#gosh this got very long

[bropunzeling]

If you are still answering questions about your fics, i would love to know if girl!leon ever tells matthew that before the first time they slept with each other she had assumed that he wouldn't be good in bed and if the answer is yes, when/how does she tell him and what is his reaction?

anon i want you to know i saw this prompt and internally went "oh my GOD" with glee so now you get a snippet:

In the end, the only touristy thing Matthew makes Leon do in St. Louis is go to a Cards game. "It's important," he tells her on the way to the stadium. "Part of my heritage."

"I'm not sure that's how it works," Leon says back. She's fidgeting with her t-shirt -- not the one she borrowed back in Calgary, but still one of his, obvious in how it's tight in the hips, a few inches too long. Matthew's been having some thoughts about that t-shirt ever since they left the house, but he needs to maintain his focus. Save them for later.

"Listen," he says, dragging his eyes away from where Leon's pulling at the bottom of the shirt. "I said I would go to a soccer game with you --"

"Football," Leon mutters under her breath, "it's football --"

"So you can do this for me," Matthew continues. "I promise, it won't even be that boring."

"Sure," Leon says dubiously. "But you're buying me drinks."

Matthew does, in fact, buy them both drinks. Doesn't even make Leon come with him, letting her get situated in their seats as he scopes out the beer selection. He even gets her something from a microbrewery instead of the Bud Light she should be having by all rights, because he's a great boyfriend.

And hey, isn't that a new thought, one that has him feeling warm all over, and not just from the sticky heat of late summer in the Midwest. He can say that about himself, about Leon. They're dating. He's her boyfriend. It grounds him and makes him feel strangely giddy, all at the same time.

He's still thinking about that when he gets back to the stands, apologizing to their fellow fans as he slides his way along to where Leon's waiting. "Here you go," he says, passing her the fancy, three dollars more expensive beer. "It's not even a light beer."

"Wow," Leon drawls, but when she takes a sip, she grins, pleased. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Matthew says. "I'm doing pretty good in the boyfriend department, yeah?"

Leon got her hair cut between when she left Toronto and came out to Missouri. It's short enough that Matthew can see her ears turning bright red, along with the pink at the top of her cheeks. "I don't know," she says. "I guess you're okay."

"Come on." Matthew nudges her with a knee, and takes an opportunity to drop an arm around the back of her seat. Leon doesn't even protest, which is something Matthew could chirp her about, but he doesn't want to. He wants to rest his arm against her shoulders, let his hand fall to wrap around her arm. "You think I'm great."

"No," Leon says. She's grinning too hard for it to be serious. "You're fine. Average."

"Great," Matthew repeats, squeezing her arm. "Killing it. Just think. Two years ago and you managed to find the best fucking boyfriend in the National Hockey League."

"That was not what I was thinking two years ago," Leon says, laughing.

"Oh yeah? What were you thinking?"

"That you were --" Leon cuts herself off. The pink in her cheeks darkens.

Matthew knows how to seize an opportunity. "What? I was what?" When she doesn't answer, he squeezes her arm again, running his thumb up and down her bicep. "Come on, spit it out."

"I don't really --"

"What, you don't want to tell me? Come on."

"I thought you were going to be an average lay," Leon blurts out.

Matthew blinks at the side of her head. "What?"

Leon slides down in her seat, slouching. If Matthew had to guess, he'd almost say she's embarrassed. "I thought you were going to be -- you know. I mean, you were hot, and everything, but like. You'd be just okay."

"Oh." Matthew processes that. He should maybe be insulted by it -- is, a little, because just okay? -- but also -- "And you still went back with me?"

"It had been a while," Leon says. Her face is the same color as the Cardinals logo. "And I mean. You look fine."

"You said I was hot five seconds ago."

"Fine, you're hot, whatever." Leon squirms in her seat. "God, I did not mean to say that. Ugh."

"Hey, hey, come here." Matthew still has a hand around her arm, and he uses that to pull her up from her slouch, closer to him. Leon goes, even, leaning against him over the arm rest between them, which also feels -- Matthew doesn't know. Exhilarating, and new. "I'm not upset."

"Uh-huh," Leon mumbles.

"No, seriously," Matthew says. "I mean, clearly you figured out you were wrong pretty fast, since you decided to keep sleeping with me --"

"Oh my god."

"And apparently the sex was so good that now you want to date me, so pretty sure I can't be insulted by that --"

"Please shut up," Leon groans, dragging a hand down her face. "Can we just watch your stupid baseball game?"

"I guess," Matthew says. "If you insist. Does this mean you're a fan now?"

Leon groans at him and kicks him in the shin. Matthew kicks her ankle back, but doesn't relinquish his hold on her arm. Leon doesn't move away, either. It's pretty fucking great.

