#i hope my answers aren't too confusing or conflicting?

[descendant-of-truth]

When are we gonna acknowledge the fact that the whole "Sonic is super cheerful around Shadow who finds him annoying" thing only started in Shadow the Hedgehog and that this isn't, like. their default

You wanna know what their original dynamic was? Sonic getting ticked off by Shadow's very presence, who would stop in the middle of anything no matter how urgent and time-sensitive it was just to mess with Sonic.

(He got sidetracked from his own mission to save Rouge from THE EXPLOSIVES THAT HE SET because the urge to make fun of Sonic was too strong. what is wrong with him)

And it's Sonic who starts their first fight, by the way. He was clearly taking Shadow much more seriously than the other way around; he genuinely wanted to fight, while I'm pretty sure Shadow just wanted to have some fun and show off. (AS THE BOMB IS STILL TICKING)

But at the same time, most likely because he was having fun, he seemed to be hoping that Sonic would prove himself to be something more than just... Some Guy. Why else would he seem disappointed that Sonic could be killed? And so impressed (dare I say proud) when it turned out that he survived by using Chaos Control with a fake Emerald?

All of the animosity was on Sonic's end - Shadow was the one who wanted someone to rival him. He never disliked Sonic, or found him annoying to be around. If he did, he wouldn't have spent so much time around him to begin with.

And they were somehow like this in Heroes, too. Despite his amnesia, Shadow once again listens to Sonic talk for a few seconds and immediately decides that he needs to taunt him. Searching for the answers to his identity can wait, he just thought of a great comeback and needs to style on this random hedgehog for a bit

Then you've got the absolute whiplash of Shadow's game, where all of a sudden Sonic is Super Friendly towards Shadow, who's having none of it. Even if you try to make the argument that Sonic is trying to be friendlier on purpose because he wants to bond with Shadow more, the game portrays it as if this is just How Sonic Is.

Sure, I'd expect him to be picking fewer fights with Shadow when they're working together to save the world, but he's like. borderline giddy all the time. it's kinda funny but so, so confusing in the grand scheme of things.

Sonic 06 gave a much more sensible portrayal of how the two would talk to each other after they're done being enemies, I think. There's a little bit of rivalry in there, but it's not born out of them conflicting with each other. There's no hesitation to work together, no grumbling from Shadow, and Sonic isn't being uncharacteristically excitable about it.

(Plus they retained the silent communication thing they had going at the end of SA2, which is nice)

Unfortunately, 06 was the first and only time that we would see the two of them written this way, as friends who maybe don't "hang out" but aren't the type to bicker or turn everything into a competition at the expense of practicality.

There was no hesitation to the respect they had for each other, either, which is easily the most baffling part of their current portrayals. Not even their Boom counterparts had any hangups about that, and they were legitimately antagonistic towards each other most of the time.

Case in point, I think it's very easy to look at their designs and put them into stereotypical little boxes where Sonic is the ray of sunshine while Shadow is too edgy to find him anything but annoying, but that's just. not how they are at all, and the actual ways their personalities used to bounce off of each other was both funnier and more interesting in my opinion

[liveforjeongin]

can i request lee!know with ler!felix

i js love minlix😭

How To Cheer Your Minho Up (3/7)

I honestly love Minlix too, they're so cute and there isn't enough tickle content of them😭

So I was really happy to write this, and, casually, the next member in my series of ler!Felix was going to be Lino, so I kinda mixed it

Thank you for the request anon, I hope you like it<3

-tickle fic, if you don't like that you can keep scrolling

requested by: anon

warnings: Minho is conflicted at the beginning, crying, soft tickling, pinning, kinda short

Read 'How To Cheer Your Jeongin Up (2/7)' (the previous part) here in case you haven't yet!

taglist: @itzsana-kiddingmenow @channieissocute125

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Minho had been feeling bad.

That was it.

He didn't understand what was happening to him and why he was feeling like nothing really mattered. He didn't understand his own feelings, and was confused about what he wanted and what he didn't.

He had tried hardly to hide this from the members, knowing they would get worried, and he didn't want that.

But he also knew they could help him.

After some time, maybe months, feeling like this, Minho couldn't stand it by himself anymore... He needed comfort and support, and he knew it. So, he took the decision of telling just one member, with that it should be enough, right?

He knew he could trust in really any member, and that they all would care, but his final choice was his sunshine boy, Felix.

Felix was peacefully playing LoL in his room, in his own world, when Lino came "Lix" he called out to him.

Yongbok immediately turned around to see his hyung, the older's tone of voice anticipating that there was something going on "Yes, hyung?"

"Do you have a second?"

"Sure, hyungie" Lixie answered from his chair.

Minho sat in the sunshine boy's bed, and, after thinking how he should say it, he finally let it all out. Lix just stayed there in his chair, listening attentively to all of his hyung's words, ready to console him and help him once he was done.

The second Lino finished venting, Bokkie basically jumped onto him, giving him a warm hug.

Lee Know hated to show his 'negative' feelings, specially to his members, but this time, he couldn't contain himself, and started crying in his dongsaeng's comforting embrace.

The two guys kept hugging each other for a while, until the older finally stopped crying.

Gosh... He felt way much better now.

"You feel alright now, hyung? Is there anything I can do to help you?" Felix asked; as always, his sunshine nature and his love for his members made him have this urgue of helping them the best he could.

"I mean... I don't know what else you could do to cheer me up... But if you have something, then do it" Minho answered his question, completely oblivious of what he was accepting.

Lixie had the perfect idea and smirked a little, while he tackled the older in the bed, making sure to lift his arms above his head to immobilize him.

It all happened so suddenly that Lino couldn't even react, and before he could say even a word, he found himself shivering at the gentle but extremely tickly sensations caused by Felix.

"W-Wahahait! I didn't mean thihihihis!" Lee Know talked through his giggling.

"But you're feeling better now, aren't you?" Yongbok teased a little, tickling thoroughly around his hyung's torso, making sure to be gentle, so he wouldn't get him back so bad-

The older couldn't help the slight blush on his cheeks "ihihihi'm not! That's a lihihihihie!"

Lixie could just smirk "Are you sure about that, hyungie?" The younger increased the pace and intensity of the tickles, Minho's laughter growing louder as well.

"A-AHAHAHAHAHA! OKAY OKAY! I AM FEELING BEHEHEHEHHEEHHETTER! NOW COULD YOHOHOHOHOU PLEASE GO BAHAHAHAHACK TO GENTLE?!"

Lino's request surprised the younger a lot. Was he really letting him go on? And here he was! Torturing him instead of giving him some gentle, soft treatment like he deserved!

Almost immediately after Minho spoke, Lix made the tickles gentle again, even setting his arms free.

Bokkie really thought that he wouldn't try to fight the ticklish feeling.

Of course he was wrong.

The moment he allowed his hyung to move freely, he started squirming around in the younger's bed, and trying to push away his hands, whether it was intentionally or just an automatic reaction. The cutest giggles ever were coming out of the older's mouth as well.

"Lihihihihix! That's really bahahahahad!"

Lix just smiled affectionately at him "I know, hyungie, I know, but you're doing great~"

Lino could just take it for a few more minutes. The feeling was indeed gentle and soft, but just as unbearable as some rough tickles would be.

"L-Lihihihihix! S-Stop nohohohow! Please!"

"Mmmmmm... Are you sure you're feeling better now?" Lixie teased him a little, not stopping yet.

"Yehehehehes! I promise!"

Felix smiled softly before stopping, and, almost immediately after doing so, he jumped onto the older, cuddling him tightly.

Minho was panting a little, with a big smile on his face now. He wrapped his arms around Lix back, holding him close to his chest.

He spoke up after some seconds "Thank you so much, Lix"

The younger smiled up at his hyung, glad for having helped him "Whenever you need, hyung"

They fell asleep some time after just cuddling there

They were too comfortable in each other's embrace to not to.

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I'm not really proud of this one, but I can kind of relate with Minho, and I do think I did kind of good with it, so I hope you all like it<3

[yikes-kachowski]

Hiii! I dropped by on accident and found out your avatar headcanons and OCs so so nice

I gotta ask a few curiosities of mine if that's cool? *takes out a notebook and a pen*

- since katara and zuko are a thing, did it make their friendship with aang weird or was he cool with it instantly? And how did it even began for them? Did it followed the show's events? Did Aang even got a crush on Katara?

- What happens to Azula?

- How does all these next gen kids react when Korra shows up? Is it weird, is it fine, is it all the same? I mean, they all knew the previous avatar and he was pretty much their family and all. Tho I think them having their own lives also mean it's not that much of a deal?

- Is Katara still one of Korra's teaching masters?

- Sokka's kids get along?

- Does Tenzin and Bumi eventually get okay with each other?

- Korra still loses her connection to the past avatars and therefore Aang? Do they even talk, like he did to Roku and all?

- do you have any other headcanon or change of other characters from tlok or tloa that you mind sharing? like, a plot from tlok that you think it could be better improved or discarded, or something that happens on your universe and you haven't talked about yet?

Sorry for this such a big of an ask, i really REALLY liked these ideas you had (and your art is also amazing and so awesome and pretty too 💞).

heyyyy anon! sorry for the late reply, i hope you still see this.

First of all, thank you! I love genuine interest in my stuff I never expect it. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy and clever. ALSO thanks for complimenting my art! i'm a slow artist so my blood sweat and tears (mostly tears) are in every drawing !!!

onto answering your questions to the best of my ability:

1) Aang is completely cool with Katara and Zuko's relationship. He's basically their biggest shipper :) He did have a crush on Katara (and Zuko tbh), but he was able to let it go pretty quickly. As the Avatar, after the war he was almost too busy to even be sad about it. Overwhelmingly, he was just happy for his friends

Also, Katara and Zuko get together after the war, when Katara's about 17 and he's about 19. Katara goes to the South Pole and they fall for each other through letters and short visits.

Most show events aren't really taken out for me. Just really the kiss right at the end.

2) Azula has a redemption arc. I like to think of it as being a redemption arc she herself is hardly aware of. She just thinks she's really in the long haul of fooling the gaang into liking her. Her redemption arc starts immediately after the war because Zuko keeps her safe in the palace.

Aang becomes her friend first and encourages everyone else to give her a chance. Sokka provides an outlet for all of her older brother issues, since she and Zuko have an awkward relationship. And Katara is tutored by Azula in Fire Nation etiquette and history so she's better equipped to be Fire Lady.

sorry if this is confusing, but believe it or not this rambling all makes sense to me.

3) Korra is very important to the next gen kids, aang's kids and the zk especially. Her arrival is in the middle of great political conflict that never would have happened if Aang wasn't murdered, so they're eager to get her in on the Avatar business.

My idea with Aang dying so young, is that all of his business is half finished. His kids didn't get real closure for their relationship. So Bumi, Yelaan, Palkyi and Tenzin all have complex feelings toward her. Bumi's in particular are very intense.

Being around Korra FEELS like being in his father's presence, which is hard for him. He doesn't want aang to have been a good person or a good father because then he'd really have to miss and mourn everything he was gone for. but this is a lot and hard for me to say so

the steambabies also need Korra and consider her central. They watched their parents' reactions when Aang died (particularly Zuko), and that has affected them deeply. Sakari has been advised to always follow the avatar, so she's happy to have guidance. Besides, she hopes the Avatar will restore and era of peace since she worries for Bumi and Akiak.

Akiak has changed since Aang died, a lot. In ways he's not always proud of. Facing Korra is somewhat hard for him for that reason. Especially since sometimes she opposes some of his methods. He thinks her way of bringing peace is naive.

Tophs kids (and Tenzin to some extent) are the same :)

4) Yes! Katara is one of her waterbending masters. I feel like when you're an Avatar's Master, that's your role for life. She already knows how to train the Avatar. She, Zuko, and Toph taught Korra in the right order, and are old friends with her. Korra has already met the whole Gaang even if she doesn't see Toph or Zuko as often as she'd like

5) I usually choose not to give Sokka kids. I feel like he doesn't want to be a father (even though he'd definitely be the best at it). He and Suki work too hard and have agreed they just aren't super interested in kids. He and Suki are full time Aunt and Uncle to all of the Next Gen. Now, ive made some OCs for asks and I'd say that they do get along :)

6) Bumi and Tenzin's relationship is ROUGH in this story, but yes, they do. It takes a while but eventually they're only mildly hostile with each other. Tenzin helps Bumi reconnect with Air Nomad culture, and Bumi helps him commune with the spirits better. This is jumpstarted by Korra.

7) Korra does keep communication with her past lives! But her path to being a fully realized Avatar is much more difficult. The decision to raise her in a compound was a mistake, and so her growth as an avatar is severely set back. This means, she speaks to her past lives when they reach out to her (and she's in tune enough to listen). Aang is not easy for her to talk to, but eventually she masters it. She doesn't really tell anyone because she's scared everyone will then only want to talk to aang, not her.

8) First of all: for atla, i write very particular cultures and geographies to expand the universe. They affect things in only minor ways for the most part in atla. Also, Aang is trans. I love it too much for it to not be true (if youre wondering how he had kids he made deals with spirits)

Now for tlok. In my opinion, it's very necessary for the different conflicts to not have clear starts and ends. These should all be interweaving conflicts that everyone's caught in the middle of. Not only does this facilitate a lot more character interactions, but it also builds stress and feels realistic.

Mako and Bolin are former triad members and pro athletes, they should be rougher around the edges. Also, Mako would NEVER EVER become a cop after seeing the direct damage they cause marginalized communities. I think that perspective would be very important for korra as an avatar.

Season two plotlines should just be a civil war between north and south. Tbh, I'm not digging all of the subtle ways the north takes over the south, and I imagine the south isn't either. They separated from the north for a reason, and then during the war, the north didn't even help them. The tensions were rising and Aang never came up with a good long term solution when he was alive, and that affects Korra.

Season three's plotline can mostly stay the same except there is no harmonic convergence that introduces new airbenders. The airbenders are the group that they are. They're travelling the earth kingdoms doing peace talks since much of the earth kingdoms don't want to be under ba sing se. Particularly the Si Wong Desert. Aang was in active peace talks when died and was never able to come up with a long term solution.

Season four is also mostly the same except no mechs or spirit nukes.

All the while the equalists are raging on at home.

ANYWAY. thanks for the ask! I hope you see this after i posted it SOOOO late.

See the pattern? Korra must fill aang's shoes while also dealing with all of his unfinished business. Every character serves a unique perspective that helps inform korras decisions.

I dont think these ideas are perfect and the only way to write Korra, but I think they make sense. They help tell a story Im more interested in.

[wheels-of-despair]

@funsonmunson-again's Birthday Week Writing Challenge Oliver Soon-to-be-Munson and the Best Birthday Ever The Eddie: Janitor!Eddie The Prompt: #6: write me something domestic. use your eddie of choice, reader pregnant or not, just give me something for my ovaries to combust to. show me dad!eddie Words: 3.8k? It just kinda... happened. 😳 Contains: Oliver's first birthday with Janitor!Eddie and Teach. Notes: I did some bad math and figured they'd get Oliver in about 1994, so this is meant to take place that summer, while they're just fostering him. Then somebody dropped new Eddie Age info and I was too far into it to recalculate. Disregard if this conflicts with the official timeline. This contains no I Love You's - because I don't know if they're there yet at this point, and those firsts aren't mine to write anyway. (But I'd love to read them, hint hint.)

"Ollie's got a birthday coming up. Any ideas?"

"Hmmm," Eddie hums, crawling into bed after a long day. He settles his head on your chest and wiggles the rest of his body so close, he's nearly on top of you. You smile and wrap your arms around him. You both lie there and think quietly for a moment.

"I don't think we should do anything too big," he says thoughtfully. "Just something normal. If his mom gets him back, we don't want his next birthday to be drastically different."

"Good idea," you agree, twirling a strand of his hair in your fingers. "What's considered normal these days?"

"You're asking me about normal?" he chuckles.

"Nevermind," you laugh. "What was your most memorable birthday?"

"The year it was just me and my mom," he answers quickly. "Dad was in jail. Mom made me a cake and gave me a little red matchbox car. It was all I played with for months."

"Aw," you coo, scratching his scalp gently.

"Then Dad got out and stomped it 'cause I left it in the floor." You kiss the top of his head and hold him a little tighter.

"What was yours?" he asks.

"We were never really big on birthdays. Just dinner and a present or two. Cards from relatives. Very low-key."

He hums and nuzzles into you. You let out a sigh.

"I kinda feel like we should just ask him, but I think it would put too much pressure on him. Poor baby's still afraid to ask for seconds at dinner. Even if he had something in mind, he probably wouldn't tell us."

A sad silence falls over the room. You want to give your sweet boy the world, but you don't know if he could handle it just yet.

"Wayne used to take me to the movies," Eddie says.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Dollar Days at The Hawk."

"The Hawk?"

"There used to be a theater on Main Street, before the mall moved in and turned it into a ghost town. When times were slow, and there was nothing good out, they'd show old movies. A double feature for a dollar. It was old black and white stuff, mostly. The first time Wayne took me, it was pirate movies. That's what kicked off my pirate era."

"Pirate Eddie, huh?"

"Oh yeah. Talked like a pirate for almost a year. Badly. Every stick was a sword. Surprised Wayne didn't make me walk the plank." You chuckle, and you can feel him grinning into your chest.

"I bet you were adorable."

He scoffs. "Pirates are not adorable! They're rough and tough!"

"If you say so, baby." You kiss the top of his head again with a grin.

"Anyway, that was our thing. My birthday's a movie dead zone, so there was usually a Dollar Days promotion going on. I don't think we ever saw pirates again, though. It was mostly westerns after that."

"Was there a Cowboy Eddie era?"

"You bet there was, little lady," he drawls. You cackle and quickly quiet yourself, hoping you hadn't woken up Ollie. "I was gonna move out west and live like the good ol' days. I wanted a ranch with horses and cows and a good dog and a pretty lady."

"Well, one out of five's not bad, I guess." He looks up at you in confusion. "You got the lady, at least," you tease with a wink.

"That's all I need," he whispers. You give him a kiss on the forehead, and both return to your previous positions.

"So, making Oliver a cake and taking him to the movies?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Good morning, birthday boy!" you smile from the stove, where you're keeping an eye on the bacon.

Oliver has finally wandered in, still in his pajamas. He's hugging his teddy bear with one arm and rubbing his eyes with his free hand. This child is the cutest little thing you've ever seen.

"Happy Birthday, bud," Eddie says, coming in from the living room.

"Thanks," Oliver says shyly, looking at the floor.

"What do you think: Breakfast first, or a present?" Eddie asks the boy with a mischievous grin.

Oliver's eyes light up, but he shrugs.

"What do you think, sweetheart?" Eddie asks you.

"I think I'm not quite done over here yet, so you should probably start with a present. That alright with you, Ollie?"

He nods, and you grin at him.

Eddie ducks back into the living room and returns with a neatly wrapped box, which he sets on the table with an exaggerated grunt. Oliver looks from the gift to Eddie to you, silently asking permission.

"It's okay," you encourage him with a smile and a nod.

He sits at the table and carefully unwraps it, almost like he's afraid of what's inside.

What's inside are ten Hardy Boys books.

The school library had a few random volumes left over from the 50s, and Ollie always had one checked out. They were his favorites; he would read the same four or five mysteries over and over again.

You'd never seen a child so happy about getting a book. His jaw dropped, and he reached out and ran his finger along the spines. You'd found a boxed set of the first ten books at a thrift store. They looked almost like new.

"They're really mine?"

"Of course, bud," Eddie assures him.

"For keeps?"

"Yup," you chirp.

First, he hugs his books. Then he hugs Eddie. Then he runs over and hugs you. (You step away from the stove when you see him coming, not wanting him to get too close to the hot pans.) And then he returns to his books, staring at them like he's afraid to take them out.

Eddie seems to sense this, and pulls his chair closer.

"Have you read any of these yet?" he asks.

"This one," Oliver points to a spine, "and this one. I think."

