air without making any attempts to straighten his posture. He looks dejected. 

You approach your window, staring off into the distance as you say, “Exactly. We are bound together in ways that will never reach marriage. We cannot get married.” 

Paul’s footsteps are near silent as he approaches you. 

“Does that mean you cannot be mine and I cannot be yours? What we have will always transcend marriage, my star.”

When you do not bother to respond, there is a resounding thud. 

You look to your side to find Paul on his knees before you. You, the bastard daughter, have brought the heir of House Atreides to his knees. Like this, with the low lighting in your bedroom reflecting the highest points of his cheekbones and emphasizing the valleys along the plane of his face, it is easy to remind yourself that Paul Atreides is just as much of a bastard as you. 

You two are in this together. Why should you not be together as well?

You are already planning to accept when he begs. 

“Please? Just one taste and I will let you be if that is what you wish. You have my word.” 

Typically, Paul is a man of his word. When you were kids and you accidentally knocked over a vase, a gift from another of the houses, Paul never told a soul just as he promised. When you had the tiniest crush on Duncan and let Paul in on the secret, he never told. He had given you his word both times. 

It is this time when you first are made aware of Paul’s capacity for dishonesty. 

Either way, you lift the skirt of your nightgown. 

Paul fits between your legs without much difficulty at all. While it may have been a while since you allowed yourselves this delicacy, it is as easy as breathing to return to the routine. 

Paul begins to lick and suck at your essence with appreciation derived from deprivation. His hands press into the fat of your backside, either to hold you steady or keep you flush against him. In any case, you are securely pressed against Paul’s mouth and he has no intention of letting you go anytime soon. 

You feel similarly, throwing your leg over his shoulder and digging the heel of your foot into the defined muscles of his back. Your hand presses against the glass plane beside you when Paul puckers his lips and sucks along your clit. 

The position calls for some maneuvering. You bend your standing leg, then grip Paul’s curls with your freehand, pulling him just a little closer to your center. His tongue has slid down to your hole and bringing him closer has bumped his nose against your clit. The bud catches the ridge of it, and you shamelessly run your hips side to side in an attempt to catch it again. Paul, noticing your efforts, does it for you. 

He grabs your ass just a bit tighter, adjusting your robes with one hand before returning to his handfuls, and then he shakes his head just enough to provide the stimulation you were searching for. He dips his tongue into your entrance, brings it back out, and repeats the movement. Coupled with the alternating shake of his nose against your clit, and your recent abstinence, you are close sooner than you would have preferred. 

You sacrifice your minute control over him when you free his hair from your hands, and instead imprison the linen fabric of your gown within your grasp. You pull your garb up, scrunching the fabric into your hand to get a look at Paul. 

When his eyes are revealed, they are already casted up towards you. They crinkle at the corners as if he is smiling at you, and the shape you feel against your cunt is confirmation. When he peels away from you there is a visible erotic sheen across his lips. 

“I forgot how good you taste.” 

He speaks to you casually, in a fashion to the conversations of nonsensical small talk you had been subjected to earlier in the day. 

For some reason, this makes your head spin. 

You nudge your hips back in Paul’s direction and he does not have to be told to return to work. 

There is so much slip and slide between your legs that you cannot tell what is your arousal and what is his saliva. The combination of fluids multiples whenever Paul slides a finger in your entrance, slinking it along your insides before he finds the spot. He pays extra attention to it, watching you as he slips another finger in to join it without much time in between. 

You have not been aware of the volume of your moans until Paul begins to flick your clit with his tongue, after which a croaky sound slips past your lips and it is entirely too loud for the circumstances. 

Your hand slaps over your mouth before you can stop it. 

Paul shakes his head, removing his lips from you but not his fingers. He chastises you. 

“Don’t do that to me, my star.” 

That is all he has to say for you to remove your hand and continue to let the sounds that encourage him spill out. 

(Luckily, your sleeping quarters exist further away from the other’s.)

It is only a few more moments before your lower abdomen tenses and an orgasm seizes control of your body without much warning in advance. You grip your robes for stability, press your fingers into the glass of the window, and keep Paul close with your leg wound around his shoulders. 

He had no intention of leaving at all. He continues to lick at you, now incorporating a loud slurp that is seemingly intended to clean you up.

When the twitching of your muscles has ceased, both of your feet have rejoined the floor for only a minute before Paul has your legs wrapped around his waist. 

He carries you off towards your bed. 

“May I continue?” he asks as he lays you on your back at the foot of the furniture. 

There is no hesitation when you tell him, “Please do.” 

‎

You heard the hushed whispers echoing throughout the hall, spreading information that should have solely remained private to your personal quarters.

"They appear to be close. Too close," came from the voices of your maids, spoken with excitement as the thrill from sharing tales that did not concern them flooded their bodies. Like always, they were in small huddles, bodies curved into each other, their postings abandoned as they assumed that no Atreides would be wandering the halls at this house.

Except you were.

Your lightweight garbs noiselessly tap against your ankle with each careful step, freed from the extensive jewelry you were usually kept in throughout the day. As of late, your mother has been presenting you as a jewel in an attempt to delude the Houses into forgetting that you are a bastard. House Atreides wanted for you to be seen as the potential for great alliances. 

Paul was presented the same.

Marriage became the topic of conversation more often, and you and Paul played the parts you needed to. 

You played the parts necessary to continue this. 

His door is cracked just enough for you to silently slip in. 

“They were talking about us again.” The lack of romance within Paul’s greeting words do not matter as much when his hands wind around your hips. 

Still, you can’t help but tease him just a bit. Your hands find his shoulders, palms easily gliding back until you can comfortably tug at his dark curls. 

“Could you at least tell me you missed me before we dive into Castle gossip? What happened to romance, Paul?” 

He smiles at you like he had been expecting you to say something along those lines. He leans in, pressing his lips to your cheeks and then your nose.

“Hello, my love. How I’ve missed you so. I have no idea how I lasted this long without you.” He is exaggerating. It has only been a couple of days since you and Paul last met into the hours of the night. 

You scoff and gently slap his shoulders. You do not bother hiding the effect of his words on you. 

“I heard the maids talking on my way down here.” You dive into repeating the words echoing around the concrete castle walls, but the way Paul looks at you is distracting you. His green eyes plainly flicker from your eyes to your lips, back and forth, back and forth, with a speed that says he does not want to be caught in the act. His lips, slightly chapped but no less appealing, are parted, allowing his tongue to briefly appear before disappearing back into his mouth. 

You let your words taper off. 

“You can kiss me, you know.” 

He nods once. When he speaks, his voice is a gentle whisper. “I know. I just didn’t want to interrupt you.” 

“Luckily I’m done now.” 

Paul kisses you with familiarity. 

You knew that no matter what, you and Paul would be married off to others. But in your deluded mind, you figured that you might as well have fun while you could. You might as well pretend that Paul Atreides was yours, and you were his, until eventually that would be forced to change. 

[ynbabe]

Come Through ୨୧ George Russell x Rockstar! Reader

Is rockstar the right word? idk I just know bro is crazy bts, the white boy with Excel persona is fooling NO ONE Georgie boy. Also, Reader has vibes of the Weekend song, hence the fic name.

Lando thinks it's all a joke. He hadn't been crying, screaming and manifesting for the past three years only for his celebrity crush to be dating someone else, another driver that too.

"WHO-" He yells as he storms into Max's room, where most of the drivers had collected, they hadn't decided but they all just gravitated towards the blonde with sweet blue eyes who listened to the vent and gave the best hugs, "AFTER ALL WE WENT THROUGH- WHO IS DATING Y/N L/N?"

All eyes were on him, Max lying on his bed, Charles, Carlos and Daniel with him. Lance, Esteban and Pierre were on the sofa, playing FIFA on Max's PS5, George and Alex were sharing the smaller two-seater, Zhou and Yuki were passing a tennis ball to each other and Logan and Oscar were sleeping, cuddling close on the floor surrounded by pillows, but were now woken up by Landos yelling.

"Lando stop screaming," Charles yelled back.

"No," he simply replied and made his way to the bed where he jumped on top of Carlos and Daniel, the older of whom groaned and grumbled something about his back, but Lando didn't care, he pushed his phone in Max's face, blurring his face in Carlos's neck.

xoxof1

xoxof1 Y/n l/n an infamous British rockstar most famous for her multiple dating scandals and most recently an arrest is rumoured to date a F1 driver.

username MOTHER WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE 😭😭😭

username girl... knowing her it's like Lewis or someone

username fr like hasn't she 'dated' a dozen older guys not to mention her record with women username girl why are you hating like a man, she's iconic and we all know it

username just lost my wife to a vroom-vroom man no one talk to me

Max began laughing, looking up from the post to the distraught Lando currently getting his hair played with by Carlos.

"Mate, I don't think you're her type," he threw the phone back to the whining boy.

"Yeah? And how would you know? I look exactly like Edward!" He pointed to the bassist of the band you were a part of.

"Kelly loves her music..." he muttered, looking away much to the younger man's amusement.

"HAH!" He shrieked, "SHE'S NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND ANYMORE!!" He laughed to which Carlos pushed his head down, eliciting an 'oomph'.

"I've been told many times," Max muttered to himself and turned to Lando to hear the rest of his rant, though loud and fast, the boy was the best source of entertainment they had.

"Max, look at her band, she's so coooool," he groaned, passing the phone to him again.

Cupidd

Cupidd THANK YOU LA!! We'll be back with 'young, numb and brunette' after this short break!!

y/nl/n My old man said I had to be in Shangai this weekend 🫡 but trust- I will be back to piss y'all off with Eddie asap

edwrdnotcllen MY WIFE HAS LEFT ME FOR A TWINK HELP y/nl/n shut up Eddie your the twinkiest twink I know username I love that they have had multiple partners in the past yet still always call each other husband and wife username I pity her boyfriend 😭 imagine having to compete with a man who looks like Edward

username SHES GOING TO A RACE????

username nooooo pls my parents

username girl they have never dated, both y/n and Edward have had multiple partners and relationships with men and women in the past. Leave them alone, they're adults username FOUND Y/N'S BFS ALT GUYS!!!

"She's coming to China?" Max asked no one in particular but Lando took it as an invitation to freak out.

"Bro please, please, please let me win this one, I'll owe you forever, bro please," Lando tried his puppy eyes on Max but Max jumped out of bed calling his girlfriend, walking out the room trying his best to convince the older woman to not attend the race.

"I have so much work to do," Lando gasped and followed Max out the room.

The race was one to remember, with Max winning but George a close second and Lando barely a tenth away on the third.

He hadn't been able to find the girl anywhere but at least he got points for the team. He went to the McLaren team party and forgot about the other celebration taking place.

xoxof1

xoxof1 The unexpected couple have been revealed in a series of leaked pictures of the private f1 party after the driver George Russell had a podium finish for his Shangai race.

username Mr.Russell I was unaware of your rizz, forgive me sir.

username WHITE MAN DOES IT IN ONE DAY 😭😭😭

landonorris When i catch you george when I catch you

username LANDO??? username he's one of ussssss username bbg you get me 😮‍💨 in ways no man ever has

George woke up with the worst headache he ever had in his life, he was sure he'd never get over this hangover but then he saw y/n next to him, hair tussled wearing the white shirt he was wearing last night.

"Y/n, darling, wake up," he pressed a kiss on her shoulder.

"mmhm," the woman groaned, turning to the blonde next to her and kissing him, the taste of vodka still fresh in her mouth.

She melted into his touch as he deepened the kiss, " Mornin' G," she whispered to him, voice hoarse from the night before.

He smiled in return, placing one last kiss on the corner of her lips. She searched around for her phone, finding it fallen amongst their haphazardly discarded clothes and opened Instagram to thousands of notifications.

She was used to it by now, it was quite fun.

y/nl/n

y/nl/n If I speak... @/georgerussell

edwrdnotcllen @/yn/ln you are so welcome for not squealing as soon as I knew

y/nl/n girl you asked me if you could kiss him after??? edwrdnotcllen And I still am?? username WHAT-

username I just know Lando is fuming rn

username y'all need a third? a dog? a maid?

username it should be me instead of him!!!

username god I see what you've done for others 😭

"Darling, did you post-" George had just begun but his room was rudely broken into, running in he saw a hyper papaya-coloured blur followed by a very hungover Max Verstappen.

Lando gasped looking at the woman next to George, screeching at an inhuman pitch, "HOW'D THIS PIECE OF VANILLA FRAPPUCCINO WOO HER??!?!?" He pointed at Y/n, making the woman laugh.

George offended, scoffed at the boy, "Well if you must know, I met her at Nando's party-" he was cut off once again, this time by the Dutch man.

"That makes sense actually," he said and immediately grabbed Lando by the collar and dragged him out, "Sorry guys!" he yelled after himself.

"I like your friends," Y/n said smirking making the taller man blush and push the woman slightly, before collapsing back into bed, making a silent promise of never trying to out-drink the woman again.

[writing-zelda-brainrots]

The Apothecary’s Travel Guide Chapter 1

Quickly, before we begin, I want to set some things straight about this little fic series.

This fic will use Fem!Reader in both pronouns and body descriptions. I usually stick to gender neutral stuff, but this fic just works better with a female main character in mind (or at least I think so).

While I won’t be going into actual nsfw stuff (maybe in the future, I haven’t decided), this fic will still contain sexual themes and scenarios. This fic is meant for older teens and up. I don’t write with a young audience in mind, both for this fic and in general.

For those of you who are not familiar with The Apothecary Diaries (wtf are you doing here, go watch it), the series takes place in a fictional version of Imperial China. You don’t absolutely need to watch it to read this fic, but you will have a better understanding of things if you have (also, it’s just a really good show, very well written with one of the best female protags I’ve ever seen).

Also, this fic starts before Sunset, so the whole “Twilight is Wolfie” and “Hyrule can heal” things are not known yet.

–

It felt a little strange to be back in the busy streets of the pleasure district after spending months in the rear palace. But it was the good kind of strange. The smell of grilled meat skewers that you missed so much, the paper lanterns hanging overhead, people haggling for better prices in the street side shops, playing games on the side of the road, or drinking tea in teahouses. And of course, beautiful women calling men over to offer ‘special services’ in the many brothels.

It’s a sight you’re all too familiar with. Having grown up here, raised by the women of the famous Verdigris House, these things did not phase you. One would think that working in the palace would be quite the change of pace, but if there’s one thing that you’ve learned over the past however many months, it is that the palace and brothels aren’t all that different. A beautiful caged garden full of flowers for the emperor to enjoy looking upon.

In truth, if you had the choice, you would not want to have anything to do with the imperial palace, but given your situation, what could you do? You certainly didn’t ask to be kidnapped and sold off to the palace back then and you didn’t ask to be promoted to lady in waiting to one of the four highest ranking concubines. You were doing just fine as an apothecary back in the pleasure district, thank you very much.

You had originally attempted to stay low, worked as a simple, low ranking servant until your contract expired and then head home. You hid any signs of value that could get you promoted; you hid your ability to read and write, as well as hid your ‘true beauty’ so you wouldn’t become a concubine (even if a servant could only ever become a low ranking concubine). Any extra money you would have earned  from those promotions would just be swiped by your kidnappers, anyway. At least you still got paid for your regular work.

Had things originally gone according to your plan, you would have worked hard and been released within three years. However, now that goal post has been moved quite a bit.

But you shouldn't be thinking about work right now; it was your day off, after all. You were back home (after managing to haggle your way into them letting you leave the palace) and that’s all that matters right now.

I should get some radishes and chicken for soup tonight. You thought as you walked down the street of the makeshift market. You hoped that your father had been eating well. He was never all that good at feeding himself. If he was starving for a few days, the old lady from the Verdigris House would force something down his throat.

Speaking of the Verdigris House, you should probably head there later. Both to say hello to your ‘big sisters,’ but also so you could take a bath there. They’d likely want some medicine, too, now that you thought about it. The last time you delivered medicine there was the day you got kidnapped.

Heh. Even on my day off I’m running errands.

With your little morning shopping excursion done, you stuffed the ingredients into the basket you carried on your back and started heading to that familiar little shack you affectionately called home. Dad should be in the fields tending to the plants right now. Honestly, he was getting too old for that trek, especially with his busted knee, but you couldn’t deny that he loved that little garden he’s cultivated over the years. Not like you were any different when it comes to your passion for medicinal herbs. As your master, he taught you everything you know about medicine; what herbs work in which situations, what to use and what to avoid, how to make medicine, what plants, mushrooms and animals were poisonous and which weren’t, etc. He was a very learned man, having studied both eastern and western medicine. With a few more years of teaching, you might be as good as him, or you hoped so, at least.