(and then they get home and have fucknasty yet tender sex OBVI OBVI but i gotta go to work soon)

[sysig]

An eye for a life, unquestionably worth it (Patreon)

[gwinverarrouz]

Drew this for @modmad's recent Toonkind DnD game, where Bisig got a teeny tiny cameo :'>

[peapodsplace]

Hey Baba, it seems like you've been seeing a lot of yucky stuff online right now. A lot of people who aren't remembering their manners and are forgetting that there's people behind a screen. I know you like your screen time but please remember that the world isn't all like that okay? Some people are different online and forget their values and let's remember that these days, algorithms perpously show you things that'll make you upset. Yes, yes it's not very fair, is it sweetheart. Please remember to take some breaks and that the world isn't really like that. It's so important to protect yourself. Yes, silly even if you think you don't deserve it; because you do.

[raina-clipse423]

Cat Doki! (Pt 4 FINAL)

(Natsuki, Sayori, and Yuri for those who haven't seen them!)

Here's cat Monika! That paw took me SO long to draw I was gonna make her claws outstretched but I forgot about in the end, drawing paw undersides is a weakness :'D She's the only one two different designs, I couldn't decide which one I'd use so in the end I chose to use both, just in different au's. The Warriors!Monika still has that little curl she has at the end of her ponytail tho! It's just obscured right now. Her fur colors is also supposed to be more faded together, but for simplicity's sake, I kept them flat

She's a Somali! It's such a beautiful breed and it's temperament fits her the most (just like the breeds I chose for everyone else!) She has two names in Warriors, her original name and FoxSong!

(Warriors info for those interested under the cut)

Monika is a housecat, and one of those housecats that's not often kept indoors, that and because she always found a way to escape, much to her housefolks dismay, but she does her best to be careful anytime, she befriended some wild cats in the woods too, so if the situation calls it, they can help her since they know the forest better.

She got her first exposure to the life of these wild cats via the "WindClan" that's just close to town. It was one of her jail break days when she saw a cat, thankfully right before she got run over by a car. "CherrySilk" was her name... How fascinating! You'd normally hear that kinda name on those nice but strong smelling shampoo her housefolk uses. She happily explained to Monika why she was named that. It got confusing but she listened, first she was CherryKit, then CherryPaw, then she's CherrySilk! She can even be CherryStar if she becomes the "leader" of her clan (which she doesn't want to). That's so many Cherries.

Monika's little journey to learn about the clans jumpstarted from there, CherrySilk warned her about the territories and the patrols, and wow! Their territories get BIG, well guess it has to be with that many cats. There was RiverClan, but it's surrounded by water, she can swim but it felt risky, she went to ThunderClan next and met another friendly she-cat, LilyPool. She had beautiful claws, which she hid under her tail in fear she'd startle Monika away, so she showed off her claws which are pretty nice too in her opinion. LilyPool didn't talk much, but she seemed like curious cat by the look in her eyes, but Monika had to go home at that time since it was getting dark so she had to say goodbye.

Her next stop was ShadowClan, which she was hesitant to go to and had CherrySilk with her just in case. Surprisingly they ran across LilyPool, who was just as surprised to see them at the border. She timidly asked if she could come with them because apparently there was a kit she saw some days ago that got scared of her, and she wanted to apologize. How nice of her!

They came across the kit eventually, who turns out to be way past her kithood and is the gatherer of ShadowClan. BerryHope has quite the sass that Monika found entertaining as she scolds Lilypool for mistaking her for a kit (who is now apologizing feverishly) CherrySilk had to break them off. She also was not scared of Lilypool that day, she's huge compared to Berryhope and those claws screamed certain irreversible injury so it was the most logical thing to do.

The four of them ended up meeting up after Sun-high (hah, she's getting the hang of these clan terminologies) and Monika learned many things from LilyPool, who's apparently very chatty and knowledgable if you can figure her out. It was almost like they have their own little clan and Monika never really got this... "Clan" feeling before, a community, sure she got other housecat–or Kittypet–friends here and there, but they all keep to themselves.

She soon names herself FoxSong, because of her pelt, her rather cunning nature being able to evade the territory patrols well, and she has a good singing voice to name a few. She's not getting rid of her name Monika, Foxsong is just a little alias for her clan friends.

Curious though, CherrSilk mentions of another Kittypet, a tom who sounds familiar to Foxsong. There's vague memories of them passing by each other but they never talked–maybe because he's a more strictly indoors kept housecat. Another kittypet that has his own meddling with clan life! Who must he be...

[meimi-haneoka]

my god what I've put myself into...

