#honestly i was questioning why i havent had this situations lately

[deeptrashwitch]

I just smacked my face against a pole :/ I was running to catch the bus and I got distracted while I calculated if I could make it. Seriously, I was laughing to not cry and now my face hurts.

Did I hurted myself? Nothing is broken, I have all my teeth and nothing is bleeding. I guess I'm cool, only my ego suffered

Now I got to go and be on time for my class.

[quodekash]

i once again went to sleep instead of watching an episode but im here for the first vice versa episode now! (and depending on how im feeling, i might watch the second episode when it airs tonight, but no promises)

i love puentalay so much and THEYRE GONNA BE DADS and im also desperately hoping for some aoufuse because i love them so so much and their child who is a dog

aoufuse were parents before puentalay. they adopted a dog together. they beat you, puentalay. hah.

ANYWAY im gonna watch it now, wish me luck, ill probably cry

im also gonna try to not go over the 30 image limit again cos i keep doing that

i love how they put summaries at the start of these as though we havent aggressively rewatched each show in the week preceding the os2 episodes

OH NO IM ALREADY GONNA CRY AND THE ACTUAL EPISODE HASNT EVEN STARTED YET

talay singing happy birthday to puen? this feels familiar. except its actually puen's birthday this time. not pakorn/tun's.

"and as i wished for every year" HOW MANY YEARS HAS IT BEEN?????

NOOOO NOT THE DESIGN ON THE CAKE

WHY DOES THIS STUPID LITTLE DESIGN HAVE SUCH AN AFFECT ON ME

IM SOBBING

WAIT WHAT THE HELL WHERE'S TALAY???

WHAT DID THEY DO

WHY WOULD THEY START IT LIKE THAT

i know its gonna be fine, this is gonna be like entirely fluff for two episodes because CHILD and they look really happy in the preview

my prediction is this sadness will last three minutes at the most

but also WHYYYYY

honestly i love this acapella intro song

"Faded Pink?" WHY THE QUESTION MARK

PINK IS LOVE

WHY IS IT FADED

WHY IS THEIR LOVE FADED

AND AGAIN, WHY THE QUESTION MARK

IM SO CONFUSED

STUFF YOU

IDK WHO IM STUFF YOU-ING BUT ITS SOMEONE

"since weve come back to this universe" okAY, COOL, GOOD A SUMMARY

"it's already the fifth year" W H A T

WHAT THE HELL

THEYRE SO OLD

AND ALSO WHAT THE HELL

FIVE YEARS IS SUCH A LONG TIME???

ALSO WHAT WAS THE KID DOING FOR FIVE FREAKING YEARS

I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS KID

i know the questions will have answers probably very shortly

BUT THEY DONT HAVE ANSWERS RIGHT NOW AND THE KID IS CONFUSING ME THOROUGHLY

THAT MUCH COFFEE???

bro puen youre so tired. go to sleep. please.

altho i would like to point out the mug that says "the cat's favourite"

does that imply that they have a cat

please answer my questions

"i really want to drink the coffee made by you, talay" dude i know youre deeply in love with him but you need to stop drinking so much coffee and GO TO SLEEP FOR CRYING OUT LOUD

TALAY HAS A LITTLE WORK TENT IN THEIR BACKYARD??? THATS SO AWESOME WHAT THE HELL

"it's 9pm already???" is this adhd time blindness i am smelling

or perhaps an autism trait

HJRKDFHJBTF THE CHEEK KISSES

bro what is it with our skyy 2 and birthdays

THEM

I FORGOT THEIR NAMES

BUT I LOVE THEM

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE UP AND AOU

PREEDA AND AOU??

they literally havent said either of their names this entire time

1:27 IN THE MORNING???? JEEEEEEZ

THIS IS SOME KIND OF NEURODIVERGENT TIME BLINDNESS THING, FOR SURE

THIS IS NOT NEUROTYPICAL BEHAVIOUR

looking at talay's phone and im just now realising: how the hell did they unlock their phones in the other universe? they dont know tun and tess' passwords. how could they have gotten into their phones?

there are many things to do with the lore and logistics of the universes that dont make sense and we'll probably never get answers to, but its still fun to wonder and speculate

awwhhhhh poor puen feels unloved and forgotten

akk felt unloved and forgotten because aye had a surprise for him

talay is just neurodivergent and cant figure out time and so he genuinely did forget about it being puen's birthday

BUT NEITHER SITUATION IS BAD

in both situations there is still the love

now i wanna talk about neurodivergence for three hours and justify talay and stuff but i wont because i need to actually watch this episode before it gets too late

why are they being sad and angsty

theyre supposed to be happy and in love and fluffy

"so lets change from a birthday to a hug day" YES PLEASE

I LOVE HUGS

HUG DAY EVERY DAY

GIERKJBDGKJ HE SANG THE OTHER UNIVERSE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG

IM GONNA CRYYYYYY

honestly it rly does feel like its been that long since the show aired

its only been like one year

but it feels like five

but also feels like three months

time is weird i dont like thinking about time

lets stop talking about time

HES GETTING MORE AND MORE AUTISTIC AS THE EPISODE GOES ON

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

i love the concept of hug day

just hug your loved one/s at any random point in the day because ITS HUG DAY

i mean you can also do that any day (as long as theyre fine with hugs ofc)

but i think the hug feels more special on hug day

now i want a hug day

why isnt hug day a thing everywhere

i feel like i could probably talk about hug day for hours

hug day is good

good. good good good. a man of fine taste.

unlike some people (MAITHEE) who DONT LIKE SPAGHETTI because its "too cheesy"????

THEN DONT FREAKING MAKE IT WITH CHEESE???

È SPAGHETTI

FORMAGGIO È NON NECESSARIO PER SPAGHETTI

PERCHÉ??? PERCHÉ SEI IL MODO CHE TU SEI???

mi dispiace, maithee not liking spaghetti because its too cheesy is a cause for anger in the minds of the little italians that live in my brain

anyway. spaghetti is good. its pasta. è un pasta meraviglioso

good job talay

HUG DAY IS MAKING ME SO HAPPY

I LOVE HUG DAY SO MUCH

HIS LITTLE POUT WHAT THE HELL THEYRE SO SOFT IM DYING

"day 2: flirting day" OH MY GOODNESS I NEED THIS

this is what i needed for soundwin after episode 9

anyway

BRO THIS IS THE MOST AUTISTIC FLIRTING IVE EVER SEEN??

huge props to this guy, damn

PUENS LITTLE STICKY NOTES FOR TALAY??? IM SOBBING THIS IS AMAZING

i love that puen's nickname for him is "Lay" its so sweet

this is incredible so far but i have one question: when the hell is the child introduced and also WHY and also HOW

FEEDING DAY??? BROOOOO

THE CHIPS

THE FREAKING CHIPS

HOLY HELL ITS THE CHIPS

IM GETTING INSANE FLASHBACKS

THEYRE BOUTA KISS

PLEASE KISS

come on bro, not again

why do you shower yourselves in chips

you did it with popcorn last time

and then you presumably had to clean it all up

now you have to clean up all the chips

why would you do that

why does he keep doing this

this is a really weird habit of his

puen, you confuse me

"confession day" why is that so funny

massage day, nice

KISSING DAY?? GIERJDBKG

OMG THE SONG

GJKBERDFGKHJ I LOVE THIS SONG

MEMORY DAY??? NOOOO THAT WOULD MAKE ME CRY

THE FREAKING PINK PASTRIES???? BRINGING THE TEARS IMMEDIATELY OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS GRAVY GUSTAV

NOOOO

NOW IM SOBBING EVEN HARDER

its the fact that "memory day" means to both of them the place they fell in love; the universe they dwelt together; the friends they made; the friends theyll never see again; the memories they created together; the lands where they wandered side by side, hand in hand, arm in arm, heart in heart.

im fine.

ooo going out day

THE FREAKING HELMET

IM NOT OKAY

I AM VERY NOT OKAY

HOLDING HANDS DAY???

"honk the horn if you want me to hug you" GHERIUJDFGHKREJBFN

theres too much fluff

too much fluff for my sad little heart

a buttload of fluff for the eclipse, and now a buttload of fluff for vice versa

hey google, how to deal with happiness

theyre so freaking cute what the hell

ooo day 30: surprise day

two things to say about that

1. aye apparently thought it was day 30 on akk's birthday

2. does this mean the child is gonna appear today? is this very un-subtle foreshadowing?

ah shoot puen is ✨choking✨

HES AN ACTOR

I FORGOT THAT HES AN ACTOR

HE WAS BEING OVERDRAMATIC

I HATE HIM SO MUCH

I LOVE HIM, BUT STUFF YOU PUEN YOURE SO DRAMATIC

FBOUARDHFGL THE BALLOONS AND THE PINK AND THE THING ON THE WALL AND GJRBDFNGJHRKBGD IM DYING AND CRYING AND FALLING OVER AND FALLING APART

i sense merch

WAIT OMG HE DREW TALAY IN THE WEIRD PICASSO STYLE?? TGJREIDGKN MATCHING PICASSO PORTRAITS IS SOULMATE BEHAVIOUR

OH ITS A WATCH

PROBABLY SO THAT TALAY CAN KEEP TRACK OF TIME SLIGHTLY BETTER

NRJFGBRHDBGF NEURODIVERGENCE

i love them

probably too much

theyre so sweet

OH I DIDNT EVEN NOTICE THAT

that rly shows how observant i am, doesnt it

"but i fell in love with you when you wore glasses" IM GONNA CRY ITS SO SWEET

im rly hoping someone has a full translation of the calendar because its a lovely idea

"thank you for joining me in doing this crazy stuff" bro if im right, its about to get a WHOLE LOT crazier. youre about to have a child.

puen's final surprise: "im pregnant"

DOORBELL

DUN DAHDAH DAAHHHHHH

CHILD.

oh no this child is cute

why must the child be cute

i hate children

its one of my defining personality traits

i despise children

(mostly)

(there are some exceptions)

why must i be immediately attached to the child

"is he another surprise from you" lmao yeah he just popped out a child for this specific day

NO BUT SERIOUSLY WHAT HAPPENED

WHY IS THE CHILD SUDDENLY THERE

IN THE RAIN

WITH A SUITCASE

ITS BEEN 5 YEARS

AND THEYVE NEVER SEEN THE KID

WHAT HAPPENED TO MAKE THE KID COME TO THEM

IS THE KID OKAY?

PROBABLY NOT, BUT WHY IS THE KID SMILING SO WIDELY??

THE KID IS SO HAPPY TO SEE PAPA

JIGSAW??? IS THAT THE KIDS NAME?? THAT'S AN INCREDIBLE NAME WHAT THE HELL

jigsaw and his four dads raising him

TUP

THAT'S THE NOT-UP GUY'S NAME

HELLO TUP

tup is also autistic i decided, and i love him

what if jigsaw is from the other universe.

its possible.

IEJRKDGN

WHY MUST I LIKE THE CHILD

IM SUPPOSED TO HATE CHILDREN

THIS IS DESTROYING MY REPUTATION

WELL NOW IM CRYING AGAIN

had to have dinner but im back

anyway WHAT THE HELL WHY MUST PUEN HAVE A SAD BACKSTORY ITS MAKING ME SAD

NOOOOOO

WHY AM I EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED TO THE CHILD

I HATE THIS FEELING

THIS FEELING OF KNOWING THAT I WOULD WILLINGLY DIE FOR THIS CHILD'S HAPPINESS AND WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR THIS CHILD TO JUST BE SAFE AND HAPPY

WHY MUST I FEEL THIS FEELING FOR A TINY HUMAN CHILD

I HATE IT

IM USED TO IT FOR CHARACTERS AND DOGS AND STUFF BUT WHY A CHILD

usually people are like "the feeling of responsibility for someone elses life" like its a good thing and im always like 'um no thanks i dont want to be responsible for that i can barely take care of myself' but now my brain is like LET ME BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS CHILD I WILL CARE FOR THIS CHILD AND DO EVERYTHING FOR THIS CHILD i hate this so much

i think its because the child's name is Jigsaw

its entirely bc of the funky name

"you bought a lot of stuff, so you're well-prepared" PUENS LITTLE SHRUG OMG

the shrug says 'what can i say, ive always wanted to be a dad but never wanted to tell you because i didnt know if you wanted that or not'

that could also not be the case, that is entirely possible

but the way puen's been acting since the child appeared makes me think hes either always wanted to be dad (or maybe wanted to be a dad since falling for talay) or the child awakened the dad-need inside him

omg i cant wait for puen's dad jokes

"i think jigsaw fits right into our lives, like a missing piece of us"

i swear if he doesnt say that at some point, im leaving

I KEEP INVOLUNTARILY MAKING NOISES

LIKE THE GOOD NOISES THAT I RESERVE FOR SWEET HAPPY MOMENTS THAT SHOCK ME A LITTLE BIT

kind of like an 'oh' mixed with an 'aw'

why is the oh-aw happening for the child

i dont like this feeling

HE BOUGHT COLOURING INS FOR JIGSAW?? BRO YOU WANNA BE A DAD SO FREAKING BAD WHAT THE HELL

they cant figure out whose kid it is. take the kid for a dna test you idiots

"does this mean jigsaw is my son? ...i dont have any savings. How am i gonna raise him???? i need to call my mum" BROOO HIS DAD INSTINCTS ARE KICKING IN AS WELL, I LOVE THIS

oh my goodness i think i might be dying

these scenes are too cute

theyre raising a child

theyre dads

and the child is DESPICABLY cute

THIS IS TERRIBLE WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS TO ME

FJEKBGSUEJB PUEN BEGGING TALAY TO FEED HIM I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

I LOVE THEM SO SO SO SO SO MUCH WHAT THE HELL

THEYRE SO FREAKING SWEET

side note: both of them have such pretty hair

"PAPA!" "YES?" "YES?" THEY BOTH YELLED YES INSTINCTIVELY THEYRE RAISING A CHILD TOGETHER THEYRE LITERALLY RAISING A CHILD TOGETHER WHAT IN THE HELL

AND TALAY GOT UP SO FAST TO RUN AND HELP HIM

THAT WAS SO FREAKING SWEET IM SO ANGRY ABOUT IT

anyway. see you in like. a few hours. (that is, if i stay up, which i probably will)

[slutfor-fictionalmen]

hi hi! I hope this message isn’t too late or anything, since I only just seen the one you send me this morning! Also I accidentally deleted your messages while trying to reply 🤦‍♀️

But if it’s still alright, may I request an Armin Arlert x slightly thicker/chubby reader? just something soft and simple! maybe he’s noticed that the reader doesn’t eat very much anymore, and is skipping meals, and he confronts her about it, because he doesn’t want her getting sick or something happening. She obviously gets a little upset about it, and like, tells him she’s been having a hard week and has been super insecure lately. She just doesn’t like the way she looks, and Armin comforts her and stuff! All the love and cuddles! 🥰 I’m in need for this rn honestly 😭

I hope i did it right!! Things are more internalized due to my own self indulgence, i hope you like it!!

Tw: self harm(starving) 

Another day passed, and you hated being in the corps more and more, with the men objectifying you and the women with their fake smiles and judgemental looks, aside from Mikasa that is. You felt her hand on your shoulder, staring right back at them as you passed.

She was the only girl-friend you’ve ever had, which makes your bond with each other especially strong, she called you her therapy stuffed animal( in a good way) with how loving and kind you were when she came home to eren’s house. You were always there, you gave her her first jacket, you bear-hugged her when she was at her worst and missed her parents, you stood by her and never faltered. Even going as far as telling off Eren for being tactless to her feelings, poor boy has no social cues.

Eren loved you for how truly different you really are, despite being an only child, you were his sister, as much as a pain in the ass you are. But this called for you being apart of his and Mika’s friend group with no doubt. Being part of erens tight knit group of friends means you were automatically loved by eren, mika…. And armin.

You always had a fondness for the shy blonde, his all bark and no bite nature stole your heart. You met at a young age but only connected through Eren, he always tells you to thank him for that introduction despite your efforts to play off your crush being in vain. You loved how… pure he looked, how in a world full of death and violence, he could always bring light into your day with a smile or a story. No matter what you could count on his smile,you could count on him.

That’s why you hated today with a passion.

“We have extra food, which one of you dumbasses didn’t eat all your shit?” You sighed, walking away from the situation you caused. It wasn’t a good day, their comments bugged you today for some reason, and Armin wasn’t there to perk up the atmosphere of this gloomy day. Making it unreasonably difficult for you to focus on your own health today, this isn’t even the first time this has happened. It’s been a week of irregular meals, constant moving, and titan stress. It wasn’t like you were trying to starve, you just didn’t have the time.

And you didn’t notice till today.

“Lookin’ thinner, bunny… are you eating well?” You ignore eren’s concerned comment, pressing forward with the group in disturbed silence. This was the fifth comment today about your looks that you’ve gotten. You weren’t a small person, you had extra meat, and you had curves, paired with your adorable tiger stripes, but you know for a fact that starving this little would not affect your appearance that much. It irritated you, and you vowed to tell off the next person who said anything.

“Y/n can-“ “Oh my GOD, are you SERIOUS? I’ve been eating! I havent lost that much weight and i don’t want to hear your Perverted FUCKING Mouth say anything! It’s idiotic for you to continue to act like a jealous schoolgirl and make your ‘sly’ comments! So just Shut up!”

You finally open your eyes from your rant, regretful as your irises meet two bright blue eyes on a horrified face. “I was just going to ask if you can slow down and walk with me-“ Guilt floods your mind as you ear him squeak out his words. You lower your gaze and nod, moving to the back of the group with the boy. It didn’t matter how long this would be, you knew Levi would make you set up for camp soon.

“ ‘m sorry armin, you didn’t deserve that, I’m just-“ “Don’t apologize, you didn’t mean it to me but it was still valid. But never mind that, are you ok? Yes you haven’t been eating but you’ve been…. Cold lately..” You wanted to tell him, just say, ‘ I’m so in love with you that even a few days without your voice makes me angry as shit’ but you knew it wasn’t the right time…. And besides, would he even accept a girl like you?

“I’m fine, just stressed, tired, and overwhelmed…. It’s a lot you know?” Armin nods walking closer to you and letting your answer settle before your group sets up for camp and your pace continues to slow.

“You’re beautiful no matter what, I’ve read articles that said starving is actually terrible for your body, unintentional or not, it won’t end up good. If i have to,” He flushes, continuing to look ahead,” I’ll stay with you all day to make sure you’re eating and drinking water.” You freeze, feeling flushed as you watch him walk away and realize that he just offered to be around you all day just for you to be healthy.

You shake it off, keeping his words at the forefront of your mind before you get ready to retire for the night. You find a note on your blanket, asking you to meet armin at his tent with water and a blanket. Curious as to what it means you do as the note says, waiting at armin’s tent before he opens the zipper with a happy smile, welcoming you inside.

“You got the water?” You lift up the container, making him nod and turn away to a covered pile in his room. He takes the cover off, revealing the food he gathered for you two. “You didn’t eat again, so I didn’t either. And before you say anything, i got some of everything  so you have to eat SOMETHING! I told you all day didn’t I?” You look at him with teary eyes, your emotions of the week spilling out at his gesture.

Sobs wrack your body before he pulls you into his form, engulfing you in a warm hug. You feel him draw soothing circles on your back, rocking you and letting out slow shushes in attempts to calm your mind. You feel him kiss the top of your head and rubbing your back more before he pulls away and guides you to the setup of food.

He grabs you a plate of everything, making you sit and eat with him. You nibble at your food, uninterested in grossing out the guy you like by eating in front of him. But that only made him take your fork and feed you himself, he was determined for you to take care of yourself and love yourself as he loves you. You notice him watch you eat with admiration, happy to see you finally giving yourself some nourishment. You hear him sigh and hesitate, but you leave it untouched before he breaks the silence.

“You know…. I’ve loved you for years, ever since you punched out that kid who threatened me for speaking up, and how you always listened to me talk about the books I’ve read and things I’ve heard-“ “i know, i love you too armin.” “No not like that, I’m IN love with you, like i want to hold your hands, kiss you everywhere, curl into you at night, i want to love you.” You stop mid chew, maintaining eye contact as you swallow and stare at him.

“Are you serious?” “Yes.” “Like you’re not-“ “Y/n L/n I am completely and utterly in love with you.” You push the food aside, crawling between his legs and curling up onto his chest and wrapping your arms around his torso. “I love you so much it hurts armin. It hurt me so badly when you wouldn’t talk to me, i don’t know what i did but i was so mad that i pushed you away.”