Finally you reached the calm little neighbourhood you grew up in. It was on the very outskirts of the city, not even protected by the tall stone brick walls. Looking at the small sizes of the houses, barely larger than your average shack, told people that this was where the poor lived. It wasn’t much, but it was home. Truth be told, your father was an excellent medical expert, even having worked in the palace before from what you’ve heard, but for all his skill and knowledge, he had terrible luck, which is why he ended up living here instead of somewhere more fitting for his stature.

But when you got to your little childhood home, you were met with a worrying sight. A woman you didn’t recognise, worry and uncertainty written on her face, knocking on the front door of your home. That’s strange, did she need medicine? You didn’t recognise her servant uniform, but she seemed to be from one of the inns in the area.

You called out, catching her attention immediately. “Are you looking for the apothecary? He’s currently out, but I can leave him a message.”

“Please help, it’s a medical emergency! Someone’s been poisoned!”

Your face immediately turned serious as you dropped your belongings before running inside the shack to retrieve an emergency med kit. “Lead me to them.”

--

People had gathered around the doorway of the inn, clearly all in a panic, but not sure on what to do.

“I brought the apothecary. Please step out of the way.” The two of you moved past the seemingly small army of staff and patrons.

What you saw seemed to match what the woman had told you before. A man lying on the bed, restless, breathing erratically, hands clenching at the fabric of his clothes right over his heart. Immediately you entered your ‘work mode,’ practically diving next to the man. First, a physical check up.

You pried open the man’s eyes, looking into them; you checked his pulse and stuck a finger into his mouth. Judging from the spittle running down his chin and trace amounts of sick on the bed sheets and his blue scarf, it’s safe to say that he had vomited. Still, you pressed down on his solar plexus to induce more of it. It would help expel whatever caused this reaction, but it would also dehydrate him. There was a hrrk, and spit came pouring out of his mouth, which you wiped away with the bedsheets you had gripped.

Suddenly, a new man with brown hair and eyes came running through the door with what seemed to be a waterskin in his hands.

He was just about to offer the water to the man you were tending to, but you shouted at him: “Don’t let him drink that! Charcoal- we need charcoal!” The startled man dropped the item onto the floor, but recovered just as quickly, running off once again to retrieve the required item.

You repeated this process several times on the victim; making him vomit, wiping the bile away ad nauseum until nothing but stomach acid came out. The man was able to breathe much easier now, no longer hyperventilating. Thankfully, at your request, the charcoal had arrived just in time, which you quickly ground up with your mortar and pestle.

“This’ll be rough on his throat, but it’ll flush the toxins out of his body.” You spoke as you poured the fine powder into his mouth. Some of the men, who you assumed to be the patient’s associates, had gathered around the two of you, clearly worried.

“Wa… Water. Please…” Those were the first words you heard him speak, weak, but nonetheless a sign that he was recovering.

“Not yet. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to endure this a little bit longer.”

Though unhappy, he accepted and resigned himself to his scratchy and dry throat for the time being. Finally you were able to remove yourself from the bedside, letting the other men move the patient while the inn’s servant ladies removed the soiled linens.

First damn thing in the morning and I already have to deal with an emergency. I only just got back. You grumbled in your mind as you looked at your filthy hand. Ugh. I really need a bath. You sighed both from relief and exhaustion.

“You doin’ okay, Captain?” One of the taller men with brown hair asked while holding him up so he could stand.

The patient - now identified as ‘Captain’ - took a breath. “Much better.” He then turned his attention towards you. “Thank you. I was certain that I was a goner.”

“I am simply doing my job. There is no need to thank me.” Utilising some water in a pitcher that one of the servants offered, you wiped your hands with a damp cloth.

You then took out a wooden slip, wrote just a couple characters on it and handed it over to the servant woman who you first encountered. “Deliver this to doctor Luomen and bring him here. He should be by the south wall.”

With that, the servant gave you and everyone else in the room a small bow before leaving.

The man with a blue hat turned his attention to the patient, who had once again been laid down onto the cleaned up bed. “Now I know that stuff took you out; you didn’t even try to flirt with your “guardian angel”.”

“So that’s your impression of me?” The sarcasm in his voice was evident. “Glad to know that it took me almost kicking the bucket to change your opinion.”

--

Within about half an hour, the servant had returned, your father in tow. It took longer than you had hoped, but given your father’s age and condition, it wasn’t all that surprising.

He took a good look at the patient and asked some questions.

“I suppose you did an adequate job here.” He gave you his trademark gentle smile after he was done with his examination.

“‘Adequate’?” You ask, annoyed.

A man who you assumed to be the owner of the inn came into the room. “Thank you, doctor Luomen. You are the best medical expert one could ask for.”

“Don’t thank me. My daughter did all the hard work.”

“Tell me, how much do we owe you? Name your price.”

“There’s really no need-”

You nudge your father’s side with your elbow. “Can you pay rent this month?”

“Ah… Well, in that case, I’ll take the usual fee.”

This was one of his habits; undercharging for his work, or even failing to charge at all, much to your distress. You understood the desire not to take money from people who were already struggling to get by, but this was not the case.

A tall blond man in heavy armour came up to you, holding out a small-ish sack. “Please, allow us to reimburse you as well. We owe you a lot.” Seeing no reason not to, you accepted the item.

With that, your father and the inn’s owner head into another room to discuss payment, leaving you to gather up your tools.

From the corner of your eyes, you noticed a few of the men fidgeting nervously or giving each other glances. They obviously wanted to say something. You didn’t know why they were hesitating. Sure, you might have sharp, mean-looking eyes and you didn’t smile all the time, but there’s no reason for these numerous grown men to act like this around you.

“Can I help you?” You broke the ice. No point in delaying this.

The one who you assumed to be the leader cleared his throat. “Actually, we’d like you to answer some questions we have. We’re travellers from afar, you see, and we don’t know much about this place or nation.”

They came all this way here and they don’t know the first thing about where they are? “You’re in the country of Li, specifically in the capital city of both the nation and the Central Province. I’m not going to judge how you choose to spend your time, but if you wanted to go sightseeing, I wouldn’t exactly recommend coming to the pleasure district first.” You raised an eyebrow. Just who were these people?

You saw that a few of the mens’ faces had turned bright red when they realised where they were. “Ha! Told you that this is where we ended up.”

“Are you implying that you frequent these kinds of places, Captain?” It sure seemed like these two had a penchant for arguing. Even during the time while you were waiting for your father to arrive, you noticed that they kept butting heads.

“Enough, you two.” The oldest shot them a quick glare. “Either way, it’s good we left Wind with Four back at the city outskirts. Both because of the inappropriate nature of this place- no offence…”

You shrugged. “None taken.”

“... But so that they wouldn’t have to see you get in trouble like this.”

“You are the apothecary here, right? If so, then you should be familiar with people who have gotten injuries.” You nodded. “Have you heard anything about encounters with any strong monsters, particularly those with black blood?”

Alright, now you were really confused. Monsters? Black blood? Was this some kind of way of informing you of a new disease spreading among the troops of enemy nations? But if so, why not tell this to an army physician instead of a random apothecary?

“Can’t say that I have.” You spoke up after having given it some thought. “Though I have to admit that I have been working in the inner court for the past few months, so I’m not caught up on the goings on outside the palace walls. But if you are telling the truth, I’m certain I would have heard rumours.” Thinking back, Xiaolan - a girl you had grown a friendship with when you were a simple servant at the palace - sure loved her gossip, and if there was one thing she loved more, it was sharing that gossip with you over tasty snacks and food.

“Thank you anyways.”

While this conversation didn’t seem like it yielded much, it did get your gears turning. It was time to do some espionage- or rather, some investigating. Something you’ve gotten pretty good at lately, if you said so yourself.

“Please wait here while I get you some medicine.” With a quick bow you left the room. In truth you had already prepared the medicine while waiting for your father to arrive, but this was still a convenient excuse.

As quietly as you could you hid yourself behind the sliding door and pressed your ear against it. Sure enough, once the men in the room believed you to be gone, they started talking. Words like “monsters,” “eras,” “shadow” and others got thrown around as if it was common knowledge, yet it only served to confuse - and intrigue - you further. One thing was certain; these were not your regular, run-of-the-mill travellers.

Your earlier talk also gave you an opportunity to scrutinise their appearances. Given their unfamiliar clothes and armour, plus features like light coloured hair and eyes, and their utter lack of knowledge of where they even were, you assumed them to be from a distant land, the west, most likely. But that was before you noticed one curious detail that they all shared; pointed ears.

This one thing had you calling things into question. Sure, the world was a large place, but in all your years of studying medicine and the human body, you’ve never heard of any group of peoples with such a distinctive feature.

But now came the question of what to do. What were you going to do about this suspicious group? Should you report them in case they were here to cause trouble? To be honest, you didn’t want to get involved. No point in sticking your neck out for these strangers and possibly risk getting accused of treason. You’ve done your job, you healed them, and you’re about to give them their medicine and leave. There’s no need to let them occupy your mind anymore. You’d steer clear of them from now on. Yeah, that sounded good.

Finally, you pretended to have returned from your ‘excursion’ and knocked on the door. Given the sudden silence from the room, it was safe to assure that whatever they were talking about was not for others to hear.

Walking up to the Captain still in bed, you handed over a small paper bag. “Please take this for the next few days. It’ll ease your stomach and help with getting rid of any lingering toxins. I would recommend drinking it as tea.”

The one who you had identified as ‘Legend’ from when you were listening in groaned. “Ugh. This whole thing’s been a wash. You guys ready to head back to camp?”

A unanimous ‘yes’ was heard.

--

Ironically enough, you could not get those men out of your head. Was your intuition trying to tell you that there was something wrong with them? Or were you simply curious? They were certainly the most interesting people you’ve met in some time.

They had already left the inn and you had headed in a different direction. You did finally manage to get that warm bath you were looking forward to. And getting to speak to your ‘big sisters’ at the Verdigris House was nice. But still your mind was occupied with something else. Damn it, this was supposed to be your day off, but you haven’t been able to relax completely!

You kicked a small rock in front of you in frustration. Hopefully having dinner with your dad would help alleviate your problem.

Suddenly you felt an all too familiar feeling of being pulled backwards.

Well, this wouldn’t be your first kidnapping.

--

And Wars will have to suffer through that dry, ashy throat for the remainder of this fic- lol jk.

A.N Fun fact: did you know that other than Twilight (who has lived among humans for a long time), technically, Legend is the one who has interacted with humans the most? The people of Koholint Island had short, round ears, as did the people of Holodrum (Oracle of Seasons), Labrynna (Oracle of Ages) and Hytopia (Tri Force Heroes).

[ashs-nerd-den]

Gearrscannán ar YouTube

Short films on YouTube

(Don't worry, everything has English subtitles in the videos themselves)

Fán https://youtu.be/e3xnvkMp_1Q?si=i-4pmljDbzA8bRtu

Created by the incredible @nibmoss, an absolute queen (Bánríon). It is a short sapphic story about 2 best friends who end up together and it is my favourite short story ever!!! It is also my favourite piece of Irish media in existence!!! I love it!!! It is incredible!!! BEYOND AMAZING!!!

Yu Ming is ainm dom https://youtu.be/JqYtG9BNhfM?si=jnZjP4LozqOhNxkI

This is a classic. Ive had 4 different teachers show me this over the years, and my first year Irish class studied it exam style. It was the first piece that we studied and everyone LOVED it, people were quoting it all the time. Every second conversation had someone using a line from it. It's a crows pleaser and simple to listen to even without the subtitles provided. It also has a great storyline about a man who is fed up with his life in China and learns Irish to move over here, and well (bhuel) , I won't spoil the plot twist for you

Lipservice https://youtu.be/4QP0eEhhTSo?si=1DLvo_ECRhwGI5s8

It's the day of the oral exams and everyone is terrified (bhí imní an domhain ar gach duine), people are rehearsing in the bathrooms and speaking French instead of English, the stuff that half of them come out with is absolutely gas, this one is such a bit of craic, I was in stitches. And the bit at the end is so sweet. Is breá liom an gearrscannán seo agus beidh mé mo scrúdú béil i dhá bhliain 🙈🙈🙈 (I loved this short film and I've my speaking test in 2 years🙈🙈🙈

Filleann ar feall https://youtu.be/Tay7eMxas2k?si=q3ksVJVYJ7E_xxoa

IT'S CILLIAN MURPHY AG CAINT AS GAEILGE!!! You can't beat a bit of Cillian, he's a national treasure. And this is 2000 Cillian, he's so young (this was before I was born) he's in the Gaeltacht for his holidays with a grumpy friend, on a job to sell some Putchín, and he is everyone's favourite sweetgeart, a bit of a himbo, and a respecter of old ladies. Agus deir duine sa sna tuairimí (a person in the comments said that it's like Breaking bad, but with an Irish teacher that instead of a chemistry one (I've never seen Breaking Bad, so I don't know how true that is, but I do know that this was AR FHEABHAS!!!

Rúbaí https://youtu.be/jjYx5v2BUWo?si=tFu1ektBvHNkoQFB

This is a short story about a little girl (cailín beag) who's class is about to make their 1st Holy Communion, but she doesn't believe in God (ní creideann sí i nDia). She's everyone is trying to convince her that god is real and she's just like "nope, read a bit of Darwin, he's great, I'm off to collect worms", even to the priests face and towards the end there's a bitter sweet twist which gives a LOT of background. This was a nice, easy watch, the little girls was so cute, there were a couple of laughs (cúpla gáire) and the vocab was nice and simple

Gaiste https://youtu.be/Xr-V7vg_Y2Q?si=cMMNqPLkmtugbg8t

Very simple vocab, good message, kind of like a fable, big "One of us is Lying" vibes. Nice short film overall

Fíorghael https://youtu.be/t3Kv4fZ2SOE?si=bHibiFJyRUcvZ-TZ

This ones a bit older, but it's still a good bit of craic. You need to wait a couple of minutes to get into it, but the end is brilliant (Caithfidh tú cúpla nóiméad a fanacht chun dul isteach ar, ach tá an chríoch go hiontach)

Sylvia https://youtu.be/fi_4aweOP4w?si=ZCfUAfYaD73IVn8r

There are plot twists, and then there plot backflips, this was the later. This is so weird, but I really enjoyed it at the same time

Ciúnas https://youtu.be/cGfuQ-HeTmk?si=WRPGmo-UNQ0bw9mA

There's not much dialogue, but all of it is very casual, so you still get to pick up a few words that you wouldn't find in a textbook. The storyline is quite sweet, but please be careful watching because it although it centres around her family's love for her, it is set on the way home from the hospital after she tried to end her own life

[mania-sama]

iwaoi, but's it's iwaizumi who had always wanted to leave japan. he found his every day life in miyagi stifling. he hated seeing the same classmates over and over again with their disagreeable opinions and close-minded worldviews, hated the way the people in his neighborhood all knew each other and their business, hated the way it rained and hated the way the sun rose every single day. he hated the very idea of staying in miyagi more than he had to.

he talked to oikawa about this regularly, ever since they could form thoughts that ventured outside of their little realm in japan. first, he told oikawa he'd move out of miyagi. he'd find an apartment in tokyo, or a job as a farmhand in hokkaido, or anywhere else that isn't miyagi and the life he's had to grow up in. then, as he got older, he went a step further.

china, he'd mumble oikawa during the first class of the day in middle school.

the phillippines, he'd shout at oikawa while peppering a volleyball.

somewhere further, he'd finally admitted to oikawa while walking home from a late-night home court game, his gaze trained on the ground with the most vulnerability he'd shown in years. like america. i've applied to a college in america.

oikawa had laughed at him on most times. iwaizumi knew oikawa liked life in miyagi; he got along with his classmates fine, girls liked him, he loved his family and their neighborhood, loved the sunrise and the rain. iwaizumi knew this because oikawa had always disagreed with him on those subjects.

but liking life wasn't enough when oikawa's goals were set further than what he would be constrained to at home. loving japan wasn't enough when japan didn't love him.

argentina, oikawa had whispered, miserable, to him for the first time near the end of their first year in high school. he'd seen kageyama around. he'd seen the way his serves had gotten better and better and better.

their planes left mere weeks from each other. oikawa first, to argentina, with tears in his eyes and a sharp call to not be stranger. iwaizumi left second, wishing his family a farewell with his heart full to finally leave.