I'm writing another Clear Card Trivia post and it's getting so long that I'm afraid I'll have to split it into two 😂

Well, it's understandable. It addresses.....Sakura's growth throughout Clear Card. Yeah I really need to write this one out.

[invisibleraven]

"I would never regret a thing in my life, since it led me to you."

Peterpatterlina

PROMPT #800 BABY! Couldn't have gotten here without all of you, but especially my canoe crew who are my constant support and dearest friends. Love you all!

If there was once place on Earth more hated than a hospital, Julie had yet to find it. She hated the weird smell that never seemed to leave her nose until long after. She hated the cafeteria food that always seemed so bland and tasteless-even the pudding, and how did someone mess up pudding? She hated the constant noise from the machines and alerts and various people coming and going.

But most of all she hated seeing her mother in here.

Rose who was so jubilant and full of life was now a pale reflection of her former self as she willingly pumped poison into her veins to hopefully fight the cancer threatening her life. She still tried to stay happy and upbeat for her family, but the chemo was taking it's toll, and her smiles didn't reach her eyes any more.

"You don't have to come with me every time mija," Rose assured her. "And you definitely don't have to stay in here. Why not go exploring, see if there's any kids your age you can hang out with?"

Julie was reluctant to leave her mom, but her father practically pushed her out so she supposed the choice was made for her. She knew she didn't have to come, Carlos didn't, and she bet he was having a great time with tia right now. But her mom had always called her a good luck charm, so maybe, just maybe that would help?

She would rather believe that than the fact that her mother was slowly dying.

So she wandered the halls, until a kindly nurse pointed her to the children's longue, a place where both the sick kids and visitors could just relax. It was pretty empty, save a lone boy with a giant clunky cast on his leg who was playing a game, the tip of his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth.

"Whatcha playin'?" she asked as she took a seat next to him on the lumpy couch.

"Mario, you ever play?" he asked, voice rough and with a tiny hint of a twangy accent. Julie noticed how the fluorescent lights washed him out, but she could see a spray of freckles across his cheeks and nose, which fascinated her-she'd never seen someone with so many freckles before.

"I've played a bit with my brother, though he's way better at it than I am," she replied. "I could never get him to the top of the flagpole like you can."

"You want me to teach you?" he asked, turning to her, the full force of his green eyes hitting her, and Julie had to clench her hands by her sides so as to not play with her curls.

"Sure," she said, and the boy-Reggie-handed her the controller, explaining what to do, giving her tips and secrets on how to get a high score in the game. "How do you know so much about this?"

"I've been here a while," Reggie explained, pointing to his foot. "This is going to be my third or fourth surgery on it, and that means a lot of downtime. So I've gotten pretty good. Plus my grandparents got me a Nintendo for my Bar Mitzvah last year."

"Are there any other games here?" Julie asked, excited to see what else they could play together. She liked Reggie-there was a sadness around him, yes, but he never stopped smiling, and making her laugh with little jokes and comments as she stumbled through each level of the mushroom kingdom.

"Tons!" Reggie enthused, and went through the collection that was there. Julie didn't really want to play Duck Hunt-guns were a big nope for her, but Zelda sounded right up her alley-she loved stories about adventure and princesses.

They whiled away a good chunk of the afternoon playing games together, just chatting and laughing. Nothing too deep, but she told Reggie why she was here and he gave her a sympathetic smile, squeezing her hand. He told her he had been in a bad car accident, thus his mangled foot, but his grandparents smuggled him in good food so he didn't have to put up with the awful pudding.

"Mija?"

Julie turned and there was her papi, smiling kindly at her. "It's time to go. Your mami is tired and I think she'd much prefer to nap at home."

She nodded, but then paused. "If you're still here next week can we play more Zelda?" she asked Reggie.

"I'll be here, recovery time is long," he assured her.

"Then I'll be sure to bring you some real pudding," she promised, and Reggie laughed aloud at that.

Julie and her father left the room, but a nurse caught them down the hallway. "Were-were you just in the game room with Reggie?" she asked.

"Yes," Julie answered. "Was I not supposed to be?"

"No no, nothing like that," the nurse assured her. "But...I heard him laugh?"

"Yeah, we were joking about the pudding here," Julie said, confused.

"Sweetheart, Reggie hasn't spoken more than two words since his accident almost six months ago," the nurse said. "So if you managed to make him crawl out of his shell, well you must be some sort of angel. Do you think you would mind coming back to play with him again?"

"I'll be back next week," Julie assured her. She felt a wave of pity for Reggie-did he have no friends to come visit him? What about his family, couldn't they get him to talk? So Julie made it her mission to come as often as she could, and make Reggie laugh as often as possible.