Armin tilted your chin up, pressing a quick kiss to your lips before he grabbed onto your soft form with a passion. “I’ll never do that again, I’m so sorry beautiful.” You hold onto him tighter pressing your ear to his chest to hear his heartbeat. “You really think I’m beautiful?”

He pulls away, reaching over you to grab your blanket…. Man he really plans things out, before he wraps it around you both and presses a kiss to your temple. He lets his hands sink into your skin, loving how your soft skin feels on his fingertips. His lips pepper kisses on your neck, pulling slightly back to press a kiss onto your hairline. You loved how gentle he was with you, you already knew the answer to to your question before he even opened his mouth.

“More then you can ever know, my love.”

[ohheyitsokay]

I don’t have a specific something to think about but just like

✨ Paz ✨

That’s it. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk 😌

Also I hope you’re having a good week with your relatives. And if it isn’t, then at least that it’ll be over quickly 🥺

Hellooo May! obviously I've been thinking about Paz because... you're right, ✨ Paz ✨

so first I got hit full in the heart with a fic about teaching post mando-displacement how to live in the galaxy as more than a Mandalorian, and showing him how to navigate... things, but

that sparked a whole other string of thoughts, of the reader living in the covert so those are under the cut :)

also thank you! honestly, me too. I hope you're doing well!

warnings: sexual content, afab reader

>>

I cant get over the idea that there are Mandalorian customs and traditions and superstitions and lore that are completely unwritten. Not 'the Way', but engrained little things that every culture develops.

Little Paz, child-sized helmet still gleaming, his eyes just as bright beneath it. Tugging on the beskar and gloves of the elders, respectful but curious. Watching over the shoulders of the craftsman and caretakers, absorbing all of it with awe, taking it greedily, adorably, making it his own. Asking questions like it's his job, learning the tribe, the mannerisms and history, soaking it all in like a sponge.

Taking Din, quiet and nervous, under his wing, pretending he knows it all. A student, and then teacher, a big brother, a budding Mandalorian.

And Paz, your giant, sweet, well-meaning love, teaching you as best as he can.

Tugging you close by the fire, face of his helmet mashing your ear as he eagerly whispers context to the stories, almost wiggling with that same child-like excitement.

Have you heard this story? Did you know?

Staying up late, wishing this covert location could see the stars so he could share their legends while pointing to their equivalent heavenly bodies. Holding your hand, aching in his chest because his two favorite things in the world - you and his people, are colliding. It makes him feel full of warmth and strength and raw energy like he could protect those two things against a galaxy of armies.

He whispers that he loves you in Mandalorian into the darkness.

Paz, sharing the little traditional things, embossing them onto your heart, making you bit by bit more a part of his home, part of his people.

"Cyar'ika, you have to use this seasoning for dinner," He seems nervous that you havent, already, a little annoyed that he forgot to tell you.

"Okay, but... why?"

"It - well, Leanna, the woman I told you about, she," he's not actually sure, but he saw it, remembered it on this dish, every single time.

You smile, and he presses his chest to your back, reaching around and taking a pinch in his big fingers.

"See? Like this," he rumbles proudly in your ear.

And you do.

Paz, sometimes forgetting you're not one of them, expecting you to know something, or thinking something is normal, and his earnest, confused shuffling as he realizes.

You kiss at his chest, his neck, telling him silently but loudly that you need him. Your love, tilting his head, desperately pushing you away, hurt that you would try to seduce him at a time like this.

"Love, why are you being cruel?" His tone is gentle, but genuinely a touch upset. "Must you tempt me during the Clean day?"

"What?" You're dumbfounded, arousal forgotten as you stare at him. There's something in his words the way he says it, something in the stiffness in his shoulders and the way he glances ove this shoulder like someone is watching.

And he sees the confusion on your face, and realizes you dont know. How could you?

Scolding himself, he tells you on wash days before they go on a big mission, he's supposed to fast, to hold himself above distractions, clothes cleaning and mind clear so he can be prepared. And old ritual, used for warriors to be intentional about their last few days, and make boundaries if they were were in grey situations. Not particularly necessary, but... he likes to do things right.

He holds you close, promises when the sun sets you can have him all to yourself. He'll make it up to you, of course he will.

Paz, falling more in love with you every moment that he sees you remember, trying to learn, because you know how important it is too him.

He came home later than he meant, but earlier than he told you. Poor execution for a surprize, but he can hardly wait to see you, knows you wont mind waking up for a few hours if it means having him in your bed again. But when he walks in he sees a candle lit, blue, he notices, a letter half burned with words for his safety. He didnt teach you that one, a sharp ache in his heart realizing you mustve asked someone else.

You wished for his safety, did all the little things the other partners promised would help. You cared about him, enough to learn, and enough to do it. He knew you loved him, heard you say it, saw it even but... this was for when he wasnt hear. This was a private love, something you didnt know if he would ever see.

He wondered, as he woke you with wanton kisses and hands taking every inch of your body for his own, if it was too soon to ask you to marry him.

Paz, creating traditions for just the two of you.

"Did you know that you always bring me gifts in threes?"

Your Mandalorian hummed, pausing his mouth against your core, two fingers buried inside of you. Propping yourself into your elbows, you enjoyed the pause, the sharpness of overstimulation smoothing over.

"Everything in threes. Flowers, kisses, ration packs," you explained, and he chuckled, removing his hands and sliding them up your body, moving his mouth against yours.

He had never thought about it but it felt.. right somehow, like an unintentional cornerstone to your relationship.

"I guess we need another round, then," he said, eyes glinting.

As you moan in disbelieving affirmation, he tucks the knowledge away. A new custom, for him and you.

<<

taglist:

@fangirl-316 @scribbledghost @writeforfandoms @beautyagegoodnesssize @princess76179 @mrsbentallmadge @pbeatriz

[iscribble]

pairing | youtuber!renjun x student!reader genre(s) | fluff, slice of life, strangers to potential lovers, college au word count | 1.8k summary | you’re always the type to be punctual, so it takes you by surprise that you’re willing to give up your time for something else - someone else, rather; a stranger.  author’s note | havent written in so long that i just had to put something out there. im really sorry for being so inactive! :( 

An extended but lonely crack slithers down the bathroom mirror, grazing your reflection on the glass that is opaque with moisture. Through the corner of your eye you perceive one-fourth of the aged, spreading tree outside your apartment whenever the old creaking door swings open with the wind. The quiet—but prominent—plop of the water that leaks through the apertures on the pipe hits your ears, and it is only after a while that you find it fills the little space between your toe and the tip of your shoe. The leak doesn’t bother you though. Neither does the crack, nor the random wind gusts. A yellow lip balm bounces in your palm, cap greasy from applying too much on your finger. You would exchange a mere lip balm for a heat pack, but you put it on anyway. The harsh cracks on your lips are now tucked away underneath a tacky layer of cream, and you find it amusing how easily it wears away. 

You are late, for the first time in months. Nothing really bothers you as much as glancing at the clock and seeing its hands where you least expect them to be.

In your defense, it was an afternoon class. You don’t usually have afternoon classes unless your professor needs to reschedule, which, inevitably, resets your agenda for the rest of the day. You, on the other hand, are not used to rescheduling. So when you can’t feel the warm shaft of sunlight skim across your eyelids, instead, only the feeling of cold air brushing past your skin and the faint sound of your alarm, you jolt awake, guilty of sleeping in. You try not blame yourself though—this doesn’t happen everyday and you are still not used to it. 

The station is disposed with a boring facade and a duller interior. The giant vintage clock shows 15:18. The three seater bench still holds too many people.  There is that man with the navy-coloured down jacket behind the counter, uninterested in the regulars who flock to their respective platforms. These are the same sequences, the same faces, like people are helpless boats going with the current. You scrunch up your nose, admitting you are one of them too. 

You make your way inside the train, opting to sit near no one else. It takes a while for you to settle down, but when you do, you catch someone looking at you. Harbor gray coat, brown hair, black mask. You don’t recognise him anywhere on campus. You think maybe he attends one of the afternoon classes, but you don’t assume further. 

15:29.

You leave the train with a spring in your step, but not out of enthusiasm. The familiar crisp white frontage of the building comes into view, your heart skipping a beat as you think of the worst that could happen upon stepping inside the lecture hall. One strap of your tote slides down your shoulder, and just as you are about to pick it up, the other strap goes loose and drags your bag down with it. A couple of coloured pens roll out, you grumble to yourself and crouch down to stop them from rolling any farther. You fail at this, when you turn around to pick up a blue pen and realise that someone else beat you to it. The stranger from the train. 

“Got it,” he chuckles, and you feel embarrassed. He returns your pen, but his eyes don’t stop at your hands. His gaze lowers a short distance, you’re almost sure he’s looking at the brick road beneath you, but you’re not really sure why. When you stand back up he vaguely shakes his head, like he’s been thinking about something else, but you don’t miss it.  

“Thank you,” you say, too fast that it almost sounds insolent. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he returns with a smile behind his mask. “I’m Renjun, by the way.” He extends his hand for you to shake. What’s he doing? Why's he acting like he’s about to proceed with an interview or something?

You learn that he really does want to “interview” you. “I’m a youtuber,” he informs. It is only then that you realise someone else is standing behind him, occupied with a camera. 

“Oh,” you eventually reply, but nothing else. He waits for the typical “that’s cool!” but you are too quiet, Renjun can practically hear someone making a fuss about her peppermint hot chocolate being too hot in the distance. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? It’s for a youtube video.” He speaks up. You say nothing at first. Your fingers that hide underneath the rib-knit cuff curl into a ball. You feel the crack that litters your lower lip flaunt itself, the thick lip balm that conceals it long gone. You seem even more conscious of your worn out shoes that somehow feel damper than they already are. Putting your weight on one leg, you try your best to decline him in the most mannerly way possible. 

“I’m really sorry but I’m actually late to class.”

You can’t see his smile but you know it falters. His glasses droop a little, you see the red marks on the bridge of his nose. “I see.” Is all he says. He looks back at his friend and shrugs. “Thank you, anyways.” Your stomach churns. You don’t want to be the reason he leaves empty handed, yet he is leaving, empty handed and all. Somehow, your concern for punctuality slowly withers away.

“No, wait,” you catch his fingers just before he turns the other way. He winces. Not because of the sudden swell of your voice, but because your hands are a little too cold. You steal a glance at the watch on your wrist. 15:32. Renjun finds your eyes. He doesn’t say it, that your hands are too cold, but he takes them in his own, warming them up. Strangely enough, your whole body heats up at the gesture. 

“Class can wait, whatever. What’d you want to ask me?”

Renjun’s eyes all but light up. He signals for his friend to start filming. “Alright, a few questions about college, I’m going to try and guess your major.”

“Oh, that’s new,” you raise an eyebrow. “Did you come up with the idea?”

“Nah,” Renjun laughs, he brings up a hand to push his hair back. “Just following a trend.”

15:33. You nod. “Alright, go on.”

You notice a few things about Renjun. The way he speaks, like you’ve known each other for a long time. The way his hair isn’t exactly brown, rather russet, a little red. When you look closer into his eyes, you see they match his hair. You wish you could see his lips, see if they’re as cracked as yours, if he puts lip balm on a little too much, but the black mask he wears that almost reaches his eyes tells you it’s too early for that. Perhaps, if he lowers the article just a few inches, you’ll understand that the circles beneath his eyes mean that he’s equally as tired as you. He asks you questions, not rushed, and though you are definitely late to class, you couldn’t bring yourself to care anymore.

“Might have an idea,” he looks to the camera tentatively, then back to you. “Chemistry?”

“You’re good,” your compliment reaches his ears. “How’d you guess?”

Renjun punches the air in glee as if he won the lottery. “Honestly, couldn’t get a single clue from what you said. But I saw your Analytical Chemistry book peeking out from your tote when it fell.” 

“Whoops, my bad.” You share a laugh. 

“And as a thank you for the—” he scrutinizes his watch, “—five minutes I just took from your time, this is for you.” A heat pack. You didn’t know how much you needed one until your hands reach for the item almost immediately.

15:38. You squeeze the pad as heat begins to radiate from it. Renjun’s friend lowers the camera as soon as you’re done filming, and it is then that Renjun seems like he has something else on his mind.

“Uhm,” he half-whispers. You look at him, confused. “Your shoes.”

You know what he means. Your shoes leave ambiguous trails of dirt, just slightly. Renjun notices it though. Your shoes are rather soggy, like they were deliberately dipped in water. Traces of soil scatter the outsole, centimetres up and you’ll see a small patch of fabric, sewn on to cover the hole that’s exposing your toes. You tremble slightly, bringing your right foot behind your left in an attempt to hide it from him. No one has ever pointed it out.

“Oh. They’re old, but, they work.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he scoffs lightly. “Let me buy you new ones.”

“No.” You realise that comes out too abruptly. “Please, that’s really unnecessary.”

15:39.

“You’re late to class,” he reasons with you. “At least let me make it up to you.” The obscure rift on your bottom lip bleeds a little. You like to bite it whenever you feel nervous. Renjun reaches for his phone in the pocket of his ivory trousers and hands it to you. 

“We can go over the details through text,” he subtly looks at his friend, wanting to know if the gesture is okay. “If you don’t mind, of course.”

15:40. You give in. Your fingers are stiff—you realise you’re giving your number to a stranger, so you take some time to secretly ponder over the situation, although you hate to admit Renjun feels more like a new friend. He sends you a message once you give him his phone back just to make sure you get his number. 

“Thank you,” you smile at him. “That’s really kind of you.”

15:41.

You hesitate before a hand comes up to wave at him and his friend, though the heat pack is still crushed between your fingers. Renjun pulls his mask down for the first time, and it would be weird to say you were waiting for it. For his smile. You can perceive through the white fabric whenever it shifts that he is smiling underneath there, but now it’s irrefutable, the evidence that he actually is smiling, and you’re glad that’s the last thing you see before the customary sight moulds into view, once again. 

If someone had told you this morning that you’d be willing to sacrifice your punctuality for a stranger, you’d knock some sense into them. But as you stand before the doors to the lecture hall, phone in your grip as you stare at the cerulean waters you fancy as your lock screen, no, rather, the notification that overlays it “let me know when you’re in class, i feel responsible lol”, the unusual feeling that blooms inside your chest reminds you that you could live a little less orderly and a little more self-willed.

15:43.

You’re thirteen minutes late. Though now, nothing really bothers you as much as not being able to concentrate in class because he’s all you can think about. 

[theroguequeenaniki]

Questions 2009 -> 2021

This is from my Facebook. It popped up on my memories page thing. I originally answered this in 2009 when I was 15, it’s now 2021 & and I am 27, so I’m gonna do it again. Leaving the original answers. Original answers will be italicized. Commentary on the original answers in parentheses & crossed out? Lol. (I’m not gonna tag anyone, but, like, I guess if you want to answer these random questions from Facebook 12 years ago, go ahead lol) 

Questions

Can you fill this out without lying? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. At the end, choose people to tag. Don't forget to tag me so I can see your answers! To do this, copy this entire message, then go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, delete my answers, and type yours. Easy! Next, tag people that you think may enjoy this (in the right hand corner of the app). Click publish (at the bottom). Have fun! :) 1.What was the last thing you put in your mouth? My cup with my Big Red in it The straw to my Kate Spade tumbler to drink my HEB Cola Lol.

2.Where was your profile picture taken? I got it off the internet. it's a random anime girl. My bedroom. 3.Can you play Guitar Hero? Never played it. Probably wouldn't be good at it. Not to good at video games. But I am good at Mario Cart, both 64 and the Wii. plus I'm good at some Sonic games. Still never played it. Idk if I’m any good at Mario Cart or the Sonic games anymore, I haven’t played either in years lol

4.Name someone who made you laugh today? Doctor Who TikTok. My cats.

5.How late did you stay up last night and why? Umm, probably about 10:00 cause it took me forevor to get into bed. Uh..Past 4am. Lol. B/c my sleep schedule is fucked. I was in bed by 3am though, but I was playing games & watching TikToks on my phone. Lol.

6.If you could move somewhere else, would you? Yes. I'd move to either New York or Sweden. I don’t know. Part of me says yes. But part of me says no..b/c even though Texas has it’s faults (a LOT of them), I cannot imagine living anywhere else long-term..

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? HAHA. Yeah right. I've never even been kissed! Still nope. I have been kissed though. He just didn’t kiss me under the fireworks the one NYE we spent together...

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you? Um, I think R, but D might also. D is accross Stasney from me and R is a couple blocks down (I don’t talk to these people much anymore & I’m not going to share their names on Tumblr) Uh. I think Maybe Raven? B/c they’re the only one who lives in the same city still. But, Sarah might technically be closer distance wise? Hold on. Ok, yeah, Sarah’s closer, even though she doesn’t live in this city anymore.

9. Do you believe exes can be friends? It all depends on the situation.(I totally stold M's answer but it's true) (I don’t talk to this person anymore & I’m not gonna share their name on Tumblr) I mean, yeah. Two of my best friends are each others exes and they’re still friends. I haven’t stayed friend with my ex, but, uh, he ghosted me so? Lol.

10. How do you feel about Dr. Pepper? I love it. I still love it. Lol.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard? I can't remember. I don't think it was that long ago, I had a light cry on Saturday, but I don't remember the last time I cried really hard. When we got back from our trip in July. Had a full on breakdown that night. Overheated all weekend. Overwhelmed. Anxiety. It was not a very good vacation..I cry a lot though.

12. Who took your profile picture? I got it off of google. I did. 

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? Umm, either myself, or one of my family members. Aside from myself. I think my dad, on his phone, b/c there was a cicada on his shoulder and he wanted to ask the family group chat if he could keep it. Lol. I take a LOT of pictures of cats though. Lol.

14. Was yesterday better than today? Hail yes! To much drama today! And I couldn't avoid it cause I was in the middle of it! (Oof, what drama was 15 yo Linda dealing with that she couldn’t avoid? Lol. I mean, I guess, Sophomore year was a bit full of drama lol) Anyway, I mean, they were pretty much the same. One wasn’t better than the other. One wasn’t worse than the other.

15. Can you live a day without TV? yeah. Now Music there is something I can't live without! Yep, Do it almost everyday. Sentiments about music remain the same. Lol.

16. Are you upset about anything? Yes. I'm annoyed about something and it's making me upset. (I assume this has something to do with the the drama mentioned earlier lol) Always. Anxiety & depression are a bitch. My rooms a mess & I can’t get myself to clean it. My shelves are still a mess.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? yeah. though i havent really had one yet. I mean, yeah. Even though I haven’t had one last, aside from friendships, but they’re worth it. 

18. Are you a bad influence? I hope not. If so, let me know.(again I took M's answer but it's true) Probably. Idk. Lol.

19. Night out or night in? Depends on what's going on and how I feel about it. Night in usually. I do like going out sometimes, but, like, to dinner. Maybe a movie or a show. But, you know, we’ve been in a panini press, the only thing I’ve been comfortable doing is going to dinner (fully vaxxed & masked). But I also prefer staying home anyway. (Like I usually just go to dinner with my family lol)

20. What items could you not go without during the day? my computer. my book. my journal and a pen. My phone. My journal (b/c I write in it every night, as a diary, 14yo Linda wrote stories). Uh. I didn’t take food or drinks into account in the og, so I won’t in those. But, yeah. My phone & journal. I can go a day without my laptop if I need to. (Went the whole trip in July without pulling it out, though maybe that’s not a good example since my anxiety on that trip was so high..) I want to say a book, but I’ve been in a massive reading slump so...I wish I read as much as 15yo Linda did..

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? I don't remember. I think it was myself.(if you want to know, ask me in person) I honestly don’t know. I don’t remember the last time I was in a hospital. 

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say? "Mrbobbybones:  wish ted would finally meet their mother already. geez. get to it. However, I see myself in that character more and more each episode." yeah. That's what it says. It's from Twitter. (Huh? and I can’t even go check b/c my inbox doesn’t go back to 2009 on Twitter?? (I haven’t had my account that long) Wait wait wait just remembered I used to get tweets to my phone as text messages lol)

Facebook messenger: “ Cool” From our group chat. Lol.

From actual text messages on my phone: “ heeey! Just put up the Tuesday PDS just for you  it’s a big one.” From Phillip Defranco’s text line Lol.

23. How do you feel about your life right now? I'm loving and hating it. but hey nobody gets out alive right? Uh..I mean. I’m alive. I have WiFi. Food. Family. I haven’t seen my friends in 2 years. (Minus Alex, b/c they were here in July to cat/house sit, but I saw them for like, one night..) There’s a lot that could be better. A lot that could be worse. 