Eddie pulls out the first book Oliver pointed at and reads the summary on the back.

"Yeah, that's my favorite!" Oliver says in amazement when he sees the cover of the book Eddie holds, which is facing him. He excitedly pulls the rest out, one at a time, and carefully inspects each cover.

While he's busy poring over every detail of the cover art, Eddie gives you a smile that almost makes you forget the breakfast you're supposed to be cooking. The ding of the oven timer brings you back to reality.

Turning back to the stove, you hurriedly pull out a pan of biscuits and start turning off burners. Eddie gets up and pulls down a stack of plates for you.

"Alright bud, ready for breakfast now?"

Oliver nods, carefully putting his books back into their box, in the correct order. He tries to pick it up off the table, but struggles until Eddie swoops in. He's just a little guy, after all.

"Wanna put these in your room for now?" Eddie asks. Oliver nods and follows him to the bedroom; Eddie with an armful of books and Ollie with his teddy bear. By the time they get back - the books had to go on a shelf, obviously - breakfast is on the table. Bacon, and eggs, and biscuits made from scratch. The only person who was a bigger biscuit junkie than Ollie was Eddie, so you had two very happy and full boys that morning.

"What time's the thing?" you asked inconspicuously, washing the last of the dishes.

Eddie, who's on drying duty, looks down at his hand. He'd written down the showtime when he double-checked the paper that morning. "11:20."

"You wanna get Ollie dressed while I hop in the shower? If I go out smelling like bacon grease, every dog in town's gonna be chasing us."

He laughs and kisses your forehead, hanging up the dish towel and heading for Ollie's room. You drain the sink and make your way to the bathroom, smiling when you overhear Eddie teasing a fun birthday adventure while trying not to spill the beans.

After you're all dressed (and de-baconed), you hop in the car. Ollie watches curiously from his booster seat in the back.

"Where are we going?"

"Do you really want to know, or do you want it to be a surprise?" You turn around and give him a smile while Eddie drives. "It's okay either way. It's your call, bud."

Oliver shrugs.

"Do you want a hint?"

He thinks about it, then nods his head. A nod instead of a shrug. Progress!

"We're going to the movies."

Confusion clouds his little face.

"Have you ever been to the movies before?" you ask with a smile, hoping that it's disguising the panic you suddenly felt. Had he really never been before? Is this going to be overwhelming for him? Why hadn't you thought of this?!

"Like when we rent tapes?"

"Not exactly. We're going to a theater."

His face is blank.

"It's a big room in the mall, with lots of seats and a huge screen."

"Muuuch bigger than our TV," Eddie adds.

"And we watch the movie there?"

"Yup, on the big screen."

"Why?"

You look at Eddie helplessly, and he chuckles at you.

"Because it's fun," he says. "My Uncle Wayne used to take me on my birthday when I was little. We'd get a bucket of popcorn, and a drink, and then go sit in a comfy chair and wait for the lights to go down. They show you previews of other movies coming out soon, just like on the tapes we rent. And then they turn the real movie on. You've never seen anything like it. It's so big! It doesn't even matter what the movie is. It's just a cool thing to see, and a cool place to be."

"Especially when you're there with your favorite people," you add, looking at Eddie with a smile. He reaches over and squeezes your hand.

"So, sound like fun?" you ask, turning your attention back to Ollie.

He nods. You'll take it.

Oliver is understandably nervous when you arrive at the theater. It's his very first time, after all. He clings to your side from the minute you help him out of the car. Eddie buys the tickets at the box office out front, and sticks them in his front pocket. You walk Oliver around the lobby to look at the posters while Eddie waits in line to buy a bucket of popcorn and a drink from the counter inside.

Ollie's eyes linger over the candy counter when you come to meet Eddie, but he doesn't say a word. That's alright. You'll hook him up later, you think with a smirk. Moms have their ways.

("Their ways" meaning you bought candy at the dollar store a few days ago and hid it in the bottom of your purse. You feel no shame about this. Movie theater candy is highway robbery. Just the facts.)

With a bucket of popcorn and a gallon of soda, Eddie leads the way into the theater. He picks a spot in the back, away from everyone else, and you all get settled in. You check your watch.

"Ten minutes to go. Probably a good time to hit the bathroom," you note. Eddie nods.

"Wanna hit the head before the movie starts, buddy?" Oliver shrugs. "C'mon," Eddie says with a smile and a tilt of his head. They leave together, and you guard the popcorn.

They come back just in time. Oliver sits between you, munching on popcorn and looking around. There's not a whole lot to see in here; it's a morning matinee, and the movie's been out for a while, so there's only a handful of other people. Then the lights go down, and Oliver tenses.

"It's alright, it just means the show's about to start," Eddie whispers to him. Oliver looks to you, and you nod in agreement. He sits back in his seat and pulls his knees up, resting his chin on them. You and Eddie share A Look over his head.

And then the screen comes to life. Oliver's eyes widen. You and Eddie are both trying to watch him without being obvious about it, and failing hilariously. You watch him all through the previews, completely transfixed by the clips on the giant screen in front of him.

When the theater chain's roller coaster intro came on, you thought Oliver was going to lose his mind. His eyes were the size of saucers, and his jaw was dangerously close to coming unhinged. You and Eddie grin at each other. This was the show you came to see.

And then the lights dim more, and the movie starts. Oliver perks up at the Disney logo, which he is very familiar with. You and Eddie's traditional Friday night plans of "dinner and a movie" looked a little different these days, but you loved them just the same. Maybe more.

A song blasts through the speakers scattered throughout the theater. Oliver leans forward, seemingly possessed by the music, inching closer and closer to the empty seat in front of him as each new animal appears. By the time the lions show up, he's standing, grasping the top edge of the chair in front of him with both hands, like it's all that's keeping him from falling into the movie.

You cover your mouth and look over at Eddie, who is grinning so hard, it looks like it might actually split his face.

After a few minutes of letting him soak it in, you reach forward and hook your finger through his belt loop, pulling him back to his seat gently. He lands on his chair with a light bounce, but doesn't seem to notice. You and Eddie share another grin, and start digging into the popcorn.

You've never seen any child pay such close attention to anything for so long in your life. And you've spent quite a lot of time around them. But Oliver remains focused throughout the entire movie, from the opening sunrise to the final scene where the good guy triumphs. He didn't even get scared during those freaky hyena scenes.

When the lights finally come back on, Oliver sits back in his seat and breathes for the first time in an hour and a half. He looks up at Eddie, then at you.

"Well, what'd you think?" you ask.

"This was the best birthday EVER."

The cub's ruling may have come a little early, because the day was still young.

Oliver had been too captivated by the movie to eat anything, and you and Eddie had only eaten half the popcorn, so you brought the bucket home with you. You looked back at him, munching on a handful and staring thoughtfully out the window. You wished you knew what was going on in his head…

But you soon found out. After he'd eaten his fill of popcorn and had time to process the mind-blowing event of going to the movies for the first time, and he started talking. And he didn't stop.

He told you about his favorite scenes, and his favorite characters, and what his favorite song was, and that he knew all along that the good guy would win in the end. He'd memorized so many details from the movie, after only one viewing, you were extremely impressed. You and Eddie nodded along happily, laughing and gasping in the appropriate places of his passionate re-telling.

By the time you got close to home, Oliver had nearly talked himself out. His blinks were becoming longer, and he leaned his head back against the seat. Eddie, who'd been keeping an eye on him in the rearview mirror, took the long way around instead of his usual shortcut. Oliver was asleep when you pulled in the driveway.

Eddie handed you the keys and opened the back door to unbuckle Oliver and pull him out. You led the way up the front steps and unlocked the door, holding it for your beautiful boys. Eddie carried Oliver into his room and came back out with a grin.

"You think he liked it?" he asks, causing both of you to burst into a fit of hushed giggles.

"Wayne'll be here in an hour and a half. Wanna get stuff ready, or lay on the couch for a few?" Eddie asks. You look at each other for approximately three seconds before heading to the couch.

You doze for about an hour, then get up and start working on Oliver's birthday dinner. You've got a salad to make and a cake to ice. Eddie's got grilling to do. After all the vegetables are washed, Eddie goes to wake up Oliver. When they return to the kitchen, you send them both outside with a pan full of vegetables wrapped in foil. Eddie might not be great with the baking, but the man can grill anything.

A few minutes later, Wayne knocks twice, then lets himself in as you're starting to frost the cake you baked late last night.

"Hi, Wayne!"

"Hey, darlin'. You need help?"

"Nope, just finishing up. You need a drink?"

"Eddie's got the cooler outside. Uh…" You look up from the cake to see Wayne rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, just like Eddie does. "You got wrappin' paper?"

"Yeah, hall closet." You point, and he shuffles over and pulls out a roll of blue striped paper.

"Scissors?"

"Scissors and tape are in the top drawer closest to you," you point again. "You need help?"

"I can wrap a damn present, girl."

"Then why didn't you teach Eddie how?"

"Boy wouldn't sit still long enough." You both grin, and he pulls something out of his flannel pocket and drops it on the table, turning his back to you and getting to work.

You slather the last of the frosting on your cake as Wayne walks the roll of blue paper back to the closet.

"I, uh… I didn't have any."

"That's okay. I've always got plenty, appropriate for any gift-wrapping occasion. Help yourself, any time."

"Thanks. Uh... all I had was newspaper, and I didn't have time to make it to the store and back… I, uh, didn't want the boy to feel like he was an afterthought." Your heart swells, but you can already hear Wayne's "don't go gettin' all emotional on me, girl", so you take an alternate route.

"Wayne, you know it's what's inside the paper that counts," you say with a wink. He chuckles, and Oliver peeks his head inside the door.

"Eddie says to bring him some dang meat."

"Tell him to hold his dang horses," you laugh, reaching into the fridge for a plate of burgers and hot dogs. Oliver relays your reply out the door, and you can hear Eddie cackle from his place by the grill. Wayne stuffs the little package back into his pocket and reaches for the dang meat. You pick up your salad and follow him out the door, which Oliver holds for you like a gentleman.

While Eddie cooks his dang meat, Oliver tells Wayne about his day so far: breakfast, books, the coolest movie ever. Wayne grins, then pats his pocket with a questioning look at you. You nod. He pulls out his present, and hands it to Ollie.

"Another present?!"

"Yup. Happy Birthday, little man."

Oliver looks at you, and you nod, giving him the go-ahead. He tears off the paper to reveal two matchbox cars: a red one, and a blue one.

"What'd you get, buddy?" Eddie asks, leaning over to see. He freezes when he sees the two little cars.

"I figured you needed two so you could play with your-- with Eddie," Wayne corrects quickly.

"Thank you!" Ollie says with a grin, holding his cars closer to inspect the details. Eddie shares a look with Wayne, then looks to you. You give him a warm smile, knowing exactly what this reminds him of.

Dinner went great. You had burgers, hot dogs, roasted veggies and corn on the cob, salad, and potato chips. (Eddie insisted that having a cook-out without potato chips was against the laws of America. Wayne and Oliver backed him up on this. Who were you to argue with the laws of America, as decided by the people?)

You brought out the cake and stuck the candles in it. Eddie insisted that everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to Ollie, and proceeded to dramatically air-guitar his way through it. Oliver laughed so hard at Eddie, and at Wayne rolling his eyes at Eddie, he had to hold onto you for support. He finally caught his breath and blew out his candles. While Eddie was removing the candles and preparing to cut the cake, Ollie looked up at you with his big eyes. You leaned down closer, sensing that he wanted to tell you something.

"Do you want to know what I wished for?" he whispers.

"If you tell, it won't come true," you whisper back. He looks thoughtful for a moment, then grins.

"Cake?" he asks.

"Cake!" you repeat.

"Cake." Eddie says, placing a piece in front of Oliver, then handing you one across the table.

"Cake?" Wayne asks, not wanting to be left out.

"Cake!" Eddie says, giving Wayne a piece, then settling down with his own.

After everyone was properly caked, Wayne went home to get ready for work. You and Eddie performed a hasty clean-up (thank you, aluminum foil), and you put away leftovers while the boys played on the living room floor with their new cars. Ollie's favorite color is blue, so Eddie laid claim to the red car. (Even though you heard Ollie tell Eddie he could have the blue one if he wanted, like the sweetest boy in the whole world.)

You leaned on the counter and watched them play, racing and doing daring stunts and making hilarious sound effects as they recklessly 'drove' over any surface in reach. You could watch them for hours, but that would interfere with a certain birthday boy's bedtime.

Ollie never complained when you told him it was bedtime. Maybe because bedtime here meant he got to wear clean pajamas and crawl into his own bed with a full belly and his favorite teddy bear, and have a bedtime story read to him by people who loved him.

He was struggling to keep his eyes open when Eddie finished tonight's chapter of the fantasy book they'd picked out together. You tucked him in while Eddie turned on the nightlight.

"Good night, baby," you whisper with a kiss to the top of his head.

"Good night, buddy," Eddie said quietly on his way to the door.

"'Night," Oliver mumbles sleepily, "was best birthday ever."

It really was.

Bonus: Oliver's wish was that he could stay with you and Eddie forever. I can tell you that now, because it already came true. 😉

Double Bonus:

[fandomtherapy44]

castiel x reader

Summary: This story is from the perspective of Y/n Winchester. The sister Of Sam and Dean. We will be starting from season four since sadly we did not get Misha Collins as Castiel throughout the whole series. It will start off as a friendship, but it will grow more as the series goes on. I will be skipping some episodes even though they are great episodes they do not push the story forward. I am so excited to get to write this since there are not many Castiel X reader stories out there. Okay without further due Love War & Grace enjoy the Story.

Paring: Castiel X Reader

Word count: 4,674

Warnings: Some language, Typical Supernatural violence, Spoilers for season four of Supernatural

I got the divider from

Firefly Graphics

POV:(Y/n)

Wow, wow, wow my life is well let’s just say people aren’t usually yearning for it like a Disney movie. My feet still hurt from wearing those heels. I mean props to the people who rock them but with our lifestyle I don’t really have the room to wear them. We entered the comic book store to ask anyone if they had experienced anything of the regular ghost list. “Uh... can I help you?” The man asked, looking a little confused. 

“Hi. We sure hope so. Agents DeYoung, Shaw, Ross. Just need to ask you a few questions.” I said pointing to the three of us. “Notice anything strange in the building in, last couple of days?” Sam asked, putting away his badge. “Like what?” “Well, some other tenants reported flickering lights.” “Uh, I don't think so. Why?” “What about noises? Any skittering in the walls? Kind of like rats?” “And the FBI is investigating a rodent problem?” He asked very skeptical. “Uh, we want to make sure we leave no stone unturned even… rodents.”  I said not believing my own sentence. 

“What about cold spots? Feel any sudden drops in temperature?” Sam asked again.The man smiled like he knew something. “I knew it! You guys are LARPing, aren't you?” Uh what? “Excuse me?” Dean questioned. “You're fans.” “Fans of what?” “What is "LARPing"?” I asked. “Like you don't know. Live-Action Role-Play! And pretty hardcore, too.” “I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about.” “you're asking questions like the building's haunted. Like those guys from the books. What are they called? Uh... "Supernatural." Two guys, a girl, use fake IDs with rock aliases, hunt down ghosts, demons, vampires. What are their names? Uh... Steve and Dirk,Y/n? Uh, Sal and Dane,Y/n?” “Sam and Dean, Y/n?” I answered. 

“That's it!” oh no come on. “You're saying this is a book?” Dean questioned. “Books. It was a series. Didn't sell a lot of copies, though. Kind of had more of an underground cult following.” He walked over to the bargain bin which is fitting with our lives. “Let's see. Um... Ah. Yeah” He pulls out a book with two buffed-up guys and a girl whose shirt was too low for my liking. “That's the first one, I think.” he said, handing it to me. “"Supernatural" by Carver Edlund. "Along a lonely California highway, a mysterious woman in white lures men to their deaths." I read out. “Give me that.” Sam grabbed it from my hands. “We're gonna need all the copies of "Supernatural" you've got.”

 

For the past two hours, we have been reading supernatural books like we were cramming for tests on our own lifes. I am currently reading about how in book scarecrow Y/n was so conflicted between the two brother sides and how she didn’t know if she could keep this family together. “This guy makes me sound like I don't have a personal life. Could you believe that.” I said to my aforementioned brothers and all I got was silence. “Guys this is the part you agree with me.” “I don’t know Y/n.” “What!? I have a life!” Dean sighed looking down. “When was the last time you went out, with friends or made friends?” “I-” “That aren’t hunterters” “That’s-” “And aren’t us.” 

“You know what you guys have no friends either so shut it.” “Either way this stuff is crazy. Everything is in here. I mean everything. From the racist truck to – to me having sex. I'm full-frontal here, guys.” “How come we haven't heard of them before?” Dean and I sat at the table where Sam was researching the books online. “They're pretty obscure. I mean, almost zero circulation. Uh, started in '05. The publisher put out a couple dozen before going bankrupt. And, uh, the last one – "No Rest For The Wicked" –Ends with you going to hell.” Sam said talking to Dean. “I reiterate. Freaking insane.” “Check it out. There’s actually fans. There’s not many of them, but still. Did you read this?” Dean said checking out the fansite.

“Let me see.” He pulled the screen so we could both see. “Although for fans, they sure do complain a lot. Listen to this – Simpatico says "The demon storyline is trite, clichéd, and overall craptastic." Yeah, well, screw you, Simpatico. We lived it.” Yeah and lots of trama to go with it. “Yeah. Well, keep on reading. It gets better.” “There are "Sam girls" and "Dean girls" “Y/n boys” and – what's a "slash fan"?” I read out. “As in... Sam-slash-Y/n-Dean. Together.” Sam told us. Dean and I do a double-take at that. “Like, together together?” “Yeah.” “They do know we're siblings right?.” I almost shouted in surprise.

“Doesn't seem to matter.” “Oh, come on. That... That's just sick. We got to find this Carver Edlund.” I said closing the laptop. “Yeah, that might not be so easy.” “Why not?” Dean questioned. “No tax records, no known address. Looks like "Carver Edlund” is a pen name.” “Somebody’s gotta know who he is.”

“So you published the "Supernatural" books?” Sam asked the woman who clearly loved this trash series. “Yep. Yeah. Gosh. These books... You know, they never really got the attention they deserved. All anybody wants to read anymore is that romance crap. You know – "Doctor Sexy, M.D."? She scoffed. “Please.” “Right. Well, we're hoping that our article can... shine a light on an underappreciated series.” I said.  “Yeah, yeah, because, you know, if we got a little bit of good press then m-maybe we could start publishing again.” She said sitting down. Oh god please no. 

“No, no, no, no. God, no. I mean, why – why would you want to do that? You know, it's, uh, such a complete series, what with Dean going to hell and all.” Dean nice save. “Oh, my god! That was one of my favorite ones because Dean was so... strong... and sad and brave. And Sam... I mean, the best parts are when they'd cry. You know, like in – In "Heart," when Sam had to kill Madison, the first woman since Jessica he really loved. And in "Home," when Dean had to call John and ask him for help.” She started to explain some of her favorites but for us, it was some of the most traumatizing memories.

 “Gosh... if only real men were so open and in touch with their feelings.” I am laughing so much inside right now. “Real men?” Dean asked, offended. “I mean, no offense. How often do you cry like that, hmm?” “Is that supposed to be funny?” I “elbowed Dean for him to realize to shut up. “Lady, this whole thing is funny.” I guess it didn’t work. “How do I know you three are legit, hmm?” She said with suspension eyeing us. “Oh, trust me. We, uh... we're legit.” I said in a deflated response. “Well, I don't want any smart-ass article making fun of my boys and girl.” “No! No, no, no. Never. “ Sam tried he tried. “We – We are actually, um... big fans.” I am trying to salvage it. 