So she did-every week she went with Rose to the hospital, and hung out with Reggie. Some weeks he was more subdued than others, whispering he was in pain, but always lit up when Julie handed him a pilfered snack from her house, often a pudding, like their little private joke.

Even after Rose entered remission, she still asked to go visit Reggie, and her parents were more than happy to let her. "You're a good friend to this boy mija," Rose told her. "I hope he gets out of there soon though."

"Me too," Julie replied.

It was only a few weeks later that fate intervened-Reggie told Julie he was finally going to be released. But unfortunately, he was going home with his grandparents, back to Georgia. "They've been away from the farm too long as it is, and there's no one else..." he trailed off.

Julie knew this of course, how he and his mom had left his abusive dad and come to LA to make a new life. How the car accident that broke Reggie's foot took his mom's life. That his grandparents had come to look after him while he recovered.

But she still cried at the thought of losing him. "We could always write?' he suggested tearily. Julie agreed, and got his address before leaving. It wouldn't be the same as spending their afternoons playing games and talking together, but it would at least be something.

~

Reggie hated the cold. Why oh why did the most prestigious game design school have to be in the North East? More so why couldn't he have been happy enough going to a school back home in Georgia, or even in LA? But of course, he knew why. He wanted to make games that would help kids just like Mario and Zelda had helped him. And to do that, he had to come to this school even though the cold made his foot ache, the ice and snow were not great for moving around in when you relied on a cane, and he missed MeeMaw and Pops so bad he could scream.

He just had to reassure himself that it would be worth it in the end, even as he hobbled through the crowds trying to get home.

"Reggie!"

He could have sworn he heard a voice calling his name-it wasn't like Reggie was all that common. But when he looked around, he couldn't see anyone he knew. But then, there it was again, a little closer.

"Reggie! Reggie Peters! Your princess is in another castle!"

Finally she came into view-Julie Molina, all grown up, but still recognizable even seven years later. They had kept in touch with letters for a bit, but then lost it after Rose's cancer came back. Reggie always felt bad about that, wishing he had tried harder for the girl who had gotten him through one of the worst parts of his adolescence.

"You got a fire flower or something for me at least?" he said with a grin and then opened his arms for a hug, holding her tight as she rushed in to accept it. Her curls were cut shorter, but still just as curly. Her smile was just as vibrant, and God Reggie had missed her. "What the heck are you doing here Molina?"

"I could ask the same of you!" she exclaimed, smacking his shoulder. "I'm here for college, studying graphic design!"

"Same, only for games!" Reggie replied. "Gosh it's good to see you again, you have time for a coffee?"

Julie bit her lip and shook her head. "Sorry, I've actually got to get to class, but give me your number, we can meet up?"

Reggie nodded and handed over his card, taking hers in turn and waving as she got on her train before hobbling off home. He sighed as he finally got to sit down, and pulled out the card that Julie gave him.

"Whatcha got there bud?" Luke asked as he slumped down on the couch next to him. "Ooh, got a number?"

"It's not like that you doof," Reggie said, shoving him away playfully. "This is from Julie, we were friends as teens, and I ran into her in the station. Apparently she's here studying graphic design."

"Oh cool," Luke said, snuggling back into Reggie's side, and by this time, Reggie had gotten used to his cuddly nature-having lived together for a few years made you used to a lot of things. "She a good artist?"

Reggie recalled the various doodles that covered his casts during his hospital stay-Julie insisting on signing it as it was blank when she met him. Even though Reggie told her he would be getting an new one after his surgery.

"Well I'll sign that one too," she had said with a grin-and she did. Reggie had honestly been a little sad to see them cut off and all Julie's artwork destroyed.

"Yeah she really is," Reggie mused.

"Well then call her!" Luke insisted. "Even if not for dates, just to reconnect. Or hell, you need a designer for your game right?"

"Well it's your game too," Reggie reasoned.

"Eh," Luke shrugged. "I wrote the story and music, but you helped with both of those, and you're doing all the programming."

"Maybe," Reggie said, looking at the card again. "Maybe."

~

It turned out that Julie was very interested in making a game with Reggie, and that summer it was a familiar sight to find her in Luke and Reggie's apartment making the art and helping Reggie play test sequences with each character.

Luke was absent, as his parents insisted he return home to his folks house but he happily let them use the apartment, and claimed he couldn't wait to see what they had gotten done when he returned-and to meeting Julie, since fate hadn't allowed that to happen thus far.

Reggie loved that summer-he and Julie renewed their friendship, they worked together constantly, and while he didn't experience any pain-that would never be a reality for him-he found it lessened due to him keeping busy. Plus Luke had made their apartment as handi capable as possible, so he barely had to use his cane.