24. Do you hate anyone? yes!!! Oof. I mean, kinda.

25. If we were to look in your Facebook Inbox, what would we find? some random conversations. most of my convos on her though have been in chat or through comments. Facebook Inbox is now Facebook Messenger. So you’ll find all my Facebook Messenger convos. Mostly our group chat. And side group chats for secret planning (birthdays & stuff). Plus other chats? Lol.

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? I better! (excuse me miss 15yo Linda you absolutely could have passed a drug test you ALSO didn’t drink or smoke or take any drugs lol) Yeah. Absolutely. I don’t drink or smoke or take any drugs so, yeah? Lol.

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? 

Yes. But I can't remember when... Yeah. Pretty sure. 

28. What song is stuck in your head? Gee by SNSD(Girls Generation) They're Korean. A few My Chemical Romance songs

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be? EDWARD CULLEN! Joke! lol. No I don't know. If it was Edward, I'd call the cops. whoever it is though better have an explaination or they are gonna get hit in the head with my Book of Shadows. (Maybe I wouldn’t mind Edward at my window though? Lol.) Uh. My friends? Lol. Idk if I want anyone knocking on my window at 2am.

30.Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50? I don't know....... Uh. No? Idk. Most likely not gonna happen. 

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow? I can't think of anything right now... Eat. Should probably clean my room.

32. Do you think too much or too little? Way to much! lol. Way way way too much

33. Do you smile a lot? i try to. I think I do. I get told that alot in Theater...

I think so

[twinkleton]

first glance - douxie x reader fic

Hey! So, I couldn't sleep last and decided to spend my evening writing a douxie imagine because I can't get enough of him and wanted to contribute in some small way. Please bear with me, as I havent the slightest clue how any of this works, and I haven't written anything since 7th grade :')).

this is about the reader and douxie meeting for the first time! enjoy!

In hindsight, maybe she should’ve gone straight home. Anyone would’ve told her not to follow the strange grunting noises she heard coming from deep within the forested area of Arcadia. However, Y/N was never one to pass up a chance at helping someone. So, she hid her purse in the nearest bush, took out her only choice of weapon, pepper spray, and dashed towards the noise.

As she ran closer and closer, she could hear a man’s voice repeating strange words that definitely weren’t English. She could also hear a voice that definitely didn’t sound human. Still, if someone was in trouble, she had to be there. It was a reflex that she always assumed would lead her to her demise. The deeper she went, the more concerned she became at how she would even find her way back once she found whoever she was looking for. There was no one nearby to help, so if she had just put herself in a life-threatening situation, there would be no hope for her.

All thoughts came to an end as soon as she came to a sudden halt in her step. She honestly hadn’t a clue as to what she was witnessing. Instinctively, she ran behind a tree and took a second glance.

What she saw was a tall and slim man, dressed in dark clothing with hair and sweat cascading down his face, fighting a monster whilst surrounded by piles of broken stone. It was insanely large compared to the man, with skin that looked identical to rock except for carvings that seemed the glow within. The monster swung the hammer in it’s hand towards the man, but he jumped back in time to dodge it. “Tenebris Exilium!” he shouted, and suddenly a blast of blue light came from his hands and shot at the creature. It knocked it off its feet, throwing him into a nearby tree and slamming its back against it.

Y/N observed the man closer and noticed how heavy he was breathing. He was also clutching his side in pain. ‘He must have been fighting for a while’, she thought. As she concluded this, the creature stood up and charged at the man. He threw himself to the floor, rolling off to the side. This must’ve been the monster’s plan, as it jumped up and landed right on top of him. The creature brought his hammer down, aimed at the man’s head. Using only his left arm, which is seemingly supported by a unique looking bracelet, he blocks the attack.

This begins a battle of strength between the two, however it’s the creature who has the upper hand. ‘I have to do something,’ Y/N reasoned.

She searched her surroundings, looking for anything that might be of use. Nothing, aside from a few stones and sticks on the ground. With what seemed to be no other option, she grabbed what appeared to be the heaviest rock she could carry, and emerged from her hiding spot.

Gathering her courage, Y/N raised her hand and threw the rock as hard as she could at the monster’s head. “Hey! Get off him!” she yelled. The rock rather pathetically bounced off it’s head, but it did want what she wanted it to do. It switched its attention towards her. The sinking feeling of fear hit her once it locked eyes with her. She felt glued to the ground; unable to move.

“Get away from here!” the man shouted from underneath the creature. He had no idea where this girl had come from, but she didn’t know what she was getting herself into. Immediately, her safety became his priority. The creature stood up, eyes focused on the girl.

“What on Earth is that thing?!” Y/N cried out. Her heart was pounding, harder than she’d ever felt.

“It’s a Gumm-Gumm. Something far, far too complicated to explain at this current time. But you need to run now!”

Running in her mind was deemed the most impossible task to accomplish. There was also the concern she had for this man she’s only just now met. The Gumm-Gumm took advantage of her hesitance and sprinted towards her.

“No!” the man shouts out. He jumps up from the ground only to be knocked down by the pain in his side again. “Run! Run!” His cries are not reaching her.

At this point, the Gumm-Gumm is standing right in front of Y/N. It grabs her by the waist and yanks her up towards its face. She can hear the man’s shouts distantly, however they are drowned out by her thoughts. ‘I was right’ ‘This is it for me’ Her only regret was that all she thought bringing only pepper spray would be enough--wait.

Her pepper spray. The thing she’s been clutching this whole time.

Wasting not a second more, she raised her hand towards the Gumm-Gumm’s face and sprayed seemingly half of the bottle. The creature cried out in pain and immediately dropped her. She fell to the ground, taking the chance to back away. Getting his fifth wind of the night, the man got up on his feet and wasted no time, charged up a spell, and blasted the Gumm-Gumm. This caused the creature to turn to stone, actual stone, and immediately shattered into pieces identical to those already surrounding them.

Neither of them spoke for a solid minute; the only sounds coming from them being their breathing. Y/N was still trying to comprehend what just happened. She had the notion that she would be helping someone who was getting jumped, or assaulted, not helping someone kill a...Gumm-Gumm?

“Are..are you alright?” she asked. She walked closer to him. Upon further inspection, this man looked like he could be in his late teen years. He was also--very attractive.

“Don’t worry about me, are you okay? I apologize for not helping you. The fourth Gumm-Gumm rammed into my side and I-I just couldn’t get up-”

Y/N put a hand on his shoulder, “Hey-hey it’s okay. You did all you could. You still saved me from it.”

He gave her a small chuckle, “Actually, I think it’s you who saved me. If you hadn’t distracted him I would’ve been a goner.”

She smiled at him and said, “We saved each other.”

“Ha, yeah we did.”

They locked eyes with each other, seemingly entranced by each other’s charm. Then, everything from the past few moments caught up with Y/N. “I’m sorry, I’ve seemed to have forgotten the fact that I was almost just killed by a Gunn-Gunn-”

“Gumm-Gumm”

“Thank you, Gumm-Gumm, and you blasted it with some blue sparkly light-”

“Magic”

“...Did you just say magic?”

This made him laugh, wincing a little from the pain. “Right, I’m sure you have many questions, but trust me. The more you know about this the worse off you’ll be so be allow me to make this go away for you.” He raised his hands, apparently getting ready to do a spell.

“Wait! You can’t!” Y/N exclaimed. The past hour has made entirely no sense to her, but somehow she wanted to stay involved. It could’ve been insanity, or maybe she just really wanted to know more about him, find out how to help him. Either way, she needed to know.

“Why not?” he stopped, hands still in the air. Trust him, he didn’t want to put her to sleep and have her wake up in her room with all of this seemingly a dream either. She intrigued him. She seemed kind, a rare selflessness he hadn’t expected from someone who was just thrusted into peril and world-shattering threats with no warning whatsoever. Plus, she was very beautiful. But, someone like her deserves a normal life. Free from danger like what he and his friends have to face.

“Because..because you’re hurt! I can’t very well leave you by yourself. Please, at least let me bring you to my place. I’ll patch you up and then I’ll pretend this night never happened.” She extended her hand towards him.

Against all better judgement, against Merlin’s voice ringing in ear about how terrible of an idea this was, he thought, ‘why not’.

“You’re very persuasive, do you realize that?” he asked with a cheeky smirk.

“I did get a lot of A’s on my persuasive writing in high school,” she joked. Both of them laughed softly. He took her hand. Her hand was very soft compared to his rough and calloused hand. She didn’t seem to mind.

“I’m Y/N,” she said as she pulled his arm over her shoulders, moving her hand to support him at his side.

“Hisirdoux, but you can call me Douxie.”

“Lovely to meet you, Douxie,” she gave him a warm smile.

“Same to you, Y/N” he offered the same grin.

Together, they walked out of the forest, side by side. Little did they know that they would never be apart from each other after that night.

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-12-25

I’m not going to spend time BLOGGING an upd8 on Christmas morning!

...yes I am who the fuck am I kidding.  (Bonus stuff and Hiveswap are still well on hold though.)

So are we gonna follow up on the main ship?  Probably not, right, with that perfect Karkat point to cut away, right?  We’re just going to leave Roxy’s question hanging, as well as makeouts etiquette, and leave while having seen a COUPLE FRAMES of non-possessed canon Jade with only whatever fun fanart was inspired across the internet by the moment to tide us over????

Yeah, probably.

Ugh, more Dirk.  I guess it’s overdue.  :(

> CHAPTER 16. Welcome to my Secret Lair

Oh huh, I guess not?  So... Jane’s, or Rose and Kanaya’s?

Karkat stays for longer than John thought he would. They talk a bit, but mostly they are quiet. Eventually, Karkat gets called away on yet more important war business, leaving John with one final touch on the shoulder. John leans into it in response, though he’s a bit ashamed of chasing down a sliver of physical affection so soon after obliterating Karkat’s evening like he had.

Pretty much, yeah.  Can’t blame either of them.

When Karkat is finally gone, John still doesn’t move. It isn’t as though he has nowhere else to go, since there are quite a few places he might attempt to make himself useful, for better or for worse.

You’re still abandoning the task that was explicitly yours to protect your literal kid and his friends, but, oh well.  Low-point.  Dave dead, house dead, broke news, I get it.

He just doesn’t feel ready for that yet. The remnants of his house are still smoldering, and he can’t stop staring at them. It would make sense, he thinks, to want to root around through the rubble for anything that’s still intact; some half-charred keepsake to claim as the last thing left that’s still his. But he doesn’t want to do it, and he doesn’t want to think about it. And he still can’t move.

Can’t move.  No Breath huh?  What’s going to get him to, then?

> (==>)

Oh boy, that might help.  XD  She’s pretty good at that.

> (==>)

Still with the waistline gap.  And was his phone always yellow like his God-Tier shoes?

ROXY: hey john can u do me a quick solid ROXY: actly idk how quick itll be but its definitely solid ROXY: harry anderson says i just missed u being here but could u skip back on over?

Nice, huh!  No judgment, just a hey-any-chance-you-could-swing-back.  He sort of needs to be needed right now, in a simple, almost everyday non-judgmental way I guess.  (That’s what he NEEDED anyway-- whether he deserved it though is up for debate.)

ROXY: i need help w/smth and yr darling boy is holed up in his room working on some fuckin craft project or other and cant be bothered

YES SEW JOHN A BETTER FITTING FUCKING OUTFIT

ROXY: and now that me and u are freshly on speakin terms again i might as well take advantage of that olive branch and put u to work ROXY: assumin you havent died in an air raid, that is ROXY: which id also be interested in knowin about so if u wld be so kind as to reply instead of leavin me hangin

Heheheh.  Gosh Roxy is always the best.

JOHN: yea yea sorry im here. JOHN: i just had a hard time getting my phone out of these fucking tiny pants.

Hah.

JOHN: and also my house is bombed out so i'm kinda grappling with that. JOHN: but i honestly am not sure how much longer i need to sit around staring at it. trying to align my memories of my youth with whatever is happening right now so JOHN: short version is no i’m not dead, and yeah i can come back over there and help you out. ROXY: oh sweet yr alive and down to do manual labor its a win/win JOHN: see you soon.

Yep!  Pulled away from all the metaphorical, ultra-meaningful bullshit, back to some brass tacks with some easy humor.  Definitely something Roxy can do well.~

> (==>)

EXCUSE ME.  What is that outfit and pose.  Did you--

ROXY: sup ROXY: follow me ROXY: well were just going to my room so i guess technically u know the way JOHN: haha ok.

Did you invite him over for the manual labor of banging you while your son is sewing in the other room

Or maybe the labor is making him a new sibling.  JFC

Is this plan part of why we got the sudden content warning that was mocked or was that mainly for Hiveswap 

John follows, trying to shake the ominous feeling he got from what she’d just said. He’d been in and out of this house a lot in the past few days. Why should this be any different?

I DUNNO JOHN DOES THIS SEEM DIFFERENT TO YOU

> (==>)

Yea this seems like a fucc room.

JOHN: it’s not like i could forget! ROXY: ya i guess u only really saw the living room when you were here the other day but i have changed some stuff up ROXY: done a lil redecoratin here n there

So it’s MORE of a fucc room than previously >__>”

ROXY: may have to do a smidge more if my old bff decides im next on the list for bombing out ROXY: but so far so good

Ah geez.

ROXY: just a coupla exploded cars in the yard from some shenanigans our dear son and his friends were in but u kno it is what it is!!!

Well, that’ll buff out easy.

ROXY: can i get u anything? ROXY: just made some coffee JOHN: no, uh, i’m good.

Of course she has a fancy handled winecoffeeglass  (and the handle does look ridiculous but it’d be too hot to hold otherwise)

Roxy shrugs and swirls her own coffee around in her novelty mug. John looks around. A lot about the room is the same. The family photos, the rug. There’s a lot more cat stuff in there now, though. The bed is new. John feels like he’s about to take a test he hasn’t studied for. He makes himself focus on what she’s saying.

That would be the feeling.

> (==>)

MY GOD.  Roxy is so fucking good at this holy shit

She KNOWS she’s making him squirm and she loves it

JOHN: so uh anyway. JOHN: what was this favor? ROXY: yo why dont u just come rest yr tush for a bit ROXY: take a lil relax next 2 me here JOHN: haha uh. JOHN: roxy i uh. JOHN: im flattered, but i don’t know if that’s really the right step right now. JOHN: don’t get me wrong, everything seems so fucked up right now that when i try to think about what might actually BE the right step, it feels like a huge cartoon question mark might physically manifest over my head. JOHN: but I’m not sure if um rekindling our physical relationship is really the best--

So is Roxy trolling him, about to reveal she wasn’t thinking of sex and was just making things seem sultry?  Or just had “lol jk” as an option-select, maybe.

> (==>)

ROXY: r u kiddin me rn egbert JOHN: i’m not? unless you were, in which case yeah lets say i was also kidding. JOHN: oh my god, i��m sorry, i don’t know why this making me freak out.

OH NOOO NOT THE DISDAAAAIN - CRITICAL HIT D:

ROXY: i remember our past boot knockin with fondness but that is a situation im not interested in revisiting

boot knockin XD

ROXY: look john ROXY: i was trying to be polite about it ROXY: offering u sustenance n rest n all ROXY: but you look like shit ROXY: i just wanted to catch up on the whole heinous war situation were in and maybe check in on e/o before leaping strait to the real n actual nonsexual manual labor favor i have in mind for u JOHN: oh.

Hey, she can’t help looking sexy she’s too good at it.

Is the manual labor moving the crashed cars?  Can’t Roxy pull that off on her own, or... banish the cars to the void or something?  (Oh, but WOULD she want to do it on her own when she can rope in John and bring him down to earth by giving him a useful task?  And admittedly his strength and wallet would make things easier.)

John feels his shoulders unbunch. Of course. Yeah. He’s almost embarrassed by how relieved he feels. So what if his ex wife wanted to hook up? Shouldn’t that be a situation he could navigate? Don’t people like to find solace in human physical connection during dire times? Why did the idea of it make his mind white out in panic more than, say, any number of the traumas he just experienced?

Probably some gender stuff mixed up in there too, June.

He doesn’t know, but he believes Roxy that he must look pretty haggard. He probably feels haggard? Maybe sitting down will feel better.

Just put your feet up yeah

> (==>)

WHAT A CUTE IMAGE

JOHN: sorry. like i said, my "how to react to stuff" meter is completely fucked right now. ROXY: thats fair bud

she’s used to being patient with you don’t worry otherwise you never would’ve gotten this far

ROXY: real fast i do need to do a quick takeback of all that shit i said last time we talked about janey not being literally the most evil person we knew or whatever ROXY: i guess i was hopped up on arguin or somethin since that was before we hit our conversational vibe bc of course u were right and i shoulda listened

Ouch.  Yeah, we saw just lately just how far off the deep end she was.  (Where was that funny upd8 reaction art summarizing the bit where Kanaya was holding Tavros hostage and Jane was transparently debating “hmm do I let my son die?” and Kanaya and Tavros were just looking at each-other flat-mouthed nervous?  I REALLY wanted to share that but I don’t usually want to reblog or put most stuff HS^2 not under a read-more, for spoiler purposes, usually.)

ROXY: im just glad ur ok ROXY: or like alive JOHN: yeah, jury's still out on "ok" but, you know. ROXY: ya ROXY: u said ur house is gone?? JOHN: yep. JOHN: completely. ROXY: jeez ROXY: i would ask how ur feelin but like the answer 2 that has got 2b "prtty bad"

Talk it ouuuut~~  get those feels out there and articulated john

JOHN: yeah. JOHN: i mean. JOHN: no? JOHN: it’s weird. JOHN: it feels like it should be a bigger deal, I guess? JOHN: like it’s my HOUSE. JOHN: but mostly it always felt like my dad’s house? JOHN: and when i started living there after i moved out of here, it was like i crammed myself back into whatever was left of my kid self? JOHN: and it didn’t feel good, but it at least was familiar, you know? JOHN: like living there let me feel closer to my dad, trying to be like the way i remember him, or like how i remember him wanting me to be, or something? JOHN: and i didn’t realize how much i hated doing that until i saw it all go up in flames. JOHN: so i guess i could have used my powers to stop the fire and save whatever was left of the place, but i couldn’t bring myself to do it. JOHN: like some fucked up part of me was glad i got there too late? JOHN: so i just sat there, watching, trying to figure out why watching my house burn down felt like i was being released from prison. JOHN: and even now i keep trying to explain it away, as though it’s because of how fucked up everything else is that it made me feel good. JOHN: but that’s just bullshit. JOHN: it DID feel good. JOHN: i DO feel free. JOHN: sorry.

I was kind of saying some Breath/Blood stuff at the time of him losing his last tie to his stubborn sticking-to-his-kid-self bit?  Except now we’re mixing it in with June Egbert and his gender-identity questions too.

ROXY: no need 2 apologize ROXY: we just delved in2 my whole gender thing last time so it seems fine for u to have a turn JOHN: i didn’t say it was a gender thing.

Oh shit

ROXY: well no i just meant like i did some sharing ROXY: like referrin 2 the topic i brought up when we chatted last ROXY: but like now that u mention it ROXY: *meaningful pause* JOHN: … JOHN: i JOHN: ROXY: lol well we can move on 2 the favor part if youd rather ROXY: stick a lil pin in that topic n come back 2 it when u have had sleep

Are you just INCREDIBLY incisive Roxy or have you and John talked about this before?

ROXY: like i said the other day its not like this shits figureoutable in 1 sitting anyways JOHN: yeah... ROXY: sooooooo ROXY: movin on

It’s just fine for Roxy to slow-roll this yeah, if she’s going to pry open that door a little

ROXY: dont be mad but theres a part of the house u didnt know abt the whole time u lived here JOHN: what? ROXY: yea ROXY: i got a secret lair ROXY: for my sciences

OH FUCK YES SCIENCE LAB, of COURSE Roxy would want a cool science lab basement because she always wants a cool science lab basement

ROXY: and i get to it via a transportalizer underneath our bed ROXY: which is 2 heavy 2 move by my lonesome so i just needed to borrow some o your aforementioned powers of wind

Okay no.  Wait.  What the fuck?

First of all, as funny and MSPaintAdventures-y as furniture being in the way of things is, why would you block it with a bed too heavy to move, but,

Second of all, more importantly, how is a GOD-TIER ROXY not strong enough to lift a heavy bed?!?!?!?  Either she’s lying to get John involved in things or this is a gendered cop-out because these characters are superheroes at the TOP of their echeladders, given obnoxiously powerful video-game strength and athletics only to then have ascended into DEITIES.  God-Tier Roxy could probably have lifted a bed like that when she was SEVENTEEN!  And now she’s an ADULT, out-of-shape or otherwise!  If this were a whole CAR I might be willing to handwave it, but just a heavy BED?!?  And none of the GUYS are going to have this much trouble lifting a bed like this, are they??  This just feels like following classic cartoony gender tropes in the complete absence of these characters’ super powers, what the fuck, and also Roxy if you didn’t make it Transportalizer-only access you could have given it an entrance you could phase through with your fancy powers to get to.  FUCK.