iwaizumi had liked california enough. he was entertained, if not occasionally confused, by the manner of young adult americans. he had thought, originally, that he wouldn't miss japan. maybe he'd miss his family and the two friends he'd left, but nothing else. he thought the pang in his chest when his american roommate and newfound friends went out for a chicken wing restaurant and not onigiri, when they spoke exclusively english (sometimes spanish) and not japanese, when there were beds and air mattresses and not futons, that he was missing familiarity, is all. he only missed not feeling out of place.

oikawa had shared with him, over their many calls, his own struggles with homesickness. but, oikawa had told him over grainy Facetime, my team has done everything to make me feel at home. spanish isn't as hard as i thought it'd be! i'm going to make this work. even if i miss you and japan. i just... i need this. i need argentina.

both he and oikawa managed to make it home for christmas after only a few months into their respective journeys into the americas. they arrived at different times, though, so iwaizumi made the trip home from tokyo alone. he took two trains, then a taxi closer to his house. he saw the billboards in his own language. he watched people that looked like himself. they went to restraunts with onigiri. their seating would be chabudai and not high tables and booths. he saw familiar streets and familiar faces in his neighborhood.

he came to his house, where he knew exactly where the patch of grass his childhood cat was buried in the backyard. he could see phantoms of himself riding his bike up and down the road. he could see where he caught butterflies, where oikawa chased him with a handful of worms.

he came home, and his family was waiting for him. it all rushed over him, when he saw them again. all the anxiety of not being able to get to them fast if they got into an accident. constantly wondering what he'd be doing if he was in japan and not at uc-irvine. thinking about how much he preferred his home culture to the strangeness of the united states.

he met with oikawa next, who regaled him on his adventures in argentina as if they hadn't talked nearly everyday since their planes took them away from home.

i'm going to stay, oikawa told him during a late evening stroll after dinner, his eyes alight with happiness and success. i love it in argentina. it's everything i want and need.

iwaizumi was happy for him. but, iwaizumi knew he would not be content doing the same.

i'm coming back home after i get my bachelor's, he told oikawa after a second's pause, letting the coldness of the evening wash over him, watching the sun set in the way he'd spent hating his entire life. america is nice, but japan is where i'm meant to be.

he found that he didn't mind the rain when he was no longer seventeen and hating his classmates. he didn't mind staring out the window of the house he grew up in when he wasn't sixteen and desperate to leave. he'd been to the other side of the fence, and the grass simply wasn't any greener.

and he knew he'd be okay with that, eventually, even if a part of him wondered if he was giving up. even if that part of him wanted to riot and rage and scream at the idea of staying in the place he'd always told everyone he'd leave.

oikawa looked at him, then, with his eyes still bright but shining with a different kind of light. and that's perfectly fine, oikawa said to him, his voice low and earnest.

there was not a hint of condescension. nothing that said, you gave up. you are worth nothing. you will be nothing. oikawa meant it when he said that it was fine that leaving wasn't all iwaizumi had chalked it up to be. his tone said, in every way, nothing has changed. you will be just as good here as you would be anywhere else. you have not given up. there is nothing wrong with letting yourself be happy.

somehow, that was more reassuring than any of the faux comforts he'd been trying to console himself with.

[esggs]

“It’s just… it’s been 16 years since…” Yuuji finds it difficult to put it into words.. “... since he last saw Divine Dog White…” 

[when your kids inherit the Ten Shadows, Megumi Fushiguro gets to meet a long lost fluffy friend again]

[1.5k words   |   fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, post-canon   |   part of Obeisance to The Arrow universe]

“Hito, Kiko, don’t.” Noritoshi glares at the twins who have been caught red handed trying to ride atop the pair of dogs. In fact, it’s the 4th time they’ve been caught. They refuse to stop trying. “Just sit, okay? Just sit down for a bit. Let dad make his call.”

Noritoshi Kamo is tired. Truly, soulfully, tired. His day began at 5 am today, because you had to go to work earlier than usual, and are still not back yet. Handling 4 kids and their own separate timetables all day, while working as a teacher for Jujutsu High… at 34, he’s not old, but goddamn does his body ache like it is. And now, when he was looking forward to putting the kids to bed and waiting for you to come back and uncork this good vintage and maybe wear that nice lingerie you bought last week and be asleep by 10 pm, when tonight was supposed to go like all other nights, he’s got a huge fucking emergency on his hands. Not that he can show it, of course, in front of the kids. 

“C’mon, pick up, pick up. Asahito! I swear, if I see you– Tsukiko! Tsukiko, hands where I can see them! Good, okay, now sit down and count till 100.” Noritoshi is doing his level best to maintain any semblance of calmness. It isn’t working. Naomi and Chihiro, the older two kids, are terrified. Their usually monk-calm dad is frantically calling people, while his Flowing Red Scale is on, as are two discs of Slicing Exorcisms, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. Not at them, of course, but still. The twins, Hito and Kiko, are too young to realise the gravity of the situation. 

Click. Finally.

“Hey Noritoshi, it’s me, Yuuji. Megumi’s driving right now.”

“Yuuji!” Damn, Yuuji thinks, the man seems out of breath. “Give the phone to Megumi, quick.”

‘But he’s driving, we were playing basketball and now we’re coming ba–”

“Put it on speaker then! Yuuji, it’s urgent.”

“Huh? Wait.” Yuuji puts him on speakerphone and gasps. “Oh my God, is y/n pregnant again?”

“What?” 

“Damn, that’s your fifth one.” Yuuji chuckles. “You must really like being a dad.” 

“It’s not–”

“Five is a lot though –”

“MEGUMI!” Noritoshi shouts out. “Are you there?”

“Yeah” Megumi leans towards the phone that Yuuji is holding out. “Congrats, Noritoshi.”

“Oh, Megumi, thank God.” Noritoshi’s voice is palpably more stable. “y/n isn’t pregnant. The twins’ cursed technique showed up, about 5 minutes ago. Megumi, they have the Ten Shadows.”

Megumi almost crashes the car.

—------- 

“Noritoshi, love, I’m here!” You’ve run all the way from the parked car to your drawing room. It’s bursting with people: Noritoshi (battle-ready), Naomi and Chihiro (hiding behind their dad), Yuuji (fascinated), Megumi (teaching the twins to release the large black dog that’s running amok amid your fragile china-display and Edo era vases), and your little twins (actually listening to their uncle, surprisingly). 

“Mom!” “y/n!” “Honey!” 

Half an hour ago, you had been working on a new telecom venture when your assistant rushed in, claiming an urgent call from your husband: “Love, it’s the twins, Hito and Kiko- cursed technique- unstable control- dinner- Ten Shadows!” It takes a while for you to piece together the information, but when you do, you turn pale as death. 

The twins inherited the Ten Shadows? Together? They share one cursed technique? They share the fucking Ten Shadows?

—------- 

The black divine dog was sent back, thanks to Uncle Megumi Fushiguro. “The other one was already gone when we got here.” Megumi says, leaning back as everyone sits in peace around the low tea-table on the ground. Yuuji is playing cards with the boys, Tsukiko sits in Megumi’s lap, steadily stealing extra cookies from the table, and Naomi is quietly talking to her dad. “They summoned the Divine Dogs by accident, don’t punish them for it, okay?”

“I know.” Noritoshi sighs. “I didn’t even know two Ten Shadows users could exist at the same time.”

“It’s very rare.” Megumi replies. “But rare things are common nowadays.” Since the Culling Games. Since it all got messed up. 16 years ago. 

“It’s so dangerous for a 6 year old to have the power to accidentally summon Mahoraga. Megumi-chan, what did you do at that age?” You still haven’t kicked the habit of calling him Megumi-chan, even though he grumbles about it a lot, especially since the twins are starting to call him that too.

“Well, I had Gojo-sensei to show me the basics, and then I figured it out myself. But I was a very different 6 year old than Hito and Kiko.” He looks down at Tsukiko who’s trying to hide her growing bundle of cookie-loot. “Maybe it’d be safer if I stay with the kids for a bit…”

The kids are delighted to hear this, of course, Uncle Megumi who lets them get away with anything, and buys them whatever they want, he’s their favourite. (Uncle Yuuji is very hurt by this proclamation).

“Yeah, that’d be great, Megumi-chan. Thanks.” You yawn. 

“Say, Hito, Kiko!” Yuuji says. “You called both the dogs? Can you call them again?”

“Now, Itadori?” Noritoshi is still wary. When he first saw the dogs, he almost killed them on the spot, thinking that someone had sent them there to hurt his kids. It had taken a second for light to enter his head: Ah, these are my children’s shikigami. They inherited the Ten Shadows…. Oh my God- my kids inherited the Ten Shadows. “Take the yard outside then, not in here.”

Except for Megumi and the twins, who are working on calling the dogs in the middle of the yard, all of you stand in the veranda. Noritoshi’s Flowing Red Scale is on, ready, just in case.

“It’s just… it’s been 16 years since…” Yuuji finds it difficult to put it into words.. “... since he last saw Divine Dog White… back at the detention center....” 

The shadows under the twins have definitely started to hollow out choppily. Megumi shouts out words of encouragement, telling them to “steady, keep steady!”, while you can tell that Noritoshi is growing more agitated by the second. The volatile control over their shared cursed technique seems to shift between the twins randomly. The shadows underneath, like turbulent sea-water, split.

Megumi Fushiguro is no stranger to loss. It’s a fact of his life. He hardened his heart to this a long time ago, he's bid his good-byes properly in private. He’s done his due mourning when Divine Dog White died over a decade and a half ago. 

Why does his throat feel tighter? Hito and Kiko are making the huge dogs shake hands with a delighted Yuuji. Why does he remember the damp walls of that old apartment, where his dad left him and Tsumiki? Why does he remember Tsumiki’s laugh when the white dog, invisible to her, tripped her as she walked? Those snowy walks with Gojo-sensei, when he brought all three of them mochi, and an extra one for the dog? Those tired midnights in Jujutsu High when the dog curled around him in his sleep? Nobara and Yuuji, back in their teenage years, begging him to summon his precious dog? Nobara who still remains 16 in his memories. Gojo-sensei. Tsumiki. The White Dog. 

If anyone notices a tear stuck in Megumi’s lashes, they don’t mention it. They let him sit on the grass, keeping watch. The overprotective parents have loosened up, allowing Naomi and Chihiro to pet the dogs too. It’s nice, he thinks, everyone getting to enjoy a night like this. It doesn’t come by often. These small moments like playing with the dogs, eating meals together, hanging clothes to dry, taking walks in the setting sun, these are privileges they've earned with blood. Families, especially happy ones, are rare; Megumi’s proud that you and Noritoshi have managed to create one. As for him, he’s content sitting on grass and watching. 

“Megumi-chan, come play!” Tsukiko beckons him. “Shiro, go jump on him.”

“Shiro, no–” But these aren't Megumi’s shikigami, they don’t listen to a word he says. He’s immediately tackled on the soft ground by the weight of the white furball, who’s wagging his tail and licking him all over, as excited as the kids to be summoned. They even smell the same, Megumi remembers. Still, mine had softer fur. 

Naomi valiantly comes to his rescue. Noritoshi offers him some tea before bed. Him and Yuuji are staying the night, you’ve declared, and keeping watch over the twins. Despite all the loss he’s endured his whole nightmare of a life, at the end of the day, there’s still a family he’s part of. There’s still hope, there’s still love, there’s still soft white dogs. 

—------- 

The battle is over: all 4 kids have been put to bed. Yuuji whistles softly, complaining that Hito wheedled five stories and three lullabies out of him. That reminds him: “y/n, you know when Noritoshi called us, he seemed so stressed, I thought that you were pre-” but Noritoshi whacks him on the head before he gets to finish. Megumi isn’t done entertaining the twins yet. 

a/n: timeline wise, this work is set faaar in the future, when the Kamos have returned to and established themselves in Japan. Regardless of the merger, the amount of cursed energy cultivated from the Culling Games have GOT to have fucked up effects on the kids born afterwards, like the remains of nuclear bombs. Naomi is the oldest kid at 13, Chihiro is 10 and the twins are both 6. reader would be 30, noritoshi 34, yuuji 32, and megumi 31. if it was unclear, Asahito and Tsukiko are nicknamed Hito & Kiko

[aspiring-writer-hidden-voice]

Omegaverse MHA/BNHA Poll Result: Katuski Bakugo

Implied female reader (specifically female Omega). Mentions of abuse, language, blood, rape, assault, cannibalism and mating.

With the uprising of villains, the Heroes of the world have congregated in a secure and highly secretive location with several country heads and Top Hero Ranking Holders of the World in the room; Japan, US, Persia, China, there are heroes from everywhere within this one room under the same roof. The room is large, considering square footage, but the sheer volume of bodies within those four walls quickly made it feel too small. Males of various body shapes were stuffed within this conference styled gathering space with various tables, chairs, and a podium; large, small, lithe, muscular, thin lean, mutant characteristics, nearly every type was represented within this room from the different countries of the world. Wolves, hyenas, lions, goats, boars…at least one member of every genus group was present. Nowadays those were rare since bloods had mixed or migrated so pure bloods were difficult to come by. However that didn’t dismiss that the power of Alphas was evolving with the times. Deep, guttural instinct lived deep within each male in existence. It was now a choice of just how much those traits were awakened and used. Having so many Alphas within such a small space was a ticking bomb though but the reason they had been summoned was one of great importance.

“The answer is simple: we need more heroes!” The statures Alpha from China barks loudly, his fist impacting the table in front of him; the scent of raw meat coming off of him that made those nearby wrinkle their noses slightly since it wasn’t the freshest. “We cannot keep losing our strongest to the villains without proper replacements or support!”

Another Alpha, a heavier set man wearing Presidential Medals and Honors from the US, snarls beneath his breath with growing anger than manifests within his rising volume as the air around him becomes tainted with fryer grease. “And what do you suggest we do about it, hm? Only Omegas can birth Supers and your country spread the green light to hunt them down to extinction level! Now there are no Omegas for anyone! Way to go, you morons!”

“Enough!”

Silence falls as a single figure moves to stand at the room, looking out across the Alphas who ranged in age and genus pool.

The man is ordinary looking, none were capable to distinguishing of which niche he belonged to, however there was an air about him that exhumed seriousness and a demand for cooperation. He rubs his forehead as silence slowly falls when silence slowly falls. “The reason we have issued a global meeting of this caliber is because there is still hope for a solution.”

In the very back of the room an Alpha hero from Egypt smelling of water lily incense leans over to speak in a whisper to the young blond Alpha from Japan who looked to be bored out of his mind. “How much you want to bet they want to do splicing or DNA transference, friend?” He rumbles with a roll of his eyes, not expecting an answer as he rights himself within his seat.

An unamused expression crosses the blond’s face, features settling into a resting scowl as he glares at the man leading the assembly meeting with narrowed red eyes. ‘Why was he even here?’ he couldn’t help but question internally. All Might had made it seem like a high honor of some sort, a challenge even, but ever since he got here there’s been only yada-yada while sitting around like a bunch of slugs! The tapping of his finger against his thigh conveyed his slow ascent into the upper range of his temper which was beginning to grow with each passing second. The hero known as “Dynamight” is an Alpha of a high temperament, lean yet powerful body, battle IQ on par with some of the older ones present, red eyes blazing from beyond the black mask covering his upper face, blond hair sticking upright in various directions.

Clasping his hands behind his back, the assembly head begins to walk from one side of the room to the other. “I’ve called you specific Alpha Heroes here today because of your genetics and genes would be most valuable in the future. As you may have noticed, all of you are also unpaired or undated up to this point, which was a requirement for what we wish to accomplish.”

The Explosive Hero scoffs beneath his breath. No wonder none of his other acquaintances were here; Midoriya was just beginning a relationship with the Beta Ochaco Uraraka, Todoroki has been offered several marriage interview proposals, don’t even get him started on Kaminari or Sero, then Kirishima recently started seeing a little foreign exchange female hero who was training beneath one of the elder Japanese heroes. Just him had been selected for this…fan-fucking-tastic.

“As the Alpha President from America has reminded us all today, only Omegas can bring Supers into the world with quirks and abilities that could be revolutionary. He has also brought up the subject of how those same Omegas were hunted to extinction.” The assembly head takes a deep inhale before continuing, a screen popping up behind him that has shaky footage of Omega hunts that used to take place all across the globe. Screams filled the air courtesy of the speakers, cries for help and various distress calls intermixing as the Omegas within the footage beg and plead for their lives. And yet not one was spared as each fell by weapon or fang or claw. “From the United States all the way to Russia to the South Pole to Canada, not a single Omega has been seen in well over ten years. They were tortured, beaten, raped then eventually devoured or killed in hunts…we know the horrors though we don’t let the public see the true extent of the truth. They simply think that these attacks were done by outbreaks of villains alone when, in fact, they were conducted then carried out by Alphas and the other niches who joined in the hunts. Alphas of this day and age carry this burden of knowledge most.” A wave of his hand turns off the screen as he fixes the assembly with a stare. “In ten years, I myself have never thought another Omega would ever be seen...but I was wrong.”