“Hmm. You've read the books?” “Cover to cover.” “All of it.” “What's the year and model of the car?” Of course, Dean answered that one. “It’s a 1967 Chevy Impala.” “What's May 2nd?” “That's my – Uh... that's Sam's birthday.” “January 24th is Dean's.” “November 2nd being Y/n’s.” I added in quickly so as to not look like I didn't know what I was talking about. “Sam's score on the LSAT?” Shit I hope she doesn't ask about my last grade in math I got. “One… Seventy-four?” Sam answered, unsure of his own test scores. “Ok here’s the last one. What was the name of Y/n’s first love?” The boys both look at me and I look down. “That’s a trick question … she’s never had one.”  

“Okay. Okay. What do you want to know?” “What’s Carver Edlund's real name?” I quickly said moving away from my broken non non-existent love life. “Oh, no. I – No. Sorry, I can’t do that.” “We just want to talk to him. You know, get the "Supernatural" story in his own words.” “He’s very private. It’s like Salinger.” Yeah sure, Salinger. “Please. Like I said – we are, um… ... big... big fans.” Sam had pulled his shirt collar so you could see his tattoo and Dean disgruntled did the same and I pulled my sleeve up to show my wrist. “Awesome. You know what? I got one, too.” She said as she pulled down her skirt to show the one on her ass. “Whoa. You are a fan.” I elbowed Dean again for that. “Okay. His name's Chuck Shurley. And he's a genius, so don't piss him off.” 

I rang the doorbell to this Chuck Shurely’s house and who answered I was expecting and not at the same time. “You Chuck Shurley?” Dean asked in his pissed-off voice. “The Chuck Shurley who wrote the "Supernatural" books?” “Maybe. Why?” “I'm Dean. This is Sam. That’s Y/n The Dean and Sam and Y/n  you've been writing about.” I gave a little wave. And he closed the door. I rang the door again. “Look, uh... I appreciate your enthusiasm. Really, I do. It's, uh, it's always nice to hear from the fans. But, uh, for your own good, I strongly suggest you get a life.” He tries to shut it again but I stop it.

“See it’s funny you say that because we do have lives and You've been using them to write your books.” I said a little aggressively. Dean pushed inside the house. “Now, wait a minute. Now, this isn't funny.” Chuck was fearful. “Damn straight, it's not funny.” I put my hand on Dean’s shoulder to calm him down just a tad. “Look, we just want to know how you're doing it.” “I'm not doing anything.”

“Are you a hunter?” I asked. “What? No. I'm a writer.” “Then how do you know so much about demons? And Tulpas, and changelings?”Dean again advances on Chuck and he falls back on the couch.“ Is this some kind of "Misery" thing? Ah, it is, isn't it? It's a "Misery" thing!” “That’s an amazing story but no we are not fans.” I said sitting next to him. “Well, then, what do you want?!” “I’m Y/n, that’s Sam and Dean.” “Sam and Dean and Y/n are fictional characters. I made them up! They're not real!” 

We drag him outside and show him our car and more importantly the trunk.”Are those real guns?” “Yup. This is real rock salt, these are real fake IDs.” “Well, I gotta hand it to you guys. You really are my number one fans.That’s, that’s awesome. So, I-I think I've got some posters in the house.” He starts to try to back away from us. “Chuck, stop.” “Please. Wait. Please, don't hurt me.” “How much do you know? Do you know about the angels? Or Lilith breaking the seals?” Sam asked. “The question is how do you.” “Because I wrote it?” “You kept writing?” I questioned. “Yeah, even after the publisher went bankrupt, but those books never came out. Okay, wait a minute. This is some kind of joke, right? Did that – Did Phil put you up to this?”

“Well, nice to meet you. I'm Dean Winchester, and this is my brother, Sam and my sister Y/n.” “The last names were never in the books. I never told anybody about that. I never even wrote that down.”

We all got back in the house and Chuck was pouring himself a drink. He glugs it down. “Oh! Oh, you're still there.” “Yup.” “You're not a hallucination.” I wish sometimes. “Nope.” “Well, there's only one explanation. Obviously, I'm a god.” “You're not a god.” Sam said to him annoyed. “How else do you explain it? I write things and then they come to life. Yeah, no, I'm definitely a god. A cruel, cruel, capricious god. The things I put you through – The physical beatings alone. And for you Y/n having no time to find love or no one to find-” “Chuck you are not a God.” I am now annoyed.

“Yeah, and we're still in one piece.” “I killed your father. I burned your mother alive. And then you had to go through the whole horrific deal again with Jessica.” Great memories. “Chuck…” About all three of us were now about ready to slap Chuck. “All for what? All for the sake of literary symmetry. I toyed with your lives, your emotions, for... entertainment.” “You didn't toy with us, Chuck, okay? You didn't create us.” “Did you really have to live through the bugs?” “Yes, it was disgusting.” I said shivering remembering that week. “What about the ghost ship?” “Yes, that too.” “I am so sorry. I mean, horror is one thing, but to be forced to live bad writing... if I would have known it was real, I would have done another pass.” “Chuck, you're not a god!” Dean said raising his voice. “We think you're probably just psychic.” I said stepping in.

“No. If I were psychic, you think I'd be writing? Writing is hard.” “It seems that somehow, you're just... focused on our lives.” “Yeah, like laser-focused. Are you working on anything right now?” “Holy crap.” Chuck said going over to his desk pulling out papers. “What?” “The, uh, latest book? It's, uh, it's kind of weird.” “It can not get more weird than finding a whole book series about your life.” I said with sarcasm. “"Weird" how?” “It's very Vonnegut.” “"Slaughterhouse-Five" Vonnegut or "Cat's Cradle" Vonnegut?” Dean answered. “What?” Sam and I asked surprised. “What?” Dean said back defensively. “It's, uh, "Kilgore Trout" Vonnegut. I wrote myself into it. I wrote myself, at my house... confronted by my characters.” OK so added on weird.

Sam is throwing the laundry in while Dean and I sit together to read Chuck’s story. “I’m sitting in a laundromat, reading about myself sitting in a laundromat reading about myself. My head hurts.” “There's got to be something this guy's not telling us.” Sam added in. “"Sam tossed his gigantic darks into the machine. He was starting to have doubts about Chuck, about whether he was telling the whole truth.”” Dean read out and he was right. “Stop it.” “"'Stop it,' Sam said." Guess what you do next.” I read out. “Sam turned his back on Dean, his face brooding and pensive." I mean, I don't know how he's doing it, but this guy is doing it. I can't see your face, but those are definitely your "brooding and pensive" shoulders.” Dean continued. “You just thought I was a dick.” “The guy's good.”

Chuck called us back in a frenzy very worried about something. “So... You wrote another chapter?” Sam asked slowly so Chuck wouldn't explode. “This was all so much easier before you were real.” I agree with that. “We can take it; just spit it out.” “You two especially are not gonna like this.” He said looking at Dean and I. “I didn't like hell.” “It's Lilith. She's coming for Sam.” “Coming to kill him?” I ask. “When?” “Tonight.” “She's just gonna show up? Here?” “Uh... let’s see, uh, "Lilith patted the bed seductively. Unable to deny his desire, Sam succumbed, and they sank into the throes of fiery demonic passion."

“Eww not again." “You're kidding me, right?” Sam laughed. “You think this is funny?” Dean asked angrily. “You don't? I mean, come on. "Fiery demonic passion"?” It does sound ridiculous but then again he did with Ruby so nothing’s out the window. “It's just a first draft.” “Wait, wait, wait, wait. Lilith is a little girl.” “No, uh, this time she's a "comely dental hygienist from Bloomington, Indiana." “ Oh fantastic. “Great. Perfect. So what happens after the... "fiery demonic" whatever?” I ask. “I don't know, it hasn't come to me yet.” “Dean, Y/n, look, there's nothing to worry about. Lilith and me? In bed?” “How does this whole psychic thing of yours work?”

“You mean my process?” “Yes, your "process."” “Well, it usually starts with a headache. A really bad headache. Aspirin is useless, so... I drink. Until I fall asleep. The first time it happened, I thought it was just a crazy dream.” “The first time you dreamt about us?” I asked. “It flowed. It just, it kept flowing. It still does. I-I can't stop it, really.” “You can't seriously believe –” “Humor Us Sam.” I said putting my hand on his shoulder. “Look, why don't we, we just… Take a look at these and see what's what.” Dean said picking up the manuscript. “You –” “...knew you were gonna ask for that. Yeah.” 

We are driving and Sam is reading the Manuscript. “Dean, come on. "The minivan accident wasn't that bad, but Dean was still seeing stars. He scratched absently at the pink flower Band-Aids on his face." “ “I would love to see that personally.” I said from the back seat. “So?” “So, I've seen you gushing blood. You'd use duct tape and bar rags before you'd put on a pink flower Band-Aid.” “What's your point?” “My point is this – all of this – is totally implausible, it's nuts.”

“Look, Sam, He's been right about everything so far. You think he's just gonna ground out at first now?” “Huh. "Dean slid behind the wheel of his beloved Impala and drove off, the plastic tarp on the rear window flapping like the wings of a crow." “A tarp?” “Yeah. On the rear window. And you drive it like that.” “Okay so he doesn't get the details right but that doesn't mean he's wrong about the end result.” “So we’re just gonna run?” “Dude, we are a long way from ready for a face-to-face death match with Lilith.” We pull up to a roadblock and there are police next to it. “What seems to be the problem?” “Bridge is out ahead.” “We're just trying to get out of town.”

“Yeah, afraid not.” “Is there a detour?” “Nope.” “There's not a side road that takes us to the highway?” “To get to the highway, you have to cross that river. To cross the river, you have to take that bridge.” “How deep's the river?” I ask. “Sorry. Afraid you three are gonna have to spend the night in town.”

Dean is now looking at the manuscript while we are ordering at a diner. “Hey, this could be a good thing. I mean, if this is what puts us on the path to Lilith, then all we got to do is get off the path.” “Dean’s right this is a guide to not to do the devil’s tango with Lilith.” “How do you mean?” “It's a blueprint of what not to do. I mean, if the pages say that we go left –” “Then we go right.” “Exactly. We get off-book. We never make it to the end. It's opposite day. It said that we, uh, we get into a fight. So, no fighting. No research for you… No saving us Y/n.” “No bacon cheeseburger for you.” I said glaring at Dean. “Yeah, no problem. I'll just order something else. Hi, uh, what's good?”

“Well, if you like burgers, Oprah's girlfriend said we have the best bacon cheeseburgers in the country.” “Ha sometimes God does give me Bones." I said laughing to myself. “I'll just have the cobb salad, please.” Sam ordered. “Chicken strips and fries for me please.” I said. “I'll have the... veggie tofu burger. Thanks.” “This whole thing's ridiculous.” “Lilith is ridiculous?” “The idea of me hooking up with her is.” “Right like you would never do that.” I said sarcastically. “Guys, for the first time, we have warning that Lilith is close.” “So?”

“So... we've got the jump on her. If we know when she's coming, we know where she's – this is an opportunity.” “Are you – It frustrates me when you say such reckless things.” Dean said trying not to get angry. “Well, it frustrates me when you'd rather hide that fight.” They trying very hard not to fight. “Alrighty here y’all’s food.” The waitress put the plates down. “Thank you. It's not hiding. It's being smart. It's picking your battles. This is a battle that we are not ready to fight. Oh, my god. This is delicious. Tofu is amazing!” Dean committed biting into his burger. “I am so sorry. I gave you the bacon cheeseburger by mistake.” It’s all coming together.

Dean and I praked the car after dropping Sam off  snd were walking away when we looked back and it looked like teenagers were looking into baby. “Hey!” Dean screamed out and went to cross the street. “Wait dean DEAN!” He had got hitten by an minivan.

“I'm so sorry!” “Lady you hit my brother with your car what do you mean Sorry!?” Her daughter was putting … pink band-aids on Dean and he came back. “Dean! Dean you ok?” He looks up and sees the car. “Oh, no…” He ran over to the car and the back window was busted open. So here we are driving to Chuck’s house with the tarp flapping in the back.

Chuck enters the house carrying a huge bag of beer. They start to talk and Dean keeps on asking how Chuck knows everything and he gets to the point that he’s about to punch when someone shows up who I did not expect. “Dean, let him go!” “ This man is to be protected.” “Cas!” “Why?” “He's a Prophet of the Lord.” What the HELL? 

“You... You're Castiel... aren't you?” Chuck said with amazement. “It's an honor to meet you, Chuck. I... admire your work” Cas picked up one of the books and flipped through them. “Whoa, whoa, what? This guy, a prophet? Come on, he's – he's... he's practically a Penthouse Forum writer.” “Did you know about this?” I ask Chuck. “I, uh, I might have dreamt about it.” “And you didn't tell us?!” “It was too preposterous. Not to mention arrogant. I mean, writing yourself into the story is one thing, but as a prophet? That's like M. Night-level douchiness.”

“This is the guy who decides our fate?” I ask Cas quietly. “He isn't deciding anything. He's a mouthpiece – a conduit for the inspired word.” “The word? The word of god? What, like the New New Testament?” “One day, these books – they'll be known as the Winchester gospel.” “You got to be kidding me.” Chuck, Dean, and I say together. “I am not... kidding you.” “If you'd all please excuse me one minute.” Chuck goes upstairs. “Him? Really?” “You should've seen Luke.” “Why'd he get tapped?” “I don't know how prophets are chosen. The order comes from high up on the celestial chain of command.” “How high?” “Very.” 

“Well, whatever. How do we get around this?” I ask. “Around what?” “The Sam-Lilith love connection. How do we stop it from happening?” “What the prophet has written can't be unwritten. As he has seen it, so it shall come to pass.” 

Dean goes into the hotel room to get Sam while I wait outside. And Cas pops up beside me. “Hello, Y/n.” “Hey Cas I met your uh friend Zachariah he kind of sucks.” “Yes well, Zachariah's methods can be extreme.” “Extreme!? he made my brothers and I forget who we are!” “Im sorry, Y/n” “You don’t have to be sorry you didn’t do it.” We stare at each other for a bit before I rember something. “Oh I got you something.” I said hading him a flip phone he looked confused. “Why would I need a phone I can just fly next to you when I ever I need to.”

“Well, Cas believe it or not it’s not really working out for us I mean you scare the crap out of us every time. Also, it’s so I can call you.” “Call me?” “Yeah well, I hate that I can't exactly fly next to you so that is the next best thing so do me a favor and call me even if you don't have any information about the upcoming apocalypse I want to know you're safe.” He ponders what I said. “Y/n?” “Yeah, Cas.” “Thank you.” “No problem.” He gets closer as to hug me but gets interrupted by Dean stomping out of the hotel room. “Dean, where’s Sam?” I asked. “He said he’s staying.” “HE’S WHAT!?” “That’s what I said he wants to fight Lilith now.” “My gosh, we are stupid sometimes,”

I said thinking back to the supernatural books and how the characters were depicted, sometimes being stupid. “Cas can you help?” He said walking over with hope to the angel. “I'm not sure what I can do.” “Drag Sam out of here, now. Before Lilith shows up.” “It's a prophecy. I can't interfere.” “Look Cas we have done everything you have asked But now I'm asking. I need your help. Please.” I said pleading with him. “What you're asking, it's... not within my power to do.” “Why? 'Cause it's "divine prophecy"?” Dean questioned angrily. “Yes.” “So, what – We're just supposed to sit around and, and wait for it to happen?”

“I'm sorry.” “Screw you. You and your mission. Your God. If you don't help me now, then when the time comes and you need me... don't bother knocking. Come on Y/n.” He turns to walk away and I look at Cas a bit heartbroken and I think he saw that. “Y/n Y/n!” “What?!” “You must understand why I can't intercede. Prophets are very special. They're protected.” “Right yeah.” “If anything threatens a prophet, anything at all, an archangel will appear to destroy that threat. Archangels are fierce. They're absolute. They're heaven's most terrifying weapon.” “And these archangels, they're tied to prophets?” “Yes.” “So if a prophet was in the same room as a demon –” “Then the most fearsome wrath of heaven would rain down on that demon. Just so you understand... why I can't help.” He just gave us the answer without giving the answer. I get a smile on myself. I run up to him to give a quick but crushing hug. “Thanks, Cas” “Good luck."

We had pushed Chuck into the room and it worked the room got invaded by this powerful white light and it dispersed and along with it Lilith. We got to finally leave the town. “ So she offered a deal?” I questioned Sam. “That's what she said.” “To call the whole thing off – angels, seals, Lucifer rising, the whole nine?” Dean added into the question. “You didn't think once about taking it?” “You kidding me? You two spent all day trying to talk me off the Lilith track.” “I'm just saying…” “She would have found some way to weasel out of it. And all it would have cost us was our lives.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” “Anyway, that's not the point.” “What's the point?” I asked “The point is, she's scared. I could see it. Lilith is running.” “Running from what?” “Don't know. But she was telling the truth about one thing.” “What's that?” “She's not gonna survive the apocalypse. I'll make sure of that.” Sam left the conversation off at that and it left me wondering what was going to happen to us and It also really made me hope that Cas would call.

Hey, y'all hope you enjoyed the Chapter thank you so much for reading! I'm so sorry that this has taken so long been a busy month. Just to warn this is a slow burn so it will probably be a while before we get to a romantic relationship but I’m really liking the friendship between Cas and Y/n Im building and I hope you are too. Also, the next two chapters are some of my favorite episodes so look out for that.  And happy late Halloween.

[flock-talk]

Hi! Was hoping you might have some advice for me? Bit of a long one sorry.

Ive had my green cheek for about 5 months now, and hes always super sweet. Hes only about 1 year old but hes picked up basic training and general manners really well, super cuddly velcro-bird.

The other day I got my hair cut for the first time in months, went from just below the shoulders to a fade, and when I came home he was fine? a bit shocked, but got over it after a bit, was acting his normal cuddly self. Then yesterday when I get him out of his cage in the morning he crawls up to my shoulder like normal and starts attacking me? Nothing else changed either.

I would often have my hair tucked behind my ear and he would try and nibble on my earrings, and he was easy enough to redirect onto his actual toys, but since getting my hair cut hes suddenly super violent and aggressive? When I let him out of his cage in the morning or just when I pick him up, he crawls straight up to my shoulder and starts biting my ears/cheek VERY hard. He'll give me a new piercing at this rate. And when I try to remove him he just starts biting my hands instead. Hard enough to draw blood too, which is the first time thats ever happened.

I've been trying to use treats to reward him for sitting calmly, distract him with toys, but nothings working. He'll forgo his favourite toys and treats that he normally goes crazy for in favour of biting me. I've been having to keep him in his cage for way longer than I want because I can't handle the constant attacks from him.

He's my first ever bird and I don't know what to do at this point :(

There's a number of reasons that behaviour can suddenly flip and without doing a super thorough background dig on your specific bird I can't guarantee a 100% correct answer here

based on the information provided it's very likely a defensive stress response. Birds ID each other visually so when you suddenly change your appearance you're no longer recognizable, they may have reacted 'fine' when you initially changed your hair due to increased stress suppressing behaviour. Think of how young birds react when you meet them in a store, many end up very complacent, slow moving, or even affectionate due to the stress of the environment and strangers handling them. Once they get home and relax their true mannerisms start to show up and they can present more aggressive behaviours and selectiveness as the stress that was suppressing these behaviours is no longer present. So they may have been stressed upon seeing the change and over the following days became more adjusted to the change and are now reacting to you as they may a completely unidentified stranger that has barged in and is taking over the home.

Conures also tend to be very sensitive to emotional changes, becoming overstimulated exceptionally easy and often default to nipping for communication. So it's another possibility that the conflict of figuring out who you are, confusion, and random bursts of excitement or stress release with the changes could be triggering events as well.

I would approach this situation as though he's a brand new bird you just brought home. Give him space, utilize target training for necessary handling, and go right back to the basics with building foundations and trust. I would ensure to keep interactions very short and successful, enter the room, drop off some snacks, and promptly leave sort of things. This may help him be able to observe you, recognize you aren't a threat, and form better associations about the change.