This feels stupid.

ROXY: so if u dont mind woosh away JOHN: uh ok, well... JOHN: a secret science lair, sure, i can deal with that. JOHN: why not! JOHN: it doesn’t work out great when i do the windy thing indoors, though. ROXY: aight then no wind bending just use your mangrit

Roxy flexes, the corner of her mouth pulled up into a familiar grin. John feels his guts, so recently calmed, twist up into knots again. Her eyebrows shoot up and the smile loosens. He must have shown something on his face.

You’re already THIS sensitive about gendertalk?

ROXY: ok or just like push when i push ROXY: we both got sick muscles ROXY: no other adjectives necessary JOHN: yeah ok. ROXY: on 3?

Please, please reinforce the idea that they both have sick strength, because they fucking do and the idea that Roxy actually a hundred percent NEEDED John to do this is BS.

> (==>)

JOHN: holy shit? ROXY: sorry to lop yet another huge scoop onto ur lil brains ice cream revelation sundae JOHN: so wait, if this thing's always been under the bed, how’d you get down here before without me? ROXY: well thats neither here nor there john JOHN: i mean it is kinda. Here. ROXY: fine ok checkmate ROXY: i dont ACTUALLY need ur nerdgrit for this escapade ROXY: like im sorry but i said it ROXY: i mostly just wanted to see you and show u wats down here

THANK FUCKING CHRIST.

If that wasn’t actually just a lie to get him involved I was going to stay SO mad.  Of COURSE Roxy can move a fucking BED no matter how heavy it is.  OF COURSE.

ROXY: and also uve been ~sent for~ JOHN: ok but like ROXY: john i am inviting u 2 my inner sanctum ROXY: i am literally bringing out the word "sanctum" in case u werent already clued in 2 how cool this is ROXY: so do u wanna go into my secret lair or wat JOHN: yeah!? JOHN: yes? i guess? ROXY: aight good

Yes John of course you want to stop fighting it

ROXY: then as they told me in the hospital before lil h a was born ROXY: just push

eyeroll, but yeah, of course

> (==>)

Oh cool, sprite form version of her loungewear.

> (==>)

Sorry for my compulsion to post every full-frame image of Roxy in this awesome outfi-WERE YOU KEEPING CALLIOPE UNDER YOUR BED THIS WHOLE TIME?!?????

That’s like... almost a fucking metaphor isn’t it????  For the relationship you preferred in the other timeline and possibly THIS one TOO or

ROXY: hey callieee i got him ROXY: o damn john sorry i shoulda also told u callies here weve been hangin out again ROXY: 1 more freak for ur bean

Oh huh, so this isn’t an always thing.  And these two can get close in more than one timeline where it would’ve worked out nicely.  :)

JOHN: oh it's ok, my bean feels pretty well adjusted to freakage at this point so keep them coming if you like! ROXY: k cool i will JOHN: do i get to know what that big thing under the sheet is? ROXY: hmmmmmm no JOHN: oh ok. JOHN: are you sure? i mean, it seems like a pretty prominent feature of the room. JOHN: space. JOHN: wherever we are. ROXY: and a totally mysterious n COMPLETELY inconspicuous feature it will have to remain for now ROXY: we r kinda in a hurry here fyi ROXY: and by that i mean ROXY: we are in precisely the amount of hurry that means im excused from having to a that specific q rn JOHN: right, sorry. JOHN: i will pay no attention to the object behind the curtain. ROXY: u catch on fast egbert ROXY: anyway theres more cool info coming so just follow me

I don’t have any big theories.  Is it just the Hiveswap device or something?  If Calliope helped with it it’d help explain the Cherubic theme.

> (==>)

JOHN: so... this is all downstairs? JOHN: it seems like you had a lot of work done. ROXY: well no not x actly ROXY: were in the old meteor JOHN: under the house??? ROXY: ok so ROXY: in hindsight it may have been a bit misleading 2 say like ROXY: "downstairs" ROXY: in reference to a place which is hells of buried underground and may not actually be literally under the house ROXY: but there is no time to explain all that rn john so instead im going to refer u to my adorable little green friend here CALLIOPE: #U_U# ROXY: (hehe) CALLIOPE: *AHEM* CALLIOPE: hi john! CALLIOPE: long time no see. ^u^

Cherubs just really like dark cavelike places full of weird tech don’t they.

> (==>)

THEY’RE SO CUTE

JOHN: oh, uh. hey callie! JOHN: it sure has been a while huh. JOHN: now that i think about it, the last time the three of us hung out like this... CALLIOPE: was when i was aggressively third wheeling yoUr prenUptial coUrtship? CALLIOPE: if yoU dont mind, john, i'd rather not rehash that period of oUr lives. CALLIOPE: it was more than a little painfUl for me. JOHN: oh. JOHN: god, jeez, i'm sorry. i didn't mean to-- CALLIOPE: hee hee john i am only pUlling yoUr leg, don't worry. CALLIOPE: if anything i was personally a little thrilled with how things shook oUt in that respect. CALLIOPE: imagine, if yoU will, a yoUng cherUb raised in solitUde, whose only solace was the convolUted and tUmUltUoUs romantic schemata she projected onto her only friends from another Universe. CALLIOPE: and then fUrther imagine that this yoUng cherUb, throUgh varioUs even *more* convolUted contrivances, ended Up in the company of those selfsafe friends as an eqUal participant in their sphere of social discoUrse! CALLIOPE: it is a joy the like of which yoU possibly cannot fathom. u_u

Reinforcing that things turning out this way was in fact the FANTASY that Calliope was writing over in the Canon timeline.  Just, heavily, HEAVILY implied that the Candy timeline is -- or at least originated as -- Calliope’s fanfiction as a Muse of Space, and its competition for audience interest with canon is the essential conflict between alt!Calliope and Dirk (or Dirk and Andrew Hussie).

CALLIOPE: so to pUt it simply, getting to experience sUch emotional drama myself was an impossibly enriching experience. CALLIOPE: possibly a first for my species! CALLIOPE: it's actUally qUite interesting, if yoU ROXY: *nudge* CALLIOPE: oh, right. yes. i'm getting a little carried away, haha. CALLIOPE: argh, i'm sorry, this is not how i planned to begin this vital conversation.

Vital conversation?  What sorta truth-bombs are coming?

CALLIOPE: but to sUmmarise, what i was trying to say is: CALLIOPE: don't beat yourself Up aboUt it john. CALLIOPE: besides, hUman divorces are even more fascinating than i had ever imagined, and being able to witness yoUrs in motion was an honoUr. CALLIOPE: so i consider Us aboUt even at this point. JOHN: hahaha!!! JOHN: okay, well that's good to know! CALLIOPE: ^u^

Holy SHIT that was savage!  And we’ll NEVER know whether or not she really intended it so savagely, either.~

JOHN: so um... JOHN: i hear that there's this big secret thing you wanna tell me about? CALLIOPE: oh right, yes of course! CALLIOPE: let me jUst say first of all how thrilled i am that yoU're on board. CALLIOPE: i wasn't sUre if yoUr natUral inclinations woUld have preclUded yoUr coming to such a place as this, and yet here yoU are. CALLIOPE: this whole endeavoUr will be *so* mUch easier with yoUr help.

Uh oh.

Hopefully babies aren’t involved.

JOHN: oh! well, shucks. JOHN: not really sure what that means but i'm just glad to be of use somewhere, haha. JOHN: which, speaking of somewhere, CALLIOPE: ah right, right. yoU're probably a little cUrioUs as to where the dickens we are. CALLIOPE: how much do yoU know aboUt black holes? JOHN: um... like, the big space things? CALLIOPE: they aren't always big actUally, and in fact their relative smallness is practically their defining qUality. JOHN: oh. CALLIOPE: bUt okay i think we are on the same page. CALLIOPE: so, what if i told yoU that we are inside of a black hole right now.

Oh dear, we’re getting into the canon/noncanon divide?

JOHN: um... JOHN: like, HERE? JOHN: we just transportalized into a black hole? CALLIOPE: no, i mean, what if oUr whole WORLD was inside a black hole. JOHN: ok.

Yeah, that’s gonna be John’s reaction.  “ok.”  Pretty much inevitable.

CALLIOPE: earth c, or at least oUr version of it, has, from the moment we crossed the victory threshold, been inside a black hole. JOHN: ok. CALLIOPE: and not just any black hole, bUt the very black hole in which the green sUn Ultimately met its demise, allowing oUr victory in the first instance! JOHN: huh! ROXY: ("huh!") ROXY: (rofl my fucking ao egbert) JOHN: (shhhh!)

And Roxy enjoys his non-reaction reactions as much as we do, hehe.

CALLIOPE: bUt, paradoxically, the critical moment which determined its capture within the black hole happened *after* that point. CALLIOPE: i refer of coUrse to yoUr decision not to retUrn to the mediUm and fight my brother. JOHN: wait, wait. JOHN: you mean, the meat and candy thing? JOHN: oh my god. JOHN: you mean i actually DID make a mistake that day. CALLIOPE: well, that's not exactly what that-- JOHN: ugh, i fucking KNEW it! JOHN: i'm so sorry. JOHN: i'm so sorry that i put the earth inside a black hole everyone. ): ROXY: john ROXY: listen ROXY: u have got to get out of this mindset i am begging you JOHN: ):

Yeah shake him out of this shit.

ROXY: your choice literally didnt matter ROXY: the whole thing was symbolic in the first place ROXY: literally symbolic in the case of the picnic i mean come on ROXY: it was just some steak and a plate of candy suckers JOHN: oh. CALLIOPE: i mean, i wouldn't go so far as to say that the meal we shared was unimportant, given the sacred significance of the two options i presented. CALLIOPE: but yes, yoUr choice of snack was infinitely less important than the choice which it presaged. CALLIOPE: and even then, calling it a choice woUld be sorely misleading. CALLIOPE: think of it like a coin flip. CALLIOPE: the series of events that led to Us being trapped beyond the event horizon of an Ubermassive black hole could be considered "tails", while the events which would have occUrred otherwise could be considered "heads". CALLIOPE: since both were possible, and paradox space is the way it is, they actUally both happened. and we jUst "happened" (hee hee) to get tails instead of heads. JOHN: you mean we ended up with the bad possibility. CALLIOPE: not at all! since both possibilities depend on one another's existence, it really doesn't make sense to call them "right" or "wrong". they both just "are". JOHN: o...kay... CALLIOPE: u_u

Yeah, it’s going to take a bit more than that to convince him he didn’t make the “wrong decision”.

CALLIOPE: i realise that this may be a lot to process. CALLIOPE: it's easy to forget that this wasn't obvioUs to everyone from the beginning. CALLIOPE: anyway, the reason i went on this tangent in the first place was to explain that the space we are standing in right now has a special significance, in that it is the location which corresponds to the black hole's singUlarity. JOHN: oh, wow. JOHN: um. JOHN: ok so, sorry if this is a dumb question to ask suddenly, but what does being inside of a black hole actually... mean for us? JOHN: is that bad? JOHN: is it like in movie, um, JOHN: shoot. JOHN: roxy what was that matthew mcconaughey movie from your earth that we watched? ROXY: u mean interstellar JOHN: RIGHT. JOHN: the one with the organ. JOHN: man. i cried at that movie so much. ROXY: lol u can say that again ROXY: iirc at least part of y u got so weepy was the fact that u couldnt believe a version of earth existed where ppl got 2 watch more mcconaughey films than you JOHN: listen. JOHN: i simply don't think you all appreciated the gift you were given. CALLIOPE: i don't believe i'm familiar with this particular film ^u^;; ROXY: oh dont worry cal you didnt miss much JOHN: (gasp)

This is all gold

ROXY: but the important point is that no its not really an interstellar type situation here egbert ROXY: ur not gonna enter a weird time vortex and change the trajectory of a little girls life with the power of love JOHN: aw.

Dammit, now we have to be on the lookout for that possibility.  Or it did sort of already happen more than once to John.  ...Whatever.

CALLIOPE: to go back to your original question, john. CALLIOPE: it's not strictly speaking "bad" for Us to be inside of a black hole, mUch thoUgh that contradicts most of what anyone knows about them. CALLIOPE: of coUrse, if we had fallen into it, that woUld be a whole other kettle of fish. CALLIOPE: the tidal forces woUld have stretched Us all into spaghetti and then ripped us apart! CALLIOPE: bUt the natUre of oUr arrival was more akin to simply "being" here, sUddenly. one moment we were not, and the next moment we were, and somehow always had been. CALLIOPE: in everyday, practical terms, being inside of a black hole has very little bearing on Us. CALLIOPE: i mean, the natUre of space and time is a little finicky in here, bUt for the most part it doesn't seem to be anything too oUt of the ordinary. CALLIOPE: bUt beyond that, it means that we are sealed away from the rest of existence. CALLIOPE: oUr sphere of inflUence is limited to the sphere of the black hole's bounding horizon. CALLIOPE: as far as everyone else is concerned, we might as well not even exist! JOHN: is there no way we could let anyone know that we're in here...? CALLIOPE: almost certainly not!

No?  So this doesn’t have to do with the divide?

CALLIOPE: there are very few ways for anything to escape the kind of predicament that we are in right now. one of them is to be an all-powerfUl being with control over the very fabric of space, with the energy of two Universes at yoUr disposal. CALLIOPE: in which case, escape woUld become rather trivial, if a little Unscientific. JOHN: ok. i am going to assume that we can't just do that. CALLIOPE: yoU've hit the nail on the head, UnfortUnately. U_U CALLIOPE: the method i described was the one employed by my alternate self, who yoU may recall crashed through the event horizon in the body that once belonged to jade harley. CALLIOPE: she departed through a pUnctUre she created in the black hole's surface shortly after consUming my brother, a deed which provided her with the necessary "oomph", and which was frankly rather breathtaking to watch. =u= CALLIOPE: bUt Upon her departUre, the rift closed for good. as far as i can see, there's simply no way for Us to commUnicate with the world oUtside the black hole.

What the heck?  Calliope SAW all this?  Is this her Muse powers at work, letting her observe these things, or was she there?  And John certainly did NOT see ANY of what Calliope just said happen.

CALLIOPE: i woUld certainly be very sUrprised to find oUt that anyone had managed sUch a thing!

So we’re going to find that out if we haven’t already.  Maybe something to do with the way Vrissy just conks out narcoleptically?

JOHN: ...right. JOHN: so... let me just get this straight. JOHN: knowing that we're inside of a black hole... does that actually change anything? JOHN: like, can't we just go on living like normal? CALLIOPE: oh absolUtely not. CALLIOPE: i don't know if yoU've noticed john bUt this world is on the brink of a total cataclysm. JOHN: oh.

Um, what?

CALLIOPE: oUr exclUsion from the overarching coUrse of events which governs all reality means that oUr existence here is liable to dramatic and violent Upheaval. CALLIOPE: to pUt it another way, becaUse nothing in here "matters", we are likely to be sUbjected to things which are a bit bats in the belfry, for no reason other than it's totally insignificant to the wider canon of reality. CALLIOPE: and mUch thoUgh i am personally titillated by some of the conseqUences of this predicament, it is a degrading way for Us to live. u_u JOHN: that's... certainly one way to put it, yeah...

No plot-armor for your entire timeline, I guess, yep.  Outside of canon, we can imagine and write about ANYTHING happening to the characters, or just drop their existence entirely, much like a doomed offshoot timeline.  It’s a plot stability that depended heavily on the threat of Lord English and being trapped in a story, and without it things are bound to see a BIT chaotic (or “degrading” if you view it as subjected to the whims of fanfic writers, certainly).

CALLIOPE: at first, i believed that this was simply necessary. Us playing tails to oUr coUnterparts' heads, the black to their white, and so forth. CALLIOPE: bUt over the years i have come to the conclUsion that this is simply not kosher. ROXY: its total bs is what it is CALLIOPE: right, yes. CALLIOPE: a steaming pile of bUllshite. CALLIOPE: and so we have decided that something needs to be done aboUt it.

Ah fuck.  You’re going to regulate non-canon?  “Canonize” it?  Is the fact that you eventually succeed at whatever it is you’re trying to do part of why we have the story presented to us in this bifurcated structure?

ROXY: this is finally where u come in jegbert ROXY: we gots quests for yous CALLIOPE: hee hee, yes. CALLIOPE: or *a* quest, to be specific. JOHN: oh boy! ROXY: (this fkin nerd i s2g)

Roxy and Calliope setting him on this quest as a Rogue of Void and a Muse of Space feels fitting.

JOHN: i'm not sure how i can go about freeing us from a hellish space prison, but i'm up for giving it a try i guess? JOHN: i have... literally nothing better to be doing at this point. except for maybe hanging out with harry anderson. ROXY: nice save lol

YEAH WE’RE STILL GLOSSING OVER HOW YOU LEFT HIM UNPROTECTED, JERK

ROXY: but u dont need to worry abt busting us outta space jail tbh ROXY: thats not ur problem to fix JOHN: oh. JOHN: i'm... not sure i follow, then. ROXY: i mean yeah ur gonna obvs facilitate it in a sense ROXY: but only by going and busting the person who can actually help us outta normal earth jail CALLIOPE: we need yoU to free vriska from the clUtches of oUr misgUided friend jane, and bring her here, to the singUlarity. ROXY: weve been calling it the plot point CALLIOPE: yes, the plot point is a key part of oUr plan. CALLIOPE: as far as we have been able to sUrmise, the only remaining method for escaping oUr grim confinement depends on leveraging the UniqUe properties of this location to create an event of sUch catalcysmic proportions that it simply cannot be contained within the black hole any more. CALLIOPE: something SO dramatic, so hyper-relevant, that it becomes ontologically impossible for anyone to ignore it. CALLIOPE: for that, we need an individUal of sUfficient narrative cloUt, so to speak. CALLIOPE: and to liberate her, who better than the embodiment of the aspect of freedom itself? CALLIOPE: ... CALLIOPE: phew. okay, i'm finished. CALLIOPE: CALLIOPE: sorry, that took longer than i expected to go throUgh.

..............................

OOooooh, kay.

Whatever this is, it’s going to be really weird and PROBABLY infuriating and/or shippy, and I’m probably not going to like it.  Plus it seems like it’s some sort of inverse belated canonization of some other black-hole-rescue theories I went on about at some point.  Although, related to that link, “aspect of freedom” if anyone wasn’t paying attention!  That’s a (sorta-)canon mention of the purpose of it!

They’re going to attention-wh-- attention-hog themselves out of the black hole so that they’re “considered canon” too, or close enough.  Huh.

ROXY: what r u talking about cals that was great ROXY: i could listen 2 u plotsplain for years CALLIOPE: oh you >u< ROXY: fyi this was why i wanted u to get a move on eggbread ROXY: so callie could have more time 2 infodump ROXY: thats love bitchhhhhh JOHN: hahaha. JOHN: ok, well, i think i understood all that?

Love with who? Callie, John, both?

In reality, John isn’t sure what most of this means. But on balance, it feels okay? He’s gone back and forth about a hundred times in the last week about where his place in everything is, so he might as well ride this out. Plus, the last time a Lalonde kind of told him to do something, he thinks that he chose not to, and look where that got him. And it’s not like he has other plans. He may as well do this! It’s at least going to get him involved in things again, if nothing else. He turns to go, and then hears a sound. It’s the sound of feet and knocking on doors, echoed through stone and digital static.

Oh shit.  Is Andrew trapped behind some fourth walls behind the curtains.

> (==>)

Oh RIGHT also that DEVICE is where they want to bring Vriska.  Are they going to overturn part of canon itself with a super-retcon thus making this timeline unbelievably relevant or--?  Maybe make all the PESTERQUESTS canon or something?!  I don’t know.  Maybe they’re INTENTIONALLY starting the game like Vriska wanted to??????

Guh, this is something so big that I don’t WANT to theorize about it, do I.

JOHN: did you hear that? ROXY: wha ROXY: oh yeah uh ROXY: i may have messaged rose and kan and jade to check on them too ROXY: so its prob onea them showin up ROXY: they don’t need to know bout all this tho ROXY: we got time to chat with them b4 u go get vriska

No, even if it’s a knock at the somehow-top-level-house-even-under-buried-- oh, right, maybe it’s covering in part a monitoring system that looks up there.  But still, part of that sound was DOUBTLESS these two hiding something, all standing in front of the curtain like that.