Sure, Luke had claimed he would get lost in the clutter if they let it build up, but Reggie knew the truth. Luke was determined to look after him, and while some would resent that, Reggie loved being cared for, and appreciated how much Luke did to make his life easier. And it wasn't like Reggie didn't do anything for him-he made sure Luke went to all his classes and performances on time, as he was involved in the school's music program, and even helped the orchestra for the drama department while he got his English and Musical Composition degrees.

Reggie had even gone to every showing of the school's production of Macbeth, just because Luke was down in the pit every night, and it was his composition that they used to signify the storm-a raucous, crashing thing that made you really feel like the weather was about to change.

That was the only drawback of the summer-that Luke wasn't there. So when he returned, Reggie was almost fit to burst, pulling him in for a hug almost immediately.

"Missed you too buddy," Luke whispered into his shoulder. They broke apart then, exchanging slightly watery smiles before Luke coughed and cast his eyes over to where Julie was standing. "Hi, you must be Julie!"

"And you must be Luke," she replied, giving a little oof as he caught her in a hug. "Oh, you're a hugger."

Luke stepped back then, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry. It's a thing."

"It's okay," Julie assured him, "But maybe a little warning next time?" She then offered him a smile. "Now I wanna pick your brain about a few plot points of your story..."

~

By the end of the summer, they had made good progress on their game, but it was nowhere near done. "We can still work on it," Julie said, "Just not at the same rate."

Reggie sighed in defeat. He knew they weren't going to finish the game, but he had hoped they would be a bit further along. "Maybe... maybe I should take the semester off? Keep at it?"

"Reg you can't do that, your education is important!" Julie insisted.

"It's also extremely expensive, and my grandparents can only help so much," Reggie explained. "A semester off would be a big help to them, and I can always do a class or two through distance if I want."

"I would love to take the semester off too, but since my folks are paying the rent here, I need to stay in school to keep a roof over our heads," Luke lamented. "But my part of things is essentially over anyways."

"We still need to figure out a lot of the score mister," Julie answered him. "Hire musicians and the like."

"Why would we need to do that?" Luke asked. "I play guitar, Reggie plays almost everything, our friend Alex does drums, we just need a vocalist."

Julie was silent at that for a moment. "I-I could do it."

Luke grinned, and handed her the song they had written for the end credits-a lilting ballad that spoke of their main character's journey and her longing to find a place she belonged. A bit cliché, but it was leagues better than Girl In The Tower which had gotten legit radio play, so Luke figured they were good.

Only when Julie started singing, both guys were blown away. Her voice was angelic, the perfect one to elevate the song into greatness. They sat there stunned for a bit after she finished until Luke cleared his throat. "I think you've got the job Molina."

She beamed with happiness, jumping up and down and then ran off to call her dad. Luke turned to Reggie. "How come you never told me she could sing like that?"

"I didn't know!" Reggie insisted.

Later on that night after Julie had gone home, Luke looked at Reggie. "Would you be mad if I asked Julie out?"

An unpleasant feeling settled in Reggie's gut at that, which was ridiculous. Luke and Julie were his two best friends, incredibly well suited for each other, why shouldn't they be happy together? "Maybe wait until the game is done?"

"That's fair," Luke conceded. "And you're sure you don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?" Reggie asked. Luke looked at him queerly for a moment then shook it off, wishing Reggie a good night, a sentiment Reggie echoed. But he found that he couldn't sleep that night, and the feeling in his gut never did go away.

~

It took nearly a year, but they finally finished their game. One of Reggie's professors was going to help them shop it around to different publishers, but the game was done!

"This calls for a celebration!" Luke exclaimed, pulling out a bottle of champagne, pouring them all a glass. Their various friends were scattered around, all of them involved in the process in some way, and they had all ssured the trio the game was amazing.

Reggie toasted but put the glass down-he didn't drink, not after the hell his dad had put him and his mom through. He didn't think about the man often, couldn't really care less where he was. But that memory of whiskey laden breath and heavy hands would never leave him.

Plus his stomach was roiling as he watched Luke pull Julie aside, watched her light up as he spoke, and then-she pulled him in for a kiss. Not a friendly peck, but a deep, romantic kiss that made Reggie have to look away.

God, what was wrong with him? He knew it was coming, had seen the sparks fly between them. It must be the stress of the past year and the anxiety over selling the game getting to him.

"I need some air," he said to no one, as the party raged on around him. He grabbed his cane and went out to walk a little-it usually hurt to do so for too long, but it also always helped clear his head. He was sure he would be back before anyone noticed.