Pupils of every person present suddenly shrink as a unified conclusion was drawn before the man finished. And an uproar instantly takes the room, spreading chaos and exclamations from animalistic to manmade noises. Some were positive, a clear want and need to make amends for the crimes of the past, others were enraged or excited as if they were looking forward to partaking in similar events.

He remains calm though, raising his hands and asking for silence. “She was rescued from a villain bunker where they had been hiding her for the last ten years. None of us can fathom what they did to the poor girl and that’s where you all come in.” His spine straightens as the Alphas before him slowly return to their seats. “Omegas respond to their packs or fated mates no matter what state of mental or physical condition they are. And that’s why we have called you all here. She has been unable to speak a word or eaten a single thing since entering my team’s care. Her health is compromised at this point and the world cannot afford to lose the possible last Omega it has. The world needs Supers if the heroes are to have any chance against the villain uprisings.”

An Alpha hero from Madagascar smelling of spiced vanilla and dressed in various leaves stands with a growl, eyes narrowed. “This is an outrage! You’re expecting us to just throw ourselves at this Omega and hope for the best that we are some miraculous cure for her trauma while saving the world at the same time?! This is nothing short of Forced Breeding!”

“Think of the Omega! She deserves more than being thrown into a hole then forced to procreate just for the sake of birthing Supers!” Another Alpha bellows, this one from Argentina who gives off the scent of citrus.

Finally done with sitting back, the blond Alpha hero from Japan raises his hand to unleash an explosion that causes the entire room to shake then fall silent, his red eyes glaring at the man. “Everyone, shut the hell up and let the damn man finish. They would’ve done that by now but look around…she’s not here. Meaning there’s something else. So sit down…shut up…and listen.”

Grateful for the intervention, the man bows his head respectfully then addresses everyone in the room. “We would never suggest such a thing as Forced Breeding.” The man hurries to assure as other Alphas begin to voice their anger. “No mating will be pressured upon anyone and no one will get hurt in the process. If this were to fail, they we would resort to artificial insemination with those who are willing to offer their samples. And the young Alpha from Japan proves a valid point: she is not here. We have to take her fragile health into consideration right now. You and the young female all have a say in this matter. However we cannot simply just introduce her to you all with her current health status. So, we have a way to gauge on how you chosen Alphas will react by using this.”

Murmurs rise when he holds up a vial of clear liquid, the lights within the room catching upon the small container.

“This here is a collection of her pheromones turned into a liquid state. Those who are compatible will react positively and can be allowed to continue to the next step towards meeting her with supervision. Those who react negatively will be excused and required to leave, sworn to secrecy so that none may know of her existence.” He sighs softly when several voice questions and raises his hands. “The most we can ask for is an acceptance or gravitational pull. Simply allow your instincts to guide you; doesn’t matter how. Honesty is what we are looking for.”

Red eyes narrow further when someone asks what would be considered a negative response. He just wanted to get this over with so he could go back home to Japan. Arms crossed, he leans back in his chair so the front legs are in the air as he huffs beneath his breath.

“Any hostile action that can be considered an attack whether of the hunting or feeding kind will not be tolerated or considered for this.” The man grows serious as he stares at each Alpha in turn while raising the vial. “Those who wish to leave, do so now. I’m about to open it.”

Call it curiosity, or boredom, the blond from Japan remains seated. Might as well stick around since he’d gotten a free trip all the way out here. A small smirk raises his lips. Plus, the entertainment he’d get from watching these others would give him an insight to the competition from other nations. So far, he’s been unamused since there had been no fighting or altercations, but this could still be interesting to say the least. He remains sitting as one third of the room empties, his red eyes remaining locked upon the vial that is being showcased.

The man glances around once more as his fingers prepare to remove the stopper. “Ready?”

Everyone present nods or makes a sound of approval.

A faint hiss sounds when the airtight seal is released…and the effect is instantaneous as the pheromones within the vial quickly fill the room. Sweet yet not…spicy yet tame…filling the minds of those who were within the room with images of shifting colors like a kaleidoscope.

The man holding the vial slowly starts to walk around the assembly room, carefully watching each Alpha he passes. First starting the farthest side of the room then gradually getting closer to where a certain blond explosionist hero sat as the chair he was seated within shifts so all four of its legs were upon the floor.

He’s never smelled something like this before. No one he knew of back home had a scent even comparable to this. The tapping finger upon his thigh slows to a stop as every thought process within his mind becomes silent. In then out his breathing remained steady, a few times his red eyes closed for a few seconds then opened once more. Oddly enough the high temperament Alpha from Japan was feeling…calm. Even when the vial went past, he remained passive and dare he say peaceful. No one would recognize him in this state he’d been rendered to as his red gaze closely watched the vial’s liquid that shifted within the light.

Already most of those gathered have been removed when the vial had come close enough for them to exhibit “negative” behavior as the air fills with subtle growls or rumbles from those who remained. There was only a dozen left by the time the man placed the stopper back on the vial, his brows raised as he carefully looks to see who is left. “Alright, Alphas who are left, tell me how you are feeling. I see a handful of you are still here and reacting favorably. Don’t be shy.”

One by one each spoke of how the pheromones had caused them to feel possessive or want to claim the owner of those pheromones; natural responses as well as honest. That’s what the man had asked for. His gaze shifts over to the last who had yet to speak, the blond hero from Japan who wore a near confused expression on his face, waiting patiently for the young Alpha to speak.

“I…I felt calm. Peaceful, even, which is saying a lot for me. I’m not exactly known for being docile or easy to soothe yet smelling that was…I just…it was as if something I’ve been missing had suddenly presented itself to me and I wanted it to come closer if it chose. I wouldn’t have forced it, mind you, I wanted it to come to me… I’ve pursued a lot of things in my life but this was the first time I felt capable of leaving the choice up to…”

The man nods approvingly at this answer, faint surprise within his gaze when the blond suddenly shakes himself then snaps his head to the side. Interesting indeed. None had given an answer quite like that. Taking note of the young Alpha’s reactions, the assembly head speaks once more while addressing who was left. “We have one last test for those of you remaining.” He holds up a small recording device. “I’m about to play you the sound she made when our teams discovered her within the villain bunker. I warn you now, the second you exhibit negative or hostile behavior as we mentioned in the pheromone test…you will be removed immediately.”

A collective nod comes from those remaining, including the blond who huffs softly while closing his eyes.

The air clicks with the sound of the device’s playback button.

Heavy footfalls and familiar military conversation begins to fill the air until silence reigns once more…then…

A sound that could only be considered a ringing call of distress pierces the air that makes the pupils of everyone within the room to become slits. This cry is heartbroken, agony filled, shrill, bird-like in song interwoven with high pitched whines and chirps that are dripping with desperation and fear.

“Don’t fight it!” The man calls over the recording as the sound replays thanks to his fingers pressing the repeat button. “If you have that drive to protect her, show it! The more you fight and hide that instinct the less we understand if you’re a possible candidate!”

It was clear that nearly every man within the room was responding to the cry of distress. A call like this could earn one of two things: a predatory response that would earn ruthless attacks that would surely end the creature’s life…or a protective response to use one’s self to protect said crier.

That’s when the blond Alpha suddenly snaps when he hears those present suddenly give hunting cries in response to the recording. His temper was nowhere near becoming involved, he was deathly calm as he rises to stand and bares his sharp teeth at those present as a call of his own erupts from between his jaws. Red eyes ablaze, the young Japanese hero marches to stand before each of those who had begun to express a want to feed, his cayenne and gunpowder saturated pheromones filling the air as he meets the gaze of every single Alpha. Growls, snarls, rumbles, his voice comes out in a combination of noises between dominating demands of their submission and comforting sounds directed towards the recording whenever his gaze shifts back to the device.

A giant Alpha, a man from Germany decorated with Nordic tattoos and long beard braided with various bones as his being is dressed in furs, steps up to the younger and smaller blond, his bared teeth several sizes bigger that drip with saliva. Large, intimidating, smelling of mountains and the salty ocean along with the tang of leather, this man was not to be trifled with. He was a hunter, a ravager, and once he caught the scent of a prey worth his fangs he would not relinquish easily.

Not to be outdone, the Japanese Hero didn’t waver nor did he even flinch at the challenge. “Back. The fuck. Off. Before I make you.” He snarls lowly, growling deep within his throat enough to make his chest rumble with the vibrations as he squares off against the other Alpha with his own teeth bared. They and his muscles may not be as big however that didn’t mean he didn’t make up for it in other ways. Explosions crackles then popped across the blond Alpha’s being, filling the air with the scents of gunpowder and spicy peppers as his pheromones begin to fill the air when the German lowered his fangs so they were inches from his. “That supposed to scare me, you old sack of shit? You may be bigger but you know what they say: the bigger they are the harder they fall. It’s time for the dusty ass bones like yourself to sit back so the newer age Alphas can show you how the world should be running.”

“You better watch that smart mouth on yours, pup, before I shut it up by stuffing my fist down your throat.” The older Alpha snarls lowly.

“If your arthritis will let you by all means, let’s see you try.” A smirk raises the blond Hero’s mouth.

“Why you insolent, little—” The German breaks off when the recording repeats, obvious that his hunting drive was triggered when more saliva drips down his chin.

However even the elder Alpha suddenly found himself taking a staggering step back when an explosion of energy forced his own to recede, his head slowly bowing to the side as the Japanese Alpha released a warning that promised pain if ignored. “I’ve told you once and I’m not going to repeat myself. Stand. Down.” The blonde rumbles deeply as he steps closer to the other Alpha.

The recording stops with a press of the man’s finger as the other Alphas are escorted out of the room once they concede and bow their head slightly to the younger Alpha from Japan in submission. “I think we have our man…” the assembly leader whispers to himself as he slowly approaches the blond. “Your name is Katuski “Dynamight” Bakugo from Japan, right?”

A nod is all that can be managed as he settles back within his chair with a huff.

“Tell me the truth: did you have any inkling or drive to feed upon flesh or drink blood when you heard her cry?”

Katuski instantly growls, his expression one of anger and offense as explosions crackle along his hands. “What the fuck—No! Of course I didn’t! I’m nothing like that flea-bitten German Alpha! That’s an archaic practice that I would rather eat my own damn leg than participate.”

“Let me be straight with you since you’re the sole Alpha left.” The man’s tone becomes grave. “I asked because the Omega, this poor girl, was used not just for her female body or heats…those villains took turns feasting upon her living flesh and blood. That’s why we had to ask to make sure you don’t share in their tastes so please don’t take offense. When she became of age, they started pairing her off with some of their strongest in hopes she would birth Supers for them to raise into the next SuperVillains. However, they didn’t take into account how their lacking care of her would affect the capability of bearing the offspring they demanded. Her wounds were so severe that her body’s natural functions were sorely upon survival during her captivity that even those with hyperactive sperm couldn’t have been capable of impregnating her. The Omega’s poor heart, body, and mind were far too focused upon living than allowing any sort of opportunity for it to support another. And yet she has miraculously remained Unmarked. Those villains were either smart or stupid to not mark her as theirs but that also means that she is far more vulnerable and fragile. Omega’s are natural homemakers, they are central points of any pack or family. If they don’t establish or find their own by the time they reach a certain age…well, the last Omega who was incapable of doing so lost herself to depression and is currently within a coma at a Persian hospital.”

“Holy— You’re serious?!” Katsuki rises to stand, red eyes wide and a growl in his voice as explosions spark across his being like fireworks. He’s never known anger to this degree. This poor, innocent girl has been through hell for the past decade as a breeding machine for the villains who only treated her worse with every failed attempt to produce an offspring when she was merely trying to survive! Bloodlust unlike he’s ever known rises in the back of his throat but he swallows it down with a growl.

“Calm down, now, she is in good hands currently.” He closely watches the Japanese Alpha as he says the next part. “She’s in a secure location not too far from here. Only I know where it is and I’m prepared to take you to her.”

“Then why the hell are we wasting time here for? Take me to her. Now!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was through the residence door the second the helicopter had come to a stop.

The scenery was like that of a postcard or calendar. Towering mountain peaks capped with snow, towering trees whose canopy branches disappear into the overcast sky above, the air thin but misty from the clouds drifting past. Gorgeous, beautiful of any art form yet none would do justice to the picture before him.

And yet Katsuki paid it no mind as his nostrils flared as he searched for the scent that had been within the vial from the test.

“You won’t be capable of sniffing her out.” The assembly head commends his efforts as he enters the perfectly camouflaged building that blended in with the surrounding landscape; not even aviary types would be capable of spotting this place if they were perched right on top of it. “Relax and take some deep breaths, young Alpha. Listen instead of sniffing.”

With a growl, Katsuki huffs then closes his red eyes as he levels his breathing. Damn altitude and its interference with picking up scent trails. Though that was a smart move on this guy’s part. It would ensure that she couldn’t be discovered. Meaning that for now this could be the safest place for her—

His thoughts freeze when he suddenly hears a soft breath from deep within the residence. Was that her? It had to be. Every cell in his body was starting to vibrate as his chest rumbles softly.

Without wasting another second, keeping his eyes closed so as to focus upon his hearing, the blond Alpha carefully and swiftly makes his way through the multilevel residence while paying no mind to those he passes until he comes to a stop before a door. The sounds had gotten louder, the breaths now faster, were coming from the other side. His hand quickly pressed the panel beside the door and with a soft hiss it unlocks and allows him entry.

And that’s when he saw you…laying curled up within a mountain of pillows and blankets that must have been a hastily put together Nest, your being curled within a fetal position.

You looked so fragile laying there covered in bandages that revealed just how skeletal your frame was. Brittle hair that looked as if it could just snap if the slightest pressure was applied, arms and legs so thin that they might as well be twigs, the simple dress covering your being sorely to preserve your dignity and allow ease of dressing changes or sponge baths for healing purposes revealed the full extent of the trauma you’d suffered at the hands of the villains. It was heartbreaking, seeing you staring listlessly off into space that was the nearby dome of windows that allowed you to gaze out across the scenery outside he’d paid no mind to. Your eyes were so dull, no spark of life to be seen within them as you lay upon the fabric formed Nest that had been put together by others in hope you would find comfort.

The sound of footsteps vaguely registers within your mind as a presence approaches. You’ve never felt something like this before but it was obvious that it belonged to an Alpha, that was obvious, and yet you remained unmoved from your position. Nothing interested you anymore.

Ever so faintly, almost too faint to hear, your ears pick up the faintest of rumbles coming from the figure who slowly moved within your line of sight.

Your oval pupils, which had been unfocused, slowly adjust to bring his being forward from the sea of blurs that claimed your vision. Nothing awoke within you when he lowered himself to one knee, his expression unreadable but body language relaxed as he remains at a respectable distance. But it was as your gaze met his red, finding ruby gemstone irises that shift and dance within the light as he slowly removes the black mask from his face, that your breath hitches when the motion of his hand causes you to become wafted by a small breeze that carried his scent; summertime sunshine, festival firework gunpowder, the faint taste of spicy pepper tantalizes your sinuses as you breathe in the pheromones he gave off.

Slowly, your head rises from the Nest, eyes searching his own as you use both elbows to remain somewhat upright.

His pupils dilate slightly when he sees how much your arms are shaking from supporting your weight and with quick reflexes moves forward with a gentle grasp to catch you before they can give out, a concerned and calming rumble sounding from within his throat as he helps you to sit comfortably by leaning you against the Nest’s barrier. Katuski could feel the barrier of the Nest; natural law ordained and demanded that none could enter an Omega’s private space such as this without facing consequences but you hadn’t made this particular structure so he wouldn’t suffer any major repercussions…and yet he gradually backed off once he was sure you were stable. He wanted you to be as relaxed and comfortable as possible.

The slight tilt of your head to the left makes his breath catch not because you had moved but the fact that you had tilted it in his direction was cause of him to suddenly feel a spike of adrenaline. Or was the anticipation? He didn’t know and frankly didn’t care.

Without using a single word, the gloves upon his hands were removed then tossed off to the side with his gauntlets and mask, then he offered them to you with palms facing upwards.

The choice was yours.

Would you stay…or would you go to the Alpha?