JOHN: i’ll go stall em. ROXY: thx babe ROXY: oh is it 2 soon for that joke or JOHN: no, weirdly enough, that one’s fine. ROXY: oh good ok see u up there soon!

How is calling your significant other “babe” not cool REGARDLESS of gender?!  Like wasn’t that always cool? --Oh wait is it because they’re not together or... but... guh, I don’t know.

Anyway, see y’all after the holidays at least.

[bipedalseal]

re: playing orlok's route; hahaha where do i even start? unexpectedly, it was a very long run. it didn't end at chapter 5 as i expected, probably bc i didnt pick the obey yang option. expectedly, it was a bad end. exoectedly, it was like a dante bad end. unexpectedly, i didn't get bored. can you believe i got like 5 bad ends in this run? my route progress is 40% now! in one run

it was also a while before i got to play this again. my sisters busy with some drawing project os i havent been allowed near her laptop lately and she discovered a new pc game (the ace attornsy prequel). she's been in a good mood bc of that game tho

1. i didnt predict that rosberg would be orlok's actual dad..? yknow considering that he seemed to neglect orlok emotionally. tho im not surprised that he had a son. most ppl have a hard time staying celibate anyway, like u tout sex as the ultimate form of love between a man and a woman and expect ppl not to want that lol (obviously the solution would be to take away the stigma regarding sex but idk, not a theologist). honestly i thought that "rosberg being a shite parental figure" would trump the "hes actually my dad card", but still. the writers are okay with anti-church sentiments but not anti-filial piety... interesting.

2. yang dying and the laoshu disbanding seems like an inevitability in nearly every ending. which i suppose doesn't go against his character? i wondee what happened to make him not value his own life like that. its very interesting.

3. the voice acting. iT SLAPPED HARD. admittedly i am talking abt yang during his final moments, bc why not. something weird occured during that, actually--i was playing on earphones that only worked on one side. But during yang's Evil Monologue, like the first fucking word he said, it suddenly started working in both ears. i got chills man. it was also chilly at the time. nobuhiko okamoto's stuff never ceases to disappoint me. kaito ishikawa was ngl his delivery... stop making me wanna learn voice acting my girls. i lowkey wish the mc had a voice too. esp during the pg13 scenes. thatd sound sexy.

4. speaking of pg13 scenes, um.

5. this run was a bad end for orlok as much as it was for dante, yeah? only difference is that orlok is the protag and dante is the antagonist. interestingly, orlok showed signs of turning his back on his old ways (and god in turn) when the thing with luca and yang and rosberg happened and he said nope. i think on the other hand started throwing his morals away the moment nicola got buried. that moment when he could finally make his move, that was when he was like, "fuck it, im gonna avenge everyone and do what i want in the process". then dante got a leg over orlok and victor (figuratively and literally, respectively) by using the visconti. i wonder what got gilbert to do that though. surely he must have known that orlok was gonna kill him? whyd he sacrifice himself for dante??

6. i feel like luca dying had something to do with the laoshu. poisoning, maybe?

7. ill be honest the romance here didn't really capture my attention. i was looking for something more, uh, fucked up maybe? but the writer's attitude towards religion and the church did. it felt really self-aware. im also not surprised that orlok killed victor in one of his bad ends. i didnt really have faith in his ability to question his faith. im surprised that the writer managed ti capture the feeling of questioning the church."if i dont obey him now, then my whole life would be a lie" and "give me a reason to kill him, say its an order by god, anything" had me thinking back to my pre-apostasy days. idk, i expected less from a visual novel with a largely catholic backdrop. my expectations have been nicely surpassed.

8. back to the pg13 scenes. its AMAZINGLY amazing. maybe im just horny? idk. i rlly think inserting a scene like that then wouldhave been perfect. like there was a scene of someone's ear getting cut off for fucks sake (which ngl could have gone on for longer than it canonically did, to my squeamish self's disgust). or at least some soft description of the scene could have been used like "he held me down and forced his way in, smiling as i struggled. i finally stopped resisting after the moon began descending from her crest. that smile turned into full laughter. still orlok's cries were the loudest in my ears." pr something. like UGH. sex isnt inherently bad my friends!! unless u use it as a way to violate other ppl like in this situation.... ..... ..... i still think sex scenes can provide amazing symbolism tho. honestly its amazing i can stand reading and writing um adult relationship scenes when i cant stand to read a description of a man's thigh getting stabbed. or seeing a dead body. jfc.

not sure what ill do after this. still havent finished dante and nicola's route 100% and orlok's route, i missed a bad end i think. think ill go for the bad end that i missed, then ill take a short break by digesting something fluffy (aka the ace attorney game where payne is japanese! jfc!). lets see when i can liveblog again.

[rinamoe]

**** Hogwarts Mystery Year 6 Chapter 45+ Spoilers / Theories

I've got some theories on the whole Merula is the mole thing. I've been reading some on tumblr when I finished the chapter. But also thought of some I havent seen, so I wanted to compile a list of all my theories.

1. Merula is the mole but she isn't doing it for bad reasons.

• When you think about how Merula has always viewed the MC as competition, its a no brainer to think she would play the MC for a chance to become more powerful. BUT during the course of 6 years their relationship has grown closer and she was even able to be the MC love interest several times. She also flirted with the MC and becomes shy when talking about crushes. She was also struck with revenge in wanting to avenge Rowan. And even almost killed Rakepick during the last cursed vault but was stopped by Jacob. I think if she was willing to kill someone whos in an organization she's so called committed to she would've been put to death had they found out. Merula could easily be trying to use R as a way to gain more power then betray them. She also used the truth potion to try to convince MC she wasn't the mole.

2. Merula is actually the mole

• Merula although I love her could actually be the mole. She could have been faking her relationship with the MC this whole time as a way to get closer to her without seeming too desperate. Notice key things like the fact that R has to somehow convince MC to join them. R knows the MC is powerful, impressionable, and want to use her. What better way to get someone to pretend to be her friend. Someone the MC trusts enough but wouldn't be suspicious about. Because Merula over the years before R was mentioned has always disliked MC. So Merula being caught hanging around shady people or being mean to her sometimes wouldn't be suspicious. As well as even though we have known Merula, amd could date Merula since year 6. We still dont have a friendship with her in the tab to gain friendship. So even if in game MC says she thinks of Merula as a friend, it can be the game showing that Merula never thought of MC as a friend and probably never will because she was betraying the MC. This is my least favorite theorie I've thought about since the last chapter of year 6 but it may be the one the game pushes.

3. Merula is being framed

• The option Merula stans around the world are praying and begging for. I have seen this theory a lot as well as thought about it myself. Merula could be being framed two ways Ive thought of.

Sitaution 1 : Someone is using a polyjuice potion to pretend to be Merula in front of R. This obviously means it has to be someone close to her because they need to consistently be collecting her hair/dna. And I say consistently because the dark witch who met 'Merula' said, "Late as usual". Which means they have been meeting up a few other times in order for the dark witch to inquire that 'Merula' is always late. This can be due to the imposters bad puncture OR because they have to sneak around since they're pretending to be someone else and are careful they aren't seen, which can lead to them being late. In this case R doesn't know that this isn't the real Merula Snyde but someone pretending to be her because of her obvious reputation of wanting to be powerful and being mean to the MC.

Situation 2: Merula is being framed BUT only that time during the last chapter of year 6. What if the mole knew that Mundungus Fletcher is somewhat of a friend of MC and purposely leaked information where he could find it and warn the MC. This would have had to be planned because the only way to pretend to be someone else is through a polyjuice potion. It also has to be someone like Jae or Ben who have connections to him or was with MC when doing deals. Dont forget once Ben turned into a 'bad boy' he was said to be hanging around the shady parts to 'find Rakepick.' Also on the topic of Ben, he was one of the friends who said they should disband the circle of Khanna. Ben knows R is out to get MC and that Rakepick wasn't the only member involved. And he knows about the hostage too. Which makes Ben a big suspect.

OR the dark witch was specifically asking around to make the MC interested in tailing them so that the MC could PURPOSELY overhear them talking. This still requires a polyjuice potion so they planned this at least a month in advance. But the dark witch and the imposter knew that the MC would be at the meeting place (which even though no one was around still in the public). All they had to do was pretend as if they're Merula and leave. Which we all know ployjuice potion wears off pretty quickly, and their meeting was quick then they left together.

This last one is the one I'm hoping for the most of course since I am a huge Merula stan and she deserves better honestly. She had this character growth and development, as well as shes always been a lobe interest and personally involved in lots of side challenges. (Unlike Ben a big suspect) Basically throwing her progress away by making her be actually working for R would be such a bad decision on JC part.

Also adding: Ben personality change could be his real personality all along. He probably didnt plan for Rowan to die or maybe he did.... Rakepick was aiming for Ben but if Ben was working for R and is powerful like they're making it seem he probably would have doged that attack but Rowan got in the way. Unless he also knew Rowan was following them and suspected they would get involved.

As well as another personality change, Merula. This and her newly aquired skill, wandless magic is what makes her look like a suspect. Since the books on wandless magic are in the restricted section at school that would mean Merula would have had to have access to 'illegal' books. Although since her parents are in Azkaban they probably had owned 'illegal' books and such at her home already. But then that begs the question why did she just learn it now and not the previous summer's going home? Why now when she's being caught in cahoots with R members? As well as shes acting much more mature but as well as distant. She came to the new school year celebration late. And also according to the MC been hard to track down.

I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on what I think is happening with Merula in Hogwarts mystery! Id love to hear what you think. Ive been playing this game since it came out but this was so interesting i had to make a blog to talk about year 7

[clumsyclifford]

6, 12, 14, 15, & 21 for the writing asks? -megs 💙

hachi machi okie dokie how many more nonsense rhymes can i say ok that's it great let's go

6. What fic is on your back burner, waiting to be written when you feel your skill matches its potential? answered this one here! i'm SURE there are more though let me check my fic ideas doc (fun fact my fic ideas doc is still called "Malum fic ideas:" from back in the early days of this blog when i was chiefly writing malum because of helen). oh! well. the major league baseball au is still uh, kinda back burner-y. that's another one that i started and then ran face first into a wall known as The Wall of Trying To Realistically Represent A Situation I've Never Been In But Also Include Romance Which Would Not Typically Exist In This Setting So I'm Really Setting Myself Up For Failure Here it's a really annoying wall i know hazel hits it too so i'm just ignoring it for the moment. i also think a castaways fic (the concept, not the song) would be really awesome but tricky because, once again, i've never actually BEEN a castaway, and my knowledge of the topic is pretty heavily based on the book hatchet so like. yeah. i have a lot.

12. Where do you commonly find inspiration for your stories? everywhere! i saw in your answer you said you hear song lyrics and think they'd make good fic titles, i do EXACTLY the same thing (hence the doc "good lyrics for titles"). one day ill make that doc into a prompt list and post it on here and just fuck myself over. previously ive gotten some inspiration from movies but i shortly after completing baby driver au i realized that was a fluke and that in general i am pretty bad at making fics out of movie plots because i am very bad at remembering salient details about movies in the order that they happen. like i started a robin hood (2018) au but barely got anywhere with it because i realized i had never actually understood the plot well enough to write it. i would say the things that inspire me the most are songs (we know i loooove a songfic, mostly bc they make the job so easy by just laying out the plot and vibe for me) and also things that happen to me and feelings i have about those things. unfortunately many of my experiences are not universal (hello jewish summer camp) which may be part of why i've had so much trouble coming up with ideas lately. but as soon as i'm back at school i get the feeling i'll be doing fine again.

14. Share a few sentences of what you’re currently working on? what AM i currently working on? technically speaking i'm kinda sorta working on two things but one of them just doesn't have a good snippet and i don't wanna do a Reveal yet so ill give you this one instead, from a fic i might never even post:

“Oh, I meant to tell you, my mum called earlier, she asked if you’re okay.” Ashton’s mum always asks if Luke is okay. Exactly that way, is Luke doing okay?, like Luke gives off some kind of not-doing-okay vibe. He suspects it’s a leftover instinct from his and Ashton’s mutual breakdown a few years back, but honestly, he’s doing better now. It’s sweet of her to ask, but she could just ask about him the same way she asks about Michael and Calum. How’s Luke? would be fine.

“I am great,” Luke says. “How’s she? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s okay,” Ashton says. “She’s started taking Harry to look at some universities.” He pauses. “University. You know? What the fuck?”

“No way,” Luke says, and tries to work out if he’s meant to be surprised by that. He can’t remember how old Harry is. Clearly almost uni-age. Ashton’s told him this a million times, but Luke can’t keep track when the answer keeps changing. He doesn’t want Ashton to think he’s forgotten, so he just says, “That’s insane.”

15. What are some of your favorite tropes to write? Do they match the ones you read? answered this one here as well! i've managed to get unbelievably long-winded answering every single one of these questions so far so i won't write another answer for this one

21. Do you have any stories you’ve written completely but never posted? Why? Please tell us about them? yes!! i have a handful. let me hunt them down. okay final answer, i have five!

one is an au based on the prompt "we’re at a party and someone asks what your type is and you describe me perfectly while staring right at me” which i never posted because i wrote it a while ago and honestly i don't think it's good enough to post. also i kinda don't like the background character i made jack barakat. i could edit it. but. ehh

one is a fic that is set in the daydream jalex fic 'verse, but the only way it's relevant to that 'verse is because it has ace!jack, and it's highly personal and probably the most projection-heavy fic i've ever written and i never posted it because i'm nervous to be Known like that lol

one is technically emo lashton, but not actually set in the emo lashton 'verse that i've created, and that one is ALSO one of the most projection-heavy fics i've ever written. it's usually the fics that are full of projection but in a specific way that i think isn't really relatable that i write but don't end up posting. it's a good fic honestly i wouldn't be against posting it i just never have. also partially because i'm between two titles for that fic lol

one is.......something that was originally going to be set in a different fic universe (for a fic i havent posted or finished writing lol), but now i don't know if it will necessarily fit in that 'verse, so it's kind of its own very short but complete thing. i never posted it because (1) it's super short, less than 1k, and i don't like to post stuff that short, and also (2) just in case it DOES fit the fic 'verse, i don't wanna give away the ending, lmao

and lastly there's a fic i wrote in an excited haze when sam and meghna and i made the ssf and the aces plans, which is like, ot4 meeting but they're all internet friends. guess what inspired that. i'll never post it because it really wasn't written with the intention of posting it, i sent it to sam and meghna and they were the only people i wanted to read it and they have so <3

writing asks

[ohoshi]

omg first i need to talk about nct at song festival (gayo daechukjae) umm first of all mark and taeyongs rap was so good but ofc we all knew they would kill it. and then in nct U class, teacher taeyong looked so good...the way he bit that pointer stick thing in the beginning was so sexc (and the hair and the glasses ahdsfasjf) 😳 but also sungchans rap in that?? i was not expecting that but why am i even surprised anymore.. and also misfit live?? i loved nct's school uniform concept too for some reason ahahaha

and then xiaojun in resonance!! wow yes go shine xj!!! (also idk why but i found it so funny when it was doyoung's turn after xj, but xj was kinda blocking dy (who was really walking with a PURPOSE) so dy lightly pushed him out of the way) and then omg shotaro!! offstage he is so 😊 but damn in hard carry he was so good!! ahh and then also the thing where all the kpop artists at gayo daechukjae sang that song was so cute (i smiled so hard when nct came up 🥺)

yea for my job situation i think it will be okay, i talked to some people i know/mentors about it too and i think things will work out...they always do in the end right? 😊 now about anime LOL this is making me wanna start/rewatch an anime now hahahah! honestly i kind of have phases where i alternate between kdramas and animes, but i havent rly watched anime much lately besides haikyuu (which i was also surprised was still airing (but it's only season 2 so far?)). kpop (aka NCT) has been consuming my life lmao but im here for it 😂

weightlifting fairy was also my first kdrama!! yes i can totally give u some kdrama recs! besides the ones i mentioned before (which are most of my top ones), i also liked chicago typewriter, marriage not dating (i love the fake relationship trope hahaha), dinner mate, sky castle (it's kinda intense but it's so good and an iconic kdrama), cheer up, another miss oh, kingdom (if you like zombie things)...i heard startup is good and i want to watch it soon too! also i continued watching more of uncanny counter these past few days and i love it (but it's ongoing so no binging)

okay now svt: i watched some of your recs and youre so right all their choreos are so satisfying?! i also actually agree with you about black on black, i liked black on black and it was cool but it only featured like 5 members lmao and in the svt choreos it does feel like all of them are featured in some way in each performance? plus their choreos are just so great to watch!! also i've had left and right stuck in my head since i watched it LOL but i agree it's objectively better than dynamite (not an army though; also pls nobody come at us for this lmaoo)

also super random but can you tell me who is the one in the red/purple plaid shirt in the svt home dance practice?? i am kinda attracted by his dance moves LOL and i havent learned names yet 😭 i will continue watching all ur svt recs though hehehe and update you on the status of my fangirling :))

omg wait also i would never have guessed that you're not an english speaker just from these messages!! how did you know that i was prob a native speaker haha (i guess *technically* cantonese is my first language, but then i learned english in school so now i'm obviously more native in that lol and english is the only language i can read/write in)

OMGGF IKR as a multi stan i really enjoyed the rap collab especially because i really love monsta x's rap line (esp i.m!!! his rapping skill 😍) and of course mark and taeyong!!!! 😭 our boys 😭 our golden rappers 😭 SLAYED IT! omg the nct u got me 😳 taeyong looked so good???? wtf? and also sungchan? damn that boy keeps surprising me! the interesting part to me was when one member(johnny if i remember correctly) bumped into taeyong but it was done on purpose and how he uhhh kinda shook his body and his head but it all looked so cool and he never stopped rapping!!! love how they all 'performed' misfit manifesting wild teenagers in school (as they are tbh) IT WAS SO FUN AND COOL!!!

XIAOJUN!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAS SO!!!!!! GOOD!!!!!!! THE CONFIDENCE??? THE STAGE PRESENCE????? XIAOJUN CENTER???? XIAOJUN BEING RELEVANT????? i live 😭 he was so good he looked so good i was so happy and i'm so proud of him 😭 from here the only way to go is up! i hope he keeps surprising us! and omg i haven't noticed that part when doyoung pushed him bc he blocked him?? and i just rewatched it and it looks funny 🤣 but they held everything professionally 😌  no surprises there 😌

OH MY GOD THE HARD CARRY PERFORMANCE!!!!!!!!! first of all our boy shotaro DAMN 😳 he looked so good you couldn’t say that he just debuted a few months ago!! such a dancing machine! (but honestly i am not surprised because in make a wish he was rly good and he debuted as a dancer i expected from him to be good™ as he is!) and i love the duality od him <3 yk that kind of idol that you want to protect at all cost but the next second they're the one you seek protection from? yeH sign me uP! and don't even get me started on hyunjin, juyeon and moonbin!!!!! but i mean all 3 of them are main dancers of course they would look good™ 😌 (yeah shotaro performed with 3 main dancers of 3 different groups i mean the honor??????)

the end of the festival was so wholesome! It was a serotonin boost and me too i also smiled the whole time! so cute 😭 and ot23 were cutiesssss

yes! everything will work out in the end! don't stress about it!<3 oh haikyuu only has 2 seasons? wtf hsgsjsgs ok then i just watched when it had like 13 episodes, WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT that's when i watched it lmao

OMG OK I HAVE WRITTEN DOWN ALL OF THESE DRAMAS (and from the previous ask) IN MY NOTES SO FAR im mostly excited about the fake relationship one 👀 i love fake relationship trope, too 🤧 oh no binging?? is that your thing?? usually i love to wait for the show to finish airing and then i binge watch it in a few days (or one day depends how busy i am)

SEVENTEEN!!!!: yeah all of their choreos are so satisfying (pointing this out one more time) they always pay attention to details (for example in home, bc you're familiar with it, they even choreograph the hands and pay attention to them while most of the other kpop choreos very often freestyle the whole arms sjagaj) here's a fun fact abt svt that makes me love them so much agsgsj: they're self produced! they produce their own music and they even come up with their own choreos!! (of course not on their own, woozi is a producer but he's not making songs on his own he coproduces them with [a producer name bc i guess that's irrelevant but if you’re curious: bumzu], they come up with their own choreo (to be precise, hoshi does! he is 1/2 main dancers in group and he is the main choreographer! he doesn't do everything on his own of course, he gets help from the rest of the performance team (which is a svt subunit consisted of their 2 main and 2 lead dancers: hoshi, dino, the8, jun) and of course some other infamous kpop choreography teams) and i think that, by now, all the members were credited at least once for the lyrics

I'M SO GLAD YOU HAVE LEFT AND RIGHT STUCK IN YOUR HEAD HAGSJSSGSG but i mean of course you would it's soo good and soo catchy (yeahhh no worries, this army has already gotten minor hate for having controversial opinions™ and for criticising her faves so idc anymore 💁🏻‍♀️ it's my opinion as a dancer and i stand by it, even can't you see me by txt is better than dynamite so literally 3 dance performance were better!!!! in a way!!!! and neither of the 3 won!!! yes i am salty!!!!!)

the guy in the red/purple shirt (the center guy when they do the 3 dances for the first time right??) IS DINO!!!! he's the maknae and 2/2 main dancers in svt so!!! of course you would be attracted by his moves!!!!!! JSGSJSN i'm curious to see if you end up staning svt and biasing dino hsfsjsgsha

CANTONESE IS YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE? damn i thought you couldn’t get more interesting here's a dumb question: can you understand xiaojun, hendery and lucas without titles??? not that i would know if they ever speak cantonese in front of the camera for i don't know the difference between chinese dialects</3

[songofseraphine]

A Betrothal of Destiny

Part Five of The Song of Seraphine

A/N: Hello there and thank you for the likes and follows.  Just wanted to give a heads up and a WARNING.  This is the ONLY chapter I plan on having to do with the show so if you havent seen the banquet episode I would stop now!