You may find it helpful to experiment with hats, some birds will become more aggressive around hats but others recognize it as being an accessory rather than a part of you and it could help bridge that recognition gap for them. Additionally if there are certain phrases you often say to them, certain tones, routines, or body language you presented with them often prior to the haircut I would ensure to lean heavily in to those to further help them connect your mannerisms to your identity.

As your foundations with this bird get stronger they will adjust to these changes easier and you are less likely to have these massive fallbacks. In the meantime it's important to recognize that they aren't behaving this way to spite you, they're behaving this way because they are distressed and don't know how to cope. During this time you have to meet them where they're at, move slow, and help them relearn that you aren't a threat.

[riptidesblog]

Whispers of the waves and breeze

Summary:Nya has some questions and somehow ends up chatting with a ghost on Bounty's crow's nest.

Prev parts:Chains of Destiny(p1),Accepting Change(p2)

Nya sighed as she left Zane's room.He had been her last hope,but he couldn't provide answers to her questions.

She stared at the ocean,the sound of lapping waves filling her mind.The voice became louder.The sea greeted her and her tense shoulders relaxed.She closed her eyes and just listened.The ocean talked to her.It's voice filled her mind.It was calm and beautiful.

While she could have spent the whole day enchanted by the voice of her element,her earlier questions returned.Why was she hearing the sea?How was she hearing the sea?None of the others had this with their elements,she knew after asking all of the ninja.Even Zane,whose element was the closest to her's.Was she going crazy?Surely not!

"Nya?"

Her eyes opened and she turned around,her master's worried face greeting her.

"Sensei?Is anything alright?" she asked.

He had been the next person in her plans to ask about the voice of the ocean,in case her brothers couldn't help,but she had gotten distracted.

"I heard that you've been hearing your element."

"You know why?" she asked as soon as the elder man brought up her little problem.

"I believe you will find someone far more qualified about this particular topic in the crow's nest."

With that the ninja master walked away.

She didn't move.Someone knew about this and they were aboard the ship?Who?Misako?But how would she know more about elemental powers than Wu?Or was it another one of the weird secrets being revealed exactly when they're convenient for the situation?FSM give her patience.

...

She stared at the ghostly limb dangling from the edge of the crow's nest.Oh.Guess she didn't ask every single person aboard the Bounty like she thought she did.There was still one elemental master and it was the one she still needed to talk to.

"So why did Wu send you here?"

She nearly lost her grip on the rope ladder.

"I'm-wait,how did you know Wu sent me?" she asked the raven haired boy.

"Wind told me,duh."

Now,that wasn't an answer Nya expected,so it definitely took her by surprise.Wind told him. Wind told him. What?Apparently Morro noticed her confusion.

"Vengestone does block my powers,but I can still hear the wind."

"You can hear the wind." she repeated as she joined Morro on the crow's nest.

"I've been hearing water too." she said. Morro hesitantly glanced at her.

"It's your element.Of course you'd hear it while close to the ocean."

"Yeah,well I asked around and apparently other elements aren't as chatty." she said.

"Oh.Yeah,wind and water are the only ones that do that as far as I'm aware.I checked with the elemental alliance back when I was alive.The only one that had the same thing going on was Aunt Maya,the previous master of water." Morro said,somewhat relaxing.

'Aunt Maya'?Is that who I think it is?...Yeah,no.I'm not dealing with that now.

They sat in awkward silence,the only sound being the gulls flying past.She sighed.

"Look,I'm sorry for blaming you for the water ninja stuff.It wasn't right to do so." she started. The ghost frowned,but let her continue.

"Your existence is kind of what caused this conflict,but it's not really your fault.I should not put the blame on you and for that I apologize." she said and waited for his reaction.A humorless chuckle is what she got.

"How-how can you just move on so quickly?Things I did,it changed your entire life.All your hard work turned out to be nothing because I was in the picture!How can anyone let that go,much less forgive?" the ghost questioned, perhaps louder than she would have preferred. She raised a brow.

"You sure you're not projecting?" she asked.

Ravenette looked confused.

"Well,the big part in it was that I realized our similarities.Lloyd is what changed your status quo and you are what changed mine.I didn't want to end up like you, blaming and hurting people for something outside of their control.So here we are...By the way,it was not easy to come to terms with that and I took my time to apologize." Nya said.Morro seemed lost in thought.

"I fucked up,didn't I?" he finally said.

"You just realized that?" she asked.

"Well,I've been thinking too and even talked to Wu a little,it's just that... being on the opposite end of hate was what probably settled it." Morro confessed.He clenched his fists.

"I kind of wanted to apologize too.After what you said...well,I felt similar to what you did and that wasn't,uh,a good feeling. So...yeah.I'm sorry for how my actions affected you." the ghost fumbled with his words.Master of water smiled at his expression.

"Nice,but you look like you smelled Cole's cooking.Are you sure you're okay?"

"It took a lot on my pride to do this,so maybe take it with a grain of salt."

"Okay.You are forgiven,but don't think it makes up for all the other stuff you did.To Ninjago and to my family." she said.

"Obviously." Morro huffed.He fidgeted with the chains wrapped around his neck.

"Can I...Can I ask for help?To apologize to everyone else." he finally said.She blinked, certainly not expecting that.

"Uh,one question:why me?Wouldn't Wu be a better person for that?" she asked.She didn't bother to ask what brought it on. Aside from their conversation,everyone had noticed the change in Morro's attitude as he spent more time with them and especially Wu.The way he seemed less bitter and angry,at least on the outside.

"Things between us are still...complicated and I'm still too full of my own hubris and have no idea what to do.You somehow forgave me and apologized too...so,uh,you get what I'm saying,right?"

It was almost funny that the guy was fumbling with his words,awkward about expressing his feelings and thoughts when just a few weeks ago he was rambling about his evil plans about world destruction.

"Yeah,okay.You seem to be truly sorry and all that seems to be progress,so I will help out with the feelings stuff.I will do my best,but it all depends on you,breezie.Also,Lloyd may be kind and forgiving,but in no way is he obligated to accept your apologies after the hell you put him through.Got that?"

Morro nodded and they continued their chatting as the gentle breeze whispered in their ears accomponied by the sound of waves.

[lone-nyctophile]

I know u might not want to reply but I kinda need an outsider‘s advice. I like this guy right, but he isn’t the best person. He‘s loud, makes fun of people all the time and can be offensive. But there‘s this rlly sweet side to him too. I was once a really sensitive person and this guy made fun of my name, like “imagine being called…” and now I wouldn’t be offended, I’d laugh it off like it was nothing. But then, I started crying, and he saw my face and apologised profusely. He isn’t rlly the type to apologise, but after school, I opened my phone to see a message from him saying that he knew that I might not see this or reply but he wanted to say that he felt really bad for what he did and didn’t mean a thing, and that I’m perfect just like I am. Did that stop him making fun of me later? No, but he knew if it went too far, to reassure that he never means what he says, and once I made fun of my hair, and he kinda paused and went, dont ever make fun of yourself, I do it for the reaction, you do it cos you believe in it and don’t you ever say that because it isn’t true. He can be sweet, I’ve seen a boy who compliments amazing singing, work and art. I’ve seen a boy who says I sing well, knowing I’m kinda insecure about it. I’ve seen a boy who definitely knows I like him, but sits next to me, with a slight smile as my friend teases me. I’ve seen a boy who when he smiles and blushes, completely transforms the way you look at him. My friends say I could do better, and I myself never understand why i like him. Should I trust my gut, and get over him for myself, or my heart saying that he’s worth it? Because there are so many small things that takes time to pick up, but when you find them, you think of him in a whole different light?

I would like to start my answer by quoting Lemony Snicket-

"People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict.”

As the above words imply, no one is perfect. We all have our faults; what really matters is the willingness to accept and correct them. The guy you like does not seem like a bad person, he is just sort of immature and based on what you've said, he cares for you genuinely and deeply. I think you should give him a chance because of the following reasons-

You can improve him as a person by making him see his shortcomings and providing help in overcoming them (You can change him for the better!).

Since you know about his faults, you can understand his problematic behaviour when you get in a relationship with him.

You seem to really like him. So, if you don't give him a chance then you will always have that regret in you heart. If your relationship with him turns out well then it would be amazing but if it doesn't, you can see it as a lesson and learn from it (like what you want and don't want from a partner).

I hope my advice helps! And yes, when you like someone then you tend to overlook their faults but please don't do that, as said earlier, recognize them and help him become a better version of himself! Its honestly the best thing when two people in a relationship accept and try to improve each other.

Thank you so much for writing to me and I will always reply to you! I wish you all the best! 😊

[night-market-if]

I just found out yesterday that the night market was updated days ago! I was shook how the heck did I miss it! Anyways, lol I read it yesterday as well, and wow you've done it again it was quite an update! A way to describe it, was bittersweet. The conversations with the representation of death had me spiraling! and gave MORE questions than answers! it was funny you see, caliban popped into my mind while reading the whole mirror sequence and I was wondering about him and wanted to see him too and well what do ya know! My wish was granted! That was such a pleasant surprise! And reunion, truthfully it was worth the wait and at perfect timing! With the way the shiny ghost man left me in a spiraling of questions, caliban had me on an emotional Rollercoaster. That was one deep heart wrenching conflicting conversation. I felt this connection with him that i havent experienced with the other charcters, it was like a since of understanding and familiarity, comfort maybe? And melancholia? I truly felt like if the option presented itself I would have let mc run away with him. Part of me also wanted him as a romance option as well. I hope we come across him again soon. Now belladonna... I always get scared for myself and mcs sake lol. I get so nervous when it comes to what she'll say lol. Hearing her past was something, very sad I wasn't expecting that at all. I can't tell whether It would be best to know of your past or not like In mcs case, this had be very conflicted.This was definitely my favorite update thus far! Thank you for sharing your wonderful story! 😊

I have 3 questions what was the meaning or deal with that rose at the end? I was a bit confused as to where it came from. I found it a little odd no one was waiting for mc after resurfacing, was it for plot reasons or did it have to do with ro choice? Lastly, will you ever have art made to bring the nightmarket to life? All the places depicted are a literal dream! I wanna see each area! Your world building and descriptions are top tier!

I don't know if there is something going on with Tumblr lately but you aren't the first who has missed an update. It's part of the reason why I obnoxiously reblog my new content. I keep, almost every time, how did I not see this. I think it is safe to say that I am doing a chapter a month now though. If I can't one month, I'll most likely make an announcement letting everyone know.

Belladonna's backstory is very tragic. Oddly enough though, I think she might be the character that came out of her tragic past, much stronger than how she began. She adjusted to the Night Market differently than the others and I think it has made her a person that is far more self-aware.

As for the rose, that will be addressed next chapter if you are on Belladonna's route.

Art wise, hopefully one day we can afford to pay an artist to do some detailed work of the Night Market but right now that's not in the cards. I think as this story grows, however, it would be completely within the realm of possibility to have something like that come out.

Thank you so much for reading and for all your kind words. I hope that you enjoy chapter 8 when it comes out in November.

🪷✨🪷✨ If you want to support me 🪷 ✨🪷✨

        Demo 🌿 Patreon 🌿 Ko-fi

[pictureamoebae]

Hope you landed well in the new year.

Since I tried reshade again, I've only been using The Moods, but I want to try other presets, specifically created by other people, but I have concerns about using more that one at a time. Particularly when it comes to duplicate files, I'm trying to wrap my mind around what I should be paying attention to when I'm tossing duplicates. I know I should only keep one of any number of files with the same name, but I'm trying to fully understand why.

For example, qUINT has a bloom.fx file, but it is prefixed with qUINT_, so I assume this means it's a bloom.fx configured to support the qUINT array of shaders and should not conflict with another bloom.fx or [name]_bloom.fx file. But say, both creatorA and creatorB include non-prefixed bloom.fx in their zips. Can I safely assume (w/o opening both files in NP++ to side-by-side compare) that those files are the same as the bloom.fx in the "Shaders" folder? Meaning they can be tossed, or should I make a habit of using NP++ to compare?

And in the event I find they are different, does that indicate an "updated" or "outdated" bloom.fx or one that should have been prefixed to avoid confusion?

You may end up answering this in the process of answering the above, but I just want to make sure I understand correctly that reshade, when applying a preset, any file relied on by another file is called or executed by it's name and not simply the configuration within the file (like a search engine returning a result because the search term(s) appeared within the page content and was not just the name of the page)?

As I mentioned, I'm trying to wrap my head around this and I may be overthinking it, so my apologies for talking in circles if this question reads that way. Thanx in advance.

Hi there!

You can use as many presets as you want alongside each other, you just have to make sure you have all the shaders you need for each of them.

What I find the easiest thing to do when I'm installing ReShade is to install the latest version with every single shader pack it offers, and then make a backup somewhere of all those shaders. Then I go into my installation and remove the many, many hundreds that I don't need. But I've got them all in backup should I need to replace any of them for a new preset. This way I'm not reinstalling ReShade over and over, I'm not redownloading packs all the time, I've got everything ready to go.

It's good to get into the habit of doing this whenever you update to a new version of ReShade, because then you'll always have the correct shaders for previous versions. Since ReShade 4 most shaders will work in all newer versions. There are lots of ReShade 3 shaders that still work fine too (most of them, in fact). But if you're going back and using older versions of ReShade, some of the newer shaders aren't backwards compatible, especially if you're using ReShade 3 (ReShade 4 changed how one of the slider settings works and that function doesn't exist in ReShade 3 so it stops working - however the function used in ReShade 3 still does work in ReShade 4 and 5, which is why version 3 shaders will work in later versions).

You're right that shaders with different file names shouldn't conflict with one another. So bloom.fx will work alongside quint_bloom.fx as per your example. But two shaders with the same file name probably will conflict. If someone is including shaders in their download (which they shouldn't unless they're specifically edited, have permission, or are no longer publicly available) it's always possible it's the exact same shader as you already have installed when you did your big initial install.

Your reshade-shaders file is full of shaders and textures that all your presets can utilise. Let's say you've got 50 shaders installed. You'll see those shaders in the big list in the ReShade menu, and they'll be there no matter which preset you load up. That's the pool of shaders available. When you load a preset, the order of that list will change and the shaders the preset author used will move to where they placed them in the load order (load order is important for ReShade because shaders will look and act different depending on what goes before or after them) and they'll be toggled on if needed. The liftgammagain.fx used by Preset A is the same one used by Preset B*. The shader is unmoving and universal - the presets (the ini files with the preset name) are where the settings telling those shaders what to do are found.

*there are some very rare exceptions, for example if a preset creator decides to edit a shader directly to make it perform differently then they may provide their edited version, but they should make this clear in their instructions and should have edited it and also given it a new name so it doesn't conflict - for example, I use multiple MXAO files alongside each other, and they simply won't work without editing and renaming so they don't conflict, so they all have different file names and have been edited inside the shader, so it's obvious to the user that they're different

I hope that answers your question. If not drop me another ask and I'll try my best!

[walpu]

Hi! I was reading your discussion about Sunday and Robin and!!!! First of all I love to see these thoughts and analyses on them because there's really so much to unpack, I'm honestly still a bit in a daze after all that 😭

And second of all, I also reaaaallly hope they'll expand Robin's arc some more and not just call it a day after this quest, because honestly the best part about this new update was how both Sunday and Robin aren't completely wrong but also not completely right either. I liked the fact that Robin's idealism was questioned a few times (through Sunday, Acheron and Black Swan if I remember correctly) and yeah, I hope we'll get more on that.

Cause like, I understand where she's coming from and she's really admirable and all that (and she's also quite literally a bird in a cage), but I'm pretty sure that irl one of the first things that people would tell her regarding her pov would be something along the lines of "it's really easy for someone like YOU (adopted by the future dreammaster, the Family's jewel, a renowned pop star) to talk (preach?) about these things when all things considered you've been living a very privileged life that most of the common folk could never even dream of ever having". In short, it's probably very easy to talk about making the 'right' choice when you live most people's ideal life and thus have the leisure to make these choices.

And on the other hand, I also hope they'll address the elephant in the room: her self-destructive tendencies, as you've said before.

Idk, I just really love when stories touch upon these complicated themes where there's really no right or wrong answer and where you have to navigate a fog of grey areas 🤔

I feel like Robin's also shaping up to be a really interesting character to dissect (as the bird in a cage, the superstar, the one who probably best represents the pure ideal of the 'strong' trying to protect the 'weak' and all the difficult and confusing things such a position brings about, etc.) Sunday's arc was delightful because it brought about so many conflicting feelings (characters whose kindness can lead them to very messy situations >>>>>), so now i'm begging for them to keep this good work with Robin!

Also, are y'all okay?? I see a lot of people saying they relate to Sunday (tbh I do too, to an extent), is it because of religious trauma or because of his attitude in general? Or a combination of both? I'm genuinely curious to know if religion has anything to do with that (because religion isn't very prevalent in my country, so I might be missing some elements here) but also, you don't have to answer that part if it's an uncomfortable subject 🩷

Anyway, sorry for this wall of text, and have a good day! (or night)

Hi!!

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, I actually didn't take into the consideration that Robin does, in fact, have a lot of privileges that make her one of the "strong" ones, as Sunday puts it.

But I feel like she herself actually understands it, at least to a degree. In the quest she said that she wants to use her power to protect people, since she has an opportunity to do so, and it's implied that Sunday's desire to make everyone "equal" is partly rooted in his fear for Robin's safety (his second question to us, when he wonders if he should support Robin or convince her to put her ideals aside).

Freedom vs safety is such an old dilemma, there're a lot of questions that come with making such a choice. I won't blame hoyo if they decede not to address all of the grey areas though, because, at the end of the day, the mc is not our self-insert, they have their own views on the topic and, being honest, if we unpack every single nuance, we won't leave Penacony until 3.0 💀

Also don't worry, I'm okay!! Religious trauma is a part of why I, and a lot of other people, I assume, find him relatable. My county is quite religious and religion is often politicized, so I have a lot of very complicated feelings about the topic. But the core aspect of Sunday's character that makes him so relatable (at least for me) is his view on the said dilemma. I really want to be someone who chooses freedom over safety but honestly? His version of safety is not even that restricting. You get to be with your loved ones, safe and happy. And everyone is equal! No need for food, for sleep, for money even. You just get to enjoy a happy life, explore new things, etc. It's his desire to make everyone (especially his closest person) happy combined with his escapistic views that make him relatable. So yeah his story did hit a nerve but not in a bad way, just made me reflect

I feel like Penacony's storyline is genius in a way. In the 2.1 quest we were rooting for Aventurine when he decided to overcome nihilty. But in the 2.2 quest the story challenges us, asking if we ourselves are willing to keep exploring and overcoming pain in order to keep finding new meanings, or we want to stay in our bubble of comfort in order to hide from the pain. Like. Ouch.

But a good story is supposed to challenge you and make you reflect on yourself so I'm really happy with hoyo's writing 😌

Have a good day/nigh as well! 🌻

[purple-saladleaves]

All of F, O, I, R, and E for Ffoirre :3 @mystery-salad

hey, thanks for the ask! :)

F

1) what do they do for fun?

he spends time with the fern hounds or goes out for a drink with Efalynn when they can. I also think Ffoirre would really enjoy cross stitch or crochet (some kind of fibre art) if he ever tried it. not that he would though; he wants to improve his reputation but he still wants to be at least a bit intimidating

2) what is their ideal party?

one that he doesn't need to go to? or something small with just his close friends

3) who would they have the most fun with?

obviously he has the best time with Efalynn because she's the only one of my OCs that Ffoirre knows, and they do get on really well. but I also think he'd enjoy fighting things with Thora, and Sasha and Krett would get him to lighten up just a little

4) can they have fun while conforming to rules?

he can, but sometimes it can get a bit boring. he was a Courtier after all, even if he's trying to put that behind him

5) do they go out a lot?

not really. usually either Ffoirre or Efalynn is busy, and he dislikes getting recognised as one of the Nightmare Court, which happens pretty often whenever he goes out

O

1) are they optimistic or pessimistic?

definitely pessimistic

2) are they openly optimistic pessimistic, throwing it on others?

yep. he has a pretty cynical view of the world and rarely sees the point in keeping it to himself

3) are they good at giving advice?

occasionally. if he lets himself be a little less cynical for a bit, Ffoirre gives surprisingly good romantic advice for someone whose most romantic relationship was a one sided crush on Gavin

4) is there anyone in their life that throws optimism on them?