There was no indication that he wanted to hurt you. Not a single growl, nor did he bare his fangs, and this one smelled much different than any you’ve encountered. The features of his face suggested he was slightly older than you, not by much but enough that spoke of many overcome obstacles in battle and personal growth, his ruby red eyes revealing a hungry drive to prove himself but also a deeply rooted loneliness amongst the shifting gemstone shards of fierce protective and loyal flames that spark with golden flakes within his red irises.

A wave of his energy washes over you like a summer breeze, a warm shower upon the thirsty desert longing for rain, as before you realized it…

…your being had moved from the Nest and into his arms that slowly enclose around you.

Katsuki gasps when your form lightly presses against his, a soft whine sounding from him when he feels that you’re more fragile than you look, as if you’d snap if he squeezed too tightly. His cheek rests upon the top of your head as his eyes close, one hand resting upon the nape of your neck where its fingers gently massage as the other hand brings you closer until your seated comfortably within his lap, his legs crossed neatly beneath you so your own legs were draped across one of his toned thighs.

The heart in his chest threatens to break when you nuzzle your face into his neck, feeling your breathing hitching as if you were fighting back sobs. Never in his entire life had he felt this way. As if every fiber of his being was demanding he protect that which lay within his arms. Echoes of what the assembly head had said along with the footage he’d seen replaying within his mind. Your body may be weak but your soul was that of a warrior. It was strong enough to withstand the captivity within the hands of the villain Alphas. That made you admirable, within his eyes, someone more than worthy of his respect and maybe…more.

“You were very brave to survive what you went through. The fact you’re alive today shows that you have a strong will, a fighter’s spirit.” he finally manages to whisper, nuzzling your temple gently with the tip of his nose as his hand that had been at the nape of your neck carefully combs through your tresses. “…you shouldn’t have had to go through any of that and I’m sorry you did…but I want you to listen to what I say to you right here…right now…” The bend of his finger meets the underside of your chin, raising it with gentle pressure so that you were looking up at him instead of hiding within his neck. His gaze is soft, voice tender and warm, expression one of sincerity as he ever so carefully brushes the tip of his tongue along your cheekbone. “…You’ve fought your war. I promise you never have to go through that hell again. Those villains will never lay another hand on you and if one of those bastards ever even try to come near you I will tear them to shreds and pieces so small that no forensic team will find traces of them. You’re safe now…no more pain, no more suffering…not so long as I’m alive.”

Your eyes widen. Why would an Alpha of his caliber make such a promise? Surely he was demanding something in return. They all did. No act of kindness came without a price or ultimatum, that was a painful lesson you’d learned.

That thought must have shown on your face if his soft growl was anything to go by, but it wasn’t a threatening one; more of one of the frustrated nature. “No, I don’t want anything from you. I just… If anyone on this damn earth deserves to live a life of happiness, that person should be you, little one.”

Pressure suddenly takes hold of his heart when he sees a tear slip down your cheek, your eyes so wide they might just pop out of their sockets.

“O-oh, crap, I didn’t mean to make you cry! Damnit, I can’t even comfort someone right?!” One of his hands leaves your being so it can rake through his hair as he grumbles beneath a breath before bringing you even closer so that your ear is pressed against his chest. “Sorry, I’m not the greatest with stuff like this. I’m not Izuku or Kirishima who can just—” His sentence screeches to a halt when feeling you start to tremble and words give way to gentle rumbles as he tightens his hold on you. Now he could smell it…how you were trying not to fall apart, attempting not to shatter into a million pieces. Once again his warm, wet tongue gently brushes against your skin as he begins to rock you back and forth. “It takes as much strength to remain in one piece as it does to cry when the soul needs it. It’s okay…I’ve got you…go ahead…let it out…”

A quiver rises within your lips as your hands rise to cling to the costume fabric covering his chest and back.

One of his hands moves to the back of your head where it keeps you close while the other begins to rub along your spine. “I won’t let go, I swear. Nothing can touch or hurt you so long as you’re within my hold. Forget the damn world and its bullshit, just focus on this right here…you and me…no one else…just us…”

Something within you clicked, as if a bond was trying to form as you take a shuddering breath that fills your lungs with his pheromones and his energy washes over you once more. His words wrapped around you like his body did, surrounding you within warmth and serenity, shielding you from the world’s eye. Within your throat rises a choked sound. It’s been so long since you’ve used your voice that for a moment part of you wondered if you’d forgotten how to use it.

As if sensing your hesitation and sudden fear his tongue gently begins to lap at your throat in encouragement. The touches gentle, tender, sweet even as if he were attempting to help you find your voice once more…

And its when his lips meet your skin that the first of many hoarse, broken cries erupt from your throat as crystalline tears spill down your cheeks.

Unbeknownst to either of you that the assembly head and his team were closely watching the two of you, a pair of medical personnel ready and waiting for the opportune time for them to move forward with their hidden agenda. The trials had successfully found a compatible Alpha for the sole Omega left in the world. Now it was time for them to wait.

~~🪽~~|~~🪽~~|~~🪽~~| ~~🪽~~|~~🪽~~|~~🪽~~|

I do have a secondary part but that is as far as I got for this story. Another is in the works and if you guys like this one enough, I’ll post the second part of this! Take care, loves!

[shiratamahatsumiyo]

Daniel Park with Baoqing reader

I'm back!

• I'm not going to include the fox head or the giant nine-tailed fox transformation. I will also going to make you younger (ex. 17, 18, 19). You will have a smoking pipe as a form of weapon and Kiserujutsu as a form of martial arts. I'll just name you Baoqing here.

• You are actually a young CEO of a company that sells high quality tobacco in China for generations. But that's all layers from the public of what you really sell. You came here in Korea to establish new workshops... One workshop that sells antique artifacts with your company brand, and an underground workshop that sells illegal weapons to gangs. You earned a name from all the gangs that you've made deals with, so as an underground alias, your name is Jade Fox.

• Your meeting with Daniel takes place during his Jaewon High School days and his part-time convenience store job. He still has his ugly and fat body working the nightly hours away.

• His employer came in the store one night to check on how he's working since there's been a drop of customers due to his unsightly appearance. Before the manager could even scold him about Daniel not welcoming the customers properly, the sound of the door opening made the manager fall silent as to not bother you, so he bowed his head to greet you. The manager kept his mouth shut until you ring up to the counter and left the store.

• Daniel was confused as to why the manager suddenly crossed his arms and scowl after you left...

The Manager: "Hmm..."

Small Daniel: "... U-um, is everything okay, sir?"

The Manager: "Huh? Oh yeah, yeah. It's... It's nothing."

Small Daniel: "I-i couldn't help but see that you seem... at unease?"

The Manager: "Well... It's that kid right there... Looks a lot like a gumiho."

Small Daniel: "G-gumiho?"

• Daniel has heard of the myth of the gumiho, or the nine-tailed fox, from his mother. But he only remembers the part of the myth that gumihos are dangerous and bloodthirsty spirits.

Small Daniel: "A-aren't gumihos mythical evil creatures that older people tell to kids?"

The Manager: "What? You forgot the part where gumihos can disguise themselves into humans. The only give-away is their face resembling a fox. That kid that was here a minute ago looks a lot like it..."

Small Daniel: "Oh..."

The Manager: "Ahem! But enough about the creepy stuff! Now where was I?... Right, your performance during work hours."

Small Daniel: "I-i promise, sir! I'll keep improving!"

• As Big Daniel walks to school early in the morning, he couldn't help but let his mind wonder. He couldn't get you off his mind, he could've swore that you looked familiar... His thoughts were interrupted by a rustle from a nearby tree...

Big Daniel: "Wah!"

???????: "Good morning~ you seem to have dropped this. You need to be more careful next time."

• Daniel is shocked, not because you have his phone, but because you're casually hanging upside down with your legs clinging to the tree branch.

Big Daniel: "Uhh, good morning. Wait a second... Why do you have-"

???????: "Like I said, you dropped it. It'd be a shame if someone else other than me took notice of a lost item and decide to steal it~"

• You dropped down from the branch, landed on your feet, and give Daniel his phone. Daniel saw your uniform and realized that you go to the same school as him. Then all the pieces of the puzzle joined.

Big Daniel: "Uh, Thank you. I don't know how can I repay you."

???????: "Well... That might have to wait for another time. As a fellow student, I must make a good impression~"

Big Daniel, bowing: "I'm sorry, I'm Daniel Park. I go to Jaewon High as well."

Baoqing: "Why, it's a pleasure~ Call me... Baoqing. I'm afraid our little introduction will have to wait. As you can see, we're going to be late."

• Daniel asked Zoe Park about you before class started and she said that you're a new student from the Beauty Department. You are quite popular with men but you didn't date any of them. However, two boys who became way too desperate for your attention offered to assist you with anything and everyone was surprised that you accepted the offer, but also confused by how much you kick them whenever they get too close to you.

• Daniel also has learned that you are one of the most powerful students in school. Despite lacking strength, you made your way to the ranks using your high intellect and several dealings. He respects how you don't cower in fear when confronted by an annoying Vin Jin began to threaten and flirt with you. You kicked him in the face for that and the bruise took a month to heal. Daniel made a mental note to never upset you.

• You two grew unexpectedly closer during all those years. When he found out you brought a smoking pipe with you to smoke on the school rooftop, he became disappointed and scolded you to stop the habit. You brushed him off, saying that it's relaxing for you and that it's a part of your Kiserujutsu.

Big Daniel: "Kiserujutsu?"

Baoqing: "Yes, it's a fighting style on how you use a smoking pipe as a weapon."

Big Daniel: "So it's like Jay's Kali Arnis?"

Baoqing: "Hmm, you could say that~"

Big Daniel: "Wow, I've never seen a smoking pipe up close before. Is it heavy? It looks pretty old."

Baoqing: "Heavy? No. I've been trained to hold and harness it. After all, it's a family heirloom and a fighting style passed down for generations."

Big Daniel: "An heirloom?! Then why would you bring that to school?!"

Baoqing: "😊"

• Timeskip to the part where Daniel wanted to talk to Crystal at the Festival but was interrupted by Gun. You and Vasco were actually getting some snacks at a nearby store when you witness the fight. Gun was about to kick Daniel while the boy was in a defensive stance.

Gun: "You heard the lady, boy. Now beat it!"

Big Daniel: "I just want to talk-"

Vasco: "HEY!"

Gun: "Huh?"

Big Daniel: "What? Vasco?"

Vasco: "Why don't you fight someone your own size?"

Gun: "Dammit. Why does a rando always have to ruin a good fight?"

Baoqing, clapping: "Ahahahaha! My, that was amusing!"

Daniel: "B-Baoqing?"

Gun: "Oh... It's you."

Baoqing: "Long time, no see, Gun~"

Gun: "....."

Crystal: "G-Gun, let's just go!"

Gun: "...Fine."

• Crystal got in the car with Gun and drove off school campus with an apology to Daniel and Vasco... But why does she look at you with such an intense glare? Before the competition begins, Daniel kept staring at you with confusion. You sensed his restlessness and it annoyed you.

Baoqing: "Judging by how upset you look. Is something bothering you?"

Big Daniel: "... Baoqing. Do you happen know that man?"

Baoqing: "What man are referring to? 😊"

Big Daniel: "You know, the man with sunglasses with the girl."

Baoqing: "I do not know how Vin Jin and Mary Kim have caught your interest, but it's best to leave me out of it-"

Big Daniel: "Not them!"

Baoqing: "Hahaha! I'm joking~ That man, Gun Park. You could say that he's... A client of mine."

Big Daniel: "A-and the girl?.."

Baoqing: "If you want to learn more information about them, you're going to have to offer me something in return~"

Big Daniel: "Right. Forget I asked..."

Baoqing: "Buuut~ since you seem interested of the girl, I'll only give you her name. Crystal Choi."

Big Daniel: "Why are you giving me her name?"

Baoqing: "For my amusement, of course~"

[katz-chow]

how time passes

a/n: domestic price is the only price i will take, thank you very much. my submission for @glitterypirateduck's christmas fics. song? "love to keep me warm” by dodie & laufey. why? you'll see :) merry christmas everyone 🎄

warnings: gn!reader, fluff, sfw, cold, snowy night, leading up to a smut ;)

For John, there’s a certain aspect of life that he isn’t all too familiar with. Domesticity seemed like a world away, hidden almost. Of course, he sees it all around him; in how young couples shop for decorations for their first Christmas, or how older couples shop for grandkid presents for their nth Christmas, how candles are rare to find nowadays, all the colorful ones taken by menorahs sitting on windowsills.

He remembers it clearly when he first realized how teasing a normal life can be. It was on the same cobblestone street that he finds himself on right now, right through the glass planes of a small cafe. In a way, domesticity found itself behind a China cabinet, displayed and just an inch away from his grasp, and yet the veil between them remained locked. The feeling of being a lover, a husband just right on the other side, staring back at him like window shopping. How frustratingly fleeting it is.

The wind blew a bit more wildly back then, snow caked upon the roofs of the many buildings that surrounded him, all occupied with families. He remembers the way his hands would go numb from the hours that he walked around the market square, just to avoid the rickety radiator in his flat.

But that was years ago and the heater of the cafe he’s sat in seems unbearably warm. John sat himself in the corner, two drinks on the table and a tiramisu that he knew he had to get as soon as he set his eyes on it. Unconsciously, he looked at the gold watch on his wrist, just to check the time instead of looking incredibly pitiful alone in a room of company. He cleared his throat, then looked around; a Christmas tree with paper ornaments of children’s drawings littered through its branches, the electric fireplace that changed colors, and the soft jazz that played through the speakers.

His phone buzzed next to him on the small round table. He looked at the notification with a dash of his brow, a storm’s approaching. More snow. A chuckle bubbles up in his throat as he thinks of the irony of his first Christmas back in town almost 5 years ago, the same cold but not the same emptiness.

Almost as if on cue, the jingle of the bell at the door rang out and there you were to greet him. Still in your work clothes but with a long overcoat and a much too big scarf around you. If John could say it to you, he would say you look swaddled up like a baby. But he’s a gentleman and he knew that if he did say that, you’d refuse to put on the much-needed layers and opt to freeze to death.

He waves you down when he sees the way you stand there, hands in your pockets as your eyes wander around. He sees your eyes land on him and you bright up as you waddle over in your snow boots. He stands to pull the chair out for you, scooting you in.

“You look toasty.” He compliments, sliding the warm mug of a mocha latte over to you. He smiles even more when he sees you take off your coat and scarf, quickly grabbing the mug and holding it close to your nose. “Don’t burn your nose off.”

You glare at him playfully as you take a whiff of the chocolate goodness presented to you. “Maybe then I don’t have to smell you and that detergent you accidentally bought.”

John throws his head back, exasperated. Did he buy the wrong detergent and does it smell so obnoxiously strong you have to dilute it with an unscented one? Yes. Will you let him love it down? No, unfortunately.

He watches as you take a sip, sinking your shoulders down as you let the warmth fill you up. “This is really good, I’m glad you picked this place.”

“Saw it a few years ago, thought it’d be nostalgic to be back.” He replies simply, taking a sip from his own.

You place the mug down and narrow your eyes at him, “Nostalgic? You took your ex here or something?” You say accusatively as you place your hand into his palm on the table.

He winces at how cold your hands are compared to him. “Something like that…”

The last time he was here, he ordered one tiramisu and one latte. He then stayed for hours, watching people walk in and out, taking advantage of the buy one get one half off promotion that the young cafe had to offer. He thought about how unfair it was that even drinks came in pairs during the holidays and he’s still painfully alone. So, something like an ex.

“Your hands are freezing, Baby. Where’d you put your mittens?” He asks as he holds your hand tightly, rubbing his thumb over your fingers.

You smile cheekily towards him, opting to stuff your mouth with a spoonful of tiramisu instead of answering. This caught his attention as he pressed on, a small chuckle following his words.

“I forgot them…” You mumbled, obviously, you did! You squeeze his hand back and look around the cafe, avoiding his gaze entirely.

You see him shake his head as he laughs, and you look back at him, laughing and smiling sheepishly along. The scene was unreal, music in the air, warmth filling every bone in your body, and your favorite person ever, holding your hand.

He lays out both his palms in front of you, signaling for you to take advantage and settle your own hands on his. You do and he cups them together, rubbing some heat into them. Softly as ever, his beard tickles your knuckles as he gives them a small kiss on his lips. You feel your cheeks heat up just a bit, stinging from the cold they were previously in. You slip your hands out from under him and place them on each side of his neck, he grumbles, annoyed.

“We’re so cringe…” You muttered quietly, now hyperaware of the public setting the two of you were seated in.