Warnings: Spoilery and there will be violence!

Part One        Part Two      Part Three      Part Four

Two weeks had passed and Sera could honestly say she was enjoying life Cintra’s court.  She had spent the days in the castle library, reading about anything she could get her hands on.  Then, the evenings she would spend with Pavetta, usually over supper.  She had grown to like the princess in a short time and found that they never ran out of things to talk about.  

              “I just don’t understand all these royal traditions, Pavetta.  But then again, look at me,” she said gesturing to herself.  While she was dressed as a true lady from head to toe, her skirts were well wrinkled from sitting comfortably in a chair to read a book and her hair, just a few inches past her collar bone now, was a mess of untamable waves and curls.  “But I just do not understand why you cannot choose a husband.  You are the princess after all… not to mention the future queen.  And if your mother is so against the rules set by men why does she not make her own?  She claims to be this headstrong queen that is feared yet respected,” Sera said as the two sat on a sofa near the hearth in Pavetta��s room.  It was late in the evening and both women were three glasses of wine into the night.

              Pavetta laughed at Sera’s words then shushed her.  “You should watch what you say, Sera, someone could take your words as treason,” she said and this time they both laughed.

              Sera rolled her eyes then finished off her wine.  She set the cup on the ground at her feet and looked to Pavetta.  “You deserve to be happy, Pavetta.  You do not deserve to be forced into a marriage with a man that will only love you as long as it takes to have an heir,” she said, the word rolling off her tongue before she could stop them.  Pavetta’s gaze locked onto her own and Sera cursed herself from the sight of tears welling in her eyes.  “Fuck,” she said then reached out for her friend’s hand.  “Pavetta, I am sorry.  I would blame my lack of filter on the wine but I am unfortunately always this bold,” she said as if trying to lighten the mood.

              Pavetta smiled just enough to make Sera feel less horrible about what she had said.  “I only wish to be with Duny,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes with her free hand.  Sera squeezed the one she held in her own grasp and rubbed her thumb along the back of her hand as if to sooth her.  Pavetta had told her all about the love affair she had with a man named Duny one of her first nights in court.  At first she was caught off guard, thinking the princess was more of a rule follower. The story she told Sera of the cursed man and a child surprise was enough to open her heart to Pavetta and consider her a friend.  Sera looked at Pavetta and she regained herself, wiping the tears away and fixing her posture just as a princess should.  “Look at me.  My mother would be disgusted with these waterworks,” she said then took a long last drink of her wine.  “Have you thought about what you want from her by the way?  You can have anything you know, she wasn’t jesting about that. Land… a title… money?”

              Sera shook her head and grinned.  “No, those things are just means to an end,” she said while looking into the flames in the hearth.

              “Then what is it you want?” she asked.

              Sera’s shoulders tensed and she ran her now sweating palms over her skirts. She took a deep breath and glanced over to see Pavetta’s concerned features.  “Justice.  I want justice for me and my sister,” she said.  Her voice was so low she wasn’t completely sure Pavetta had heard her. But when Sera looked at her again and saw her brows were knitted together and her eyes were filled with so many questions, she knew she had indeed heard her.  So Sera took a deep breath and told her everything from the moment the mayor was introduced to her sister to the events that brought her to Cintra.  And when she was done telling her story she was met with complete silence other than the crackling of the fire.  That sound made her think of Geralt and how he had the same reaction when she told him everything.  

              “You want to strike him down from his position, in tern freeing your sister’s name,” she said in realization.  Sera was almost surprised by the lack of questioning why she hadn’t told the truth sooner.  “And then what will you do?  Return home?” she asked but Sera quickly shook her head.  

              “No, I can’t do back.  I don’t belong there anymore,” she said as she thought about the connection her sister and Will now had.  “It would be too much,” she admitted while looking at her friend.

              Pavetta nodded.  “I will talk to my mother about getting Mayor Ferdand stripped of his title and position and restore the good name of your sister, Faline,” she said.  She spoke like a queen then and Sera knew that one day Pavetta would make an excellent and just ruler.  Her vision blurred making her realize that she was now the one with the water works, as Calanthe would call it, and she didn’t care.  

 The day of the banquet was upon them and Seraphine was ready for it to be over before it began.  To see her friend’s future be bartered off after the peacocking of men was not something she would take joy in as tradition expected her to.  Instead she would go as a sign of moral support for the young princess, in hopes to make the situation a little more endurable. As the maids, assigned to her by Queen Calanthe, dressed her in a gown that cost more than anything she had ever worn, Seraphine began to wonder if this was the place for her.  Tight dresses and the expectation of a woman to have a silent tongue did not suite her but luckily the court was a little more lax thanks to the Queen.  After the ladies braided back half of Sera’s hair she was permitted to take a look in the mirror.  She was taken back by the woman that looked back at her.  She had never seen herself this nicely dressed and for a moment she thought that she herself looked passible for a princess.

              “Queen Calanthe had to ride out yesterday to solve some quarrels by the docks. We are sure she will return for the betrothal ceremony of Pavetta,” said one of the maids.  Sera nodded and followed them out of her chambers and down the long halls of the castle.  They led her to the banquet hall that was already filled with lords and ladies of the kingdom along with many suitors for Pavetta.  Sera did not hesitate with making her way to Pavetta’s side at the long table.

              Her friends feature softened almost instantly and she seemed to relax quite a bit once Sera took her seat beside her.  “It will be over before you know it, Pavetta,” she said while reaching her hand under the table to grasp her friend’s.  “And I will be at your side.”  

              Pavetta gave a hint of a smile through the despair she was feeling.  “Sera, I have been meaning to ask you… will you stay here in Cintra?  You will always have a place at my table and my side in court. You could come and go as you please…” she said making Sera turn to her friend.

             “Pavetta…” she began but stopped when the shouting of a man interrupted her.

             “Geralt of Rivia, the Mighty Witcher!” said the man Sera recognized as Mousesack the mage whom she had yet had the pleasure of meeting. She stilled in her chair and her eyes caught the sight of the silver haired man standing at the opposite end of the banquet hall.  

              “Sera… Sera are you alright?” she heard Pavetta ask, pulling her attention from Geralt.  “Do you know that witcher?”

               Sera took the closest chalice of wine and gulped down a bit as she nodded.  She cleared her throat.  “Geralt is the man that lied to those bounty hunters and saved my life twice now.  We have a theme of running into one another it seems,” she said, allowing herself to take another look in his direction. This time she was met with his honey-gold orbs staring back at her and even though Sera had never considered herself the blushing type, she felt her cheeks grow warm under his gaze.

               Pavetta witnessed this reaction and smiled.  “Is that so?” she grinned when Sera turned back to her.  Her eyes flickered in the direction of Geralt and back to the princess.  “Go and talk to him, I will be fine right here,” she said, knowing that was what Sera wanted.  

               Sera thanked her with a nod and stood from her chair. She made sure to still walk with grace as she approached the witcher and the mage, whom both had their eyes on her. As she approached the mage spoke again. “Josanna?” he said, the name stopping Sera in her tracks.  

               She still managed to shake her head despite feeling a wave of emotions.  “No, I am Seraphine.  Josanna was my mother,” she said.  She knew her mother had lived in the kingdom of Cintra as a young woman so there was a possibility that was how the mage knew her.  

                He studied her a moment longer then shook his head. “Look at me, where are my manners? I am Mousesack, the mage.  The Queen mentioned you had stayed in court after saving the princess.  I supposed we just never had the opportunity to meet,” he said with a laugh, attempting to brush off the tension from the moment before.  Her eyes travelled to Geralt, who still was watching her under his intense stare.  “Let me introduce the witcher, Geralt of Rivia, an old friend of mine.  From what Calanthe has told me of you, Seraphine, I would imagine you two would get along rather well,” he said as he put a hand on Geralt’s shoulder, in a friendly manner.

                 Sera grinned while her eyes were still cast on the silver-haired man in front of her.  “We have already had the pleasure of being acquainted, Mousesack, but thank you,” she said.  As Mousesack began to realize his presence was being forgotten about by the pair, he excused himself and made his way to table of men.  Sera looked Geralt up and down, noting his common attire and his kept hair, an appearance she was not familiar with since the last two times she had seen him.  “You look… different.  I have to say I think the leather armor suites you best, though it is nice to see you all cleaned up,” she said, earning a fraction of a smile from the man.

              “You look different as well.  Seems like life at court is treating you well, I almost didn’t recognize you,” he said, his voice the same gruffness as she remembered. His eyes moved from hers and across the room to the bard he had arrived with whom was being yelled at by a man. “Excuse me,” he said as he left her side to aid the situation.  She watched as Geralt went to them and smoothed over whatever situation the bard had already gotten himself in.  She then watched as he took two mugs of ale from the nearest table before making his way back to her side.

                “What was that about?” she asked as he handed one of the mugs to her.  She took it and let herself take a sip of the ale.

                “Just settling a debt,” he said before drinking from his own glass.

               “Ah yes, he must be the one responsible for those lovely tunes about you,” she said with a smile, this earned her a glare from the man beside her.  Her eyes scanned over the room and she couldn’t help but notice the number of people the caught taking glances over at the pair.

                She opened her mouth to speak again but was cut off by the sound of trumpets, announcing the arrival of the queen.  “All rise for Her Majesty, the Lioness, Queen Calanthe of Cintra!”

                 The pair turned to watch as Calanthe walked into the banquet hall, fully dressed in her armor, splattered in blood.  Sera’s eyes skimmed over to Pavetta who looked mortified at her mother’s appearance.  She then looked to Geralt, who looked rather amused at the queen’s appearance. “Believe it or not, this is quite normal,” she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.  His gaze fell on hers again and this time she had gotten a smile from him.

               “How did you find yourself in this court?  Mousesack said you saved the princess’ life,” he said while glancing over at where Pavetta sat.  

               “Yes, well, I killed some wild dogs that were after her. I was wounded in the process,” she said raising her left arm.  The sleeves of her grey gown covered the bandage she had.  The wound itself was almost healed but the healer insisted on dousing it in a special oil and covering with the bandage to get rid of the scarring.  He smirked and shook his head as if her getting hurt trying to save the day was no surprise.  “I am now a guest of honor, and Pavetta has just offered me a permanent position here in court, at her side, if I do choose to accept it.”

               Geralt looked down at her with raised brows. “No more monsters for you then?” he asked with a smirk then gulped down more ale.

              “No more monsters… if that’s what I want,” she said as her eyes caught his.

              “And why wouldn’t you?  No more sleeping on a hard ground, real food, warm baths… what is there that is missing?” he asked.  The mention of a warm bath made her think back to their last meeting.  The morning after that day she was woken alone, getting no word of goodbye from Geralt.  It hadn’t bothered her then but ever since he had been flitting through her dreams it was beginning to.

                Just as she was about to speak a group of men at one of the tables began arguing about manticores and what they truly looked like. In truth, Sera was thankful for the distraction, not wanting to talk about what they had been discussing before they interrupted.  One man was calling out the lie, a claim of the other man killing one which resulted in a fight. “Enough!” Calanthe yelled above them and they immediately stopped what they were doing.  She began walking down the steps from where she had been standing in front of the long table.  “We have a renowned guest here tonight,” she said.  Sera caught Geralt rolling his eyes.  “Perhaps her can declare which esteemed lord is telling the truth,” she said and all eyes were on Geralt.

              “Neither,” he said, causing another uproar from the men.

              “The Butcher of Blaviken bleats utter nonsense,” one man said.  This, Sera could tell, hit a soft spot on Geralt.  He looked over to his bard who just shook his head in plea of Geralt not making a scene.

              Geralt sighed and looked as if what he was about to say was physically paining him to do so.  “Perhaps the lords encountered rare subspecies of manticore,” he said, receiving a corner-eyed glance from Sera.  

               Queen Calanthe laughed.  “Perhaps our esteemed guest would like to entertain us with how he slayed the elves at the edge of the world?” she said.  Sera wished the woman would let it rest.  She had seen this happen on many occasions, taking a man’s words as the next line of her jests, and she was getting tired of it.

                 Her hand naturally, and without thought, rested on the back of Geralt’s arm and he remained collected.  “There was no slaying.  I had my ass kicked by a ragged band of elves,” he said earning an eruption of laugher.  “I was about to have my throat cut when Filavandrel let me go,” he said which begged questions of the songs that bragged about him slaying the elves.  “At least when Filivandrel’s blade kissed my throat I didn’t shit myself.  Which is all I can hope for you, good lords.  At your final breath, a shitless death,” he said as he raised his mug of ale in a false respect. “But I doubt it,” he said which earned more laughter. He began to turn back to Sera in hopes that the conversation was over and he would get back to talking to someone he actually tolerated.

               “Any man willing to paint himself in the shadow of his failures will make for far more interesting conversation this night,” said Calanthe with a smile.  She walked over to where Geralt and Sera stood and Sera removed her hand from Geralt’s arm as she did, not wanting to draw more attention to him.  “It seems I will have two guests of honor tonight. Please witcher, join me at my table as I go and change,” she said then turned to walk away but stopped.  “I also expect the tale of how you two know one another,” she said with a grin then left them standing there.

               Sera let out a sigh, regretting being here in the first place.  “Is it too late for us to leave?” Geralt asked getting a pitiful excuse for a laugh from Sera.

               “Unfortunately I cannot.  I promised Pavetta I would be at her side until this was over, otherwise I would have left with you the moment you walked into this hall,” she said whole taking a glance over at where Pavetta still sat then directing her gaze back to Geralt.

               “Shame, I could think of better things to occupy my time with,” he said, his eyes travelling to her own.

                Sera felt her jaw drop but quickly collected herself, brushing off the fact that Geralt of Rivia was being forward with her.  She cleared her throat and grinned.  “You should try talking to one of these ladies, I am sure they are the type to be easily wooed by stories of monsters and words like those,” she said, standing tall with pride on her reply.

                 Geralt smiled and opened his mouth to speak, to tell her he didn’t care for any of the ladies in this court, just as the bard approached.  “Geralt, are you trying to ruin both of our reputations in one night,” he said then turned to Sera.  “I do apologize, milady, for the intrusion but his behavior is just unacceptable.”

                “I am no lady, you may call me Seraphine,” she said with a smile and stuck her hand out to shake.  

                Instead the bard took her hand and pressed the back of it to his lips making Geralt role his eyes.  “Seraphine, the one and only!  Geralt has told me about you, the woman that bested the griffin.  I am Jaskier!  The one responsible for this man’s fame, but he never shows me thanks for that.  I would love to write a song about you,” he said. He was a talker she could tell just in the few seconds of knowing him and she also knew it took every ounce of control Geralt had to put up with him.

                “It would be an honor to be in one of your songs, Jaskier, but I fear my life is all too boring compared to that of Geralt’s. Besides… that tune, the one that is so catchy, I would hate for that to be overshadowed by a new song about a farm girl,” she said then looked to Geralt who was shaking his head.

                “Oooh, see Geralt, she likes the song,” he said and began to strum the first few chords of it on his lute.  Geralt lightly backhanded his arm to stop him even though Sera was fully prepared to sing along.  Jaskier was asked to play a song and he walked away to the other musicians.

                 She looked back to Geralt with an amused grin.  “So, you told the bard of me?” she asked making him role his eyes once again.  “Now I am intrigued, Geralt.  Why would you tell a bard about a random woman you have had the luck of stumbling upon twice?”

                 “Three times now,” he said, his eyes landing on hers. “The idiot wanted to know more details from the past year to have relevant information.  You happened to be part of that time,” he told her.

                   She nodded, he was right after all.  This was their third time meeting as if it was pure coincidence.  “So what is it then, that’s bringing us together?  Is it fate?  Destiny?” she was jesting but she could see him grow tense.  

                  “Fuck destiny,” he said, his voice even rougher than usual.

                  Sera smirked and took a step closer to him so that they were only a few inches apart.  “Then what other excuse so we have, Geralt?” she asked, her voice was soft and quiet. He would admit, only to himself, that she had a point.  The world was large but despite that they had a habit of running into one another. What Seraphine hadn’t realized was that he was also questioning it and it was something he thought about often since the last time he had seen her.   “What are you going to do after this?” she asked, pulling him from his thoughts.  

                He shrugged his shoulders and let out a signature hum. “Another contract, I suppose,” he said and she nodded.  “You really plan on staying here, in court, with a bunch of backstabbing rich people?” he asked.

                Sera shrugged her shoulders and looked over to the table of the rich people he had been referring to.  “I would stay if it meant Pavetta’s happiness.  She is being forced into a marriage to a man she will not know.  She shouldn’t have to be alone,” she said as he kept his eyes on her.  “But… I have grown so used to the ways of life out there, beyond these walls, that I don’t think I could ever truly be satisfied here,” she said and for a moment she thought about how she probably would never be truly satisfied no matter what she did.  She shook those thoughts from her mind looked to him.  “We should take our seats, Queen Calanthe will be returning soon.”

                “Hmm, if we must,” he said and they walked together to the long table.

                “Don’t say anything about the bounty hunters, I beg you. Pavetta knows but not the Queen,” she whispered.  Geralt glanced at her and nodded.  They took their seats that were quite a distance from one another as they waited for the Queen.

                 Pavetta welcomed her back with a smile.  “Well that was entertaining, at least this entire night wasn’t awful,” she said with a grin.  Sera rolled her eyes then glanced over to where Geralt sat.  “Do you not think it strange that you keep running into one another?” she asked.

                   “Keep your voice down, Pavetta, he has excellent hearing,” said Sera as she glanced over to see Geralt not looking at her but she would swear he was grinning.  She then turned back to Pavetta.  “I do find it odd,” she whispered.

                  “But…” Pavetta began with a large grin, “… you like it,” she said making Sera’s eyes widen.  She gently swatted at Pavetta despite knowing that what her friend said was true.  Sera did indeed like running into Geralt when she least expected to.  She enjoyed seeing a familiar face in her life and she enjoyed hearing his views on things.  She found it all very refreshing.  Queen Calanthe returned and the banquet could officially begin and the men that had attended to pursue Pavetta’s hand in marriage could begin their boasting on themselves.  It went on with them bragging about their money, land, and even their potent seed, which was enough to make Sera gag.  They were nearly halfway done with the event and due to Calanthe declining each proposal it wasn’t going anywhere.  Thankfully, for Sera’s sanity, there was a break so the crowd could enjoy a few songs.

                    “Seraphine,” said Calanthe, pulling Sera out of her thought of the suitors before them.

                    “Yes, Your Majesty,” Sera said while leaning over a bit so she could look at the queen.

                   “You and the Witcher appear to have been previously acquainted.  You never mentioned you had friends of the sort,” she said while raising a brow.

                   Sera’s eyes went to Geralt for a fraction of a second then returned to the queen’s.  “In truth, my Queen, Geralt and I just have the luck of unintentionally running into one another.  This will be the third time in the last year or so,” she said.

                  “You say unintentional?  How is it that you first met?” she asked.  More people than Sera cared for were listening in on the conversation.  Again she paused and looked at Geralt.