Efalynn -- it's one of the main reasons why they're friends

5) were they always optimistic pessimistic?

yes, but not nearly as much as he is now

I

1) what is their sexuality?

Ffoirre is arospec gay

2) have they ever questioned their sexuality?

not really, sexuality isn't really important to sylvari and honestly he had bigger things to worry about. he's secure in his attraction to men and doesn't feel like he needs to think about things further

3) have they ever questioned their gender?

same as above honestly

4) would/was their family be ok with them being LGBT?

yeah, since sylvari have such a chill view on it (although he doesn't really consider them family. also fwiw none of my OCs will ever face discrimination/hate for being LGBT, it's not something I want in my version of Tyria)

5) how long would/did it take for them to come out?

it would take Ffoirre a while to come out to anyone new, since he needs to build up a good relationship with them first which is uh. Difficult for him. but he doesn't make a big deal out of it at all, it's probably just dropped into conversation casually when he's comfortable enough to talk about romance

R

1) do they follow rules?

he works for the Pact as part of his "rehabilitation" so yes, he has to. but like in F4, he's not always happy about it, especially if he thinks the rules or orders he's been given are stupid

2) would they be a strict or laid-back parent?

Ffoirre does not want kids, but if he had them he'd be pretty laid-back. he felt like the Pale Tree put a lot of pressure on all the young saplings, including himself, which is what pushed him to join the Nightmare, so he would be very worried about making his kids feel the same way

3) have they ever faced consequences for breaking a rule?

Efalynn actually helped the Wardens in Caledon Forest arrest him once when he was still an active Courtier. it didn't last long

4) have they broken any rules they now regret breaking?

he regrets joining the Court, if that counts. (but not entirely)

5) do they find any rules they/others follow absolutely ridiculous?

some of the conditions Ffoirre has to follow to work with the Pact are very frustrating for him. for example, he's not allowed to take night watch, and he gets very little privacy to stop him "planning things". he's not going to plan anything, he genuinely wants to make reparations, but it's incredibly irritating when they treat him more like a prisoner

E

1) does the way they do things portray their internal personality?

sort of? like I say below (see E5) Ffoirre sometimes acts like more of a dick than he really is, and he also makes an effort to Do The Right Thing (occasionally). but typically he doesn't like playing nice. (rarely though he is genuinely kind, especially to dogs, but You Did Not See That)

2) do they do things that conform to the norm?

from the standpoint of a Pact Soldier, mostly? he does the same work as everyone else, minus a few smll differences (see R5). but a lot of the time he'd rather do what he wants than follow the crowd

3) do they follow trends or do their own thing?

he absolutely does his own thing. his reputation is important to him, but not nearly so important that he'd change the way he dresses or the things he does in his free time, for example

4) are they up to date on internet fads?

obviously the internet isn't a thing in Tyria, but there's still trends and celebrity culture. Ffoirre doesn't bother keeping up with most of them, he thinks it's all a waste of time, but he does like to keep up with the ridiculous rumours people will spread about The Commander, just to tease Efalynn about them

5) do they portray their personality intentionally or let people figure it our own their own?

I think Ffoirre slightly exaggerates the less pleasant parts of his personality, especially when he's in a bad mood. he doesn't like a lot of people, and sometimes when they're so sure he's an asshole, it feels easier to play to their expectations than change their minds. but mostly he lets people figure it own on their own, they can come to their own conclusions.

[matryosika]

Cherry Flavored

pairing – hyunjin x reader

wordcount – 8.6 k

warnings – use of petnames, dirty talk, slight food play (a lollipop), masturbation (f), squirting, oral sex (m), deepthroating, face fucking, spit/drool play, cocky/possessive/jealous hyunjin, humiliation, degradation, slight dumbification, overstimulation, unprotected sex, cum eating.

note – i don't know what the fuck happened but you can blame clio's hyunlix teaser for this one, the one with the lollipops. the actions depicted here are not a good idea to execute in real life since they can lead to infections, but this is strictly fiction so i indulged myself with this one. also, excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes since english is not my first language and overall i hope you enjoy! i always get too carried away when writing hyunjin, so this is like 3k words of plot and 5k words of smut. i don't know, something like it.

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You weren't facing him, but you could feel his heavy gaze setting your whole body on fire.

“It has been a while since I last saw you,” Changbin mumbled, offering you a flirty smile, “but you are just as beautiful”.

“Oh,” you quietly whispered, not daring to look at the man who had been shooting you killer glances ever since you first arrived at the restaurant. “You know, I have been busy– doing this and that”.

“I have been wanting to call you,” he continued, his body slightly leaning towards the table, “but I don’t want to be inopportune”.

“Ah— it's totally fine!” you replied as your breath got caught up in your throat. Hyunjin wasn't sitting that far from the two of you, but your interaction with Changbin seemed more like a casual chat than a flirty conversation and you wondered if the dark-haired man could tell the difference. “I can always make time for a talk”.

“No, I- It wasn't anything like that,” he corrected himself, earning a confused look from you. “I meant I don’t want to be inopportune because of Hyunjin”.

It took you a few seconds to understand the implied meaning behind his words but, even then, you couldn't quite understand why he was saying such a thing.

“What about him?” you queried.

“Aren't you two going out?”

Oh.

Truth be told, the easy answer to that question was simple: no.

The hard one, however, was way more complex than that.

What started as a game became a casual thing, one that neither you nor he dared to label because things were too good to be true. Nonetheless, you couldn't deny the fact that your proud self felt a little bit hurt each time Hyunjin introduced you as just a friend.

Whether you liked him in a romantic context or not, that was beyond the situation. What mattered was that you two were seeing each other –not just only for sex– but he kept on denying it.

“Not at all,” you replied with almost a forced laugh. One that you purposely emitted a bit louder to capture the attention of the man sitting just a few people away from you and Changbin.

Luckily for you, that was an easy task.

“No, we aren't seeing each other”.

“See, he told me the same thing,” Changbin laughed, driving the lemonade glass to his lips, and taking a sip from it, “but I just couldn't believe it. I thought he was keeping you as a secret and I couldn't understand why”.

“No, nothing like that,” You replied with a bitter smile, feeling a bit hurt by his last words, “we just get along, I guess”.

Changbin gave you another smile, one that felt flirtier and warmer. One that sent your mind straight to cloud 9 as you fantasized about him, thinking about how nice it would be to sleep with such a man.

“I am relieved to know that, in all honesty,” he sighed, tilting his head. “For a moment I almost felt bad for showing interest in you”.

You weren't a prude, but you were also not used to dealing with men as straightforward as Changbin was. It was as scary as it was attractive, and you found yourself having conflictive thoughts about him.

“Now you are just saying that to make me shy,” you mumbled, timid.

Truth was that Changbin was your type. If you had to describe the perfect man, you would easily just list all his personality traits and call it a day.

However, there was something about Hyunjin that you still couldn't quite figure out.

He was far from being what you wanted but there was an intoxicating aura around him, something that just forced you to keep your eyes on him all the time.

Every time you thought you were starting to drift from him and his charms, he reminded you that you were never going to walk away from him, even if given the opportunity.

Every time you thought you were interested in someone else other than him, he pinned you down onto his mattress and fucked the thought out of you in just one night.

“I mean it,” the brown-haired insisted, taking another sip from his glass. “I still remember the first time I saw you at Seungmin's place”.

“That was so long ago!” you pattered, trying hard to divert the conversation to a different topic other than the attraction he felt towards you. “I remember this girl Jeongin was dating back then, the one with blue highlights on her hair-”.

“Ah, the homeschooled one”.

“Yeah, that one-”.

Then, the conversation progressed to something trivial, each of you recalling memories from your high-school years while laughing at the innumerable number of anecdotes you remembered.

He would occasionally look at you with that characteristic, playful smirk that you grew to know well, but he knew better than to shoot his shot right in the middle of Jeongin's birthday dinner.

However, it was thanks to his bubbly mood and the delicious food that the awkward evening progressed with ease. Each and everyone invited spent the whole time minding their own business while having a feast and chatting with the people surrounding them.

All but one, that kept his eyes on you throughout the whole night.

“Ah, I better get going too,” You finally breathed after Jisung and Minho stood up from their seats and said goodbye to the birthday boy. “I have to wake up early tomorrow”.

You stood from your seat, immediately followed by Hyunjin and Changbin.

However, the latest didn't notice the impulsive action of the first one.

“Do you need a ride?” He asked you, taking out his wallet and leaving an amount of money that could easily pay for two meals.

“Oh, I wouldn't want to–”.

“I am dropping her off,” Hyunjin interrupted and, if you thought you had seen him angry before, his voice solely proved you wrong.

Changbin looked at the black-haired and then at you with an almost threatening look on his face, taken aback by the sudden harsh tone on Hyunjin’s voice.

“I- You live just a few minutes away from here and I don't want to cause you any discomfort,” you rushed to say in an attempt to make things less uncomfortable. “My apartment is on Hyunjin’s way, so it is more convenient if he drives me there. Besides, he was nice enough to bring me here as well”.

“It is never an inconvenience if it's about you,” he cooed with a smile, completely ignoring the fact that Hyunjin was standing just a few centimeters away from you. “Dinner is on me, by the way”.

You felt your whole face heated up at his generous action, totally not expecting him to be that much of a gentleman.

“You don't have to–”

“Next time you can pay,” Changbin proposed to you, only using it as an excuse for him to ask you out.

You could've dodged that comment just like you did the rest of the evening but, as soon as you saw Hyunjin’s clenched jaw and heard his raging voice, you couldn't help but want to keep on pressing his buttons further.

After all, a damaged ego was what he deserved.

“Saturday at 21:00 then?” You queried, knowing well that Hyunjin was listening to the whole conversation. “You can pick the place since I am treating you”.

Changbin offered you one last smirk and handed you a cherry lollipop that the waitress had put at the center of the table as a treat, keeping the small item inside of the pockets of your beige cardigan while you smiled at the sweet gesture.

Something that didn’t go unnoticed by the long-haired man standing next to you.

“By the way,” he mumbled, “That skirt looks good on you”.

You waved him goodbye with a soft smile before walking towards Jeongin who was still sitting with Chan, Seungmin, Felix, and a few other people from his major.

“Thank you for the invite,” You mumbled, giving him a tight hug, “And happy birthday. Spend the rest of it well”.

“You two are leaving together?” Jeongin asked you as he rested his head on your shoulder, noticing how Hyunjin was standing right behind you.

“He is dropping me at my place,” you told him, “you know since we live pretty close”.

“Ah–” he replied, unsure about prodding more into the topic. “Have a safe drive”.

Even though his lasts words were more for Hyunjin than you, you still thanked him and gave him another hug. You mumbled a faint “goodbye” to the rest of the people that were still there with him and proceeded to walk away while having a furious, man following you throughout the whole parking lot.

Much to your surprise though, the next minutes were spent in silence. You located his black sports car, waited for him to unlock the doors, and got inside without hearing a single word from the man near you.

His eyes were glued to the road the whole time, only looking away to fix them on the rear-view mirror and vice versa. He was driving slower than usual, indicating that either he was thinking stuff, or he was just doing that to piss you off.

Nonetheless, as the trip progressed, you realized that maybe he was too lost in his own world to even think about bothering you in a playful manner, especially because he was angry at you, and you could tell.

Even if his body language was relaxed and absolutely no words were coming out of his mouth, his gaze sold him out every time.

“You are going to have to turn right on the next street,” you murmured, interrupting the awkward silence, “the street of the building is closed because they are restoring it”.

No response.

He continued driving as if you weren't there beside him, stopping at the red lights without even looking at you.

“Didn't you hear me?” you questioned him, annoyed at his childish attitude.

Again, silence.

You crossed both of your arms and rested your whole weight on the leather seat, knowing better than to keep insisting on him with such a trivial issue.

After a draining day, you had no energy to keep up with his immature behavior so, as the trip continued, you tried to remember the subway routes and which station was near his building so you could walk there and go back to your place.

However, as you were lost in your trail of thoughts, his husky voice took you out of it the minute he parked his car.

“Get out,” He commanded before he did the exact same thing, closing the car's door right behind him.

You unbuckled the seatbelt and repeated the action, trying hard to keep up the pace of his fast steps and thinking about what was going to be in store for you the minute you two were alone.

This wasn’t the first time Hyunjin got defensive and jealous, but it was the very first time he showed it in such a manner.

Usually, he would wait up until you were in his bed to bring up the topic, teasing you about one of his friends flirting with you or a random man on the street checking you out. Far from bothering him, he kind of liked it.

He liked the idea of men desiring you, knowing that it wasn’t reciprocal. He adored the idea of being him the one with the privilege of touching you – that no matter how much others wanted you, you were all his.

Nevertheless, this time was different because he felt threatened.

He felt threatened by Changbin.

He felt threatened by the way he caught you staring at him several times, your gaze lost in thought every time you spoke to him. He felt threatened about the way your body language changed whenever you were around him, how you would become softer, gentler.

He felt threatened by the fact that Changbin was a thousand times better at expressing his feelings than he was. And he felt threatened by the idea that he could easily lose you to him.

“Get inside,” he murmured again, resting his hand on your lower back, and pushing you inside the elevator.

A much softer push than you had expected.

“Why are you mad?” You queried, not daring to look at him.

Why was he mad? He found the question and your naivety rather amusing.

It was obvious.

It was obvious how intoxicated he was from you, how much he desired you to be only his. It was clear that he was too into you to let you go, that he was emotionally and physically completely at your mercy.

It was obvious to everyone, except you.

“Hyunjin-” you were cut as soon as the doors of the elevator opened, revealing an empty hallway in front of the both of you.

A hallway you had walked a million times, but that tonight made you feel smaller. Even vulnerable.

But saying that you were scared was far from being true because you weren’t.

You stepped out of the elevator first, so you soon found yourself facing the black door of his apartment, your arse pressing against his crotch while he stood up behind you.

His hand reached out for the keys inside the pockets of his black pants, the sound of them taking you by surprise.

“Open,” he commanded as he placed the keys on your right hand, the cold feeling of the metal against your warm skin sending shivers down your spine.

There was something threatening about the contrast between the cold tone of his voice and his warm touch, how gentle he was even when you knew his insides were raging in jealousy.

He would never do anything to hurt you -and you knew that-, but you still felt your heartbeats racing at the thought of an unknown side of him.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, defenseless.

Truth is, there was nothing to be sorry about. He didn’t need an apology and he didn’t ask for one either. You knew you shouldn’t have to apologize but you still did.

Because that’s how much power he had on you.

“For what?” he asked you while letting a soft laugh, his fingers locating the light switch.

He knew what answer you were going to give him but, if anything, that wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted you to apologize for even thinking about someone else that wasn’t him because he had never been able to think about anyone else that wasn’t you.

But of course, he would never ask you to say such a thing out loud.

“For tonight…,” you murmured, walking inside and shivering at the change of temperature between the cold hallway and the warmth of his place.

“What did you do tonight?” he asked you again and that only made you ten times more confused.

What was he playing to?

He kept on staring at you the whole evening, drowning in jealousy and anger. He acted all defensive in front of Changbin, not even caring about raising suspicions from the rest. He then drove you all the way to his place without saying a single thing or looking at you, and now he was acting as alienated as he could?

“Come on,” you groaned, losing your tense countenance and huffing, “you are never going to change, will you?”

You rested the leather strap of your purse on your shoulder and walked towards the recently closed door again, ready to leave his apartment.

Nonetheless, you didn’t count on how fast he could get from the small coffee table to your place until you felt his big hands gripping both of your wrists and gently slamming you against the door

“I asked you something,” he murmured, his plump lips brushing against yours and making you taste the white wine he had previously drink with a faint of mint and vanilla. “Are you not going to answer me?”

“I take it back,” you breathed, tilting your head against his lips. “The one who should be apologizing it’s actually you and not me”.

“What for?”

“Acting like an asshole in front of everyone”.

“I barely said anything,” he defended himself with a faint manipulative tone in his voice, eyebrows frowning as if he didn’t understand your statement.

“Like that’s any better,” you scoffed, fixing your eyes on his.

You interacted enough with him daily to recognize the changes in his gaze whenever he was feeling some type of way. Usually, he had those round doe eyes, almost as if he was confused or lost all the time. His gaze would feel lighter, too, even gentle.

But right now, as he was staring down at you, his eyes were far from being gentle. His irises were darker, almost black, and you wondered how possible it was for you to fall apart between his arms just by making eye contact with him.

“I was angry because you spent the whole night flirting with Changbin,” he mumbled, his fingers reaching out for a strand of your hair while he pushed it behind your ear. “What else did you want me to do?”

“Ah-,” you smirked proudly, realizing that it didn’t take you long to get him to speak on the issue. “Well, that sounds like a you problem, doesn’t it?”

“You made it your problem the minute you decided to bring the topic up,” he teased you with such a serious countenance that made your whole body shudder. “After all, this is what you wanted, wasn’t it? To make me jealous”.

“Maybe,” you hummed with your eyes fixed on his plump lips that were inviting you to have a taste of them. “Or maybe you are just irrelevant, and I am truly into Changbin”.

There it was, again: the need to hurt his ego.

“Right,” he scoffed, trying to keep his self-control. “As if less than 3 hours ago you weren’t begging for me to cum inside you”.

The sudden dirty talk and choice of words made your heart skip a beat or two, recalling the previous moments to Jeongin’s birthday dinner.

“Changbin spent the whole night complimenting you, begging you for a second of your attention and probably thinking about fucking you, yet I was the one inside you without even touching you,” he bragged, the urges of wanting to erase that proud smirk on his face growing bigger every time he opened his mouth. “And still, you managed to look all pretty and pure with my cum leaking out of your cunt”.

“You are sick,” you sneered, feeling certain tension building up on your lower back due to the mixture of his words and the physical teasing.

“And what are you?” he queried, the tip of his tongue dragging along your lower lip and tasting the strawberry balm on it. “Because I can assure you that you are not any saner”.

“What kind of sane person would get possessive over a friend?” you boldly asked him, not sure if you wanted an answer to your question.

However, the vibrant sound of his cellphone interrupted the heated argument between the two of you and he couldn’t help but smile, knowing that he wasn’t ready to give a proper response to your question.

“I want you naked with your legs spread on my bed,” he commanded without giving you any more time to continue the debate. His eyes scanned your whole figure from head to toe, stopping right at the sight of your legs. “Take everything off but your skirt”.

He turned his back at you, walking towards the minimalist living room of his apartment while he picked up the call.

“Yeah,- I was busy, yeah-” The faint sound of his voice kept on resonating in your ears as you made your way to his room that, as usual, was neatly organized as if it wasn’t inhabited by a man in his early twenties.

He kept talking, but you got lost in your own thoughts as you tried to figure your own feelings about this.

You liked him –more than you ever wanted to admit– but you were also conflicted about the casual relationship you two were having. It bothered you how he was never forward about what he wanted, but he was extremely vocal about what he didn’t.

You were sure he didn’t want you to see other people, but you weren’t even sure if he wanted you in the first place.

And you were too lost in your own world that you didn’t notice Hyunjin’s presence until you felt his warm body behind yours, attaching his hands to your hips as you faced the edge of the bed.

“I thought I made myself clear,” he whispered against your neck, his hands moving from your hips to your shoulders as he dragged the cotton fabric of your cardigan from you. “Or is it that I have to do everything for you?”

You shook your head.

“I was just thinking,” you answered him, taking control of your body and removing the cardigan yourself. “About how much of a coward you are”.

He did listen to your insult loud and clear, but he chose to ignore it for the very sake of you.