Only he still couldn't get the image of Luke and Julie kissing out of his head, and eventually sat down on a bench. Why did it bother him so much? He never reacted this way when he saw other couples kiss. Heck he'd seen Luke go through a bevvy of girls and guys when they first started living together... though that had started to bother him after a while. He had chalked it up to Luke being careless with his body and heart, and after he voiced his concerns, Luke seemed to have been perpetually single.

Did... did he just not want to be left alone? Was that it?

He was sure Luke and Julie would still make time for him even if they started dating. But it wouldn't be the same. No more late nights chatting until the sun came up about everything and anything. No more of Luke quoting Macbeth ad nauseum due to months of shows, with Julie and Reggie playing the other parts. No more sunrise runs for cheap fast food to keep going even though they should sleep, and then passing out in a pile on the couch.

No more waking up to Julie and Luke snuggled into his side, or making sure he had someone by his side for his appointments. No more of Julie's sunny smile meant only for him, or Luke's teasing as Reggie made eggs for them since Luke was hopeless in the kitchen. No more movie nights or trying out new games together, no more tears when the doubt set in that they were wasting their time trying to make this game.

Reggie rubbed at his chest, as if that would make the pain go away. Kept picturing Luke and Julie, and wishing he was there. Not instead of them, but with them.

"Oh fuck," he swore. "I'm in love with them."

He had to tell them-they didn't keep secrets-and even if it ruined everything, he couldn't bare them not knowing, and living a life where he was silent about his unrequited feelings.

He got up, heading back towards the apartment, going as fast as he could. Only he didn't see the curb, and slipped, feeling the pain radiating through his ankle as he fell. Or the blackness that set in as his head hit the concrete.

~

Reggie hates hospitals.

He knows he's in one before he even opens his eyes-the smell, the beeping, the feeling of various tubes in him. He blinks open his eyes and sees the same generic tiled ceiling and groans.

"Oh thank God you're awake."

Reggie turns his head, and there is Luke and Julie, looking equally worried and relieved. "Hey guys," he rasps. "How long was I out?"

"Few hours, but you still had us worried sick," Julie admonishes. "We didn't even know you'd left the party until Luke got a call from the hospital as your emergency contact!"

"Sorry, needed some air," Reggie replies, and sighs when Luke puts the straw of a juice box to his lips, allowing him to drink, "Didn't mean to slip and knock myself out."

"And bust your ankle," Luke said apologetically.

"Of course I did," Reggie moans.

The doctor has worse news for him-a bunch of pins had come loose-his foot is even more mangled. "It might be time to let it go son," he cautions.

He takes a lot of time to consider it-they always told him it was a possibility-and Reggie had held on for longer than he probably should have to the old thing. So he agrees to the procedure, even though it will mean even more time in this dreaded place.

The night before the surgery, Luke and Julie are by his side. Julie jokes that she won't have a cast to design on now, but Reggie jests she can always glam up the prosthetic he's getting. She lets out a sob at this.

"Too dark?" Reggie asks.

"No, it's just... when Luke first got that call, we were both fearing the worst," she explains. "We thought we had lost you. And we realized... we couldn't bear to lose you."

"We love you Reg," Luke piped up. "Not as a friend, but as the person... our person. The one person we want to be with."

"Me? The both of you?" Reggie squeaked.

"You," Julie said, squeezing his hand. "You make our heart containers full."

Reggie laughed uproariously at that, wiping a tear from his eye. "I love you guys too. And I will tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow."

"That's my line," Luke chuckled.

"Mine now," Reggie said, and grinned as his partners leaned in to kiss him.

~

The night of the Game Awards, Reggie wasn't nervous. Their game had done phenomenally well, and even if they didn't win, he had something better than a dumb old trophy-he had Luke and Julie on his arms. They were far better, plus it meant he could leave his cane at home-they would keep him upright.

But it was still a shock when their names were called, and Reggie beamed as they helped him up the stairs-he was still getting used to his new prosthetic, all covered in Julie's doodles and Luke's song lyrics.

He watched them both speak, thanking everyone they needed to before ceding the mic to Reggie.

"I haven't had the easiest life," he stated. "It's been one quest after another, and I've barely made it out of some of them with all my hearts intact. But I would never regret a thing in my life, since it led me to you. The both of you, and I wouldn't be standing here without your support, your talent, and your love. Thank you."

Julie and Luke leaned in, kissing his cheeks, and Reggie smiled brighter than the blinding lights as they led him off the stage, never once letting him stumble or fall. And they never would.