                   “She was after the same griffin as I was,” he said.

                   Calanthe’s brows raised, a sign that she was both amazed and intrigued. “A griffin?  You are much more modest than I, Seraphine.  Had it been me defeating a griffin, everyone would have known about it,” she said and Sera shrugged her shoulders.  She then turned to Geralt.  “I recall hearing the story of another woman fighting a griffin, though that woman didn’t survive,” she said.  Sera nearly choked on the ale she was drinking, making the others look at her.

                   Luckily they were interrupted by another suitor and Sera gulped down all of her ale.  “I will speak with her when this is all over.  Out of everyone here my mother is the most likely one to be on your side,” said Pavetta while squeezing Sera’s hand under the table.  Sera nodded and turned her attention to the floor.  Just then the sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard in the hall and a knight, fully dressed in armor, came rushing into the banquet hall.

                  “Forgive my late intrusion, Your Majesty, and for the misunderstanding with your guards,” said the man as he made his wat to the center of the floor.  “Please! I come in peace,” he said as guards grew more alert at the situation.  “I need but one moment of your time.  I am Lord Urcheon of Erlenwald, and I have come to claim your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

                 Pavetta and Sera grew tense and the hold Pavetta had on her hand tightened.  “A knight, with no renown, from a backwater hamlet… who dares enter my court without revealing his face?” said Calanthe.

              “I apologize, Your Majesty.  A knight’s oath prevents me from revealing my face until the twelfth bell,” said the knight.  Sera knew better.  She knew that it was none other than Duny under that helmet.  Eist of Skellige, a friend to the Queen, didn’t care for the excuse he gave and walked right up to Duny then knocked off his helmet.

                Several gasps could be heard along with the sound of swords being unsheathed.  “Witcher… kill it,” said Calanthe.  Both Sera and Pavetta quickly looked to her in shock.

                 “No,” said Geralt.  “This is no monster,” he said and he was right.  It was only a cursed man that was also unfortunately in love with the princess.

                 Sera watched Geralt to see what he was going to do as Calanthe ordered her men to slay Duny.  Several of the guards went at him and he quickly dispatched them.  “Lioness of Cintra, I have come to claim what is rightfully mine, Pavetta by the law of surprise!” he said then looked to Pavetta.

                   But the queen had nothing to say to him.  Instead she ordered more men to attack him and Sera watched as he fought them off one by one.  She sat on the edge of her seat, not wanting to see the love of Pavetta’s life slain in front of them.  She wanted to stand up for Duny and Pavetta but feared the queen.  But as Duny was knocked to the ground and as she looked to see the queen’s reaction she noticed Geralt was missing from his chair and she suddenly didn’t care for the rule of a queen.  Sera turned back to the action in the center of the floor and watched as Geralt blocked one of Duny’s attackers by cutting his weapon in half. The queen’s response was to have them both killed.

                      Sera moved without having to think about it.  She stood from her chair and ran to the center of the hall, taking a sword from a fallen guard.  She then made her way to Geralt and Duny, putting her back to them as she began to help fight off any man that approached them.  The room was a collection of metal clashing and shouts. Sera swung her borrowed sword at an attacker and instead of killing him she hit his chest armor which knocked him off of his feet.  She stumbled backwards and her back pressed to another form.  When she turned to see if it was friend or foe she was met with the familiar face of Geralt.  He gave her a nod then gripped her arm, pulling her out of the way of another guard just before his sword would have come in contact with her.  

                     Through all of the chaos Sera hadn’t realized Calanthe had gotten up from her chair and come to the floor.  “Stop!” she said and everyone stilled, including Geralt who had his own sword crossed with hers.

                    Pavetta came down from her chair and ran into Duny’s arms. “Duny, I told you to stay away,” she said with tears streaming down her face.  Geralt glanced from Pavetta then to Sera who was still clutching her sword.

                   Duny backed away from her embrace and after putting his arms out as a sign he was no longer going to be a threat, he knelt down in front of Calanthe. “Your Majesty, I was cursed as a young boy.  My whole life, a living misery until the day I saved your husband, King Roegner, from a certain death.  By tradition, I chose the law of surprise as payment,” he said.

                 “That stupid bastard.  Better you had let him die,” said Calanthe then she turned to her daughter. “And you, carousing with the beast that swindled your stupid father!” she said.  Sera approached Pavetta and took hold of her hand, standing tall in front of the queen.

                 “Tis not swindle.  Claiming payment by the law of surprise is as old as mankind itself,” Eist said, taking Calanthe’s attention away from her daughter and Sera.  “It’s an honest gamble.  As likely to be rewarded with a bumper crop as a newborn pup… or a child of surprise.  He could not know.  Destiny has determined the prize be Pavetta.”  Duny nodded and explained how he tried to keep away from Pavetta after realizing she was the payment of law of surprise.  He explained that it was destiny that brought them together and there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent it.  Pavetta herself, after separating from Sera, supported everything Duny said.

                 “Honor destiny’s wish or unleash its wrath upon us,” said Mousesack.

                 The Queen didn’t like that answer though.  She shook her head and looked to the people in the room.  “Is there not a man amongst you who does not cower before destiny?” she asked then turned to Geralt.  “You, Witcher, who has known monsters of every fang and claw, are you afraid?”

                 “No,” he said, his voice deep.  “I’ve seen mothers lash themselves raw over the death of a child, believing they crossed destiny, ignoring the stench of the fifty other children in the plague cart outside. Destiny helps people believe there’s an order to this horseshit.  There isn’t,” he said.  Calanthe was looking rather pleased with his answer and Sera was growing more tense by the second.  “But a promise made much be honored.  As true for a commoner as it is for a queen.”

                  Sera let out a sigh of relief as she looked at him. “I love Duny mother, I will marry him. I will finally be free,” said Pavetta while taking Duny’s hands in her own.  To Sera’s, and everyone else in the hall, relief Calanthe handed her sword off the Eist and approached the pair.  She whispered something to Duny that Sera couldn’t hear but what she did hear was the unsheathing of a blade and Pavetta’s scream.

                  An invisible force knocked Sera back into a pillar and she fell to the ground with sore limbs and all.  She felt a hand on her arm, pulling her up despite the gushing wind that continued coming from the center of the room.  “Get behind the pillar,” said Geralt as she looked up at him, shielding her face from the wind.  She nodded and crawled to the other side of the pillar as debris began flying through the air.  She laid down in the fetal position with her hands over her face and jumped when glass shattered all around the hall.  When everything stilled she peaked out from underneath her hands to see the destruction around her.  Her hands stung from small cuts caused by the shattered glass and she could feel blood running down from her hairline.  She stood and shuffled to the other side of the pillar to see Pavetta and Duny untouched by what had just happened.  The queen, after picking herself up off the ground, approached her daughter and took her into her arms.  

                    The blast of energy had come from the princess, this was obvious. “Destiny has spoken and I have listened,” Calanthe said.  “The law of surprise will be honored and Pavetta will marry Lord Urcheon,” she said and the hall was filled with the whispers of those still standing.

                   “React poorly and you won’t just face the Lioness, you will be facing the sea hounds of Skellige.  Because Queen Calanthe has agreed to my proposal of marriage,” Eist said while approaching Calanthe.  He took her hand in his and Calanthe held onto Pavetta with her free hand.

                    “There will be two vows here tonight, I hope that is agreeable,” said the Queen.  No one said a word.  Sera looked over to Geralt whom looked rather confused and as if he wanted to leave right then and there.

                    She walked over to him and stood at his side as others picked themselves up.  “You’re bleeding,” he said and she shrugged her shoulders.

                    “I will be alright,” she said while glancing up at him. “Thank you for standing up for them,” she said while motioning to where Pavetta and Duny stood.

                  “You knew,” he said, it wasn’t a question.  

                  “I did, Pavetta confided in me as I have with her,” she said while rubbing her hands together.  Geralt had picked up on this nervous habit of hers and had to stop himself from grinning.

                    “You are worried she will no longer need you to stay,” he said.

                   Sera’s eyes landed on his and she furrowed her brows wondering how he knew that.  She then looked back at the pair and shrugged her shoulders, pretending her feelings didn’t matter once again.  “If that is the case then I shall move on, I suppose,” she said then let out a bitter laugh. “She is the most consistent relationship I have had since first leaving my home… other than you.  It is sad to think I can consider seeing someone only three times in a year to be consistent,” she said.  Geralt wasn’t given the chance to say anything to her before she walked away from him and over to Pavetta.  He watched as she embraced Pavetta then stood back so the ceremony could begin.  

                    Everyone circled around the pair and many of them held candles in their hands.  Calanthe performed the hand tying portion of the ceremony and Pavetta and Duny said their vows, promising themselves to one another.  Seraphine was smiling due to the happiness she had for her friend until, after their kiss, Duny fell to his knees in pain.  Before all the eyes in the room, Duny transformed from his mutated cursed self into a normal man.  

                  “The twelfth bell has not yet rung,” said Pavetta while embracing Duny.

                  “What has happened?” Calanthe asked while looking to Mousesack.  

                    “I think your blessing of this marriage had fulfilled a destiny.  The curse has been lifted,” he said.

                   Sera looked across the room to see Geralt turning away from the spectacle and began heading for the door only to be stopped by Duny. “Wait!  You saved my life and I must repay you,” he said and Geralt turned back to look at him.

                     “You have proven yourself to be the kind of man to do the same, I want nothing,” he said while once again turning to leave.  

                    “No, please,” he said and Geralt stopped despite wanting to continue his leave.  “Please, Geralt of Rivia, do not feel like you’re doing me a service.  I cannot start a new life in the shadow of a life debt,” he said, pleading.

                      “Fine,” said Geralt, looking slightly defeated.  “I… claim the tradition as you have, the law of surprise.  Give me that which you already have but do not know,” he said.

                      Sera froze, knowing that wasn’t the brightest idea. “No!  What have you done, Witcher?” asked Calanthe as the room began to fill with whispers.  

                       “Fear not, Your Majesty, if I am seen in your kingdom again, it’ll be to kill a real monster, not lay claim to a crop or a new pup. Destiny can go fu…” he said but just as he was finishing is last word Pavetta released all of the meal she had just eaten onto the floor in front of her.  

                        Sera looked to Geralt and could see his discomfort in what had just occurred.  It was obvious now that Pavetta was indeed with child and now said child would be promised to him due to the law of surprise.  “Fuck,” he said then without saying another word, began to leave the banquet with Mousesack hot on his trail.  Sera looked to Pavetta who only gave her a nod as permission to follow him out.

                         “I will be back,” she said then shuffled around the crowds of people and the broken glass and debris then made her way to the halls. Mousesack was trying to convince Geralt to stay due to destiny but he wasn’t having any of it.  They finished their conversation and Geralt started walking down the hall disappearing around a corner towards the quickest exit while a defeated Mousesack turned around to see Sera.  “He is a stubborn one,” he said while shaking his head.  He walked past her and she hurriedly went after Geralt.

                          When she rounded the corner she almost ran right into him making her take a sharp breath.  “You’re staying,” he said.  It wasn’t a question, it was an observation.  

                         She nodded and looked back toward the banquet hall. “She could use a friend right now,” she said then turned back to him.  He nodded in return and glanced in the direction of his exit.  “But… umm… if you ever want to stop unintentionally crossing paths with one another, you do know where to find me,” she said and he looked back at her with a grin and nodded.

                        “I can’t promise that I’ll come back here… but maybe we will have the off chance of seeing each other again,” he said.

                        She nodded, leaving many things she wanted to say left unsaid.  “Well, goodbye, Geralt of Rivia.  I hope our paths continue to cross,” she said and bowed her head at him before turning and quickly walking away.  She couldn’t help but feel torn between the choice of staying with Pavetta and going off with Geralt.  She wanted to follow him out of the kingdom and return to life on the road, but she also wanted to care for her friend.  She wanted answers from Mousesack of how he knew her mother and mostly she wanted justice for herself and her sister.  None of that would be accomplished out on the road killing monsters. She would stay in Cintra, despite the pull she felt for Geralt.  In truth, Geralt had no need for her out there, not the way that Pavetta would need her at Cintra.  

                           Sera turned back into the banquet hall and was immediately met with the voice of Pavetta’s new groom, Duny.  “Lady Seraphine, come, join us,” he said while motioning to where he stood with Pavetta, Calanthe, and Eist.  Sera nodded, not arguing about the formality he had called her and joined them in the center of the hall, all eyes on her.  “Do not think I was blind to the aid you provided me and Geralt earlier this night.  Pavetta has told me of your struggles and of the false accusations that taint not only your sister but your family’s name entirely,” he said and her eyes widened. She suddenly thought that she made the wrong choice and now she would never be able to escape but his words were not what she had expected.  “I swear to you that justice will be done and that all of Cintra will stand at your side,” he vowed.  Sera’s eyes went to Pavetta then to Calanthe whom both looked back at her not with hate and offense but with admiration and she couldn’t help but smile, knowing that she would finally get what she wanted.

[unordinary-analysis]

This might be a super dark question, but if beating up Low-Tiers is so acceptable in unORDINARY's world/society, then are more severe crimes performed by High-Tiers excused as well? (Rape, Armed-Robbery, ETC.) so long as a Low-Tier/Cripple is the victim? (Or does the law step in at that point regardless of the Attacker's rank?......). Sorry if this is somehow an problematic topic, It's just been a question that's been eating at me ever sense I read the story and got to start analyzing it! ^^

Sorry its like months late lol

But this prompt is actually an interesting one. In the UnOdinary world, the limits of what is acceptable by society and what is not is difficult to comprehend purely based on the complete difference in natures of the UnO universe and our own. Because people have abilities in the UnOrdinary world, laws and government obviously have to be amended to include limitations and restrictions regarding these items, which leaves us readers to wonder exactly what those rules are.

So far, we havent outright gotten a layout of what is socially acceptable or legally acceptable for our UnOrdinary characters, but we’ve gotten many hints or references. I think I can piece together what the laws regarding tier, ability, and power are.

I want to first address what can be understood and easily comprehended from even the most limited look into UnOrdinary: the obvious bias and favor of those with power. The whole premise for the UnOrdinary hierarchy and societal structure is that those with power are on top. They’re the ones running the game. Those with power are in charge. They make the rules. At least in day to day matters. For instance, we have no idea if politicians and world leaders have to be the most powerful, but at schools and remember that bomb lady from the mall from the beginning of the comic?? That kind of stuff. And also likely government too, don’t count that out.

Obviously, if someone with lot of power (ability-wise) is in charge, the rules, or maybe a better word is expectations, are going to be somehow biased upon that. Maybe not all, but total fairness is completely impossible to expect. A rule in the UnOrdinary universe that demonstrates this bias is that those with more power are expected to repeatedly establish themselves as dominant over anyone below them in the hierarchy. I’m not actually sure if this rule is the best example of hierarchical bias because I mean it isn’t some far fetched idea. it makes sense for this to be implemented into the UnOrdinary universe, not only from high-tiers, because establishing hierarchy reaffirms who should lead, it exposes the strongest. It prevents situations like Wellston students under Rei’s reign (I struggled with wording that :/). But for that very reason, it could also fit under a power bias so yeah.

So basically, there’s this definite bias towards those with power, even if everyone agrees that that’s the way it should be. Is that still a bias? I’m not sure. note: Rei is an outlier here, and, to be honest, almost everywhere. It’s natural for people to look to those more powerful for leadership and guidance.

Anyway. Those with power are encouraged to show it by publicly defeating those weaker than them. That’s probably the easiest thing to understand if you’ve read the story. Hell, the main sport in the UnOrdinary world is trying to defeat someone in combat (Which I’m actually getting more and more intrigued by... is this sport just something in schools? Is there a professional league? Is there any Olympics? Then the winner would just be the most powerful person in the world, right? Anyway. That’s off topic for this post lol).

Something that I’ve noticed, though, is that the higher tiers don’t always act like they think what they’re doing is right. Let me explain. In episode 2, John approaches Gavin, a kid who is bullying someone that obviously has a lower ability than he does. Because of UnOrdinary’s structure, by the rules of the universe, if what I’ve said previously is correct, Gavin shouldn’t feel like what he is doing is wrong. He should just think what he is doing is regular and actually encouraged. However, after John approaches him and tells him to back off of the other boy, Gavin asks: “Trying to play hero, huh?”

Now, personally, that threw me off. The use of the word hero by Gavin in reference to John completely contradicts what core knowledge I thought we’d establishished already (excuse my dramatic ass lol). If high-tiers are allowed to prey on anybody weaker then themselves, why would Gavin use the word hero, indirectly calling himself a villain, during the scene. If what he is doing is acceptable in UnOrdinary society, why would he be the villain?

Obviously: it means that what Gavin was doing was not acceptable by common social standards. I think this means that there is some sort of line between what is allowed and what is not. Maybe to what extent showing dominance is tolerated. Because there is a line. But so far, I’ve gotten nowhere. This is where the question started, where I started.

I do think, however, that this example I’ve brought up is a very good demonstration of the answer we’re trying to find, even though it comes from the very first chapters, maybe from a period where uru-Chan had not yet decided the laws of the world she’d created. There’s also loads of other examples of the hierarchy forming through domination (after note: not sure what this means lol i forgot what i was trying to say but it looks cool so I’ll keep it kjdbsfksjb) such as when Arlo lured John out into that clearing, or when The mid-tiers captured Seraphina. There’s a lot more, but I’m not about to list every single example lol. Also, however, there is a lot of evidence of authorities or other people stepping in to break apart fights or stop someone from getting beaten up. Darren did this for John before in the scene where his nightmare power was first introduced to us. Darren also stopped Blyke and Isen from fighting at the very beginning, when Blyke broke Isen’s pen.

But I haven’t found any scene that disagrees with that initial Gavin scene, so I’m going to be using that for my main evidence even though by looking at all of the examples for everything I’ve used above, whenever someone fought someone else, it was students, and whenever tried to break it up, it was a teacher or an authority. I’ve decided to rule out the possibility that as a general rule students aren’t supposed to be harming each other because of pure base knowledge about the UnOrdinary world. There’s too much evidence to cite and put in here. I- I don’t think I have to, honestly. if you’re this far down in the post, it’s like a fact that you’ve read the comic and understand enough about it to know what I’m talking about. More likely, battles between two people are okay, as long as it is established that it is a fight for a place in hierarchy. In episode 125, when John, as Tuesday, approaches Isen looking pretty, well, pretty scary, Isen waves him off and says, “I don’t have time for a rank-match right now.” A rank-match. The word implies that a fight would be one purely for the purpose of seeing who is stronger, seeing who outranks the other. This is what I believe the acceptable form of fighting in the UnOrdinary world. As long as the battle is clearly to establish authority, it’s okay. We see this in Turf Wars, and even when Arlo first becomes king and absolutely annihilates everyone. Then, Arlo was just trying to prove his dominance over them, showing them that they had to listen to him because they were not above him. The excessive amounts of bullying and assault behind closed doors obviously evolved as a bit of a bad side effect of the concept.

The bullying concept is one I’m saying is similar to the situation in our world. The real world lol. It’s not allowed. But it’s everywhere and most students have accepted it. You know how some of the high-tiers shrug it off whenever they see something happening to a low-tier? It’s because it’s expected. The accepted societal rule that higher-tiers are meant to establish their ranks by fighting their way up the chain feeds as the core idea for higher-tiers shitting on lower-tiers, so it’s not like bullying is some random thing happening, it has, like i said, evolved from that basic fact of the UnO universe.

So: bullying is not allowed, but is common (like our own world)

And,

Basically: fighting is only acceptable (by everyone) when the fight establishes rank.

More specific to your question, however, is other crimes such as rape and robbery as done by high-tiers to lower-tiers. There are little to no examples of such things happening in the UnOrdinary universe that we’ve been shown so it’s a very good question and yet a very difficult topic to discuss. I did not spend all this time talking about limits that high-tiers can go to when opposing lower-tiers for no reason, though.

Because of what I’ve already said, I think it’s pretty safe to rule out the possibility that it is legal to rob or rape in any circumstance, if even some fighting is off limits. Y’all, if teachers step in sometimes when someone was getting bullied, do you think that if they knew someone was being raped, they would shrug and accept it? No.

There are already examples of people stepping into situations that aren’t allowed. A better example of this, though, is when the superhero posse, a.k.a. Remi, Blyke, and Isen, a.k.a. I’m pretty sure I have another name for them that is like detective themed but I can’t remember it right now, yeah them, when they go to the mall that one time and the whole incident with the ability gauge happens. The cops bust them for setting of a smoke bomb (later cleared, but that’s what they thought at the time.) I would also bring up Levani, and how John stepped up to her, but that was basically just the whole bullying thing I explained earlier, just on a bigger scale. And we all know that John has been kind of an outlier when it comes to accepting bullying like the rest of the student community has.