Your arms reached out to leave the cardigan on the bed, but he stopped you. “Hand it over”.

His hands were quick to spot the wrap of the cherry lollipop on the right pocket of your clothing and he kept it under his possession without telling you what he wanted it for. “Now, take everything off except for your skirt”.

Suddenly, the sentiment of defeat was quick to appear inside you.

You had promised yourself a million times that you were not going to fall for Hyunjin’s charms again, yet you always found yourself following his commands and wishing to be between his arms.

You were weak, but it wasn’t entirely your fault.

You removed the blouse you were wearing –along with your laced underwear– and just as you were about to bend over and remove your high-thigh socks, he interrupted you again. “Leave them on too,” he commanded, making you stop right on your tracks, “that’s actually for my delight”.

Now you were almost completely naked and timid, noticing how you were exposed and he still had every single one of his clothes on.

“You look so pretty like this,” he praised you as you slowly followed his orders, sitting on the bed and spreading your legs for him. “I just know that Changbin thought about you this way once or twice throughout the dinner”.

Your skin heated up at the comment and you wondered if that statement was anywhere near the truth.

“Too bad he isn’t getting any of this tonight,” Hyunjin smiled, walking towards you, and positioning himself right between your parted legs. “Or do you wish he did?”

You didn’t respond.

Instead, your eyes fixed on the following actions the man in front of you did. He was no longer holding your cardigan with his hands but, instead, it had been replaced by the round, cherry lollipop. He unwrapped the candy right in front of your eyes and grazed it against your slick lips, giving you a sweet taste of it.

“Isn’t he such a gentleman?” he asked you, his cock twitching at the sight of your doe eyes looking right at him while your tongue stuck out ever so slightly to get a better taste of the lolly. “Paying for your meal, giving you a candy… all of that just because he wants to get between your legs”.

“And what if he does?” you queried, watching how he withdrew the lollipop from your lips only to suck on it right in front of you. “What if I’m the one that wants him between my legs?”.

“Then you can leave and go to his place,” he mumbled, wrapping his tongue around the red candy. “I’m not holding you hostage, you can leave if you want to”.

Yet, you didn’t.

You just sat there in silence, looking right at him with a timid gaze, feeling pity for yourself.

You could’ve told him that you weren’t feeling like going to his place the minute you saw him skipping your building street, but you didn’t.

You could’ve told him that you were going back to your apartment as soon as you got out of his car, but you didn’t.

He wasn’t forcing you to do anything, yet you still followed through with every single one of his orders. All because you simply couldn’t get enough of him.

“That’s what I thought,” he snickered, taking the lollipop out of his mouth with a loud pop.

You then felt one side of the mattress sinking as he rested his knee on it, approaching your body from the side and leaning down to be able to be closer to you.

“Let’s see if you were good tonight,” Hyunjin whispered, guiding the slick candy to your hardened buds that were waiting for his touch.

He worked his movements on your nipples, teasing them with the lollipop that was wet with his saliva. He brushed it against your areolas without touching you where you needed him the most, leaving a sticky trail that he was quick to erase with his tongue.

“God-” you whispered under your breath; your lustful gaze fixed on hyunjin’s eyes that were staring at you as he sucked on your nipples eagerly. “I despise you so much”.

“Mhm,” he hummed against your breasts, the vibrations sending waves of pleasure throughout your whole body and contributing to the tension on your lower abdomen to grow.

His tongue kept on teasing the perfect points of your chest for a while, making you arch your back and squeeze your thighs together every time he nibbled at the tender skin of your breasts. Your hand was quick to bury on his dark hair as you pressed him even harder against you, wanting him to never stop.

Hyunjin knew how much you liked to have your tits played with, and he never missed an opportunity to indulge you that way. Even better when he kept you fully satisfied, sucking on one of them while toying with the other.

Soon, the hand that was once working on your chest moved all the way to your wet core, lifting the skirt to have a better sight of your dripping cunt that –he knew– belonged to him and only him.

“Look at you,” he spoke while tilting his head. “You kept it inside you”.

Even though most of his arousal had been absorbed by your laced panties, there were still some remains that were leaking out you –along with your own fluids– and Hyunjin couldn’t feel prouder about it.

He withdrew his body from yours and straightened it up to have a better view of your pussy, one of his hands prying your thighs open while the other one teased your entrance with the red lollipop.

If he was sick for doing such a thing, you were even sicker because you utterly adored it.

“I wonder what Changbin would think about this,” Hyunjin mumbled while the candy got coated with your juices, brushing the tip of it against your inner thighs and your folds, avoiding that sweet spot where you needed him the most on purpose. “About how much of a bitch in heat you are for even allowing me to fuck you with it”.

You desperately bucked your hips against his touch, but he was quick to hold you down by pressing his hand on your lower abdomen. “Sluts like you don’t get to take control, do they?”

There he was, the real him.

The one that drove you insane.

The one that could have you on your knees whenever he pleased and wanted.

His hand moved towards your core, and it was only then when you felt the hard sweet rubbing against your entrance, collecting all your fluids mixed with his own arousal.

“It’s going to taste sweeter after this,” he taunted, making you feel the slightest pressure against your cunt. “And you are going to lick it clean”.

You closed your eyes shut as your head rolled back, your hands flying all the way to the back of your knees to keep your legs spread for him.

His hand moved from your pussy to your bundle of nerves, pressing the lolly against it while he motioned it in circles. That alone was the stimulation needed for you to let out a sinful noise that was probably heard in the whole floor.

“Like that,” you breathed, feeling how you were getting even wetter than you already were. “Faster, please”.

His cock painfully hardened, not only because of your words but also because of the lewd scene he was witnessing. Your breasts were decorated with his saliva while your core was glistening with your wetness, his cum, and the traces the lollipop left behind each time he dragged it against your slit.

From your clit to your tight hole, he just couldn’t stop indulging himself by fucking you with it. So, as soon as you felt the lack of stimulation on your bundle of nerves, you realized what the following action was going to be.

“Make sure to thank Changbin for the lolly next time you see him,” Hyunjin spoke as the rounded candy went inside you with a slow movement, the task being rather easy as you were practically dripping wet. “Tell him that we both liked it very much”.

You moaned at the feeling, but it wasn’t enough. It didn’t feel enough.

It was nowhere near his digits nor his big cock, but it was something.

Filthy, nasty, and even humiliating, but it was something.

“So cute,” he laughed once he saw your throbbing cunt clenching around it every time he took it out of you before inserting it again. “I fucked you not too long ago, yet you are still desperate to have your hole full with anything”.

“It doesn’t feel like you,” you whined, one of your hands flying to your clit in hopes of getting a bit more stimulation. “It is not as big as you”.

“Mhm, it is not,” he hummed, salivating at how shiny it looked each time he pulled it out from you. “Nothing will ever come close to what I make you feel”.

You closed your eyes shut, feeling overwhelmed at the sensation of your digits against your clit and the maneuvers of Hyunjin.

“Not your fingers, nor your toys, nor the pillows you like to hump or the plushies you like to ride will ever get close to how my cock can make you feel,” he groaned, increasing the peace of his hand to match yours. “Not even Changbin nor any other man can make you feel like I can”.

You arched your back against the mattress and, after thinking that it was going to take you hours to cum just by that single item alone, you were proven wrong. Your legs tried to close around Hyunjin’s arm while your whole body trembled under his touch, but he was quick to stop you from doing so.

“Hyunjin, I-” you wanted to tell him that you were close, but you couldn’t. Not when your orgasm was faster to hit you than you could even articulate a coherent sentence.

You moaned his name repeatedly, trying to close your legs as he forced them open, wanting to see every second of your high with his own eyes.

Your hand flew to your hardened buds and you pinched them harshly as you felt your orgasm washing upon you, your hips sloppily bucking against him while the tension on your lower abdomen unraveled.

“That’s it, make a mess,” he groaned, looking at how your arousal was squirting out of you with such intensity that he could cum just by the sight of it.

You whined and cried as you felt the wetted bedsheets beneath you, but you couldn’t stop. Wave after wave of pleasure took control of your whole body and soon, you became nothing but pure lust.

“Don’t stop,” you cried, feeling hurt by the overstimulation but still wanting him to go further with it, “Don’t fucking stop”.

Your weak hands looked for their initial position on your clit again, but Hyunjin had already taken care of it. Rubbing it with his right hand while the other worked the candy in and out of you, you couldn’t stop your insides from building up the same, unquestionable tension again.

“I bet you were fantasizing about having your holes filled the whole dinner, didn’t you?” Hyunjin groaned as his movements acquired roughness. “Always wet and ready to be used”.

“Yes,” you cried, tears streaming down your face while your legs trembled. “Fuck, yes”.

“But be used by who?” Hyunjin queried, mocking naivety, “by Changbin?”

“No, Hyune,” you whined, feeling how your second orgasm was closer than you had expected. “Not him- not- fuck”.

“Then who?” he asked you again, feeling how your legs were threatening to close again around his arm. “Who gets to fuck you whenever he pleases and who gets to use all of your holes when he feels like it?”

“You,” you moaned -almost yelled. “I promise, just you”.

“And what’s my name?” he questioned you, stopping his task to cup both of your cheeks and force your gaze on him. “What’s my fucking name?”

“Hyunjin-” you gasped, bucking your hips at the lack of stimulation on your clit, “Just Hyunjin”.

“Good girl,” he cooed with a smile. Soft, gentle, and completely opposite to what his filthy hands were doing on you.

He resumed his task and the tension resumed unraveling, leaving you as nothing but a mindless, desperate mess.

“Look at me when you cum,” Hyunjin ordered you, no longer caring if you closed your legs around him because he couldn’t afford to keep them open anymore. “Open your eyes and look at me or you don’t cum at all”.

You tried your best to fulfill the given condition, even when you were too overwhelmed to even keep your head up. Your half-lidded eyes found his and that was the last push you needed to fall apart in front of him again, closing your legs tightly around him and desperately bucking your hips like a needy pup in heat.

“Don’t look away,” he grunted as he felt your juices dripping out of you, continuing working only on your over-stimulated bundle of nerves. “Look at the only man who can make you cum like this”.

And soon, it became too much to handle.

He was too much to handle, but you loved it.

“Hyunjin,” you gasped, your hand wrapping against his wrist. “No, no, no, no-”

Hyunjin quickly understood and withdrew himself from you, worried that he might’ve had hurt you.

However, you made sure to not use your safe word because you didn’t really want him to stop. You just wanted him to give yourself a small break to overcome your high before moving on to something else.

As you took time to stabilize yourself, his hand moved from your cunt to your mouth, still holding the candy that was covered in all sorts of fluids that you could hardly tell apart from each other.

“Open your mouth,” he commanded as he placed the sweet against your swollen lips, giving you a taste of it.

You stuck your tongue out, allowing him to prude the lollipop inside your warm hole. You wrapped your lips around it as you sucked it clean, using your tongue as much as you could while it grazed against his fingers.

“You are so fucking dirty,” he hissed, looking at your teary eyes staring at him with pure lust. “All corrupted by me”.

That was true. Hyunjin hadn’t been your first sexual partner, but he was sure the one who taught you the most.

“Does it taste good?” Hyunjin asked you, admiring how eagerly you sucked on the lollipop. You bopped your head up and down as you continued tasting the bitterness, sweetness, and saltiness in every lick you gave it. “So cute”.

He took the lollipop out of your mouth with a loud pop before standing up from the bed, removing his clothes, and releasing his –already– painful erection right in front of your eyes.

And it didn’t matter how many times you had seen it or taken it, it always sent shivers down your spine because of how big he truly was.

“Get on your knees,” he hissed, throwing the lollipop away while both of his hands secured his long hair into a ponytail. “And let me give you what you had been craving the whole night”.

As obedient as you were, you positioned yourself right in front of him with your knees against the pillows he had laid on the ground to make it more comfortable for you.

Your hands instinctively traveled all the way to your back, and you kept them there, solely sticking out your tongue with your mouth open so Hyunjin could fuck it and use it as he pleased.

Whether it was because of how long you two had been fucking each other or an innocent gesture, Hyunjin couldn’t help but feel proud about how he had conditioned you to do certain things in bed.

Things you weren’t used to doing before him, like that one.

“You want me to fuck your pretty mouth”? he asked you while his veiny hands got lost in your hair, guiding your head all the way to his throbbing cock. “Is that what you want?”

“Mhm,” you hummed, still with your mouth open and your tongue out.

“Whose cock do you want inside your mouth?”

“Yours” you answered him.

“Just mine?”

“Just yours,” and as if those were some sort of magic words, Hyunjin guided your head all over his length with a slow movement.

He was eager to fuck your mouth as he liked it, but he was also gentle the very first minutes that you usually used to get used to his length.

“Such a good slut,” he complimented you, his eyes admiring how you obediently kept both of your arms behind your back laced onto one another. “My good slut”.

As time passed by and your throat was stretched enough by his cock, the thrusts of his hips against your lips became faster and rougher, almost as if he was retaliating on you.

But, if you were being honest, that’s what you wanted.

That’s what you had been wishing for the minute you stood a foot in his apartment.

“I am sure any man would kill to have you like this,” Hyunjin groaned, his head falling slightly back while his eyes rolled to the back of his head. “I am sure they fantasize about fucking you, but I am the only one who can”.

You started to cough and gag around him as his thrusts speeded up, but he didn’t care. Not when your mouth was drooling and making a mess on your chin and breasts, and your eyes were tearing up at the aggressive sensation.

“Because you are mine,” he panted, his lower lip getting caught between his teeth, “Because I am the only one who can use you like this”.

Your hands moved from your back to his toned thighs, digging your fingernails on his skin and making him hiss at the sharp pain.

“You are only mine and I am only yours,” he groaned without even thinking his words twice, but you were too focus on taking him on your mouth than you could hardly pay attention to the words that were falling from his lips. “Your whole body was perfectly made for me and only me”.

With a loud groan, Hyunjin held your head in place while his cock touched the deepest spots on your throat, your nose grazing against his pubis while you closed your eyes and furrowed your eyebrows at the sensation of being completely full.

“Don’t clean yourself up after this,” he quickly murmured before pulling his cock out of you, immediately making you drool over his length and yourself.

Your skirt and high-thighs were stained with saliva, your makeup and hair were ruined, your eyes were tearing up and your chin and breasts were complretely covered in your own drool.

But Hyunjin loved it.

He loved how dirty you looked with such pure eyes that he sometimes wondered how you could shape-shift from an innocent woman to a desperate, filthy slut.

He cupped your cheeks with one of his hands as he leaned over on you, forcing your mouth open while you stared right up at him.

“Do you think Changbin’s cock can make you gag and drool like this?” he asked you with such cockiness that your cunt clenched around thin air. “No?, you don't think Changbin’s cock can stretch your slutty mouth like this?”

You shook your head repeatedly while tears continue to stream down your cheeks.

“Tell me”.

“Your cock is the biggest one I have had,” you mumbled with a husky tone. “It is so fucking big, Hyune”.

“Go on,”

“I don't want Changbin to fuck me,” you panted, feeling the heat between your legs growing each time a word fell from your lips. “I don't want anyone else to fuck me but you. All I want is your cock filling all of my holes every fucking hour”.

Hyunjin forced your mouth open again and spitted on it harshly, his saliva mixing with your drool and his precum in your tongue.

“Hungry slut,” he groaned, watching how you swallowed proudly his spit. “You are always thinking about my cock, aren't you?”

You nodded.

“Remember that time you were too desperate to have me that you ended up cumming by just humping my leg?” he asked you and, as you recalled the memory, you felt a bit embarrassed. “No one will ever be able to have you as desperate as you were that day, and you know why?”

You looked at him in silence, waiting for his next words.

“Beacuse you are conditioned to only cum when you are with me,” he mumbled, his fingers prudding into your mouth while you immediately sucked on them. “You can try and fuck anyone you want but I can assure you that whenever you feel like cumming, you will be looking for my hands and my gaze only”.

With a soft movement, he helped you to stand up from the pillows before laying down on the bed, his hardened length throbbing and begging for you to sit on it as soon as possible.

You soon followed his actions and sat down on top of him, grabbing the base of his cock and aligning it with your entrance to take him completely.

An easy task, considering how wet and ready you were to be fucked by him.

“He was right,” Hyunjin breathed, his hands grabbing the hems of your skirt. “This looks so good on you”.

Only then it struck you why he wanted you to leave it on: because Changbin complimented it.

And because he did, ruining you while wearing it only reminded Hyunjin that he was the one who owned you, not him.

Your hips started to move against him, alternating between circular motions and small jumps every now and then –as much as your sore legs allowed you to–. Your hands were attached to your breasts while you massaged them for him, pinching your nipples and –overall– putting a cute show for him.

“Do you play with your tits like that whenever you hump your pillows like the pathetic pup in heat you are?” he suddenly asked you and you moaned at his words. “Do you beg for my cock even when i am not there with you?”

Even though the questions were a bit embarrassing, they weren't far from the truth. You nodded while you placed your hands against his chest, taking advantage of it and bopping your hips up and down along his length.

“Ride me faster,” Hyunjin groaned, both of his hands attached to your hips while guiding your movements. “I want to see your tits bouncing and I want you to squirt on my cock again”.

Your weak legs could only handle much but you still went through with his commands.

One of your hands traveled all the way to your clit and you rubbed it slowly as you tried to match the pace of your hips.

It felt heavenly, as it always did.

Hyunjin's cock felt heavenly, because it seemed like it was made especially for you. Thick, big and always hitting all the right spots inside your dripping cunt.

“You are so fucking tight,” Hyunjin groaned, biting his lower lip. “So warm and wet for me”.

Your head fell back while your hips continued on moving in circular motions around him, more to your own pleasure than to his.

“I am not going to last long,” you admitted in the brink of tears, your digits speeding up its pace as your hips rolled sloppily against him. “Your cock just- it feels- so good, so big-”.

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you found the strength to finish your sentence, your nipples hardening and your toes curling at the sudden sensation of your arousal.

“Hyunjin-” you whined, clenching around his cock without even moving, “I am cumming again”.

With the little strength that was left in you, you raised both of your hips and squirted your orgasm right on top of his cock and his toned abdomen.

Your fingers never stopped rubbing your clit, not even when the overstimulation kicked in, and Hyunjin couldn't believe how hard his cock was getting just by the sight of a masochist you, drowned in the pleasure and pain.

“Look at the mess you made,” Hyunjin groaned, delighted to see your whole body shaking on top of him, “you filthy slut”.

Your head fell down and your weak body sat on top of his abdomen covered with your own orgasm.

“Thank you,” you responded, both to his words and the third orgasm of your night.

However, just because you were done it didn't mean that he was.

With a swift movement, he managed to slam his cock inside your tight hole again while your sore body fell on top of his, your face hiding at the crook of his neck.

Hyunjin's hands lifted your hips while he accommodated himself underneath you, the new position allowing him to be the one in control and not you.

You placed both of your arms on each side of his face as you felt him slamming his hips against yours with such a rough pace that was definitely not like what you were used to.

“Hyunjin, fuck–” you yelled, the pain of the overstimulation mixed with the painful stretch he was providing you almost driving you insane. “Your cock–”

“Shut up and take it,” he groaned, keeping a steady pace on his thrusts.

Even though you were already too fucked out to enjoyed it properly, you still allowed yourself to drown in the intoxicated jealousy that was now coming to light.

“Don't forget that you are mine and mine only,” he continued, the grip on your hips being too strong that tou were sure there were going to appear a few bruises tomorrow morning. “You were mine from the first time I fucked you and no one will change that”.

You moaned in pleasure at his words, immersed in how much deeper his voice sounded.

“You are my slut,” he panted, one of his hands flying from your hips to your hair, grabbing a fistful of it and forcing your head to look at him. “Say it”.

“I am your slut”.

“Tell me how grateful you are for my cock”.

“I am so fucking grate–” you cried at the feeling of his cock hitting your sweet spot repeatedly, “God, I fucking love your big cock”.