[licorishh]

Replayed Modern Warfare 3 2011 on Veteran tonight and goooooooood night. Blood Brothers never gets any easier to watch no matter how many times you've done it and the ending really never misses huh

I apologize for the amount of yapping in the tags I reread it all on mobile and started giggling because it went on for so long but eh. Blessed are those who won't shut the freak up and all that

[giddlygoat]

some paintings i did on a discord stream :]

[quietwingsinthesky]

maybe i should just put proship in my bio already

[kanene-yaaay]

A Method to De-Stress

Warning: None. Just a very silly tickle fic. Romantic pairing. Tickly kisses. Lee!Aang and Ler!Katara. Around 1000 words.

Kanene's notes: Found myself wanting to write a loving fic with Katara and Aang being the most PRECIOUS and SOFTEST w each other except for Katara having the need for blood laughter. I will post a title and organize everything better tomorrow abshyegebsjs I am sleepy.

[~*~]

Katara could swear she was feeling a vein on her forehead about to explode from the sheer amount of stress that only grew stronger with each line of the report she read about the reconstruction of the South Pole. Not for the first time she wished that Appa could fly quicker, not for the first time she hoped he wouldn’t.

Huffing a tired breath - she was supposed to be enjoying the little alone time she got with Aang, and instead… - she closed the paper with a decisive fluid movement, shoving it on her purse before looking at her boyfriend.

The Avatar was too focused on directing the flying bison to notice her stare, giving the waterbender plenty of time to watch at him with what her brother called ‘gooey eyes’ before a very specific smile grazed her lips.

The perfect idea of how de-stress just flicked on her mind.

“Aang, sweetie, can you come here, please?”

The other turned around with the same happy excitement he always had when Katara used the sweet petname, blinding smile and a loving gaze that got too unfocused for a few seconds before he managed to get his head out of the clouds painting his features.

“Alright!” He then turned to Appa, petting his head. “I will be right back, ok, buddy? Just keep flying forward and soon enough we'll take a break with plenty of berries for you to eat!” 

Then, in a blink, he was jumping over the saddle and poppling himself in front of the girl, his entire body facing hers, faces close and attentive eyes clued on her, as if Katara was the wind in a good day for sail, guiding and pulling him close like a nature force that he couldn’t bother (nor want) to fight against.

That was perfect for her idea, of course, even if she wanted to laugh and coo about how easy the airbender was making this for her.

“What is it, KatarAH!”

She smiled, softly, innocently, as happy as a polar goose bear who just got their prey as she watched the other shout a loud, incessant laughter. The surprised sound filling and running across the entire atmosphere, chasing the birds in the air and jumping around the clouds as her hands - still attached to his sides no matter how much he squirmed and trashed - squeezed and tickled the spot freely, without a single worry in the world.

“BWAHAHAAIT! WAIT, WHYHIHIHI!” With a content and a tad questioning hum she gently lowered him to the floor when her fingers, skilled from years and years of tickle fights and surprise wiggle attacks with Sokka, wormed their way to the delightful, horribly ticklish base of Aang’s spine, prodding and poking incessantly at the spot as the younger’s his legs gave out under him.

“Why what, Aang? What is the matter? Did something happen for you to get so giggly out of sudden?”

“YEHEHES!” Tui and La, Katara almost forgot how cute his voice gets when she tickles his spine with tiny, careful pinches, each one of them pulling more and more squeaky shrieks. “Yohoho’re tihihIIIIH TIcklING mHEHEHE! Mwhehehe! Nohohohoho!”

“Tickling you?” Katara gasped, ignoring the avatar’s hands batting hers, the touch both too uncoordinated and too light to really diverge her from her objective, the tip of her fingers dancing upwards to scratch all the sensitive spots on his ribs, making his laugher much more high pitched and lost in hysterical giggles for him to do much more than nod non stop to answer her question. “But how so! I am simply resting my hands here, on your very ticklish ribs and there is no problem with me choosing to rest them here, is there? I spend the whooole morning working, they’re tired from writing so much. You won’t force your own girlfriend to take them away, will you, Aang, sweetie?”

“Mmmmhehehehee! Katara!!” He tried to squirm, cheeks involuntary getting hotter with both the nickname and how his muscles melted with the careful touch and silly teases. Still, the light, unbearable tickles kept following every little twist and wiggle of his torso with a determination that could rival Zuko’s when he wanted to capture him. “Ihihihit tickles sohohoh much!!” 

“Please, Aang? Pleeeease.”

He made the horrible mistake of opening his eyes, only for them to be captured by the biggest, prettiest and bluest gaze he had ever seen in his life (and he had seen very beautiful things!), and suddenly every single muscle in his body gave up, all the fight flying away from his spirit in a single giddy breath. She indeed had worked so much these days…

Oh, he was done for, wasn’t he?

“Ohohohokay!”

“Really?” She beamed, and grey eyes watched the exact moment the innocent, pleading disappeared her gaze and was promptly overpowered by a hungry, predatory smirk. “Perfect.”