He grasps your hands again and holds them close. Deciding to completely ignore the comment you made, he switches over to pepper your knuckles in kisses instead. “Wanna get outta here then?”

You nod and he lets go off your cold hands, which you promptly stick in between your thighs to warm up. John waves to a barista, pointing out to the snowy scenery. She seems to understand as she gives the two of you two paper cups and a box for your cake.

The two of you link arms and he pulls you out of the cafe, bundled up even more than when you came in with his beanie on your head. His other hand holding the bag of your little treat.

Snowflakes gently and steadily fall on your shoulders and head as he leads you back to his car, you having taken a cab over from work. John looks around at the nearly empty streets, most people taking shelter within the shops or in the comfort of their homes. He looks at you, a content smile painted your face even if the tip of your nose was turning pink and your hands still cold in his coat pocket and in his own hands.

You didn’t seem to complain about the how Jack Frost nips at your cheeks. And even if you did, he knows it’s not all too serious as you still down the packed streets full of cars.

“You cold, Darling?” He leans down a bit to whisper in your ear.

You look at him, your eyebrows raises in the cutest way. You shake your head and continue to watch the way the two of you were headed.

John didn’t think much about anything else, just the way your thumb rubs over his hand in his pocket, the crunching of score under your boots. He didn’t even think about his movements as he turned and backed you into the nearest wall, his body shielding you away from the world as you felt his breath on the tip of your nose.

“You’re so beautiful…” He grins down at you. The to-go bag now hook onto your arm as your hands found solace in his pockets.

You giggle at him and kiss his nose, then both his cheeks. John’s hands find either sides of your face as he cups it. His thumbs rubs and pinches the apples of your flesh.

He leans down and gives you one good kiss on your lips, you quickly melt into it and your hands escape to wrap around his waist under his coat. The kiss rushes through your veins, your body not feeling so cold anymore.

He pushes your head back a bit more with the force of his kiss. Fingers sliding back into the locs of your hair and into the back of your head, cushioning it from the hard, cold bricks.

“I’m warm now…” You giggle as he pulls away from you. Your teeth makes in contact with your bottom lip and your eyes big and glossy to draw him in.

He laughs and gives you a kiss on your forehead for good measure. John gives out a shaky breath as he leans to the side of your face, lips brushing against the shell of your ear. “How about we hurry home and I warm you up more effectively?”

A breath hitches in your throat as you nod just a bit. He chuckles and kisses your cheek, pulling you into a u-turn when he realized y’all meant to take a right at the cafe.

[meowmeowmeowmeow4x]

Dark Blue Moon and the Suffering Sun Chapter 16

MASTAPOST

tell me what u like about the chapter :D guess where the story's going, anything! gimme fuel qwq

Damian lay on his belly on Phantom’s chest as the boy floated just underneath the surface. It was night time, and the Atlantean town they’d sacked was far behind them now. Here they only had the stars to accompany them, wobbling and swaying over the distortion of the water.

They were so close… Damian pushed himself up with his arms. His head breached the surface, water washing over his face like a veil. His eyes widened as he took in the beauty of the night sky, much more comfortable without the blinding sunlight when he’d first tried this.

There was something comforting about the stars, something beautiful outside this world that would be there no matter what, even in his most miserable nights with the League. It was something he missed when he moved the Manor underneath Gotham’s smog-filled skies.

Damian pushed himself further, balancing himself on his tail and hip fins instead of his arms. The gentle sea breeze prickled at his wet scales, causing him to shiver. It brushed against his ear fins and gave a sense of immeasurable calm. Just him, Danny, the stars and the whistle in the wind.

And a feeling of suffocation.

Damian’s lungs demanded air. Or was it water? He inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of the sea from above it rather than underneath, but it didn’t help. He inhaled again, but the pressure remained.

What- What was this madness?! Sirens could breathe over water. This was indisputable. Danny had been able to breathe and talk over water the night Damian was transformed. Damian was able to breathe air and talk then. Damian sucked in more and more air, desperately trying to sate the need for oxygen. Why couldn’t he breathe?!

 Damian’s vision twisted. His head spun. His chest felt like knives being stabbed into it.

Hands grabbed him. Danny pulled him back under, where the water provided sweet relief. Damian clutched his chest, as if any moment now he would drown again.

“Are you ok Damian?” Danny’s hands hovered over him, like he was fragile china. Damian scowled.

“Why couldn’t I breathe? What has happened to me?” Damian asked, demanded, heavy with accusation.

“Dude, your lungs are water balloons right now. You gotta empty ‘em out before you can breathe air.” Danny said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Damian’s cheeks burned. He turned his back on Danny and crossed his arms.

“I was aware. I was merely testing you.”

Danny poked him in the sail, the sensitive touch causing Damian to hiss instinctively. “I mean if you’re the siren expert, then by all means!”

Damian did not dignify him with a response. Instead, he surfaced again, determined. Instead of inhaling in panic, trying to pump air into lungs at full capacity, Damian focused on exhaling, on pushing the water out.

His throat cramped with pain. The young siren gargled and gasped. His throat clamped and throbbed, like he was pushing a jagged boulder up. He barely managed to spit out a meagre drop of water before Danny dragged him under again.

The older boy pulled him to his chest, stroking his back as Damian coughed and hacked.

“Ok that was my bad, are you ok?” Danny said, ear fins drooping. Damian wheezed, his eyes closing as the pain abated.

“Do you go through this every time you surface?” Damian shuddered. What would happen to him once he got home? He wouldn’t be able to walk, and now couldn’t even breathe without immense pain.

“Hehe, no.” Danny deadpanned. “You’re supposed to use your gills.”

Danny tapped on his own gills. Instinctively, Damian moved his elbows to cover his. Lately he had been keeping sane by not thinking too much about the creepy feeling of having water flow through the slits in his chest, how exposed and vulnerable it made him feel. How it gave him a glaring weakness that could be easily exploited.

“Just open up your gills, and let the water drain out. It’s that simple.”

Damian sputtered. “What did you say?”

Danny shrugged, like he was explaining grade school mathematics to a two-year-old. “Like this.”

Danny’s gills flapped open. It was only from years of stoic training that Damian did not gag at the sight of Danny’s pale flesh revealed underneath his aquatic breathing apparatus. His eyes trailed to his own set of gills.

“Is there another way?” Damian was not avoiding this issue, nor was he ‘procrastinating’ as Richard would insipidly suggest. He was merely searching for a more optimal alternative.

“We’re sea creatures, Damian. I consider myself lucky for being able to not drown in air at all.”

Damian swallowed the lump in his throat. He was the son of Batman and Talia Al Ghul. He could face this. Being unable to breathe above water would make him a liability on this journey. He had to push through.

Damian prepared to resurface, gathering his nerves.

“Just relax. You can do it, Damian. It’ll be as easy as breathing.”

Encouraged by the prospect of not hearing any more puns, Damian pushed his upper half over the surface. Accordingly, Danny also pushed closer. This high over the water, Damian wobbled as his body adjusted to his weight in the air.

The pressure started to mount on his chest. Damian focused on the slits between his ribs, on the alien feeling of wind blowing into them and hitting exposed flesh. He squinted his eyes and tried to push the water out through his gills. He flexed and contracted his arms and stomach, searching for the unconscious switch in his brain that could activate the write muscles.

It was too much. He went under again.

“This is proving more difficult than I had anticipated.” Damian huffed, chest heaving from strain.

“I can tell.” At Damian’s glare, the older boy raised his hands in defense. “Hey, you looked legit constipated up there. I was starting to worry you’d actually make a mess of yourself. Now, like I said, all you need to do is-”

Damian hissed at the older boy’s mockery. “I can take care of myself. I need no advice to do something as simple as breathing. Thank you.”

Damian glared at the surface, the invisible barrier between this world and the old one, and redoubled his efforts. The pressure came back. Damian twisted his body and nerves, but he couldn’t get a single gasp of air in. He sank. He re-emerged, he suffocated again. Each time Damian pushed himself further, only to be met with the same difficulty. Each time left him sorer, more cramped.

Until after many an attempt, Damian slumped against Danny’s chest, scaled skin warm despite the cold, deep-sea looking appearance. His muscles turned to jelly, even as he feebly pushed against the older boy’s scales for another attempt.

The young siren felt soft hands wrap around his waist. Damian tried to push away, to wiggle out. Danny’s chest vibrated with a low him, and it was like his strings were cut, and Damian’s resistance ceased. All he could do was mutter weakly.

“What are you doing?”

Danny surfaced, arms keeping Damian under, until they began to pull him up too. Damian’s heart accelerated. He could not stop the frightened chitters forcing their way out. His fins went rigid. Was this it? Did Phantom finally lose his patience, and decide Damian was no longer worth the effort? This was bad. He needed to escape and he needed to escape yesterday.

But as Damian began to struggle, the rumbling vibrations from the elder’s chest intensified, and the small boy went limp again. His muscles, sore from exertion and rendered even weaker by the strange biological signal, refused to move. All he could do was tilt his head away, trying to delay the inevitable. Helplessly, he watched the surface creep closer and closer, until he went over.

Damian waited for his death. In his prayers, he apologised to Father, to Richard, even to Drake, for everything. In this moment, as tears pricked his eyes as he was helpless but to drown in fresh, oxygen-rich air, Damian resigned himself.

The pressure did not come.

His chest tingled. Pinpricks poked the skin and outer scales, and along the lining of his gills. Water ran down his chest and over his abdomen. Damian blinked, and looked down.

His gills were open, fully open, gaping wide and exposing his insides for the world to see, but they were open. And water flowed out of them, emptying his lungs. Damian gasped, and felt sweet relief as cold, burning, fresh air finally filtered into his body. His body wracked from the sweet release, chest struggling to accommodate the big greedy gulps he took.

“And now you shut them, keep the air going out the other way.”

Damian nodded glumly. That he could manage. A swift motion, and the flaps of scales and skin shut tightly, leaving only thin lines on his body to suggest that he ever had gills in the first place.

For a moment, he felt human. Even as he actively commanded his breaths, he felt more like a normal human again than he had in the last 48 hours.

“T-thank you.” Damian said, cursing the weakness in his voice. Not to mention how it sounded completely different now, travelling through water instead of air. It was unnerving, but he couldn’t place why. He felt too tired for more riddles about his body. “You have saved me a great inconvenience.”

Danny quietly chuckled. “It was literally what I told you. You need to loosen your muscles to get the water out. This whole time you’ve been all tight and wound up like a spring lock. Dude I think you even sleep all locked up too. That can’t be healthy.”

Sleep was when you were at your most vulnerable. Any threat could walk by and do with you whatever they pleased. In his life, there would be danger at every turn. It was a sentiment he’d expressed to the others in his family when they too voiced the same concerns.

He would never be safe in this life.

A finger poked his cheek. Damian snapped his teeth at the infantilizing gesture, only for it to retreat back just as quickly. He turned around and looked up, muscles no longer rendered limp by the subjugating vibrations.

Danny pointed to the sky, a soft smile on his face.

“It’s a good night to stargaze, isn’t it?” A comet whizzed by in the night, a streak of white trailing behind it, like an artist’s brush across a canvas. Now that he could breathe again, Damian felt an overwhelming sense of calm again, treading water and watching the stars shine.

[fanficfish]

explaining characters in hetalia badly: family member archtype edition

an incomplete list for funsies

just imagine they're all at a big family reunion lol

Germany: The closeted cousin who still hasn't figured it out.

Prussia: The cool older cousin who's jacked up on the remnants of the energy drinks he chugged during finals week trying to study for his med school exams. Probably specialized in kids medicine, but he's too jittery to confirm.

Italy V: The cousin who's a cousin because someone married someone a couple months ago and has no idea about all the ettiquette rules ye and what not to discuss in front of Great Aunt Sarah.

China: Great Aunt Sarah

Italy R: The cousin who's just hit his highschool years, and has decided MHA and Valorant is his whole personality.

England: The one manning the grill.

France: The one actually manning the grill.

America: The guy who's young enough to be your older brother but old enough that he's a dad. Don't worry, he's cool- he won't make you babysit, but he's gonna show up with those kids in biker jackets and they'll do a fun dance to entertain everyone halfway through dinner.

Russia: The uncle that apparently is a war vet. Definitely saw things he shouldn't have seen and you don't leave your kids with him. Tells the wildest stories over dinner though.

Canada: The cousin who you forget exists because he's actually normal. Actuality has probably spiked something.

Japan: The one hiding in a room playing video games. He might share if you ask nicely.

Lithuania: Someone's spouse. Not sure whose, but he made a nice caserole.

Sweden: That one distant relative who you almost forgot to invite.

Finland: The guy who showed up and you're not sure where he came from, but he's kinda fun so no one questions it.

Norway: The one who was forced to tag along with the rest of the family.

Iceland: The one who pretends he doesn't want to be there but he'd show up even if he wasn't invited because the food is kinda good.

Denmark: The one bringing the alcohol and manning the bar you didn't kow you had.

Latvia: The one trying to sneak underage drinks.

Estonia: The one pretending to be a normal person with his "honor student" and "full ride scholarship next year" but is secretly helping Latvia sneak a drink.

Spain: The uncle who's been married ten times.

Switzerland: The one who only showed up because he was begged to. Either ends up in the corner watching the game or in the middle of the table retelling some grand tale.

Liechtenstein: The one bringing all the delicious deserts and a fruit tray and forced Switzerland to socialize.

Austria: The one insisting on putting on the radio the moment the "go ahead" for the food is said. Might have even called up everyone to remind them to bring their instruments.

Hungary: The one who gets everyone dancing the moment Austria whips out the fiddle tunes.

Seychelles: The one who innocently suggested a board game after the dance-off winds down.

Hong Kong: The cousin who sticks around long enough to say hello to the aunts and uncles and grandparents and get some food before hiding in the room with Japan.

Belarus: The cousin who's a movie-cutter highschool "popular girl" and spends the whole time on her phone texting her boyfriend.

Ukraine: The aunt that break up the board game fights and bans it from future events.

Luxenberg: You don't know what he does for a living, but he brings cool stuff for everyone.

Netherlands: The globetrotting uncle who you're pretty sure knows everyone and everything.

Belgium: The cool aunt who's single and living life.

Phillipines and Thailand: The fresh-out-of-collegers cousin who keeps taking photos of everything.

Malaysia: The fresh-out-of-colleger cousin also taking photos but only aesthetic ones.

Taiwan: The aunt that starts making smoothies unprompted.

Monaco: The cousin who brings a book to read in the corenr.

Cameron: The uncle you don't want to get into an argument about sports with. Switzerland does not head this warning.

Greece: The uncle who drove all day and night to get here with a full car, and is now knocked out on the couch.

Turkey: The funny wine grandpa.

Cyprus: The college dropout who now works at a seven-eleven.

Egypt: The cousin who's studying history and is pretty average except you have photographic evidence that he sat next to a pond and talked to ducks for half an hour and was very serious about it.

[izzabela]

Hello there! Can you write about the reader writing a note to ask one of the Lin Kuei brothers (your choice) on a date but it goes to the wrong brother (your choice) by accident and accept the offer, but during the date, the reader ends up having a good time with the brother of your choice? 😁😁

Switcharoo - Tomas x male!reader

in which you get two brothers confused

a/n: haven't done a male reader in a while. sigh, middle-aged man yaoi...

ship[s]: tomas vrbada x male!reader

warning(s): fluff, anti-brother split kanon (aka, my own world)

As a strategist, your mind was constantly filled with ways to overcome the enemy.

Ambush attacks, traps, long or short term plans, all cards were available in order to win.

So the fact you had a cork-board in your room, with pictures of people and items pinned and connected with red thread, you knew you were in deep shit when you realized you had to strategize over and against your heart.

To make it even worse, you were strategizing your love for your clan partner, Bi Han. Grandmaster and leader to the Lin Kuei, a family with history spanning back to the ancient times of classical China.

You learned many things about leading, and though your family hasn't been around that long, the advice he gave was sound and firm. You appreciated his guidance, his ability to nurture you and still be reasonably firm. Tough love is probably the easiest way to go about describing him and his leadership.

That's the reason why you love him so much. He could be so strong for you and in front of others. He knew what he believed in, standing firm in them, and he had the strength to back it up. You wanted more than just the long nights in his office together drawing up strategies. More than training buddies.

You wanted to know why he was so devoted. You wanted to know him past the business hours of 8 am and 8 pm (midnight, if you guys are burning midnight oil to create plans). You wanted that special privilege of knowing him better than anyone else.

His brothers knew those questions, and hanging out with them was still just as special.