Hyunjin kept on pounding your cunt while forcing you to look at him, his cock twitching at the sight of your fucked out gaze and your messy makeup.

“I bet you would love for Changbin to see how much of a slut you are,” he groaned and, immediately afterwards, he felt you clenching around him. “Yeah, you would love that?”

“Yes,” you panted, breathless, “I would love for Changbin to see how much of a slut I am for you”.

“Instead, why don't we have all of my friends watching how I fuck you?” he asked you and it was then where you felt his hips losing their steady pace. “I bet they would love to see you all messy and sweaty, grinding against my lap and trying to make me cum inside your pussy”.

Hyunjin's hands returned to their original place at your hips while he continued on thrusting his cock inside you, too close to reach his orgasm but yet too far from relieving the negative sentiments he felt throughout the night.

“I want to fuck you in front of all of them,” he admitted, his cock twitching at the sound of your whines. “I want to fuck you in front of all of them for hours, until you beg for me to stop. I want to fill your tight little pussy with my semen as they watch, hearing how you desperately moan my name over and over and beg for me to let you cum”.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes,” you cried, gripping the pillows underneath Hyunjin’s head.

“I want everyone to know that you are mine and that I own you,” he finally grunted, his hips slamming against yours for the last time, “And i don't care if i have to fuck you in front of anyone for them to understand that i don't even want them to lay their eyes on you”.

He pulled his cock out of you while his hand continued on desperately pumping it, trying hard to not to cum just yet.

You didn't need to say anything else for him to understand that you wanted him to cum on you so, as fast as he could, he kneeled right next to you while he stroked his length right over your face.

“Cum on my mouth,” you panted, both of your hands teasing your sore nipples while you licked the leaking of his cock with the tip of your tongue. “I want to taste you”.

It didn't take him long to release himself on your mouth and chin, decorating them with his hot arousal while he cursed under his breathe at the sight of your playful smile.

He didn't even wait for you to swallow it when he was already leaning over to kiss you, capturing your lips with his in a sloppy kiss that was anything but clean.

His tongue licked yours while he tasted himself from your mouth, making you moan as he sucked on your lower lip.

“Changbin's lollipop was nothing compared to how delicious you taste,” you murmured with a fucked out smile, getting the last taste of him from his lips.

[aro-comics]

Platonic

Platonic, 1/1 - The Original Arospec struggle 😭 … okay, I'm (half) joking, but quite genuinely this has been a big challenge for me navigating this world as an Aro! I know platonic affection is something people struggle with, aro or not, but I personally believe the aro flavour has its own unique layer of anxieties.

I've touched on this before, but a lot of this stems from my experiences growing up. When I was a kid, I really wanted and tried to express affection in a way that feels … authentic? And genuine? To how I relate to/experience platonic feelings for others. I don't know if my struggles with social skills affected this, but trying to show affection didn't end well most of the time. People thought I was being weird, or misread my intentions and would give (extremely unwanted) romantic advances. I know it's not the end of the world, but … this impacted my relationship with friendship as a whole. It hurts to feel like your feelings aren't reciprocated! And after a while this led me to reconsider how I communicate and express myself, if at all.

😅 … and yeah, I realize that was a bit of a downer. If it's of any comfort or positivity, like I mentioned in the comic I am working past what I now know is the effect of amatonormativity on me. I've been reflecting a lot on this topic so I've got a lot of (still forming) thoughts, but the gist of it is this: I know now I don't need to feel bad for being confused and conflicted about how I relate to and express my feelings for others - and even though I don't know what I really want when showing affection, being aware of why I feel this conflict is a much healtheir place to start from. I think my next steps are going to be more honest about my feelings with myself, since I learned to ignore a lot of them with amatonormative pressures. I hope it will eventually lead me to communicating these feelings more openly in my relationships in the future too 💚💚

As usual, I want to emphasize not every aro goes through the same things. If this doesn't apply to you, that's totally okay! Actually I'm really glad if you haven't had to experience this flavour of inner turmoil haha 😂 Either way, I'm always interested to hear about your perspective on all of this. Is this a part of your experience as an aro too?

[Image Description:

Slide 1: Celia sits in front of some plants, holding a blue watering can. "Something I've struggled with my whole life - and still am now, to a lesser extent - is showing affection platonically in a way that's authentic to how I'm actually feeling."

Slide 2: She continues "Even for people I'm not necessarily platonically attracted to, just people I genuinely enjoy being around and want to express my apprecation for -"

Slide 3: She stares down at an illustrated board of her thought process. "I'm always second guessing how I should behave"

On one side, Figure A shows her being very excited to see her friend. She has a whole puppy dog eye thing going on, and in the background she thinks: "should I be as excited as I actually am to see them?? What if I seem toooooo friendly? OH NO what if they think I'm flirting? What should I do? Help -"

On the other side, Figure B shows her standing with a much calmer if somewhat blank expression. An arrow labelled "A very platonically appropriate distance" is between them. She thinks "Or I can try toning it down … but WAIT what if I don't seem happy enough when I see them? Will they think I'm too reserved? WHAT IF THEY THINK I'M BORING AND THEY DON'T WANT TO HANG OUT AND-"

Slide 4: "As you can see … it's a dilemma" She says while making the stereotypically anime-esque streaming tears face.

Slide 5: She shrugs now, "But in all seriousness, I'm not going to pretend I have any good answer for this - because I don't, I'm still figuring things out. At least now I understand it's the amatonormativity getting to me."

Slide 6: "And moving forwards, I think as long as I'm being respectful of other people's boundaries, and communicating how I'm feeling … I'll work it out eventually." She waters her plants.]

[cheelduh]

How to get Hit-listed by a Stonehide Lawachurl (High School AU!)

Part 6 of the highschool au

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Synopsis: Childe’s a menace to everyone when playing dodgeball. Even as his new girlfriend, you’re no exception to his affinity for raising hell during the most tranquil of circumstances.

Warnings: Swearing, bad humor, and absolutely horrid spelling mistakes.

Words: 5.3k

Note: Longest chapter yet sheeeesh 🗿

Negotiation is an art.

Childe, or "Tartaglia" has utilized the art of negotiations in his daily life. Whether that be scamming the ninth graders with fake weed, or convincing the teachers why he doesn't deserve detention for injecting random fluids from the chem department into the school's resident pet frog.

All in all, by becoming an expert in the field of negotiations, Childe is nothing if not a master, tongue silver and smooth as he takes on a new opponent.

Which is why he dutifully negotiates with you on this Monday morning in front of the History classroom, getting down on one knee and pulling out a—

"I hope to Barbatos you aren't proposing Childe," You hiss, panicked eyes landing on the velvet box he's pulling out. "Considering that we're sixteen and still in highschool."

As if remembering those meagre details, Childe gulps and shoves the box back into his pocket. "Uhhh yeah, I was just, tying my shoelaces?" It comes out as a question.

You let out a sigh of relief, overlooking how he undoes his shoe laces just to do them all over again.

The ring burns in his pocket as he gets back up.

"Why did you call me here?" You ask, hand on your hip, foot impatiently tapping. The tap tap tap isn't because of impatience though, it's because you need something to cover the nervous palpitations of your heart.

He gives you a vicious smile, sinister enough to shake the bones of anyone who's observing, opens his daring mouth to show the imaginary sharpness of his teeth. Then with the confidence of about a hundred shirtless tiktok boys, he finally demands:

"If you don't become my girlfriend, I will kill—"

"Yeah sure thing." You answer before he can finish, soft smile growing.

Childe chuckles evilly, "I knew you'd say that, but I've come prep—wait a minute." He snaps out of his villain origin phase, stumbles back a bit, then his eyebrows are furrowing in confusion. "Did you just say yes?"

You nod, cheeks flaring up. "Don't make me repeat it." Then you look away, too embarrassed to see his reaction.

For a second, Childe's internal conflict following the chain of this event causes him to temporarily malfunction, and all he can do it stare at you in amazement.

It's only when you tell him to stop staring and jump off the school roof is when he snaps out of his daze, a grin festering on his face.

He lunges straight at you, giving you no time to deflect him as he wraps his bone crushing arms around you, then lands a soft smooch on your forehead.

"Let go of me you idiot!" You barely wheeze out, light headed not only because of your lungs being squeezed like oranges, but also because of the sloppy kiss he's delivered so ungracefully.

He does so reluctantly, and you're unamused, wiping the stickiness off your forehead with a sleeve as he steps back.

"Ew what the fuck?" You say, glaring at him. "What's wrong with you?"

He completely ignores you, giddy with excitement. "Ah girly, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that. I can't wait to introduce you to my parents and eat lunch together and kiss each other during break—"

"Slow down." You tell him, as red as a tomato towards all his suggestions. "We've barely started dating."

"Oh," Childe stops momentarily, then nods in agreement. "You're right. We should start small. How about I walk you to class?"

"We're already in front of class." You nudge your head towards the classroom, and catch Zhongli and Venti peeking from the side of the door, trying not to be obvious.

You narrow your eyes at them threateningly.

Childe tugs your arm, lovingly looking you up and down. "Let's walk to class together anyways. In a circle."

A complete waste of time, yet it's impossible to say no to the face he's making.

Before you guys depart he suddenly stops, gasping loudly, remembers something important. "I have to make a quick phone call."

Childe speed dials Scaramouche, and the latter picks up annoyed, answers the phone with muffled sounds in the back. Something that sounds a bit like pleading and whimpering.

He then mutters something that forces dread into your system. "You can release the hostages."

You hear Scaramouche groan on the other end, muttering a "such a pain in my ass", but choose not to question it immediately.

As soon as the phone call is done and you're back by his side, you point at his phone questioningly. "What hostages Childe?"

He gives you a close eyed smile, taking the fifth.

"What hostages Childe?" You repeat again weakly.

—

First period goes by smoothly for the most part. Lisa, your so called best friend, once again is bought off like a corrupted politician by your new boyfriend. She sits far away from you, leaving you without any defences against the menace that dotes on you a bit too much.

Throughout class, all Childe does is score Venti's colourful pens, and then writes you annoying little love notes, using the expert origami skills he's learnt from Anthon to deliver them to you.

Despite the threat of distraction these notes pose, the corners of your lips can't help but tug upwards at his enthusiasm and attempt at poetry.

Zhongli makes sure not to ask you two any questions the entire class, leaving you to your own accord.

Lunch comes around soon enough, and your usual table of Diluc, Jean, Kazuha, and Lisa is disturbed by the torpedo that is Childe, and he brings collateral with him.

Kaeya whole-heartedly ceases the opportunity to sit near his stoic statue of a brother purely with the intention to annoy the premature crap out of him, but one look from the redhead sends the chicken-shit right back where he came from.

When Childe forcefu—lovingly feeds you the smiley fries and dinosaur nuggets his stunning mom packed him, Diluc looks just about ready to hurl.

Lisa winks at you two, Kazuha doesn't even bother looking, and Jean tries with upmost effort to keep Diluc from launching himself at the whipped fatui boy basking in your attention.

"Quit embarrassing me." You whisper-exclaim sharply, noticing how Jean passes Diluc—all green in the face, a puke bag discreetly. "Shouldn't you be doing something illegal right now? Or vaping in the stalls?"

"I quit vaping for you girlie." Childe boops your nose with his finger. "Well, at least full time. I still need a puff when I'm around Signora, to like, get rid of her awful vibes."

While it is endearing how he quit vaping for you, it doesn't lessen the need for you to bury yourself alive right here and now.

Then you sigh, pick up a Dino nuggie, and shove it in his mouth, the tip of his tongue flicking your finger. You die inside.

"There, you happy?" The action of feeding him is so...intimate, it sets your heart aflame.

Childe's a lovesick puppy when he chews, imaginary tail wagging a hundred times a second. "Can I have a kiss too?"

Diluc slams his hands on the table and stands up, hurriedly picks up his grape juice and makes a break for it. You don't blame him.

"I'll kill you." You smack him with a napkin, blazing red. "I'll end your pathetic little life right here and now."

By the end of lunch, Lisa and Jean have to restrain you so you don't break the world record for the maximum amount of mutilations that can be done on a single body.

Fourth period is a break. A break from Childe you mean. It's expected of the school's resident bad boy aka menace to skip classes in order to skip over the bodies of his victims.

You bask in the momentary peace, until it's disrupted by a tap on the window. Reckon it's nothing, maybe a bird flew into it, because intentional taps are impossible from the third floor. Except your conviction is hindered yet again by another tap.

What a nuisance.

You finally turn to look outside the window, face down, and spot Childe waving incessantly, rocks in hand, oozing with excitement that can't be concealed and a grin that nearly takes you into cardiac arrest. Without meaning to, you send him a small smile, waving back as Baal drones on about quantum superposition.

Successful in gaining your attention, he moves aside to reveal the hefty corpse of a stonehide lawachurl with a destructive path in its wake. The ridges and bumps of its hide are enough to do a number on the road, ruining the school's playing field.

Your smile drops down into a horrified frown in the span of a few seconds.

"Wow." Albedo, your lab partner whispers from next to you, for the first time distracted in class.

"Yeah," Kaeya whistles from behind you two, one hand supporting his head. "What a gesture."

"Y/N, I'd be grateful if you could possibly obtain a black crystal horn for me from the specimen." The blonde asks, entranced by the corpse that your boyfriend is flaunting off to you with pride.

"Aren't those things endangered cutie?" Lisa makes sure to butt in, as per usual.

Yes. Your boyfriend with several issues and an affinity for chaos brought you the corpse of an endangered geo-infused creature that's five times the size of him. During school hours too, the fiend. Like a cat dragging the corpse of a dead mouse to its owner.

You groan into your hands, heart racing while the fire is coursing through your veins.

That idiot.

—

Childe is exceptional at a lot of things, like the switch and making weapons out of seemingly harmless things (e.g shiv out of a toothbrush), but what he prides in the most is physical education. With washboard abs, uber tall height, and a dickish smile to top it all, he has everything it takes to showcase his top tier athletic abilities.

He pounces at the opportunity to show off in front of you, wanting nothing more than to have you fawn over his strength. He's sure it'll be enough to have you all over him, wrapping your cute little arms around his muscled ones, passing him his water bottle and dabbing away at the sweat on his forehead. Most of all, he daydreams you planting your soft lips on his to congratulate him after a big game.

Physical education, for you, is a pain. You may be good with your brain, but games exert more energy than necessary, and coordination that lacks logic entirely. You're just here for the credit. The over-achiever part of you walks the extra mile to ensure a grade in the high nineties.

Although witnessing Childe clad in the school shorts and matching polo shirt is enough to make this worth your while, you'll die before admitting it. Especially when he gawks at you as if it's the first time you're wearing the sports uniform yourself. It has you fidgeting with your fingers and tugging your shorts down nervously.

You try not to flip him off like you usually do, especially since it's not even been twenty four hours since he's asked you out.

Mr.Zhongli blows a whistle, calling all the students over to surround him. It's odd that he teaches most of the subjects at this school, seemingly the only adult present, but no one questions it in fear of genshin logic. Moving on, he explains that you have a dodge ball game today.

Lisa groans beside you. She hates anything that requires the exertion of energy, oftentimes bringing a book to read while everyone else screams in the background.

You're relieved, mainly because Childe and Tohma are usually captains, and Childe always picks you to be on his team as a means to flex his skills. For you, it means sitting back and watching him carry your team towards a straight A.

However, all your dreams are crushed when Zhongli announces the team leaders.

"Y/N, I trust that you'll lead the blue team to the upmost of your ability. Childe, prepare to lead the opposing red team."

Your knees shake as you stare at him in disbelief. "But Sir—"

"No buts Y/N." He scolds you lightly, checking off your names on the clip board. "I'd like to witness your exceptional leadership skills."

In reality, Zhongli just wants to reenact a lovers-on-opposing sides trope, wanting to see how the two of you crack under the pressure. In a way, it is an exercise of leadership.

Instead of picking teams, Zhongli assigns teams for the both of you according to his own judgement, trying to make it as fair as possible.

Lisa pats your back after your teammates are assigned, trying to cheer you up. "It's going to be okay. You guys are dating now, so he'll go easy on you."

You look up to meet Childe's eyes from across the court. He gives you a charming smile, which turns downright barbaric as he lifts up a thumb and motions to slash his neck with it. Then he wickedly mouths "I'm going to destroy you."

You blink and turn away as fast as you can in fear. "We're fucked."

Lisa, witnessing the entire ordeal nods alongside you, doing nothing to reassure you because she herself has given up.

Suddenly a hand lands on your shoulder gripping you tightly. "Let's wipe the floor with that g*nger." The voice is ice cold, threatening enough to send a shiver down your bones.

You turn to meet Rosaria, who frowns at you. Most of the time she doesn't really put an effort in dodgeball, but she must've seen your crestfallen expression, trying to comfort you in her own detached way.

Rosaria is the other school nurse in training, alongside Barbara, but somehow her patients end up more injured, sick, or mentally defiled than before they entered the room. She also spends after hours beating up Chads in the school parking lot. Also runs a blog with her booby co-author Kaeya that emphasizes mostly on the dark knight hero.

Spotting the rest of your team behind her, you begin to criticize them one by one.

Standing against the wall is Kaeya, pushing both his biddies up with his crossed arms like an absolute whore. He's breaking about several dress code rules right now. Venti is next to him, drunk off his butt as he beat boxes with Tohma.

Eula mutters under her breath, on and on about seeking revenge on Zhongli for putting her beloved Amber on the opposing team, promising him an unfortunate fate. Xiao is miserably squatting on the floor, sharp eyes observing everyone in the gym, scowl not ready to dissipate anytime soon.

Then you look over at Childe's team in the distance. Jean with a determined look on her face as she listens to Childe's game plan, and Diluc crossing his arms with his brows furrowed in concentration. Even Amber, the best baller in the school, is stretching out her arms, assisted by the gifted princess of the school, Ayaka.

Not only that, but Childe has the king of dodging on his team—Kaedehara goddamn Kazuha. Beidou shoots you a wicked smirk, winking at you until she's disrupted by Ningguang's shove.

"Oh my god." You cry out when the realization hits you, falling to your knees in despair. "We're completely fucked!"

"No we aren't." Rosaria mutters lowly. "You're only fucked if you want to be. Don't you dare throw in the towel before the fight has even begun."

"But I—"

"Stop it." She grumbles again, rolling her eyes. "You're being annoying now. If you lose the game, that makes him the dom. Don't you want to be the dom?"

She's right. You do want to be the dom.

Her words of encouragement, and not at all veiled insults somehow allow you to find motivation deep within yourself. You get up and stomp towards the rest of your team, calling their attention with your newfound confidence.

"Listen here soldiers!" You shout out, determination clear as day. "I know I am not capable of leading. I know that I barely have the physical capabilities needed to defeat the opposite team."

You take a deep breath, pointing at your cutie patootie boyfriend across the gym as you seethe. "But that man, that harbinger of chaos, that instrument of war, is nothing but a tyrant. And I cannot let such a tyrant be a victor in this battle. Not when innocent lives are at stake."

Tohma speaks up, sending you a bewildered look. "What lives—"

"Shut the fuck up soldier!"

"Yessir!" He immediately stiffens, saluting you.

"Are you ready soldiers?" Your voice booms, and everyone reinforces their priorities, except for Kaeya though. He just lazily smirks.

After Zhongli places the balls in the middle, everyone prepares for the battle of the century.

'Gods, please let us win this war' you pray to the archons above, closing your eyes in concentration.

'Give me the strength to flex my superior skills' Childe wishes, then adds on quickly 'also I want to dominate this world.'

'Give me the strength to make it to Friday.' Rosaria prays for nobody but herself, rolls her eyes at all the unnecessary dramatics of this dodgeball game.

"3..." "2..." "1..."

Zhongli ends the countdown by blowing hard into a whistle, signaling the beginning of the game.

Not even two seconds later a ball whooshes past a few of you at the speed of light, followed by a tail of fire. The ball of death kisses Kaeya square in the nose, sending him reeling back into a wall with enough sheer force to cause an indent.