So, I believe I’ve answered this question well. I know my answer might be a bit basic and obvious but the other answer isn’t exactly one people would like to see, is it? Lol. Anyway, feel free to put your opinion on this too. Debunk me, please that would be fun lol.

As an extra thought to this post as a whole: the whole suspicious situation with the authorities doesn’t really interfere with this, I just want to clear this up. There’s been this background plot going on, we all know, and one of the factors is that it is likely that the authorities keep the hierarchy and enforce it so that the high-tiers will stay under their control. Either the hierarchy a. Distracts high-tiers by giving them responsibility (Remi, episode 50) or b. Gives them power so that they don’t fight for it. Maybe both. Probably both. Anyway, I already said that we don’t know exactly the situation with governmental positions and politicians, or those head authorities (or whoever’s on top of that). But this post doesn’t really rely on why the hierarchy exists as much as the fact that it does.

[all-hail-the-witcher]

questionable government spies chapter 14

no your eyes do not deceive you, this is chapter 14 of spies

heres the masterlist in case you forgot what happened (I did too dw)

______

ship: eventual sprace, platonic ralbert, jack is madly in love with Katherine but she doesnt like smol emotion bois who drive vans

warnings: race drinks far too much sugar, race is a dumbass, Albert is Mad cause race is a reckless little shit with a death wish, some Anger Words, hibachi chefs, fear of crayons

editing: maybe idk havent decided yet

words: idk maybe like 2k

______

Race scrambled down the hallway, buttoning the last three buttons on his collared shirt as he attempted not to bump into every person he ran past. The one thing that Checks had told him was to not be late, and yet here he was. He had even left before Albert had woken up and hadn’t had time to write him a note and therefore had exactly no backup. Hopefully nothing would go wrong.

Luckily, Race managed to slip into the door to the meeting room just as it was closing. Immediately he saw Spot across the room and gave him a wink. Spot, in turn, glared at him - probably because he was late. Race considered sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes at Spot but Checks started speaking before he had the chance.

“-hope you all brought your big boy pants,” Checks was saying as she distributed a half page of hardly useful information - something Race was beginning to assume was normal around here. He briefly skimmed it and when he didn't see the words “self sacrifice,” “imprisonment,” or “hibachi chefs” he folded it neatly and shoved it into his shirt pocket for Albert and Jack to analyze later.

Speaking of Albert and Jack, why weren’t they being regular nuisances in his comms like usual? Race reached up to his ear to fiddle with the device and see if he had put it in backwards (something he did far more often than he would like to admit), only to realize that the reason why Albert and Jack weren’t talking to him was because he had left the device in his locker. Despite his super spy training, Race did the very thing he was trained not to do when something bothered him: he groaned.

Luckily for him though, the groan happened to coincide with Checks announcing their mission. What the mission was, Race couldn’t say because he had been too busy thinking about his missing comms.

So when Checks stopped next to him and gave him what could only be described as The Look, Race felt a small part of his soul shrivel up and die from fear.

“You got a problem, Marx?” she glared. “You scared of crayons or somethin?”

Crayons? What the hell was she talking about? “No,” he said in his most badass voice.

She snorted in response, but continued her briefing nonetheless, leaving Race to wonder who the hell would be afraid of crayons of all things? Hibachi chefs were way more terrifying, they literally thought they possessed big enough dick energy to play with fire! Their dicks weren’t even that big either. Race would know, he had dated one once.

He tried to tune back into whatever Checks was saying so that he could at least report something remotely useful back to Albert once he retrieved his comms, but was interrupted by Darrel tugging on his sleeve.

Race looked down at the kid next to him. Today he was sporting a shirt with a giant tootsie roll pop on it. And he was definitely wearing silly bandz. “May I help you?” Race asked skeptically, unsure of how to talk to children who seemed to be stuck in 2009.

“I’m afraid of crayons,” he whispered.

It took every ounce of Race’s training to keep his face straight.

“Well, not every color, just the Burnt Sienna one. And only cause when I was 7 my fish died cause he ate one,” he clarified, brows furrowed together in thought. “Which colors are you scared of?”

Race sighed. Never in his life did he think that talking to a confused fifteen year old about crayon phobias would be part of his FBI agent skill set.

Oh what the hell, he thought dejectedly. I’m not gonna get any information out of this briefing anyway.

•••

As it turned out, Race had not only forgotten his comms in his locker, but he’d also somehow forgotten to tell Albert that they were getting a mission assignment today. Spot had laughed hysterically when Race went out to the parking lot to climb dejectedly into Jack’s van only to realize that it wasn't there because the two of them were working their shifts at Medda’s coffee shop. Because Race had forgotten to tell them that they were needed as backup.

Race spent quite a long time on the subway thinking about what an idiot he was.

After imagining every possible situation that could have unfolded because he didn't have back up - of which there were 27 and only 5 of them resulted in severe injury or death! - he arrived at the coffee shop. Hopefully Albert wouldn’t go too hard on him, he was being particularly protective over him on this case for some reason.

The bell next to the door dinged as he pushed open the door and slumped over to the counter where - thankfully - Romeo, Katherine and Jack were working.

“Well don't you just look like a little ray of darkness” a voice said as he approached the counter.

“Hey Ro,” Race sighed. “Gimmie the sugariest thing you can come up with.”

Race looked up at Romeo’s face for the first time and saw that his mouth had curved into a wickedly mischievous grin that Race knew he should fear, especially since he was entirely certain that Romeo could single handedly give him a sugar high that could last upwards of a week.  

“Bad day?” Romeo asked as he began to make Race’s drink. He knew Race only subjected himself to his drink creations when he was entirely desperate.

“I forgot to put my comms in, and then we had a mission assignment briefing and I realized after that I had also forgotten to tell Al and Jack so I had no backup and Al’s going to kill me,” Race mumbled into his elbow.

“Well,” Romeo pondered for a moment as he frothed what Race hoped was milk, “at least if Al does kill you you won’t have to fill out the paperwork.”

Race lifted his head to glare at his friend. “Not helping Ro.”

Romeo shrugged as he put an ungodly amount of whipped cream on Race’s mystery drink. “I never said I was trying to be helpful. That’s just the facts.”

“Punk.” Race let his head fall back down on the counter.

Romeo huffed in annoyance. “Would a punk go out of his way to make you only the greatest drink not on the menu?”

Race peeked up from his state of misery to gaze upon the creation Romeo was holding out to him.

It was in a hot pink mug - the mugs at the shop were all brown where did he find that? - and was topped with a mountain of whipped cream and chocolate shavings, rainbow sprinkles, and what appeared to be crushed oreos -again, where did he find that in a coffee shop? Race was immediately afraid of its contents and silently cursed himself for moping instead of watching what Romeo had put in the drink.

“I’m not sure,” Race said, taking the drink from him gingerly as if it would explode any second - which, knowing Romeo was a high probability. “I haven’t met any other punks.”

“What about me?” Jack asked, choosing that very moment to walk past him and Romeo. Today he was wearing a Fall Out Boy shirt and a gray beanie. It looked horrendous with the light pink apron, but Race assumed that that was what Jack had been going for.

“You’re not a punk,” Race said distractedly, trying to decide if he actually wanted to drink the mess Romeo had given him. “Now, Albert in Budapest, that was punk.”

“You and I remember Budapest very differently.”

Race’s heart sank as he heard Albert approaching him from behind. “Hey Albie,” he sighed.

Even though he wasn't looking at Albert, Race could feel his steely gaze as he took in the khaki pants and half unbuttoned, rumpled white shirt that gave away the fact that he had been at YMONY. “Why are you dressed like that?”

Race shot a what do I say look at Romeo who in turn gave him a your mistake your problem look back. Race flipped him off with his eyes before turning to Albert.

“Let’s go sit down and I’ll explain.”

Albert nodded, motioning for Jack to follow them.

Race took a deep breath and tasted his drink. It tasted like candied marshmallows covered in caramel. Honestly, not bad.

Albert led them over to a table in the back corner, pulled out a chair and sat on it backwards. “Explain yourself.”

“Okay so,” Race placed his drink down on the table. “I went to the headquarters cause we had a mission assignment briefing and I forgot to put my comms in but then after I finished I realized that I forgot to tell you guys so I didn't have backup and I’m sorryitwasanaccidentpleasedontkillme.” He stared down at the table, waiting for Albert to say something.

Instead though, it was Jack that broke the silence. “What’s the mission.”

“Breaking into a crayon factory and 6000 units of Neon Carrot crayons.” Race couldn't help but crack a smile.

“Neon Carrot?” Jack laughed. “I don't believe you.”

Race reached into his pocket for the info sheet and smoothed it out, sliding it in front of Jack. “Believe me now?”

Jack’s eyes scanned the paper quickly before he busted out laughing. “Well,” he said in between giggles. “At least we know whoever’s in charge of this dumb thing has a sense of humor.”

“We’d know who was in charge if we were actually working and not getting distracted,” Albert mumbled.

Jack and Race shared a look across the table, clearly trying to figure out what to say when they were saved by Katherine.

“Hey Jack- whoa!” She tripped over a loose floor board, falling into the table.

“Kath!” Jack jumped up to help her and Race couldn't help but roll his eyes. That boy was so hopelessly in love and it was going to end badly for everyone involved.

Katherine brushed off Jacks help, using the table instead to right herself. “Romeo needs help working the counter and my shifts about to end, do you mind?”

“No, no of course not.” Jack gave Race and Albert a nod before walking back towards the counter.

“That boy is so helplessly in love,” Race commented, watching as Jack tried to walk as close to Katherine as he possibly could without touching her.

“So are you,” Albert scoffed.

Race tore his gaze from the two of them and turned to face Albert. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You are in love with Spot.” He stared at Race accusingly.

Race was taken aback. “Am not!” Albert hardly ever meddled in his love life. And besides, he was not in love with Spot.

“Yes you are and it’s ruining the dynamics of the mission!” Albert pulled at his hair in frustration. “You’re getting sloppy, you didn’t have backup, you didn’t have comms, what if something went wrong? I can’t have you dying over a stupid boy, Antonio! We’re not 12! We have jobs, and lives! You’re putting the whole integrity of the operation at stake with your slip ups and you need to be more careful! He’s just a stupid boy, he’s not worth it!”

Race, who had been staring daggers at Albert during his heated speech, stood up from the table. “If you’re even suggesting for a second that I would put all of our lives at stake, then you clearly don’t know me,” he spat, shoving his chair against the table with a loud bang and stomping off toward the exit, letting the door slam behind him.

Albert DaSilva could go fuck himself.

•••

Albert watched as Race stormed out of the shop, immediately regretting everything that he had said to him. Of course he knew that Race was already tense being back in New York and he had probably just made it worse.

He just cared about him, and didn’t want to let his friend’s carelessness cost him something important. Like his life.

Albert stood up, kicking his chair and then cursing when he remembered a few seconds later that kicking chairs did not solve any problems and just made his foot hurt. He fought back tears that he told himself were from the sharp pain in his foot.

How could he have been so stupid?

Dejectedly, Albert strode over to his guitar and picked it up, absently plucking at the strings before settling on a song to match his feelings.

“I remember when you were all mine, but you’re changing in front of my eyes, what can I say

Now that I’m not the fire in the cold, now that I’m not the hand that you hold, as you’re walking away.

Will you call me to tell me you’re alright? Cause I worry about you the whole night. Don’t leave me this way, I won’t sleep till you’re safe inside. If you’re home I just hope that you’re sober, is it time to let go now you’re older? Don’t make my mistakes, I won’t sleep till you’re safe inside.”

______

o shit he maddd

next up: its crayon stealing time kiddos (btw neon carrot is a real crayons crayon color)

heres the song Albert sings

the story is actually finally picking up thank hecc

feedback is always appreciated hmu to be on the taglist

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[sweetcatmintea]

Atlas meets Ivan - Drabble

So, I haven’t got any new pictures for you guys, have a short drabble instead. It was a gift for @babydollneko but she said I could upload it here too :)

Moonlight filtered through the thin clouds overhead illuminating speckles drifting through the late-night air. Hard shingles stole the warmth through Atlas’ shirt, prompting shivers. He lazily took note of his leg dangling over the musty gutter pipe. A clean was long over due but the negligence was understandable, it was no simple task to clean the top of a three-story house. Hoisting himself into a sitting position, Atlas stretched his arms in front of him until there was a satisfying crack.

He wasn’t sure how long his nap had lasted but he felt refreshed enough. It was late afternoon when the summer heat left him lazing about, but that didn’t mean much to him. He had also been sprawled on Lady Clara’s ornate lounge, enjoying the firmness of the well-maintained upholstery and the gentle breeze tussling his bangs.  To find himself waking on the roof of an unknown building in an unknown street was not how he expected the day to go. Surprising as it was, there was little mystery. Many an adventure in his youth was prompted by accidentally teleporting somewhere in his sleep. It was kind of like sleep walking, but with more stress for Lady Clara. He glanced at his wrist only to remember he had taken off his stylish purple gloves and accompanying compass cuff earlier in the day. This was going to make things more difficult. Oh well, no use sitting around worrying. Scaling down the building with relative ease, he decided to just explore for a little while. It’d be a shame to waste the opportunity. Lady Clara was forever scolding him for roaming around like some tom cat. ‘Come home straight away!’ she’d say. ‘You’re never where you’re supposed to be! Disappearing to who knows where whenever the fancy takes you! Honestly, it’s a wonder I haven’t locked the doors by now!’ Translated roughly, she meant ‘I worry when you disappear, so I want you to come straight back.’ Atlas grinned into his knuckles. She was a funny lady, but certainly good quality. He was an adult now – more or less – and she had relaxed some. It helped that he wasn’t under her constant care and supervision anymore. Still, he’d just have a little look around, then head back. Or, at least, a little look, then try to work out where he would be coming back from. His current location was less important than where he wanted to be, but knowing it would probably help.  Music pulsed faintly in the distance, a faint throb indicative of a nightclub type place. Given the back-alley vibes he was getting and the apparent late hour, the club would probably be inhabited primarily by drunks. Atlas sighed. He didn’t want to go amongst drunk people. It was probably the best bet for finding someone to ask his location. Ambling away, he put his money on the opposite direction. Going for the easiest route? Where was the adventure in that?

He must have been a fair way away from Lady Clara’s house. The wind carried a bite more tenacious than that of a summer. Atlas lamented the absence of his favourite dark grey coat. The fur trim, purple of course, was luxuriously soft and oh so fluffy. He really couldn’t complain though, years of waking up in unusual places ensured he was always reasonably covered when he rested. As funny as it would have been, he would not have appreciated exploring in only his boxers.

It wasn’t until the music had faded entirely, replaced with a cricket orchestra more suited to the country than such a populated area, that Atlas finally saw another person. A man, not much older than himself, busied himself opening the large roller doors of a … warehouse, maybe? The mechanisms made such a racket he didn’t notice Atlas approaching him. It was at this point Atlas realised he probably should have tried reading one of the street signs, he had no idea what the common language was here. Hoping it was one he knew, he cleared his throat, immediately catching the other man’s attention. Fabric spun and metal flashed. The knife stopping a mere finger’s width from Atlas’ skin. The two men appraised one another momentarily. This man, decidedly less harmless then Atlas first assumed, was slightly taller than him. His dark hair spiked from his head in organised chaos, complimented by a dark hoody and calculated grin. His teeth were clearly sharp, more so than Atlas’ unusually animalistic ones. Offering a placating smile, Atlas raised his palms to the man. He meant no harm. The switchblade returned to it’s hiding place in one smooth movement but remained at hand. The man’s posture relaxed, replaced with an easy confidence. Most reasonable people would be put off, intimidated even, by a man exuding danger and standing in front of a gaping maw of black. Unfortunately, Atlas was not a terribly reasonable person at times. ‘Foolish’ was almost a nickname at this point. He wasn’t stupid, but, out in the open as they were, he had many escape routes should things go sour. He lowered his hands, resting one in the pocket of his tailored shorts, and waving a greeting with the other. “What are you doing out here?” Ah, English. He knew that one. Lucky~ “Hello,” More accent than he would like, but good enough, “I got a little lost. Would you mind helping me? My name is Atlas, Atlas Mao.” The man tilted his head, lips pursed. “You’ve got cat ears.” It was a question in the form of a statement. “Yep.” He wiggled his ears for emphasis. The man’s grin grew. “Tail too. It was a matching set situation.” Even though he had kept it politely low, he was pretty sure the man had already noticed. The man’s hazel (maybe? It was hard to tell in the dark) eye’s glittered with excitement. “You don’t have … cat people here?” A shake of a head said no. That was unusual, he’d never been to a place where there were no Tainted people. Maybe he was even further than he thought. “Can I touch them?” “P-pardon?” “Your ears. I want to touch them.” The man reached out eagerly. There was a child-like enthusiasm that dampened the automatic ‘no’. Sighing inwardly, Atlas relented and nodded. That’s how he ended up being pet softly in the middle of the night by a very strange man. The plan to wait until his novelty had run its course and then find out where he was, was a bust. The enjoyment the man got appeared to be endless. Being told he was adorable was something he had gotten used to, it becomes necessary when your face becomes a brand, however having someone coo at him in the middle of the night was a bit much. An embarrassed flush crept up his neck as he put some distance between himself and the man. Luckily, he didn’t seem too disappointed, instead pointing out another of Atlas’ peculiarities. “You’re floating.” “Yeah. I don’t want to walk. The floor is really dirty, and my shoes are at home.” He wasn’t that high. Maybe a few inches off the ground. The man narrowed his eyes, considering Atlas again. “You’re not from here, are you?” Finally. He didn’t mind this man, he didn’t know him well enough to decide that he liked him yet, but it felt like some kind of backwards Alice in Wonderland scenario. Given he was the floating cat and all. He really couldn’t stay much longer, he’d promised Lady Clara he’d be in her photoshoot tomorrow. “No. I’m lost. Do you have a map and a compass I could borrow, uh…” “Ivan. You can call me Ivan.” He leaned in closer “I mean it call me.” Atlas didn’t know how to respond to either the wink or the playful nudge. “I’ve got those back home, but I gotta do something first.” He entered the abys of the warehouse, calling over his shoulder. “My cat got out, so I’ve gotta find him before we go back.” Nothing else to do, Atlas followed him in, offering to help search.

The deceptively small light on Ivan’s phone lit up a large chunk of the building. How did the phone have a light in it to begin with? Atlas knew there were some technological leaps lately, but wow! Debris was scattered all over the place. Leaves piled wherever the broken roof permitted. A dry, dusty smell filled the air, clinging to the backs of their throats. With all of the shadows and hidey holes, the chances of finding a cat were slim. Even with his sensitive ears, Atlas couldn’t detect anything other than the scuttling of bugs avoiding Ivan’s light. He strained his eyes but there was neither hide nor hair of any mammal. He was about to tell Ivan that he might want to look else where, but the man cut him off, bellowing “KING CRUNCH!” Evidently, Atlas wasn’t the only one to jump out of their skin. The boxes in the far corner began to rustle in response. Ivan ran over, letting out a proclamation of triumph. “I found my cat!” He dragged an angry, hissing creature from it’s nest, returning to Atlas with a massive smile. Beady eyes glared venomous hatred at Atlas. Little round ears were slicked back and grabby hands scrambled in the air, desperate for a victim. The grey-brown fur bristled like needles. That wasn’t a cat. The raccoon seemed to accept its fate, slumping in Ivan’s arms and chattering murder under its breath. Ivan was positively beaming. “Alright, I got my cat, we can go back. Somehow, he always get’s out when the Bae’s there. It’s weird, I know he likes King Crunch. Who wouldn’t?” Atlas couldn’t help but find Ivan’s clear affection towards his ‘cat’ very sweet. “Why’s he in a jacket?” The fact that the studded leather suited the raccoon was as undeniable as the ridiculousness of addressing raccoon fashion. What an interesting night it was turning out to be. “Oh, that. I tried to put a collar on him, so no one steals him, y’know, but he just kept getting it off. Neal got the jacket made for him so I would” he air quoted “stop moaning about the stupid collar. Good thing King Crunch is so fat, he can’t get his jacket off. No one’s going to mistake him for a stray cat now. I’d have ta kill them if they did though.” He laughed jovially.  

If you’re curious -> Atlas Ivan 

Ivan was created by, and belongs to, @babydollneko

Atlas is my character

Feedback is appreciated!