Kuai Liang is your older brother/reliable neighbor persona. He's confident, yet kind enough to humble himself when teaching the initiates. He praises you when necessary, and also guides you when you struggle in something. And the fruits, the amount of fruits he's given you and his brother when you two stayed up really late was insane.

Tomas follows suit in Kuai Liang's steps, though he's more of the younger brother you wished you had. Well-behaved, playful when time permits, and an optimistic young man, he was a jack of all trades. He got along with you the best, and you both complimented each other well in terms of battle and personality.

Back to the drawing board (literally), you look at the impressive plan you conjured up in asking Bi Han out: write a note asking to meet with him, take him out to Earth and to this amazing restaurant, go to the lantern release night that the local lake was hosting, and end the night watching the stars.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy- right?

Wrong. So dead wrong.

It all went wrong the next morning, when you didn't double check whether you wrote his name on it. Not only that, but the fucking paper disappeared from your desk.

Not only that, but all three brothers have been staring at you nonstop. You tried to ignore it, but even Bi Han stared at you- and that's what made you twitchy and shifty around everyone. Still, you pushed through the day as if it was normal.

As night fell upon the Lin Kuei compound, you waited patiently in front of your room's door for Bi Han to come to you. To offer his arm and hold it as you two walked together to Earth and go on your date.

"Ah... (y/n)?" a light voice calls your name.

That for sure isn't Bi Han.

Your head snaps up like a cow interrupted from his grassy meal, and your eyes meet a, oddly attractively dressed, Tomas.

He's in simple black linen pants, a grey tee, and some slip-on sneakers. His hair is a bit unkept, but it fits the style of "woke up like this", and he pulls it off effortlessly.

By the elder gods, had he always been this handsome?

"T-Tomas? What are you doing here?" you ask, head looking around for Bi Han.

He's looking at you with a puzzled face, "You asked me here? The note you gave me... was that not addressed to me?"

You both have a comic book moment: look at each other, look at the note in his hands, and back at each other. Oh elder gods, you fucked up.

You crumple in yourself, back hitting your door as you slid down and hid your head in your arms. Tomas is nervous, frantic as he kneels to your level, unsure of what to do. You sigh deeply, heavily- any synonym that describes the dread that plagued your soul.

"It was... it was for your brother," you answer truthfully. "I had begun liking him over my stay here, and well.... I wanted to ask him out."

Tomas smiles, tapping your shoulder as he holds a hand out for you to grab. You look up from your safe haven of barred arms, and you notice how oddly happy he is.

"I know that I was not your choice originally," he begins, "But you must've spent a long time figuring this all out. Knowing you, you must've planned a map out in your room connecting even your choice of words!"

You blink first, before bursting out in a laugh. Taking his hand, you're lifted from the ground. You're not going to pester him now, but later you will ask if he peeped in your room.

Tomas flips open the paper note again, "So, the first stop was a restaurant? What's served there?"

"Wait," you stop him. "You're actually going?" You re-clarify with him again, and he nods.

"As said, you spent a long time with this, no doubt. Why not use it instead of sitting around? Maybe it'll be good practice for the real thing."

You nod, staring at him for a couple more seconds before moving to his side to walk together. From your room, down to the courtyard and entrance, you enter a portal and are transported to the front of an barbecue spot native to your town.

"What is this?" he asks.

"Korean barbecue! My family had been talking so much about it, and Johnny took me and I fell in love. All of you like to eat, and I figured this might have been a good spot for Bi Han..."

Tomas chuckles, "Brother is a stickler to his diet. Often times, he does not fall into cheat days or any corner-cutting. Kuai Liang or I would be the ones who enjoy the big meals."

You nod, "Mental note."

Entering in, you two were immediately guided to your table, and you picked out meats that suited both of you. Tomas chose the lean beef and some of the fatty pork, though you were a wild card of foods.

As the meat you ordered was coming out, you two drowned out the noise of your grumbling stomachs with casual conversation. Tomas played finger games, like sticks, as he talked about his week. Initiates, missions, personal training, paperwork- the whole shebang on running a clan.

Instead of making it sound like a record player, he retold his stories like a novel. Filled with little anecdotes of the world around him, little mentions of his friends and brothers, and personal insights on his view of his family, it was more than enjoyable to listen to him ramble on.

He was a song you'd hit replay over and over again.

Even through dinner, as he took over grilling the meat and veggies, he listened to you as you talked about your day. How you spent the entire last few weeks to conjure up a plan for Liu Kang. How you felt crushed about the responsibility of leading your people- the ups and downs of your life was like a poem to him.

One he could reread over and over, without getting bored.

Gosh, the date too. He fed you with his chopsticks, slathered your meat with side dishes, even got up to get you both bowls of rice because you didn't want to get up. His love-language is definitely acts of service.

Once dinner was finished, you had lied to him in saying you're going to the bathroom. In reality, you were going to get the bill before he'd notice.

"What?" you asked the waiter. "What do you mean it's been footed?"

The young lady just nods, "Your date, I presume, paid earlier."

You look back to Tomas, who sat in his seat patiently and quietly. When he saw you, his eyes lit up as he waved. You wave back weakly, and he stands up to meet you as you're about to head out.

"When did you have time to foot the bill?" you ask him, nudging his shoulder playfully.

"A sorcerer never reveals his secrets," he held a finger to his lips, winking.

You slapped yourself, probably out of fear, probably out of horniness. Whatever it was, you wanted to move on to the final portion to the date.

The lake the lantern night was being hosted on was nearby, just a couple of blocks away. It's also good to get the gas released.

As you both walked, the conversations never died down. From running after one another, piggyback rides, and casual hand-holding, this night felt way better than any other date you had been on.

As you two neared the lake, you immediately light up (haha so punny) at how many lanterns have been lit and written on. Flashes of colored pen on the fabric, the chatter of the various couples and families, it filled your heart with joy.

"There is a festival like this back at home," Tomas notes as you two walk closer to a volunteer. He grabs the lantern and cheap marker, and you egg him to go on.

"It usually happens in February and March. Lunar New Year, our special tradition of sending lanterns up in the air near midnight." You smile softly, the thought of Tomas in the Lin Kuei's traditional attire warming your face.

You turn away quickly, taking the fabric from his hands as you write your wish. He sets up the metal frames that are to hold it up.

"What'cha writing there?" he asks, peeking over your shoulder as he's halfway done with the lantern frame. You hid the fabric in your chest, head close to his, and his lips dangerously close to yours.

You pull away, but the glimmer of the metal catches your eye. He's finished with the frame, and now he sits waiting for you to be finished with the fabric and your wish.

"Take it, it's your turn to write anyways," you shove it into his (deliciously plush) chest.

Like a child, he turns his back to you as he scribbles away on the fabric. You try to peak over like he did, but he's so much bigger than you, and an inch of movement is enough to cover everything in front of him.

Worse, he already slipped it over the lantern.

"Hey! You saw my wish!" you yell, trying to pounce and grab the lantern. He holds it up and away, your arms flailing uselessly as you jump and grab nothing but air.

"Are you two ready?" another volunteer asks, a lighter in her hands. Tomas quickly rushes over, setting the lantern in front of her to get it lit up. At this point, you were getting pissed.

You can't let him know that you wished for Tomas to like you.

Yeah, yeah, how the mighty have fallen. Something something, switch-up- all the names in the book for your flip-flopping feelings. Is it your fault though? With Tomas here, it's actually been good because you finally reevaluated your feelings about Bi Han.

You never liked Bi Han, you liked the idea of what he could be. You liked Bi Han with the idea of someone else's personality- and that person was Tomas.

Tomas swiftly, yet gently, lifts the lantern up into the air, and you pout and whine over the fact the words Tomas wrote for his wish grow tinier and tinier. You sigh, laying on your back to the grass as you catch your breath.

"Sneaky bastard, what did you even write?" you ask between exhausted breaths.

He just repeats the same message he gave you earlier.

"A sorcerer never reveals his secrets," a playful smile accompanied with a wink.

You stare back at the lantern that now joins with its brethren in the sky, a collage of light yellow hues against the dark evening. The words of the people around, wishes and hopes, collided to create the manifestations of the humans around you.

As you watch the sky, Tomas watches you lovingly, the thoughts of his writing overtaking his mind.

I wish for a shot, not a practice run. With him and only him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

okay definitely not a burn out anymore, i fear i'm cooking with requests again

though, requests are gonna remain closed because i am setting up new things i'm writing for

aight see yall in the next fic!

[absolutebl]

Hi ABL! I was wondering if you have recs for bl couples where a younger seme/top aggressively pursues an older, initially-unwilling uke/bottom?

I realized this trope was my absolute JAM when I fell hard and fast for Wei Zhiyuan x Wei Qian, Sun Boxiang x Lu Zhigang, and Yongjie x Xingsi. Bonus points for age gap, stepbrothers trope or the older uke being endlessly indulgent?

I mainly watch China and Taiwan bls, so I’ll love anything from there. I’ll take recs from other countries too, they might become my first foray into non-mandarin bls

I know this is a somewhat specific request so thank you sm if you manage to come up with anything! I really appreciate all the work you put into this blog ☺️💜

Oooo MY FAVORITE!!!

Hyung Romances! (wrap-up post)

I call these hyung romances because that's like noona romances but gay.

Specifically you said:

younger seme aggressively pursues an older initially-unwilling uke

I am utter TRASH for this! YES PLEASE!

Minato’s Laundromat

Japan 2022 GaGa 

AKA Minato Coin Laundry AKA Wash My Heart! AKA Minato Shouji Koin Randorii AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry

Younger seme older uke, very clearly yaoi derived dynamic, 10 year age gap. I love this show so much. This is by far the best long running example that really dwells on this trope, Shin is very much the aggressor also very much still a high school kid. Minato is very much NOT. 

Old Fashion Cupcake 

Japan 2022 Viki & GaGa 

Also from Japan, another 10 year gap, and a flipping genius version. This time both parties are older, so there’s less of a stigma around the age gap, but there is stigma about the one being the other’s boss. 

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits for episode one. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said man with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s coming of age/queerness packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity and love and loneliness... and it’s beautiful. Full review. 

Lovely Writer

Thailand 2021 YouTube 

Sib is quite a bit younger than Gene and defines aggressive pursuer. Gene is out of university and established in his career, Sib is still in college.

Thailand criticizes itself and the BL industry while simultaneously giving us classic seme/uke with great chemistry in a one-two punch of “we love it, but are we supposed to? and must we think this hard, yet enjoy it SO MUCH?” This show won’t appeal or make sense to those who don’t already have at least some Thai BL watching experience. What Lovely Writer does, at heart, is reexamine Thai BL has done to queerness, but in a very gentle way that has more to do with Thai BL growing up than any actual queer authenticity. It’s not parody or pastiche, but it is self reflective and trying to correct for some chronic mistakes. Whether it is ultimately successful in this matter is going to depend on the watcher’s relationship to BL and queer identity. But that’s what makes this show beautiful, interesting, and thought provoking. And I, for one, applaud the effort even if I didn’t personally connect to the characters.

Oxygen

Thailand 2020 YouTube 

Thailand’s first real stab at this dynamic as a main couple and it so worked for me. There are many who find this BL too slow and wooden, but I loved it. 

I think of this as a paragon of Thailand’s softer BL style, since Oxygen uses every BL trope in the playbook for one of the gentlest lowest angst BLs ever made. This one showcases how far Thailand is moving BL from its yaoi roots, and is a prime example of the sweet “new BL” model for which Thailand is the main advocate (Korea is liking it a lot these days too, tho). My first watch along. 

SOTUS

Thailand 2016 YouTube 

Guess who started this trope in Thailand? Yeah, sometimes I forget too. But they are not just classic sunshine/tsunder but classic younger/older. Just not by much.

This is the BL that launched a hundred BLs. No literally, it was SOTUS’s international success that pretty much built the Thai BL industry into the juggernaut it is today. People have baggage around SOTUS, I have nostalgia. Trigger warning on bully hazing. Review here. 

En of Love: Tossera 

Thailand 2020 YouTube 

Younger boy wants to court older boy and does and… that’s it. No really that’s the WHOLE STORY. There is actually no angst, drama, or, indeed plot. But are they the softest bois ever to BL as a main couple? Yes they are.

*pulp warning*

Private Lessons

Korea 2020 GaGa 

A BL short from Strongberry that I love, it's age gap and teacher/student (catnip por moi). The chemistry is slightly off though, but stil I do love this one for the dynamic. Certainly worth watching especially if this is your trope since it's like 8 minutes long and very stylish.

MingKit MarkKit

2 Moons (VERY side dish) YouTube 2 Moons 2 YouTube (major side dish) Gen Y (leads) Gen Y 2 (sides again in LTR) 

Thailand’s premier version of this dynamic I just lumped them all into one category. Only in 2 Moons 2 are they played by different actors, otherwise it is all KimCop, and who can complain about that? If you want to watch specifically for this dynamic than go for Gen Y. Trash watch here. 

SIDE DISH CORNER

Not Me (DanYok)

DanYok is an age gap, but it isn’t really the point or the plot of their romantic arc

Don’t Say No (LeonPob) 

Leon and Pob qualify. That’s all I have to say about that. 

HIStory 3: the BL that shall not be named (BoXiang & ZhiGang)

Also appear in HIStory 4: Close to You

The side characters in H3:MODC (and cameos in H4) BoXiang & ZhiGang have a huge age gap, 12 years, and it is a big deal for their relationship. When they start out BoXiang is a desperate himbo high school kid and ZhiGang is a small business owner. BoXiang’s friends tease him more for his lust over such a much older man than for being gay. 

Bonus on this one, there is some very high (and it's Taiwan so) very well done heat. That said, the main couple will, in fact, wreck your psyche for life. Proceed with caution.

THE THAI PULPS

You’re My Sky (SanAei)

Side could (and only good part of this show) SanAei are a classic uni age gap pairing. San is a bit of a spoiled rich kid jock who identifies the older nerd character as HIS and is just like, MINE. That’s MY elder gay. 

Brothers (KhunKaow) 

This is not a good show, but side couple Khun & Kaow are great in it. Khun is in university and Kaow has a small baking business.

Top Secret Together and Love By Chance both have sub plots of high school boys pursuing college ones, but the one didn’t go anywhere and the other went very very bad, so yeah… no. Although I would personally LOVE to see this done well. 

BONUS POINTS ROUND

Stepbrothers trope

HIStory 4: Close to You (sides)

YongJie is quite a bit younger than XingSi, not sure on the specifics but he’s in middle school when XingSi is in high school and still in college when XingSi has his own business.

Addicted has the stepbrothers trope but not the age gap.

Older uke being endlessly indulgent

Future

Thailand 2023 YouTube 

Based on a y-novel by Faddest (En of Love) about an engineering student and a dentist (shocker). This is just a soft sweet cotton candy fluff piece about a younger boy who pursues an older boy and then manufactures silly gay drama. Nothing wrong with that. But I don’t think this style of BL really appeals to a very large market share. Will I rewatch it? Sure. Will anyone else? Nope.

If you want your endlessly indulgent older gay, this is the you crack, they made if for you.

*pulp warning*

Manner of Death

Thailand 2021 WeTV

It’s not really relevant to the story, but Tan is younger. Not only that, he’s Bun’s friends younger brother. Bun is very indulgent, but in a grown up way.

I like MoD a lot but I’m conflicted over it being actual BL. It’s a great gay romantic suspense, although the mystery element is its weakness. MaxTul, the Kings of chemistry, are, of course, perfect and perfectly cast, but their romance thread is more a distraction than an addition. Still, I could watch them make-out the phonebook. Watch along here. 

Seven Days

Japan 2015 grey 

AKA Seven Days: Monday-Thursday AND Seven Days: Friday-Sunday Japan

Seryou kinda counts as the pursuer, but the dynamic is very very weak in this one. Still the way he asks to use Yuzuru’s first name (so CHEEKY) and the way he says “senpai” in SUCH a cute way makes me so happy. And Yuzuru is NOTHING is not indulgent, it kinda defines his character. I mean he just LETS him call him by his FIRST name... right away.

Never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses. 

Just Taiwan

HIStory 2: Crossing the Line

2018 Viki 

Seme uke is VERY weak with this one but the younger character is certainly the pursuer. It’s SO GOOD. 

Lin Pei Yu directs this is a sports romance (volleyball) with a good boy/bad boy pairing, and mu favorite of the HIStory franchise. There is no clear seme/uke. Ostensibly it's high school set but Taiwan doesn't care about age appropriate actors. It's a very soft sweet romance with some ridiculously easily overcome conflict. There's great kisses but it's medium heat. The side dishes are the stepbrother trope but they’re very tame, and there’s no other triggers. It's not just my favorite of the franchise, it’s one of my favorite BLs with a perfect happy ending.