Everyone winces.

Before you all can reel in from the initial shock and make sense out of wherever the hell that asteroid came from, Zhongli's voice booms throughout the gymnasium.

"Mr. Ragnvindr, headshots are strictly forbidden. You are out!"

With a scoff, Diluc, satisfied with his work, leaves the court with no apparent qualms. He accepts his defeat with the upturned corners of his lips.

Rosaria pokes Kaeya's body with the tip of her heels, then cringes when he shakes awake, up from his short lived knockout and sends a wink her way.

"Getting handsy when I'm unconscious? I didn't think you'd be one to partake in such vulgar activities." His eye twinkles in mischief, and if his momentary defeat at the hands of brother has him fuming, he doesn't show it one bit.

The only thing that keeps Rosaria from knocking him out for real is the blood that trails down onto his lip. She doesn't want to clean blood off her shoes, especially since it's a pain in the ass to get off.

You're about to tell them to get up and take this seriously, but a softball does your job for you when it darts straight at Rosaria. With pristine accuracy, the girl manages to pitch herself away last minute.

You swivel in Childe's direction, who wears a remorseless grin, which only grows wider once you pick up a blue softball next to your feet.

The glare that he receives has him shaking in exhilaration. More so than the elation he'd felt when he took down that Stonehide Lawachurl for you, as a gift of promise.

You begin to bark out orders. "Eula, Xiao, and Rosaria cover the front and act as decoys."

They nod immediately, but Xiao still clicks his tongue in distaste as he starts following orders.

Then you offer Kaeya a hand. "Get up princess. You're on sniper duty."

With Diluc out of commission, the battle is fair and square now considering both sides have the same amount of people. Ergo, no one's at a disadvantage.

That is—until Lisa fake trips over pure air, landing on the floor in a dramatic slow motion.

You roll your eyes.

"Oh dear! I think I've twisted something." She cries out, crawling away from the battle field, acting as if she's paralyzed completely. "Don't worry about me. I'll cheer you on from afar. The battle has begun, and it seems as if I've become the first casualty."

You don't let the countless amount of Lisa's betrayals get to you, even this one. It's just her personality to flake out on anything and everything that requires her to do more than below the bare minimum.

Focusing on the match, your eyes are only on Childe, just as his are on you.

You aim the ball straight at his ribs, step back a bit, then propel the ball in the air with as much energy as you can, using your entire body as a power outlet. The ball spins in the air, reaching the awaiting victim.

Childe, unbothered, dodges the ball with perfect precision, the ball not even grazing his clothes at the least.

Your jaw drops open, and you're about to move for another ball until he grabs the same ball you threw at him. With the sharpness of a predator locking in on its pray, he focuses on you like a missile locks on its target, launching the ball in the air for power that has you trembling, second to the powerful ball that was thrown by Diluc.

With your pupils dilated at your impeding doom, it's Xiao that grabs you and thrusts away.

The ball lands on the floor, smoke rising.

"Holy shit!" You shriek over everyone else's grunts and shuffles. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Isn't it poetic?" Childe shouts back while he slides away from the balls being thrown. "Lover against lover. Either you're by my side, or in my way. And right now, you're in my way." He narrows his eyes dangerously. "Albeit reluctantly, I will take the victory babe. Even if we are on opposing sides."

"There was zero reluctance in that throw asshole!"

You thank Xiao, who wipes his hands on his pants in disgust. "Filthy humans. So pathetic and weak."

Mildly offended, you roll your sleeves up and begin to fight with everything you've got as soon as he walks away.

The dodgeball game goes as expected for the most part, Eula carrying for most of it with the flow of her skills.

Tohma actually tries like the presumptuous asshole he is, aims straight for his girlfriend Ayaka, and takes her out completely. His only justification for that is "I ain't no simp!"

He shelves his cocky attitude when facing Childe with a sense of dignity and prestige you didn't think he had in him.

The two one of a kind fuckbois puff out their chests so that they look more hefty than they are, having some kind of an Alpha match. The 'me stronger than you. me dominant. me get all the women' type beat.

Unfortunately, Childe manages to fence him with his throws, and lo and behold, the square off ends with a dejected Tohma dragging his feet to the nearest bench.

Eula oversees that Ningguang and Beidou meet a quick end, taking their slower dodging to her advantage. You're actually rooting for her, tasting a sliver of victory that you haven't reached yet. So close, yet so far.

Amber trips on herself in the middle of throwing a what should've been coordinated ball, and it loses most of its momentum. Xiao is directly in front of it, and will probably be able to catch it with ease.

Ah, another short victory.

If Childe loses his expert baller, he's only left with Kazuha and Jean, whom's lack in the art of throwing is made up by their ability to dodge most of the fastballs.

However, all your plans and hopes are crushed when Eula slides in front of Xiao last minute, sticks out her foot, and let's the pathetic product of Amber's would-be downfall hit her on the leg with the total force of about 0.0000001 newtons.

Your chances of winning have just went down by a staggering 60%.

"Eula!" You cry out, collapsing on the ground. "How could you?"

Tohma cups his mouth and bellows obnoxiously from the bench. "SIMP!"

"I cannot avenge my clan if I win a false victory." Eula crosses her arms, casting her gaze down in visible uncomfortableness. "Amber will pay her dues in two business days. Mark my words."

It all a load of cap. She's sleeping with the enemy and you know it.

You grit your teeth. Fuming with an abundance of rage, you pick up three balls and throw them all back to back, taking out Amber and Kazuha simultaneously.

Childe's heart flutters in another kind of delight when you pluck out his team members one by one with no hints of remorse.

In retaliation, Jean and Childe work in sync to swiftly take care of a distracted Rosaria.

"Shit." You hiss underneath your breath.

It's Venti, Kaeya, Xiao, and you who are the only remainders of your short-lived team. It's still two more people than Childe and Jean, giving you the upper hand briefly.

It's a mystery to everyone how Venti is still standing. You reckoned you would've lost him as collateral during the beginning of the match, but it seems he's able to hold his own.

When you squint hard enough, you realize that Xiao has been t-posing in front of the nonchalant SoundCloud rapper that's about as high as a kite. He must've been defending him throughout the entire round.

His defenses are all in vain once Childe correlates another attack with Jean, sharp-shooting four rapid balls that are secured on their targets.

Xiao swerves to the side, avoiding most of them, until one is about to reach a nonchalant as shit Venti.

You scream at him, eyes widening as you run towards them in slow motion. "NOoOoOOOo-"

The yaksha doesn't waste a moment, shifting so that he's covering Venti's body with his own, which to be honest is a pretty heartwarming sight.

The ball hits his lean back, a sharp thud following when it hits the floor.

Xiao is out. But his sacrifice is so inspiring that it brings tears to Zhongli's eyes, makes everyone in the gym go silent in awe.

Even the sadistic Childe melts, cerulean eyes gaining back their light, halting his fire.

When Xiao finally uncovers Venti's body, he speaks from the bottom of his dead heart. "I'd do anything for you..."

Venti shakes out of his baked state, blinking at him stupidly with a nervous chuckle. "Ehe~? I don't even know who you are."

The entire class sweat drops. Whatever slip of compassion on Childe's face earlier has become nothing but a memory. Even your eyes dim.

The next time Childe aims and locks at Venti, it's not with malicious intent. It's a favour, for you. In a way it adds dimension to who he is and the lengths he's willing to go for you, even at war.

Venti steps away with a bounce in his gait, hands behind his head.

Kaeya and you are the only ones left standing now, and the game becomes too tight knit to tell which side's going to win. It becomes utter chaos, balls being launched every second, stamina slowly decreasing as everyone lurches away from their demise.

As laid-back  and charming as the boy presents himself to be in front of the ladies, he's not very patient when it comes to facing circumstances like these. He's side lined for most of the match, finding it boring. And when Kaeya gets bored, the intensity of the tide changes, and everyone knows they're going to get a run for their money.

Kaeya coasts a hand around your hips, pulls you real close, purposefully leaning his bust into the side your innocent arm.

When Childe's smile drops, and the glint in his eyes reads 'DANGER' in full caps, you know it's time to be properly scared.

Your blood runs cold, mouth opening briefly and then clamping shut immediately.

"I'm so glad to be on your team Y/N. Maybe this'll give us the chance to become...closer." His hot breath fans against your ear, voice loud enough to be heard by onlookers.

Suddenly everything stops, falling into an unsettling silence.

You attempt glance at Childe, being met with a glare that's directed at the Captain of the Skating team. The ball in the orange-haired boy's hand deflates from the sheer intensity of the squeeze.

The tension becomes unreadable. Even Zhongli is caught mid-sip with his tea.

Quickly, you shrug off Kaeya's arm. "Childe, he's just fucking with you—"

Childe cuts you off by hurling a ball with nothing but the objective of cold blooded murder.

Kaeya whizzes past you, successfully ducking to avoid the hit, and his amused laugh rings through your ears. He rolls away from the following attacks, chucking his own series of colourful balls.

The events that unfold are blood-curdling enough to make even Satan boil his pants with diarrhea.

You take the clear opportunity presented by their concurrent dumbassery to take out Jean, the ace of the other team.

Childe's rage blows over when Kaeya eventually loses interest and takes the L, playfully winking at you while walking backwards to the rest of your team.

Now that all the distractions are dealt with, Childe's eyes flicker to you, and you share a murderous glance.

"Finally," He slaps the softball with a free hand, lips thinning into a homicidal smile. "I've been waiting for this. You better not disappoint me."

While Childe may be a violent anarchist who's only aspiration in life is to become a government contracted killer, he's also supposed to be your sweet boyfriend.

Slowly, you inch towards the front. "We don't have to do this Childe. We can coexist peacefully."

"Peace was never an option Y/N." He sighs, cracking his neck. "Besides—how else can I prove myself in your eyes? You may be my greatest weakness, but you are also my greatest adversary."

"I don't know, maybe start with not trying to obliterate me?"

"I'm obliterating you out of respect." He counters with a playful pout.

"Well I'll be paying my respects to your grave!" You lurch ahead into a sudden assault, yeeting as many balls as you can his way.

"That's my girl!" Childe whistles, grin widening psychotically when he goes all out, leaving you with an absence in favorable openings.

Out of nowhere, the fire alarms start going haywire, along with a beep in the PA system, which stops you two in your tracks.

A panicked voice of who you assume to be Yanfei shrieks through the comms. "CODE ORANGE! CODE ORANGE! EVACUATE THE BUILDING, THERE'S A STONEHIDE LAWACHURL ON THE PREMISES."

As if on cue, the ground starts rumbling and a Stonehide Lawachurl bursts through the halls and into the gym, looking around for something. Or rather, someone. It's sharp bumps and ridges make an indent on the floor, cracking it in.

Everyone falls into a state of panic, Zhongli trying his best to evacuate the class from the emergency back door as quickly as possible. "Settle down class, we have to follow protocol."

You, devoid of any emotion or sense of fear, turn to your boyfriend in such a calm manner it strikes an ominous dread in his stomach.

You stare.

Childe stares harder.

“I thought you killed it."

"I did." He retorts slowly, switching to gaze at the raging beast in amazement.

"Then why is it in the school!" You seethe, glaring daggers at his side profile.

Childe chuckles sheepishly, scratches the back of his neck. "I may or may not have stuffed the body in the boys washroom. Y'know, for safe keeping?"

The Lawachurl locks it's gaze on you, the prey, and then roars furiously. Turning into its geo-enhanced state, it begins charging at you with all its might, the target being solely Childe.

Leave it to your boyfriend to get on the hit list of an endangered beast.

"Fear not my vibrant girlfriend. Our first date can be surviving this." Childe cheekily kisses the top of your trembling hand before grasping it tightly and making a run for it.

[strawberry-nugget]

𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝘼𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚

𝘼/𝙉: This is my piece for my very own collab 'Ice Cold Heart' and also my excuse to delve into some more canon rather than fanon Hawks, because canon Hawks has been clouding my mind lately and I needed to get this out

𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜: Hawks/fem!Reader

𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: Angst, mentions of sexual themes

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 2k

"I'm in love with you"

The precious meaning of a phrase is only defined by the weight you decide to put on it. And today you have decided that with your words you'd give birth to what's only going to give you and him pure, undefined pain. An elephant in the room if you may, an ogre of emotions that otherwise would be unwanted to stand between the two of you.

You think 'otherwise' as if it's not unwanted already. The unrequited nature of your sentence will linger in your heart more than you'd like to admit, but you're ready to lift your eyes and meet his golden ones, ready to be judged with the coldness of his gaze, ready to be treated like you've expected you will when coming into his office.

You still have that hidden truth to spill to him, and it surpasses the one you spilt already, but you hold your dry tongue in your mouth for now.

What could possibly only hurt like a kitten's scratch -his mute, his echoing silence- is rather twisting numerous sharp daggers in your chest, twirling over the wound of your feelings, ravaging any hope for salvation you had been left with. You wonder how your friends ever managed to convince you that the hardest thing about confessing was the part where you had to build up your courage.

Your courage never suffered from a hit as you walked to his office, despite being terrified for what you had to say to him. Paperwork in your hands and none of a nervous trembling in your lips, iron clad feet clashing with the tiles of the building. You've made your decision to get rid of all those feelings, not wanting to spend another night bent on his desk or sprawled under him, only for him to act like he barely knows you in the office and then to be all greedy and sweet in public events.

His games, that god awful behavior of his, the way he chooses to use you -even if you feel like you use him to, to turn him into something that he's not with your imagination- you're tired of everything. And then there's also the fact that he's a traito-

"Aha"

The answer to your confession wasn't supposed to affect you either for better or for worse, rather this confession was an egotistical act, Mirko, or any of your friends previously said, that one had to endure in order to take the next big step. Whether that was a step accompanied by your desired person, or a step to redeeming the anathema a rejection could have caused.

Frankly it wasn't that the golden orbs staring back at you were rejecting. If anything, they didn't bore into yours in a way that left you hollow, but they didn't fill your heart with dreams either. And what your original intentions begged to stand up for was that you didn't care of any significant reciprocation.

You wish you didn't care where those words you had uttered had left Hawks, or in what inner conflict they had found him in. But you know, he won't be in any conflict about what you have to say, what you've kept inside for too long, what has bled onto your morals like a run over animal on the street, left to rot and seep into the road as it disintegrates under the sun or the cold.

Unbeknownst to you, deep down in his head, Hawks doesn't know how to feel, or how to react; its all too sudden for him to process. The way you spoke of it so casually yet, so lightheartedly, your tone suggesting that you let your most vulnerable object of thought slip through your fingertips, like you let it fall out of your head and shutter on the ground.

"I-"

It isn't much, just the start of a sentence that he hopes he could compose, but the way your brows furrow at the sound of his voice does nothing other than startle him.

You should have known, he's not going to give in to such demands. Love, relationships, he doesn't have time, space, a mindset, doesn't need you to be that one for him, he wants all the stability he can get when he wants it, however he wants it and he's gone when he gets it, swift as a bird, cold as stone. That doesn't necessarily tickle a nerve inside of him, you know the rules, even if he feels bad about you suffering like this there's nothing he can do -he doesn't even know how- and he chooses to let you speak, get it out, before he has to go and be a hero for the day.

"No, no save it," You wave him off "here's my resignation"

The authority in your voice isn't the one he was used to. As his eyes blink, honey colored orbs taking in the un-glory of your posture, he's met with the sight of your hands hugging around your own form; the ultimate sign of vulnerability, uncertainty.

"You don't have to quit because you fell in love with me"

'You fell in love with me' he speaks of the words so little, as if they're dirty, as if you're in this with yourself and they're so suffocating that he can't stand them, only to softly graze your ear with vore intentions, to tell you that you don't have to quit, to urge you to not take this too serious.

Your feelings aren't serious.

"I do" You speak, trying to jab him back with some crafted poison in your tone. But you know what you're going to say next will definitely do it for him, it'll poison him we'll, whether it makes you endangered or not. "I was on patrol when I saw you doing business with Dabi, so save it."

The weight of those words is what finally serves as a huge hit to your courage. You've outed yourself greatly and now the chewing on your bottom lip is profound and painful to a great amount. Hawks' face is contorted in a terrifying darkness, thick brows clenched above his eyes and lips pushed into a thin line, nose scrunched.

"Listen-"

"I just don't want to be a part of this"

That's when he knows he has to be forgiving.

Hawks isn't used to you, a fierce warrior of a hero, clenching your jaw tensely or furrowing your brows in sorrows. He isn't used to you being so upfront with your emotions either; whatever the two of you have shared in the past has been in words of reluctance and mind states of regret, each one desperate to prevent your hearts from getting hurt.

He knows his heart won't get hurt though, it's shielded way too well inside his chest, in such way he feels hollow, driven by anything other than the stupid organ. You should have known, he tells himself, before you got involved so deeply, but he left you with no time for thoughts like these, wiggling you under his wing while biting your skin instead of pecking it.

Just as Hawks has always known that he's going to hurt you no matter you rejecting labels or bottling feelings up and absolutely forbidding the mention of them, it's obvious that things can't go his way. He isn't used to you eyeing him with pain gathering in the corners of your eyes, but he's willing to play the part you're setting up for him right on the spot. Even if he has to admit, the thought of being painted in this color jabs him just like knowing things won't go back to the way they were between the two of you.

He doesn't mind. He had to let it go because by the time you know about the truth you won't even remember his face, or the way his voice sounds, and he shouldn't think about this but he does, in a way, in the very back of his head.

His mission, he thinks, is far more important than his personal life -it's a top priority for greater good.

Once greater good is achieved he's going to be able to invest in a personal life that involves feelings and excitement and even the noble pleasure of being able to choose between priorities. Right?

So, whatever he's feeling now -the tight knot in his throat, the painful lack of oxygen in his throat, his gut twisting and churning and his limbs alternating from spasming to going numb- he has to ignore.

But for the worse part he doesn't really know how to act. The confession that has startled him is still lingering on repeat in the back of his head, fueling the small ignition of a flame that begs to put you on a pedestal, or rather, it began to make his mouth move on it own, to tell how that he too wishes he could be with you as more than this secretly exclusive arrangement you've set.

Maybe, his heart pleads, maybe he can tell you about his mission and clear up the confusion.

He wonders if that would be a part you'd want him to play for you.

"I won't give you away. So long as you don't involve me in this, I don't have ulterior motives for protecting civilians."

"I-" He starts, darkness bottling up in his gut, stomach falling after going utterly numb. Somehow he knows he's not going to utter a word if he keeps acting like that.

"Hawks-"

"You'll get over it."

It's sharp and it's short and it sends heavy, lethal daggers to your chest, so much that you can feel your heart beginning to slip from in between your ribs, out of chest and onto the floor of his office. It'd be a mess to clean, the blood if your agony and your heartache rightfully on his floor. For him to look down on, this time, physically.

"I will"

He knows his words hurt, just by the mere look your face contorts and he won't utter a word about what you just said, he'll link you to Endeavor and when the time comes you'll know. His cause is greater than your heart breaking, greater than chasing after that small arrangement he's made so he can get physical release from time to time.

It's better not to react. Not to terrorize you into anything for if you're afraid you might out the wrong truth to the heroes in your circle and his plan -the commission's plan- will fail and the heroes will lose this war. And he can't lose.

You want to look at him with menace and disgrace, not to atone him for the way he's making you feel; crashing your dreams, poisoning your morals and your thoughts, living down to your expectations so much that you don't know what to think of him.

Like he did when you saw him after closed doors, cold and unapproachable, to the point he's scary. Manipulative so much that you found your way under him without even realizing how fast it happened, what impact it had to you to get involved with him. You just want to be out, unwielded from his spider's web and latch yourself into something real and kind, to serve your purpose as a hero. As a human.

When he opens his mouth again you're not scared anymore, of what he may do to you, of what will happen next.

"Hand me your papers so I can sign them"

Thanks for reading! Comments and reblogs are always appreciated <3