He felt as the hands that, before, were barely fluttering against his skin closed in fists, knuckles now resting on the tickle spot, and in a sudden hysterical piece of second he realized exactly what he just walked in.

“Katara!”

And then she attacked.

(...)

“Thank you, Aang!” Her words were playful and happy as she peppered a series of quick butterflies kisses on his red cheeks, little huffs of snickers painting her tone as the act only made the other’s tired giggles flow faster.

“Nooo,” his hands were clued on her shoulders, caught between the need to push Katara away before the moment grow into a second tickle attack and basking on how nice the lovely kisses felt. “Yohohou know thahat my cheeks are tihihihicklish!”

With a last chuckle, Katara laid a last kiss on his forehead, finally letting the boy snicker, titter and snigger his way out of the giddiness of the tickling and the adrenaline of the surprise attack. His arms let her go to hug his own torso, a couple of tired kicks being the materialization of the somersaults his stomach kept doing.

Both of them carried gigantic smiles on their faces (one a tad more adoring than the other, that is true) and a joyful wrinkle around their eyes, clothes being softly jolted by the wind as Appa calmly kept passing under the clouds.

Katara knew that there would be more problems and papers and responsibilities and choices waiting for her, no matter the place or time, that was just life.

Still, with Aang's laughter still ringing clear on her ears, Momo jumping on her shoulders to convince her to give him a snack and a grin still stretched on her face, suddenly none of this felt so overwhelming. 

"I do." She chuckled and Aang's smile blossomed wider, probably already thinking about revenge and surprising attacks, she would have to be careful to not let him out of her vision field for the day. "That I do."

A wonderful method to de-stress, indeed.

[eirian]

>reads the villain + school script again

>perhaps starts crying a little

[sysig]

Anime good :) (Patreon)

[d0d0-b0i]

listen in my mind Ruby had a proximity crush on weiss but never pushed it then met Penny and fell hard and then the fall happened and weiss realized she was in love with Ruby and then Penny came back and Winter was there so they drifted apart and then vol 8 happened and now we're here

i agree to an extent ! personally i have never seen v1-3 as having any form of romantic portrayals between weiss and ruby (therefore i think the only one at the time actually crushing would’ve actually been weiss), and only potentially a “it would be nice” kinda deal for ruby regarding penny considering they didn’t really hang out much due to The HorrorsTM.

and then the fall of beacon happens, and there’s an absence for all three of them. ruby has lost her entire team essentially, witnessed the death of two of her friends because she was just a little bit too late, leading to her hyper focusing on getting to mistral and keeping the rest of jnpr alive, because that is the only thing she knows to do.

weiss, stuck in atlas, forced to reminisce on her teammates, her family, that she doesn’t think she’ll ever see again; under the hand of her abusive father :(. and, unbeknownst to us, penny is right there in atlas as well. unable to communicate to anyone that she’s alive due to the loss of internet or w/e (or maybe pietros still working on rebooting her, shrug. whatever the case, she was right there, which oof lol).

then rwby reunites and yes, yippee!! but still not a lot of time to notice feelings such as romance, due to the new horrors of salems truth and being stranded in the snow. honestly; i do not think there was anything but subconscious feelings, if any at all! build up, yes, but understanding and coming to terms with them? this is ruby “essentially blocked off less important emotions so i don’t break” rose and weiss “every romance i’ve seen in my life has ended in failure” schnee! no way in hell.

then vol 7. oh boy. they finally have some time to think. and now penny is back as well! feelings start blossoming, although i still do not think it’s reached it’s apex. rwby as a show is a slowburn for romance unless someone dies (>_> fairgame n arkos come to mind), so like. i think the sad part of it all is that it still never fully blossomed for any of them until penny dies again. the knowledge that she can’t come back. gone forever(?). rubys reactions in v9 come to mind. that absence sure is making the heart grow fonder lol (and my girl is haunting that subtext so much its not even funny). and weiss is probably so fucking sad that it happened again, right as she was getting to know penny proper, and now she doesn’t even know how to help her bff, her partner. :(

sorry for the ramble. i’m having many Thoughts which is very dangerous for me

[problemcore]

honestly, the barbie movie came out exactly when i needed it most.

for a while now I've felt really sad and ugly and hollow. and this movie comes out and i feel . loved and wanted. and heard. and understood.

and i can look at my own reflection and admire my face without feeling repulsed. and i love my cheeks and my wrinkles and my acne. and it all takes time and effort but im willing to do it to love myself more .

[tvrningout-a]

i should've switched to writing original stuff ages ago bc i could've been overcoming writer's block if i did :' )