Kiseki: Dear to Me

2023 Gaga

The mains are a major age gap, but I always forget because they def don't look it. Also, Taiwan, so very weak seme/uke. Still there is age gap, he's in high school and our gangster is out of college and in the workplace.

The plot is totally ridiculous and slightly unhinged, but that’s normal for Taiwan. It involves all the tropes under a very casual framework of gay mafia gangs + food = love. Absolutely every character is queer. There’s a gum-ball machine of cameos, elder gay rep, great chemistry from all pairs, and a KILLER side couple. As a result Kiseki is a poster child for Taiwanese BL, and I happen to love Taiwanese BL. Bonus? They also managed to END IT WELL, which we cannot expect from Taiwan.

(Triggers for knife play, child abuse, lingering trauma.)

Unknown

2024 YouTube

Unknown is a wonderful BL with a pitch perfect portrayal of long term pining, age gap, and the stepbrothers trope. The acting and chemistry are ON POINT (especially from the leads) which made the resulting characters very believable. When it dwells in intimate family drama, it's stunning. It's slightly less successful when it leaves the home and goes gritty. Still, those are mere quibbles. This is an excellent show, one of Taiwan' s best.

As you see above I mostly had to take you to Japan and Thailand for this one. Considering your preferences try Japan first, it's closer in DNA to Taiwanese stuff, but it won't go as high heat. If you want the heat, you'll need to try the Thai stuff (or the ones from Taiwan you haven't seen). I would start with Lovely Writer.

Okay I think I have given you enough and, unless I miss my guess, I may have tempted you to try some Japanese BL.

Comes to the weirder (and weird hair) side. We have pancakes.

Yeah I think you should watch Old Fashion Cupcake.

EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH OLD FASHION CUPCAKE!!!

(source)

This post dated May 2024, not responsible for hyungs that sling after that date.

[venusvity]

.⋆｡ 🍓 ࿔˚⋅ THE SWEETEST GIRL IN THE WORLD ... KLARA BLIX !

Klara Blix, formerly known as JIAH, was the second Venus member to debut solo after Baebi. Her image would greatly differ from that of her groupmates, taking on a much sweeter and teen-friendly image since she was just a teen herself. Debuting in August 2018 at just seventeen, her debut single album "Why, Why, Why?" would become an instant classic and beloved "confession" anthem among young girls. Klara's brand ranking would skyrocket, and she was dubbed "Korea's Favorite Foreigner" on every variety show she appeared on.

"For Girls" was the first mini album released by Klara in August of 2019. The title track, "Good Luck, Hun." was an excellent demonstration of Klara's vocal ability and cuteness. The song would not only be popular with her typical audiences but older audiences as well, specifically older women. Her first fansign held for this album would go viral for being filled with a majority of girls and old ladies. Good Luck, Hun would top multiple charts in not only Korea but in Japan as well, resulting in a Japanese version of Good Luck, Hun and Why, Why, Why?

Deciding to take her in a more vocal-focused and mature concept that wasn't even that mature, Klara would come back with her 2nd Single, "Moon, Sun, Stars," in June of 2019. While this song did not flop by any means, it was not popular amongst fans because of the concept change. A common phrase asked by netizens during this time was, "Where did Korea's little sister go?" despite Klara still being her cute self. Due to the poor reception and poor costume choices, this era would not be remembered fondly by Klara and is often forgotten by netizens.

After a four-year hiatus from solo music, Klara would finally return in May of 2023 with the adorable single "Teddy Bear!" which would catch the hearts of a new generation of young girls. Klara was clearly marketed as an idol for a younger audience, a role model, and even a Disney Star, but only on the weekends. Teddy Bear! would garner international attention for its viral dance challenge, which was done by virtually anyone with access to social media, putting Klara back on the map musically, though she never really left. It was clear Klara had a great time promoting Teddy Bear! and even went on her first solo tour of Asia, traveling to Japan, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and the Phillippines. This would mark her most successful era since "For Girls."

Her most recent comeback would be in November of 2023 with the single "Like That," which wasn't even meant to be an actual promoted release but instead a gift to fans for giving her such a lovely tour. The fans would be very vocal about wanting at least ONE stage for the single, which, after much convincing, Klara would deliver. However, one stage turned into five and would later become a full-on promotional cycle. Like That would become a staple in her discography, many constellations asking her to perform the song to this day despite her saying, "It's a concert exclusive!". This era, though short, is very beloved by fans due to how connected she was with them. Towards the end of this era, Klara would announce she would be taking a hiatus from solo releases, wanting to focus on Venus and her acting career.

.⋆｡ 🍓 ࿔˚⋅ KLARA BLIX SOLOIST QUIX FACTS !

She has fifteen music show wins to her name. More than half of them being won by Why, Why, Why? and Good Luck, Hun.

During her performances of Why, Why, Why? Her background dancers would often rotate between DeepDive members, resulting in a lot of cute interactions and starting the groups public friendship. Fans favorite "Why, Why, Why?" boys would be Kiwoo, Finn, and Woojin. This would even result in a special stage where Klara and Kiwoo would perform a duet version of Why, Why, Why?

At Klara's first fansign, there was a photobooth where attendees could take pictures with her. Klara would put some of the pictures on her wall and they can still be seen in the background of her lives to this day.

Often, Klara would perform at retirement homes and still does to this day. Many videos of her have gone viral for dancing with the grandma and grandpas there. She says visiting old people is one of her favorite things to do because they all treat her like she's their granddaughter.

When asked if she wanted to try a more "mature" concept during the press release for Teddy Bear!, Klara immediately shook her head. "Last time I did that, I stopped making music for four years. I don't want to try that again. I like being successful and cute."

During Teddy Bear! Promotions, a picture taken by staff of a long line of idols wanting to film a TikTok with Klara was posted by staff with the caption "She's such a legend ㅋㅋㅋ," which would become a meme between constellations.

[supercalime]

Girl who’s too old for DCOMs talks about Descendants Rise of Red for way too long:

- Literally no joke, I’m a firm believer that this is the best descendants movie and I wish we could’ve followed this story since the beginning

- im so so happy that they had a much bigger budget! This franchise really needs big set pieces, a lot of CGI, costumes that look expensive and a cast that can actually act, so it paid off

- ok so I’m gonna highlight a few things, let’s go

- I was really shocked they killed Carlos off (for obvious reasons, my respects to Cameron), as this franchise is for younger kids and dumbs down a lot of things. China’s delivery and her tears made me very emotional. Which is no surprise as she carried the other 2 movies she was in on her back

- Red is a very likable protagonist but some choices made for her character were boring. She’s not really looking for approval from her mom and she clearly has a good head on her shoulders so I don’t see the reason of having the “fake outs” that she will actually sentence someone to death but again, kids movie

- we only got one and a half scene of Maddox but I already love him

- Rita Ora and Brandy ate and left no crumbs. They play queens because they are queens

- after the reveal that there was a prank that turned the QOH evil, I expected that Cinderella had something to do with it (more of that later)

- I did cringe a little on how much rapping/sing-talking there was. If you want that hire Lin Manuel Miranda

- I’ll forever be bitter that Disney flipped Kenny Ortega off and stabbed him in the back, but that being said, Jennifer Phang couldn’t have done it better. She knew how to work with the script and the budget. Although some of the photography and choreography felt a bit weird

- it was certainly a choice that young Bridget looks nothing like her older self. Specially um…skin tone wise. There’s some implications I won’t get into

- im very surprised on how little we saw of the supporting characters. I thought Aladdin, Jasmine and Fay were going to be more prominent. And poor zellie (btw stupid name, just use Rapunzel)! Who got cut out of the movie completely!

- Aladdin and Jasmine were absolutely adorable!

- uliana and the other villains were fun antagonists. They were what I expected so I don’t really have notes.

- it probably has something to do with the IP but I don’t see why not have Uli just be Ursula but whatever

- I do appreciate that this installment finally made clear of what the lore is. We finally got confirmation that this universe isn’t a sequel to the movies, which was very confusing in the first 3

- this is gonna sound horrible but. Im so glad they committed to killing Cinderella. I do wish they had done that before Chloe and Red time travelled to give Chloe more motivation. In fact I’m very happy that this movie was darker than the other. Disney animated movies always had a lot of death so this feels closer to them than the other 3 ever did

- Now onto me thinking Ella was in on the prank, this will be long: the movie has third act issues and it was very anti climatic, which even led me to believe there was going to be a twist until I saw there were like 5 mins left. Anyway, when Cinderella told the QOH “it was just a prank and that was so long ago” I was convinced she had been involved, so I was looking out for it. I was reading into every expression Ella’s actress had and thought I saw that she was pretending to be Bridget’s friend to get out of her abusive home. I thought that it would’ve been revealed that when the prank was done, she’d maybe just do nothing and leave Bridget helpless because she was afraid that if she did help, she’d never be like the other princesses or something. It would’ve been so cool to see Chloe’s view of her mom shatter, as she only knew her as this benevolent queen who’s only kind and perfect.

- obviously none of that happened and the climax felt really flat. We should’ve seen the dance in the beginning of the movie, not knowing who the characters were, then we go to the present, then once the time travel happens, we don’t spend as much time before the dance and we get the dance a little before the third act and see a few of the things play out. Like Ella and charming falling in love, or even Fay giving her the dress and shoes before, and a Carrie like scene of the prank almost happening that is stopped by Red and Chloe. Then back to the present and a BIG ENDING MUSICAL NUMBER!

- All that being said, I hope we get more sequels. I think it would be cool to see this as more of an anthology thing, following different protagonists so the stories don’t feel too stuck into a few characters. Also Disney, cmon. You’re a streaming site now, let’s get some cannon queer characters please

[bidisastersanji]

Had literal (not just inspired) Ranma 1/2 ZoSan galaxy thoughts with @anniilaugh and oh boy oh boy oh boy

Zoro and Hawkeye are japanese martial artists training in Jusenkyo, China, they get to the cursed springs and don't listen to the guide about how they should definitely not fight there

Zoro falls into the cursed spring of the young woman and from then on his body turns female at the contact of cold water and back to male with hot water- his dad falls in the panda one.

Mihawk brings them back to Japan because he and his old pal Zeff had made a promise to marry their kids and join their dojos- he has to fight Zoro the entire way

Scene starts with Zeff sitting down his three adoptive kids with mommy issues (Robin, Nami and Sanji) to tell them they're about to receive his old friend Mihawk and his son Zoro- long ago they agreed to marry their kids to secure the "Anything goes" dojo's legacy, and both thought it wouldn't work out since they didn't have kids at first, but both ended up adopting in later years.

All three are pissed that they don't get a say in this- they've never even met this Zoro guy! Who cares if he's been training in China, they can probably still beat his ass.

Fem!Zoro and Panda!Mihawk are fighting it out in the street in the rain (which is what turned them both into their cursed forms)- Zoro is angry that his stupid father figure just decided this for him- fuck this, he's going back to China, and that's that! but Mihawk knocks him out and carries him on his shoulder to the Akaashi residence.

Back at the dojo, Robin hopes he's older than her, Nami knows she, the town lesbian with a gf (Vivi) won't be forced to marry him if it comes to it, and Sanji is just so angry that Zeff would make this decision for them- how stupidly old fashioned and this guy won't be taking over the dojo from them, no way. Also, who cares about a stupid boy. All that matters to him are beautiful ladies, after all. (still struggling a bit with being bi Sanji what's up)

A panda and a young adult come into the dojo and they're like ??? who the hell is this panda? the panda sets down Zoro in front of Zeff like "voila" and they're like! oh- could you be?

I'm Roronoa Zoro. Sorry 'bout this.

Zeff hugs him, feels the soft chest press against his own, and is like- oh. Did he misremember what Mihawk told him, was it a daughter after all?

Sanji is relieved, thinking Zoro is a woman (Zoro doesn't correct anyone, he doesn't really care, he just wants to get back to China and if this means he can get out of marrying on a misunderstanding, maybe it'll work out in his favour)- and he acts like his usual gentlemanly self with him, treating him to tea and asking him about his training. Zoro asks to spar, and Sanji truly couldn't- but can't say no to a pretty lady so they spar but Sanji never actually hits Zoro- always stopping right before he lands a hit, annoying the shit out of Zoro (what a prissy guy)

Having worked up a sweat (that Sanji guy wasn't half bad at fighting, even if he didn't actually hit him), Zoro goes to wash in the men's baths

Sanji, thinking "she" is in the women's baths, walks into the same bath, naked, and is faced with a very built, very attractive man in his bathroom, stepping out of the hot tub. he definitely doesn't ogle him

He panics and runs to the rest of the family being like "there's a pervert in the bathroom wtf"

Zoro joins them, dressed in the same clothes he was in before and reintroduces himself (I'm Roronoa Zoro, sorry 'bout this)

They all gather to go over what's happened in China (including demonstration as Mihawk throws Zoro into the pond) and Zeff cuts him off to be like

"There's truly no problem. So, Zoro, which of my children do you want to marry- although in his letters your father did mention you preferred men, and I only have one of those."

Robin and Nami pounce on this and push Sanji forwards "oh he definitely wants Sanji"- "what?? why me?"- "well, he's half a girl, so it works out perfect for you!"/"I'm a full lesbian and he's a gay man it's not meant to be"

Sanji fights this- "I don't want to marry this pervert!" "Who you callin' a pervert, you walked in on me, curly brows!" "yeah, well you were a strange naked man in my bathroom, so that makes you a pervert" "Yeah, well you took a pretty long, good look at me, so I'd say you're the pervert, ogling me" "I wasn't ogling you you brute!" "oh, I see, you were just jealous of how better built I am than you"

Sanji kicks him into the garden pond and leaves to take the bath he didn't get to take earlier

Zoro (in girl form) also goes to bathe, wanting to clean himself of the dirty pond water- and of course runs into Sanji, who gets a really bad nosebleed

AND SO BEGINS the slow burn of always bickering, full of misunderstandings, gender shenanigans, enemies to lovers arranged marriage Zoro and Sanji, with Zoro being really annoyed at the traditional gender roles that Sanji seems to be trying to enforce, and Sanji being constantly annoyed at this big brute of a man having no sense of priopriety and going around in his fem presenting form in ways that he thinks are a disgrace to womankind

but here is some more adapting:

Sanji, like Akane, has a crush on the local doctor (Dr. Law) but can't admit it to himself because he's still a bit struggling with the internalised homophobia from his birth father. Zoro finds it amusing in the beginning (before he catches feelings and gets jealous)

Again like Akane, Sanji starts with long hair and it gets cut because of a fight Zoro gets into with Pedro (who fell into the baby leopard spring), who will take the role of P-chan, sleeping in Sanji's bed and pining after him

Crazy love rivals galore and infinite fiance(e)s that Mihawk promised Zoro to of course:

the Kunos- Cavendish falls for Zoro when he meets him in his female form (oh my beautiful green-haired girl...). He always has the dramatic entrances (Cavendish, Age 17, the White Horse of Furinkan High), throwing his red roses everywhere. His just as...passionate? sister, Pudding, is in love with Sanji and thinks fem!Zoro is her love rival and tricks him into the rhythmic gymnastics showdown thing where Zoro has to be in a leotard, chained to baby leopard Pedro, both at risk of being exposed if hit with hot water in front of this crowd, and Zoro beats her with three clubs

Hiyori as Shampoo from the Amazon tribe who's at first sent to kill Zoro because he beat her in fem! form but then keeps trying to marry man Zoro who also accidentally beats her- Sanji is so mad about this specific one

Tashigi could be Okonomiyaki Ukyo (we think she's a man at first) or she could be Mousse (blind AF without her glasses) and turns into a goose with cold water

Brook as Happosai (old man with obsession for panties) who trains Zoro at times

Zoro doesn't get rid of the curse because plot but also even if he tried to, he would get lost if he tried to go to China by himself

Zoro's chest is 110cm no matter the form and Sanji is NOT OKAY

SO MANY NOSEBLEEDS (Ranma was such an ecchi manga and Zoro definitely has just as much propriety with his female form as Ranma does)

Nami makes money off of pictures of fem!Zoro like Nabiki does, selling them to Cavendish and all the boys at school who don't know the green haired girl is actually Zoro

Zoro was traumatised by the cat fu training Mihawk did to him as a kid and can only be calmed down and go back to acting like a human if he's pet and calmed down by Sanji. just like Ranma, he kisses Sanji in his cat form in front of the whole school (and doesn't remember it)